Patti

and against Hope; now I truly see flaws in both characters.  For Bo and Hope, the one supposed "super-couple" left in Salem, they certainly have exhibited poor judgment … both of them.  I see faults with both of them, but really do believe that they are deeply in love and always will be.  However, when they believe strongly in their own convictions, they are both cut from the same cloth, and I think if anyone will make them realize just how much they are in love, it will be Ciara.  Carly is over-reacting, IMO.  She doesn’t even know who her daughter is yet, but she is using Bo’s and her past and placing him in a very difficult position.  I think she knows he will never say "no, I can’t help you, Carly."  So, instead, she is willing to destroy his relationship with Hope.  What she doesn’t realize is that Hope’s nobody’s pushover, and sooner or later Carly will realize that.  I’d guess that before this sl is over, Bo and Carly will become friends.  BUT, yesterday, when Hope opened the door and there stood Carly, I thought….*%#@!!! HERE WE GO AGAIN.

and I’m so glad DOOL has taken over 2nd place.  They really deserve to be No. 1 again, IMHO.  Y&R is not that good, and hasn’t been for quite a while now.   The time slot for DOOL is right in-between Y&R and B&B, so many of the fans who watch Y&R simply continue to stay on ABC and watch B&B, but the stories on DOOL this year, especially the baby switch, has brought fans back in droves.  Also, a lot of people who were avid fans of Passions actors continued to follow their favorite stars to DOOL, and the same thing is happening with Crystal Chappel fans.  She brings a huge fan-base with her, so thank you Crystal, as well.  Then, the return of Louise Sorrel has lit up the boards, and people are chomping at the bit waiting for Vivian’s real reason for returning to Salem take center stage.  Although AZ has been absolutely marvelous, I think a lot of people are growing tired of the baby switch story and now want to see it end (with the Christmas miracle, of course) and then move on to bigger and better sls.  Of course, I will be hoping that Ari Z. returns to a sl with some redeeming qualities for Nicole on the horizon.  I would love to see E.J. find a way to forgive Nicole, and possibly realize that he is still in love with her, although I’m not holding my breath on that front.  I do think we’ll be seeing some great new stories in the upcoming year, but even more importantly, an announcement from NBC that DOOL’s contract has been extended for at least another couple of years.  Then, who knows, here’s looking forward to once again seeing DOOL return to it’s rightful place in soaps…at the very top!  (JMHO)

if Bryan were let go…again.  I wub my Lucas!!!

I think Suzanne Rogers would rock that role.  She is a much better, I would even say amazing, actress than she is being portrayed right now.

need to come up with some new ideas.  Do they think they are fooling us with Melanie’s attitude toward Carly?  It is so obvious that Mel is Carly’s daughter, I’m betting with Daniel, and in a few weeks, if I’m wrong, I’ll be the first to say so; however, lately I’ve lost count on how many predictable outcomes to sls we’ve been able to figure out way before they’ve been shown.  I and others suggested Daniel might have been the doctor Carly had an affair with weeks ago; same thing with Melanie being the daughter instead of Mia, even though we do tend to forget that although Melanie appears older, she is still only 18 or 19.  It’s not surprising; it’s simply poor writing, to me, when the fans can figure out where the writers are going before they even take us there. (LOL) 

I like the longer hair myself.  Just my preference.  I hope they give him a good story and not continue to write him as some pathetic whining complainer.  It was kinda’ nice to hear him owing up to Maggie after his confrontation with Chloe and Daniel, admitting that he made mistakes, too.  Now, give me my Lucas in a good, meaty story, but I’ll take him and Sami remaining just friends, thank you.  I love her with Rafe too much, and Sami with THREE men chasing after her would be waaaaay toooooo much for this fan to bear.

what the writers are doing to Stephanie as well as to Philip makes me think that somebody up there is trying really really hard to ruin these two characters completely, and they are succeeding.  They have turned Stephanie Johnson into a bore, and have now decided that she should become a ‘manipulative’ boyfriend stealing bore.  This is pitiful.  She is half Kayla…half Patch.  My goodness, write her that way.  Give her some spunk.  That whole scene with the sprained ankle and her leg in Nathan’s lap made me want to hit something…hard!  I cannot stand the character the way she is now.  She has no chemistry with anyone right now, so if the writers are going to continue to make her this wishy-washy, I can do without her altogether.  As for Phillip, I can’t understand his attempts to keep Melanie confused as to who she wants to be with.  Phillip doesn’t want Mel; he just wants to prove that he can take her away from Nathan.  I don’t believe for a minute that he will stay true to her.  Go butt heads with your two mommies and leave Mel and Nathan alone.  Speaking of whom, now we have Melanie, who is also supposed to be this strong, independent young woman, master manipulator of men, who has for reasons unknown been turned into this indecisive, whimpering teenager, falling for Nathan, but unable to stay away from her 30-something, on again/off again lover, who has done nothing but prove he is only with her when it suits his purpose.  Don’t like Phillip very much right about now either.  I know, the soapier the better for some, but honestly, whichever writer(s) take responsibility for these characters and yet another unnecessary, boring triangle/rectangle needs a good swift kick in his/her a$$ right now. 

that they would hire a really good actor (Kevin Dobson) to play Mickey, I assume because they could no longer explain his absence from Maggie’s life since he was and is alive; put him on contract; give him some very menial role here and there, which I could probably count on two hands as many times as I’ve seen him on screen; and then just nada; nil; zilch; no more Mickey, or again Maggie’s poor excuses why Mickey wasn’t around any longer.  Oh, well, evidently Mr. Dobson didn’t gel with someone in the higher rankings, so I think the rumors just might be true.  Of course, I’m simply speculating, too!