Sapounopera

I think that Rena Sofer would be more suited for the part of a young Amanda and this has nothing to do with Christine Tucci. Amanda as a kid was always played by dark-haired girls and Sandra Ferguson was the first blonde Amanda Cory. AW had way too many young blonde actresses at the time and Sofer (who looks a little bit like Vicky Wyndham) would be a far more interesting choice, at least for me

Patti Weaver... Wow!

Mike, Trish, David and Valerie shouldn't have been written out so early. (I consider later Mikes brand new characters with new careers and personalities).

I understand that DAYS had to choose between Mickey & Maggie and Bill & Laura at some point, but there was no reason for the younger generation to leave. The soaps became so arrogant in the eighties

I never understood why GL didn't bring Billy Fletcher instead of Kelly Nelson as a young man connected to the Bauers.

Who was Mark on Loving? I don't remember him at all.

Love reading your SB posts people

Some thoughts:

* Judith McConnell was (and still is) one of the most beautiful actresses ever on a soap. She will always be my #1 SB beauty.

* Amy Perkins was involved in a rather big storyline when her infant son was kidnapped by an evil doctor and was given to a prince. It was 1984 or 1985.

* Victoria Lane was never a real threat to Mason and Julia, whom I adored as a couple.

* I never understood why this show wrote out promising characters so easily. The Lockridge kids, Keith Timmons, Hayley, Santana, Brick could have stayed around for years. Even Amy Perkins. Why did they have to change everything every six months? Maggie Wallace and Janice (the Lockridge driver) were both involved with Warren1. Who remembers them? SB was not even interested in keeping Tricia Cast around who played Christi. A Christi/Ted/Laken triangle could have gone on for years, but after a few months a lonely Ted was in search of a new storyline. Does anybody remember the story of an African American maid who was scheming against the Capwells? The actress later appeared on Generations as Adam's lover and her SB storyline was dropped VERY quickly.

Is it true that there were plans for another AW spin-off in the late eighties, which would be created by Margaret DePriest and focus on the Loves, the Hudsons and the McKinnons? Perhaps that's the reason they turned Donna into a tortured heroine, in order to headline the new soap.

That's the reason they hired Denise Alexander, in order to play the McKinnon matriarch on the new soap. I have no idea what would be left for AW if they took three of the show's prominent families at the time.

Caroline was more or less Rita Bauer 2.0. It might as well have been the same character. I don't remember what happened to Lionel after that. A reunion with Augusta or did he just leave town once again? Warren, Jane and Alice were all gone rather quickly as well.

The Dobsons were furious with Ann Howard Baily for killing off Caroline. And so was I. I don't think Lenore wanted out and it's sad that she never had another soap gig apart from playing Brooke Logan's lawyer Pamela Geller for two or three episodes in the mid-nineties.

Thanks. I didn't know Kelly was involved with her mother's boyfriend.

Who played Caroline? Warren was the character they brought back again later played by Jack Wagner?

That Ming Li stuff does sound odd.

I know Eden's rape got a lot of critical acclaim but I do wonder how I would have felt if I was watching at the time.

Caroline Wilson Lockridge was played by gorgeous Lenore Karsdorf (ex-Rita Bauer, GL). Caroline was estranged from her daughter Jane and then it was revealed that she had been involved with an African American man years ago and she gave up his daughter Alice.

Alice was in a mental hospital with Kelly Capwell, she was released, reunited with her mother and sister and they all moved in with Lionel Lockridge. I liked seeing the Lockridge house full of people again.

Yes, that was Warren, Lionel's son. Who turned out not being Lionel's son for an uninspired romance with Cassandra Benedict, Lionel's half-sister.

The Ming Li story was indeed very odd. Those four characters were so isolated, they were a sick little soap opera of their own. As for Eden's rape.. I cared for Cruz and Eden too much during that time to see them go through this. The fact that the show was full of characters and storylines I didn't care for made tuning out much easier.

A number of things ruined SB for me..

Robin Wright leaving and Kelly getting involved with T.J. Daniels, her mother's lover. I hated that storyline.

Lionel, Caroline, Warren, Jane and Alice were a nice family unit and they were destroyed after Caroline's death.

Eden's rape and Adrianna's kidnapping was waay too dark for me

The Donellys and the DiNapolis.

Cain, Andrea, Ming Li and Philip Hamilton. Ming Li was hired by Philip to play Cain's daughter and she was flirting with her "father". It was sick. Who were these people?

Ethan and Laura.

1984-85-86-87 were good SB years. It became watchable (watchable, not very good) again during the Robert/Quinn mess and when the Dobsons returned along with the old Capwell sets, Rosa and nu-Santana, whom I liked.

OMG, I just remembered Cassandra and her story. I hated it. It was Marianne Carruthers before Marianne Carruthers. Mason, Craig, Ethan, Derek were all involved from what I remember.

Rena Sofer would have been a great choice for Amanda Cory.

OMG, Dina was on a cruise when Colleen died?

Marla Adams is still a gorgeous woman. I'd love to see her on Y&R on a regular basis.

Thank you for all these great articles!

Too bad that SB was ruined shortly after that... I am sure that this show would have worked a lot better as a half-hour show. The writers were interested in a very small group of characters, all others came and went every six months leaving nothing behind.

I have question... Who came first? Kay Chancellor and Esther or Iris and her maid?

I guess they brought Eileen in order to combine the Eden and Kelly characters in one. While watching those episodes I felt like Kelly was supposed to be the new Eden and Catrina was becoming the new Kelly. I was certain that Catrina would end up being C.C.'s daughter.

Carrington never really worked as Kelly for me. Perhaps it was story and her romances with Ric Castilio, Craig Hunt, Derek Griffin, Robert, Quinn and that singer/pianist, whose wife Renata was played by Deborah Adair for one episode. Kelly stopped acting like Kelly after she got involved with T.J. Daniels and the feud with Eden was a disaster. Robin played her as a beautiful princess and was very hard to be replaced. Carrington played the part of Eden2 and Eileen was brought to play both sisters under one name.

Todd McKee and Lane Davies apparently got along real well off screen, too. I remember the soap mags covering the "world tour" the two of them took after they were off SB -- IIRC, they spent half a year or so traveling together to Europe and Africa. Make of that what you will.

From what I remember they left town at around the same time in 1989. Perhaps I am crazy, but I also remember Mason saying goodbye to everybody and mentioning that he might end up in Bay City or Salem soon. It seemed so crazy to me back then

Both Ginas were wonderful. As a very young viewer I considered Robin's Gina, daytime's answer to Barbara Stanwyck's Stella Dallas. Linda was more of a Blanche Dubois.

Todd has great chemistry with Lane Davies (Mason). The original Capwell siblings worked great together.

I LOVED Blake's amnesia storyline! I watched it as a kid the first time and my first reaction was OMG, she is in love with him! She never hated him, she has always been in love with him all along!!!

I adore Joan Collins and Alexis has been my "constant" through the years, but I really fell in love with her when she tore up the papers which would destroy Blake during the time they were living as a couple. Another scene I loved was shortly after Adam and Dana's wedding, when Dex told her that she was a lonely woman with nothing and nobody in her life and she told him that she didn't need him or anybody else. (Do you remember Gavin Maurier? Were there any plans to do more with the character and bring him back next season?)

Alexis's reunion with Steven and Fallon in court. The rainbow talk and her comment about Fallon's teeth and tongue Ordering pizza and watching Love Boat in bed with Cecil

Alexis screaming during the Moldavian massacre "Amanda, my baby!!" LOVE LOVE LOVE HER.And I keep hoping that I will run into her during one of her trips in the Greek islands and thank her for everything

The final season definitely used clips from episodes if that's what you're thinking of.

They wanted to keep the black bitch and the white bitch together, Diahann being right before Joan after the guest stars was the equivalent of Stephanie Beacham's "with" credit in season 9. They did however sell Stephanie short on The Colbys by giving her the "and" but putting Ricardo Montalban after her with "special guest star". I guess that's "fair" given his career/history with Aaron Spelling, but if Rock Hudson could go before Joan, Ricardo could go before Stephanie.

I am sure Zachary Powers wouldn't have lasted very long. He was propably going to marry Sable, end up dead after a while and this way Sable Powers would become Jason's number one powerful enemy. (Does all this ring a bell?)

I sometimes wonder if one of the eighties supersoaps could have survived in the nineties, following the new era's "rules". Would it have been possible for new writers and producers to save Dynasty by turning it into a Melrose PLace type of show?

I always believed that Sable's rapist (and M&M's father) was a Carrington man and that would be used in Season 10 in order to turn Sable against Blake's family. Who could it be? Ben? Tom? Or Blake?? (Which I doupt)

This would make Monica a Carrington and a new -less tired version of Fallon-.

Emma Samms was getting better, but....She was still not Fallon. Call me crazy but I think that the original idea was to hire Sherilyn Wolter as FallonII. Crystal Chappell would also work in the part.

So many questions about plans for S10.. We know that Alexis would be leaving(propably with Dex) and then there was the mystery woman in the limo who has been haunting me for twenty years. Was it really Dominique? Krystle's sister Iris? Or was it Sable, who has been scheming against the Carringtons all this time?

When I first watched S9 I thought it was AWFUL. Hated Zorelli, the show seemed too dark and Sable was a constant reminder of the Colbys disaster. Watching it again through the years I understand that it was the only way to make Dynasty work as a nineties show. Too bad we never show what TPTB were planning to do.

PS: The reunion never happened as far as I am concerned.

I just love all pf Carl's vintage articles This living room reminds me a lot of the Forrester living room on B&B (which btw is identical to the Brooks living room of Y&R)

Did Marland create the original Ava? I know she wasn't there from the start and he left after a year or so--but that's interesting.

Original Ava was propably Marland's creation. However I've read somewhere that once ethnic-looking Roya was cast in the part there were some plans to make Ava the product of a "scandalous affair" between Kate and an African American man. Loving never went there, but that would make a great story.

Roya as Ava certainly was even MORE like an Erica Kane clone than Lisa Peluso--I see why many found it beyond obvious when AGnes created the role.

However original Ava (as played by Patty Lotz) was a factory worker and was more like Marland's Nola Reardon, Nola Dancy and Meg Snyder.

Leslie Dennison replaced Christine Tudor for several episodes on Loving and played Gwyneth Alden during her affair with Jeff Hartman, daughter Trisha's then boyfriend. I always felt that Tudor didn't want to play those scenes and that's the reason another actress was brought

I didn't like her at all in this part. This was not Gwyneth, but felt like a different character.

Do you agree with those who think JFP ruined the show?

Was she responsible for Megan Richardson and her son? The DiNapolli sisters? The horrible sick Cain- Ming Li story? The Donnellys? Ethan and Laura? During that period Santa Barbara was a mess.

I think John Conboy ruined the show for good. Among others I hated the Eden-Kelly feud (the Capwell girls were clearly not Lori and Leslie Brooks), the new sets (why would someone destroy the wonderful Capwell mansion sets?), it was a joke alltogether.