Khan

Wishful thinking, perhaps? "The role of Victoria Newman will now be played by Susan Haskell."

Don't even mention Craig's coming-out story to me, @Joseph. I'm still attempting to recover from that travesty, lol.

I agree. TG could not stand playing Luke as a family man, with the wife, the two kids, the dog and the big, roomy house, but I thought it made perfect sense. And I thought it also made sense for Luke to do everything he could to hold onto that, rather than piss it all away, so he can sit alone in his bar and drink himself to death, which is what he did, like someone in a [!@#$%^&*] Merle Haggard song. I mean, it was not as if Luke was ever in danger of turning into Ward Cleaver. But I think the problem was that TG never wanted Luke to move past being Bobbie Spencer's ne'er-do-well big brother. I think at least part of him really dug all that Left Handed Boy/Ice Princess/Sword of Malkuth crap and wanted to keep doing it, even though he looked ridiculous doing it at that point in his life. Well, Tony, I get the midlife crisis, but it ain't 1977 anymore. Doing crazy [!@#$%^&*] like running a disco for "the organization" is okay when you are in your twenties, or even thirties. But when you are in your fifties, and a grandfather, and you are spending your days drinking and mixing it up with glorified sociopaths like Sonny Corinthos* and Helena Cassadine, you are not even an anti-hero anymore. You are a pathetic waste of minerals, who is not worthy of my time, or my interest. (*Sorry, @carolineg, but I have to call them as I see them, lol.)

Ironically, @Vee and I talked earlier this week (in the thread about the maybe-it's-not-dead-after-all AMC primetime reboot) about Paramount's ongoing financial woes: I actually laughed when I saw that both Showtime cable and Showtime streaming had been rebranded as "Paramount + with Showtime." What a cumbersome ass name, I thought, for an outlet that probably will have to rebrand itself again if/when Paramount + goes under. So, what would they have to rename it as, should this latest merger come to fruition? "Max and Paramount + With Showtime, Too!"? Better yet, just leave it blank, but with the tagline "Call it whatever the [!@#$%^&*] you want." Either way, I don't envy anyone who works for WBD or Paramount Global one bit. Meanwhile, according to that THP article, Byron Allen has resubmitted his $3.5B offer to buy BET Networks from Paramount (who sees BET as a "non-core" asset, b/c, black folks). Reason? Because his janky sitcoms have to go somewhere!

Thanks, @janea4old! If I were a betting person, I would bet that Bradley Bell already has Krista's replacement lined up. It could be Hunter Tylo again, it could be his sister in a cheap wig from the Vivica A. Fox collection, it could be someone entirely different. But - mark my words - she's waiting in the wings.

I'll just come right out and say it: Luke with any woman who isn't Laura makes no sense to me for one reason and one reason only: GF is the only woman who can generate chemistry with TG. The only woman. I'm sure JE would balk at the notion of Tracy finding genuine love out of fear that Tracy would become boring to play, but I don't see it that way. I think Tracy is much too complicated of a woman ever to be boring, lol. Besides, I'm just sick of watching my girl get beaten up by love all the time. All Tracy ever wanted was for someone to love her for what she was and not for how much money she had in the bank. Edward told her as a little girl that money was the only thing in the world she could count on - which, in my book, is a dreadful thing to tell your own daughter, lol. I'd like to think there could be someone out there to prove that s.o.b. wrong.

I remember his explanation/apology, too, @yrfan1983. And you're right: MAB and her team had plans for Phillip that were scuttled by the poor quality of TB's acting. But I say, if you go to the trouble of resurrecting a character who died on screen, then you need to do something with them. Recast Phillip if you need to - heck, we all can think of actors who could play that role pretty well - but get him back in Genoa City and get his story up and pumping (tm MAB).

"Should I ask? Oh, hell, why not?" What did KA say about Bradley Bell and B&B?

Just where the hell is this thread going, people?

I've come to accept Amelia Heinle as Victoria, but only because I'm at the point where I just don't care anymore.

ICAM. Watching Marty Saybrooke regress into a psychopath (and over John [!@#$%^&*] McBain) was an insult to anyone with even half of a brain. It was enough to make you want to sue everyone involved.

Here's another story to add to the list: the "LOVING Murders," which were used to end one show (LOVING) and launch another (THE CITY). Most of the killings occurred in a somewhat gentle fashion (poisoned powder puffs, toxic candles, etc.); yet, at the same time, it was so unsettling to watch so many long-time characters meet untimely demises at the hands of one of their own. (No spoilers for anyone who hasn't seen or heard of the storyline, lol).

I'm sorry, @Vee, but we're just gonna have to agree to disagree on this issue. I still believe that acknowledging the rape as a rape made it impossible for Luke and Laura ever to reunite. Not just because of the terrible messages that it would have sent, but also because how, IMO, it tarnished memories many held of those two for over thirty years. Americans might have been fools to fall in love with a love story between a rapist and his victim, but that's what they did, even if they knew how it all began and just never admitted it to themselves, or cared. Either way, reminding them decades after the fact amounted to shaming in my book; and I'm just not the type to shame millions of people for liking what they liked (in entertainment, not in politics, lol). Well, I know TG and JE enjoyed the heck out of Luke/Tracy, but I sure didn't, lol. Not once did I ever find those two believable as a couple. Close friends and confidantes? Yes. Lovers? No. I've already stated in the past how very much I would love to bring on Justin Deas as a new, mature love interest for Tracy, someone who clearly doesn't value herself enough if she keeps hooking up with losers (Larry, Mitch, Paul, Luke), and who would be beside herself to realize that, at this stage of life, she is finding herself falling for someone who appreciates her and isn't just in it for her money or whatever.

I agree, on both counts.

Once the show acknowledged that Luke had raped Laura, there was no way that they could put them back together. Which is why I was dead set against acknowledging it. I think there was a long-term plan in place for the Cassadines and others, but that plan was ruined primarily by Bob Guza's forced departure from GH to work on SUNSET BEACH. Unfortunately, in the time that he was away, that plan was changed to the point where, even after Guza had returned for round two, GH was never again as on-track as it had been before he left.

Fine with me! You know, that is the best part about the [!@#$%^&*] that is not working today on soaps: you do not have to come up with any grand plan to get rid of it. You just stop showing it or stop referring to it and you never miss a beat.

Joan Collins knows what works for her and she sticks to that. I admire her greatly.

Finn literally could stop appearing on screen today, with no explanation whatsoever, and nothing would be affected. Not even the "romance" with Liz. She (and viewers) could just pretend she had gotten ahold of some bad clams that made her hallucinate him and move on.

Man, if the news of KA's departure/firing can generate 12 pages of board discussion (and counting!), I'd hate to see how many pages we'd run to if someone more integral to B&B were given the heave-ho. Either way, the bandwith's likely to explode at any moment.

For me, "Our House" was nothing special, just something I watched whenever the NFL ran overtime and pre-empted "60 Minutes." Ironically, for someone who fought hard at the beginning to be seen as more than just an "ethnic type," many of Susan Lucci's TV movies and miniseries seemed to trade on her Italian-American looks and background. I mean, she was "Mafia Princess" and "Lady Mobster"! Not to mention, she played Italians with (questionable) Brooklyn accents on "The Bride in Black" and on "Double Edge," a TV movie that did the impossible: drained all the chemistry between her and Robert Urich. Oof! "The Palace Guard"! Not one of Stephen J. Cannell's finer moments! Remember when MW co-starred in a TV movie with Genie Francis, Leigh J. McCloskey and, strangely enough, Victoria Wyndham? IIRC, MW's character was this garden-variety psycho who was obsessed with Francis and McCloskey's characters for some reason; and at one point, she even kills Wyndham's character, who was friends with Genie, to keep her from...I don't remember what. The plot's a bit hazy for me after all this time, but I still remember watching it and thinking, "This is too surreal. Eden Colby/Liza Capwell is chasing after Laura Spencer and the dude who raped her (Eden), and now she's killed Rachel Cory. It's like being on a soap opera acid trip!" She would have fit in much better with that cast, I think, than Marilu Henner.

Watching the FF "Heroes vs. Villains" special, I notice three things: 1. The show's producers tapped Beatrice Straight to play on the "Villains" side, merely because they needed a fifth member there and did not know of anyone else who could fill that slot. (Otherwise, I would hardly label her one scene role on "Network" as villainous, lol.) 2. It must be very early in Joan Collins' run on "Dynasty," before Alexis became the breakout character, because she gets about as much applause from the audience as Leonard Frey, Straight and Norman Fell do. Lucci is the "villain" who gets the biggest round of applause (including shouts and cheers). 3. Did they place Straight between Collins and Lucci for visual reasons, or...? Given that both Joan Collins and Susan Lucci were on hugely popular ABC soaps (one daytime, one primetime), I think it could have been awesome if the network had worked out some sort of arrangement where the two could crossover to each other's shows. It would not have needed to be anything major in terms of storyline, like Erica suddenly taking over ColbyCo or anything, but maybe just a brief cameo, like her showing up at La Mirage and having Fallon introduce her to Blake and Krystle, or Alexis showing up in NYC to ask her "old friend" Mike Roy whether he would like to ghostwrite her memoir. As crazy as this sounds, I think they missed the (love) boat when they had Lucci on but did not have her play someone whom Gopher develops a little crush on. Lucci's character wouldn't have needed to return his affections, though. Just a little peck on his cheek at the end, telling him how she flattered she is and how very special she thinks he is, that's all.

I agree. LK had a worthier sparring partner in scenes w/ CM as Jennifer than she would have had with MR. Jennifer is supposed to be a middle-aged woman who has gone through it multiple times. Yet, I swear, there were/are times when MR still plays her like she did in the '80's, all pouty, adenoidal and weepy-eyed, like your typical teenager who just wants to grab an Orange Julius and crush on boys at the mall. LK's Kate would have wiped the proverbial floor with her Jennifer. Ironically, when news broke that CM would be stepping in, I was not entirely sure whether she could pull it off. For one thing, the track record of former ABCD or P&G actors doing as well on DAYS is...not great. Obviously, Jane Elliot is an exception. (Judi Evans is another. Genie Francis might have been a third, had Diana been a real character). But when I think about the ones who tried and failed, like Robert S. Woods, or Robin Strasser, or even Sarah Joy Brown*....! Working on DAYS and the Bell soaps requires a different skill set for actors, one that is more about image and style than about digging deep and finding nuances or layers, like it traditionally would be on the other shows; and I had witnessed enough of CM's work on Y&R to feel very, very afraid. (I mean, God bless Cady for never being the type to phone in any performance - and, I know, the failure of Kelly as a character can't be laid entirely at her feet, as the writing reeked, too - but great Caesar's ghost, that was such a trainwreck to watch!) I never thought much of Jennifer or of MR beyond Missy's years on the show or Jennifer's connection to the rest of the Hortons. Nevertheless, I knew CM had enormous shoes to fill - certainly, more enormous than the ones she had filled on AMC and ATWT - even if she would be filling them only temporarily. Yet, as I've said before, she managed in a relatively brief period of time to make me care or at least be interested in Jennifer for the very first time in all my years of watching DAYS, to the point where I actually WANT Jennifer to be a permanent fixture on this show - if not at the center of its' canvas, then definitely somewhere near it. Heck, I even would put up with her going another 10,000 rounds with Jack if it meant watching CM and Matthew Ashford play together! MR never made me feel that way. Stephanie Cameron damn sure didn't make me feel that way. But CM did, and does, make me feel that way. (*But, in SJB's case, backstage issues that have followed her throughout her career ultimately were to blame.)

Let's just say nothing is off the table when it comes to Ron Carlivati. But seriously. It's no longer a question of if Bill Hayes retires or dies, but when. I would love to see Doug reunited with his son before we reach that point. Maybe Dougie has followed in his biological father's footsteps, becoming a musician with a checkered past. Maybe he has kids, or even grandkids, who can keep the Williamses "alive" on DAYS long after Bill/Doug isn't.

I still wonder whether KMH would have made for a better Betsy, just as I think Cady McClain (as good as she was as Rosanna) would have been sensational as Frannie.

Since we're dream-casting Horton family members again, why not hire Kin Shriner to play a returning Mike Horton? He might seem like an odd choice, but I think he'd put a different spin on Mike, much like when Justin Deas put a different spin on ATWT's Tom Hughes. IMO, the only Hortons worth bringing back are Mike, Jennifer (full-time, preferably w/ CM back in the role), Hope, Lucas (recast), maybe Bill or Laura if we're going the back-from-the-dead-'cuz-no-one-stays-dead-on-DAYS route, and a reformed Jeremy. The rest - Marie, Jessica, Melissa, Sandy, Steve Olsen, etc. - just feel like a big "So what?" at this point. I'd also like to find someone who could play Douglas LeClair, or whatever Rebecca changed his name to.