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.

Add to the fact that in the years all have spent on their respective shows they have NEVER gotten a rest.

This is a huge problem and I think it's a big part of viewer attrition. If you aren't a fan of a character and you know that you will never be able to escape that character it's very easy to go from ff-ing through the entire show to recording but not watching to taking it off the DVR. Like I said, I'm a fan of Michael Easton's but I used to say years ago that if I had become HW for OLTL the first phone call I would've made would've been to him when he was on his way to work to tell him to turn around because he was about to get a three month vacation. Even when you like a character, having them on every day, saying the same thing over and over doesn't do anything for you.

Redeeming the villian is one of the many soap cliches that should've stopped in the 2000s.

This is very true. It's not like there isn't room for villains on these shows but when you push characters to the extremes like gang rape, you can't bring them back from that in a few months. No matter how many kids they rescue or how much money they inherit. If you want to keep them on the canvas prepare for viewers to hate them forever and accept. I don't care how great her cooking is, Krystal Karey will always be the blowjob giving skank who helped to steal Bianca's baby.

Edited April 28, 201213 yr by marceline

This is very true. It's not like there isn't room for villains on these shows but when you push characters to the extremes like gang rape, you can't bring them back from that in a few months. No matter how many kids they rescue or how much money they inherit. If you want to keep them on the canvas prepare for viewers to hate them forever and accept. I don't care how great her cooking is, Krystal Karey will always be the blowjob giving skank who helped to steal Bianca's baby.

Amen!

This is very true. It's not like there isn't room for villains on these shows but when you push characters to the extremes like gang rape, you can't bring them back from that in a few months. No matter how many kids they rescue or how much money they inherit. If you want to keep them on the canvas prepare for viewers to hate them forever and accept. I don't care how great her cooking is, Krystal Karey will always be the blowjob giving skank who helped to steal Bianca's baby.

Agree as well. After about a 10 year absence, I tuned into Another World, which probably was the soap I would consider my favorite back in the day, during the last couple of months as it marked both its 35th anniversary and its cancellation. I really had trouble mustering any interest in it with Rachel Cory married to Carl Hutchins. Last time I had checked, he was not only a killer, but had attempted to kill her husband. I don't care how he was "redeemed," Rachel marrying him is complete nonsense and having them in the last scene was sad..and I don't mean in an emotional way.

Edited April 28, 201213 yr by tune_in_tomorrow

That's how I felt when Charles Pratt, Jr. DARED to make Krystal friends with Erica. Those two aren't even "frenemies" -- they're foes, plain and simple. Krystal committed the ultimate betrayal -- messing with Erica's child and grandchild. Of all the pointless feuds Erica's had with Brooke and others over men she'd already thrown away, Erica should NEVER had gotten even remotely close to Krystal during 2009, much less go on television and refer to her as her "friend."

Bradley Cole (ex-Richard/Jeffrey, GUIDING LIGHT). The show had killed off Richard already when incoming EP John Conboy, who was replacing Paul Rauch, received flowers from some of Cole's fans. Next thing you know, Cole was back (in a new role).

Allegedly.

I remember John Conboy stating in an interview he brought back Bradley Cole because the 'fans' wanted him back based on the mail he received at the studio. Unfortunately, Conboy had been out of the soap game for too long and was unaware how 'determined,' to be kind, some fanbases could be. I guess they weren't as bad as the Manny fans who made the Cassie voodoo doll.

RC spent OLTL's last year rewriting and rewriting and then going on Twitter about Ford's story. There were also some very awkward attempts at fixing the Tarty fiasco. I think they care.

The only thing they care about is putting out entertainment and they've been doing just that.

Some Brad Cole fans contacted the American Heart Association due to how Richard died and nearly convinced them to pull the PSA at the end of GL about the importance of organ donation. Some other viewers heard what they were doing and battled back about it...I think this is worse than one fan with a voodoo doll.

Between that story and the voodoo doll, though, GUIDING LIGHT's more rabid fans put every other soap's to shame.

Some Brad Cole fans contacted the American Heart Association due to how Richard died and nearly convinced them to pull the PSA at the end of GL about the importance of organ donation. Some other viewers heard what they were doing and battled back about it...I think this is worse than one fan with a voodoo doll.

I didn't know about / remember the American Heart Association incident. My main point was I don't think Conboy understood the way small, vocal fanbases had learned to operate in order to get what they wanted, and, as a result, he believed the mail he received represented a large part of the viewing audience. I don't think most of the 'Guiding Light' fan base was dying to have Bradley Cole back.

My issue with the voodoo doll was the genuine glee and sickening delight that some people got from it. When the pictures were online, some people took great joy from it and were blurring the line between Cassie / Laura Wright. I found this rather disturbing.

Both the extremist Manny fans and the extremist Rassie fans did incredible damage to 'Guiding Light.' With that said, I think it was a mistake to write out Danny and Michelle and that Cassie should have left town with Laura Wright or a few months later to resolve the rest of the story.

The only thing they care about is putting out entertainment and they've been doing just that.

If the many attempts at making Ford a hero in OLTL's last year were supposed to be entertainment, something went horribly wrong.

So I just got around to watching the 1993 episode of Ed and Maureen's confrontation. It didn't really seem like that boring of an episode, ho-hum sure, but I liked the confrontations displayed in the episode such as Henry/Jenna, Nick/Roger, and most importantly Maureen/Ed.

This may seem hugely unpopular, but just going on what I saw of this Mindy in the episode, she didn't seem all that bad. Sure she didn't have the to die for looks or the "spark" Tesreau or Simms had, to be honest she seemed quite matronly, however from what I could see she was quite capable, or for a better word sufficient for the role of Mindy. Perhaps she would have been a good fit for the role of Mindy if it was a temporary recast, someone to fill in until KT or KS returned after a short break. Having watched numerous scenes of Barbara Crampton in the role (and maybe it was both the writing and Crampton's take on the role), but compared to what was to come, the actress that played Mindy in the 1993 wasn't so bad IMO.

This is my first post here, just wanted to say hello to everyone!

They are? I think they just write for themselves unless there has been a big cry for rape and almost rape stories or centering a big DiD story around Kate. When are they going to start listening to the cries online for no more Jason, Sonny, and Carly?

RC is really confusing here. I remember early in his HW stint he gave an interview to SOD and explained that John & Natalie having sex in Dec. '07 (Marty had just 'died' and Natalie had just found out that Jared was her 'uncle') was not an indication that they'd be getting back together. He commented that he thought they didn't fit together well and the sex was just their twisted way of coping with their recent traumas. And THEN we all know what happened, LOL. I still blame Frons (despite seeing RC completely Frons-less now), but RC threw a lot of folks under the bus for them, including his own character, Brody, who he seemingly was very invested in. That was another thing he did--he wrote out several of his own characters without even trying to retool them, even the ones he moved heaven earth for to inextricably weave into the canvas (Jared and Charlie). So I don't think he simply writes for himself, because he made all kinds of moves on OLTL that felt counter to his purpose. I did think his OLTL was, in total, a real success, though. His GH has been . . . I don't even know what to really say. It's been disappointing, let's leave it at that.

If the many attempts at making Ford a hero in OLTL's last year were supposed to be entertainment, something went horribly wrong.

What was entertainment was that chandelier taking him out once and for all.

Cassie should have left town with Laura Wright or a few months later to resolve the rest of the story.

If only LW did leave and return again to send her character off properly instead of that dreadful recast.

Jared was Natalie uncles?

For a time, Jared lied about being a Buchanan and made believe he was Asa's missing son (though eventually it was revealed that Bo was the father of the missing kid, David.)