Ben

Yeah, from those, I can see how Sara's stories could be confusing. She stayed with the show for about 1.5 years. She became a lap dancer, and used that money to buy cocaine. She OD'ed, and Arlo skipped town, fearing she was dead. The whole thing with her mother's boyfriend wasn't good. He was coming on to her, but no-one believed her, and her jealousy got in the way; he eventually left town under a cloud. Up until that story, things made sense with Sara, until TPTB decided to write her out in 2001. She had a lame exit.

I hope those make sense, story wise. Nikki's love life got a bit complicated for a while. It made more sense on screen.

I fell for their romance story, but so far they have done zero as a couple. I think you could blink and miss the fact they are finally together. Hit list: (I don't think many of these need much explaining outside of: they suck.) Ruby Sinead Jono Bart Neal Ally Liam Jen Tilly Esther Liberty Dennis Leanne Ste Brendan (I'd substitute him for Walker) Joel Theresa Diane doesn't harm anyone; she's recurring, and barely at that, but she does steal the scenes she's in. I also like her friendship w/ Martha, and she does need a friend. I think Annalise and Barney have potential. Rob, as a supporting player is OK. If they can do something with Texas & Dodger, then she can stay, as they do make a lovely couple. But, she's very wooden, and if she and Dodger fail, then she should go. I like Cheryl, now. I used to think she looked like a drag queen, too, Carl, but since they've straightened her hair and dressed her better, and toned her down, she's a much better character, IMO. But, without Brendan and Lynsey, she would have no connections left, so I'd get rid of her.

It has been confirmed. Someone will meet their maker in the Live episode. SB has said the person "has it coming".

If Anthony Cotton is friends with SB, then Sean won't be going anywhere. Gloria is played by a seasoned actress, who is very well respected. I love Sue Johnson, and she hasn't had a facelift (I don't believe) - I think it's a load of make up, as the character is supposed to have that look. Plus, she does have pretty good skin in real life, whenever I've seen her around. Gloria as a character has been created with the wrong image in mind. I think she would have worked better if she was more like Cora from EE, and less like a Blanche rip-off. Decent writing could turn her around. The same for Stella. Even though I don't think Stella brings anything to the show. Hit list... Karl: Pointless. Fiz: Out stayed her welcome ages ago. Chesney: See above. Owen: He's such a boring character. Anna can do so much better than him. Izzy: Needs to leave once this surrogacy reaches its messy end. Katy: See above. Plus, she adds nothing to the show. Elieen: Overrated, and run her course. Paul: Miserably boring. Sean: Do I really need to state a reason? Aidan: A guest character he may be, but a pointless one nonetheless. Brian: Annoying and pointless. Beth: A Cilla clone. Tina: She's lost her way, and has been dragged down by misery. The ones I can't decide on are: Leanne, Peter, Mary, Norris, Julie. For the first time, I felt Mary had a purpose when she was crushing on Roy; I liked the potential of a Hayley/Roy/Mary triangle, especially when Mary can be so unhinged. I think she has potential to be developed in a serious way by exploring her tragic childhood, and out of the comedy bubble. I like Leane, but that story with Simon's custody battle painted her in such a horrible light.

Firstly, I wouldn't get rid of Rodney. I think he is an underrated character, and one who is integral to the show. He's Nicola's dad, and has history with Diane and Bernice. He's also the only character to showed kindness and support to Ashley in his time of need. For that reason alone, he should stay. Secondly, I see no reason why Amy should stay simply b/c she has some fans - the show does not need to pander to fan bases. Also, they haven't built that much around her that they can't rip down with her finding happiness and moving away. So, hit list... The Spencers: Every single one of them needs to go. They don't fit into the show at all. Rachel was OK to start with, but this baby story with Jai has really brought out the worst in her personality - the way she's so judgemental, always sticking her nose into other people's business, things are always someone else's fault, never hers. Ruby has potential, but without Ali, I see no point in her sticking around. Declan: He's had ample time to work, but hasn't. It's time Home Farm had a family it deserves. Megan: Stunt casting is right. She's neither here not there as a character, and without Declan, she has no point staying in the show. Robbie: Terrible character. Totally miscast. Poor development. Laurel: Ruined beyond repair. She needs to go pronto. Preferably meeting a sticky end. Marlon: I used to like Marlon. I think he represented a certain type of person. Now, he's been ruined by his "epic love" for Laurel. Is death his only option for an exit? Andy: Outstayed his welcome. Nowhere else to take his character. Amy: Annoying she may be, she has done a lot in a short space of time. Where else can they take her? Kerry: Without Amy, she has no business staying. Bob: Sadly, he no longer has a real place in the show without Viv. Brenda: She's a spare part, like Bob, for most of the time. She should have left after Terry died. Chas: Where can she go from here? She eats away at the show whenever she gets a frontburner story. The character needs a long rest. Debbie: See above. Alex: Deadbeat character. ETA: Who do you think they'll kill off in the Live episode? I hope it isn't anyone I'll miss, like Carl. Or anyone who is old and doesn't want to leave, like Alan and Betty - I wouldn't want TPTB to kill one of these 2 off for shock value, unless they wanted to leave.

Oh, yeah, Holly Hart, I think was the lesbian. She's the only Hart I remember by name, anyway. Corrie's cast is ridiculous. They have, like, 60+ characters, and I'm sure that's not including the kids/babies. It's so ridiculous. Half of them could easily go. Which other lower-rated soaps are you thinking of?

I did not know that about Tony Booth. I can see where you're coming from. I think Kelly looks like she should have been apart of the Hart family. MJL played Sean, right? I vaguely remember seeing him on that show. He had that same level of charisma on FA. I wasn't an uber-fan or anything. I remember thinking that Karen becoming gay was randomly done. I don't think I followed it too closely. Kelly, as a character, never felt permanent; she always felt like she was short term. They did well in building up their romance, but I was disappointed that they went the route of throwing her down the stairs and killing her off. I always sorry for poor Matt, who drew the short straw in all of this. Once Kelly was dead, the story reached a dead-end, and they were all written out. It was quite disappointing, and I guess they suffered the change in producer. I never understood why every revamp had to consist of getting rid of a load of characters? Granted, some needed to go, but a lot of characters that got culled in every producer change, had some life left in them. It was like HO: new producer, axes characters, brings in new characters, who have no longevity. Rinse and repeat.

I like it. I wouldn't have if it had been an alcohol or hard drug addiction, but b/c it's prescription pills, I think that represents and explains where her head has been during her time away. I'm also glad she's in recovery, so we don't have to sit through any randomly tedious addiction story. I wonder how long she'll last without falling off the wagon? And if she does, I hope she remembers her sponsor - this show always forgets that recovering addicts have sponsors to help and support them. . If you've ever watched B&B, you should be used to all kinds of levels of incest. I'll like this if they treat it properly, and have people react the way they should towards two 1st cousins getting it on. It's not like Ben and Lola who are very distantly related, where no-one bats an eye. Plus, it's not illegal for Joey and Lauren to be together... If it doesn't have the ick factor, it'll be fine. I just hope there isn't a load of references to them being cousins before they kiss.

As per Carl's request. I don't have too much to say on this show ATM, as I haven't watched for months. I find the whole show boring and repetitive. 99% of the show doesn't interest me at all. However, the Marcus/Maria story is the 1% that has intrigued me enough to start possibly watching again in some form. At first, I thought the best way to approach this would be to make Marcus bi, but now I see it's so much better like this. Marcus and Maria have chemistry, and it feels believable. I'm not sure where it's going, but I hope they do it justice. Will they be a couple in the end? Do they have longevity? Why do they have that guy, Aiden, hanging around? He seems unnecessary. Why did they push Maria and Jason together? That seems like another unnecessary complication. Probably another excuse for Eileen to scream and shout at Maria for breaking her poor Jason's heart. What are others opinion on this story?

Yeah, DH was phenomenal in those scenes, when that creepy, OTT, unrealistic social worker took her baby away. I'm a little surprised that this thread has gone so quite recently, after the buzz of Sharon's return. I think the show is a lot more watch-able day-to-day than it has been all year. I like that more characters are interacting with each other.

You don't like Mitzeee!? I love Mitzeee. Maybe it's b/c I wasn't watching prior to this year, or maybe it's b/c Rachel Stenton gives her all in every scene, especially the emotional ones.

I see. Sean was the gay guy who got stabbed. He wasn't in the show for long, maybe a couple of years. He had the whole Will & Grace story with that woman whose name I forget. I liked him, once they developed him outside of his Will & Grace relationship.

Exactly. I don't know where they can take the character once they've explored his relationship with his father. Have you thought about fast forwarding Brendan's scenes?

Cat must have appeared as part of the 1999 revamp, and stayed to the bitter end. Cat was great. She was the loser of the show, the one who needed a happy ending. There were a couple of times when they made her happy, back-burnered her, and didn't know what to do, so had her new man cheat or something, which got a bit repetitive for a while. They got a lot of mileage out of the tumultuous Pete/Cat/Dave triangle, and Pete/Cat attacking each other never got old. I wish I had more on Cat & Pete. Thanks. I'll check out that channel.

I think Kathleen Beedles has changed the show for the better recently. Its a lot more watchable, now, and all the characters feel like they are being used more, and in their own storylines; they have a big cast, and the majority of the time most of the characters would be drifting aimlessly, randomly disappearing for months. When I think about the cast, I can picture them all in some form of story. They're also using Jack & Frankie more, which is great. It isn't perfect, and the destruction of Doug feels permanent; when they mentioned his past as a drug dealer yesterday, it felt like they were talking about Doug's evil twin or something - now he's sappy and wimpish and pathetic. I don't get the hype for Brendan at all. I don't feel like he's as complex or deep as fans make out he is. Brendan is defined by his abuse; he's a violent thug who murders people. End of. Walker, on the other hand has been awesome. He's a guy who is complex and interesting to watch. I wish he could stay around and replace Brendan, but that will never happen. There does feel like there is a sense of family returning to the show. History is a problem, as 90% of the cast haven't been there more than a few years; Tony and Cindy are the only ones who go way back, and they haven't utilized Tony properly for a long time. The McQueens would work better with just the girls - get rid of Bart and Theresa who bring nothing to the family or the show - but Myra, Jacqui and Carmel are not a spent force yet. I'm not sure where they can go with Mercedes, now. Darren/Nancy, Jack/Frankie, Mitzeee, Myra, Cheryl (she's changed for the better), Tony/Cindy/Rhys/Jacqui, hold the show together. The Kanes have a lot of potential as a family (Martha is awesome), but this stupid Ally plot is bringing them down; The Savages are OK, but they don't bring anything to the show as a unit - I like Dodger/Texas, and the potential of Will/Ash, but they ruined the latter; Phoebe/George/Callum are the better teens - the rest are dire - Maddie could possibly have potential... but the writing and her acting are really bad; Barney/Annalise are OK. I think the show has a good bunch of characters, they need to write to their strengths and not add any more newbies, and get rid of the ones that don't work.

Pooky Quesnel was great on EE, but in this show, she was either miscast, or the character was just so damn dull, that she couldn't bring any life to it. The affair was random and a bust on screen. It just didn't make any sense. Pete had many loves, and they all made some sense, except for his sister; it felt like they did this for shock value - pseudo-incest. I was glad when his family left, and I shouldn't really feel that way about Pete's family; they should have worked. Eileen was the one who had the threesome with two cops. Eileen was Pete's last and final wife. She was awesome; such a fun character - you know the type: bitchy, bad mother with issues, a schemer, someone you could root for; she was a match for Pete, but sadly, they were destined to destroy each other. They did take the whole 'long-lost son' thing a step too far when they cast Sam Taylor, a character who had no personality and was in the way. At this point, Eileen already had two daughters - Charlotte and Lucy Day - she didn't any more random kids. How much of the Matt/Karen/Kelly story have you seen? I've got a bunch of their story, but if you've already watched it on YT, I won't bother uploading them... unless you want me to?

This next one is one of my favourite scenes. The episodes when Gregory revealed himself to be the blackmailer, thinking he had Annie backed into a corner, only for her to reveal all about Cole & Olivia's affair and that Trey may not be his son, were so captivating to watch. They really showcased how awesome actors Sam Behrens and Sarah Buxton can be - especially Sam. I think he was pretty underrated. Shame he hasn't popped up in any other major role.

I had forgotten that Margi Clarke was in the show. From what I can recall, she wasn't a nightmare like her Corrie character, she was a lot softer (as soft as one can be with that hard, brisk accent - LOL). She was around for a few months, but really, bringing in Pete's family didn't do much for him, IMO. I always felt his sister was too dull and easily forgettable, while his mother was nice while she lasted, but she never appeared again. It could just be my memory not remembering them that well, but with a character like Pete, there's always an expectation that his family will unearth another side to the character, or develop him in some way, but I never got that from them. Not that I can remember. The Josh story was huge, and probably one of the most memorable in the shows history. IA that no soap would write/direct a scene like Josh's death these days. Pete and Siobhan carried the show during this period, as they were a much watch couple. This one was supposed to go before the last one.

I've seen those photos before, and I've never spotted either of those things! How could I have not noticed KN is missing? I've also never noticed that random crew member in the b/g before!

Pete Callan was a popular, if not the most popular character on the show. He was complex; he could do bad things, but you would know why he was doing it, and how he got himself into those situations; he would also have moments of genuine love. Julie-Ann stayed around for about a year.

While I kinda like the concept of the promo, it represents everything that is wrong with the show. It's dark and dreary, promoting characters and stories that are the rot that is destroying the show. It doesn't even say anything, but we are meant to be enticed by seeing the characters we "care about" walk onto the screen and explode into petals?! Where are Gennie & Nickhil? She's giving birth in the Live episode, and should have featured. It doesn't even promote 40 years; and that logo sucks - too industrial and cheap. It doesn't make me want to tune back in, so I can't imagine how they expect this promo to intrigue new viewers.

Max left town last year for 3 months after his affair with Tanya was outed, and his kids turned against him and kicked him out of his own home. The affair story was awful; really showed Max and Tanya as ugly characters. Anyway, Max came back with Derek, who has been blackmailing him over something. Now Max is making secret payments to someone... That's it. Carol will be back sometime in the next couple of months, presumably with Bianca's kids. Oh joy. Not. June Brown is off the show for 6 months, and no matter what she says, I can't see her not returning... unless she wants to retire. Bianca is off contract and technically no longer with the show. She'll return if TPTB ask her. I hope they don't. She's played out, and all of PP's breaks is annoying and hurt the show, IMO. You missed out Tamwar, but that's not your fault as he hasn't been seen in months. You also forgot Jay. It's weird when they have scenes as a group, b/c most of them don't hang out together, yet act like they're all BFFs. I'm happy Anthony has left; never liked him. His exit was lame, but I'm just pleased he's gone. I wish they'd boot out Tyler, too. ETA: I agree with almost everything you said, except the Syed & Christian part. It sums up how I feel about those characters/stories.

So good to Priya & Ajay in their own promo. I hated the thought of Paul and Priya having an affair, but the more I see these two interact, the more I like it. Still don't really buy that Priya would cheat, but I'll see how this plays out. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DqxybhszBeE&sns=tw

I do, and she was the saving grace of her entire wooden family. She was really good in FA; they gave her a rape story, and she was awesome - one of the best actors the show had in the latter years. I think she will be good in EE. EE has this whole "black quota" thing going on - or at least it did in the past, so I really hope they aren't getting rid of Denise or Kim. They could dump Sasha and Ray in favour of her, even though I rather they dumped the quota. I love Syed; so much potential has been wasted this past year. I bet his lack of air time is the reason why Marc quit. I can see why Christian had to go, as they don't want to split them up, and probably don't want to write for Christian any more, considering they've struggled to give him screen time, too. I think this is a mistake. I bet they brought in AJ b/c Syed is leaving. I hope they give Tamwar something to do, or he'll be gone, too.