Khan

LOL, the classic "dinner bet" letters! Right up there with all the Playboy letters from men who've had random sexual encounters with amputees.

"Dear Penthouse, I NEVER thought it could happen to me, but..."

:-D

Iris and Vivien definitely came before Kay & Esther. In fact, did anyone come before Iris and Vivien? Because, it seems to me they might've been one of the first, if not THE first, maid-employer relationships of its kind.

"The Days of the Week" was definitely inspired by ANOTHER WORLD and SEARCH FOR TOMORROW. ;-)

I remember when he said he wasn't fond of working with Beverlee and that's all he was going to say.

IIRC, Coster said BM had a photographic memory and was very patronizing toward anyone who didn't. On the one hand, that does sound awful. Yet, on the other hand, many daytime actors (hell, many actors in general) were and are notoriously lazy in regards to studying their scripts. BITD, at least, many believed they could "wing it" w/ cue cards, teleprompters, and even hiding their scripts on the set during tapings. Now, I'm not suggesting Coster was/is a lazy actor, or that he's lying about BM (even she told Michael Logan and other interviewers that she could be difficult to work with, especially if she were feeling overworked), but it is food for thought.

"I know I have a complex personality, but very simple needs and I keep them that way."

Same here. Although I don't consider myself lonely (I have, after all, close family and select friends) I decided long ago to live alone, b/c I know I'd be hell to live with. (Just ask my parents, lol.) All I ask for in return are a place of my own (nothing fancy, mind you, just something that's mine) and a chance to make a living at something I can feel proud about.

And a silver fox coat would be nice, too. ;-)

Imagine if Susan Lucci was booked for a commercial or something and ended up playing Cathy Craig on One Life because they "still wanted her."

Oh, man. SL going toe-to-toe w/ Erika Slezak in the Joe/Viki/Cathy triangle. That would've been all kinds of awesome.

I'm sorry, you were saying? ;-)

You know, as harsh as we were toward certain "heroines" on GUIDING LIGHT at the end, I wonder what sort of reaction Kathy and Robin would've received from the audience had there been such a thing as the Internet back then. I heart GL like nothing else in this world, but even I gotta admit their stories seemed irksome (at least, on paper).

Neal Baer was influenced by the movie "Vertigo"? Well, that explains a lot. "Vertigo" is one of those movies where the plot really doesn't stand up to the light of close scrutiny.

Watched Lilimae's first hurrah...Julie Harris played the hellllll out of that character, it's no wonder they wanted her back as a regular. The singing, the screaming, the sly little hints of trouble (nudging Karen to pay the taxi driver), etc. Loved every second of it.

If KNOTS deserves any credit at all for being a more character-driven, "actors' soap," then it's due to the work of four people: Alec Baldwin, William Devane, Constance McCashin and Julie Harris. IMO, they're the only ones who gave consistently interesting and "real" performances. Everyone else just got to be a ham after awhile.

Personally, I've always suspected Morgan Fairchild of being "omnisexual," willing to do whatever with whomever to get ahead. (Of course, you could say the same about many in Hollywood, couldn't you, lol?) Either way, if she's still single, I think it has less to do w/ sexual preference and more to do with the impracticality of it. Why marry, after all, when you're Morgan Fairchild, and you already have all the financial security you need?

Yes, David Cherrill still write for DAYS. Supposedly, he went into retirement after leaving OLTL's writing staff, but Gary Tomlin, w/ whom Cherrill worked on OLTL, ANOTHER WORLD and (I think) SEARCH FOR TOMORROW, coaxed him back.

I was just thinking about this scene today, this is in my top 3 faves from the entire series:

"Please, kids, don't try this at home!"

Suddenly, I feel very ashamed to be a KNOTS fan. Not that the parody wasn't funny, but I had no idea this show could bring that out in people, lol.

He was also KNOTS' best villain, b/c he wasn't a murderer like Chip Roberts; or some corporate bad guy like Mark St. Clair.

For posting the sequence from my all-time favorite KNOTS episode ("Celebration"), alphanguy, you have officially become my favorite post-er. :-D

Probably because I am one of the few posters here who has actually seen the work I discuss and not simply read about it in a book or magazine. I also understand that the "blame" for poor storylines doesn't always fall upon the shoulder of the producer or writer. Most situations are far more complex than the "I didn't like such and such, and so-and-so were the headwriters and producer, so they must be hacks" attitude.

Seriously, there is no need to defend yourself. I just said that very few, if any, have ever complimented Ann Marcus' work as a HW. If you're taking my comments (about this, and/or what I said in regards to Mary Stuart's alleged animosity toward Ann Williams) as a personal affront, please don't, b/c it isn't. It truly isn't.

Season 3 mostly, which is one of my favorite seasons.

See, as much as I love KNOTS LANDING as a whole, for me, KL doesn't truly come alive until S4, w/ the introduction of Ciji Dunne (Lisa Hartman) and Chip Roberts (Michael Sabatino). That's really when they figured out how to balance the character-driven drama that creator David Jacobs wanted with the sort of soapy plotlines which CBS craved.

Okay, back to our regularly scheduled thread. ;-)

Which time? During S3 or S's 13-14?

If Bunim was responsible for that, she did a good thing; however, I think a good deal of the credit goes to the writing of Ann Marcus and acting by the series regulars.

I don't think Bunim was responsible for SFT's improvement in 1975; that credit should go to Bernie Sofronski.

And that's about the first time I've ever heard anyone pay Ann Marcus (or her writing, anyway) a compliment, lol.

From what I understand, poor Ann Williams begged the producers to let her character live.

According to her kids' book, though, Ann Williams told them Mary Stuart was jealous of her b/c of the amount of fan mail she (Williams) always received.

Oh, that's right. I totally blanked on MEB producing SANTA BARBARA, too. (Thanks, Soaplovers, for the info!)

As far as I know, Bunim worked on only three soaps: SEARCH, ATWT and LOVING.

On the one hand, I cannot fault Bunim for wanting to modernize soaps in terms of pacing and production values. However, it seemed as if she believed youth and youth alone could carry them. Other producers - Jacqueline Babbin (AMC), Robert Calhoun (ATWT, GUIDING LIGHT), Erwin "Nick" Nicholson (EDGE OF NIGHT, SEARCH) - knew how to make soaps contemporary w/o alienating veteran actors or their fans. Aside from John Dixon, though, Bunim's ATWT belonged largely to younger and younger characters (and to Steve and Betsy, in particular).

I also read that Mary Ellis Bunim said Lemay was ineffective.

Anyone would be ineffective with Mary-Ellis Bunim as their producer. To me, it's a miracle ATWT told any good stories at all under her watch.

Do you think it was a mistake to kill off Eunice?

If Eunice had died a less violent death - for instance, if she had contracted terminal cancer - viewers would've been upset at first. In time, though, they would've come around. I think what damaged the show in the long run was not that she'd died (although, getting rid of Jo's sister under any circumstances is something I would've thought twice about), but that she'd died under unforgivable circumstances. Although Jennifer ultimately paid for her crimes, she still got off easier than Eunice.

Bridging tow age groups, the writers have put dynamic Val Dufour, as forty-ish lawyer John Wyatt, and Morgan Fairchild, as twenty-ish Jennifer Phillips, into a love triangle with John's wife, Eunice. Val and Morgan are sensational in their scenes. Morgan radiates incredible sexuality without even half-trying.

I wonder if Miss Channel would be as high on this triangle if she knew what was coming...