Cat

OMG, Grant is such a dick! Now I get why they recasted the character. I still wish Dack Rambo were in the role, though -- he was so lovely to look at. Mark Pinter looks sinister. Vicky is not coming across much better in all this. Vicky and Ryan are each other's true loves, but I can see where this is going here... Grant manipulates the situation, Vicky gets attracted to all the wealth and political spotlight. Jake and Paulina are driving me crazy -- but in a good way. I had forgotten how effective soaps used to be about dragging out the romantic tension between couples who are hot for each other and don't want to admit it. What makes it funny is the fact that Jake & Paulina are pretending to be newlyweds and have to share a room together. I am so Team Olivia at the moment, even though Olivia is so obviously in the wrong. Amanda comes across as so smug and trifling. When Olivia accused her of using baby Allie to get Snorific Sam back, I couldn't help but agree. Biggest mystery of all, though, is why Olivia is still moping over that wet blanket Sam and not jumping her physiotherapy guy. Jenna & Dean = super cheesy but at least they are promoting safe sex. And they are hot together. RPG may annoy the [!@#$%^&*] out of me (and did he really date Yasmine Bleeth? I thought he was gay) but he brings out the best in Alla Korot.

I'm on the 11/21/91 episode right now which says that "Kathleen says good-bye to Bay City." Don't know if I want to see this. Jake and Paulina, just shag already!

Are you talking about the Hallowe'en party episode? I loved that scene between her and Cass, though it was all too brief (I also thought her 20s flapper wig was very flattering -- it reminded me of her hair before she left the how the first time). It was so sad the way she said that there was no place for in Bay City anymore. And I know what you mean about the posse. Dean had a party to see him off to NY and Kathleen showed up (this was just before she was going to leave). Dean was all over Frankie "OMG, are you ok with her being here?!" You invited her, dick! Frankie replied with a heavy sigh that it was ok and Kathleen was leaving town anyway. Dean goes "Oh, that's very big of you, Frankie." BARF!

Frankie as a character is just not growing on me. And I still can't buy Cass with her. Sorry, fans of quirk. With Kathleen leaving, it has kind of added a cloud of boringness to the show I am in November 91's episodes... I dread the day they pull these. Jake/Paulina. Jensen Buchanan's Vicky is starting to annoy me. Like she's pre-channeling Laura Wright's version of Carly Corinthos. I *love* Olivia Matthews and hope she hooks up with her physiotherapist.

Well. I am contnually impressed by Emmerdale's production values, which puts its rivals Corrie and EE in the shade. Nevermind the US soaps, which look piss-poor next to this. Aaron and Jackson fighting. Jackson driving off in his car. Aaron standing there, his eyes glistening with tears. I have such a talent crush on this actor. He is the best cryer I have ever seen. Aaron calls Jackson on his cell. Jackson, driving, can see his cell ringing on the passenger seat. He lets it ring for a while before finally giving in and reaching for it -- only it slips out of his grasp and falls on the floor. Jackson searches around for it WHILE driving and suddenly swerves to avoid hitting something in the road. His car smashes through fences and shrubbery to turn over and over. The shot switches from the view in the car to Aaron, listening from far away to the crash and realizing with horror what has happened. Closeup on the wrecked car. Jackson tries weakly to extricate himself from the wreakage. Then the camera pulls back to reveal a flashing red light... Jackson's car is smack in the middle of a railway crossing, and the red light signals that a train is approaching. Aaron begins to run down the road. Jackson doesn't even realize he is in imminent danger until he hears the roar of the train right behind him and then it is too late. OMG. OMG! So much efficient, effective filming here. The shots inside the car, the use of silence and then noise (the crash, the sound of the train appearing from nowhere), The direction was superb. Whatever one may think about Emmerdale right now, about this character, you have to admit that the technical know-how is impressive. More than that, these Big Events are never soulless behomeths. Emmerdale always manages to hook something emotional behind the Big Event. Here it was Aaron's unwitting part behind Jackson's accident. It is also the fact that in the UK, deaths on the railway line somehow hang in the public consciousness. What an awful way to go. And Jackson WILL die, right? Nobody could conceiveably survive that double car crash! Just had to sing my praises. Miller never fails to deliver, but I was way impressed here by the whole episode.

Nope, I haven't. I'm currently on Jenna who goes looking for a dancing job and ends up at a strip bar. Alla Korot's hair is a subject of endless fascination to me. Meanwhile, Marley and that thumping bore Jamie are on the point of breaking up. Iris has taken some young DA to the dressing up store where Carl is hiding, so that they can choose some costumes for Halowe'en. It is actually pretty hilarious. And maybe it is because I am unfamiliar with Cali Timmins work, but Judi Evans's Paulina and Jake are courting all that sexual tension, and I. Am. LOVING. IT! Perhaps one of you could recommend an episode where Cali Timmins' talents shine through? I'd like to be able to judge. From the bits and pieces that I have seen, she looked a little stiff and hair-modelish, and almost completely interchangeable lookswise with Sandra Ferguson and Jensen Buchanan. But I'm ready to eat my words! Judi Evans, OTOH, I love because she makes Paulina so grounded and warm, yet she has this deep, throaty voice which hints at something sexy. And I like how she plays off Tom Eplin. then again, maybe I need to check out Timmons and Eplin together. Heche-Buchanan and Rambo-Pinter, OTOH? They really stick out as recasts that I just cannot warm to. Juniorz, the reason I am watching AMC right now is because of Swajeski. I am really impressed with her AW work. In fact, I am watching AW fanatically these past few weeks. I am addicted. I am only sad that I didn't get into it the first time around.

I've seen that photo. Alla Korot is in no way shape or form a large girl, but all I remember about that shot was RPG's feather earring and AK's spreadeagled thighs. Eeek. Tickle him to death with his paintbrushes? Somebody pointed out in that episode that Carl was squeamish at the sight of blood. I'm thinking Sam will throw some red paint over him and stand there playing with his perm while Carl has a nervous breakdown.

OMG. Juniorz, that is spooky. I just finished watching that episode yesterday night. Here it is (it won't let me embed): Another World (10/23/1991) Kathleen was the BOMB. She essentially said what I thought -- here are the manly men thumping their chests and tryin' to protect their wimminfolk. She felt she had every right to be there. I went into this epi with some trepidation, thinking it would be some GH-style "we gotta take the law in our own hands" macho mess. Instead, it turned out to be a meditation about what happens when people cross the line and think they are above the law. Here is the LAYDEH! LAYDEH KILLAH! shoot where Frankie jumps on Kathleen as Carl's bomb goes off. Again, more cheesey video tomfoolery with convent girl Jenna donning some fishnets and what looks like a black leather g-string bathing suit. LOL, OMG, RPG punching his fist through a glass door. Another World (09/24/91) I still haven't figured out what the heck investigative journalist Kathleen was doing in the video playing a femme fatale. Oh well.

Holy [!@#$%^&*]. 1991 Tom Eplin. Is insanely HOT. I think I'm developing a bit of a crush!

Spooky. I was going to post that one, too, alongside the train trestle one, but didn't want to make my post too long. I love that dance scene. Back when soaps used name artists and songs! I still love that Mariah Carey classic and that Gloria Estefan song. OK, the dancing is cheesy but it was 1990. The best bit for me is actually after the dance, when Ryan tells Vicky a few home truths. When she tries to hit him and he grabs her arm, he sort of holds it so that her fist is softly brushing against his face. Even though she tells him "You really hurt me" and her fist is close enough to hit him again, she can't bring herself to do it. That whole moment embodied his gentle strength. I think they may now be my favorite ever pairing in soaps. And no, they don't write men like Ryan Harrison on soaps anymore. That and no strong women, I believe, signals the deathknell of the genre. Who wants to watch weaklings and bullies on the frontburner every day?

OMG, I thought that was Anne Heche and they just couldn't be bothered to update the credits! Am I right in thinking that Brian Krause (of Charmed fame) was later recast as Matt? Because he was kinda hot on Charmed. This Matt? Looks like a little kid trying to be a Big Record Producer. This is my reaction to any character Ricky Paull Goldin plays generally. The irony is that Dean is less annoying IMO than Gus on GL or Jake on AMC. And that's with that awful mullet. RPG is more sensual as Dean (and slightly more -- how can I put this? -- metrosexual) than he was/is as Gus or Jake. Yes, that "I Dream of Jenna" song is horrific. But WAIT until you get to September 1991 because they film a video for his song "Ladykiller" and it is the funniest thing ever shot. It is so bad, it's good. PLEASE watch it before AW is taken off YouTube -- you will not regret it. Also, RPG and AK's chemistry is off the charts. They do kiss on the grass at night in early October and, I'm not even kidding, it was so tender and hot that I was fanning myself. And, like I said, I am not an RPG fan. One of the hottest, most romantic scenes EVER: <object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a3Rl3ggEtNc?fs=1&amp;hl=en_US"></param><param'>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a3Rl3ggEtNc?fs=1&amp;hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a3Rl3ggEtNc?fs=1&amp;hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object> PREACH IT. I never wanted to badmouth the character of Frankie because I know she was killed off in such a cruel, cynical way and it really signaled the deathknell for what had been one of the best soaps on the dial. However! I can't stand her forced quirkiness, her "jokes" (which really are not that funny), her "Mama Earth" shtick. Kathleen took a while to grow on me with the whole "I'm fiery and Oirish" thing but she is such a warmer and more relatable character than Frankie, who I always found brittle and a bit boring. And I just can't see Frankie being this perfect match of Cass's who was an urbane, witty, slightly-Euro-trash lawyer.

LOL, Ted King was known as TW! LOved him on GH as Lorenzo. Never saw him on Loving or The City. ABC needs to upload all episodes on YouTube!

Saw this episode a few months ago -- it was the BOMB, especially that Vicky-Jake confrontation. That rape SL was such a turning point for the show. What made it difficult, though, was the fact that AH as Marley and TE as Jake had so much chemistry. I think only PMV surpassed TE in terms of chemistry with Heche. She really was my favourite Vicky/Marley, by a country mile. And, yes, you were seeing what you thought you saw. Soaps used to be a lot more adult in terms of love scenes. I mean adult not just in terms of sexual content but in terms of showing a love scene that wasn't saccharine or fairy-tale. The way Kathleen and Cass interact with each other afterwards is so intimate and real. Soaps just do not show that physical and emotional closeness anymore. Carmen Duncan. I never saw Beverlee McKinsey as Iris so CD is essentially my fave Iris. I'm still not sold on Cali Timmons as Paulina. I find her to be a bit of a hair model and relatively interchangeable from the other blondes on the show (especially Sandra Ferguson). Anybody else think that the actress who played Olivia Matthews looked a lot like Anne Heche?

I love what carmen Duncan said about Dack rambo. Mark Pinter has just started playing Grant (where I am on AW) and I just cannot warm to him. DR always played Grant as having a heart underneath all that political ambition.

Yeah, Mark. He was a little hottie. And I liked he and Gabi's burgeoning relationship.

I was sorry to see them go. I liked Paula and Laura Harring a lot -- she played one of those decent characters who tries to do the right thing. I liked how Gabi was jealous of her and how she still tried to form a sisterly relationship with her. I also liked Elaine because she was such a big part of the "history" of Sunset Beach -- her love affair with AJ and the fact that Annie's father stole their baby and told Elaine it had died. I wish SuBe had hired Gordon Thomson earlier so we could have gotten to see all that Elaine-AJ history play out again, and how jealous Olivia was of them. I don't know why they left so abruptly but I'm thinking that behind-the-scenes changes in the HWing team prompted it. Guza left and was replaced by his wife, Meg Bennett, who was later replaced as well. I got a sense after the first year that they re-evaluated the show and decided to reorient it a little and dump a couple of characters along the way. Like, they also got rid of Nick and I really liked him! And Rae and Wei Lee and I liked them too (although I know I'm alone in that feeling).

Ben and Maria?! Cheap, say it ain't so! JMO, I know, but I thought Christina Chambers made the drippiest Maria.

Oh, I liked Ben & Meg -- and I liked Annie. I actually thought Ben & Annie had a lot of chemistry and that's why it was a good triagle at the beginning! But it became clear that Ben & Meg were the star-crossed endgame and that's cool, too, as Robertson and Ward had a nice working relationship. Ben & Meg were always going to be where it was at!

They don't do TV credits like that no more! I love it. Dynasty always had the best. LOL at that champagne cork popping on Gordon Thomson's credit. And I don't even mind the Special Guest Star and Special Appearances By. My Stephanie Beacham looks divine tossing that fur coat across the room. Honestly, she, Barbara Stanwyck and Ricardo Montalban was the only good part of The Colbys. Beacham and Montalban popped. I am LOL right now just thinking how awful Maxwell Caulfield was. True story: Catherine Oxenberg's cousin went to my grade school (this was just after CO had left Dynasty), and one day Catherine came to school to pick her up. Dynasty was HUGE among us kids (I even got the commemorative book for my birthday!) and there was a mini-riot as hundreds of 9, 10 and 11-year olds stampeded the locker room and swarmed around her. I think one of the teachers had to fight us off and bundle her back into her car.

I feel like I'm watching SuBe all over again, over your shoulder! Oh, LAD, DJ and KN were awesome. Kathleen Noone is like the Carolyn Hennessy of SuBe. She played one of my favorite characters. Dominique was a STAR and I wish I knew what she was doing at the moment so I could keep tabs on what she is up to. Virginia was ultimately too constrained a role for her. She could definitely glam it up in a role if she was allowed to. True confession: I much prefer Heskin's Caitlin to Dorman's. True, that. Adams surprised me sometimes with how much better he could be when given the material. Jason Winston George has gone onto better things and that's good because Michael was pretty much a one-note character. Hank Cheyne was never that great. Ever. Cibrian gets a free pass because he was insanely hot.

Bellcurve and his Leeza love. Actually, I loved Leeza, too. Just to underscore what Tomlin said about groups watching soaps, our dorm left the NBC affiliate station on from 11am (when Leeza aired) right through until Oprah-time (4pm) on the ABC affiliate. The NBC soaps were huge in the dorms. And Leeza was a great vehicle for Days. I remember she used to have Patrika Darbo after she lost her Days stint coming on as a talking head.

I think SuBe *did* know that they would soon get the chop -- which is why its last year had a Long Goodbye feel to it. Which I wouldn't want any other way because SuBe managed to end on a very SuBe-like high. I did think Gregory returning as Uncle Whatshisname was a mistake -- it was drawn-out and tedious. Although the irony was that Gregory was nicer and more lovable as this uncle than he was as Gregory! the final scene between Olivia and Gregory in jail was one I still have imprinted on my brain, it was so good. Sam Behrens never got the kudos he should have for playing Gregory Richards, but he was phenomenal at it. Best SL of that last year was Ricardo stroking out when he finally saw that tape of Gabi and Antonio makin' sweet luv in the rubble of the church after the earthquake. He was in a wheelchair plotting revenge on G&A and that was by far the most interesting Thickardo has ever been on the show. Antonio continued to look hot and Priscilla Garita stole the show with her decision to eventually leave town rather than continue to hurt Ricardo and Antonio. I also think that the show would have invested a little more in Casey and Meg if they hadn't known that the axe was falling. As it was, they had to drop that and make sure Meg and Ben found their way back to each other relatively quickly. Sarah Buxton continued playing Annie like her life depended on it. More than anybody else, she really was the star of that show. I'm bummed Sean Kanen didn't have enough time to establish himself, though.

Exactly! I never understood why people always shat on Donna just because the Great Michael Hudson deigned not to be with her. As for Kale, is/was he JFP's personal chewtoy or just an ordinary FOJ like John Bolger and Robin Christopher? Speaking of RC, was she any good as Lorna? I have to say, I love the long, lithe Sofia Coppola.

I hope that Kale Browne gets down on his knees daily and thanks the good lord that Anna Stuart swept his professional life. It is because of her wonderful interpretation of Donna Love that Michael Hudson was such a fixture on AW, on and off, for 20 odd years. And I know he was her first love and and she was all flighty and spoiled etc., but he was such a judgmental, trifling, pompous ass. He really jerked her around -- especially when she started moving on and falling for other men!

I'll be honest. I really did not enjoy that whole Taylor SL. At the risk of getting spat on by hard-core AW fans, I find Sharlene & John to be a total snore. Even with the hint of multiple personalities. I do like John when he's in Doctor Mode at the hospital, and the only part of this particular SL I enjoyed was Carmen Duncan as Iris presiding over the mediation between John and Taylor. But every time John and Sharlene share screentime, it's like all the oxygen has been sucked out of the room -- in stark contrast with the many other chemistry-rich characters and pairings on the show. Taylor was a fun, unstable psycho though (is there any other kind?).