I'll go first:

B&B

- While not perfect, the show is currently in the best shape it's been in since 2003.

Y&R

- Genie Francis is terrific as Genevieve Atkinson. I know she wasn't well liked in her first few months on her show, but I'm currently watching June 2011 episodes and I LOVE her campy take on the character, despite the overall wretchedness of the storyline. Although I never saw Francis on GH, so I don't have that to compare it to. I'd love to see her on B&B in a Sally Spectra/Jackie Marone type role.

- Phyllis is one of very few characters to actually flourish under MAB (save for the Lucy custody madness). And of course, I still consider La Stafford to be the best actress in daytime.

- Maura West was AT LEAST as miscast as Diane as Shari Shattuck was as Ashley.

I think Erika Slezak and Bree Williamson were way too restrained as Niki and Tess on OLTL.

I think Barbara Rhoades was way too restrained as Irene on OLTL.

Really? Those three were incredibly over the top to the point where they were just hamming up their scenes like caricatures

I like Cartini's GH so far. I think the OLTL additions have given the whole thing a breath of fresh air -- and I was not really a OLTL viewer when it was on.

Cant say IA on the latter part but I enjoy it as well. GH is watchable for the first time in like a year

Edited March 20, 201213 yr by Cheap21

I'm not sure if primetime soaps are welcome in this thread (if not, I apologize)...

Beverly Hills 90210

Writing Gabrielle Carteris' real-life pregnancy (which I've read was at her insistence) was the worst thing that they could've done for the Andrea Zuckerman character. In addition, I wished that the show had followed through in fixing her up with Steve instead of having her hung up on Brandon for the majority of her tenure.

Though I've heard that Tiffani Amber Thiessen's Valerie was an adequate replacement for Shannen Doherty's Brenda, I still refuse to watch the post-Brenda years. Yes, I realize that this isn't fair of me, but my Brenda love is that strong that I refuse to sully my memories of this show.

If we are talking about BH than F Kelly and Dylan. What an awful couple. I NEVER got over her backstabbing Brenda like that and was so overjoyed when over 15 years later, Brenda finally paid her back

Edited March 23, 201213 yr by Cheap21

If we are talking about BH than F Kelly and Dylan. What an awful couple. I NEVER got over her backstabbing Brenda like that and was so overjoyed when over 15 years later, Brenda finally paid her back

It wasn't enough that poor Brenda was put through the wringer by those two asswipes, but she had to swallow that crap with a smile. Every time she dared to hint at the pain she felt by their betrayal, her so-called friends would act as if she needed to get over it. Much as I regretted her leaving, I can't blame her for moving to London.

(What do you mean by 'Brenda finally paid her back'? If it means that she finally stomped a mudhole into Kelly's ass, then this is music to my ears.)

(What do you mean by 'Brenda finally paid her back'? If it means that she finally stomped a mudhole into Kelly's ass, then this is music to my ears.)

On the new 90210, Brenda came back to town and f--ked Kelly's boyfriend I wish I had a clip of Kelly finding out but here are the 3 together before it all went down

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7-jUbkJCgEA

Edited March 23, 201213 yr by Cheap21

On the new 90210, Brenda came back to town and f--ked Kelly's boyfriend I wish I had a clip of Kelly finding out but here are the 3 together before it all went down

I was hoping that it was Dylan who she'd slept with, but hey, her sleeping with Kelly's boyfriend warms my heart just the same.

I'm not sure if primetime soaps are welcome in this thread (if not, I apologize)...

Beverly Hills 90210

Writing Gabrielle Carteris' real-life pregnancy (which I've read was at her insistence) was the worst thing that they could've done for the Andrea Zuckerman character. In addition, I wished that the show had followed through in fixing her up with Steve instead of having her hung up on Brandon for the majority of her tenure.

Though I've heard that Tiffani Amber Thiessen's Valerie was an adequate replacement for Shannen Doherty's Brenda, I still refuse to watch the post-Brenda years. Yes, I realize that this isn't fair of me, but my Brenda love is that strong that I refuse to sully my memories of this show.

I agree. I hated when Brenda lost out to Kelly for Dylan. Those 2 together acted so self-righteous. I loved when years later they said Brenda & Dylan got back together in Europe. I didn't watch the final years so I don't know how Dylan explained the relationship when he returned.

Gabrielle Carteris could've played Cindy Walsh! She looked like the mom, the teacher, the hip grandma... anything but a highschool student!

I agree. I hated when Brenda lost out to Kelly for Dylan. Those 2 together acted so self-righteous. I loved when years later they said Brenda & Dylan got back together in Europe. I didn't watch the final years so I don't know how Dylan explained the relationship when he returned.

Gabrielle Carteris could've played Cindy Walsh! She looked like the mom, the teacher, the hip grandma... anything but a highschool student!

I didn't even know Dylan got back with Brenda offscreen (like I said, I checked out after Shannen left), so I feel a bit vindicated.

Re: Gabrielle Carteris - to be fair, Luke Perry didn't exactly look like a spring chicken, either.

Going back to daytime, another unpopular opinion (spurred on by today's news of a certain actress renewing her contract) of mine is that

I have never understood the folks' outrage over the firing of a soap actor/actress*, as it reeks of entitlement and delusion.

Yes, it sucks when anyone gets fired, but I fail to see how an actor/actress 'deserves' a job. Said actors/actresses are working an industry that is notorious for being fickle and, well, I simply can't agree with the idea that a crime against humanity has been committed because he/she got fired (as opposed to millions of unemployed Americans out there).

* And, yes, I'm well aware that there are few glaring exceptions (i.e.: The Michael Zaslow debacle), but they're a rarity in what, essentially, are decisions made based on the fickle beast that is show business.

Edited March 23, 201213 yr by VirginiaHamilton

Okay mine is a long one bear with me

Soaps in General

I don't care to see kids on a soap because for the most part they can't have anything to do with what makes a soap fun to watch. Sex, drinking, murder, court time, prison time, and the list goes on. There's no reason to want to see underage sex, to me, or seeing a kid go to jail over a hit and run of his step-father's new wife. I want to watch soapy goodness, not see little snot nosed brats pretending to be grown ups.

The acting is another one of the many problems with Daytime soaps. The good actors are often the ones on backburner while hair models, average actors who's careers should consist of nothing but short guest spots, mumblers, and people who display every cliche of soap opera acting in their performances are often on frontburner.

Overuse of the same tired cliches also brought down soaps.

Lack of diversity is another problem especially since their biggest audience has been proven in studies to be African Americans. Casting WASPS to play the roles of half Latino characters is not diversity. Trying to Anglicanize black and latino characters to keep them on the show is also not diversity

Passions

The SImone recasts ruined the potential of the Simone character. Simone #2 was annoying with her "ghetto" attitude

The best Kay was Kay #2. She was an enjoyable bad girl and once they recast with the very weak Heidi, everything about Kay was changed and Kay basically morphed into the dull kind of character she never was. Kay lost all her spark and ende dup being just another character played by a hair model/body model.

Theresa was an obsessive stalker and I never found LH a good enough actress to start centering a show around. I know the cast praised her crying skills, but Theresa's tears were so annoying. And the tears were equally annoying on DAYS

Sheridan was better as a bad girl than Miss Goodey two shoes and honestly Fancy was a better character because EH was the better actress. I have no problems with Shuis not ending up together

Passions could be way to stereotypical half the time, especially when it came to other races

Jessica's hooker storyline might've worked under a different actress.

Noah was a boring and forgettable character.

General Hospital

I don't find there cast any better acting wise than the other casts and lookwise every one on the show looks average. In fact I found AMC to have the better cast/casting director and don't think MT is as good as a director as he's hyped to be. Look how many recent successful find Judy had compared to him.

Beyond the writing I beleive one of the biggest problems with GH is actors who lack charisma always being the one with the most airtime.

I didn't find Lexi Ainsworth to be the greatest actress of her generation and thought of her as severely miscast and overhyped. She'd didnt look like she could be related to Sonny(would it have killed them to cast someone half Latina or who at least could look Latina?) and she struggled trying to pull off the vixen role they wanted to make Kristina out to be. She seemed to only be able to pull off shrieky, snooty high schooler which was probably part of the reason that Kristina was always the victim even when she wasn't. She came off as very smug.

Elizabeth and Steven are terrible representations for the Webbers/Hardys and SR was completely miscast. They shouldve brought Tommy to town as doctor now Maxie's age and had him stay with Liz. It would have expanded the family a little and brought some much needed diversity

Speaking of diversity I beleive some people were far too critical of Maya from day 1 and it didnt help with the lack of airtime she recieved and shoving her into the orbit of the non couple Ethina. Maya should've been paired with the real bad boy, Johnny like in her audition script and when AI left to find a better job the role should've been recast. They should've done more with her and Edward and talked more about her mother and why she wanted nothing to do with her grandfather.

Geary can often be hammy and overrated

Tyler is not a charismatic actor and the only thing he had going for him was his 90s looks. He made Nik a boring character during the 2000s and I was perfectly fine with them firing him since he had no interest in GH anyway beyond his paycheck.

OLTL

Was severely overhyped last year. It was not that compelling and RC and FV are not that great.

RC didnt not write a diverse canvas. Most of the minorities were backburned and their stories played out offscreen and they oftened propped white characters.

Keri was Antonio's best pairing and the way they wrote them at the end was ridiculous and just another way for ABC to get rid of a popular and enjoyable black character.

Good point Virginia.Everyone gets up in arms when an actor is canned and TPTB are painted as evil,yet when an actor chooses to leave,it's fine.

eg When Martha Byrne was axed,ATWT was slammed- but earlier, when she left of her own accord,she wasn't accused of destroying the show etc.

Good point Virginia.Everyone gets up in arms when an actor is canned and TPTB are painted as evil,yet when an actor chooses to leave,it's fine.

eg When Martha Byrne was axed,ATWT was slammed- but earlier, when she left of her own accord,she wasn't accused of destroying the show etc.

I didn't follow the whole Byrne/ATWT firing/departure, but I'm not surprised that you've described it this way. Thing is, I'm sure that Ms. Byrne (and virtually every actor/actress who has been in the game for longer than a minute) knows that show business is fickle and that loyalty is a non-factor at the end of the day.

She seemed to only be able to pull off shrieky, snooty high schooler which was probably part of the reason that Kristina was always the victim even when she wasn't. She came off as very smug.

Speaking of that turd, here's another unpopular opinion of mine - she should've been charged for lying about Ethan beating her (since he was not only in danger of a damaged reputation, but in danger of losing his life to a Mafia-organized hit) instead of coddled for her vile behavior.

While I'm on the subject, Kiefer shouldn't have been killed off. Not only did I like the actor (whose name escapes me right now), but he'd have worked as a high school GH version of Todd Manning - a truly flawed character that would be equally sympathetic. I also think that he'd have been a worthy opponent to Michael (instead of forcing Michael into grown situations that he didn't belong in).

Speaking of diversity I beleive some people were far too critical of Maya from day 1 and it didnt help with the lack of airtime she recieved and shoving her into the orbit of the non couple Ethina. Maya should've been paired with the real bad boy, Johnny like in her audition script and when AI left to find a better job the role should've been recast. They should've done more with her and Edward and talked more about her mother and why she wanted nothing to do with her grandfather.

I'm in total agreement of this, but would like to add that I'd have preferred to have seen the Zoe that we were promised instead of the dullard that was Abby. Yes, her background was clichè (thorn in big sister Maya's side, initially around to take advantage of the Q spoils, falling in love with Michael), but I think that there was far more potential with her than with the hooker-turned-stripper with a heart of gold that we were stuck with.

Zoe could've easily become another Drucilla Barber or Brenda Barrett (little sisters that eventually outshined the older sisters) and the fact that we were never treated to that possibility proves your point.

Edited March 24, 201213 yr by VirginiaHamilton

I'm in total agreement of this, but would like to add that I'd have preferred to have seen the Zoe that we were promised instead of the dullard that was Abby. Yes, her background was clichè (thorn in big sister Maya's side, initially around to take advantage of the Q spoils, falling in love with Michael), but I think that there was far more potential with her than with the hooker-turned-stripper with a heart of gold that we were stuck with.

Zoe could've easily become another Drucilla Barber or Brenda Barrett (little sisters that eventually outshined the older sisters) and the fact that we were never treated to that possibility proves your point.

Actually Zoe was originally not Maya's sister but a Cassidine during the original cast calls. At first Nik and Gia's daughter then they decided she would be Valentin's daughter and then she became Maya's non Ward half sister

Actually Zoe was originally not Maya's sister but a Cassidine during the original cast calls. At first Nik and Gia's daughter then they decided she would be Valentin's daughter and then she became Maya's non Ward half sister

Zoe was never intended to be a Cassadine she was always intended to be tied to Maya and the Q's as a distant tied in to Justus and the Wards. I think she and Maya were supposed to have the same mother. .Guza even talked about them in relation to revitalizing the Q family. There was some woman who was cast for a short time a couple of years ago who was supposedly tied to Valentin and was holding Helena but she was never intended to be Niks child she was specced as a love interest for Ethan and as Valentins child.. She wasn't even African American if I recall.

E

Edited March 24, 201213 yr by JaneAusten