Sapounopera

SSM's stint was the last time I enjoyed the show. I am sure Kay Alden also had something to do with it. Cane and Juliet was not a bad story, they brought Dina back, they tried to humanize the Newmans, they cared for Hilary. Gossip queen Hilary was not the best use of the actress. I can't blame them for finding the Devon Chancellor story stupid and his sudden wealth made him even more boring. The BLM story with a black billionaire as victim could be something. We know his love life has never been. 

On 1/17/2023 at 6:07 AM, dc11786 said:

Someone shared some things with me a while back. Unfortunately, from my memory, the main things I recall were the three main stories were outlined: (1) the Kelly / Joe romance with Joe clearing his name, (2) Gina's search to gain access to her son via relationships with both C.C. and Mason, and (3) the youth summer story in Los Angles. The L.A. storyline was intended to cash in on the summer Olympics which I believe were to be hosted in Los Angeles that year. Also, the Hollywood story gave the network the opportunity to cross promote (if they so chose) with primetime by having Danny and Ted get stunt jobs on a NBC series like "Hill Street Blues." 

The main things I recall were mostly about missing parts or serious deviations in the story. Sophia's return was not a part of the original story. Lionel isn't mentioned much. There seemed to be a strange connection between Augusta and C.C. that was never completely clarified. C.C.'s motive for pushing Peter and Kelly together was not just to keep Kelly away from Joe, but because C.C. had found her at least on one occasion on the verge of a nervous breakdown after Joe was arrested and was afraid she would completely go over the edge. 

Santana was suppose to learn that Gina had custody of her son while Gina was living out of town. Gina would have infilitrated the DeMott household posing as the maid and befriending her son. Mason would discover her and threaten to reveal Santana's true identity which would have lead to a relationship between Santana and Mason by necessity. 

I was mostly surprised, and not surprised, to see that of the Perkins and Andrade families, only Santana and Joe were fleshed out and given significant story. I don't think Amy was mentioned at all. Nor were any of the other Andrade children. There was a footnote at one point that John Perkins at some point could become in a corrupt trade union in a story resembling "On the Waterfront." 

The biggest surprise was the reveal that Warren was Channing's killer and that it was all based on the gold coins story. There was no mention of Channing being Lionel's son either, but, since neither Lionel or Sophia were mentioned, this should be no surprise. 

I believe I may have only seen part of the "Santa Barbara" bible. I think there was a second part outlining characters which I didn't get a chance to look at. 

I don't have it anymore unfortunately, so this is all form memory. 

Wow, thank you so much. This is fascinating. Too bad that the Santana/Brandon/Gina was never told properly. It looks as though the Dobsons had bigger plans for it, but they were lost between (unnecessary) recasts and ratings worries. Since there no big Andrade and Perkins families, the bible could have been intended for a half-hour soap, which would have benefited the show.  

2 hours ago, Darn said:

Name a character introduced in the last decade that's as interesting as Jack or Lauren or Michael or Nikki.

Hillary? Who should be one of the show's big stars, but they gave up on her because Newman WTD stories are much more fun.

@dc11786 I have never heard of a Santa Barbara bible. Do we know anything more about it?

7 hours ago, DRW50 said:

I think many of these decisions were based on Lemay's hubris, rather than just wanting to promote Victoria Wyndham. He wasn't close to Jacqueline Courtney the way he was to Susan Sullivan, Victoria, or Constance Ford, and he and Rauch arrogantly assumed she could be replaced. He also seemingly assumed a number of theater actors he had take big roles on the show would stay long-term. This led to a rot where Victoria was one of the only popular actresses who was staying long-term. And as the canvas was so empty, that made it even easier for P&G to run through dumping based on ageism, like what happened to Beverly Penberthy. 

As for Beverlee, wasn't she burnt out of playing Iris the way she had to play her and just burnt out at AW, period?

Victoria Wyndham has said some very interesting things in her interviews. Like writing the show herself, or that they didn't cancel because of her. I am pretty sure someone at NBC really really liked her. 

I think that AW's real problem that after a while -for reasons unknown-  it only existed as a vanity project for Victoria Wyndham.

Getting rid of Alice, the show's heroine so that Rachel could take her place.

Getting rid of all of the veterans so that Victoria Wyndham could be the one and only.

(Why did she get star billing again?)

Sending super popular Beverlee's Iris to Texas. It was 1980. GH and AMC were huge hits, NBC was in trouble. Why do something like that again?

Y&R

Brittany Hodges and Bobby Marsino. She was Edward Scott's new Nikki and he was the Victor-Sonny hybrid. None of them mean something in today's Y&R universe. They didn't even mean something in 2007's Genoa City.

2 hours ago, j swift said:

Forgive me if this topic is too sensitive, but Stafford's eye job is too severe.  Don't get me wrong, she is still very beautiful, but the work is remarkable.

I understand the desire to get a little tweak done in a career where youth is revered.  But, it is always an issue with soap actors who we see everyday for years, when all of the sudden it looks like their eye sockets have been sucked toward the back of their skull (e.g. Jerry Douglas aka John Abbott back in the day)

The eyes start looking more natural after a while.

The problem is that these days everybody stays the same age. Thixty. The SORASed children and grandchildren end up being the same age as their parents, they share the same love interests etc. The shows miss the wise older characters because they all -men and women- look like Real Housewives.

3 hours ago, Soaplovers said:

I think GL was due for an update by 1983, and I think the 1st 18 months of Pam Long's 1st tenure was pretty good.  A nice balance of Bauers, Reaedons, Spauldings, and Lewis'.

Fall of 1984 the structure started changing and by the end of 1985, it was a new show.  An interesting show, but not the GL of before.

The 2nd tenure in 1988 to 1990 was much stronger (and even used some of the history to boot).

I started liking GL again once Robert Calhoun took over in 1989. I don't think that the show needed such a drastic update in 1983. Another World was in much worse shape before Allen Potter, so was Search. GL didn't deserve the trashy Lewis and Shayne families, Jesse, Simon, Jackson, Suzette, Warren, Kurt and all the others. I will never understand how Pamela Long convinced people to let her turn a long running and successful soap into Texas 2.0. 

1 hour ago, YRfan23 said:

Don’t forget Jill/Nina 

I'd say Jill/Nina is more like Brooke/Amber and Nikki/Sharon. 

The former wrong side of the tracks girl having to deal with a younger version of herself. 

Was Trish Clayton created by Bill Bell? Was she a Nikki prototype?

They can always get a modern version of the iconic ambulance intro back.

The show should bring some kids for Tucker. It could really use a new family. 

14 minutes ago, janea4old said:

This might be an unpopular opinion, but I never liked Nick and Sharon together.  I think she's much better off without him.

I don't think this is an unpopular opinion. At least they have history and their reunion would make sense. Not to mention that it might help "erase" Sharon's other six marriages. If you are not Erica Kane, after seven marriages you should either be written out, or serve as a talk to. I have seen enough of her love life. The only reason I wouldn't want her written out, is because I really like the actress. 

Someone needs to explain to Josh Morrow that his days as the show's hunk are long over and that if he wants to keep his job, Nick must remarry Sharon, run CL with her and be a talk to.

I was shocked to realize that I like DePriest's show better than Marland's. 

JFP: the Haircut and the older woman-younger man epic romance. Shows lose their identity and become flat and generic. 

Kay has been gone for years and they still don't know what to do with the Chancellor set. Jill should be living there with her much younger husband, who would be see seduced by her paid companion. Now she would be all alone there, after his death and all. 

Abby and Chance's was so dramatic. Not. The show is losing Mishael Morgan and Imani and they are keeping Abby, Chelsea and Sally. Griffith must be replaced yesterday.

8 hours ago, kalbir said:

I think the frat party started the following week.

I cannot for the life of me understand why Bill Bell tried so hard to make Joshua Morrow happen from Fall 1994 to Spring 1996 when the real hotness on the show was Shemar Moore.

I will never understand how Josh Morrow got hired to play EB and MTS's son. 

25 minutes ago, carolineg said:

Alan adopted her.  Like legally adopted a grown woman officially.

Eric Forrester legally adopted Donna Logan's grown son Marcus on B&B when they were married. The marriage lasted two years. Donna had known Marcus a few months. These adoption stories are beyond stupid.

1 hour ago, Darn said:

Sally is one of the most ill-defined uninspired characters to somehow survive long stints on two soaps. It's very weird. Who is Courtney Hope's cheerleader? She's FINE but Sony's investment in her is mind-boggling. I've seen actors with devoted, loud followings with better writing get less chances to succeed.

First of all, B&B was stupid to name a random character Sally Spectra.

Was B&B's Sally2 so important or iconic that Y&R felt the need to bring her to Genoa City? Why didn't the actress come as a new character with no B&B baggage? 

Griffith sees her as his new Chelsea. Now he gives her a Newman baby. 

Don Diamont looks like a telenovela villain. 

18 minutes ago, janea4old said:

A contract on U.S. soaps does two things:
It ensures that that show can use you when they need you.
It gives you "benefits" (health insurance, retirement, etc.).

Also, when you are on a contract,  you are guaranteed to be paid for x number of episodes per week, averaged over time.
If you have a one-episode guarantee, then they pay you for 52 episodes in the year, but some months you might air a lot, and some months you might not air at all.

However, a contract doesn't guarantee that they will keep you. 
All it does is keep you available for them.

Even with a multi-year contract, they can fire you at the end of any 13-week cycle.

What I mean is that most DAYS actors change status all the time. By the time an exit is announced, they are back. 

Do these things mean anything anymore? Especially on a show like Days. 

On 1/1/2023 at 9:00 PM, kalbir said:

@Paul Raven I'm not really familiar with most of 1980s GL but is it safe to say that they tried a good number of the 1980s trends but got them wrong?

Dallas influence - Lewis family from Oklahoma that owns an oil company

Dynasty influence - jet setter Alexandra Spaulding divorced from wealthy European Baron Von Halkein

Supercouples - Phillip/Beth, Josh/Reva

Action/adventure - not sure what would apply here

I have never seen another soap despise its history and legacy the way 80s GL did.

All these bigger than life changes might be needed in a problematic soap like AW or SFT, but GL was just fine the way it was.  

The pregnancy story is beyond tired. The WTD is so uninspired. Courtney Hope should leave her face alone, she is morphing into a bad Instagram filter for no reason.