Passions Discussion Thread

[KMan101]

I never warmed to a lot of the recasts (Fox, Chad, Miguel, Paloma). I DID enjoy (though like always it lasted WAY too long) the Sheridan/Luis/Beth stuff though (the pit). I mostly watched for that. I thought JER mishandled Charity and Miguel in their returns (not to mention lame recasts for Miguel), completely downplaying their original parts on the show to cater to Kay, who was suddenly a heroine. He also brought Grace back just to kill her in a lame bus explosion (and didn't she find out what Ivy did over the PHONE. Um, that pissed me off). And while TC never made a difference to me either way, he was dropped. Liz was dropped. I didn't like what they did with Chad and the recast was BAD.

I always enjoyed parts of Ethan/Theresa/Gwen but I didn't like what JER did to Gwen's character and Ethan had to of been the dumbest male ever alive. Theresa and Lindsay were always fun but sucked up way too much airtime.

The bones were there but JER was just a hot mess towards the end. Way too crazy and I'm all for soaps being different but it was just a joke towards the end and it was a shame. It had mega potential in the beginning. Though I kinda enjoyed Pretty vs. Fancy, Esme, and Pilar finally getting a storyline, although I remember not really buying a lot of it. Juanita was fun.

Edited June 25, 2011 by KMan101

[Chris B]

Okay I received my DVDs for 1999 and I've watched only the first episode so far. I still remember it from Sci Fi, but I don't know how far I got in my Sci Fi viewings. I wanna say one or two months. I know they pulled the show pretty fast. Overall I remembered everything and I enjoyed what I saw. Even the Princess Diana storyline doesn't offend me since it's tame compared to the later plots. The acting overall was pretty good for a new soap. No heavy hitters, but most actors are servicable. I was especially impressed with the younger actors. I really don't think Passions is as bad as every made it out to be.

Looks liek I made the right choice with purchasing this show and I look forward to seeing more!

Can somebody give me some highlights of stories that aired in 1999?

[passionsfan]

I really liked the first Simone too. Lena Cardwell was the actress, and the last thing I ever saw her in was Jeepers Creepers 2. Come to think of it, Simone was the only member of the Russell family that was ever recast.

I also think Eve was the only one with a past that legitimately ended up with the right person because of it. I came to like the "Evian" relationship.

Edited July 3, 2011 by passionsfan

[Chris B]

Oh okay! I remember Eve mostly after her secret was revealed. I remember Liz threatening her with it for about 12 years, then Aunt Irma arrived saying what a whore she was and then I know she was with Julian for a while. I can't wait to relive all of that. I *loved* the Russell's. I just hate that second Simone so I don't look forward to her time on the show.

[passionsfan]

@Chris B- If you started watching after Eve's reveal then you'll definitely enjoy the first few years. I loved the entire run of the show, but I must admit that the beginning was when the show was the best for me. I can't describe it, but it seems like the tone of the show shifted somewhere mid way (probably around the time Josh Ryan Evans died.) Was Timmy around when you started watching? You have many great stories to look forward to, so enjoy! I loved this show.

[DRW50]

What did you think of the chimp?

[soapfan770]

The chimp was utterly ridiculous. It was introduced chasing around Kathleen Noone's character trying to put a diaper on her(!). Actually I always found the writing for Noone's character extremely degrading and insulting. I still can't believe they had her pee and mop it up with the wedding dress, why can't she couldn't have spilled coffee on it or something?

I will say I though Passions was at its best 2001-2003. Oh and maybe spicy guacamole. Loved the double-wedding fiasco, loved Theresa discovering she was married to Julian, love Julian and Timmy's adventures, loved Julian and Eve. I did hate though that Sheridan was trashed and was turned into a villainess later on in its run. I found it bad that my fav Amelia Marshall from GL was so awful in the role of Liz. I hated how there was no progress or payoffs.

It was weird how more and more former soap stars started popping up. Kristina Sisco of ATWT fame was the second Charity.

Oh and one more thing about rewatching those early eps when they reran on SciFi....I always hated whatever the HELL it was in TC's DAMN shed. For five years it was held super secret until we found out it was...a car he crashed.

Edited June 29, 2011 by soapfan770

[Chris B]

I of course know of him and I remember when he died, but I don't think I was watching when he was still on the show. I was strictly ABC/B&B at that point. I've never been a fan of NBC soaps, but I LOVE Passions. I don't know why exactly lol. I can't stand DAYS and I've tried various periods of Another World and it doesn't work for me either. But Passions is just fabulous. I'm two weeks in now and it's much different from the later episodes. I definitely see the shift you mention. It feels more traditional and you can tell everything is well plotted and is building somewhere. Later on it felt more slapstick.

Knowing her only as Claudia from Knots Landing, it was shocking seeing her on Passions. With that said, I thought Precious was a great character and Bam Bam was a great actor. I also enjoyed his stint on B&B, also playing a female.

Oh I loved that! Sheridan was always a bizarre character to me. I didn't understand her or Mackenzie Westmore and I certainly didn't like her with Luis. She was too bad an actress to be a heroine IMO. She did better as a villainess from an acting stand point (or maybe she just improved).

This is so weird because she's so different from the first Charity and her as a blonde was hard to look at. I do wish they'd done more with Grace and Charity when they returned. Especially Grace. Watching these early episodes I see just how important she is and I know when she came back it was such a pointless return.

[KMan101]

Yeah, they were so important in the beginning few years and then it was just shot to hell and all of a sudden Kay and Miguel were meant to be together. It was basically "Charity who?" when Sisco was in the role. I don't remember he used that much and didn't they just drop her? And Grace's return was even more pointless. I hate she was saddled with David Hastings and that annoying son and then she was shipped out of town. The show really shifted. I dunno if it was budget cuts, or what, but cast members were dropped and storylines really shifted.

I really wish there had been an interview with Reilly about everything in regards to Passions before his death. Why he chose to do what he did, and why the show went so over the top after being really gothic traditional (while still campy and soapy).

[passionsfan]

I know that JER was head writer of Passions, but does that mean he was in complete control over all the storylines, or was input given from the other writers as well? I only ask because 2 of the writers will soon be head writing DAYS, I'm curious if they came up with any of the stuff we saw on the show.

Edited June 29, 2011 by passionsfan

[KMan101]

I have a feeling it was all JER.

[Cheap21]

I thought she was great as fauxCharity and wish the show had brought her back as Charity. Its so weird that they'd go to the trouble of recasting a major character only to have it be an imposter and never bring on the real thing

[psychofan]

About Precious---- LOVED that storyline. In fact, the Beth/Edna/Precious scenes were the highlight of 2003-2005 (?) for me. As for the writing being degrading to Kathleen Noone, I don't know if I agree with that. Edna Wallace was meant to be a humorous character...when Kathleen signed on for the role, I'm sure she knew it was for laughs and she played it that way. Nothing insulting about it, to me. And the monkey just made it all the more entertaining!

[DRW50]

What did you think about Edna's lesbianism story?

[psychofan]

^ That's one thing that I did have a tiny problem with. I mean, it was funny and I enjoyed it...but it didn't line up with Edna pre-Norma when she was allll about some men.