DRW50

They're one of the main reasons I stick with the show. I really think the strength of characterization and performances make them stand out. I also love how serious Stannis is without having to be emo, like Tyrion, Arya, and sadly, even Brienne have become. This show often seems to think somber = a 12 year old goth girl.

But does having an awkwardly blocked nude scene on a bed with another man mean he's being treated equally? We know other things about Tyrion, Cersei, even Stannis - we see various sides of them. What do we see of Loras? We see various scenes devoted to him being gay, how this is lurid and hilarious, and how his being gay and apparently trolling for prostitutes (even a prostitute who sold out the entire family not all that long ago) brings trouble to people around him. His main scenes in season 3 were "lol gay." His main scene in season 4 was "lol gay." And here we are again, aside from the bizarre segue where he and Olyvar went on and on about how he had a birthmark in the shape of Dorne.

Thanks. It's too bad so much time was spent on topics Ashbrook clearly wanted to swerve around (like the naive idea of "crowdfunding" Twin Peaks and the bizarre moment where the interviewer seemed to be implying that it was David Lynch's fault...not the best thing to say to one of his cast members). Ashbrook still looks good, and sounds just the same. And for the whopping two minutes that were actually spent on important topics, the story about the diner scene with Don Davis was very touching.

Mamie really loves Dial...

The idea of this was interesting but the execution is shockingly bad, especially Steve McFadden's acting. I also don't quite get the idea of random primal screaming from Sam Womack. And the "HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!" yikes

Maybe Rosie down the line...

She was fired. They bought her out of her contract. After the negative reaction to this, they then brought her back as a new character for a few episodes. She said that the upside to the whole thing was she got to buy her mother a house with all that money they paid her to get rid of her.

http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2015/04/12/abc-promo-implies-that-revenge-has-been-canceled/388251/

Agreed about young Cersei. Well...that was the premiere. I tend to prefer Walking Dead when characters are split up, because I feel like this gives more of a chance for character exploration and insight, and new relationships. I tend to prefer GoT when characters are together, because when they are split, it's little but random people literally wandering around here, there and everywhere, looking miserable, having no purpose. I like Brienne well enough, but I had no real interest in seeing her pop up for a minute to look annoyed and depressed and tell Podrick to !@#$%^&*] off. We got that about 5 times last season. Now that Arya (mercifully MIA in this episode) is going to have a story beyond sour-faced strolling, I guess Brienne has taken her place? No thanks. The lack of energy that really began creeping up last season was still present and accounted for, and for the first time I thought the show also looked cheap. I'm not sure if they made budget cuts to help pay for Dorne, or if it was the decision to blacken every redhead in the cast, but most of the locations looked drab and like they were standing in front of greenscreen. (the main exception was the gorgeous shot of the steps as Cersei was on her way to Tywin's funeral). Anyway... The good: - Cersei. The flashback benefited from superb casting for young Cersei, and while I didn't think the future reading had the impact it could have had (I thought the woman playing Maggy was a little bland), it was still a good insight into the woman she is today. I also thought her scene with Lancel, as stupid as ever, but made quite a bit hotter by religious fundamentalism, was perfect. I still think the show has done a terrible job with her relationship with Jaime, but their scene was thankfully brief, and I can't say she was wrong in berating him. - Jon and the Wall. I could have done without that weird "are you a virgin?" scene with Mel (although I would prefer to believe this is for some purpose beyond her wanting the dick), but otherwise the grim life and moral division between what is right and what must be worked. Ciaran Hinds and Kit Harington did some strong work in that last scene where Jon tried to get him to come around about Stannis. I also liked that they had Stannis and Melisandre treating Mance respectfully (you know, aside from burning him alive), instead of being made into caricatures. And Jon, doing what was right and damn the consequences, killing Mance with bow and arrow (which I will take as an homage to Ygritte), was a good way to end the episode. The "eh": - Well, I had a good laugh at whoever came up with the idea to have the Meereen prostitute show off her lady parts and then have the Unsullied say, "Not that much." This was someone's clever attempt at getting all the goods oncamera but trying to feign modesty, I guess. The Unsullied's murder was a genuine shock moment and a good way to introduce the threat Dany and her army faces. Everything with Dany in this episode was essentially ticking off a box - regret and doubt over dragons, struggles to lead Meereen, struggles to accept that her pure and ideal vision of harmony under thumb is not the way life will be. It was decent enough, and Emilia is decent enough at playing it. I can't say I'm enthralled, but it's OK. I know Dany needs a talk-to, but I wish they'd found someone, anyone as Daario that she would have had chemistry with. The only memorable thing about Daario continues to be that he has a flat ass. - Tyrion and Varys. The only reason I didn't put this in "bad" is because I like Varys and am happy to see him in a more central role. I'm bored beyond belief with Tyrion, his pouting, his drinking, his pity parties, and his "profound" dialogue that is sure to be plastered all over tumblr, Twitter, AV Club and IGN and other review sites. "The future is [!@#$%^&*], just like the past." Just like your scenes since the end of season 2, Tyrion. If only the show would have the guts to write this character out. I see no purpose for him at this point. Oh well. - Sansa and Littlefinger. It was serviceable, not much to remember, but then, it wasn't intended to be. I wish they'd had more of a unique relationship between Sansa and Robin, or any relationship at all, but I did laugh at Robin having to learn swordfighting. One thing I noticed in this episode, not for the first time, is that Sophie Turner and Aiden Gillen don't have much chemistry together - Sophie's chemistry with everyone in King's Landing made her time there one of my favorite parts of the show. The bad: - Everything with Loras. Horse [!@#$%^&*] would be a kind word for it. The idea that a man who had been so full of ambition, who knew something of the score and what you should and shouldn't do, and who is the sole male heir of the Tyrells, a whip-smart family who know all about appearances, would decide he can just get dick anytime he wants and who cares about what anyone says - I do not buy it. It was ludicrous in season 3 and it's even more ludicrous now, given the obvious instability of King's Landing and the realm. I also do not believe he would be doing this with Olyvar, who betrayed the family in season 3 and ruined their plans for Loras to marry Sansa. I do assume Margaery or Olenna would have realized it, even if Loras does not. And while I'm at it, the scene where he "comforted" Cersei was also poor and pointless. They both know their relationship is a sham. He wouldn't have bothered and she wouldn't have let him prattle on. It was an unfortunate attempt at comedy on a show that seems to have lost more and more of its ability in that area. I'd give the episode a C. What worked worked, and the rest lumbered along like a half-asleep relative waiting for the service to be over.

I'm glad to hear it.

Can anything better show the huge disparity in quality and focus on Eastenders than cutting from a scene with Carol grieving for and being angry at her father to a scene with Max and the truly godawful Denise Van Outen (who talks like Eliza Doolittle with a bagful of marbles [or something cruder] in her mouth)? She is the epitome of pointless stunt casting. She has delivered some of the worst acting I've seen on this show since the Moon brothers and Danny Mitchell. I don't know who wrote the scene where Carol raged to Max about how she knew what a wonderful man Jim was to so many others, but to her he was a racist, a man who called her a slapper, a man she had to wait on hand and foot - by far the best writing on this show all year. And Lindsey played the hell out of it, as always. Beyond that, the scene where Dot told that annoying fake martyr bitch Sonia, "We had the best of him," was also a strong scene. You could tell they just wrote their hearts out for Mick and Shirley with Stan dying, and yet again, Danny Dyer failed to deliver. Knowing he will win a BSA and Adam Woodyatt won't is sad.

Great catch.

I'm fine with waiting, as nothing that's coming up is anything I look all that forward to seeing, to be honest. I did read up on them and I see that, much to my annoyance,

What I meant was that when Rachel had to leave she was close to Sam and her sister. She could have just left them for the new job, but it may have still left people wondering when she'd be back or what have you. This way, no one will wonder if she'll be back. What happened with fake Archie anyway? I know Megan ran off with him but that seemed to go nowhere. I notice that ED doesn't seem to let a lot of characters go (other than poor Robbie last year, and there's some confusion over whether Kate Oates fired Sammy Winward or not), but I do wonder what is left for Megan and Jai. I can't believe Jai has been on for almost 6 years. Amazing. And so little to show for it. I wonder if Oates dislikes the character, as I seem to remember Blackburn having him a little more likeable. I think we're supposed to feel sorry for Chrissie, but I can't forgive her horrible comments toward Alicia, and the rest of the time she's just so snively and whiny. I think she was miscast. They could have done a lot more with Lawrence than they have. He's become so, as you said, nasty all the time, with zero relationships in the village...nothing really.

The WB really did have a strong and unique brand. It's too bad that faded, instead of building into something, but then when I think of what FOX has become, maybe it's better to burn bright for a few years and then fade away.

I wasn't that into it at the time (aside from Buffy/Angel), but looking back it was of a stronger quality than most of that genre now, as it wasn't trying to be a stale 1985-form of a primetime soap made incredibly boring and rigid. I always meant to watch Roswell but never did, although I've heard people insist Katherine Heigl ruined the show anyway.

Thanks. It's odd as I wasn't sure if The Doctors had that type of audience who would object that way. I think some of you have mentioned that guy once played Mike but I'd forgotten. I always remember him from Boys in the Band. I wonder how he was in the role.

March 1974 Afternoon TV

I always thought she was a little bland on DS, although I did like her as the vampire Roxanne, and she was very beautiful.

There's some debate in the thread about whether she was considered or whether she just wanted to be considered, as apparently she was at a cast party or something. I do think she would have been an interesting choice, although I can't see her lasting long. Nicole seems like such a different character between Maeve and Jayne, although to be honest I've barely seen Maeve and the little I have seen was mostly her just sitting around in France.

Reading through the They Almost Became thread, it looks like Judy Lewis and Karen Lynn Gorney were both considered at one point.