Paul Raven

I think having both sisters marriages break up in the first year was wrong on a number of levels. I would have preferred Ted/Nicole on a different trajectory with them trying to salvage the marriage and rebuild trust. That would have suited Nicole's character and provided a contrast to Dani as well as depicting another angle to a marriage breakup. That doesn't mean Nicole has to be a pushover. DD could definitely portray those mixed emotions. I do not want to see a baby switch story. BTG shouldn't be heading to the soap cliche stories at this point.

Yea I kinda see that, but I think Bill and Hayley both having been around the Duprees would have more of an idea of what constitutes 'good taste'. And they mentioned Hayley used a designer. I guess maybe the set designer went overboard with the brief. It doesn't look garish and expensive- which it should be- just tacky and cheap. And the room itself is too small with no windows and that table and chairs that are squashed in at the entrance And the opposite (but nowhere as bad) is Nicole's house which is supposed to be restrained and minimalist but comes off to me as bland and lifeless.

BTG does not need his dreary Devon in Fairmont Crest.

Has Chelsea spoken to Dani about the marriage? Or Chelsea and Naomi discussed it? Certain interactions are missing. We need to see relevant characters reactions. That is Soap 101. Every time I see the Hamilton living room I shudder. Literally every aspect is wrong.

Great to have Jill back on set and not on a laptop screen. BUT she's stuck in that awful story. Some AI threat...really not interested.

No.

Patty came back for the 50th Anniversary shows. Killing off Chance was pointless. Connor Floyd was fine. Josh put him in a suit to involve in the corporate trash but there was no real effort with the character. I guess they can easily say the death was faked and come up with some nonsensical reason why.

Agree on a lot of this. Xavier Phideaux in his interview talked about restrictions with sets and I think mentioned characters having to be in a bedroom. Referring to Jacob/Naomi. Which has me wondering why that decision was made in the first place. Such a dumb move. That set could have easily been a small living room which a clever designer could have worked with to give the impression it was part of a larger house or apartment. Any sexy scenes could have taken place on the sofa or a limbo bedroom set as we have seen used for other charcters. Then we had Randy at Orphey's which was odd but the next day they set up a simple set (wall/table/chairs) for Dani and Andre at the airport. Why not do that for Randy? I remember when the show was announced and they talked about real estate agents, politicians and firefighters and I was wondering how they were going to show all that. Well they haven't, and Vanessa not having either house or office is poor planning. As for sets having Nicole and Bill's house having similar floorplans with no front door and people entering through a corridor -that's a miss for me. We need those classic soap scenes of character A opening the door to character B.

After Leslie died mid 76 Mike had to go to the widower position as standard for soap charcters. Usually about a year. Ann was lurking in the background but they never went anywhere with it. I think Jackie showed interest and then he fell for Elizabeth but that fell apart. Wasn't there a brief thing with Renee (Deborah May) who Marland brought back later as Brenda/Ivy? Then Jennifer but it seems Don Stewart wasn't happy-although I don't know why actors get much of a say. I guess could play it a certain way to add to a lack of chemistry that might be there. Anyway that romance fell through. There was Trish and Alex. Did he date Lillian? Am I right in saying he wasn't happy with Trish cos he felt she was too young for Mike? Which goes against theories that he wanted Mike with younger women. Have we ever had definitive answers on why Don left so suddenly after so many years? Did he clash with Gail Kobe? Was it a money/contract thing?

Mike Horton is Julie's cousin ,right? Her mother Addie and his father Bill were brother and sister. So what does that make Jeremy to Julie? 2nd cousins?

There weren't any other children from the past apart from Billy and Emily who had any 'current' connection. It was poor planning not to give Mike a son at some point as he only had Hope and she was born early 60's. He and Leslie should have had a son before she was killed off.

I don't understand why a daughter wouldn't come to town for her father's funeral. Where is this university supposed to be? With Donnell on the scene, is he going to dealing with life from Orphey Gene's? The MacBrides need a house.

Happy for Kate but wondering why so many appearances for Esther? It's not like she is in the midst of a story. 19.) Mark Grossman (Adam Newman) : 3 *.) Christel Khalil (Lily Winters) : 3 *.) Tracey Bregman (Lauren Fenmore Baldwin) : 3 *.) Cait Fairbanks (Tessa Porter) : 3 23.) Sharon Case (Sharon Newman) : 2 *.) Sean Dominic (Nate Hastings) : 2 *.) Camryn Grimes (Mariah Copeland) : 2 *.) Jess Walton (Jill Abbott) : 2 27.) Melissa Claire Egan (Chelsea Lawson) : 1 *.) Bryton James (Devon Winters) : 1 I'm sure Bryton and Camryn are now recurring. Too many months of low numbers. Adam and Chelsea deserve the same fate.

I recall twice where Amy said she was catching up with Traci but we never saw it.

I'm surprised Amy is still around. Maybe they are just wrapping up her stint. Her son has been killed off and she has no real connections to GC. Maybe they should have brought on a recast Olivia instead.

Re the dialogue. It comes off clunky at times by feeling the need to reference stuff explicitly. There were a few examples today but one minor example comes to mind-when Derek returned to the nurses station, Ashley asked 'Have you finished your physical therapy session already'? All she needed to say was something along the lines of "Finished already?" Or when Dani said about someone finding out about the marriage through 'the Anita impersonator on social media' instead of just saying 'social media'. Maybe not the greatest examples but there is a lot of that stuff that sounds phoney and unnecessary. Hope you get the gist of what I'm saying.

Haven't watched for years but on a whim had a quick look. Rita, Fiz, Tyrone, Dev, Kirk, Tracey, Roy and Kevin were the characters I recognized. Rita looked hardly any different which is amazing as she is over 90. I was shocked at how Kevin had aged, especially considering the actor is only 60. He looks at least a decade older to me.

Yes - a vote for Billy! He and Emily Norris should definitely have returned at some point.

I see your point but adding a stronger Hayley into the mix would create more complications. I just don't think MG has been served well by the writing and is capable of more. That whole miscarriage story was bizarre and had zilch logic or motivation.

@Reverend Ruthledge Thanks so much for sharing this. A lovely tribute. I wonder if Eileen had many close friends after all those years in NY? Maybe that couple reaching out to her was what she needed at the time.

With so many 'dropped' plots and unexplored relationships the show needs to be careful balancing all that. Hayley is a character that really needs to be explored a lot more cos I feel the potential is there .The actress is doing her best with what's on offer and she's probably as unclear about Hayley's motives as we are. Having the talk to with Caroline is a start. Judging by her outfits and the set decor, she supposed to be a little tacky and try hard, but that doesn't fit with Bill being attracted to her to the point of marriage. We still don't see what was so enticing about her that he gave up the prestige of association with the Duprees. Was it just that the circumstances(Naomi's friend) was enough for Dani to finally break it off? But at this point Bill seems to genuinely love her and vice versa(although her insecurities get in the way). Giving Hayley more depth would definitely enrich the story going forward. We need to be teased with Bill/Dani but have legitimate obstacles in their way eg his marriage to Hayley-not just as a plot device.

Expanding into the University means a new setting and some extra sets (hopefully) which is a good thing because are we getting a little bored with seeing the same backgrounds? Hopefully Deanna will be included and the youngsters can be more anchored. Will Donell become involved with Samantha ? Makes more sense than random dayplayer boyfriends she wants get freaky with. And it will give more depth to Vanessa beyond lady mobster. As for Nicole (and others) I still think that seeing them in professional situations would add depth. Imagine if Nicole had a patient whose situation mirrored her own? The feedback she gives could give her perspective on her own situation. I know we are tough on AA but watching him 'emote' is awkward. His body language consists pretty much of moving his hands once in a while. Compare that to say Timon, who uses facial expressions and body movements to inhabit the character, even when he is background. Are directors/producers giving any sort of feedback?

Cesar was around 80 at the time so not a spring chicken. But it seems nowadays people of that age tend to be healthier. I guess the next generation tended to take better care of themselves - not smoking, better diets etc

In talking about the Matthews family and how they were diminished, not only in number but also by virtue that there was no one to carry on the name. There was Russ and he never had a son and Bill was killed off-he had a stepson who took the Matthews name but was never brought back so that was it. The by product of having more females than males in the core family. It's something that applied to other shows also. GL had only Rick as Ed and Mike had Hope and Michelle. And they gave Bill a daughter with Hilary. ATWT kept the Hughes name throughout through Bob and Tom but Don was only given one child -a daughter. On SFT Tom Bergman was never around long enough to have a child and keep that name going. The family continued through Janet so they were Waltons. And so on...

Ted/June? I get the concept, but the writing for both characters has been inconsistent. June should have been presented as a woman whose past had hardened her but underneath was still vulnerable. Not the 'crazy' character we were given. And Ted would have his pick of women, so I don't see why he would be attracted to a waitress with all kinds of issues. Unless he's secretly attracted to that type eg Leslie.