Spring Brings Hope
Color me surprised by the turn around the show is making! The writing is good and the storylines are stronger than they’ve been in some time but the real shocker for me is the attitude change from TPTB. Could they have actually wised up and listened to the fan base? Core Characters…strong family connections…romance (okay it’s only really Jesse and Angie having the romance but there is hope on this front as well).
Ruth we’ve missed you! To see my absolute core couple Joe and Ruth together was a treat on Friday!!! Then throw in the Rob card and it’s got the makings of a good Friday. But it did’nt stop there…hello Opal, who might have a little crush on her ex-brother-in-law. Jenny’s birthday was the perfect opportunity for a large cast group to assemble. And for the first time in a long time the flashbacks made sense. What a treat to see Jenny and Greg and Liza in flashbacks. And the fact that Jesse was retelling the tale of his youth to not only Jenny but to Colby (Liza’s Daughter) was priceless in my book. And with the return of Greg Nelson in May it’s the perfect set up for his coming back to town for those who didn’t watch back in the 80’s.
I think once the word spreads around that the show is rebounding the fan will come back as regular viewers. A lot of damage was done to the viewership over the last 5 years so it won’t happen over night but it’s smart of TPTB to bring back characters that older viewers know and loved. Short term contracts if used properly so serve this purpose. For one they make it easier for an old time contract player to say…sure I can come back for a couple of months. And who knows maybe a long term contract would be inviting to some of those folks. Look how well it has worked with Kate Collins (Janet Green Dillon). And secondly by having short term contract players they don’t get stuck with actors they really only had a limited s/l in place. Granted there will always be a need for long term contract actors I think this just opens the door for more s/l potential and a healthier bottom line.
The draining s/l right now of course is…Ryan’s amnesia. It just doesn’t work and instead of cutting their loses and moving forward immediately with ending this farce they seem feed it everyday. I agree with SOD, the only good thing to come from this is little waifish Annie got a spine! Another weak spot is Richie and his abduction of JR for his bone marrow. Billy Miller is wonderful as a sadistic bad guy so why not play on this but they make the mistake of having him one foot in good boy land (Babe) and one foot in bad boy land. Richie needs to be defined as being something.
I would have loved Amanda and Richie together but not after JR’s attempt to get Amanda to sleep with Richie. Why does Amanda need to prostitute herself for JR…please! And he plays it out like she owes him…Hello she thought her life was in danger.
What about Josh and Amanda together? They are both hot, young and fabulous! And Erica would definitely have pause with this match since her mother is a psychotic killer. Sure they were BFF’s once but those days are over. My concern is the show will lose these two fantastic kids do to lack of s/l and they won’t renew their contracts. Then I would be sad 
A show of hands who is loving Erica and Carmen? ME ME ME! This is a s/l I never thought in a million years I’d like but these women have chemistry. Erica’s not been down in the real world for some time so it’s good to see her “try” to be common, lol. It’s a hoot and Carmen as her go to girl…again priceless. And we get to see Jackson more which is wonderful…it’s a word beyond wonderful…maybe wonderful squared!
My only concern right now is they have these lose ends dangling. Dre is mad at Sam so much he ran away from home. Was this because of his mother or something else? I don’t know because they just left it all hanging. Sam’s agenda is what? And my last gripe would be Colby and Frankie as a pair? She, what, takes him to the senior prom? This is my date he’s a doctor at Pine Valley Hospital? Yep…it doesn’t work for me.
