Contessa Donatella

Good count, I think! Sounds doable. I watch 2 soaps & both are afflicted with cast bloat. I just scratch my head over it.

Well, I love Karla Mosley but I also personally feel that the GH cast is too large now & no one should be hired without someone being fired. However, it would be so easy to lose Cody Bell, Finn, Mason, ...

Yesterday, because today is Valentine's I re-watched the AW 1992 Valentine's episode, the 1940s B&W film noir "Case of the Stolen Heart" on YouTube. I tend to think of special episodes as part of the glory days. Maybe that's just me. At any rate it did not disappoint! Is there any other special episode for Valentine's? I would enjoy more.

I cannot figure out what Stefan is up to, trying to drug EJ. I must've missed something. Now, with Alex being right smack dab in the middle of breaking up Challie, if anything he is less sympathetic! And, I feel like they had him & Allie actually have drunk sex because they wanted to rush that break-up with Lindsay leaving. Had to have her betray Chanel. And, rush it they did! I have the dialog of all of Challie in text if anyone wants it. I join many Challie fans in feeling they did not give the couple a fair shake. Apparently Feb. is gonna be short on diversity characters, with March giving us some new or returning ones. This morning I was glad to see some people we haven't seen in a bit. Brady, Eric, Nicole, I hate them schlepping Thomas & Charlotte out to prop up Stephanie. Oh, and Jada, we hadn't seen her in more than a week. I think Feb. 3rd was the last Salem Angels sighting, which makes tomorrow Day 8, so I guess we might go to White Space then. Carolyn Culliton was the Script of the Day yesterday & I thought she gave us great dialog for Allie, Chanel & Jennifer Rose. Nothing so exalted as all that today.

I had to laugh when Joss asked him, "Are you five?" I'm always for the Bromance betw Spencer & Cam, but Spencer was just being silly at the wedding! I continue to love lots of dresses & tuxes. Portia's dress & veil, Terri's dress, Trina always looks good, etc. Liz looked good, if a bit spooked. Spencer's tux looked like a period piece, not modern. I am tired of Portia hollering at Jordan. I thought the "Forever hold your piece" line was a great cliffhanger moment. (Or is it peace?) I was glad Sonny got Nina to go to the wedding. She needed to leave the hospital. Liesl & Carly in the elevator was rich especially with Liesl's history with Robin & Anna! It troubles me that Willow & Michael are going to marry in two weeks & she may only have *weeks* to live & Sonny's gun deal is gonna go down in 2 weeks!

I completely had the two mixed up awhile back!! Took me forever to get them sorted in my brain. So, I sympathize.

My interest was Liesl & Carly in the elevator & then Liesl at Willow's bedside. As to Spencer being boorish & alarming Trina, I liked Joss's line to him, "Are you five?"

Great idea, Jane. When they were talking about casting Steve Burton again, playing Harris Michaels, I read that his long ago back story was more sinister than what we saw in BS2 & that he would be more true to the old story more than BS2. I admit I was intrigued.

Love it! Carson is Mr. Bobblehead! Mr. Bobblehead had a birthday last week. Imagine that.

Who is Mr. Bobblehead?

Ever wonder if as soap fans we have a bit of masochism in us?!!! 🫵🫰🤔

Well, that's one example of when Reilly could get into trouble. He'd be working a genius idea but for some reason he'd be doing really poor execution or implementation. In the case of the original demonic possession they set out to tell the story in a given timeframe & then completely changed their minds & aimed to end it much later but instead of just writing *much* more material, they tried to somehow stretch what was already written to last longer! Salem time got even weirder. Repetition crept into the days & nights & what had been compelling became clumsy & confusing.

LOL, so, uh, 4 days ago?!! Seriously, I get your meaning, in real time, not Salem time. It just hit me funny. YES! VF, you got my reaction to Wendy last week, on the money!!

Personally I liked today because I liked the dialog. Jenn, Allie, Chanel, Sonny, Paulina, lots of really good words, really well delivered.

I just want to say how refreshing it was to read commentary that was not the usual total hero worship of "Gloria-Monty-Saved-Soaps". All too often i find myself in a Minority Opinion of One who sees a downside to her actions. Also the loss of unique identity of the soaps replaced by corporate copycatting. Thanks, folks.

Hey, hey, hey! May I say here, too, as I already did there, just lovely work! I love it! I hope it's okay that I shared it! Thanks if so.

I'm sure you are right about that. And, despite their objections texts do list them with soaps.

I know that the people who worked on Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman, say that they were not a soap, that they were a satire of a soap. But, soaps definitely attempted to make comedy a part of their shows after a certain point. Santa Barbara did. Another World did. I'm sure there are more. It's an element Elana Levine talked about in HER STORIES. I know that Stephen J. Cannell pitched a lawyer soap but NBC made Sunset Beach instead.

If when you speak of the decline you are primarily speaking of ratings, we probably need to go further back. Look at these ratings (below). Of course, the way ratings were computed changed multiple times so the numbers don't compare one-for-one, exactly. But, the point is made. I have a friend who says he can prove mathematically that broadcast ratings for all shows always were going to experience decline until they died or were cancelled. This shows peak ratings long before soaps had even reached what anyone calls their golden age. So, in the 70s & 80s perfectly acceptable ratings were already less than the monster ratings shows got in the 50s & 60s. But, production quality in those 70s & 80s was better than in those 50s & 60s. You make a good point with those pre-emptions & that strike. Many people point to it as the start of something at least "not good". 1952–1953 Season 1. Search for Tomorrow 16.1 (Current record for daytime soap ratings) 2. Love of Life 15.1 3. Hawkins Falls 13.7

Jessie & Steve, yeah, I third that. In fact, I would think of that element first! And, now, learning that PEOPLE has this exclusive to the new photo begin released, I wonder if the show is getting any money out of the mag.

I just adore Cynthia Watros but I cannot abide Nina Reeves! Isn't it always the way?!!

On #SoapTwitter "Depper_76" published this lovely #GH60 In Memorium!

I loved PC!! I called it The Little Soap That Could! Poor thing, it desperately needed to be tucked in between AMC & OLTL! A bunch of half hour soaps that aired at/around lunchtime as the first soap of the day, all failed.

Did he do a broadcast style voice but talk quite fast to get in as much as possible?