Paul Raven

Geraldine Court was another of the 70's soap stars who through choice or fate didn't land another contract gig in the 80's. They aged out of leading lady eligibility and there were fewer roles in the 80's for older women. See Barbara Rodell, Barbara Rucker, Jacquie Courtney, Jada Rowland, Lydia Bruce, etc

We know things are bad when an open door gets praise. We started off at the CCAC where the director decided to do a sweeping shot to emphasize that one of GC's premier meeting spots is EMPTY. Nice choice. Oh and Jill is not well. Why not just kill her off so she can join her grandson in the afterlife.? God forbid one of the most dynamic characters be allowed to thrive. Like a scene from an Irwin Allen disaster flick Phyllis swoops into Victor's office -fire/flood/ swarm of killer bees-ranting that Victor needs to vacate because SHE is now queen of Genoa City. Oh yes Cane was there also with Billy Flynn doing his best Marcel Marceau. So somehow NE is now under their control. Just like that. Mmm I might take over a company myself. I'll go to a local cafe and formulate my plan, it seems easy enough. And they can just barge into Victor's office-no security in the lobby, tags to access the elevator etc . Phyllis called out Victor and his family for all their crimes and misdemeanors, which would have been sweet music to my ears had it not been coming from an equally repulsive character. And Victor was propped at his desk, managing to finally splutter some threat and order them out. Meanwhile Mariah is able to creep around the Chancellor Estate-again, no gates/security system. Gotta love this show. Never misses an opportunity to make the wrong choices.

I'm still not clear why a super successful realtor wants to get involved with a mobster and an escort service. Nicole has the attention of 2 doctors and an ex who would take her back in a minute and she heads off to a bar in a slinky dress? I feel like Nicole has moved away from the calm, wise presence we saw at first. I know the marriage betrayal shook her but... I can see Bill being disenchanted with Hayley as all she seems to do is cling on to him-either nagging or trying to get sexay. Always a chuckle when Hayley and Randy meet up in a public place regularly frequented by half the town for their top secret meet ups. And luckily, it's always a time when none of the other regulars are there.

Yes they are ignoring workplace drama/interactions which can add character depth and plot complications.

Floyd came in late 79 just before the Dobsons departed. Wonder what the plan was for that character? Was he destined for Lainie Marler, another recent arrival? Or Hillary? Lainie was another of those characters who deserved a comeback. Why do new writers pretty much ignore past characters? And please, I don't want to hear how they get paid extra to create new characters...

ELIZABETH PERRY Purex Special for Women 'Just A Housewife' Mrs Goodman ABC Daytime 2/26/65

Dynasty was getting a lot of hype -Joan Collins, over the top stories, name guest stars, glamorous sets and costumes and Dallas felt like they had to compete with that to keep on top. But Dallas had never been that type of show and didn't wear those aspects well. Re Lucy. As I posted before Charlene had good snarky chemistry with Larry. She should have married a businessman. Either he was ambitious and using Lucy to further his own agenda or an innocent who got caught up in JR's web. It would have kept her connected to the goings on at Ewing Oil rather than being islanded in stories that had little to do with the rest of the show.

I was watching the Dec 19 1979 episode, so almost at the end of the Dobson's stint. Holly is released from jail and has a farewell scene with Clara, her cellmate. I wonder if the Dobsons might have been planning for Clara to return in 1980, having been released from jail and meeting up with Holly. Maybe a handsome black doctor is on staff at Cedars and they play one of those storylines where Clara feel unworthy of the doctor and so on. On the other hand the early 80's weren't kind to black characters. The Dobsons didn't introduce any on ATWT, nor did Marland on GL. Same with SFT, AW and Texas, so P&G weren't advocating diversity at that point. EON did have Calvin/Starr. ABC was a little better but DOOL had nobody. The Doctors introduced Terri and Calvin in 1980 but they were dropped.

I wouldn't be shedding any tears if Billy, Phyllis and Daniel departed. De emphasise the business stuff. Make Jabot the main business on the show. Claire discovers she's not a Newman and turns to the dark side. They messed up by killing off Cole. He was not the most exciting character but there could have been stuff in his past to interfere with a romance with Victoria. Victoria's romantic options are limited ATM. Bring back Reed. Put Sharon and Nick back together and have them as parents to Faith, Noah who lead stories. Allie returns - a recast if necessary. Move to the next generation!

A casting mistake IMO. It got a lot of press -well Dallas was #1-but I don't think the Peter/Sue Ellen story was well received. A sexier, older actor might have worked. But Linda and Christopher together was all wrong.

Why they cast that twink as Sue Ellen's lover is beyond me. Years later on Desperate Housewives when they did a similar story with Jesse Metcalfe and it worked because it was believable there would be an attraction.

Fri ep was good, they have a nice mix of stories. My continual complaint is the lack of attention played to work/business. Shanice and Ashley spent every scene chatting. At least start the scene with them discussing a patients-throw in some medical jargon to make them seem competent and then segue into the personal stuff. Have the convo interrupted by one or the other having to deal with some issue etc Then we have the Pam/Dani modelling agency which seems to be running itself. Is Pamela doing the bulk of the work? If so have her mention some stuff to Dani. Isaiah is talking about Bannecker but seems to have time to chat in Orpheys and meet Eva, who supposedly is running Ted's office. And so on...

Never liked Jim Storm much on Y&R or B&B. But I see him more as Mike.

And the one season and done series 1980 BAD Cats 1981 Aloha Paradise Strike Force 1982 At Ease !984 Glitter Finder of Lost Loves 1985 Hollywood Beat McGruder and Loud 1986 Life with Lucy 1989 Nightingales NBC Might have missed some. And there were pilots that aired as TV movies like International Airport and Masserati and the Brain, which did not get picked up.

Mmm...Rod Arrants is the same age as Peter Simon-that could work. I'm trying to think of a NY soap actor who could have been a good Mike recast in the 80's. Dan Hamilton? 10 years younger than Dan but could probably play a little older.

Maybe Owen will turn out to be a loser and poor Jan will be distraught, turning to Derek for support and then....

Audra had such potential to be the new schemer with a vulnerable streak. But as stated she's been tossed around, making her way through the usual suspects. The #1 problem with this show is the overload of veterans and the show's insistence on keeping them frontburner. When they bring in a new character/actor with potential they're either written out-Ashland/ Damien given ridiculous back stories-Jordan/Claire not given much to do -Audra/Nate/Holden- but play second fiddle to the vets saddled with past charcters -Cane/Mitch Really I send Adam and Chelsea out of town for starters and there are a couple more characters that need to be rested.

Agatha Christie Seven Dials Netflix All the elements are in place-feisty heroine, gorgeous sets and costumes but the execution for me was off. Lots of running around leading to nothing much. The lead actress didn't work for me-she is a tiny thing and looked like a little girl at times up against others. And we had to have a black character introduced who railed against colonialism. Only 3 episodes, any more would have been way too much. Why Didn't They Ask Evans? was everything this wasn't. Girl Taken Paramount Plus Wasn't really up for another girl abducted, tortured etc but this didn't dwell on that aspect and dealt instead with the affect on the family left behind and the adjustments when the missing girl was found, which made it interesting. The final episode was a let down due to some contrivances and some questions unanswered but overall enjoyable.

I quoted just that part because it summarized what went wrong with many soaps over the years. Alan was a little shady yes, but not to the point where he intentionally caused someone direct harm. Later on soap villains did things that they should have been punished for and it was allowed to slide or they were considered punished because someone wouldn't talk to them for a short time. The moral balance was out of whack.

Hotel was the perfect complement to Dynasty. It had the same soapy appeal, but you didn't have to follow a continuing story and worry about missing an episode. Around 64 NBC piloted Grand Hotel with Barry Sullivan and Chad Everett.I wonder if it intended to follow the same format? Most likely there would have been one story per episode. That was the last season of Aaron Spelling's dominance at ABC. The next crop of shows-The Colbys, Finder of Lost Loves, Hollywood Beat, Glitter etc didn't make the grade.

The Dobsons created the Justin/Sara relationship but then never did much with it. Having Sara marry Dean was a poor choice for the character. I don't know why writers always persist in marrying characters? Sara could have been in a relationship with Dean w/o getting married. it lead nowhere and just gave Sara a poor marital history. They could also have played a renewed Sara/Justin romance as an obstacle to Justin/Jackie remarrying. Re Fran Myers I wonder if she would have been open to occasional appearances? Especially if they decided to SORAS Billy as the new young lead. We need a GL tell all book . Enough actors are still around from that era to spill the tea.

Chancellor Estate is identical to before from what I've seen. They need to get rid of that bulky cheap looking sofa and chair. It makes the tiny set look even more cramped. Something much more elegant is needed. And here's Mariah in the same motel set we've seen over and over. Her storyline would have to rank as the most poorly paced, poorly motivated plots on the show. And from the folks that brought us Dumas, AI and Mitch/Matt that is no small achievement!

JWS had some time off in 83 I think. What happened with Mike and Jennifer? No onscreen chemistry? Geraldine Court was a Marland favorite, so I am surprised that romance was halted. Pure speculation but maybe Don Stewart wasn't happy with the pairing and spoke out. Allen Potter sided with Don. Part of the growing tension b/w Marland and Potter. Agree that Hope and Alan were married too soon and given a dud ceremony. They could have got more out the relationship before a wedding. God knows, Alan had enough baggage to make Hope have some second thoughts before committing.

I just read that Michael J Stark tested for Andy Norris, but lost to Ted LePlat. He got Joe Bradley instead which I believe was recurring at first but Marland liked him and he got a contract. Maybe that's why Andy was written out- Marland liked Stark/Joe better as Springfields next villain. As for Peggy, she was unjustly forgotten. I don't know if Fran Myers didn't want to return, but it would have been nice if she came back to Springfield upon leaning of Roger's death and was allowed to play Peggy's reaction to that. Of course if her son Billy was already in town, living with Bert and involved with Morgan...