...

Thanks. Never seen that.

They made them both look past their best, especially Ted, who just looks rough here.

I'm reminded of David Letterman's Top 10 list about rejected circus slogans. "Yes, we have middle-aged women in spangled bikinis!"

(Hmm, maybe Gary's missing years included time as a carnie or roustabout?)

12 hours ago, kalbir said:

Jaime Lyn Bauer was a one episode guest star in 1989.

True, but I think even a one-episode part should have some meat to it. It says a lot that I can't recall JLB even being on KL, yet I do recall Warren Burton and the guy who played Benny Sago #2 on AMC, lol.

1 hour ago, Khan said:

True, but I think even a one-episode part should have some meat to it. It says a lot that I can't recall JLB even being on KL, yet I do recall Warren Burton and the guy who played Benny Sago #2 on AMC, lol.

I can't remember Jaime being on Knots either, even though Jaime is one of the more unique soap presences. I guess I was zoning out of a lot of Knots by that point.

Once again, I think blogger Tommy Krasker makes an excellent point: as thrilling as Jill's plot to drive Val crazy and kill her was to watch from week to week, it's only when you go back and watch it again that you realize that the storyline doesn't make total sense. Specifically, you're never exactly sure how or why Jill makes the dramatic leap from being annoyed with Val to just plain wanting her dead.

55 minutes ago, Khan said:

the storyline doesn't make total sense. Specifically, you're never exactly sure how or why Jill makes the dramatic leap from being annoyed with Val to just plain wanting her dead.

That's LML for you. We all know the damage she did to Y&R two decades later.

2 hours ago, Khan said:

Once again, I think blogger Tommy Krasker makes an excellent point: as thrilling as Jill's plot to drive Val crazy and kill her was to watch from week to week, it's only when you go back and watch it again that you realize that the storyline doesn't make total sense. Specifically, you're never exactly sure how or why Jill makes the dramatic leap from being annoyed with Val to just plain wanting her dead.

The biggest shift I recall is at Laura’s wake, when she gets drunk and steals Peter’s ashes. I guess the fact that she wasn’t able to mourn him properly, since their sibling connection was a secret, was the tipping point for her…? Agreed it could have been more fleshed out.

How Teri Austin opted to play the scenes at Laura's funeral/wake is rumored to be the element that inspired LML to make Jill crazy. Before the funeral, her annoyance/anger is focused mostly at Gary and less on Val or Abby... but after the funeral, her anger starts to focus on Val instead of Gary.

On 1/9/2026 at 12:04 AM, kalbir said:

Jaime Lyn Bauer was a one episode guest star in 1989.

It was so beneath her. It really disappointed me. They could've had anyone play that role and they gave it to her? Now that I think about it, I think she could've been a better Claudia. I feel like she could've provided the kind of balance that Donna Mills brought to Abby. I never bought Kathleen Noone when she tried to show the softer sides of Claudia. She felt very one-dimensional and evil.

On 1/9/2026 at 12:38 AM, Chris B said:

I enjoyed Robin Strasser and Jane Elliot the most.

Jane Elliot was pretty amazing and that “oh what could have been” rivalry with Abby.

After a couple of rewatches since getting KL on streaming I can see why now Strasser had negative feelings about her Knots experience. There’s not much to Dianne Kirkwood at all other than being a diva caricature, and her character just fizzles out only making 2 brief appearances in S12 (and not the 3 most sources claim) with her exit being a throwaway scene of “oh yeah she was still Karen’s boss and is acting unnecessarily cruel”. I would consider the misuse of Strasser a waste of talent.

1 hour ago, soapfan770 said:

Jane Elliot was pretty amazing and that “oh what could have been” rivalry with Abby.

ICAM. Of course, I'm probably biased, but JE can do no wrong in my book. She can take even the silliest or most throwaway parts (her guest-star role on "Electra Woman and Dyna Girl," her brief bits on "Law & Order" and the movie "Baby Boom") and somehow make them so compelling. IMO, she belongs in the same group as Beverlee McKinsey, Elizabeth Hubbard and Erika Slezak.

1 hour ago, soapfan770 said:

After a couple of rewatches since getting KL on streaming I can see why now Strasser had negative feelings about her Knots experience. There’s not much to Dianne Kirkwood at all other than being a diva caricature, and her character just fizzles out only making 2 brief appearances in S12 (and not the 3 most sources claim) with her exit being a throwaway scene of “oh yeah she was still Karen’s boss and is acting unnecessarily cruel”. I would consider the misuse of Strasser a waste of talent.

Again, ICAM. The Lechowicks never bothered to develop Dianne beyond being Karen's antagonist at a job she never was qualified for and was created for her solely because they wanted to write a stalking storyline for Michele Lee. (Notice how "Open Mike" becomes an afterthought once the stalker is finally captured). Next to JE and Marcia Cross, I'd say Robin Strasser was the best actor KL let slip through their fingers.

1 hour ago, Chris B said:

It was so beneath her. It really disappointed me. They could've had anyone play that role and they gave it to her? Now that I think about it, I think she could've been a better Claudia. I feel like she could've provided the kind of balance that Donna Mills brought to Abby. I never bought Kathleen Noone when she tried to show the softer sides of Claudia. She felt very one-dimensional and evil.

Obviously, Kathleen Noone always has a blast playing roles like Claudia, but - and I admit, this might be because I literally grew up watching AMC - I think Ellen Dalton is more in her acting wheelhouse. Even on KNOTS, her scenes with Stacy Galina felt more authentic to me and reminded me a lot of Ellen's relationships with Devon and Julie.

6 hours ago, yrfan1983 said:

The biggest shift I recall is at Laura’s wake, when she gets drunk and steals Peter’s ashes. I guess the fact that she wasn’t able to mourn him properly, since their sibling connection was a secret, was the tipping point for her…? Agreed it could have been more fleshed out.

Even a late-in-the-game revelation of this not being the first time Jill went mental over a guy - or that it wasn't the first time she had killed a romantic rival - might have explained a lot. As it was, it was like, one day, she didn't see Val as much of a threat; and then, the next, she's filling Val's prescription for some sleeping pills and making her think Ben's returning.

Then, to follow that up with Danny and "Sally's Friend"...it's just too much, lol.

Edited 1 hour ago1 hr by Khan

Teri Austin was in a relationship with Ted Shackelford at the time. I often wonder if the relationship had fizzled by the time Jill went crazy, and it was used as a way to write Teri out of KL?