There have been many times where I find myself wanting a better life for Tammy because I won't lie...Jonathan can be a total prick and yet somehow, he always ends up as the sympathetic character. The reason for that being that TPTB have just taken more time and care to write for his character than Tammy's. Nevertheless, when Pelphrey & Gatschet are in a scene together, I can't help but get suckered in. Really, all logic and moral standards just get thrown out of the window with those two because I've seen other messed-up soap couples and yet, I don't find myself rooting for them to be together.

Tammy just isn't a schemer. Someone like Jonathan can be thrown anywhere because he's someone who likes to meddle which allows him to do more. Tammy was the classic heroine who would listen to a friend's problems rather than create them like Jonathan. And certain people just don't find that interesting.

I totally agree with you about Rylan's Lizzie. I think you have to accept the fact that Lizzie is a completely different character now to accept Rylan's version. That's what I've done. To this day, I still don't know if it's the writing or the acting because I have seen Lizzie in her more quiet, thoughtful moments and I think Rylan does those well but then she can get really screechy and over-the-top, too. I mentioned in another thread that I was still trying to figure out what they were going to do with Lizzie once Jonathan & Tammy leave. They've completely taken Coop out of her orbit. Any attempts to reel her back into scenes with the other 20-something characters is going to look a tad forced and contrived because she has been so involved with Tammy & Jonathan.

But there's no rhyme or reason for the change in character. When Lizzie went crazy with Crystal Hunt, there was at least something to establish that, much later with the survivor's guilt and more recently the living in the 'cold' Spaulding home. TPTB probably felt a more animated Lizzie was the way to go after Crystal Hunt left.

I'm actually thinking of tuning in again when Jonathan and Tammy exit because I really want to see what the heck the show does to recover from losing the couple they've been banking on for so long. I'm interested to see who is put in that lead couple position considering where everybody is currently. I suspect that Lizzie will be backburnered for a while, as she should be since Ryland has been going practically non-stop since popping up as Lizzie. Jesus, Kriezman couldn't find anything for Lizzie in the year that Hunt was there, but the minute she's out the door there suddenly tons of storyline

I fear that Harley and Gus will rear their ugly heads again as the it couple with the adoption of Sydney and the return of Harley's daughter, Daisy.

But Philip's still alive. They just have to get Grant Aleksander back somehow.

I never meant to imply that Phillip was dead. The Phillip murder mystery was just awful from the initial Scooby Doo mystery starring Gus and Harley that resulted in six months of accusations to reveal that Phillip wasn't dead, just running around Springfield played by an under five. hehe. That was fun Then there was the even better Phillip asks Rick to tamper with Ross' plane so that he can escape town leading to Ross' untimely death. Oh yeah, that was another classic plot.

Grant Alexander shouldn't have been fired. And why come back to a show that is completely different from the one that you left?

Am I the only one who thinks Rylan makes a better Lizzie than Hunt ever did. I mean, in a perfect world, Lizzie would be cast with a more mature-looking actress. But I didn't like Hunt's one-step-from-the-nut-house portrayal of Lizzie. It worked for the arch where Lizzie was kind of psycho, but then she was paired with Coop and was to act more "normal." It always seemed out of place to me.

Am I the only one who thinks Rylan makes a better Lizzie than Hunt ever did. I mean, in a perfect world, Lizzie would be cast with a more mature-looking actress. But I didn't like Hunt's one-step-from-the-nut-house portrayal of Lizzie. It worked for the arch where Lizzie was kind of psycho, but then she was paired with Coop and was to act more "normal." It always seemed out of place to me.

Coop and Lizzie was a mistake. John Driscoll is a talented actor and "Guiding Light" is lucky to have him, but jesus they really have never given him a talented romantic lead to work with. I felt that Hunt's Lizzie was good at being a malicious spoiled princess, but I don't think you liked that intrepretaion of Lizzie. 'Normal' Lizzie with Coop was just terrible because there was no transition from crazy to normal. In the summer of 2004, Lizzie was manipulating Joey, drugging him in September before Phillip blackmailed him out of town, and then she went crazy when he disappeared and ran Sandy down when she was aiming for Tammy. Then Lizzie bet Alex she could make Coop fall for her, Coop bet Marina the same, and then all of a sudden the bet was completely forgotten about and Lizzie and Coop were just a boring couple who had nothing to do until Lizzie decided she needed money. The last few regimes have been terrible with character continuity.

Tammy was the classic heroine who would listen to a friend's problems rather than create them like Jonathan. And certain people just don't find that interesting.

Tammy's still the heroine but she's dragged into storylines rather than fronting them. Another thing is that with her messed up history, the writers should be finding more stuff for her to work with rather than this sordid neverending triangle she's been in for almost a year. They could be having her deal with the consequences of not having a constant father figure in her life, they could explore her relationship with Cassie more, etc. But they haven't really and that's unfortunate.

Coop and Lizzie was a mistake.

Coop & Hunt's Lizzie was just about as excting as watching grass grow but I've seen potential with Coop & Rylan's version. They seem to balance each other out more. Coop seem to be a more animated character with her. Unfortunately, they went with the dead boring Coop/Ava pairing and now that they're putting Alan-Michael in Ava's direction, what the heck are they going to do with Coop?

The Carruthers storyline I sat through. Ben's suicide and the explanation why was the last straw for me. It was the first time I ever e-mailed CBS Daytime directly. I can imagine many others did the same thing.