Khan

Y&R: Joel Higgins (ex-Bruce, SFT; "Silver Spoons") as Keith Dennison.

Well, that's true. It does raise questions. On the other hand...? Just from my own experience, growing up and attending public schools from kindergarten all the way through the twelfth grade, the fights between black girls were always more vicious than those between the white ones. In fact, whenever two black girls got into it, people usually cleared the hallways, lest they become collateral damage, lol.

Is it that time of the month again? No matter where the road of life takes you, please always remember and don't ever forget: never -- and I mean NEVER -- rip off a black woman's train.

The scene should have ended with Ceara landing the first punch and storming out of the office, but that would have meant someone getting the upper hand for once on Erica. Oh, well. At least La Kane knew enough to take off her earrings. Some black woman taught her well.

nm The way I see it, Jill gave Val two options: either die by her own hand, or die by Jill's. Either way, Jill was gonna see to it that Val was dead. So, why does Val just sit there and let Jill go on and on and on? Why not at least try and lunge for the gun, Valene? Why not put up some kind of fight (yell, push her, throw things at her, etc)? If I were in that situation, I wouldn't just lay there. I'd at least go down swinging.

By then, both Kate Mansi and Marci Miller will have returned. Twice. Hey, I've got an idea! Why not just let the two share the role -- say, on alternate months?

Favorite part: Jill: "Oh, you're kidding. You have to ask [what I'm doing here]? You REALLY have to ask? You can't figure it out? Well, try! What would Miss Jill Bennett be doing in YOUR house, in YOUR bedroom, in a funny wig, late at night, pointing a gun at you?" Jill was off-the-chain nuts...but she was so right to point out how stupid Val was to ask such a stupid question. It's moments like those where I feel like the Lechowicks REALLY hated writing for JVA. They never missed an opportunity to make her look dumb as hell. And that little speech Jill gives moments later, as she has her gun pointed at the back of Val's head? I've never seen Teri Austin give a finer line reading. It's truly palpable how much Jill wanted the b***h dead.

RH: Philip Brown (ex-Buck, LOVING/THE CITY; ex-Brian, KL; ex-Neil, THE COLBYS; ex-Steve, SFT) as either Frank or Pat Ryan.

I'd say CBS was king. ABC's soaps appealed greatly to younger viewers, but CBS's soaps overall had better writing and acting. NBC...? Well, they had good game shows.

*snort* You mean that lump of coal is still worth money? Gawd, soap villains can be so gullible, lol. I'd still love to know what Pat Falken Smith's intentions for the original story were. She made it ABUNDANTLY clear how much she hated the "carbonic snow" element (although, she could have just said that out of hostility toward Gloria Monty), so what did SHE have in mind? Was the Ice Princess just a soap opera equivalent of a McGuffin, or was there another, less comic book-ish purpose for it?

No matter what else I have said in the past about Tony Geary, or will say about him in the future, I'll go on record right now and say how much I love him for calling the Ice Princess exactly what it is: a "chunk of crap." I don't have a problem with Genie Francis "playing crazy" or raging at madmen who terrorize her or her family, but I do have a problem buying her as a b***h or temptress, which is what AMC and Y&R attempted to sell her as before realizing she couldn't sell that kind of character convincingly and reversed course.

Even better, Marcia McCabe as Ceara. I think she'd come closer to nailing Agnes Nixon's original interpretation of Ceara as a man-stealing viper than Genie Francis did. God bless Genie, but she was really, really, REALLY wrong for that role.

It's still happening. Of course, there's every chance in the world that she'll come back by summer -- and that she'll believe she's Marlena and still in love with John. (After all, it's still DAYS OF OUR LIVES.)

Too late. We ALL know where he gets them. (Hi, Ron!) If this is the start or continuation of DAYS' next big trend, then I want Chad to think he's Sonny and in love with Will.

IKR? The time jump, which should have shaken up DAYS more than it did, seemed to be over and done with before the first commercial break; but this mess? Just keeps on going.

It's always great to see someone like Angela Lansbury, who can be so eloquent in these situations. Compare her speech for her friend to the kind of speeches you get nowadays at awards ceremonies, and you'll understand what I mean. And while I usually love Dame Angela's wardrobe choices (...usually...), I really must question where she picked up THAT frock, lol.

Speaking of harrowing moments, I feel I would be remiss if I didn't mention GL's Roger Thorpe, disguised as a clown, chasing pregnant Rita through the Hall of Mirrors at the Cedars Hospital charity bazaar (1980). (The "fun" starts at 3:12.)

Yeah, it's a moment that WANTS to be harrowing, except, in this case, JVA has a hard time selling the danger. On the other hand, I'm glad that, for once, Val didn't just blubber-cry about her kids and let Gary take care of things for her.

Remember, @titan1978, it's not "poor Val" anymore.

You know, it's...interesting how Michael Malone has this reputation for being this progressive, forward-thinking writer, yet he is also an avowed fan of one of the most RE-gressive works of literature ever published. And I say that as someone who used to be a GWTW fan as well before I took a long, hard, serious look at its' revisionist take on racial relations in this country.

I'm sure Charlton Heston was ready to call it quits as well, lol.

Once again, I offer "Genoa City Slasher": Phyllis is determined to unmask the killer; Jack thinks she's putting herself in harm's way; Jack's fears come true when Phyllis is found dead at the Grand Phoenix.

Same. CBS clearly wanted Darren Star to do for them what he'd done for FOX with 90210 and MP. At the very least, I would have asked Michael Filerman and/or David Jacobs to come in, work with Star and see how they could merge Star's style with the network's more traditional needs, so that it would have a greater chance of developing an audience.

How about Julia Barr as Jessica Blake Fallon?

"Would you at least let the b have a sip of water," lol? You couldn't pull off that kind of scheme today. Not just because the network would demand shorter scenes, but technology and such would make it impossible for Jill to execute (sorry) her plan w/o getting found out sooner. Meanwhile, why did Val need so much time blow-drying her obviously thin hair? You're not Rapunzel, gurl. Let's wrap it up, okay?