I remember when Val was pregnant with the twins being so excited about Nashville Junction.. and being disappointed to find out that the book was basically a flop.  And also I recall that once she did the Verna story/twins were returned.. that sales for Nashville Junction increased.

I do recall in season 8 at the start of the season that she was supposed to be writing a screenplay... and I don't know if it was an adaptation of Capricorn Crude.. or if it was a new body of work.   

That whole arc in season 8 would have been a better story arc then the Jean Hackney story...imho.  Or maybe Val could have been hired to write Sumner's book in season 8 instead of season 13.. while Ben is working on a story to expose him on Empire Valley dealings.   This way there would have been organic conflict between Val/Ben due to being on opposing ends as they work to repair the marriage after the Cathy affair and Gary emotional affair.  And Laura/Val's friendship could still have suffered tension as well.

Just read that Carol Lynley was offered two guest roles and had to choose. She went with the NBC flop Sword of Justice, turning down the role of Valene in Dallas.

Edited September 11, 20241 yr by Paul Raven

5 minutes ago, Paul Raven said:

Just read that Carol Lynley was offered two guest roles and had to choose. She went with the NBC flop Sword of Justice, turning down the role of Valene in Dallas.

I think Lynley was a lovely actress, but I cannot see her as Valene.  I don't think her Val would've been as assured as JVA's was in the beginning (before the Lechowicks turned her into the village idiot, lol).

I’m glad she turned it down if that’s true. Carol Lynley was an actress of limited range from everything that I saw her in.

On 9/10/2024 at 9:49 AM, SoapDope said:

 

I never understood the appeal of Jay Thomas. The industry just tried to make him happen by putting him in several series and guest appearances. After that Married People series ended, he was immediately put in "Love & War" with Susan Dey. After the first season Dey was fired by Diane English because she claimed Dey was not capable of comedy and lacked chemistry with Thomas. She was replaced in Season 2 with Annie Potts. Dey did comedy on The Partridge Family and was perfectly capable. 

100% agree about Jay Thomas - he always came across as an unappealing loudmouth. But as a big LA Law fan, I gotta admit that Susan Day was mannered and stiff on that show, just as she was on Love & War. She was 17 when she started the Partridge Family and much more natural on camera when she was younger. But in fairness to Dey, Love & War was a stinker that no actress could have saved. It was just as bad with Annie Potts. I don’t think Diane English was capable of comedy after Murphy Brown, either.

6 hours ago, Chris 2 said:

I’m glad she turned it down if that’s true. Carol Lynley was an actress of limited range from everything that I saw her in.

100% agree about Jay Thomas - he always came across as an unappealing loudmouth. But as a big LA Law fan, I gotta admit that Susan Day was mannered and stiff on that show, just as she was on Love & War. She was 17 when she started the Partridge Family and much more natural on camera when she was younger. But in fairness to Dey, Love & War was a stinker that no actress could have saved. It was just as bad with Annie Potts. I don’t think Diane English was capable of comedy after Murphy Brown, either.

I agree about Diane English and Love & War. English did several series that were short lived stinkers. She probably thought that since MB became a hit she could just toss out anything and it would stick.

I always liked Susan Dey. I guess as she got older she became self conscious and it often came through onscreen. She was also battling alcoholism and anorexia. I remember seeing her appear on talk shows and she often looked like she had a few and it was awkward. She also runs hot and cold on the PF. There's times she will discuss it and say it was a fun experience and there are times she shy's away from it. She was in love with David Cassidy who only saw her as a friend and he blabbed about it in his tell all book which hurt her.

 

Not them acting out Three Little Pigs. Damn.

Interesting that the theme song semi-changed at the beginning of the fourth season. Hmmm... but nice to see the change of the credits yet again.

8 hours ago, SoapDope said:

I always liked Susan Dey. I guess as she got older she became self conscious and it often came through onscreen. She was also battling alcoholism and anorexia. I remember seeing her appear on talk shows and she often looked like she had a few and it was awkward. She also runs hot and cold on the PF. There's times she will discuss it and say it was a fun experience and there are times she shy's away from it. She was in love with David Cassidy who only saw her as a friend and he blabbed about it in his tell all book which hurt her.

 

Agreed on all of that. She did show up for David Cassidy’s memorial service a few years back. David’s nephew Jack posted a picture of Jack and Susan together on Instagram.

2 hours ago, Chris 2 said:

Agreed on all of that. She did show up for David Cassidy’s memorial service a few years back. David’s nephew Jack posted a picture of Jack and Susan together on Instagram.

I remember seeing that photo. I'm glad she still keeps in touch with the Cassidy family even if it's occasional. Shirley says she still talks to Susan.

If you haven't seen Susan Dey's SNL episode she's a lot of fun and does an OK job with the comedy. 

(sorry I know this is off topic)

I'm about 5 episodes into season 5 and I must say, I absolutely love Karen and Diana. I know the Diana character is controversial, but I think they have one of the most memorable mother-daughter relationships that I've ever seen on tv. I feel like if this show aired today people would appreciate Diana more. 

Diana was complicated but I also thought she showed a lot of growth throughout her time on the show. I loved the dynamic with Karen and later Mack and her relationship with Abby was great. It would've been interesting to see how she would've interacted with Paige. I also would've liked to see her go to work for Abby. 

I'm glad we got to see the character come full circle in season 14. That was probably my favorite thing about that final season. It was a nice callback to the early years and is something I wish they had also done with Lucy.

To each their own. I wanted to burn Diana at the stake.

14 hours ago, DRW50 said:

If you haven't seen Susan Dey's SNL episode she's a lot of fun and does an OK job with the comedy. 

(sorry I know this is off topic)

I did see her SNL episode. She even spoofed Laurie in the Partridge Family/Brady Bunch sing and dance off.

Eve Plumb said this episode was what cemented the line "Marcia, Marcia, Marcia" into pop culture history. She said the line she said in the original series was not really hyped till Melanie Hutsell did it as Jan in the skit.

Edited September 22, 20241 yr by SoapDope

On 9/12/2024 at 1:27 AM, Chris 2 said:

But as a big LA Law fan, I gotta admit that Susan Day was mannered and stiff on that show, just as she was on Love & War. She was 17 when she started the Partridge Family and much more natural on camera when she was younger. But in fairness to Dey, Love & War was a stinker that no actress could have saved. It was just as bad with Annie Potts. I don’t think Diane English was capable of comedy after Murphy Brown, either.

After a recent revisit, what Dey did well was light romantic comedy. She and Hamlin excelled together doing romantic comedy. They would have done better to put her in projects that played to those strengths. Not everyone was capable of the heavy banter and opposites attract trope on tv that Cybil Shepherd and Bruce Willis accomplished on Moonlighting in its heyday. It was special for a reason.

I was going to watch every episode this round but season two just dragged so I skipped ahead to the affair. Now I am glued to every episode again.

Edited September 23, 20241 yr by titan1978

I decided to watch season 8 on Plex.. and I have to say it isn't as bad as people make it out to be.  

Anyone surprised at Jill going off the deep end at the end of season 9 shouldn't be since the groundwork was set up going all the way back to the start of season 8 with Jill declaring nothing more to her then her relationship with Gary... then she loses his baby, has to contend with Abby then Val as the 'annoying' ex wives of Gary, loses her brother Peter to murder, and continues to cling to Gary as the one constant.

The only problem with the Jean Hackney story was that it dragged too much and took up most of the season.  It should have been resolved earlier in the season.. and then left more episodes to deal with the fallout between Ben/Val, Laura/Greg, and Laura/Val.

Karen is mighty annoying in this season.. that I wouldn't have blamed Mack if he did cheat on her with Anne.

Edited September 23, 20241 yr by Soaplovers