PASSIONS: In the beginning...

[JER Soaps Fan]

BURRRRRN!!! haHAHAA.

You GO, boy!!

[Brandeis]

Plot-driven crap that never lived up to the hype and the acting was HORRIBLE.

However, if it were re-started now, at least some, if not all, of the original actors have immensely improved.

[PhoenixRising05]

I love how so many people in here have stated that everyone but Juliet Mills and Josh Ryan Evans (RIP) sucked when Passions also has had over the years Liza Huber, Kim Johnston Ulrich, Andrea Evans, Ben Masters, Brook Kerr, Cathy Janeen Doe, Tracey Ross, Justin Hartley, John Reilly, Leigh Tyalor Young, Richard Steinmetz, Silvana Arias, Eva Tamargo, Travis Shuldt, Natalie Zea, David Bailey, Emily Harper, Kathleen Noone, Marianne Muerrile, Deanna Wright, Taylor Anne Mountz, and Lindsey Hartley who has carried this show for years. Some people in this thread better do their homework before saying that everyone but two actors sucked since Passions' inception.

Anyways, back on topic, did the show live up to the hype? In the beginning, it had dark elements but sucked. However, from October 1999-July 2001 it was at it's best (with Hell in a Closet being the exception during that period but at least it was supernatural). The show was ok from August 2001-December 2003. It was still true to what it was. January 2004-July 2005 it went traditional and was pretty good but then it all went downhill after the tsunami and it has never came back with a few good period here and there. It's all about shock and awe now and not about stories and it's sad. It's gotten away from it's own identity and, if it remains, changed do need to be made.

[KLN]

What do you mean? The plots have gone nowhere. Every single episode since 1999 has been a start-over! LoL

[Mason]

I think he means that the actors that have been on since the beginning have improved so much (most of them, anyway) that if the show started over with the exact same plots, the overall acting on PSNS would be better the second time around.

[Brandeis]

Well SHE means exactly that. And that it might have done better in the ratings early on if the acting had been less amateurish. The storylines were amazing.

[Mason]

Oops, sorry, my mistake.

[sungrey]

You know you're in trouble when a familiar actor or actress is cast and the majority of the responses are "what the hell is he/she doing on Passions?" Don't forget Robin Strasser, who I'm sure joined this show just to stick it to One Life to Live.

If the show had started out strong, who knows? I think when it stumbled out of the gate it quickly got a reputation. (I won't go there entirely, but if I got a dollar every time I heard the phrase "They cancelled Another World for THIS?" I could have BOUGHT NBC.) Then when it got stronger it got a following... but with an audience that had a lot of teens watching the fanbase was quicksand because teens can be very fickle when it comes to TV. Look at The OC.

[KLN]

Oh, but she was fabulous as Heeecuba.

It's funny, too. The writing for her was ridiculous, and she STILL brought it to life. That's Robin Strasser for ya! I love that woman. Didn't particularly care for the polyester hair they gave her... but I LOVE THAT WOMAN.

[JamesF]

Passions has never lived up to the hype from the moment it got to air and that's what annoys me beyond belief. On paper, there was so much potential with the setting, characters and backstory. Reilly left enough loose threads as mysteries to feed stories for years so why the hell did he decide not to tell any? It should have brought a totally fresh approach to daytime -- a sort of Joss Whedon does soap opera. But instead it simply reinforced all the negative stereotypes with stilted performances, assinine dialogue, infuriating fake cliffhangers, nauseating couple obsessions...I hate it! It's like Norman Lear got a head injury, met the writers of Saved by the Bell and they teamed up to throw a show together.

I know this is harsh but I don't get how any educated adult can connect with the show on any level. It's not written well enough to be taken as drama and it's not intelligent enough to be a parody or genuine camp...furthermore its boring. How can you invest as a viewer when nothing that happens ever means anything? The stories simply recycle themselves over and over.

What makes me MOST pissed off is that James Reilly has been given a ridiculous number of opportunities to turn the show around and pull it out of the doldrums but he's either too lazy or arrogant to do it. I don't know what dirt he's got on NBC but he should have been kicked out the door a long time ago. There's too much raw sewage under the bridge for the show to ever live up to what it could have been but at least with another writer it might be a decent enough soap opera.

[DaysnPassionsFan]

Its funny how the first few years of Passions would be considered Emmy worthy compared to what we get now.

And imagine if the location shoots in Maine and Paris were paired with good writing.

[daysfan]

Passions did for a time lived up to what it was hyped to be, but less than I expected. I was so excited for this soap when I heard JER was writing it because of his excellent first stint at Days....I thought it would be heaven. Yeah the show rocked for it's first years, but, it was never quite as good as Days. It was close, but it just wasn't as good.