I know there is a TV show called Revenge but I only saw the first episode and then lost track. Wandering through the Shelves stumped me at first but then the dusty cogs started turning and I came up with 3 that, I think, fit.
1. GENERAL HOSPITAL-1963-PRESENT
Revenge is a constant in Soaps and this is one I have watched since I was a little kid. My mom watched this soap since it started which is why I watched it so long ago. In fact, there is an actor on the show whom I recall as being a young tween who often sought revenge…Scotty Baldwin. He fell in love with Laura but she ended up running away with Luke Spencer. This was at the time when the show was nearly cancelled until Luke no Laura ran away. Luke’s sister, Bobby Spencer ( played by Jaclyn Zemon who just died of cancer at age 70 and made her last appearance a month ago) wanted Scotty and sought revenge against Laura whereas Scotty sought revenge against Luke. Later on Bobbie softened and was not a meanie but others came and went and revenge was always big. Just recently, a character, that I can’t stand, got her Royal twit in a knot and sought revenge against her boyfriend’s ex-wife but, obviously, it backfired. They never learn.
2. DALLAS-1978-1991
This is the daddy of the night time soaps and started the rage of the soaps from the 90s with big hair and big shoulder pads. This starred Patrick Duffy and Victoria Principal as newlyweds but from 2 bickering families who happen to be rich. Patrick is a nice guy( well, he was the man from Atlantis after all) but his brother, played by Larry Hagman is anything but nice. He is J. R. Ewing who loves to be mean because he can. In fact, this soap started the season ending Cliffhanger. The most famous is the “Who Shot JR” episode which, I remember, sweeping not just here but the world! It was revenge for how mean he was and..shock! It was Bing Crosby’s daughter.
3. DYNASTY-1981-1989
This is the one night time soap I never missed( anyone remember the Moldavian wedding massacre episode?) this starred John Forsythe as Blake Carrington who recently married his sweet secretary played by Linda Evans. Of course, his grown children dislike her, except for one…if I remember, and try to out her. It was not doing well in the ratings when Forsythe, up on murder charges, realizes he is in deep doodoo, when a mystery lady for the prosecution comes in. Of course that was the season cliff hanger which grabbed people’s attention so when it premiered and turned out to be Joan Collins chewing the scenery in all her shoulder-padded glory. It turns out she is his ex-wife and is seeking revenge! Joan brought the right spice along with glistening lips, fancy outfits and many sequins to see which person she was out to get. When Joan and Linda Evans fight it out in the fountain pool, we weren’t sure who to route for.
All 3 are fun, stupid and silly but you have to love the outfits and the stare downs.
Which tv shows make you think about revenge?
The Sopranos and Breaking Bad definitely had a lot of revenge and were violent at times. I think both are great shows. I never became interested in Dynasty, but I watched Dallas for several years. I guess all the daytime soaps centered on love and revenge. When my son was little and I stayed at home I watched Guiding Light. That was my favorite. So many soaps were canceled after being on for years and years.
ReplyDeleteLove,
Janie
I got a bit hooked on General Hospital in the early 80s during the Luke and Laura scandal. Then I got back on the road and that was the end of watching much in the way of television. Your other two picks I never saw, but that was during my road years and besides I never watched much prime time TV in my adult years. I was certainly familiar with the shows though.
ReplyDeleteNot much revenge related comes to my mind as far as TV shows go. There was The Fugitive in the sixties but I think Dr. Richard Kimble was more interested in getting justice done and having his own name cleared so I don't think that was so much revenge, but it might qualify to a degree.
Lee
Mary and I went through the whole Luke-and-Laura saga together. I was working nights at the time, and would head for work after the show.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, Victoria Principal played Bobby's wife, the former Pamela Barnes. She also did ads for health clubs at the time and was dating Andy Gibb. She was busy....
I never watched those, but I was aware of them. The nighttime soaps were on too late for kid me anyway.
ReplyDeleteNothing comes to mind that fits the topic. Let me think... Arrow. Yeah, that was a revenge show, at least in its first season. Oliver had a list... Otherwise, I'm drawing a blank.
I watched Revenge all through!
ReplyDeleteOh yeah, good picks.
ReplyDeleteHi Birgit!
ReplyDeleteNice choices. I watched General Hospital about a hundred years ago it seems when I was just a kid. Another World was my first soap because it’s what my mother and grandmother watched every day and somewhere along the way I fell into GH but it didn’t stick with me. It has certainly had staying power with the public at large though.
Of the nighttime soaps I was much more devoted to Dynasty than Dallas. Like everyone else at the time I was all in the “Who Shot J.R.” mania but afterwards I would only look at it intermittently. Dynasty however was appointment TV from the first. LOVED Linda Evans from her time on The Big Valley so once she was announced as the lead, I tuned in though I know the show didn’t hit its stride until Joan joined in season 2.
As for the three I’d choose I didn’t pick up on the show Revenge (2011-2015) until it was in the repeat cycle of its first season once almost everyone I knew was saying how much they loved it. But once I did I was totally committed! It was wonderfully over the top and Madeleine Stowe who up until that time had the reputation of the dewy heroine was absolutely aces as the manipulative bitch driving the show and trying to ruin Emily Van Camp’s character’s life. But Emily was equally determined to destroy Madeleine’s family so it was a regular fest of duplicity.
The next is David Janssen’s The Fugitive (1963-1967). I know every episode wasn’t devoted to revenge but his single-minded mission was to catch the one-armed man and bring him to justice thereby exacting his revenge for the murder of his wife and ruining his life.
For the last I went with the Richard Chamberlain telemovie version of The Count of Monte Cristo (1975) which of course is ALL about revenge! It’s not the best version out there but a decent one.
I've never watched any daytime soaps, but I loved Dallas. Dynasty, not so much. A couple of other good ones during that era were Falcon Crest, about a family-owned winery, and Knots Landing, a Dallas spin-off. Plenty of revenge plots all around. ☺
ReplyDeleteOne of the best lines in Cheers's entire run:
ReplyDeleteCarla - "I always say, all great friendships start with one small act of vengeance."
Great picks, all three are classics!
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