Khan

At the time, when I heard that SJB was off DAYS, I thought, "God, that poor girl can't catch a break!". IIRC, she had already tried to move past GH and Carly with jobs at ATWT, B&B and even some primetime show (although, I can't remember which one). Each time, however, she and the role didn't seem to work out, and for reasons that were never exactly clear. In light of the #MeToo allegations she made against Les Moonves, though, I have to wonder whether he didn't play some part in tanking her DAYS job as well.

It also didn't help that Miranda, whom Bob Guza had created (?), was introduced either after he left the first time or was about to leave (I can't remember which). IIRC, that was one of the many balls that Richard Culliton dropped when he took over as HW.

I won't say too much about the actor - because, frankly, most casting choices on DAYS mystify me - but I do believe that how you introduce a character, especially one who has ties to one of your show's main families (even if we've never seen them or have heard about them before) - can really make or break you. To be more blunt: don't show me Doug III for the first time on the lam and right on the heels of his grandfather's death, when you haven't so much as kept me up to date on where Dougie LeClair has been all these years or what he's been up to. That's a surefire way to make me hate the kid from the start.

Corinne was supposed to become a new, regular character for AMC - Lorraine Broderick reportedly created her and that whole Jamaica storyline in order to compete with DAYS - but someone must've realized a voodoo priestess living in Pine Valley was just a bridge too far.

To this day, I'm pissed that DAYS (and Hogan Sheffer) would even attempt to make a Horton a villain. They're Hortons! They can be...conflicted, but they can't have an out-and-out villain in their clan. It'd be like turning a Hughes on ATWT into a villain (which, oops, Hoagy tried that one, too). Believe it or not, I thought Camille's storyline was one of Megan McTavish's more inspired ideas on AMC (although, given her history, that's probably not saying much, lol). True, the story was convoluted and unpleasant, but I'd seen MMT do worse. Nevertheless, I agree that the casting sunk any chance of that story working at all.

I just don't know what the point was in bringing her back. Especially when she's divorced now from Nico and there wasn't a chance in Hell of Maurice Benard returning anytime soon.

I feel watching or rewatching "Passions" should be like one of those online casino games where you collect money or "coins" for each level you pass.

TBH, when I saw who was playing John, I was leery. I still remembered Garrett M. Brown from a really awful sitcom, "What a Country," that aired in first-run syndication for one season in the mid- or late '80's. It was produced by Martin Rips and Joseph Staretski, who had produced "Three's Company;" and it was supposed to be Yakov Smirnoff's big showcase, too. IIRC, Don Knotts joined the cast about halfway through and...well...it was just awful. (It's also where Mike Scully, whom I blame to this day for ruining "The Simpsons," got his start).

I still believe NBC interfered with the show's direction more than Cowen and Lipman are willing to concede - they claim that the network vetoed their story ideas only twice; I'm skeptical about that, lol - and that storylines like the one with Trevor was their attempt to turn "Sisters" from a "niche show" that appealed mostly to women to one that would hook in male audiences as well. Oh, and here's a fun (...eh, sort of...?) fact: remember Fern Neuswanger? The overly chatty real estate lady who later became John's singing partner for a time? Turns out, she was played by Mary Donnelly Haskell, the former Miss Mississippi, whose husband, Sam, was Cowen and Lipman's agent (he also was Pamela K. Long, Dolly Parton and Kathie Lee Gifford's agent, I believe; and later, the head of the Miss America organization); and whose son, Sam Jr., committed suicide while awaiting preliminary sentencing for killing and dismembering his wife and in-laws in 2023.

I agree! Years ago, I read Jeffrey Stepakoff's memoir; and in it, he talks about his stint on "Sisters." (Stepakoff, by the way, is the writer/producer who supposedly "saved" "Dawson's Creek" by coming up with the Pacey/Joey kiss, as well as the guy who talked about the time The WB's head of programming (and multiple P&G soap vet) John Litvack referred to Michelle Williams as a "chipmunk-cheeked c*nt"). In so many words, he said Cowen and Lipman had a very campy sense of humor that didn't always work on the show. Even in the beginning, when you've got John Whitsig, singing karaoke to his sick child in his baseball cap and bathrobe, you're like, "No, this is not on the same level as 'thirtysomething'," lol. It might not be a full-blown soap, like KL from S4 onward, but it ain't no searing family drama either. It's just (bad) camp, redeemed by the amazing chemistry shared among the four leads.

$80B to gun down innocent men, women and children? Mama was right: you DO learn something new everyday!

On second thought, maybe pairing Tracy with Cody isn't such a bad idea after all?

Didn't Scotty have a long-lost son (or did I imagine that, lol)? It's a shame they killed him off later on, because he would've been PERFECT in that role.

I could see that. They don't want to be labelled a soap opera, so they downplay or eliminate a lot of the whimsiness that characterized the first three seasons; and instead, they up the grit and the gloom and down with stories about acquaintance rape, troubled teens, assisted suicide, false memory syndrome, etc. "You see, folks? Not a soap!" Except, those are the kinds of stories that soaps thrive on, Mr. Cowen and Mr. Lipman, lol!

I'm always amazed at how they're able to fill enough airtime every episode despite having so many inert characters and storylines. It must be like pulling hair, teeth and everything else just to come up even with one scene for La Femme Josskita that's semi-interesting.

If you have a character marrying her sister's ex-husband, guess what? You're a soap opera, lol! But seriously. Ron Cowen and Daniel Lipman never want you to classify "Sisters" the same way you'd classify, say, KL. To them, it's on the same level as "Family" and "thirtysomething," except...it really isn't, lol. Don't get me wrong, I love the show - well, half of it, I could do without S's 4 through 6 - but it's nowhere near as deep as anything that Edward Zwick and Marshall Herskovitz have produced. Those two would never do a storyline where someone runs a sting operation on the man responsible for their husband's death, or have one sister try and prove the other sister's ex-therapist guilty of medical malpractice.

"Eyes on ICE" sounds like the coolest Duran Duran album ever.

Indeed! (Of course, seeing Melody Thomas Scott sex it up with one of fine, young Black men on this show would be even better, lol).

James Patrick Stuart reminded me of a younger James Mitchell, which was appropriate, given their characters' connection. Make no mistake, though: AMC never had his Will playing Billy Joel tunes on the piano at The Chateau while still insisting he was a villain, lol.

I don't blame her. No one ever got mixed up with Sonny/Jason/Carly and then lived to tell the tale.

LMAO!

Well, that's one way to end a feud, lol.

OMG, has it been 23 years since JKL debuted? I still remember the very first episode. I was living in L.A. at the time and wishing I had attended the taping rather than watching it from my apartment. (Of course, that was before I had heard the stories about audience members being served alcohol and basically throwing up all over the place, lol).

"You were right, Abby. The first Mrs. Ewing never goes away." It just amazes me how much Donna Mills still looks like herself, especially in comparison to JVA and Michele Lee. Whoever her plastic surgeon is, they are a genius and they deserve every penny they've earned and then some. I know they weren't on KL, but I hope Ana-Alicia and Susan Sullivan will appear on this someday. They (and, of course, Jane Wyman) were the only reasons I even bothered with FC, lol.