Sapounopera

19 hours ago, DRW50 said:

 

This is one of the years that taught me my ATWT was gone for good (with FMB and then Sheffer hammering the final nails in

Was FMB really that bad? I know all about Susan Batten (and losing Lucinda after a stupid story with James?) but episodes from that era seem watchable to me. I hate the generic young couples, but all soaps are guilty of that. I even preferred her ABC aesthetics to Goutman's. 

Denise was a very intriguing character who was gone once the next regime tried to turn ATWT into Days. 

What if Dark Shadows never switched to the supernatural stuff? 

I read the bible and found the original stories fascinating. The ratings were not good, but all shows had lousy ratings at first. The first episodes feel like Wuthering Heights and Jane Eyre meet Peyton Place. Can you see the show changing for the more modern 70s? 

1 minute ago, Darn said:

The funniest thing about it is that everyone in Genoa City is independently wealthy or closely related to someone who is. They're all millionaires set for life so having a livelihood means jackshit.

We watch them play Monopoly with real money. So dramatic!

Y&R

Phyllis is so played out. Same goes for the Newman children. 

B&B

Sheila is way too much of a cartoon character, even for a silly show like this. 

GH

Cameron Mathison. He is not even Drew. He is playing a soapy version of himself.

DAYS

Casting director, HW and EP.

How does Rudolf Martin look these days?

Sometimes Nicolas Chavez reminds me of him.

4. It has become obvious to the co-stars of one leading lady that she feels threatened by the rising storyline prominence of a more recent hire.

I want to say Phyllis and Diane so much. 

A Mason/Julia/Cruz (emotional) triangle might have carried Santa Barbara after Eden's exit. Carrington Garland's Kelly could have been part of the mix in some way.

I wonder what Bell's initial plans for Cassandra were. She was the show's star for more than a year. The actress was gorgeous and I loved the character's noir vibe. 

Her abrupt end made no sense.

1 hour ago, dc11786 said:

I believe Teri Keane’s original run was through either January or June 1984. I feel like they shipped Pat and Rose Donovan to Florida in January but that Keene as Rose appeared a few times as Rose afterwards. 

Loving didn't give the original characters a real chance. Stacey's character lost something when her family was gone.

Weren't Cabot and Isabelle gone for a while when Peter Brown was Roger? 

Nothing about Craig's story made sense to me.

What was the point of Derek Griffin?

Conboy copied the 4 Orphans story on GL with Maryanne Caruthers.

1 hour ago, janea4old said:

Nothing has been mentioned yet by any characters about Paul/Christine.  Lauralee Bell says that her scene in that clip with Danny will air January 3rd.  Maybe we'll find out more then.

Perhaps Paul will get the Carl Williams treatment and one day we will find out that he has been missing for years. 

12 minutes ago, DramatistDreamer said:

One of the aspects about As The World Turns that I absolutely loved was the continuous camera technique,  where the cameras would roam from table to table at a place like The Mona Lisa, making the viewer privy to everyone’s conversations, as if we were eavesdropping. And it was done in almost one continuous complete take. Genius. I am not sure that anyone filming today’s daytime soaps still possesses that level of skill to film multiple characters in different parts of a room without cuts or edits.

I loved it! He did the same thing on GL with places like the Country Club. This would do wonders for  Crimson Lights and Society or offices with people coming and going. 

Y&R needs a Robert Calhoun type of producer who can use a set for multiple groups of characters within an episode. They can sit in different tables and have their own discussions. Is it that hard?

It would also help make Genoa City feel like a community, not that Bill Bell was ever interested in something like that.

The Newman kids are the first who could really use a break. Their stories are beyond tired. 

16 minutes ago, Broderick said:

Losing Brenda Dickson in 1987, Eileen Davidson in 1988, and Terry Lester in 1989 definitely resulted in the Abbott orbit being a bit less "quirky" and "colorful" than before, and the characters were likely not as much fun for Bill Bell to write.   Melody Thomas Scott seemed to fill part of the void, and you can't help think Ed Scott was sort of "pimping" the increased reliance on her for story material.   

The thing is Nikki stopped being quirky and colorful after her divorce from Victor. She spent years and years in the ranch, having endless  scenes doing nothing. And yet we were seeing her every day. But I agree that the loss of Dickson, Lester and Davidson gave Scott the chance to promote his wife. 

2 minutes ago, Dylan said:

I got the impression their is something about her past we don't know about.

All I know about her past is that she is a B&B character who shares a name with an iconic B&B character and who has no place on Y&R, especially in tired Newman brothers sex drama.

Another WTD story for the Newman brothers? This time with a character named Sally Spectra (which means nothing on Y&R, but still...)

Watching the Carrie episodes again, I can't see where Marland wanted to go with the character after all this drama. 

8 hours ago, will81 said:

 

I think the recast with Jess also affected things. Bell might have liked Jess, but I also feel he lost a bit of interest in Jill once Brenda was gone. His inspiration for her was on the lower end and he basically had her recycle storylines for most of the 90's. But yeah I don't doubt Ed Scott pushed to keep MTS in the spotlight and a major focus. I have never liked Ed Scott, even though I do believe Brenda Dickson was getting difficult, I also believe Ed had something to do with her departure. Not sure why, just a hunch.

 

Same here. 

3 hours ago, Forever8 said:

 

I'm curious about them having actual plans for the 50th next year. And not just bring on Janice Lynde's Leslie Brooks to play piano with no lines or get Meg Bennett for a pointless cameo as Julia.

And some B&B characters, he loves using people from that show.

3 minutes ago, kalbir said:

@Sapounopera I feel all of Y&R's backstage drama really began when ES took over as EP. Something about him has always given me s--t disturber vibes.

And when you think about his DAYS stint...

1 hour ago, Paul Raven said:

Josh Griffith's first job as EP should be to fire the headwriter...

And then resign.

1 hour ago, will81 said:

MTS and Ed married around 1985 and Nikki was very much a major character by that point with her lavish wedding to Victor and the quad with Ashley and Jack. I think Bell loved Nikki and would have kept her regardless, but how long do you think she would have lasted?

A few years into the 80s just like Diane or Patty?

I think MTS's connection to ES took something that belonged to Jill away from her.

18 hours ago, BoldRestless said:

Melody Thomas having a baby with the makeup artist then marrying Ed Scott

Was Ed Scott married to someone else when Melody had the baby with the makeup guy?

Had MTS not married ES would she have lasted on the show? I doubt that.

JG as sole showrunner is insane. He can't even headwrite the show properly.