Bright Eyes

And will be on again tomorrow.

Arianna gave me whiplash. She shows up in front of the Pub with Holly, then "skedaddles" for no reason, then shows back up at the Pub to meet Will/Eric/Sami, then presumably is going to the Gala, but is nowhere to be seen during most of it, then randomly appears for one scene. The other weird thing is that no one greeted Paul/Andrew when they arrived at the Gala. And in a personal affront, Emily O'Brien I guess is going to annoy me like Stacy Haiduk in not wearing any nail polish ever. I have to believe it's the actor's laziness, and beyond that, it would be out of character for both. It just looks wrong. Lastly, it was a missed opportunity that Tate wasn't shown to have any emotional moment during any of the speeches about his grandmother and John. Missing out on small things like that when they would add so much is disappointing. However, all those grievances out of the way, I thought this episode was a great watch. It felt so busy and bustling (for DAYS in budget cuts hell 2025). I'm not a big Chandler Massey fan, but one of my favourite scenes was him with EJ. The sexual tension is still there! And reminding the viewer (i.e. me!) about the similar circumstances of when he shot EJ was a smart move. Can someone remind this on/off viewer of when Belle and Sami's relationship first started to fracture? I was hoping there'd be a comment from one of them about how close they used to be. Superficially, Cat and Arianna looked snatched! But the biggest eye opener was the hairdo Kayla was sporting in that flashback. What a brave choice! And as the episode ended, these immortal words ruminated through my mind ...

If anything, these rolls down Horton memory lane have only proven how fascinating and complex they are and could continue to be. They never needed the big bad DiMeras to cause problems for them because they were more than talented enough at doing that all on their own.

Not knowing who that is, it prompted me to see who on the cast I still know. Just three characters, Chris, Drew, and Esther, but I also saw that they recently brought back a classic character in Libby. How's that going?

I won't lie, I was really hoping Sami's engagement was going to be to Brandon. I feel very uncertain about creating a new Vitale, when I thought we were finally rid of Ava for good. With her saying they wouldn't even know each other, I hope that remains the case. Still, colour me impressed they picked up the hinted at Cat/Sami connection. I thought with Sami's last visit that it was dropped. Just for confirmation, that was EJ in the bed right? Loved seeing Lucas again. I hope he gets reunited with Mike, too. Weird Allie wasn't mentioned though. Melissa Reeves and Billy Flynn are doing great work going up against each other. I'm so happy Jennifer is able to have these sort of flaws. I'm absolutely against what she's doing, but completely understand why she would do it. If Chad moves back into the DiMera mansion, that is bound to only make matters worse. But screw Justin, it would have been great if she said Frankie was going to be her lawyer. What can I say about the Julie and Maggie scenes? I ate them up. SSH and SR have never lost it. Maggie is another I really want to see with Mike again, and to reunite with Jeremy too since she's the only one that really cared about him last time he was in town. I do also hope Sarah is included in all this Horton-ness. She is far too removed from them generally, which makes no sense to me as she's basically the main heroine these days. She also needs to reunite with Mike, and should be another that accepts Jeremy, to Stephanie's chagrin.

She passed away today. https://deadline.com/2025/11/sally-kirkland-dead-anna-star-was-84-1236613785/

For those that may be curious, here are all the movies in question seen in the video I posted ...

Happy to see they didn't cheap out on the flashbacks. I didn't want them to end, but of course, playing the 2025 music with them is basically rage bait. I thought they handled Marie's relationship with Tommy and Mike's conception sensitively, whereas previous writers wouldn't have done so, at least not to the level of my tastes. I would have liked Tate bringing up John's amnesia in a quick line as a way of connecting to Marie's story of Tommy like people would normally do. Also, I really wanted them to bring up Sandy. I hope she's mentioned at some point this week, but I won't hold my breath. Even just a line mentioning her in passing, but that they lost touch with her somewhere along the way would suffice. And with Mike's conception being brought up, having Johnny connect with Jeremy somehow would be a nice touch. Plus, I think if Chad/JJ/Johnny all started to trust Jeremy, I would use it to lead Stephanie down the more troubled psychological path I think she should go down, but that's me playing Head-Writer again. The drama at the hospital still being about Bill's family as his dramas were being remembered back at the Horton house are one of the great things about soap opera that make me love this genre. Michael Roark is so great as Jeremy, and today's scenes with Roark Critchlow showed him to be great casting from a familial point as well.

Also the closest Deidre Hall and Suzanne Rogers have been in years!

Thaao Penghlis was on the show at the end, too, but I know nothing about his character.

Just a reminder, if they drop a promo, please no spoilers in this thread for the spoiler free like me!

I had a slight remembrance it was, but wasn't sure. Thankyou, and thank you @Vee for filling in all those blanks, it's a tremendous help. I erred on thinking Swing Time as well as I've seen most of the Astaire/Rogers pictures, but wasn't confident since it's been awhile.

All SORAS'ing is technically a retcon/rewrite that I wish never existed in the grand scheme of things.

10/10, no notes! Lovely to hear the full theme.

Apologies if this is an annoying ask, but I thought it could be a fun challenge. Can you fine film lovers help me identify all the films in this video ... the oldest one posted on the official TCM YouTube page? Here's what I got so far, but usually my mind goes blank or I simply haven't seen the film so have no idea. And, of course, if any of my guesses are wrong, please correct me. Here goes: 0:08-0:14: Sunset Boulevard 0:14-0:18: Bugsy 0:18-0:20: ? Alfie? 0:20-0:21: Cat on a Hot Tin Roof 0:22-0:29 The Birds 0:29-0:33: Chinatown 0:33-0:34: Funny Face 0:34-0:35: ? 0:35-0:39: ? 0:39-0:41: I know it's Fred Astaire/Ginger Rogers, but I can't tell which of their films specifically 0:41-0:46: Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid 0:47-0:50: A River Runs Through It 0:50-0:53: Crimson Tide 0:53-0:54: ? 0:54-0:55: ? 0:55-0:57: Chinatown again 0:57-0:58: Astaire/Rogers again, but? 0:59-1:03: Network 1:03-1:06: Glory 1:07-1:08: Lawrence of Arabia 1:09-1:12: ? 1:13-1:16: Moonstruck 1:17-1:18: Cleopatra 1:19-1:20: ? 1:21-1:22: ? 1:23-1:27: ? 1:28-1:32: Sophie's Choice 1:33-1:36: The Graduate 1:37-1:40: Boyz n the Hood 1:41-1:43: ? 1:43-1:49: Close Encounters of the Third Kind 1:50:1:53: Annie Hall 1:54:1:57: Rocky 1:58-2:01: The Last Detail 2:02-2:03: Lawrence of Arabia again? 2:04-2:06: Easy Rider 2:07-2:12: ? 2:13-2:17: My Fair Lady THE END

It's rolled over to November 8 where I am so I can officially say Happy 60th Anniversary, DAYS OF OUR LIVES!

Yes, because so many soap opera fans are out there playing Call of Duty. Stupid.

I wouldn't be surprised if when he does go, it'll be some big murder mystery, but we still need him to call in his favour from Martin before that happens.

The problem with Joey is, Jon Lindstrom is hot and sexy to 70ish year old MVJ. But in no discernible world would sexy as hell 40ish Vanessa ever even blink in his direction. It's laughable.

Rolf's return makes my teeth itch. I have to pray Cwikly only brought him back to kill him off again, for good this time, because Susan, Bonnie, and Rolf are sticking around is infuriating. I also have to wonder if this mad scientist stuff will be tied to who tried to attack Alex? Jeremy was literally wearing a mad scientist costume ... you can see where my mind connects. Excited for the all the returns next week!

Ashley has to be one of the most insufferable assh*les on a soap in a long time. A Mary Sue to the extreme of inanity. Part of me hopes that Jan, as Derek's staunch defender, but who clearly gentle-parented her spoiled brat way too hard, has a one-night stand with him that'll really throw that pea-brained moron into a tailspin. Naomi count your days. Please someone slap the sanctimony and hypocrisy out of her mouth. Jacob mentioned Elon had a heart attack ... ya'll know what that means. If Vernon is planning a romantic surprise for Anita, pass me the barf bag. It would be so unnecessary. A soap opera needs heart and love, of course, but all we've seen of the Duprees is them all blowing smoke up each other's asses at every opportunity. Where is the inner-family drama? Bill Bell would be bored out his mind. It was absolutely a mistake to not have this show be only half an hour. It would be so easy to trim the fat and drudgery to make this show more put together.

Alex Kiriakis, now played by Robert Scott Wilson, was spawned because of it.

Lauren Koslow looked like an ephemeral goddess from an oil painting. Beautiful.

Oscar nominated actress Pauline Collins, who portrayed the iconic Shirley Valentine, has passed away... https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/pauline-collins-dead-shirley-valentine-1236420341/

I'm a fellow Canadian who watches it on the CTV website for free. Very happy they made the move from CHCH.