Paul Raven

On the Soap Hoppers thread Fry is listed as Bud, the bar guy. Forget IMDB or other sources, Soap Hoppers is the definitive thread for checking actors soap roles. I not sure that a lot of posters go there.

Phyllis sunk to new levels of delusion today with her childish rants. If the idea was that were to feel some empathy for her as she gazed forlornly at the happy partygoers, it was a failure. As for the GCAC being booked out-why? Danny had Michael, Devon, Jack as guests with Nate crashing. Christine had Lauren, Diane, Traci with Victoria joining them. Hardly a reason to book out the entire venue. Maybe just reserve a table or two.

Superstition 1982 James Houghton Y&R/KL/Colbys Sweet 16 1982 Sharon Farrell Y&R/Rituals Dana Kimmell TX Blood Rage 1983 Jayne Bentzen EON The Initiation 1983 Hunter Tylo B&B Nightmare Vacation aka Sleepaway Camp 1984 Katherine Kamhi AMC The Deadly Intruder 1984 Chris Holder Y&R/AW/EON Fatal Games 1984 Michael O'Leary GL The Scaremaker AKA Girls Nite Out 1984 Julie Montgomery OLTL

BITD the likes of Phoebe Tyler and Kay Chancellor were popular with younger viewers because they liked to see older character called out for their foolish behaviour and hyprocrisy. Conversely they liked Kate Martin and Alice Horton, the ideal grandmothers. And they certainly related to the younger characters who were either counselled or manipulated by the older generation.

After everything that went down at Y&R I think producers are hesitant to cast her on a soap. All eyes would be on the show for the wrong reasons. Would she start to be vocal about storylines, relationships etc? They probably wouldn't think it was worth the risk.

Those kids are ready for college right? Why does Smitty need to be home darning socks? It's not an argument this couple should be having. I wish they had been written as child free and navigating other issues rather than being presented as Ward and June Cleaver.

Noah, Reed, Faith, Moses, Charlie, Mattie, Fen, Ana, Allie just some of the young and possibly restless characters of the next generation.

When Jackie (Scott) Marler and her father Emmett Scott were introduced the Dobsons were questioned as to whether they were related to Peggy, now going by her married name of Thorpe. They professed no knowledge that Peggy was a Scott, daughter of Ben and Maggie. Or maybe it was pointed out and they didn't care, probably reasoning that it was a common enough surname. Still wish that Billy Fletcher had been the Kelly Nelson character. Peggy was known to the audience, although her role had been diminished. She could have been there for Billy's intro 'handing' him over to Ed and Bert and hopefully Fran Myers would have agreed to return from time to time. That continuity is something special to soaps.

Hope they play this to the full potential. Missed opportunities, changes of plan , maybe someone taking Bill's medicine by mistake, Hayley almost getting caught or blackmailed by someone. Dani and Bill need to stay apart but always with that chance of reconciliation. They're more interesting apart than than together. Ted is just annoying now. Kat looks so much better dressed and styled as a woman and not a dressup doll.

Refreshing to see different characters and sets. I'm surprised Josh didn't decide to kill off Noah to provide more drama. It worked for Heather, Chance, Cole and Damian, right?

The Pam Chandler character was an unwed mother in the mid 70's which was a social issue type story. But more a reflection of the times than an out and out message story. GL never did a teen pregnancy story eg Hope didn't get knocked up by some sleazy boyfriend. I guess Bill and the Ed's alcoholism showed how it could be generational. But otherwise they seemed to stick with affairs, murders and villains causing problems.

Luckily Knots survived that move to 9pm. The thing was they had already tried Knots at 9pm in 81/82. It did OK at 9pm following Magnum but was losing a lot of the lead in. Magnum was hitting the Top 10 and Knots was in the 20's and 30's. So why they would try again a few seasons later? Well we know the cupboard was pretty bare at that time. CBS Friday also suffered by the lack of a stronger 8pm show that might have helped Dallas. They let Dukes of Hazzard play there too long. Once a show drops it's time to move it, or drop it. Dukes had weak competition and still faltered. CBS should have tried something there while they had the chance. Dukes fell from #6 in 81/82 to #30 in 82/83 and CBS did nothing. Detective in the House which took over would have little appeal to the Dukes audience.

Guess the wink was there for a reason. The twist is good but turning Hayley into a total scheming villianess is limiting in some ways. We will all now be waiting for her comeuppance whereas if she were a little more grey then there would be more mileage. Hayley needed more colors, for sure, but too make her so calculating? Especially as Leslie is running in the same lane. There still hasn't been an explanation as to why Bill, who seems a pretty savvy dude, was taken in by Hayley, after so many affairs. How was this different? Had Dani had enough, or was it the fact that Hayley was known to the Duprees the final straw? Did Bill commit to Hayley to save face? Coz he could have just as easily dumped her when the affair came to light, to show Dani she meant nothing to him. I also think Hayley should have got some sympathy from the Duprees as a victim of Big Bad Bill. She could have used that to her advantage.

1984

A lot of Danny fans will be heading off to the music store to buy the 45 single.

So Sienna is giving us rock chick/been around the block vibes. So far so good but based on past experiences I have zero expectations. But like a parched man in the desert finding water, isn't it refreshing to have a new set/characters/story and not business intrigue round #456. The set seemed fit for purpose and there were actually sufficient extras to make it seem real. Seems like the limited sets of past few months have been used to pay for all of this.

Was this turn by Hayley intended from Day One or do you think this might have been an adjustment based on reviewing stuff. Hayley was sort of ill defined and maybe that was one of their options, waiting to see how things were playing out onscreen? Surely MVJ and others are smart and experienced enough to deviate from original plans if something more viable/interesting comes up.

Gotta pay off those new sets first.

Are You in the House Alone ? 1978 - Kathleen Beller, SFT/DYN Robin Mattson GH/GL/SB etc Scott Colomby OLTL Mardi Gras Massacre 1978 - Curt Dawson ATWT/GL/AW Savage Weekend 1979 - Christopher Allport AW Jefferey David Pomerantz SFT/OLTL/GH Bloody Birthday 1980 - Melinda Cordell Y&R/GH/SOM etc Bert Kramer TX/Y&R Erica Hope Y&R Deadly Games 1980 - Sam Groom AW To all A Good Night 1980 - Jennifer Runyon AW The Burning 1980 - Brian Matthews Y&R/DOOL Leah Ayres EON Larry Joshua SFT Hell Night 1980 - Peter Barton Y&R/SuBe

Hopefully Jill will be back sooner rather than later and for a longer stretch. With all this rambling about the twins don't know why they don't bring at least one back, even for just a short stint to try and salvage that story. Keep them around the same age as before so Lily isn't looking like their sister. It was a dumb move by Sally Sussman to age them up so much.

It's not uncommon to look back at the 70's and 80's and think how much older people looked then. It was the fashions and standards of the time. Now we have someone like Michelle Stafford who at 60 looks nothing like say, Frances Reid at that age.

If Nice was anything to go by we are going to be seeing ALOT of that bar set. Maybe when the characters come to GC the bar will too as it's revealed there has always been an identical one in town a la Cane and the train. It can be another hangout for the business folk of GC.

The height of Dallas mania. The strike delayed the new season so the hype was even greater.