Khan

I just saw him portray the dumbest man on Earth in the Tubi original movie, "Sugar Mama."

I wonder if that was Amy Kaslo?

The Drew/Nina/Willow/Michael storyline had the makings of classic drama - so, of course, Frank & Co. had to mess it all up with their usual, simplistic writing. Sigh.

Between the stable of stable boys, the 'ho who was 'ho'in' out of her bachelorette pad and Lorie Brooks becoming Genoa City's answer to Barbi Benton, it was THE YOUNG AND THE HOLY COW!!!!!!!

I'll take him back, but only under one condition, and that's that he does something with THAT HAIR. My God.

I get that the show wishes to keep Doug alive in some fashion, but this is a story that should have been told while Bill Hayes was still alive and able to work (and not before reuniting Doug with his son first). Lord, I hate to see how they'd handle Tommy Horton's death and Thomasina Horton's introduction, lol.

As Dorothy Parker once said, "She runs the gamut of emotions from A to B." And in Eden's case, I'm not even sure about the B.

From the looks of things: turning himself into Grandpa Walton.

One idea that I had had (out of many) for GL's final weeks: Phillip and Rick have a falling-out over something - can't remember what anymore - and each is visited by the spirit of their deceased mom - Leslie, for Rick; Jackie, for Phillip - in the hopes of getting the two men to patch things up. In a perfect world, Lynne Adams would've agreed to return as Leslie, and Cindy Pickett would've returned as Jackie. That was about as far as I was willing to go in terms of bringing back either character. Sounds a lot like this lady I've known all my life (hi, Mom!).

Of course, the '80's will always hold a special place in my heart, because that's when I was first introduced to the genre through the several soaps I watched with my mother. But I do think there was a theatrical quality to the writing for most soaps in the '70's that has been sadly missing since then. Back then, it seems, soaps had writers who had come up through the stage and through radio, so special attention was placed on how dialogue was tailored specifically to character and to actor. Nowadays, when you listen to the dialogue on B&B, DAYS, GH, Y&R, it all sounds so clunky and interchangeable, written more to be quoted on social media (by writers whose knowledge of good writing comes only through other TV shows) than to illuminate characters' feelings and motivations. If I had one piece of advice for anyone working today in soaps or who wants to work in soaps, it would be this: READ. Read books. Read plays. Read short stories. Read newspapers and magazines and even billboards you pass along the highway, if that's what strikes your fancy. But read. (And for God's sake: READ YOUR SCRIPTS ALOUD. Your ears are your best guide to knowing what sounds stupid coming out of someone's mouth.)

Well, I'd argue that just about any other writer's work would look terrific next to the Pollocks' - but I get your point, lol. That surprised me, too. I've seen little of Lemay's work on TD, but what I have seen...just kind of lays there. I think that was due partly to the usual network/sponsor interference and weak leadership, but if I'm being honest, I also don't think many of the actors on the show were really that good.

Ah, okay. Well, I guess that covers most of the bases. Nevertheless, I wish we had been introduced - or, rather, RE-introduced - to Dougie/Charles before meeting this son no one knew beans about before last week.

EON was proof that all you needed to make a good soap opera were good acting and good writing. You literally could close your eyes and just listen to the cast speak Henry Slesar's marvelous words and still be riveted.

I've often felt like AW used Denise Alexander the way GH had used her before deciding to give Lesley a strong backstory with Laura. She was so popular on DAYS, but the other shows never understood that that doesn't mean diddly to their audiences if you don't give her a character to play. The whole story (both what had happened years before, and what played out on screen) with Mary, Reginald and Vince was so convoluted. I honestly don't know how AW fans survived through all of it, lol.

Thanks, @Reverend Ruthledge and @vetsoapfan, for your perspectives on GL during this early '70's period. Ironically, as bad as James Lipton was as a HW, I thought he was great as a dialogue writer on THE DOCTORS. His and Frank Salisbury's scripts were the only things to push me through what I could of the Pollocks' work before I threw in the proverbial towel. I really wish I could see Edelstein's work on HTSAM. He and Rita Lakin seemed to be the only writers who wrote well for TD. All the show's other HW's, including Douglas Marland, just couldn't make the show work like they did.

I wish the Fords had made an appearance on Y&R with their son, Steven. I know Bill Bell wasn't into that sort of thing, but I think it would've sort of cool to see.

Longtime fans like @vetsoapfan and @Reverend Ruthledge might have a better understanding of this, but from everything I've read, 1966-1975 was a very rough time for GL. Robert Soderberg and Edith Sommer wrote some key material of that period. Otherwise, GL was struggling when the Dobsons came in and re-energized the show.

I totally forgot that Susan Dansby once worked on GH as an associate producer.

In a way, it's touching that Melissa managed to save Joan's Emmy, as that win meant a lot to Joan after everything she'd been through personally and professionally. Like she said on several occasions, the Emmy was one thing they (meaning, the industry) couldn't take away from her.

I don't think you are. I, too, recall one set to a Christmas Carol ("Silent Night," maybe?). The thing is, you can execute a montage well only if you take the time to do it right - and as we all know, Frank "Point and Shoot" Valentini never takes time to do anything. He's the wrong kind of producer for that kind of storytelling device.

You know, Doug III's introduction leaves me with so many questions. First of all, are we to assume that Dougie LeClair learned that Doug was his natural father, accepted him and even changed his last name to his, and had a son that he named after himself and his bio dad? I mean, what about Robert LeClair? And have Doug II and Doug III always been around the Hortons and Williamses and we just didn't see them? Furthermore, why are we even seeing Doug III when we haven't been reacquainted with Doug II yet? And why did they choose Doug's funeral to introduce this previously unknown relation that everyone apparently has embraced already? God, they really fucked up this time.

I agree. I think the best producer ever to work in daytime was Robert Calhoun. Yet, despite his incredible ability to turn around not one but two flagging soaps, he won only once, for ATWT. Does that mean he shouldn't be held in the same regard as JFP?

The only thing missing from that obnoxious montage:

AMC won Best Daytime Drama Series twice, and neither time did I think it actually was worthy, so I definitely don't put much stock into those awards (even though I'd love to have one someday, lol). ETA: Totally forgot about the third win (in '98). The show wasn't [!@#$%^&*] then either.

Granted, TEXAS had problems from day one, but for some reason, calling it a "badly written serial" really stings, lol.