Mitch

I know Marland came from a rural family, but it was just dumb to make the Snyders a farm family in previously unheard of "Luther's Corners" (even that name grates..) The show needed a bit of grit and they should have just been a family in the poor section of Oakdale..(I know its like the Reardons, but 7th street never seemed that "urban.") I think it did indeed isolate them and having to have characters hike out to godforsaken "Luthers' Corners" was just stupid...(really Lisa, one does not wear a sparkly top and heels to freakin Bumfuck...) Plus, for coming from a rural family, Marland didn't "get" the issues facing farm familes at that time (I come from farm country and houses did not look like the Snyders out of the 1930s..)I remember one of the "european" characters at the farm mentioning that the farm reminds them of Tuscany or some such place (uh...the midwest does not look like Tuscany) and how all the little farm houses sprang up and Mama Snyder said that was because people had to sell off portions of their farms and people bought them and split them up and ...it just did not jibe with what was going on at that time. Not..only that, I never once heard the Snyders talk about the weather, bad crops, harvest...(they ALWAYS had time to screw each other and talk about their annoying feelings..) I never understood, with all the history they ignored, like GL with the Coopers, they kept that family intact. If I was a producer after Marland died I would have burned that damn farm house to the ground !!!

LOL..I forgot about annoying Lesley Ann..who not only was Candy, the ex hooker turned nurse and good friend of equally annoying and seemingly lesbianic Hillary Bauer, but was dating obviously gay Warren Andrews (come on, I can see Alex keeping him around as an arm to go places with and to do her bidding as she manipulates everyone in sight..and to tell her which one of her necklaces was too..chunky to wear when going to blackmail someone... but as a passionate straight guy..noooooo...) and was bit by a mouse as she reached for a fork..(come on Warren, a little housekeeping does wonders...) and was infected and died of the "Dreaming Death!"

Weirdly, the start of the resolution of the Laura Simmons story came at the same day that Laurie Dan murders happened in Chicago. Dann killed two girls in a Winneteka school and shot a boy and then went into a house and took a son and his mother hostage until she shot herself..this was big news back in the days before shootings happened constantly and I remember watching ATWT and goofy Laura Simmons when the interuppted for the news on this.

I loved how Blake felt part of the Bauer family there with Ed and thinking of Mo as a mother figure. I always thought Ross and a more mature Blake should have moved into the Bauer hours with their kids and formed the core...Ross was the dad of SF and LK's Blake always gave off a warm vibe.. God I hate Irizzary, and this is the fake Mindy...Marj hadn't started yet...the show really did loose its steam with the loss of Bev, Simms and Mo. Nice to see Jenna before she got sucked into the black hole of Buzz/Deas.

Lucinda was already on canvas when Whit died. She blamed him for Martin's suicide (though we saw later that it was because of Lilly adoption, which Marland never connected to previous) and she took over all of Whit's media empire.. she WAS one of the suspects in his death (Lisa thought she was the murderer) but the original plan was to kill Lisa...or at least that is what Fulton claims, so she said she would come back..

Von Furstenberg made a better Lisa then I remember...I can see why they recast with her when she walked in I thought it was Fulton..and her voice is very familiar. She made a more to the manor born Lisa and didn't have the fire that Fulton had...though it was nice to see a Lisa scene without stuttters, flitty body movements and flirty eye lashes going. Furstenberg was very much a "Lisa grown up and settled" but that ain't Lisa. I wonder what they might have done if they had given her some flipping out meaty scenes ..she was hamstrung with the terrible Whit actor and they just had her standing around. Since they were getting rid of Miranda I wonder if they were going to go into a Lisa/Bob thing again? I llked this Frannie..she seemed "real" (no offense but I never like Marty Stuart whatshername ..she just seemed so..." big" big hair big framed... Who was the writer at this time? A name flips by at first and then a bunch of writers names.

LOL... good move on Wagner's part. What were they going to do with her, kill her off? Have her in the kitchen? Its funny, we rightfully dis writers and producers who kill off legacy characters and write off the vets...and Irna had no problems with it, didn't she also write off Ellen Stewart and she wanted to kill the entire Stewart family in a plane crash...Irna was "hard core."

I remember watching that scene and I was like "DAMN...kiss him back you idiot!" Yea, did not like the storyline..as a) we knew that even dumb flighty Luke was not going to fool around with Luinda's man...and...really...LL could have gotten a million times better then Luke...I hate the sterotype of an older gay guy always chasing after the twink...even if he is not that attractive..(okay, I admit..it happens too much in the gay world) but it would have been good to watch LL's character with an another "adult" man...Henry would have been preferable!!

That was the trouble with the "new" (Post MADD) PG soaps, they had their teens stuck working only with other newbies who were just as bad, so no one got better...(I remember on GL they had Chele,Jessie, Bill, and whatsherface with the New YOIK...accent..moving into a loft together, which would have been fine but they never had scenes with anyone else...the Jesse actor in particular benefited working with better actors....when he had scenes with Aunt Meta and even ugggh, Buzz(Deas was always good with the younger actors then left on his own to YELL) he improved. I didn't like Aaron as he was way too much a typical soap pretty boy. Holden looked like a beefy farm boy and in those early days the actor kind of just sent out a sexual vibe which was unheard of for the later soap sanitized pretty boys. LOL on Emily and Holden in the shower..reminds me of when they implied that he and Rose had anal sex..

That would have been a great storyline and Fulton would have loved it as she wanted to bring back the nastier side of Lisa. The start of Marland had Lisa and Craig investigating Lucinda to find out the secret she had and why she went after Whit...but then when she found out in involved LILY, they dropped it of course and Lisa was reduced to insults that Lucinda shrugged off. Fulton always said she would want to be bitchy and Marland would say, "Oh, that's not OUR Lisa!" God he could be so bland sometimes. I thought it would be great if Lisa blackmailed Lucinda with the Lily thing (having no intention of going through with it...) of giving back everything she stole from Whit...and then when everyone finds out that Lisa knew all along and used it for her own good...well, you know Scott Holmes Tom would get that dour ass face on and everyone else would be SHOCKED that she used LILY as a pawn.

Lisa actually got a lot of money from her marriage to John Eldridge..Fulton would talk about how dowdy she looked during her first run...(people had to wear their own clothes) but with tips from the Penny actress she learned how to dress and act more glam. So when she came back to ATWT after that prime time show she looked totally different (that was the blonde Lisa we know) and they explained it was due to her marriage and divorce from a rich lawyer. Tom said during the start of the Scott storyline that Lisa's marriage to Eldridge was the start of her wealth.

If you think he is shouty here wait until you see his "Buzz" on GL! Both Tom and Margo were so shrill at this time. "Steve" was shouty and obnoxious too and I really hated the Dobson's semi misoginistic writing... Kim of all people was cow towing to both Nick and Steve..a long way from her "LOOK buster" days. The show was rudderless with Nancy and Chris gone and the obscuration of the Hughes family. Now this version of ATWT looks like the Dobson's test run for SB. Ariel was great as she was totally a comic vixen...the actress had great comic timing and no matter the awful things Ariel did they always blew up in her face and you couldn't help but kind of feel sorry for her.

Yea I liked Mallet and thought Derwin was hot at the time, but Mallet vs. Rog...uh, no. I always thought that Ed should have found out that he had a daughter with Rita and it was she who got involved with Hart...so you have both Ed and Rita against it, etc. I would have made Jean...a throwaway character, Rita instead, so there would be oomph there for all the characters.

Especially since it was so STUPID to have Frannie's half sister-cousin (not her twin) look exactly like her! Just get another actress to play her... I agree on this, the only good thing was the conflict that came from Babs, which was totally realistic (though of course, it was coming from a anti-heroine..the rest of Marland's goody goody Oakdalies would have said..."Oh it happened so long ago." I also like despite the fact that Babs didnt like her she "saved her life" by tearing up the paper before Sabrina could see James picture...(as it that was the only issue printed in Oakdale..) I also agree that she would have been more fun as a vixen. I would had her come in as a total lower class slut, smoking cigarrettes, pulling scams on people and rolling her eyes at the Hughes, but I do like her "acting" like sweet lil thing while not being it. And Babs being on to her schtick. We all know that Lisa's always had time to take another bad girl under her wing to reform her. Lisa"Now Barbara we all have done things we werent proud of...Sabrina just needs another chance." Babs "Really, tell me, are you making a percentage of the 20 bucks a pop b*** jobs she is offering in the alley behind the Mona Lisa" Nancy..."Oh DEAR!!!!!"

I too think the split would explain Beth's out of character behavior (would have loved to see Loreli fleecing some dirty old man they named "Raul Paunch") But Loreli was a fun loving gal..not the ice cold bitch that Beth was when she came to town again...I would have loved to have seen that and Chamberlin would have played the hell out of it. I like Marcy but not as Lizzie...Lizzie should have been much darker and edgier a character....but Wheeler was just into casting cute young sweet girls like her and annoying Mandy Bruno and the Chrissy girl.

I think Marland had a burr up his ass about Sabrina and thought she was great, as opposed to the rest of viewing audience. "Hey Julianne, to show your range we are going to have a twin sister to your docile, nice Frannie....what, is she going to be wild and a slut..no...she is docile and nice..but you will get to wear glasses, wear a wig and have an accent!!!" I hate boring Sabrina too, (oh my God, the endless scenes of boring Sabrina with boring ass Seth...) what a waste when they they have could have brought some cockney ho bag into the Hughes family! "Hey Gram..that Holden looks like a nice piece of a** "

Why next to Loreli's Diary I am sure!!!

I don't know why they don't create a daytime soap aimed at a black audience, when they see how successful nightime "soaps" aimed at a black audience are. I know soaps are expensive to create but with the success in movies and prime time and shows aimed at that audience its seems to have a chance. I mean, most of Tyler Perry's stuff have soap elements..multigenerational family run by a strong willed, matriarch. The young screw up, the middle generation frets and dithers, and the "old folks" have to step in and kick ass. I mean, I do think of Madea as a later day, if more foul mouthed and unconventional, Nancy Hughes!

I love Downton but its just as bad as the daytime soaps...characters and incidents rush by and disappear...they are a big deal and then they arent...take the goofy...totally ripped from soaps..."character comes back from the dead " who not only had amnesia for awhile, but had a bandaged face and was heir to the fortune but might be a con artist..( I would think that I would know a friend or family member just by their voice but...) Or ..."We are about to loose Dowton...oh..someone dies offscreen so we don't!" I love the show maybe because it took all the conventions and excess of soaps and pasted that over Masterpiece Theater...

This is a case book of actors making something stupid work...and Bev is totally dedicated to it. I like the Victoria actress, and its weird to see Claire being nice. If only they had brought Toby Poser in as Vickie who had a rightful claim to Spaulding, and not that dumb Amanda is Brandon's kid storyline..Tony is smoking hot..(dumb, dumb Annabelle..you don't want him..Ill take him...). Speaking of...forgot how smokin' hot Zimmer was back then...I LOVED her and H.B. and on paper you would think that was nasty...but it worked. Loved Gates and its too bad Charita got sick and died and they didn't do the planned H.B. and Bert...would have been a hoot. But then, they should have bough fiesty Meta in for Bert's funeral and she and "Harlan" would have been great. Hated the Beth blind storyline(to be completely ripped off later with Chele and whatshisface) and hate Van being a wimpy sweet wife. This was the during the total change the show went under from Summer to Winter that year.

I actually think they should have brought her back during that "Phillip is dead" storyline where Beth and Rick were having an affair. I think that Evans and Oleary look more compatible then he and Chamberlin did and I actually think I would have kept them (Rick and Beth) together after Phillip returned, as they would have made a good core couple. I like Chamberlin but she never worked as Beth..but the writing after her return didn't help. One day she is a neurotic bitch, one day a victim, one day a heroince, one day a power mad woman running a goofy island kingdom (with Eddie) I thought the split personality thing would have helped to explain this but it was..just that she was Loreli... I think BC makes a good cold bitch but Beth is not a good cold bitch.

I can't believe that they have not rebooted a couple of them for primetime. I think (cause I loved them the most) that ATWT and GL would be perfect fodder for a reboot. ATWT is set in suburbia and has the middle class Hughes family with the rich Lowells...Imagine a young vixeny Lisa going after med student Bob, good girl Ellen getting preggers..slutty Aunt Edith getting on with Ellen's dad, etc. For a more urban take GL has an immigrant family trying to make their way in a midwestern mid sized city..you would have to tool around with that one .introduce the Spauldings early, etc. AMC would be perfect also to reboot in these political stressed times with the middle class Martins all having different political views while vixeny Erica slides her way in. I can't believe that producers, who use those old themes over and over again, wouldnt want to use a brand name.

I did admire that Marland stuck to gothic while the other shows were doing sci-fi... I think it worked on GL with Nola and Quint and Thornway Road..but the writers who followed had no clue how to deal with Marland's gothic and the characters involved suffered. Long gave it a try with the cabin storyline but it just wasnt her thing. I think they had no idea what to do with Nola after that and the crazy Quolas' wouldn't let the split up...(Quint was the kind of character who had short shelf life and should have been killed off to let Nola move on to other things..) But back to ATWT.. I think Marland's gothic worked for example the earlier Lisa storyline pre Dobsons..but his later stuff was just too BIG ..(yes, Duncan importing a castle brick by brick..and somehow they workers even created the "secret" tunnels that James slithered about in was just stupid and if wanst Marland that storyline would have been made fun of..(Still dont know why he didnt have Duncan move into an abandoned mansion that exisited in town...) A big agree that Lilith was the sun that shown on Marland's dreary little Oakdale at the time! The actress and the character just seemed to enjoy themselves which was a change from usual dour Oakdalian...(beside Lucinda...I think even Lisa was down beat at that time...)

The problem was MADD and the writers and their love of "formula." They had just hit gold with the Jeva vs. Annie and so they thought all "SUPER" couples should have a crazy bitch third wheel.. I would have liked to see Beth come back with more of an edge and less of a saint...(the last years of the original Beth..perfect, perfect angel..and Beth C' first run as a more meek Beth were not what I wanted to see...) Beth should have had some issues...(she went to therapy like two times after Bradley raped her...) but I would have liked a strong, conflicted woman. It would have been more interesting, but as it is, it made me hate Harley more. Unfortunately CW was leaving, so the show was desperate for a blond bitch to take her place, and they overestimated the popularity of Harley...(the BE fans and the Pharley fans were obnoxious and the forerunners to Manny and Rassie...) Harley always worked as she was a tough outsider but still a good person.. it would be interesting to see two strong imperfect women and a very imperfect man in a triangle with no villains, and the actors could more then handle it.

Well, also Wheeler tried to imitate "The Hills," (do you remember that show..no, didnt think so, but it was a "hit" with young demos and soaps are at their worst when coping fads...) and had the shaky cam..etc. I remember a scene of freaking Jeffery on the phone..was shot from in between two tree braches and a shaky cam...I thought..."Oh good, someone is stalking Jeffie and is going to kill him ," but no...it was how Wheelie decided to film it!