Contessa Donatella

@Maxim you are adding a whole 'nother new dimension to these characters & to the basic story. Spoiler Alert, the latter.

One thing Kim did not reveal is that she also spent a fair amount of time most days in tears. Also she presents a clearly biased view of Wheeler, who as a woman was not eligible for KZ's admiration. That was reserved for males. She preferred them as bosses. 1st example Kim's high opinion of Pail Rauch.

I just want to interject a somewhat different point of view. They devoted a part of every year for 18 or 19 years to writing an Emmy-winning storyline for her. The rest of those years she was a regular member of the cast. With those priorities, was character growth even something they aspired to? And, I do not know the answer!

Here's Donna aka Dimples

If so, we'd better see a da*n great crack-up scene. This is the next logical question!

The only thing Ava has to worry about now IS Kristina.

Okay. To be clear, I didn't mean to jump down your throat.

This makes it sound like it was Wheeler's idea, when it was mandated by CBS.

But, Jonathan's story is basic soap trope. He was the previously unknown child who has been treated miserably & he's come to get his revenge on the people who abandoned him to such a monster. This tale has been told so many times. And, Tom Pelphrey was such a find. Now, Sebastian is a totally different thing. Wheeler's big mistake with Sebastian was waiting & hoping Peter Simon would change his mind. He wasn't going to & she needed to recast & keep moving. When Sebastian had Holly in a cell & tried to make her kiss him I knew we were in a heap of trouble.

The thing is when you're in it there is no way to predict that you're gonna make 1 A, 2 Cs, 1 F show. That can be seen backwards but it cannot be creatively produced forwards.

Love this! About JFP, she was fired 8 or 9 times. I was never fired.

There was a GL/Marvel Comics crossover where Harley was temporarily a superhero, with a special costume & her superpower having something to do with "light". And, Shawn Reeves, then GL Costume Designer created some other costumes, too, that other Marvel characters & comics, used. I have no idea when this happened so I don't know if it was Wheeler, or not. Wheeler did the outreach into communities & building houses, etc. She also did special Wednesdays for a while. She also did one character episodes for awhile, some of which were Wednesdays. And, finally she did these "Inside the Light" special episodes. Some of these special episodes are on YT. Besides what was mandated by the network she tried to innovate on her own, also. For her part, the intent was always to try to make GL better. And the attitude was one of caring, not ego or arrogance. In her own way she was trying to reinvent rather than watch it die without trying things. I do see how someone could look at that & know about some EPs stuff & see 'new stunt of this week'. I also get how people could look & say that she was throwing everything at the wall to see what would stick. It raises the question what do you do if the sky is falling?! Between the mandated new production model & these things she came up with, it's why they had SO many set visitors!

I certainly understand that. I am one who says that a relationship that begins with rape should not be eligible for the adjective iconic. I cannot even begin to grasp that Bill Bell said he thought that sex was consensual. Just as a point of DAYS historical nitpick, Bill & Laura were first in love years before that awful night.

You chose not to answer questions I asked about your next to last post, which is of course entirely fine as it is everyone's prerogative to choose what they will reply to. But, we do know from your own words that you did not watch much during Wheeler's tenure. I am choosing to reply to this post. Time Travel via painting: I have been hugely critical of this & have seen many others criticize it also. It has not gotten a pass. To me it only had one saving factor - costumes. Typically I do enjoy costumes on soaps. Mae, the cigarette girl: I have been strongly critical, as have others. However, I don't think she fits here. She's just a poorly crafted character who was much disliked, not a whole storyline. San Cristob*l & Zaslow: No one could spend much time here without being aware of the universal condemnation of these two. Amish Reva & Tangie Hill: Maybe not as much attention is paid to them but I'm pretty sure if they do come up, it is criticism. Speaking for myself, that's a definite. As a matter of fact, Alan just happening upon Amish Reva is to me one of the most preposterous of transitions! Hope this adds perspective.

The very awful Marianne Carruthers story is a great example of historical inaccuracies also being insulting especially to character integrity. But, it's also a great example where we do not just look at one egregiously wrong output from a given creative. No, we add to that the sock puppet, the red herring that Sandy was Reva's son, the total travesty of Ben Reade, the young adult group adventuring in the old tunnel system until they somehow fell through the ceiling of Manny's apartment, the baseball diamond when previously Shayne had played a different sport & wasn't Eden a sex madam?

What would be good portmanteaus for couples from the past before we began to do ship names? AMC Erica & Jackson = Ericson DAYS Bill & Laura = Blaura AW Mac & Rachel = MacRac Santa Barbara Mason Capwell & Julia Wainright = Capright

That's when I have predicted that Chad will return. Of course that is only one fan's opinion.

Ya know I am of the opinion that at a certain point in soap history each show had its own unique identity & we definitely lost that & I think that was a huge mistake. When soaps began there was a great deal of similarity. So the excellent time I'm thinking of was a sweet spot. If only we could have maintained that.

No. We weren't doing ship names yet. If we had been though I would've campaigned HARD for #Ericson ERICa + jackSON I think it's classy.

BITD even though portmanteaus had not yet become a thing, fans used Team denotations. AW fans had to choose between Team Vicky and Team Lisa with regard to Jamie Frame. Here, with regard to our main dame Erica (of course) we're talking about Team Jack for her. And thanks for saying so. You are kind.

I was always a fan of Erica & Jack together!

I simply disagree here. To me it is obviously related to the particular writing. But, I have already made serious criticism about how this story obscenely accuses 5 male characters of doing something they did not do & could not have done.

You are all overlooking that they did this because Carrie Nye was a friend who they wanted to give work to. That is oversimplifying but it is also true.