Khan

When you have Valene Clemens Ewing Gibson profess that she loves Danny [!@#$%^&*] Waleska more than she ever loved Gary OR Ben, you might as well hand over your keys to the studio and go work on your own show, because it's clear you hate KNOTS LANDING, you hate everything it ever stood for, and you hate the people who cherished it for exactly those things, too.

Or, if they DO bring him back, he'll be played by Brian Gaskill or some [!@#$%^&*].

When Lynn Marie Latham took over as PC's HW, she spoke very fondly of Nolan North, comparing him, I think, to Michael Zaslow (ex-Roger, GL). Yet, I can't recall if she wrote anything significant for him.

Plus, P&G was arguably the leading soap sponsors, and most of their shows were on CBS.

Me (circa 1997): "So, Canadian Becky's back, eh?" Anyways. When was the last time DAYS wasn't a cringe-fest?

Here are the spoilers they forgot to include: * Kristen injects Abigail with the same serum she injected Sarah with, and Abigail awakens believing she's Megan Hathaway. * Kayla accidentally gets stuck with the needle as well, and SHE wakes up thinking she's Lisanne Gardner. * Roman gets whacked on the head by a falling vodka bottle at the pub and when he comes to, he's under the assumption that he's Chris Kositchek. (Actually, I'm good with that last spoiler.)

Not really. I spoke years ago with Pamela K. Long's co-HW, Jeff Ryder, via email. Although he was vague about his and Long's intended plans for Brandon's second family, he did emphasize the fact that P&G was extremely nervous about how such a revelation would go over with their more "conservative" viewers. Of course, JR might have been lying through his teeth, so to speak, but given that this was almost 20 years later and he was no longer working in the industry, I don't see what he'd have to gain by lying to someone who wasn't in any way connected to the business aside from being a fan.

It also would have helped to land a bigger "name" than Mariel Hemingway, lol.

Well, like the song says...

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.