Khan

Thirty-six years later, Dick Ebersol finally gets his wish.

Way back in the dark ages, when Paul and Christine were freshly on the outs, I thought it would have been fantastic if she'd learned she was pregnant. So much juicy drama could have sprung from that plot twist: Christine finally becoming a mother, but without the man she loved...Paul, torn between the pregnant Christine and the also pregnant Isabella...a returning Danny pretending to be the father, so that Paul won't feel the need to return to Christine just for the baby's sake (or so Christine reasons to Danny)...and Isabella, Michael and Phyllis all suspicious as hell about the whole thing.

For sure, if THE DOCTORS had survived past 1982, I could see Toni returning and throwing a wrench into Mike and Kit's relationship...thanks to the now-grown child she had by him while everyone believed she was dead.

That's the problem with many love triangles on soaps, I think. No one seems to know how to write one without making someone look like a bastard or psycho.

You know the character's a dud when they have to pull a split personality out of thin, damn air. Exactly. You could tell the writers were attempting to fill out Alex's history and give him more ties to the canvas without really taking into consideration whether those ties made total sense. I mean, the circumstances under which Alex and Marie supposedly met were super-flimsy and logic-defying -- Marie Horton getting mixed up with hooligans who were into drugs and S&M, because she was so down on herself?? No way! -- and in order for all the offscreen stuff to have occurred (running off to NYC, meeting Alex, getting pregnant w/ Jessica, giving birth, giving up Jessica for adoption, and then joining the convent), Marie would have needed to be away from Salem and off-canvas a lot longer than she actually was, too. I think it would have been better if Alex and (Sister) Marie had met for the first time IN Salem, then gradually fell in love (as Alex struggled with his venal nature and believed that Marie would be better off without him, while Marie struggled both with her vows as a nun and her love for a "bad" man) without the needless backstory. Jessica could have been just a young, orphaned girl whom the two loved LIKE a daughter, and whose relationships with her could have kept them tethered to each other as they tried (in vain) to stay apart. That kind of thwarted, romantic yearning has always been DAYS' bread-and-butter. If written and played right, Alex and Marie could have been another Doug and Julie, or Bill and Laura. It says a lot that we saw neither hide nor hair of him the entire his son was in Salem. Because, God knows, the writers weren't gonna do it!

So, let me get this straight: Marlena is possessed by the devil (...again...), but instead of restraining her and performing an exorcism on her (...again...), they're just letting her run all over town like it's no big damn deal? This isn't the same as Viki/Niki, Ron; and even then, if someone has been taken over by their alter ego, and others are hip to it, he/she should be confined to a mental institution until their personalities have integrated.

That might not be such a bad idea. I've often wondered whether RH could have had more success in primetime anyway, since it was always grittier than other soaps.

Frankly, they could have axed SB (no offense, SB fans) and used that hour to launch GENERATIONS and another, half-hour soap. SB had its' charms, but I think it was clear by that point that the show was never going to grow beyond its' devoted, cult following. GENERATIONS, with some more guidance, could have achieved more appeal with the AMC/OLTL/GH crowd who enjoy(ed) a mix of the traditional with the different.

I...don't think so. If only Michael Storm had been willing to portray someone other than OLTL's Dr. Larry Wolek, I think he could've been a good replacement for Peter Simon. He certainly would have been better than Richard Van Vleet.

The gown she wore to her nuptials with Trucker wasn't TOO bad, but the dress she wore to her wedding with Jeff reminds me of Celia Weston in the opening credits of "Alice."

Same here, @Wendy.

No doubt, Miss Hall, whom I love dearly, was saying that Ron Carlivati has written the best material for Marlena, just as she says for every HW on DAYS.

Why Andrea Evans isn't gracing DAYS right now with her presence, I'll never know. She's EXACTLY what that godawfully written show needs.

It's kind of like what her former colleague and boss, Al Rabin, said once about producing DAYS. With every scene, he always asked, "What have we shared with the audience?". Rabin, Curtis and the rest of that team were very big on getting to the heart of each scene, so that every emotion at play was palpable for the audience. That's why I loved DAYS back in the '80's, even if it wasn't the same show it had been the decade before.

It's just as well that those ties were de-emphasized, though, because the whole backstory that tied Alex, Jessica and Marie together always felt mechanical and inorganic to me.

Personally, I'd be down for a "Falcon Crest" reboot, because I think it (and "Knots Landing") has a premise that could work today, but I'd be so afraid that it would suffer the same identity crisis that the original series suffered.

I think even David Jacobs admitted in several interviews that "Dallas" was created and developed with Linda Evans in mind. At some point, however, either Jacobs, Michael Filerman and CBS realized she wouldn't be a good fit for the show, or Linda herself came to the same realization. Either way, I don't think I could ever see Linda Evans as Pamela Barnes Ewing. She really was meant for a show like "Dynasty." RE: Victoria Principal -- I agree with those who think she didn't set out to be so hated by her castmates, or the public. I mean, you shouldn't go into any line of work expecting to win friends and influence people. You're there to do the work, so you can pay the bills, keep a roof over your head (and your family's heads, if you have one), food on the table and clothes on everyone's backs. That's it. If you want to party and socialize with others, well, like the song says, that's what friends are for. And I think it was really cruel of fans to expect her to be Andy Gibb's personal savior. Anyone who has battled addiction or knows someone who has battled can tell you that no one can save an addict BUT that addict; and if he or she don't want to be saved, then the only thing you can do as a loved one and bystander is save yourself.

He might have had more successful partnerships with Gloria Monty and Allen Potter at GH and GL, respectively, but I truly believe Robert Calhoun was the best EP Doug Marland ever worked with. (Actually, the same might go for Calhoun's working relationships with Pam Long and Nancy Curlee at GL. The guy was just a damn good producer, period.)

Um, why just those four years? I'd be much more interested in a book that covered the show's entire run and its' overall impact on daytime (and why a show like EON would totally work in modern times).

Well, when you put it THAT way, lol. I dunno. TPTB obviously thought those kinds of stunts would boost the ratings, but I always feel like the energy TPTB put into quick fixes is the same energy that could be put into writing, producing and directing worthwhile, quality drama that will go much further with the audience in the long run.

Judging from all the pictures and synopses, '70's AMC seemed to be really literate.

I don't know whether Wisner Washam could or would have resisted the push toward more gimmicky stories. After all, this is the same WW who has since self-published a novel about the cloning of Jesus. But, I do think he, Agnes Nixon and Lorraine Broderick were well on their way to ushering in a new "golden era" for AMC before Megan McTavish's wacky ass took over.

Oy.

Thanks, @victoria foxton. I think. I really don't know WHAT Mayer/Braxton or their EP, Erwin Nicholson, were thinking with all that.

I think I said the same thing...in 1994. So, was the whole premise just Will goofing on those goofy Hallmark Christmas movies, or what?