Khan

Thanks, @Vee, for the link. I think I might have come across those interviews in the past, but I'm not 100-percent sure. Regardless, Larry Mollin's comments re: the Andrea situation pretty much confirm or reinforce my suspicions. I never suspected that they hated Gabrielle and wanted her gone, but I could tell from what I was seeing that what was happening ON-screen was being dictated by stuff that was happening OFF-screen.

Agree. There are times when it's all-too-apparent that storylines and such are being driven by BTS agendas. To me, Andrea's marginalization was one of those times.

Fred Silverman was an idiot.

Thanks much, @Paul Raven and @hendersonite! It seems kind of...pointless (sorry) to have this "Joey" character pull a knife on Tony if you're going to have Tony succumb to a heart attack anyway. I mean, why not just have Joey fatally wound Tony? It's sort of like what Chekhov said about the gun: if you're going to introduce in the first act, it better go off in the third. (Or...something like that.)

If, by "interesting," you mean, everyone watches with baited breath for the moment Brenda (and not Jill) literally has a Mary Hartman-like nervous breakdown in the middle of a scene, then okay.

I know, but what I'm saying is, there were OTHER scenes that could have been cut "for time," but probably weren't, because TPTB felt those scenes were more "compelling." Exactly. We don't need another scene of Ben and Ciara sitting on a bed, being all lovey-dovey with the bun in her oven, and totally ignoring the fact that neither has a damn job to support the little brat-to-be. They're even LESS important to this show than that scene upthread with John and Marlena.

I'm always reluctant to place the majority of blame on Pam Long's shoulders. I've heard from various sources over the years that the elimination and/or marginalization of certain characters and families were not really her doing, but Gail Kobe's and P&G's. They -- and not necessarily Pam, or her co-head, Jeff Ryder -- were the ones who wanted to dump the Bauers and others, because they felt those characters to be passe in the era of glitzier shows like DALLAS and DYNASTY.

Would someone remind me (and others) the circumstances surrounding Tony's death? Also, who was writing the show at that point? From the looks of things, that scene must have been in the actual stairway at CBS. I love the fact that music was used very sparingly. Nowadays, the music would absolutely intrude on such a scene to the point that it takes you OUT of the scene rather than put you in it. And that last shot of Bob and Jo walking down (I assume) the hospital hallway and past those swinging double doors? *chef's kiss* Thanks for sharing, @Joseph! I can't wait to see what else has been uploaded on that channel!

I dunno, whenever I hear about a proposed TV series or movie set in NOLA, or any city or town in the South, I get the willies. Like, I just know the one, token Black character is gonna be an older woman who, like, wears 38 layers of junk jewelry and is always threatening to put roots on people. Call it "In the Heat of the Night" Syndrome, if you wish.

I guess I shouldn't ask why TPTB cut that scene? I mean: no, it wasn't the most well-written or well-acted scene ever; and if you're gonna HAVE a scene that's just two people sitting on a couch, you should do more with them than just have them recap. (Sorry, Ronny C., you really should've known better, lol.) But, the fact that THAT scene gets cut and NOT the 122nd one about JoDevil fencing, plotting with his dead grandpa's portrait or generally getting moist about Gabi, says so much about why this genre is being lowered into the ground while the remaining fans throw roses on its' casket.

FOX/Linda Gottlieb: "We're gonna do something different with this show! We're gonna do a soap opera that appeals primarily to men!" NBC/MTM/Steven Bochco:

Agree. But, hey, I guess bringing up old [!@#$%^&*] with Kim Cattrall is a lot less work than putting out an actual, decent show! It ain't 2001 anymore. Kim Cattrall has moved on. Darren Star has moved on. The majority of us who once gaf about anything regarding these folks have moved on. It's only the fading SJP and her posse who can't or won't give up the proverbial ghost. So what do those idiots do? They come up with this show. This shitty show that, IMO, has done more to ruin the overall SATC brand than the two movies COMBINED. I'm sure all the delusional queens out there who actually think life was better when Dubya was still president love revisiting these narcissistic bitches; but, like I said, the rest of us have moved on.

Agree. If I were going to pair Bert with anyone (besides back with Bill), it would've been with Henry Chamberlain. I really and truly believe there was room enough for ALL the families: the Bauers, the Chamberlains, the Lewises (and Shaynes), the Marlers, the Norrises and Thorpes, the Reardons, the Spauldings. It would have required the most delicate of balances, but it could have been done. What can I say? I loved all of GL. Even the stuff I wasn't around for. Even the stuff most people tend to hate. I just try to pretend everything that happened after '95 or so didn't, lol.

? ? ?

You know, this wouldn't be happening if Y&R was even halfway interesting anymore.

In retrospect, thank GOD that show never got off the ground.

Exactly. Of course, you all know how I feel about telling this kind of story at all. But, I will say that having Marlena become possessed a second time was, well, redundant. Why couldn't the devil have possessed John this time around? Yup, and I think that's a very dangerous message to send to the audience, too. So, IOW, the devil is like COVID: some get possessed and feel little to no physical effects, while others aren't so lucky.

Part of me suspects Ron Carlivati is sabotaging this particular story 1) because he didn't come up with it first and 2) because it's outside even his tacky and tasteless wheelhouse. And then another part of me's like, "N***a, please."

Another one for GL: 1977. The year the show expands to 60 minutes, and also the year when then-HW's Bridget and Jerome Dobson introduce the Spauldings, a family that would dominate the show in years to come.

At the end of the day, the majority of Americans don't care about what the (right-leaning) media cares about. It's like what Bill Clinton said back in the dark ages: "It's the economy, stupid." All that matters is whether folks have jobs, and whether those jobs pay well and deliver benefits for themselves and their loved ones. Period.

Ugh. Don't remind us.

To pull off a storyline like Possession 2.0, you needed a HW who didn't have what Victoria Rowell once described on an episode of "Diagnosis: Murder" as the "plotting abilities of a wombat." And I say that as someone who didn't care for this [!@#$%^&*] when JER wrote it.

You know, I appreciate these online soap chats and reunions, but I feel like the well is soon gonna run dry, and we're gonna end up with "exclusive interviews" with some dude who was once an under-five in a scene on LOVE IS A MANY SPLENDORED THING.

I wouldn't be surprised if Mr. Never Let 'Em See You Sweat believed younger actresses were the key to longevity on his show. And while I appreciated that OLTL eventually reunited Bo and Nora, to me, it was never the same.

Yeah, Todd's bomb was, well, a bomb. But I still love how Pam Long and her writers turned the situation into a real pressure-cooker for everyone who was at the cabin. I was literally on the edge of my seat (for what was probably the last time as an OLTL viewer). I just wish the culprit's identity had been more shocking.