Khan

Frankly, I was too creeped out by Doug Hutchison's presence to invest much in Sebastian.

Now I understand why some think she and Spinelli made (and still make) such a cute couple! SPINMAX FOREVER!!

On the one hand, I think you've made a pretty solid argument. But, on the other hand, I'm not sure Peter Dunne or even Joe Wallenstein would've hired someone like Penny Peyser to play Amanda, or Melinda Culea to play Paula, or (God help us) Wendy Fulton to play Jean. Casting choices made under their regimes were far agreeable to me than many who were cast during the Lechowicks' budget mode era.

Poor Erica, so willing to believe Brandon would drop everything, including his wife, to be with her, lol.

It doesn't surprise me that she was an ATWT fan. I've found that many creative types (actors, writers, directors, etc.) gravitate either toward the P&G shows or the ABCD ones. As a longtime online friend once remarked, "People who like to read [classic literature]...also like ATWT and GL."

I don't think it's difficult to come up with storylines as long as you can write from character and not from a need to chase trends or to beat the competition. Unfortunately, the "suits" don't see it the same way, lol.

What can I say? I had a little extra time to kill.

I can't even begin to process the news. My mind is absolutely reeling right now. I just...I can't.

To hell with the fact that VI is a Trumper who's been on Y&R before. I'd bring him back today, and as a brand new character, too. And I still love the fact that Taylor Thompson allegedly went to the ladies' room and never returned. I mean, it's probably not true, but if ever an exit was a fitting and proper one for a useless character...!

Skye: "How could you lie to me like that, Mother? If Grandfather were here -- " Tracy: "He is not. Your. Grandfather. So you can stop calling him that and talking about him like you've known him your whole life, which you have not!" (At least, that's how it always plays in my mind.)

"In America, you practice social distancing. In Soviet Russia, socialists distance themselves from you!"

I still make jokes about her just popping up all over the network. ("Tonight, on a very special 'Dharma & Greg'....").

I was supposed to be the TMK. Bob Guza said I had the best motivation to kill those people, as I hated every single character on the show at that time. Alas, contract negotiations fell through. #nowitcanbetold

Trying to stretch one lousy retcon over three separate shows was madness and made the story itself more convoluted than it needed to be. At this point, I'm not even sure that Skye is actually Rae's daughter. That's how confused I am about the whole damn thing, lol.

I can't remember who was HW'ing DAYS at that point - maybe it was Gary Tomlin and Christopher Whitesell - but whoever it was, they were setting her up to fail with that ridiculous story about the elephant statue.

At the time, when I heard that SJB was off DAYS, I thought, "God, that poor girl can't catch a break!". IIRC, she had already tried to move past GH and Carly with jobs at ATWT, B&B and even some primetime show (although, I can't remember which one). Each time, however, she and the role didn't seem to work out, and for reasons that were never exactly clear. In light of the #MeToo allegations she made against Les Moonves, though, I have to wonder whether he didn't play some part in tanking her DAYS job as well.

It also didn't help that Miranda, whom Bob Guza had created (?), was introduced either after he left the first time or was about to leave (I can't remember which). IIRC, that was one of the many balls that Richard Culliton dropped when he took over as HW.

I won't say too much about the actor - because, frankly, most casting choices on DAYS mystify me - but I do believe that how you introduce a character, especially one who has ties to one of your show's main families (even if we've never seen them or have heard about them before) - can really make or break you. To be more blunt: don't show me Doug III for the first time on the lam and right on the heels of his grandfather's death, when you haven't so much as kept me up to date on where Dougie LeClair has been all these years or what he's been up to. That's a surefire way to make me hate the kid from the start.

Corinne was supposed to become a new, regular character for AMC - Lorraine Broderick reportedly created her and that whole Jamaica storyline in order to compete with DAYS - but someone must've realized a voodoo priestess living in Pine Valley was just a bridge too far.

To this day, I'm pissed that DAYS (and Hogan Sheffer) would even attempt to make a Horton a villain. They're Hortons! They can be...conflicted, but they can't have an out-and-out villain in their clan. It'd be like turning a Hughes on ATWT into a villain (which, oops, Hoagy tried that one, too). Believe it or not, I thought Camille's storyline was one of Megan McTavish's more inspired ideas on AMC (although, given her history, that's probably not saying much, lol). True, the story was convoluted and unpleasant, but I'd seen MMT do worse. Nevertheless, I agree that the casting sunk any chance of that story working at all.

I just don't know what the point was in bringing her back. Especially when she's divorced now from Nico and there wasn't a chance in Hell of Maurice Benard returning anytime soon.

I feel watching or rewatching "Passions" should be like one of those online casino games where you collect money or "coins" for each level you pass.

TBH, when I saw who was playing John, I was leery. I still remembered Garrett M. Brown from a really awful sitcom, "What a Country," that aired in first-run syndication for one season in the mid- or late '80's. It was produced by Martin Rips and Joseph Staretski, who had produced "Three's Company;" and it was supposed to be Yakov Smirnoff's big showcase, too. IIRC, Don Knotts joined the cast about halfway through and...well...it was just awful. (It's also where Mike Scully, whom I blame to this day for ruining "The Simpsons," got his start).

I still believe NBC interfered with the show's direction more than Cowen and Lipman are willing to concede - they claim that the network vetoed their story ideas only twice; I'm skeptical about that, lol - and that storylines like the one with Trevor was their attempt to turn "Sisters" from a "niche show" that appealed mostly to women to one that would hook in male audiences as well. Oh, and here's a fun (...eh, sort of...?) fact: remember Fern Neuswanger? The overly chatty real estate lady who later became John's singing partner for a time? Turns out, she was played by Mary Donnelly Haskell, the former Miss Mississippi, whose husband, Sam, was Cowen and Lipman's agent (he also was Pamela K. Long, Dolly Parton and Kathie Lee Gifford's agent, I believe; and later, the head of the Miss America organization); and whose son, Sam Jr., committed suicide while awaiting preliminary sentencing for killing and dismembering his wife and in-laws in 2023.

I agree! Years ago, I read Jeffrey Stepakoff's memoir; and in it, he talks about his stint on "Sisters." (Stepakoff, by the way, is the writer/producer who supposedly "saved" "Dawson's Creek" by coming up with the Pacey/Joey kiss, as well as the guy who talked about the time The WB's head of programming (and multiple P&G soap vet) John Litvack referred to Michelle Williams as a "chipmunk-cheeked c*nt"). In so many words, he said Cowen and Lipman had a very campy sense of humor that didn't always work on the show. Even in the beginning, when you've got John Whitsig, singing karaoke to his sick child in his baseball cap and bathrobe, you're like, "No, this is not on the same level as 'thirtysomething'," lol. It might not be a full-blown soap, like KL from S4 onward, but it ain't no searing family drama either. It's just (bad) camp, redeemed by the amazing chemistry shared among the four leads.