Khan

True dat. Oh, Gawd, I still get hives thinking 'bout all those endless (and mindless) "Friends" clones.

Unfortunately, the networks saw all that and came to the (very wrong) conclusion that ALL sitcom characters had to be that venal. As you can tell, I've never been a "Seinfeld" fan. To me, the characters (and actors) were all off-putting, and the scenes were so short, and the stories so convoluted, that they left little room for character exploration.

If anything, I'd sooner believe that Sami, as played by Ali Sweeney, was, in fact, a closeted lesbian.

DW suffered an almost perfect storm of death knells in its' last season. In addition to the time slot change, there was lingering backlash to Jean Smart's departure and Julia Duffy's casting as Delta Burke's replacement, additional backlash to the final year's piss-poor changes to the cast (Duffy out, Judith Ivey and Sheryl Lee Ralph in), and an overall sense that, with Linda Bloodworth-Thomason no longer running the show on a day-to-day basis, the quality of the writing had fallen to frightening lows, with some truly bizarre changes to the remaining characters (Julia, Mary Jo, Anthony and even Bernice). In retrospect, between the declines of both DW and "The Golden Girls," it really felt like the end of an era for series with large gay followings. "Seinfeld" also proves correct the theory that audience familiarity plays the largest part in any, long-running show's success, as the general consensus is that the quality of the show suffered when Larry David left as showrunner.

Lucas Horton would be a smart choice only if you accept that Bryan Dattilo is irreplaceable, which I do not.

I doubt it. Frankly, in order for shows like "Caroline in the City" and "Suddenly Susan" to have been successful elsewhere on the lineup, they would have first needed to bring up the level of writing to that of "Frasier" or "Seinfeld." But that was never going to happen when all the producers and network saw was that the shows were retaining a sizable enough portion of the audience from their lead-ins. (Never mind that that had more to do with viewers' laziness than the shows' actual quality.) Which says so much about this country that...never mind, that's for another thread.

It counts, although the deck was stacked against Travis, thanks to some really atrocious writing.

And I'm sure Melissa Reeves would agree.

Poor Iris. As far as anyone knows, she's still languishing in prison.

True, Emily Benson wasn't some innocent bystander. Nevertheless, murder is murder, regardless of the person BEING murdered.

Exactly. But, you're basing that on your feelings toward Michael Damian and not on anything that Bill Bell actually built into the character. Was MD ever convincing in Danny's relationships with Christine or Phyllis (or Patty or Traci or Lauren)? No. However, Bell never intended for us to think it was because Danny was actually gay.

Agree. For example: I could buy Esther (also on Y&R) being a lesbian, since I don't think the show has ever explored her beyond her being Kay's longtime maid and confidante (ONS with Tiny, the Plumber notwithstanding). And I could buy her gradually developing an unrequited love for Jill. But if you told me that Jill decided one afternoon to reciprocate Esther's feelings.... ETA: Never mind, I forget about Esther's ill-fated relationship with Mark Haining's character.

Whatever it is, I just pray it has nothing at all to do with the never-ending Possession 2.0 saga.

God, no wonder Amanda and Iris hated Rachel for marrying Carl. I mean, how on earth could you ever love someone who literally poisoned a nurse in order to keep your secrets from being exposed?

Yeah, this could be a total fake-out, and we learn that Craig's "other woman" is actually his Peloton instructor (...named Wyatt).

Oh, Ron Carlivati would bring back the Bayou as a male strip joint for sure.

Personally, I don't think a late-in-life coming out storyline would work with an established character. It'd be too much to ask the audience to believe that he or she suddenly has romantic or sexual feelings toward someone of their own gender after god knows how many marriages (and divorces), affairs and one night stands with others from the opposite sex. (And spare me the "Well, that's because he/she was gay all along and just never knew it!" retroactive b.s. If that's the case, then just about every character that's ever been on a soap was gay or bisexual.) Moreover, would TPTB go in this direction, because they truly see this as an aspect of the character that's always been visible, yet (up to that point) unexplored? Or, would they go there, simply because that actor is too fey or too "butch" onscreen and can't convincingly play love scenes with anyone of the opposite gender? Because, if it's the latter, then maybe a simple recast is the answer. Again, if Brad Bell had actually "gone there," I would have had to question the motives behind his choice. It was never stated or implied that Stephanie was gay or bisexual -- and no, the love/hate thing with Brooke does not count! -- and you couldn't have Stephanie suddenly come out as a lesbian just because Susan Flannery made Large Marge look like Little Nell. It'd just be too unbelievable.

Claire Labine wanted to tell a late-in-life coming out story w/ Holly when she was still HW'ing GL, but P&G nixed it.

I won't say I don't love the idea of Craig being gay or bisexual, because I never bought that he would have been attracted to a woman like Nancy in the first place. Regardless of my own feelings, though, I hope Ron Carlivati has enough respect for Craig and Nancy's fans to make it clear that Nancy is not just his "beard"; that Craig does, in fact, love her dearly and has always loved her. Otherwise, this is gonna make Nancy look like a damn joke.

And someone will want to say something, but someone else will threaten them by mentioning Shady Pines. Yeah, I know how the game is played.

And Xander performs a "Magic Mike" routine while Will, Sonny and Leo dress as their favorite female character on "Knots Landing". It's gonna make even the devil's eyes bleed.

The Antichrist would never wear that much lip gloss.

"Like glitter through the hourglass, so are the Gays of Our Lives." But, think of all the terrific "Golden Girls" references we'll get between Craig and his new bf!