Words fail me - do not do justice to the perfection and excellence of this series. I grew up watching soaps like "One Life to Live", "All My Children", "General Hospital" - with a mother and two sisters and ONE TV set, it was impossible to not see these. Anyway, I love sitcoms when they used to actually be funny, and not afraid to film in front of a live audience with adults instead of paid teenage girls who'd sit there and scream on cue when the flavor-of-the-month happened to walk on. This was staged exactly as a play. Having been in stage plays in the past, my eyes are trained to look in the background and see what's moving around there, or whom. Even with the "family portrait" opening titles, I go back and check them out a few times, to see what everyone's doing.
Anyway, this covered and spoofed every single soap cliché there was - resentful step-children; bratty bitchy bimbos who turn nice only to get killed later; prohibited par-lances with priests, politicians and pro-tennis players; multiple murders - or multiple ways to carry out ONE murder - shot, stabbed, strangled, suffocated - - AND bludgeoned. Well, the bludgeoning was always a fail-safe.
I'm renting and burning each season now and it's going to take a few weeks, but I'm going to have the time of my life. Welcome back to my living room, Tates, and Campbells, you sure were missed.
Anyway, this covered and spoofed every single soap cliché there was - resentful step-children; bratty bitchy bimbos who turn nice only to get killed later; prohibited par-lances with priests, politicians and pro-tennis players; multiple murders - or multiple ways to carry out ONE murder - shot, stabbed, strangled, suffocated - - AND bludgeoned. Well, the bludgeoning was always a fail-safe.
I'm renting and burning each season now and it's going to take a few weeks, but I'm going to have the time of my life. Welcome back to my living room, Tates, and Campbells, you sure were missed.