Khan

So, they lured Kim Delaney back to daytime after these many years, and they let her slip through their fingers again. God, I hate this industry.

Probably. After all, Shannen only left, because the issues (whatever they were) between her and Alyssa Milano had become insurmountable, with Holly Marie Combs stuck in the middle. I do know that Shannen fought hard to improve the show, though, just as I'm sure she would've fought to keep "90210" from slipping into tacky melodrama. If she HAD stayed, neither show would've have gone downhill as fast as they did.

I think the only reason why Barbara Bel Geddes won HER Emmy was because it was for a breast cancer story, which was a kind of story that the primetime soaps generally avoided.

IMO, he did that, because even he knew "Charmed" was a terrible show that needed all the help it could get.

Yup, lol.

Well, the premise was intriguing enough. In "The Betty White Show," Betty portrayed Joyce Whitman, a middle-aged actress, who lands the lead role in a new series, "Undercover Woman," that parodied "Police Woman," starring Angie Dickinson. Unfortunately, for Joyce, the director for her new series turns out to be her ex-husband, played by a pre-"Magnum, P.I." John Hillerman. Subsequently, episodes revolved around Betty and John's characters, as they learned to co-exist again, while navigating the ins and outs of producing a new, weekly TV series. Again, a fairly solid premise. EXCEPT...much of the supporting cast was forgettable; Georgia Engel, who WASN'T forgettable, nevertheless had a very inconsequential role as Betty's BFF (they should have made her character one of Joyce's UW co-stars instead); the "Undercover Woman" scenes played like rejected Carol Burnett skits; and the choice to shoot episodes on videotape rather than film seemed to blunt much of the show's humor, too. (Not that there was much humor, mind you. You know your show is crap when even David Lloyd can't turn out a decent script.)

Even Erica Kane Martin Brent Cudahy Chandler Roy Montgomery Montgomery Chandler Marick Marick Montgomery would look at that name and wonder wtf was going on.

Kurt McKinney's still shot: "I swear to you, I don't know where I left my shirt!".

Well, he wasn't stupid, lol. He knew that daytime had become so youth-oriented that the only way to STAY relevant in ANY storyline was to be paired with younger actresses. He wasn't willing to be relegated to talk-to status like Charita Bauer just yet.

"90210" is like much of Aaron Spelling's output. If you're watching it again at all, it's because you DO have residual nostalgia for it. Otherwise, it doesn't hold up at all.

Of all the films starring SNL/SCTV alumni, "Stripes" is about the only one I can watch multiple times. RIP.

Well, TBF, the times were a-changin' for shows like "Family Ties." Grittier shows, such as "Roseanne" and "Married...with Children," were on the horizon, making FT look quaint and passe by comparison. Heck, even "Cosby" struggled in the ratings, once the conservative '80's gave way to the more liberal '90's. Still, if I had been in Brandon Tartikoff's shoes, I would have tried my best to convince Michael J. Fox and Gary David Goldberg to spin Alex off onto his own show, one that would have centered on his exploits on Wall Street, as I think there was still a lot of life left in that character. Honestly, it wasn't much of a match, especially if the alternative was the threat of having to watch more scenes with Nick and Mallory. (God, I hated those idiots.)

Yeah, I recall that as well. In fact, I think, next to (ahem) Bill Cosby's, her Q ratings were the highest in TV. (But, I could be wrong about that.) Unfortunately, they never found the right showcase for her to win that elusive Emmy. They tried -- hence, cousin Emma -- but J.B. Fletcher wasn't as flashy a role as Christine Cagney ("Cagney & Lacey") or Jill Brock ("Picket Fences"). Same. I'm convinced her success on MSW was at least partially responsible for her landing the gig as Mrs. Potts in the original "Beauty and the Beast," a movie and performance that exposed her to an entirely new generation of fans.

I'm just saying. Is she (Shannen Doherty) the greatest actress ever? No. When she's good, she's very good; and when she's not, she's...not. But, either way, she makes. You watch. Love her or hate her, but you'll never, ever forget her. ETA: In a world more perfect than this one, she, and not Sarah Michelle Gellar, would have taken daytime by storm as Erica Kane's long-lost, illegitimate daughter on AMC. (And unlike the Once and Future Vampire Slayer, she would've been the right age for it, too, lol.)

I think it's been said that he was reluctant to play the Mike/Alexandra/Lillian triangle that Pamela K. Long had set up for him.

As awful as the current, remaining soaps continue to be, I wish one of them would coax Sharon Gabet out of retirement. IMO, she's an actress who could make just about any material work.

I'll just come right out and say it: I think Shannen Doherty gets the worst rap for being that rare breed of performer who is not here for anyone's bullshit.

Exactly. Plus, I'm generally not someone who stops watching this-or-that TV series or movie, because this-or-that actor has proven him/herself to be a total jackass. (Although, in the past, I have made exceptions, lol.). If I were to "cancel" every show, movie, play, whatever that contained an actor whose beliefs I disagreed with, or whose past misdeeds I found reprehensible, I'd never watch anything on TV or streaming ever again.

I just felt it was strange to have Maya come out as transgender after that whole story about her locating a baby that she gave up for adoption (or whatever).

It has to take a lot -- and I do mean a lot! -- to get me to stop watching "Frasier."

Fischer/Levinson/Link didn't want J.B. Fletcher tied down with some adult son or daughter who would always question why she would routinely put herself in danger, so they gave her a nephew (and an "official" niece, played by Genie Francis) instead; but I think Fischer and his writers (Robert E. Swanson, Robert Van Scoyk, etc.) realized that even Grady wasn't necessary. Look, when I was growing up, not a Sunday night passed in our household without football and MSW, which was Mama Khan's favorite show back then. There was just no way around it, lol. True, but it was somewhat contradictory how she wasn't eager to get behind the wheel, yet was all set to ditch her old typewriter for a brand-new, then-state-of-the-art desktop computer. Either get completely with the times, Jess, or don't bother, lol.

Agree. One of the strangest episodes, if not THE strangest, was "Menace, Anyone?," which aired toward the end of the second (1985-86) season. That was the episode set at a tennis tournament, with guest stars Dennis Cole (ex-Lance, Y&R), Bryan Cranston, Linda Hamilton, Van Johnson, Kelli Maroney (ex-Kimberley, RH) and Doug McKeon (ex-Timmy, EON) and Betsy Russell ("Private School"). First of all, it was a particularly violent episode by MSW's standards, featuring a car explosion AND a grisly stabbing. Second, the chief investigator on the first murder (the car bomb), played by David Spielberg, gets whacked (the stabbing) halfway through the episode; and his partner, played by Barry Primus, has to take over, even though he's barely mentioned OR seen before then. Third, there's a rather turgid backstory about Linda Hamilton's character developing a split personality out of guilt over her sister's death...except, as it turns out, the sister is still very much alive (with hair that's as red as the herring she is). Fourth, when Jessica finally pieces together that the culprit in both murders is Betsy Russell's character, who was jealous that Bryan had moved on with Linda after breaking up with her, it's not Betsy who confesses to Jessica, but rather, her father (Johnson). His explanation: she's back home, sedated and ready to be shipped off to the insane asylum. My theory: either Betsy Russell was so awful in the few scenes she had leading up to the murders that Fischer and his team couldn't trust her to handle the climactic confession scene properly, or someone tipped them off about her porn career (yes, she had one), so they had to do some fast rewrites and/or reshoots (and break one of their own rules in the process) to get her out of there before Angela or anyone else found out. In turn, if reshoots had occurred, there's the possibility that Spielberg wasn't available, thereby necessitating the OTHER rule-break that resulted in his character's own murder. (If you watch the episode, and you see that sequence in particular, you'll see that the editing is downright ghastly, lol.)

IIRC, Peter S. Fischer and the show's other creators, Richard Levinson and William Link, also considered Doris Day.

Actually, there's a good explanation for why Jessica never drove a car. If she drove a car, you see, she'd never be able to pump people for information or clues that would help her get closer to solving the mystery. Well, that, too, lol.

Ah, "If It's Thursday, It Must Be Beverly." A personal favorite, if only for the scene in Seth's office with him, Jess, Amos Tupper and Seth's nurse/assistant, the titular "Beverly." It's possibly the funniest scene in MSW history. I tell you, there is nothing filthier OR funnier than hearing ever-adorable Dody Goodman utter the sentence "It was good, clean sex once a week!".