Khan

I don't think people realize how integral music was to the storytelling on DAYS in the '70's and '80's, and how soulless the show has been without it ever since. RIP Mr. Davich, and thank you so much for the contributions you made, not just to DAYS, but to GH and PC as well.

Oh, Lord. That ensemble is giving off MAJOR Patsy Cline vibes.

Does Y&R need a lot of sets to tell good stories, though? Does ANY show need a lot of sets to tell good stories? Honestly, I'd be okay with Y&R having a DAYS-like budget if the trade-off was having a halfway interesting show for a change.

Years ago, I saw her on an episode of "Mannix" and said, "Well, now we know why she eventually transitioned into producing," lol.

Which tracked with Brian Frons' stated vision for AMC as daytime's answer to "Sex and the City," a show about four, white, self-involved women from NYC with highly disposable incomes, which had absolutely zero in common with AMC. (If you wanted SATC on your network's lineup, Mr. Frons, you should've just aired the reruns and then called it a day). I always break it down like this: you watch DALLAS and KL for the acting and the writing; DYNASTY, for the wardrobe and hair; and FC, for the simple fact that you can't find your remote.

I still can't believe FX spent so much money on a series that is so dull. I don't care that it's more respectful to the James Clavell novel than the original miniseries was, or to Asian culture in general. None of that means anything if your audience is bored. People always want to blame the shrinking across-the-board ratings on how much the Internet has changed our viewing habits and so forth. Frankly, I think that's bullshit. I think any show could pull down DALLAS-like numbers even today, it's just a matter of telling stories that people want to see and leaving the people who tell those stories the hell alone.

Frankly, I've watched only a little of "The Bay"; and what I watched, I didn't like.

I agree. They're not sustainable economically, and they're not exactly luring in audiences either, no matter HOW many big names they attach to these projects.

Yup. I love Tracy, but let's not forget that she is the same Tracy Angelica Quartermaine who left HER OWN FATHER to die on the floor just so he couldn't change his will. She really can't preach ethics to anybody, lol.

Believe me, I called the show just that on many an occasion, lol. There really was a point when I would watch an episode and think, "You'd have to be certifiable to think this [!@#$%^&*] is any good, or is in keeping with what AMC is supposed to be about." And that was BEFORE Chuck Pratt hit the scene.

Ironically, I think Gillian Spencer's Niki sounds more like what Erika Slezak's Niki became in the '90's and '00's, just without the tendency to kill, lol.

I think her reverence came from being on THE DOCTORS and realizing how invaluable James Pritchett, Lydia Bruce, David O'Brien and Jada Rowland had been to that show. They, along with Elizabeth Hubbard, were the only reasons why anyone was still watching TD when NBC cancelled it, because God knows the storylines and production values weren't bringing them in, lol! That - Bert's discomfort over H.B.'s wealth - would have been a major source of tension in their relationship. Josh and Trish would've adored her as a stepmom, though, since they had known her the longest and were more down-to-earth than the rest of the family (which I attribute to Martha's influence), while Billy might've felt H.B. was trying once again to replace Saint Martha.

And that's because Miss Martha literally walked on water!

Frankly, there was a point when AMC was asking too damn much from everyone, let alone from people who'd watched the show for years and years, lol.

I'm sure she was in a few "Law & Order"'s back in the day, lol. I'd love to know the name of the actor who played the other doctor speaking to Kate. I know I saw him in a bunch of commercials BITD ('80's and '90's), but I never learned his name.

Yes, but I wouldn't have done the Liza/Tad affair. I didn't think Liza would have gone back to the guy who'd once slept with her mother.

And about a year before, well, this:

I think that's the major difference between daytime and primetime soaps. In daytime, you have the luxury of writing and playing scenes that don't necessarily advance the plot but do go deeper into the characters, revealing their mindsets AS they're dealing with their circumstances; whereas, in primetime, the only real way you can know who or what the characters are is through their outward, plot-dependent actions. Peter Dunne and Richard Gollance, though, were masters at crafting scenes on KNOTS LANDING that, on the surface, seemed very vertical, yet were also pushing the plot along at the same time. I, myself, might have tried pairing her with Tad, and Philip Brown's Buck with Dixie. All I really remember about Rayfield/Cascio after so many years is their Asian-American character, Henry, and how many scenes with him seemed to take place in his family's Chinese restaurant. (Better a restaurant, I guess, than a donut shop or the dry cleaners, lol). In general, I'm leery of stories that take place in Heaven (or Hell, for that matter), simply because nobody stays dead on soaps anymore; and if an actor were to return to their show as their presumed-dead character, you have to pretend like you didn't see them before as a ghost intervening in their loved ones' lives (hi, Darnell/Jesse!).

I think it was a shame that they chose to kill her off rather than find a place for her on AMC, as I think Lauren-Marie Taylor would've blended very well with AMC's cast.

In a way, this conversation about the streamers reminds me of what FOX, The WB and UPN were like in their early days. In all three cases, you had a fledgling, upstart network that was offering shows that weren't awards magnets or critical darlings, but WERE helping them to establish viewer bases (usually, among those who felt ignored by the Big Three or Four) that could help them to afford more quality shows down the road. I mean, as awful as some of The WB's earliest shows were - and let's not mince words here, The WB's programming was worse than horseshit in the beginning - on the other hand, there would've been no "Gilmore Girls" or "Buffy, the Vampire Slayer" without them. (Same goes for all the miserable shows we had to suffer through on FOX, including that wretched "90210" and even worse "Melrose Place," before we got "The Simpsons" and "The X-Files"). I think that's what all these streaming services should've done. Instead of launching right away with prestigious, star-heavy projects that were gonna cost tons of money that they didn't exactly have, with no guarantees that the audiences for them would be there, they should've started much, much smaller, perhaps with shows and movies that could've been produced on shoestring budgets, but were targeted toward demographics that felt underserved by the networks and cable.

For once, I'm not going to say anything positive or negative about JG or his jumping over to BTG. I'm just going to wish him well, lol. At the end of the day, however, it comes down to these three truths: 1. It isn't about WHAT you know, but about WHO you know, that gets you ahead in any business. 2. It isn't about hiring the best and brightest, but about hiring the easiest to work with and the most efficient. 3. If you really want to know why certain individuals in this industry keep getting hired, despite their abysmal track records, you actually need to take a look in the mirror. They keep getting hired, because they know how to deliver to a generation of fans who've been conditioned not to be able to tell good from bad. (Anyone who remembers when these shows still would "write up" to the viewers knows what I'm talking about).

Remember when I said - last year, I believe, before BTG had premiered - that Jamey Giddens was joining the writing staff?

Not me! I still say the bitch faked her cancer!

ICAM!!

IMO, GH is in the same boat as Y&R. It's coasting on the fumes of what worked 20+ years ago. But what's ironic here is that you'd think a show with 435 regular cast members wouldn't feel as creatively spent as GH does these days.