P.J.

I understand they probably wanted to stay away from established soap opera actors, but I found myself wishing for someone like Monti Sharp in that role.

Watching the first three episodes....I'm not overwhelmed. The acting isn't Tyler Perry bad, and I could understand the twenty-something crowd being green. Aside from Tamara Tunie, the one acting standout IMO is Nicole, who seems grounded and real. Karla Mosely seems to be trying too hard to play Dani. The one role they really needed to nail the casting on was Bill (? Dani's ex) and they didn't. A lot of the drama is built on the dynamic of that breakup, and there's not a thing about that actor that said he had enough charm or chutzpah to be that big an operator.

I agree, OGMindy was his best pairing. Most of his other romances were with boring "saint" like characters. I thought he and CW had chem, but they moved CW up quickly. LOL...yeah, Rick, Kurt, Johnny...all interchangable. Infinity has not aged well, to say the least. Jordan Clarke did the lord's work delivering some of that dialogue with a straight face.

I don't know either. On one hand, I could understand not wanting them tied down in their first adult romance, but it seems they just got derailed trying to sell Roxie as the latest golden Shayne hoo-ha. Kurt was on less than two years. He didn't start until March of '85, and he's gone before November of '86.

If the goal was to focus more on Mindy (my guess being they knew Judi would test other waters) they could've at least gotten her a costar she had an ounce of chemistry with. Kurt was pretty to look at, but not interesting in the least.

I can't thank you enough for doing all this. Can't wait to see the GL updates!

I know you just reposted the ATWT one, but in Brad Snyder's entry, but he never thought Parker was his child. He revealed to Hal that Parker was his son, not John's.

True enough--I forgot that weird period when ATWT aired from 1230 to 130.

If there's one thing that really gives me pause on whether or not to even bother watching, it's Karla Mosely, who doesn't look like she's learned a thing about acting since her GL days.

ugh...I count Miss Sally, Kyle, Kurt, Maeve, even Lujack among the temp characters cluttering up the canvas. I don't know if it was ever explained why Sampson Industries/Kyle were targeted by Infinity, other than he was KYLE SAMPSON, the be all/end all. RME. I really wish we got the tea on how/why Mindy's wedding was this blowout extravaganza. They could've had a sufficiently "big" wedding for November sweeps without a location shoot that involving carriages and horses.

asking out of ignorance---why was Mike mad at Bert? @Reverend Ruthledge

Well, that's arguably the positives of Infinity. What I see is an entire platoon of temporary useless characters running around Springfield while Billy's hypnotized into forgetting he had a brother Josh for umpteen years. It does feature (arguably) the most opulent wedding in GL's history. WAIT---Jackie ALWAYS KNEW the Spaulding had her child? Srsly?

It always amazes me that the Infinity story still kept GL ahead of ATWT. And how bad was Capitol, which I always recall being sandwiched between ATWT and GL, consistently loses viewers?

Pretty much. I think they tried making him a Roger-like character initially, but it just never worked. Every show has that mid-level inept villain who mostly just antagonizes people but gets nowhere.

Yeah, I find it a cop-out too. I think it's only the fact that Carrie was played by Jane that keeps it out of the WTF? annals of soap history.

I would assume Diane and Carrie was meant to be a coincidence. I don't think anything was ever intimated otherwise. I do wonder if Alan/Phillip/Justin would've played out along the same lines as Lucinda/Lily/Iva. (Minus Justin playing the doormat ala Iva.)

LOL...Marland hated coincidence...unless he wrote it. Iva gave Lily (and the retconned Rose) up for adoption in Los Angeles, and wound up living in the same town as Lucinda 15years (or so) later. And Rose ended up in New Joisey, FCOL. (although this was not his fault) I don't think Marland would've just killed off Jackie as some moral karma. I think he knew the recast wasn't working. Jackie's death was a tragedy directly tied to Carrie, and I would speculate, would've been a turning point in Phillip's growing up had Marland still been around to write it. Leslie Ann's death was to make Warren sympathetic? Eh....I don't think so. Leslie Ann was a dead end character. They simply freed Warren up to go back to his smarmy ways.

In the back of my head, I knew Ross was manipulative and cutthroat, but it's different seeing it in action. I remember Adam and Roger always having this fraught relationship, I just would've thought that by that time, Adam would've had a clearer image of Roger's manipulations. And it's always a joy to see more of Cindy Pickett.

Some more popped up today. One after Holly shot Roger! Man--two things. Ross was evil. And I'm surprised Adam supported Roger as much as he did.

I never watched Texas. I do want to stress that I don't blame the actors, who were obviously directed to do that. I did notice that when they weren't all together (and by the '90's), it toned down a lot. God, when Kimmer started, I'm surprised she didn't sprain her tongue. What was odd was that Billy, Trish and Josh weren't nearly as "southern" when they debuted. It ramps up with HB and his yee-haws and Reva and her thick (at times) accent. Stillwater, Oklahoma, according to a blurb from SOD when she debuted.

At times they seemed like a riff on the Clampetts.

True, I didn't mean to imply that it was only storyline featured that week.

Yep. Josh and Reva arrive at Cross Creek 7/10 and they actually marry 7/17. Yes, Pam Long. I understand having to get the most out of a location shoot, but this was the era of week long parties/events.

Other than the visually striking moment of Reva in her dress, I hadn't really remembered any of it either. On rewatch (because it's right around both Billy's and Vanessa's returns), it amazed me how downright corny it is. And yeah, with no Springfield residents we know attending (Dylan, KS's Mindy and Hamp are new) the Shaynes and the Lewises have to carry it on their own. Other than laying the groundwork of Dylan's conception, it's just hokem that drags out for an entire week.

I would guess that was wedding #1, as that looks like a mantel they'd have had at Cross Creek. I know people loved that wedding, but I thought it a bit too "down home".