Harrowing soap moments

[DramatistDreamer]

Ha!

What I was really thinking at the time was, "Well, why doesn't he try to go over there and get a job? Like, dude, you can't even remember the show you work currently for?!" 

It kind of galls me that people speak of him as if he was the best thing to happen to the show and he didn't have enough respect for the show to remember it's name onstage at the Daytime Emmy awards?? And I could have overlooked the mix-up had he not been so flippant about it.

And he likely needed the health benefits as he was dealing with illness, on and off, in that last decade.

[yrfan1983]

How about on Knots... Jill's diabolical plan to force Val to "commit suicide"... this one sure disturbed teenage me

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[watson71]

The Sin Stalker mystery on AW had some terrifying moments- Dr. Glaser trying to kill Crystal Gayle while she singing at Tops.  It was an ingenious way to write her into the storyline when she appeared on the show to sing AW's new theme song.  Then, the Sin Stalker broke into the Cory mansion during a thunderstorm with no electricity on Mac's birthday and tried to kill Nancy.  Ada even got in on the action racing to save Nancy when she heard her screams.  And when the Sin Stalker was finally revealed, he lured Donna to a lighthouse and was followed by John Hudson.  Dr. Glaser tried to kill John by throwing him off the top of the lighthouse which resulted in John being blinded from hitting his head in the fall.

[Khan]

Didn't Crystal Gayle (or her handlers) tell TPTB that she wouldn't appear on the show unless she had more to do than just show up and sing?

Between Crystal Gayle (with Gary Morris) and Ronnie Milsap, it seems like AW was making a big push for the "Urban Cowboy" crowd, lol.

That sequence was almost Hitchockian in how it stayed with Jill and Val throughout.  I mean, you try devoting almost a half-hour to two characters on a network show nowadays and see how far you get, lol.

[FrenchBug82]

I love JVA and she was obviously one of the leads of the show but I often feel Teri Austin does not get nearly enough credit for how good she was in all of this and more broadly really selling this complete shift in Jill's personality over that season.

And the fact they first planted the seeds so slowly with this scene a full year prior is one of the many reasons why KL was the best-written primetime soap of the 80s.
 

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Edited February 20, 2022 by FrenchBug82

[te.]

Jill was justified!!!!

[Khan]

I don't think the Lechowicks ever planned that far ahead.  But they were right about "the first Mrs. Ewing" never going away, lol.

That's the thing about Gary and Val: theirs was clearly a toxic, co-dependent relationship.  Gary, to Val, was like a bottle to liquor to Gary.  Most could probably see as much, but very few rational individuals had the guts to say it.  The ONLY one who could articulate it without coming across like a total psycho was Ben -- and I feel like there came a point when he just resigned himself to that fact and made the best of his and Val's marriage (affair/flirtation with Cathy notwithstanding).

Edited February 20, 2022 by Khan

[yrfan1983]

This whole story wouldn’t have happened if it wasn’t for TV Guide! KL was set to have Jill Bennett fade away at the end of the ‘85-86 season. But in spring ‘86 TV Guide planned to do a cover story on Teri Austin. To accommodate the TV Guide reporter being on the KL set to observe Teri at work, the writers came up with a last-minute scene in the season 7 finale between Gary and Jill. The writers then were inspired to bring back Jill for season 8 and the rest is history.

[Khan]

Was she right to terrorize Val the way she did?  No.  Forcing a woman to kill herself is NEVER okay.

But, my God, could you BLAME the woman for hating Val so?  I mean, all Val had to do was cut her finger on the can opener, and here comes Gary to the rescue!  And it definitely didn't help to have people like Mack and Karen, proclaiming Gary and Val's to be the Most Fantastic Love Story Ever Told.  Because, ladies and gentlemen, their twisted saga doesn't even come close!

[Franko]

The McKenzies weren't above hyping their own myth, either. See the "Karennmack" "Macknkaren" exchange (from the last season, I think.)

[Khan]

KL's later seasons (with the Lechowicks as producers and show-runners) don't share the nuances that earlier, better-produced seasons gave us.  Before, Gary and Val weren't just star-crossed lovers; and Karen wasn't just the resident Pollyanna.  Things were much more complex than that.  But, it seems, the Lechowicks, as talented as they might have been in terms of turning suspense up a notch or two in stories, also struggled in writing these characters with depth.

Which is why, in recent years, I've gained a new respect for S14, because it seems like it was the first season in a long while to treat the characters as something other than plot pieces or avenues to spout off pseudo-witty dialogue or ponderous monologues about this-or-that societal ill.  (If I never hear Mack recite that damn poem about children again....!)

Edited February 20, 2022 by Khan

[Soapsuds]

SWALLOW!  SWALLOW!!

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[Khan]

"Would you at least let the b have a sip of water," lol?

You couldn't pull off that kind of scheme today.  Not just because the network would demand shorter scenes, but technology and such would make it impossible for Jill to execute (sorry) her plan w/o getting found out sooner.

Meanwhile, why did Val need so much time blow-drying her obviously thin hair?  You're not Rapunzel, gurl.  Let's wrap it up, okay?

Edited February 20, 2022 by Khan

[FrenchBug82]

Not the specific storyline obviously but this moment was the moment where Jill started to switch from the mostly nice (once the revenge SL was done) character to her slow descent into Val-crazed madness over the course of the following season and a half

Until then it was not on the radar and it was mostly Abby vs Val. 
It is a great scene on the merits - that line is killer - but it does plan the seeds in a nice pivot point.

 

Wasn't she also supposed to be written out because TA and TS broke up in real life?

 

S13 was the low point. Bringing back Ann Marcus for season 14 was a great call. 
Considering from how low she was starting and the elements going against her - the big stars being forced to be out of episodes for budget reasons, JVA leaving - she managed something quite solid.
And I have narrative quibbles with how things tied up at the end, a show that manages to end with an umbrella story gets kudos from me, always.

 

[titan1978]

I still prefer Gary with Abby.

And those scenes with Jill were incredibly scary and effective.  Poor Val.