Hey, if Calliope dressed as a harlequin could inspire whoever it was (Paul Dini?) to create Harley Quinn....

From what I understand about Dark Shadows though, didn't they burn through a lot of storyline in a short amount of time and had to resort to repeating time traveling stories frequently? 

 

I wonder what kind of hot mess Port Charles would've become had it lived a couple years longer. 

 

1 hour ago, Gray Bunny said:

From what I understand about Dark Shadows though, didn't they burn through a lot of storyline in a short amount of time and had to resort to repeating time traveling stories frequently?

 

They might've, but I don't see how.  I mean, when I watched reruns decades ago on the Sci-Fi Channel, I thought the show was incredibly slow-moving.  Almost to the point of being tedious at times.

 

I've always assumed DS went to the time travel well so often 1) because the first time travel storyline was so successful and 2) because, after a certain point, Gordon Russell and Sam Hall just didn't have any other ideas.  (Save for the ridiculous Leviathan storyline, which was just too weird, lol.)

 

1 hour ago, Gray Bunny said:

I wonder what kind of hot mess Port Charles would've become had it lived a couple years longer.

 

When DS had exhausted everything they could do with vampires (Barnabas Collins) and werewolves (Quentin Collins), they DID try something different with the Leviathans.  Unfortunately, it's my understanding that that storyline was too convoluted even for hard-core fans, and that that's what ultimately sealed DS' fate.  The ratings declined during that storyline and never quite recovered.

 

No doubt, if PC had stayed on any longer, they would've had to go so far out, even the rabid fans who loved the Rafe/Alison [!@#$%^&*] and the Caleb/Livvie [!@#$%^&*] would have turned away in droves.

Edited October 2, 20196 yr by Khan

19 hours ago, Khan said:

 

That's why I don't 100% buy the story that JER had planned all along to bring back all the Salem Stalker's victims OR reveal that "Tony" had brainwashed Marlena into believing she was the culprit.  JER could be very sloppy in his storytelling, but not THAT sloppy.

 

Absolutely. If we look at the people he initially had killed it was older characters that really hadn't had a story in years (or people he just plain didn't like, like Jack) and allowed to free up characters that had been stuck in a couple for decades.  I think up until Alice the characters were meant to stay dead. I'm sure Marlena's part in it would've been explained  (Samantha back from the dead? Devil being dastardly? Maybe brain wash from Stefano or finally the clones coming into play).

 

If the original plan was to keep the actors then they would've fixed it before hand and had them quietly stay on some form of contract to allow them to appear later on Melaswen. I think they came back because Corday intervened.

19 minutes ago, te. said:

 

Absolutely. If we look at the people he initially had killed it was older characters that really hadn't had a story in years (or people he just plain didn't like, like Jack) and allowed to free up characters that had been stuck in a couple for decades.  I think up until Alice the characters were meant to stay dead. I'm sure Marlena's part in it would've been explained  (Samantha back from the dead? Devil being dastardly? Maybe brain wash from Stefano or finally the clones coming into play).

 

If the original plan was to keep the actors then they would've fixed it before hand and had them quietly stay on some form of contract to allow them to appear later on Melaswen. I think they came back because Corday intervened.

Yes, I remember reading in SOD that Frances Reid was the only actor who knew that her character wasn't really dead. The rewrite was a mess. The whole "look-alikes were the ones who actually died in the hospital" and the "we saw what Marlena saw, not what really happened" plot points that were added in totally ruined the story.

 

If the way it turned out was actually the original idea that Reilly had, I think the story would've been so much better. It almost could have been like The Sixth Sense, where the twist initially shocks you, but on a re-watch you notice all the subtle hints and figure it out quickly.

13 minutes ago, AbcNbc247 said:

Yes, I remember reading in SOD that Frances Reid was the only actor who knew that her character wasn't really dead. The rewrite was a mess. The whole "look-alikes were the ones who actually died in the hospital" and the "we saw what Marlena saw, not what really happened" plot points that were added in totally ruined the story.

 

If the way it turned out was actually the original idea that Reilly had, I think the story would've been so much better. It almost could have been like The Sixth Sense, where the twist initially shocks you, but on a re-watch you notice all the subtle hints and figure it out quickly.

 

Absolutely. As much as people hate to admit it, it would've been better if all those characters had just stayed dead. Most hadn't had a story in years and in all honestly, post-resurrection most continued not to have stories. Maggie was probably the only character who seemed to benefit from coming back from the dead as such.

 

I can imagine that the original plan was to have Marlena attack Alice with the TomHead chasing her out, effectively making Alice a star witness at her trial. I'm sure Reilly would've explained her murderous ways with something, potentially a twin or the devil made her do it (have her levitate in the courtroom perhaps? lol). Either way it would've probably been better than what we got as I enjoyed the storyline up until that point.

24 minutes ago, te. said:

I can imagine that the original plan was to have Marlena attack Alice with the TomHead chasing her out, effectively making Alice a star witness at her trial. I'm sure Reilly would've explained her murderous ways with something, potentially a twin or the devil made her do it (have her levitate in the courtroom perhaps? lol). Either way it would've probably been better than what we got as I enjoyed the storyline up until that point.

Lmaooo

 

I will never understand that episode for as long as I live. Marlena goes into the house to kill Alice. Alice is sitting in the chair, not scared at all, trying to reason with Marlena. The big TomHead then chases Marlena out of the house and she's terrified of it. 

 

Then, a few scenes later it was like the previous scene never happened. Marlena goes back to the house, not scared at all. And she finds Alice hiding in the closet.

 

It was like the big head was only to help once or something lol that was some pretty bad writing

1 minute ago, AbcNbc247 said:

Lmaooo

 

I will never understand that episode for as long as I live. Marlena goes into the house to kill Alice. Alice is sitting in the chair, not scared at all, trying to reason with Marlena. The big TomHead then chases Marlena out of the house and she's terrified of it. 

 

Then, a few scenes later it was like the previous scene never happened. Marlena goes back to the house, not scared at all. And she finds Alice hiding in the closet.

 

It was like the big head was only to help once or something lol that was some pretty bad writing

 

That's why I suspect that up until the point where TomHead chases Marlena out is the original script plans and the scene with Alice being killed was added once Corday put a stop to the storyline

1 hour ago, AbcNbc247 said:

Yes, I remember reading in SOD that Frances Reid was the only actor who knew that her character wasn't really dead. .....

 

Corday had a sit-down with her, early on, and spelled it all out for her. She listened to Corday but, in fact, she really thought that Reilly did not like her!

Edited October 3, 20196 yr by Donna B
spelling

18 hours ago, Khan said:

DARK SHADOWS is a prime example, though, of a soap where the supernatural storylines worked -- and that's because they were part of the show from day one.  (Well, almost from day one.  I don't think Laura Collins, the phoenix and (I think) DS' first supernatural character, was introduced until after the first 13 weeks.)

 

Of course, the downside to being a "niche soap" like DS was that it never appealed to the mainstream soap viewer.  Ergo, it shouldn't have been surprising that it ran only five years.

 

I think the first six to nine? months were just the Burke Devlin, Roger, etc. intrigue, actually. Which did have hints of ghost stuff, with Josette, etc. though. That storyline climaxed with Josette's ghost saving Vicki from Matthew Morgan. Laura came a bit later.

 

And yes - the problem is Dan Curtis burned through stories and characters instead of more firmly establishing present day stories and romances that could last. If they had done that they could've potentially weathered the '70s and let the show wax and wane between soap and supernatural. A jilted Julia Hoffman accepts Roger's romantic overtures when Barnabas can't see her love for what it is, etc. Carolyn is caught between a reformed Willie Loomis and another man, yada yada.

 

And no, lol, the Salem Stalker deaths were not always planned to be reversed. It was permanent until fans complained and Corday freaked out. Anything else is a cover story. I believe Reid even said once, 'bullshít, they fired me!'

16 hours ago, Khan said:

No doubt, if PC had stayed on any longer, they would've had to go so far out, even the rabid fans who loved the Rafe/Alison [!@#$%^&*] and the Caleb/Livvie [!@#$%^&*] would have turned away in droves.

I was one of many PC fans who was there with them from beginning to end.

The only thing I didn't get from PC that I wanted was a wedding between Julie Pinson and Jon Lindstrom. I saw the tear sheets from the soap press for the wedding-that-never-happened and it was glorious. They never should've stopped it.

i wonder if Ben's gonna end up having an "evil" twin or something? And the twin is the one who killed all the people, who is trying to kill Ciara, and is gonna be gay w/ Will. 🤣

On 9/30/2019 at 11:26 PM, ironlion said:

Do you all think Corday should have green lit this?

 

The least I could say is that it was fun to watch and probably would have been 10x more outrageous had it been done on Passions! But Im sure Rielly's storyline further eroded soap's credibility and exacerbated the negative perception of soaps as being utterly rediculous. 

I don't think that Corday should have turned DOOL over to Reilly. I do think he definitely damaged the reputation of daytime dramas. Reilly was sloppy with his storytelling, too. The Hortons had always been Episcopalians & the Bradys had always been Roman Catholics. Bo & Hope were married by an Episcopal Bishop in England, for example. Just a little detail where the families were individualized. But, Reilly got going on DevilDoc & before you'd know it, wow, he had turned the whole town into one big blob of Roman Catholicism. At one point they had John in a cell with a full beard & long hair & Tom Langan insisted that he get it shaved & cut for a show event, like the Emmys, that night. Drake was furious. Then, after the Reillification of DOOL they turned the new NBC show PASSIONS over to Reilly. They had such high hopes & it turned out to be an abysmal failure.

On 9/23/2019 at 6:05 PM, dragonflies said:

Yeah I'm reading Steve thinks he's Stefano and that's why he's with Kate

 

Still on page 2 ...

 

That's what I was figuring. Dr. Rolf is [!@#$%^&*] with everyone lol. You know Ron must love having a character like Rolf. Or they do a brain transplant to really [!@#$%^&*] with Stayla stans. But we all know everything will likely be "fixed" ...

On 9/23/2019 at 10:29 PM, Bright Eyes said:

Adrienne, even back during her original stint, has never been very interesting so killing her off isn't a bad thing in theory. It's probably Judi Evans' worst soap role, and I'd think she'd agree about that too.

 

Adrienne's always felt kind of useless to me. Maybe if they bothered to use her and write for her ... I kind of liked the random cancer battle and frenemy relationship with Kate but her with Lucas was so boring. I'd rather not have Bonnie but at least Judi comes to life and she's written for.

 

I always thought it was kind of odd she'd take a role that was similar to Beth (and I always wondered why she never went back to GL but if she didn't care for GA's backstage behavior ...)

On 9/23/2019 at 10:20 PM, DRW50 said:

 

It sounds like somebody's jerkoff fan fiction. Given that Ron's thought processes are about on that level no wonder...

 

Ben pounding Will would never happen but it'd be a lot more interesting than the Hardy Boys who act like BFFs instead of husbands who adore each other.

On 9/24/2019 at 5:26 PM, dio said:

SKAM blew up all over the world/US/youtube/Tumblr in S3 with Isak and Even. And Hollyoaks gained massive popularity when they did the Craig and John-Paul saga back in the day. I don't understand why more US soaps aren't taking notice? I know they're afraid of alienating their "core" audience, but that core audience ain't gonna keep the show from cancellation. Like, go big. Try some new stuff. Start cribbing off od UK soaps. Go after that ship-crazy younger demo, that adores cute boys in love. LOL

 

If only

 

At least the Prospect Park versions of AMC and OLTL felt slightly more progressive, but the pearl clutchers had fits. I wish we weren't so damn restricted.

On 9/24/2019 at 5:45 PM, dio said:

 

oh, yeah.I don't think so either. I was just saying. lol

 

that said, GH should go for broke and do Dev+Cameron, like, why not? I mean it seems like Jocelyn is gonna have some kind of teacher SL with the English teacher anyway, and he seems to have no interest in Trina... so, why not? LOL 

 

THIS

 

I know they keep playing the crush Cam has on Josslyn but no one wants them paired. Cam has "I'm gay" written all over his face, IMHO. Dev/Cameron would instantly be more interesting so we'd never have that. And why is Snarly's daughter so damn boring? (And with invisible Lucas and annoying Brad, bet we couldn't have "too many gays" you know, heaven forbid ... they could take a lesson from HollyOaks. Tons of gays. There's more than just two in a town ....  )

Edited October 4, 20196 yr by KMan101

On 9/24/2019 at 7:51 PM, John said:

Yep Defintley BS

Days Time Jump Spoilers

@DaysFan8

 

Chad gets turned on when Abby tells him about having sex with other men. It is an entertaining story.

 

7:39 PM - Sep 24, 2019

 

 

lol. Billy Flynn plays Chad like he would get turned on by that. He totally has Chad flirting with Sonny and Will lol. The fake rumors are sadly more interesting than the show will ever be.

On 9/25/2019 at 3:40 PM, Khan said:

I can't see CM or RSW being uncomfortable with taping gay sex scenes for some reason. 

 

Me either. RSW totally plays up homoerotic stuff, especially with Billy Flynn's Chad. Too bad this isn't a UK soap. But then if it were a UK soap, Ben would be abusive towards Will and everyone would stan them because "it's hot" (Brendan/Ste on HollyOaks come to mind). Then Sonny would be raped by a teenager. See anyone of us can do fan fiction ... lol

 

CM and FS had a shower scene ages ago (amazing I know; but they did, and they used to have actual love scenes and didn't act like BFFs instead of boyfriends and lovers).

 

I know it's all BS but I'm still catching up on this thread! Sorry if anything is repetitive or been covered ...

On 9/25/2019 at 3:58 PM, Khan said:

I won't get into another "Who's on Top?" debate with DAYS' gay characters.

 

But you are right about Corday not allowing such a scene to air.  (I think NBC and SONY would be down, though, if only for the buzz the scene(s) would generate in the media.)

 

I will, there is NO WAY Will is a top. Nope. He'd probably like to be. 

 

Back when Will was all up in EJ's ass worshipping him (propping at it's finest) it would have been a lot more believable to have Will and EJ [!@#$%^&*]. Imagine Sami walking in on THAT ONE! lmao. We just can't have nice things.

On 9/25/2019 at 6:10 PM, Soapsuds said:

And CM and RSW needing body doubles? pleasssssssssssssss.....ridiculous 

 

This guy needs a body double...right....

 

 

 and he'd 100% be onboard with Ben pounding Will (don't know why but I totally buy he'd be down for that). Too bad it's not real.

 

Anywho ... I'm surprised Ron hasn't had Eugene fly in on his time machine yet. Also surprised he hasn't brought back Calliope.

On 10/3/2019 at 7:26 AM, AbcNbc247 said:

Lmaooo

 

I will never understand that episode for as long as I live. Marlena goes into the house to kill Alice. Alice is sitting in the chair, not scared at all, trying to reason with Marlena. The big TomHead then chases Marlena out of the house and she's terrified of it. 

 

Then, a few scenes later it was like the previous scene never happened. Marlena goes back to the house, not scared at all. And she finds Alice hiding in the closet.

 

It was like the big head was only to help once or something lol that was some pretty bad writing

 

GOD that was SO awful. I forgot it was like the head never existed. So strange!! Awful writing.

 

Almost like in that moment the story changed.

Edited October 4, 20196 yr by KMan101