Michael

8 minutes ago, Vee said:

It doesn't make a ton of sense. RC heavily invested in plot points from "The Gift" a decade later, but Erin Hershey Presley only being on for I think a day to get brutally murdered was dumb and the budget and focus choices (Heather, Todd, the terrible twink hired to play Rafe Jr.) hurt the story as much as some of the insane plot twists. They offer an alternative and very poor cover explanation for who Caleb 'really' is in the GH world at one point (crazy guy named Stephen Clay convinced he was a vampire who killed his wife Livvie, with no explanation as to why Lucy would believe in a vampire fantasy), then IMO basically dump it all at the end with Caleb's hinted-at survival and taking back of the magic ring before he exits town unnoticed. This to me suggests he is real and Lucy was right all along, that the ring and its magic made people believe the alternative facts. It just wasn't the way to handle it - they needed to do something clearer and go all in, then get rid of it all. And not make it look like it was done for $16.

Thanks for the explanation. I think I tried to read a recap once and my head started to hurt. I remembered Stephen Clay being a part of the original vampire stuff on PC (he was a rock star or something) -- it's a shame they couldn't tie it all together in a more cohesive way.

That kid who played Rafe Jr. was awful, LOL. And killing Alison that swiftly was so bizarre. 

I think the way they introduced Alex -- even apart from the casting, which obviously irritated many people -- was just way, way too heavy-handed. I know they wanted to set him apart from Ben, but the wardrobe, the glasses (and the constant chewing on them), the lounging-around-in-his-great-uncle's-living-room-naked-with-Sloan... it just all felt very "Look how much this COOL GUY loves SEX!!!!" to me. Add to that the limp, forced pairing with Stephanie -- which entailed him bumping into her once, becoming "besotted" with her (which looked more like stalker-y obsession), and then him having to learn the basic concept of sexual harassment -- plus the inconsistencies about his upbringing, which have made it tough to get a handle on the guy because we're unclear on whether Adrienne raised him, if he was ever close to Anjelica, whether or not he and Stephanie were raised as cousins, etc. And I hate this forced rivalry with Maggie and him having to call her "Auntie" every 30 seconds despite never having met this woman before last summer.

Basically, I think the ideas work when you articulate them the way that you do above, @j swift, but I don't think the execution has lived up to that very often.

12 minutes ago, Vee said:

Yes. IIRC it was suggested at the time they were together again, no other mention beyond that.

Thanks! I have the haziest memory of watching Lila's funeral and them being there, but that's all. 

I'm almost tempted to do a deep dive into the follow-up that GH did in 2012-13, but also... scared.

Love reading all the recollections in this thread, so thanks. The entire 'book' era of PC becomes a blur to me after the first 3-4. 

Didn't Lucy and Kevin appear on GH like a year after PC ended for Lila's funeral? How was the continuity from PC handled at that time?

The backstory of that family has always been perplexing, and they never explained why Taylor was using Raines when we first met her. It would've made more sense for Nicole to be using a different name than her whole family, but Nicole, Fay, and Brandon all used "Walker." 

I guess the real answer is that it was cobbled together as they went along.

It's supposed to be the "Salem River," right? Which is a long-established thing, but on this show, I assume their definition of "river" is about as accurate as their definition of "townhouse" (that place is a condo at best). Basically, there's water somewhere.

Yeah, they could really use a bar a la the Cheatin' Heart or a café like Java Cafe or Dot Com (but, uh, update the name either way). I'm glad they're using the Bistro a little more, but a fine-dining type of place has been missing for a long time, too. Everyone's always slurping down chowder at the Pub or eating at that one table in the Town Square.

This person isn't Sasha or Willow or Esme or Molly already?

I thought nuRHONY worked much better than I thought it would. Yes, it's a different show than what we had with the OGs, but that makes the transition easier in a way. And the cheese fight was funny to me -- the fact that the rest of them were sitting around laughing about how insane it was, and then even the women involved wound up laughing at it, went a long way. If they harped on this for an entire season, I would lose my mind. 

Brynn could be fun as a pot-stirrer, but she's giving me Kelly Dodd energy in terms of eventually becoming too unhinged to be on the show.

I agree that Jenna could have worked as an addition to the prior cast.

Koslow and Rinna definitely do come off more like sisters than mother and daughter, LOL.

In an alternate universe where the show wasn't littered with recasts of various talent levels playing characters who exhibit little or no resemblance to their prior selves, I could actually see GT as Sami more than as Billie. 

The age thing would bother me with Billie, I think, even though I know GT was really young for Phyllis, too. But we just saw Lisa Rinna (who's 60) as Billie in 2021. Gina isn't  even 50 yet. It would feel glaring.

Actually... GT as Cassie?

They've dropped the ball really badly with both Holly and Parker. Does Nicole even remember that Holly's lurking somewhere around that DiMera mansion? I know it's tough to use child performers much, and I suspect they're keeping Parker's age vague  on purpose, but it makes Nicole and Chloe both look so awful.

They need a Philip for the Victor tribute stuff. I thought he grew into the role all right toward the end of his 2015-16 run, and this is one of those times where it's like... I'd just prefer to have the character involved in some capacity.

Well deserved!

I sorta agree with Andy that it's befuddling none of the RH shows have ever received a nomination -- but we know the stigma that "trashy" reality shows carry. This kind of feels like a barrier being broken down, if nothing else. 

11 minutes ago, ranger1rg said:

But isn't that factor enough of an issue? Enough to affect every element of the writing for the character?

I do co-sign to most everything you said about Leo as a character and how the writers have botched it.

I can see what you mean there. There's just such a weird disconnect for me -- I just don't pin that on Rikaart, who I think is doing a good job with the material he's been given, and it isn't his fault he isn't 28 (or doesn't look it). Once they decided to make Leo more of a regular thing, I don't know why the writers didn't adjust accordingly.

10 minutes ago, j swift said:

I was intrigued that they sort of addressed yesterday when Leo was in bed with Dimitri and being told to keep it a secret, he lamented that every man he goes after is either straight or otherwise attached, which actually made me pity Leo a bit.

However, these are two strong points.  If Leo was saying, "I'm not getting any younger and I need to find a mutually loving relationship", I would sympathize with the character and applaud the creativity.  Yet, writing him as 30something slacker is disingenuous and alienates the audience who sees that is not what he is.

They could totally have written into that!

It always felt odd to me that Will and Sonny were mixed up with this dude was a good 10-15 years older than them, and that was never an issue, but Leo being with Craig was SUCH a scandal. There's actually a bigger age difference between Zack Tinker & GR than there is between GR & Kevin Spirtas!

I don't think Leo is unlikable because of GR's performance. I think he generally does a good job with what he's given. It's just largely Too Much of what should be a very, very supporting character, and they've done too many fake-outs where he seems to learn a lesson and then regresses with no explanation. And it irritates me that they seem to craft entire scenes and scenarios around giving him these pithy one-liners that would largely be funny in isolation but feel like they come at the expense of solid storytelling, characters I care about, or even basic logic.

Of course, there's the larger problem that they don't know where the line is with him hitting on every straight man he comes across. It's one thing for him to make a comment to Gwen about how hot Xander is, but the constant sexual harassment is a bad look.

One thing that I struggle with, with GR in the role, is that he's very clearly a guy in his mid-40s. It seems like Leo was conceived and introduced as someone who was supposed to be, like, 28, and they still write him that way. But I'm sitting there going, "This man is 45 and should know better." That factor aside, I don't think the casting is an issue with Leo.

Nothing about the new RHONY is blowing me away yet. It all looks... "fine." I'll certainly give the show itself a chance.

Welcome to Crappie Lake is delightful. I love seeing the women as their oblivious selves and yet also not looking down on the town or its people. There's a general kindness to the whole thing that I find endearing. Although Sonja seems DRUNK in every single scene...

Man. Way, way too young.

Dimitri's father is someone we've never met or previously heard of named Oscar Von Leuschner. Megan said it in dialogue a few weeks ago. We have no idea how the broader family tree lays out, but presumably this Oscar is the brother of Carly and Frankie's father.

The Von Leuschners and Alamains aren't related. They said something in the first Beyond Salem about how the Alamainian Peacock originally belonged to the Von Leuschners and was supposed to be part of Carly's dowry when she married Lawrence, so that's why Dimitri wanted it back. Nicholas Alamain is both an Alamain (through his father, Lawrence) and a Von Leuschner (through his mother, Carly), though -- he's the sole link between the two families.

Someone on this thread (I think) had at one point suggested that Debbi Morgan could return as her PC character, Ellen, which could also work if she were open to doing GH.

Seems like it's doing impressive numbers and getting good press thus far, and I'd love to see an adequate Twitter replacement take over. But functionality-wise... I use Twitter for way different things than I use Instagram for. I don't necessarily want my soap discussion friends to be following my Instagram, or for all my family and friends who follow me on Insta to be seeing my soap discussions or whatever (not even that I CARE about them seeing it, it just seems weird to be serving that stuff to them). I dunno, having them all linked doesn't make it very appealing for me.

3 hours ago, j swift said:

In my imagination, this is the same space where Susan and John got married, (and her teeth flew out), but since the renovation in 2021 we are seeing it from the opposite side of the room, which is why the entrance is now stage left.

It's definitely supposed to be the same space, but they rotated it 90 degrees. Except the entrance that connects the living room to the foyer is still where it used to be, right? 

On 7/1/2023 at 9:14 AM, AbcNbc247 said:

We can add Alex to that list. He and Angelica were presumed dead when he was a baby. 

Good call! Thanks.

3 hours ago, j swift said:

Is it the recasts or the retcon that keeps me getting Angelica and Diana confused?

Probably both. The Diana who showed up in 2019 played by Judith Chapman was absolutely not the same character that Genie Francis played in the 80s.

Leo was thought to have been killed when Will and Sonny rolled him up in that carpet. Nicole "died" in that warehouse explosion. I'm sure I'm forgetting plenty of people.

I don't think Justin has ever been thought dead, though I could be forgetting something.

11 hours ago, Darn said:

Hi all, I saw a promo about Abe's apparent "death" and that prompted a thought, who of the current cast hasn't been mistaken for dead? I assume a lot of the newbies. I'm just so curious, it's such a prevalent plot device on this show.

I don't think Xander has. Gwen, neither. Wendy hasn't... Johnny was, as a kid. I don't think Paulina and Chanel have been presumed dead. Or Gabi, but I might be forgetting something there. 

Actually, Brady has been at death's door but I don't think has ever been presumed dead! He's probably the longest-running character right now who hasn't been. What a cartoon.