I was thinking that if Crawford played Elizabeth, her ol' rival, Bette Davis, could play Julia. I would give anything to hear Bette Davis-as-Julia see the Old House cellar for the first time and say: "Barnabas, what a dump!".

Also, JC married a bigshot with Pepsi and became their spokeswoman. Just imagine - instead of brandy, Roger would have been pouring Pepsi for everyone at Collinwood, it would be the drink of choice at the Blue Whale, and after digging graves and other assorted tasks, Willie would kick back with an ice cold bottle of Pepsi! DARK SHADOWS brought to you by the Pepsi Generation!

Wasn't it mentioned that Roger served during World War II?

Most television shows of the late 60's avoided mention of the Vietnam War - remember what happened to the Smothers Brothers?

I would have loved to have seen a DS storyline set during the Civil War and a Southern branch of the Collins family introduced.

Barnabas...Roberto "Life is Beautiful" Benigni
Elizabeth...Kris Kardashian-Jenner
Quentin...Gene Simmons
Julia...Janice Dickinson
Roger...Nigel "So You Think You Can Dance" Lythgoe
Angelique... Ann Coulter
Victoria... Rachel Ray
Carolyn... Heidi Montag
Jeb Hawkes: Spencer Pratt
Joe... David Spade
Maggie... Elizabeth Hasselbeck
Willie...Sanjaya Malakar
Stokes... Rush Limbaugh
Philip and Megan Todd: Jon and Kate Gosselin

Thank you and here's s'more:

1. Barnabas: "Let the Sunshine In"/"Touch Me in the Morning"
2. Angelique: "Ding Dong! The Witch is Dead"/"The Man that Got Away"
3. Jeb Hawkes: "I Won't Grow Up"
4. Count Petofi: "He's Got the Whole World in His Hands"/"One Hand, One Heart"
5. Diabolos: "Onward, Christian Soldiers"
6. Burke: "Leaving on a Jet Plane"
7. Chris: "Don't Fence Me In"
8. Rev. Gregory Trask: "Another Brick in the Wall"
9. Adam: "I Fall to Pieces"
10. Cemetery Caretaker: "Stayin' Alive"
11. Abigal Collins: "Make Someone Happy"/"Put on a Happy Face"
12. Amanda Harris: "Follow the Yellow Brick Road"/"The Long and Winding Road"/"I Only Have Eyes for You"
13. The Widows: "Big Girls Don't Cry"
14. Ruby Tate: "Ruby, Don't Take Your Love to Town"

Knowing how fond the networks are fond of ripping off each other's hit shows, I wonder how many programs we will see aired next season with vampire characters? CBS could do CSI: TRANSYLVANIA...on ABC's BROTHERS AND SISTERS, one of the Walkers will become a vampire...FOX will introduce BITE, about vampire teens who love to sing show tunes...as for NBC, it will replace Jay Leno with five hours of vampire programming!

Patti (and to anyone else interested): I think the networks believe the soap genre has lost its traditional, core audience, the stay-at-home-wives-and-mothers, who are now en masse in the workforce. Also, the networks feel that there are not many up-and-coming viewers for soaps. I grew up watching soaps with my mother and grandmother while I played with toys on our living room floor or reading comic books or waiting for reruns of GILLIGAN'S ISLAND to come on. Nowadays, young people are more than likely to be planted in front of their computers with Facebook rather than waiting for the next episode of DAYS OF OUR LIVES to air. In other words, young people aren't being "trained" to watch soaps like previous generations.

Also, networks are looking to cut corners anyway they can in this economy. Budgets are being slashed and even Susan Lucci had to take a paycut. It's cheaper to put a game show (one standing set) or a talk show rather than a soap with a cast of thirty to forty players (many of whom aren't even on contract but on recurring status) and multiple sets. This type of thinking has even spread to primetime television - you can bet your last dollar that the industry is paying close attention to how well Jay Leno's new, primetime talk show is doing in the ratings. If it succeeds, well, you'll probably start seeing fewer hour-long, dramatic programs on TV...

However, I still think, no matter what, the soap industry has brought a lot of their problems and turmoil on themselves simply by treating the viewers with contempt. I watch AS THE WORLD TURNS everyday, but I cringe at how mediocre most of the writing is compared to what is was in its Golden Era (i.e. when Doug Marland was headwriter!). It's very plot-driven and the characters act very inconsistent. Most of the soaps used to be produced in NYC and producers cast roles with experienced, seasoned actors and actresses from the theater community - remember all those great actors on ANOTHER WORLD? Now most soaps are produced on the West Coast and it seems like the casts are full of beautiful, vacuous people who have probably never seen a play much less been in one.

I wish we could find the daytime equivalent of a writer like MAD MEN's Matthew Weiner or Joss Whedon or David E. Kelly or ...

P.S. I don't hate all reality programming. I never miss THE AMAZING RACE or PROJECT RUNWAY and I even, for the first time, voted for an AMERICAN IDOL contestant on AMERICAN IDOL this past season (Adam Lambert!), but I do think most reality program is garbage.

Soaps aren't going to survive until you have producers and writers who understand and care for the genre. Barbara Bloom, the head of CBS's daytime division and Ellen Wheeler, the executive producer of GUIDING LIGHT, hastened GL's death with their ineptness. Did anyone watch GL in its final months with those shoddy production values? I've heard rumors Bloom might allow Ellen Wheeler to take over AS THE WORLD TURNS. If so, that show's death warrent has been signed. Not that the current ep is any better - Christopher Goutman brags about never paying attention to the viewers and what they like and dislike.

The great soap writer, Douglas Marland, once published a sort of "ten commandments" for soap writers and it is well worth seeking out. The soap industry also needs to think ourtside the box and search for soap writers who can bring a fresh point of view to the genre. It seems like most of the current crop of soap writers are just plain, ol' written out.

Also, the networks need to quit micromanaging the soaps and allow talented and trained people to do their jobs.

Here is a list of the remaining soaps and the order in which I expect they will depart from the airwaves in the next ten years if not sooner.

1. AS THE WORLD TURNS 2. DAYS OF OUR LIVES. 3. ONE LIFE TO LIVE. 4. ALL MY CHILDREN 5. GENERAL HOSPITAL 6. THE BOLD AND THE BEAUTIFUL 7. THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS

R.I.P. GUIDING LIGHT...