Khan

ICAM!!

IIRC, the issue wasn't with Elaine Princi being forced out and RS returning, per se, as it was with HOW Strasser was being asked to play Dorian now. Even when she returned in 1991 or thereabouts, there were complaints that she was OTT and a marked contrast from her original run. (I think it was Marlena Delacroix who complained that even Strasser's big, red locks were OTT, lol). Again, though, it wasn't necessarily her fault - at least, I didn't think it was. She was just playing what was written for her; and what was written for her wasn't anywhere near as subtle as what Sam Hall or Peggy O'Shea had written for her in the '80's.

IA. You're not alone in your thinking, @Reverend Ruthledge. The first seasons of DALLAS, DYNASTY and FC were probably their best, if only because they adhered the most to their creators' intentions. They weren't being forced to "glam up" yet, so more attention was paid to developing characters and so forth. KL's first season was good, too, but the limitations in David Jacobs' original "Scenes from a Marriage x 4" concept become apparent almost right away. For one thing, the inclusion of Gary and Val throws the rest of the ensemble off-balance, with Kenny and Ginger getting cheated out of better stories. For another, as John Pleshette pointed out in that online interview, it gets really difficult to get the four couples to interact realistically when, IRL, neighbors aren't so involved in each other's lives.

I'd say KL went full-blown soap opera starting with S4, with Gary and Val's marriage imploding over her discovery of his affair with Abby. S2 attempted a soap-ish approach, but I don't think it was successful, which is why S3 became a sort of mix of self-contained episodes and ongoing storylines. Even at the start of S4, KL doesn't really feel like the KL we all came to know and love until the final moments of what would become, IMO, a pivotal episode in KL's run. (I won't say anymore, so you won't be spoiled, lol).

Honestly, you'll go INSANE trying to piece together all things Wolfbridge, lol.

DAYS has always been soap opera's answer to "Maury," lol.

I agree with @Vee, too. IDK why people are always surprised whenever actors on long-running TV series or movies admit that they don't always get along, when 1) these people are artists at the end of the day, and artists are nothing if not temperamental; and 2) "everyday" people don't always get always along with their co-workers either. I say, as long as they showed up on time and prepared and they didn't bore the audience, I really don't care what happens anymore BTS.

And my petty ass is still laughing about that, lol.

Between this and that train business, Y&R desperately wants to turn the clock back to 1976.

I'm sure I've read somewhere that the season was supposed to end with Gary's "death," but that once CBS extended KL's episode order for the season, we got the cliffhanger at the Belmar Hotel instead. The Wolfbridge Group reminds me of those conspiracy films from the '70's where you had one character (in KL's case, Mack) taking on a shady organization whose motives aren't entirely clear, except you know that they're "bad news" and that whatever they intend to do will have far-reaching consequences on the public at large. I think FC tried something similar with Richard Channing and the Thirteen, but that story got bogged down with so much Golan-Globus-esque theatrics that the entire storyline looks cheap and tawdry today.

Me, too! Your reviews are fantastic, @dc11786!

ICAM!!

I agree. I mean, Betty also worked for years on "The Mary Tyler Moore Show;" and from what I've heard, neither MTM nor the rest of her cast and crew were the type to put up with c**ts (although, I do recall reading about some tense rehearsals over on the "Rhoda" set, lol).

Ironically, that was the first storyline on AMC that I hated from beginning to end, and I'd been watching the show, either with my mom or by myself, since 1981 or 2. To me, it was just beyond the pale that Janet could deceive so many folks like that, even though it'd been established that she and Natalie were not identical twins.

KZ: "Well, I've got the hair like Patti Labelle's, might as well go all the way and take off the shoes, too!"

Thanks, @DRW50, for the tag!!

ICAM. There aren't too many shows that hold up as well 40+ years later, but MSW is one that does; and I think that's because it never chased any trends. Instead, MSW set out only to entertain, and they did that very, very well.

Why am I only now hearing about what happened in L.A., lol?

There's a lot you don't need if you have the writing. You don't even need large casts! You could make do with a cast of 12-18 actors if the writing is there.

Frank Valentini is not a well person.

If you think about it, DALLAS and DYNASTY grew stale right about the same time, even if the ratings were slow to reflect that. FC and KL, on the other hand, tried to stay fresh, but KL was way more successful at it, I think, than FC. (That [!@#$%^&*] with The Thirteen does not hold up well, lol).

I've said it before, and I'll say it again (and again): CBS should have extended Angela Lansbury the courtesy of going out on HER terms, not theirs. The network, Universal and Corymore all should've sat down together before the start of the last season and discussed how to ensure that MSW would go out with a bang. Leave it on Sunday nights, of course, but really pull out some stops: big name guest stars (Frank Sinatra and Elizabeth Taylor immediately spring to mind), more on-location/international shoots, maybe convince Peter S. Fischer and William Link to return as consultants, you name it. But give her and the show the dignity they were due. I do, too, but that's why I love her so much. She had every right to call him and the rest of the network out, but didn't, because she was simply too classy to do that. God bless her.

LOL!!

Larry Wolek had the worst luck with Karens, lol.