"Bill" days are great. Either Bill & Lizzie or Bill & Dinah. I'm still amazed how one character can improve a show so much. But I guess given where GL was, I shouldn't be.

But the rest of the show? Pfffffttttt.....it's unwatchable.

Poor Remy. I didn't know Montel Williams was on the show lol!

They really need to ditch this crap opening lol. It's as bad as the hands one.

So many black folks in Springfield lol. Feels like 94 all over again!

Personally, I think by NOT recasting for Ava - after all, MRS was mediocre at best, anyone could do as good or better than her - and killing off baby Max, all the momentum from the SL has died for me. Are there any conflicts left? NO - Bill and Ava are separated thus removing the Remy conflict and the baby is dead. Again, removing the potentially fantastic Bill/Remy rivalry. These writers have no vision and no clue IMO what makes good drama.

Things are much better in Springfield these days and I am really trying to watch, but the new format is taking all the drama and the soapiness away. If only these episodes were in the normal format..

I wouldn't say the show is amazing per se, but entertaining and somewhat enjoyable.

GL seems to be improving. Now, given how atrocious is has been, improvement doesn't mean that it's great now by any means and there are still huge problems, as you point out.

I think the biggest reason for the improvement is that the scripts are longer again. When the "new production model" first began, scripts had been cut from roughly 90 pages per episode to about 50. This is why we were treated to months worth of watching people walk around empty grass fields doing nothing, "Look Mom, we're really outside at a duck pond!" or "Let's watch Dinah eat her lunch for five minutes because we didn't write her a story or anything." vignettes instead of scenes, and at least two lengthy music videos/montages per episode. As a result, for months, there were no stories, there was no narrative, and no significant development of either characters or storylines. This has changed over the last six weeks or so. There are some actual stories now and there has been development in nearly every one of them lately. The Reva movie FINALLY served a purpose, serving as a catalyst to ending the Josh/Cassie marriage and bringing Josh back to reality. It's also put immense strain on the Reva/Jeffrey relationship and given Hawk more airtime.

Same with Ava's pregnancy. I'll be the first to admit that Ava and Remy are/were the two weakest adult characters on the show. It certainly didn't help that they were played by the show's two weakest adult actors. But the last few weeks featured some highly dramatic moments and the writers have used it as an opportunity to use Billy, Vanessa, and Mel in some important and enjoyable scenes and have given Dinah something to do other than eating salad on a card table or whining to Olivia about having tomato juice served at breakfast instead of her beloved orange juice. Now if only they have her team up with Alexandra to take over and run Spaulding together because they realize that both of their brother's are insane to one degree or another at the moment and can't do it.

There are still areas on the show that need to improve:

Break up Mallet and Marina, and reunite Mallet and Dinah. Mallet's is Marina's godfather for christ sake.

Amen! Mallet & Marina are just creepy. Frankly, I've always found Bogue's Mallet kinda creepy anyway and the only thing that made me care about him was Dinah and their relationship. Dinah and Mallet have been totally rudderless since their breakup and Marina's been in a holding pattern since March.

Make me forget about Cyrus and Harley if they are going to keep him.

Absolutely! They really need to just pretend it never happened IMO. It never should have happened in the first place and it hurts the Cyrus character and what little is left of the memory of who Harley used to be to keep bringing it up. Just stop mentioning it altogether, have Cyrus fall for Marina again ASAP, and once he's done his penance and they're back together, that debacle can remain one of those things that nobody ever talks about because it was so pointless and unpopular like Dolly: The Clone or Jeva jumping through paintings.

Make me like Grady, and understand Daisy's actions.

I can't imagine anything making me like Grady at all. It's shame because I think Manera has talent but this character was just too irredeemable from the start. Tying him to Cyrus only dragged Cyrus down even furthur, it didn't help Grady at all. Grady needs to die or go to prison forever. Daisy needs to either wake up and grow up or go away.

Make me like Jeffrey/BC. Something rather odd happened when they paired him up with Reva, for the first time since Jeffrey's arrival, I WANTED to like Jeffrey, but simply couldn't because I dislike Bradley Cole's protrayl of the character. Congrats to GL, you made me want to like Jeffrey. Now make me like him.

I think this one's a tall order that shall never be filled. An actor of more skill and charisma might have been able to make Jeffrey something interesting, despite his criminal behavior, but BC is just dead weight. He couldn't emote if his life depended on it and coupled with horrible writing, Jeffrey O'Neill is another one of those disasters that just needs to be gotten rid of and forgotten.

Make Frank Cooper into a human being rather than a robot. They're trying to pair him up with Natalia, but I have yet to see that Frank Cooper is more than one note.

Everytime they put Frank in a scene with a human female, I keep hoping that we'll see some shred of the Frank we knew with Eleni and I think there might be potential with Natalia but he's not there yet. I've actually come to like Natalia now that she's not whining about Gus 24/7.

End this Alan seeing Gus bullshit ASAP. I've been able to tolerate Alan and Beth since their airtime has diminished, but I still dislike this pairing very much.

The writers still don't seem to understand several of the legacy characters, particularly Alan and Beth. It was bad enough when they got married and had a baby but when their marriage was about keeping Spaulding Enterprises out of Gus's hands, I could live with it but the notion that Beth would and could ever love Alan Spaulding is insane, especially now that he's intentionally murdered an innocent girl. I was disgusted to see Beth tell Alan that he doesn't have to "be a hero" by going to prison for having Tammy murdered. What?! Paying for a crime you actually did commit is now considered "being a hero" in Springfield?! Then Alan says that he wants to be "her hero". Huh?! Alan Spaulding never thought Beth was good enough for Phillip or to be a Spaulding. He only found her to be the lesser of two evils after Phillip married Harley, whom he truly hated. This is just wrong, especially now that Beth has been married to Rick, probably the only man other than Phillip that she could truly love and trust. And I'm not even gonna get into the grotesque joke that is Alan: The Ghost Whisperer Guru and his flock of dumbass groupies. Stop the insanity! Even though I strongly suspect that it's all an act.

WTF are they doing with Rick, Coop, and Blake?

I wish I knew. Blake, Alexandra, Lillian, Buzz, Mel, and Felicia are all still used far too infrequently and never more than a friend, sister, or parent to lean on. Rick and Coop both have no story, no relationship, nothing. It's sad.

WTF is going to happen to Cassie now that Josh wants Reva? I guess the more appropriate and most realistic question in regards to Cassie, is who is she going to shack up with next. :shudder:

Probably Jeffrey after he gets dumped by Reva, making them the new most-hated couple on the show. They'll both be the interlopers who tried to keep Jeva apart. Jeffrey will lose the KZ fanbase once he's not with Reva anymore and Cassie has had no fanbase whatsoever since LW left and even hers was pretty small. In all honestly though, I don't give a damn about Cassie. They could kill three birds with one stone by having the murder charge against Grady gets dropped by a judge due to a stupid legal error made by Jeffrey. This sends Cassie completely over the edge and she shoots and kills them both on the courthouse steps. Seeing Jeffrey lying dead in a pool of blood, she becomes hysterical and screams: "OMG, Richard! I've killed Richard!". She's sent to the same sanitarium that Will is in for...well, forever works for me.

I have to agree with Elsa that the new format is making it harder to get into the drama.

Not to mention the hokie elevator music.

Why they just can't reuse an old cue is beyond me. There are a few I would just love to hear again.

Edited August 6, 200817 yr by Dan

IA the "new format" does make it harder to get into the drama. Dan - part of that is the stupid pop/alternative/light rock music they incessantly play during the scenes. Gone are the reaction shots when something dramatic happens and the accompanying classical music. The best example of this is last week's Y&R with heavy use of classical music during the dramatic moments - it made the drama even more enthralling.

The other problem is the (again) writer's obvious inability to create good character-based drama. One of the best SLs lately was the Ava/Bill/Lizzie/Remy quad. It was giving the show some momentum. Now that MRS isn't coming back, they decide not to recast?!?! How does that make sense? This is a character in the middle of a major SL with an actress that was arguably one of the weakest on the show. MRS certainly didn't make this character her own, and anyone could have stepped into the role and done just as good of a job. And now that baby Max is dead, all the dramatic, long-term character conflicts have been removed. I think that is one of the stupidest things they could have done.

There is alot of dead weight on this show that simply needs to be cleaned up. Jeffrey/BC should have never been brought back to Springfield. He should have left for good after they killed off Richard. The Foley brothers are past redemption. Send them back to Austrailia. Cassie is ruined because of her constant whining and complaining about Reva and how she was paired up with Josh. In more capable writer's hands, perhaps all 4 of these characters could be transformed, but with the current staff, it ain't gonna happen.

For me, all of the momentum the show had in the last few weeks are gone.

I say pull a Blair Diamler(OLTL) and cast Elena Goode (ex-Jade ATWT) in the role of Ava. Even when playing a coniving beyotch, MRS still made Ava whiny. I always believed that Olivia's daughter should have had more sass and bitchiness about her.

^^^^ Great idea, Michael. ICAM the "interpretation" of Ava my MRS was very whiny. Olivia's daughter (and half Jeffrey the rapist) should definately have A LOT more of an edge.

So when was Maeve Kinkead added to the opening credits?

Edited August 6, 200817 yr by Soapsuds

So when was Maeve Kinkead added to the opening credits?

Say what?(goes to CBS.com quickly to watch todays show)

Say what?(goes to CBS.com quickly to watch todays show)

Who's the creepy Tom Pelphrey impersonator? Can he act? From what I've seen he looks like total FFWD material.

Cosgrove who is usually good, was pretty off today, I felt nothing for him and his little tantrum.

Seeing Dinah screaming let me in was funny because that gate looked so small.

The music has got to go.