Khan

Of course, we would be remiss not to mention the feud between Lana Turner and Jane Wyman on the set of FALCON CREST. From what I have read over the years, their feud stretched all the way back to their days in the "studio system;" and apparently, things got so tense between them on FC that whenever the two actresses had to share scenes, they would film each actress' side separately, then splice them together in editing. RE: Nicollette Sheridan -- I know I've read that the other, older actresses on KNOTS LANDING (Michele Lee, Joan Van Ark, Donna Mills, etc.) weren't all that friendly toward her, but I chalk that up more to the fact that she was younger and receiving a large amount of story and screen time rather quickly. Not exactly apropos, but I'd love, love, LOVE to see someone (besides Ryan [!@#$%^&*] Murphy) do a movie or mini-series about the Lana Turner/Johnny Stompanato relationship and his death at the hands of her daughter, Cheryl Crane.

I'd still love to know whether Bill Bell had any plans for Tommy that never came to fruition. If Kitty was always meant to die, then what, if anything, did he have in mind for Tommy beyond bringing him back from the dead and having him unwittingly fall in love with his own sister?

A triangle involving Mac, Alice and Steve will never make sense to me.

Same. Tom suffers a stroke, and Alice and Marie fall out over how best to care for him. Where on Earth CAN you go with such a story? Was Marie going to fight Alice in court to have Tom declared incompetent, or what? Perhaps -- and this is just speculation on my part -- the idea was to place Julie in harm's way in order to facilitate a Doug/Julie reunion. But, heck, those two had their hands full with Lee and Brent and whatever THEY were up to. Adding Kellam and the mystery of his wife's death to the mix is just plain overkill (no pun intended). Gawd, even Dena Higley wasn't this messy, lol.

I don't even understand Kellam appointing Marlena the "staff psychologist," let alone spokesperson. Is it common practice for political campaign staffs to have staff psychologists? Was Nina Laemmle attempting to foreshadow Marlena's rape? If so, I think she's doing an awkward and clumsy job, especially when she's muddying the waters by having Kellam become...infatuated with Julie. Perhaps, Julie was intended to be Kellam's victim, but they changed course (perhaps, because Julie was already a victim of sexual assault). In my mind, Tommy relocated to Maine, remarried and legally adopted his new wife's child or children.

Well, I could take or leave Jessica, although I definitely don't see WHY they had to make her Marie's long-lost daughter. (Did Marie even NEED a long-lost child? Or an illicit, past affair that we've never heard about before?). But, Alex...? Like I said upthread, Alex is entirely too one-dimensional for me. Even his scenes w/ Marie, the one woman whom he allegedly loves for realz, come across as smarmy and unbelievable -- and now that Kellam and Max have him over a metaphorical barrel with all the dirt they've supposedly dug up on him, he's become kind of a joke as well. IMO, Alex needed a much better backstory than that of sleazy, masochistic lover and murderer. He needed a real, rootable and relatable motivation beyond simply being a bastard. For instance, he could have come originally from a blue-collar neighborhood in Salem, living with his mother, a homemaker; his brother, Ha(r)ley; and his father, an employee at Anderson Manufacturing. When Alex and Ha(r)ley were young, their father was killed in an on-the-job accident. Subsequently, their mother suffered a nervous breakdown and was institutionalized, and Alex and Ha(r)ley were sent away to live with relatives. Even though Anderson was officially cleared of all negligence regarding Alex's father's death, Alex has grown up holding the company, and Bob Anderson in particular, responsible; and now that he's older, and wealthy, Alex returns to Salem to stage a hostile takeover at Anderson and avenge the destruction of his family.

Donna really does remind me of OLTL's Tina: a "bad" girl, who isn't so much "bad" as she is impulsive, and prone to do the wrong thing but for the right reasons. She definitely could have been interesting in a pairing with Tod Chandler. TBH, I'm struggling to find the value in Alex and Jessica OR in making them integral parts to Marie's newly created backstory.

Careful, Ron might hear you.

I'm not sure about the late '90's, but, yep, P&G nixed Pam Long and Jeff Ryder's plans to expand the Spauldings via Brandon's Barbados family. Ryder told me as much, via email.

IMO, Vicky's story suffered from not having her mother (Alan and Alex's half-sister) there to act as a buffer of sorts between Vicky and the rest of the Spauldings. If nothing else, we needed scenes of conflict between Victoria, who respects her half-siblings and does her best to keep peace between Brandon's two families, and Vicky, who resents her side of the family's status as Brandon's dirty little secret and fights for equality and legitimacy within the Spaulding empire.

Granted, this is a nit-pick, but I don't understand why Nina Laemmle made Kellam Chandler a former, unscrupulous governor/ambassador who was running again for the job. I mean, he didn't HAVE to be Salem's ex-governor in order for his story to work. He could have been just some wealthy businessman who decided to run for office (like another, real life businessman-cum-politician who shall remain nameless). Better yet, Kellam could have backed Don for governor instead; and as Kellam and his right-hand man, Maxwell Jarvis, employ all sorts of dirty tricks to get Don elected, Don finds himself caught between his political ambitions and his basic, core integrity. And for God's sake, why are Kellam and Max tied in with the goings-on at Anderson? Don't we have enough skulduggery going on with Alex (and Chris)? Must Kellam and Max have a hand in EVERYTHING going on in Salem? This is like a run-up to Stefano DiMera's introduction, except it isn't nearly as subtle or as entertaining. Thanks again, @beebs!

One name: Maureen Bauer.

So, I'm confused. Jordan and Bill say Laura has made a full recovery; yet, many years later, when Jaime Lyn Bauer's Laura appears for the first time, she's catatonic. Did Laura relapse? Did they say as much on-air? Or did DAYS just ignore history again? Agree. Again, just like with Alex and Lee, Kellam and Max are evil for evil's sake. No nuances, no layers, no motivations beyond just being bad because that's what the plot requires. Maybe I'm alone, but I just don't like blatantly evil characters. Characters don't all have to get along with each other, but having these OTT supervillain types just takes away the sense of realism that's needed for soaps to work.

No need to apologize, @marceline. Many of us are feeling the same way. I just hope you are taking care of yourself today.

Agree. Especially the theme music. It makes me feel like I'm about to watch a "Trapper John M.D." spinoff, for some reason.

IIRC, didn't Michael Dietz join the show as nuA-M right around the time of his and Lucy's wedding? So, right there, you had two big strikes against the story: the ridiculousness of the wedding's locale, and the fact that it wasn't Rick Hearst playing A-M anymore.

I'd say the same about Maggie. Her endless Daniel-propping ruined her for me. Now, when I watch, it's strictly for Doug and Julie. Reading all the synopses, I feel like Bill Bell had some hope that Tommy and Kitty would provide a ton of conflict and drama, but it seems like Kitty was written into a corner almost immediately. Is there anything keeping DAYS from introducing Jessica's daughter and Marie's granddaughter? Or has it been established that Nick was an only child?

Honestly, some of these exits "read" like bad fanfic. As eager as TPTB appeared to be in ridding themselves of these characters, I'm surprised they didn't have Stephanie mow them all down with her car on the way to getting herself killed.

I'm still bracing myself for the possibility of Trump burning everything down -- literally AND figuratively -- on his way out.

Well, then, I guess it's back to AOL chat rooms for right-wing nuts, lol.

Honestly, I hadn't realized it until after I had posted the idea, lol.

One of my favorite writers from "Maude." RIP Mr. Hauck. You and your talent will be missed.

"Larry and Linda Larkin" sound like names of guest stars on "Three's Company."

Maybe, but I don't see any real chemistry between Suzanne Rogers and Ed Mallory. Now, I DO see chemistry between her and Jed Allan.

Someone must've cut his cocaine with the virus.