All My Shadows

14 minutes ago, Vee said:

Is it not an obvious setup for him to be this dead body they've been hyping up all year? Since he's blackmailing her into claiming she lied?

The show seems so silly to me now. I can't imagine what the point is of giving Phil what has to be his sixth or seventh small kid, let alone the strange mirror universe we now live in where Phil and Kat have apparently been paired up for a year or two.

I've seen speculation that it could be Theo, too, which went away when it looked like Freddie killed him, but I guess since he survived, it could still be him. I think it's a safe bet that it's one or the other.

I think Albie is only Phil's 4th kid? Ben, Louise, the kid with Denise (whose name I don't know), and Albie. Still silly, though. Phil and Kat together is weird as hell, and it smacks of putting random characters together for the sake of NOT having them together with their definitive partner. What's the point of Kat being with Phil if she's still spending most of her time on screen with Alfie? And now Phil has a secret love child with Sharon. There's no reason to care about Phil and Kat as a couple of that's the way it's going to go.

12 minutes ago, DRW50 said:

The current show is heartless - a shell. Stories like the one with Linda forced to lie that she wasn't raped (encouraged by her failed drag queen mother) are why I barely bother. 

I absolutely loathe Elaine, and yes, she gives drag queen. I'm not crazy about George, either - he's too comfortable in the Vic and the Square in general for someone who just showed up a few months ago.

Up until now, I really haven't cared one way or another about Linda, but what a really shtty decision to have her say that she lied about Dean raping her!

I'm not enjoying the show as much as I was when I initially got back into it during the summer, but it's still easy to watch. I've been diving deep into classic episodes a lot over the last week or so, just watching random ep after random ep after random ep, mostly from the 1993-1997 period but also some 80s and early 00s. I feel like my appreciation for what EastEnders really is has gotten deeper, and it sucks bc with that comes a less impressed view of the current show, but it is what it is.

I never thought I'd love Pauline so much. It's not like this is my first time watching episode with her - I watched maybe the first 50 about ten years ago - but seeing her through her different eras really paints a fuller picture of her character. They really did do her (and Wendy) wrong by killing her off the way they did.

I never thought about the lack of single people at the start of KL, but now that I do, it kind of makes sense that David Jacobs didn't think to include any. All throughout the 70s, all of your "people" drama series (meaning, anything not a crime drama, medical drama, sci-fi, or western) focused on families with a married couple and children (the big four come to mind: Waltons, Little House, Family, and Eight is Enough). You only saw single adults in such series when the older kids grew up, but their love lives as single adults were still kinda portrayed the same as teenagers until they were married off.

When you think about it, it really makes you see how much of a game-changer Abby really was. Characters like her had only been played for laughs on sitcoms until she came along.

ETA: The talk of short-lived primetime soaps is lining up perfectly with the fact that I've been thinking about giving a quick rewatch to the three I watched during the pandemic - Paper Dolls, Yellow Rose, and 2000 Malibu Road.

I think fashion and glamor is exactly what the viewers wanted to see every week. It went to #1 for a reason, and the steady fall from the top in the second half of the show’s run is no great tragedy. Nine seasons, 200+ episodes, a perpetual seat at the pop culture table, etc. It’s not the show Rich and Esther had in mind in the beginning (my mind will never not hear Esther’s passionate defense of their I, CLAUDius inspiration), but it wasn’t a failure.

Really enjoying all of the Dynasty conversation! I really only have two main points:

- I will die on this hill. It's just Dynasty! Regardless of how deep it might've tried to be in the beginning, regardless of how far off the tracks it went, etc. it was a huge success for a reason! People wanted that mindless, senseless, campy foolishness, and Aaron and company delivered. No great characterization needed. The fashion, the one-liners, the slaps, the fights, the overwrought melodrama. It's okay for a show to give people just that, especially since there were plenty of other, more nuanced drama series on the air at the time.

- In my mind, Steven is bi, and I've been settled on that conclusion for years now. Clearly, it wasn't the intention of TPTB at the time, but knowing what I know and seeing what I see of people in their 20s and 30s, it makes more sense that him "forgetting he was gay" or "turning straight." He never turned straight - he had pairings with men all throughout the series. I think, more than anything, they wanted him in the mix of all the other "young" characters, and keeping him as 100% into men would have removed him from that. Had they wanted to erase him and/or his gayness, they honestly could have written him out as a result of Al Corley leaving, Adam arriving, or Claudia dying. He stayed through it all.

I was gonna also say the entire run of Passions lol I never "followed" a single storyline, but man if my high school years weren't made the better by getting home in time for the second half and being amused by the foolery.

This is still such a shock. GH has never been one of my soaps, but he was one of the major faces of the show all throughout the first decade of the 2000s. My mind kinda stays stuck in that era where the likes of TC are still the "younger" faces in daytime, so it's surreal to think of him as gone.

8 hours ago, Paul Raven said:

The start of the 86 season was not good for Dynasty. Now up against Magnum PI and Gimme A Break , the first 2 eps of the season failed to make the Top 10.

Meanwhile Dallas, facing Miami Vice had a big boost from Bobby's return and ranked Top 5.

Gimme a Break! was seen as worthy competition for Dynasty!?

Wow, North Shore! I loved it at the time and remember absolutely nothing about it.

Surprised it hasn't been shared here already, but AMC's Peter White, who of course is also known for his role in The Boys in the Band, has died. I really wish these news sites would stop running to IMDb and using it as a source, because Peter White was not on AMC for no 30 damn years.

13 minutes ago, Khan said:

You've got Linda Gray, from DALLAS; Donna Mills and Nicollette Sheridan, from KNOTS; and Morgan Fairchild, from FALCON CREST, FLAMINGO ROAD and PAPER DOLLS; but you know who or what's missing?  Someone from DYNASTY!  

Assuming that Joan or Linda would have been no-gos, Emma Samms would have been fair representation. Even Catherine Oxenburg.

I mean, Heather would have been the ONE, but...

20 hours ago, DRW50 said:

I was never overly fond of Bob Barker, but I did like that the show kept appealing to new generations and was a destination for college kids on Spring Break. I wonder if anyone in the last fifteen years has given a damn. 

I never hear anyone talk about this show or about Let's Make a Deal.

Yes, and being able to see those older episodes so regularly really shows how that great atmosphere of younger and older contestants mixing together and cheering each other on is such a strong part of the show's DNA. Today's show just seems, like most other game shows today, very plastic and overly polished.

I’ve been having TPIR: Barker Era on almost constantly for weeks now (even before Bob’s passing), and I finally was curious enough to watch a full episode of the current season. I haven’t watch a complete “new” ep in years, definitely pre-COVID - probably Drew reruns during the shutdown while waiting to watch classic Y&R - plus I wanted to have a look at the new set at the new studio.

My immediate reaction is that the show feels so empty and lifeless. There isn’t much energy, and it feels forced when there is. The audience is smaller (which I know this is an upgrade from the COVID configuration that was still being utilized), and there just seems to be less buzz in the air. I’m able to recognize that Drew has his own style that works for him and has kept him hosting the show for 16 years, but he is not a showman at all, so the dullness and quiet just sits there with no attempt from anyone to elevate it. I’ve always disliked George Gray’s announcing style, and it continues to sound more like parody than anything else.

The generic music that replaced all of those distinctly TPIR cues has been talked about for years, and it’s crazy to me that TPTB were able to rotate in new cues that still fit the show’s brand at least once a decade through the 2000s, but anything they’ve brought in since then has been totally forgettable.

It really breaks my heart to see that this is what the show is now, especially when you can so easily see 40-year-old episodes that are bursting with excitement. I would bet that the average age of the audience has gone way way way up in the last decade. No one under 30 seems to know anything at all about the show besides the fact that it exists.

On the bright side, I did enjoy seeing some games that were introduced much later than the mid-80s, like Pocket Change and 1/2 Off.

3 hours ago, DaytimeFan said:

That is prime Lifetime Christmas viewing. Look forward to it.

Right? I need to know who devised the idea because it means someone out there has an affinity for vintage Lifetime, and I really hope that person gets to create more homages to that era.

On 9/27/2023 at 7:22 PM, kalbir said:

This week CBS started The Price is Right season 52 and Let's Make a Deal season 15.

On June 12, 2023, Let's Make a Deal moved past the NBC 1966-1980 version of Hollywood Squares to become the fourth longest-running game show on US daytime network television.

Let's Make a Deal will reach two other milestones during season 15:

On March 29, 2024, Let's Make a Deal will move past the NBC 1975-1989 version of Wheel of Fortune to become the third longest-running game show on US daytime network television.

On May 3, 2024, Let's Make a Deal will move past the NBC 1958-1973 version of Concentration to become the second longest-running game show on US daytime network television.

That's absolute wild considering this version of the show has had little to no pop culture impact whatsoever lol As much as I loathe Steve Harvey's Feud, you really can't say it flies under the radar. I think LMAD primarily benefits from so many doctor's waiting rooms and nursing homes having their TVs tuned strictly to CBS and nothing else for the last 40 years.

Losing Suzanne and Lara back to back like this stings so much. They were both everyday parts of my life in my preteen and early teenage years, both of them playing huge but different roles in the “escape” I desperately needed from real life at the time. Rest in peace to them both.

On 10/10/2023 at 9:47 PM, j swift said:

I'm not an expert on the genre, but didn't Liz Gillies actually have a similar prior career as a young actress on Disney before playing Fallon?  I recall seeing her fantastic performance in the OBC of "13" by Jason Robert Brown.

She was on Nickelodeon's Victorious, where her character was the resident mean girl/b!tch antagonist against the lead character. Most of Dynasty's younger audience would know her from that.

I have been a die-hard fan of Three’s Company since I first discovered it in reruns when I was 7 years old. John’s death 20 years ago was an unexpected shock, and though Suzanne was older and also sick, her passing still feels like a shock. I literally grew up immersed in a world of reruns where these people were perpetually 25-30 years old!

There are so many classic Chrissy-centered episodes of TC. I’ll have to sit down soon and make a list of my favorites so I can watch them all in a row. 

I'm here for it! Loni being included is fine by me, it sorta reminds me of Suzanne Somers was on Hollywood Wives in 1985 alongside actresses more known for their dramatic work. Plus, I figure this will be pretty light-hearted with a little bit of sentimentality that'll most likely make me cry because these ladies are truly our heroes.

^^^^ For several years now, I've been wondering where Sonny ends and Maurice begins. The phrasing of that text keeps that wonder alive.

I've been watching steadily since I got back into it a few months ago. I was really hoping that Theo would turn out to be legit and not a creep, just because Martin is really smug and annoys me, but if he's gonna be a creep, then I'm glad he got dealt with (somewhat). I really do enjoy Freddie, but I'm glad he's gone for a while. It just seemed like hardship after hardship after hardship piled up on him, and he went from being a fun, cheeky lad to just constantly moping around the Square.

Jay is breaking my heart! I saw the preview of today's episode on FB not too long ago, and it's already got me feeling sad.

The one thing that's really frustrating for me with the show right now is how it seems like they are rotating stories in and out by the week. Last week, it was heavy on the Theo drama, this week it's nowhere to be found. The Keanu/Sharon story is back after being gone for a few weeks. The Cindy stuff is missing at the moment, so I bet she'll be back at the center of everything next week. I just week there was a more natural integration of storylines across episodes.

On 10/8/2023 at 2:13 PM, Faulkner said:

Wow. Another shocker. Used to watch him all the time on Food Network. Was being treated for an allergic reaction and died from anaphylactic shock.

I don’t know if I knew about his sexual harassment allegations. There have been so many cases.

How sad! I was obsessed with Food Network's afternoon "In the Kitchen" block when I was in high school (thanks to my home ec class), and he always represented something classy yet laid-back, upscale but unpretentious. Sorta like the male counterpart to Ina Garten.

Pluto TV is adding a 24/7 Dynasty channel this month.

4 hours ago, Faulkner said:

Moonlighting is in the works, according to Glenn Gordon Caron. But word was that even Family (the Sada Thompson/Meredith Baxter/Kristy McNichol series) is available on Tubi, although I can’t seem to find it via my mobile. I’d love to see Sisters and Herskovitz/Zwick series other than My So-Called Life streaming. Thirtysomething was on Hulu for a while. 

3 hours ago, Donna L. Bridges said:

Just checked Family for you on JustWatch.com & it says it is not available for streaming at this time but you can put your name in there to be notified if its status changes! JustWatch is a great website to tuck away in your brain. So, anyway, info on Family must have been a rumor. Great show! 

Family was definitely on Tubi for quite a while, but I noticed maybe two months ago that it is no longer available. I actually discovered its absence because I'd noticed they'd added Eight is Enough. I've always seen the two as companion series (one more serious, the other more silly ahem sillier), so I assumed Family was still on, then I searched for it, and it was gone. Hopefully it pops up again somewhere.

Re: soaps streaming. We really have been having some variation of this conversation for a decade now, and it's sad. Daytime soaps were never made to be rerun. They were purposely designed to never be rerun - that's why they've always been on year-round. In fact, I'm pretty positive that, aside from Dark Shadows, not a single soap opera episode was rerun until the 80s.

The mere existence of SFT and EON reruns on USA Network years ago doesn't prove that soap reruns are viable. Anything else that stayed in syndication for as long as they did (4-5 years?) would be considered a flop in reruns. We point to it as a success because the bar is so low for daytime. The only long-term soap reruns in our country (again, DS aside) were broadcast by a niche network devoted to the genre that eventually dropped all the daytime reruns and still closed.

As time goes on, the "real" audience for these shows disappears more and more. We're all huge fans and relatively young, but we are so deep into the minority that sometimes I think we forget that we are not the average viewer.

11 hours ago, Wilsoky said:

Yep! GH was pretty much a rival soap to AMC for decades, even though they shared a network. (Emmys, ratings - etc.)

Susan Lucci still sees it that way IMO.

She is super loyal to AMC. It would almost be like sacrilege to cross over...

In what universe were AMC and GH ever rival soaps lol Being on the same network means viewers never had to choose between the two, so there was never a reason for them to compete against each other.

If anything, Susan would turn it down because even when AMC was at its darkest, it was still her show, her people, and her home. Acting out trash storylines on a show she has no personal connection to just wouldn't hit the same. Plus, she's probably found closure for Erica and doesn't want to ruin that by bringing her back for something unsubstantial.