DRW50

He reminds me a ton of Ted and Michael on QAF. He could be their son. Awkward, quirky guys looking for love as we root for them to find happiness. Otherwise, I agree, there aren't that many similarities between the shows. I would want someone who just has a little more personality and can play against the material. I take it that Richie is supposed to be Patrick's soulmate, but in these early ones I just don't see it. I don't think Patrick needs a man, he needs a lot of time alone to learn to accept himself and not push his issues all over people.

That was way more graphic than I'd expected. I thought they'd just cut away. I have to wonder if they realized if they did, some fans wouldn't believe he assaulted her. Idiots are already complaining to OFCOM, even with a warning before the episode aired. One thing Emmerdale does better than most soaps when it tries is setting up atmosphere - they did a great job in the last few episodes of showing what an increasingly dark presence Lachlan was becoming. The scene in this episode when David was outside with him and wouldn't even leave, because he had this feeling and he was so clearly unsettled by Lachlan, was the perfect harbinger for what was to come. I was also affected by Chrissie going through all those photos and knowing, absolutely knowing, even if deep down she can't admit it to herself. They really laid out every trope against women who have been raped or sexually assaulted. Alicia was wearing revealing clothes, she was drunk, Lachlan "only" used his fingers (which to some idiots is no big deal), she was friendly to Lachlan. It's a brave writing choice. In a way it makes me nervous, if this story is another that tells women not to go to the police, but I hope they ultimately say she was right. Natalie Anderson was wonderful, effortlessly going from the bubbly Alicia to the violated Alicia to the numb Alicia in the space of 45 minutes. The ending broke my heart, with Alicia trying to pretend everything was fine as Leyla and David looked on helplessly. It was so much like something Corrie excelled at many years ago - literally kitchen sink drama. As someone who was a Leyla fan from her very first scene and shakes at my head at material like worrying over that twatface Jai, it was a nice surprise to see her so involved in Alicia's story. Many soaps, especially American soaps, would have her exploit her sister's rape to bed David, as some type of big revenge. Instead she was right there with her the whole time, proving the strength of a bond between sisters. The Rodney/Georgia stuff was decent comic relief and also dovetailed a little into society's idea of what is expected of women (Rodney happily assuming Georgia was fine with their breakup and even willing to be his bed buddy). The Rachel stuff didn't do much for me, although Sam dumping Tracy amused me. I notice they're now dressing Sam slightly more upmarket. I think James Hooton is a wonderful actor and the little boy who plays Samson is a very good child actor, but I feel like it's time for Sam to go. Have he and Samson and Rachel and Archive move away for a fresh start. As for Jai - I just don't care about this deeply unpleasant, childish man. Not to make light of Alicia's agony, but her scream of "NO!!!" cutting right to a Jai scene...made a great deal of sense. I actually feel like Megan has some potential when she's away from Jai. When she's with him she always weakens. The only way I can tolerate this pairing is if she crushes him. Perhaps literally, Rosemary King style.

Watched the first four episodes of this... - I wish there were more scenes of the three of them as friends. There was one when they were helping Augistin move and I actually liked all of them and wanted to see more of them joking and annoying each other. - At first I felt nothing for Dom, as his friendship with Doris is lacking in believable connection as well as believable dialogue (they remind me of those endless, endless conversations in interchangeable indie movies between the gay lead and his straight female best friend), and the whole thing with the ex he gave money to should have been much more interesting than it was - onscreen it ended up being a cliche of a cliche of a cliche, one I cringed at by the time of those awful hotel scenes. I was a lot more interested when they brought in Scott Bakula, who is giving the usual Scott Bakula performance (not good or bad, just Scott Bakula), but works well with Murray Bartlett and adds a different perspective on the gay experience. - I just don't like Patrick, nor do I find him interesting. I guess we're supposed to feel sorry for him in struggling to accept himself and see him as endearingly awkward, but to me he comes across as exceedingly self-absorbed, bitchy, and whiny. His bad date episodes were excruciating and instead of pitying him I just cheered the doctor and Richie for pushing him away. I don't think Jonathan Groff was the right choice for this role. The character feels like something shat out of QAF, but with a different actor, ideally with a less annoying voice, I would care more. - Augistin is very interesting to me. I'd never seen the actor before but he's charismatic and handsome and manages to make some cheesy dialogue (like the whole bit about uncut men and being Mexican and so on) seem natural. His identity crises and his relationships with the other characters and that sense of not being able to find peace. The scene where he told his boss how terrible her art was, half-joking, half-truthful, and she fired him, felt "real" in a way many other scenes don't. - I wanted to see Russell Tovey, but the first meeting with Patrick was SO contrived I ended up regretting it. All the awkward romcom cliches in the world don't make up for a lack of chemistry.

Sorry if this was already answered... I'm up to the episode where Liz brings Penny a record, and we hear several songs. Does anyone know what the album was? Was it just one of those generic cover albums that were popular at the time? I'd guess the show wouldn't have paid to have new people sing the songs and I can't imagine Retro TV did either. It was just weird to "hear" the songs without hearing the original singers. I will say Liz has great taste in music - "Working My Way Back To You, Babe" is a classic, and "Groovy Kind of Love" and "Hey Girl" are two of my favorite songs of all time. Did anyone else notice that the episodes around this point suddenly started getting new camera angles? We saw a different version of Maggie at the filing cabinet, we got a POV shot from the nurses' desk (which I don't remember ever happening before), and weird angles in some of the bits where Steve was wooing Karen. I wonder if they got a new director or if someone was just bored.

There's a little of Kinkead at AWHP - mostly her going out with some guy (her boss?) to get over Willis, and he's too fresh. Then she talks with her mother Rose. It's always so strange seeing Maeve and Kathleen Widdoes as mother and daughter, or imagining her as Ray Liotta's sister. The most I have seen of her, she seemed very depressed. I wish Toni's work was around.

Did she actually shoot her? I wonder if JDP ad-libbed that "those two lips?" line. It's a little...risque. You can always count on Gabrielle to bring drama. This was still fairly early for Megan, yet it's like she'd been there for ages. Jessica Tuck was such a find.

Media darling Scott Walker compares labor unions to ISIS. http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/wp/2015/02/26/memo-to-scott-walker-isis-%E2%89%A0-wisconsin-protestors/ Watch that Beltway contort itself "explaining" his comments. He knew exactly what he was doing and exactly what audience he was speaking to. The GOP primary voters eat this up. They bathe in it. He's a very smart and a very terrifying man.

To be honest I don't think you're going to get it, as I don't think she's ever going to have that level of success again. I just think that she managed to - unless she screws it up - change the image of herself as a sad old has-been tromping around like Bette Midler's old Dolores Delago, The Toast of Chicago character. And that isn't easy for an artist to do, because often once the public sees you in a strongly negative way, it doesn't change, especially if you're a woman. She has the chance now. What she does with it is up to her.

Alan was sent to prison for planting a bomb at Philip and Beth's wedding. Long wanted to do a story where Harley got involved with a Jewish dress designer (P&G killed it because he was Jewish). Beyond that, she started Billy/Nadine, Mindy/Roger.

She was never suited to the big big time, as she just isn't that type of artist, the one who has the instincts and the stamina (like Beyonce or Madonna). She has raw talent and she should have let her talent speak for itself, instead of getting lost. I don't think her fans are wrong to call this a comeback, because it is a huge comeback. Not in terms of sales, but in terms of media narrative. The media narrative for her was that she was a colossal failure, a desperate creature trying to reclaim what she never could, and a vanity act. To be seen by many as the highlight of the night in one of the biggest entertainment shows of the year, to be embraced by Julie Andrews (who is pretty much universally popular), and to show that she doesn't have to go around wearing hula skirts made of pregnancy tests, or whatever - it gives her a chance to start over. And many artists never get that chance on a national or global stage. She'll never be what she once was, but she never should have been that anyway. She can at least now be something positive and fairly popular, if she plays it right. And given that she did work very hard on this, I'll give her credit and wish her luck, even as I'm not really a fan of some of her recent work or of some of her fans, who seem to go on the attack and don't do her any favors.

What annoyed me with Alan in later years was the bizarre inconsistent writing. I remember one holiday episode where he felt sorry for a servant who was gay or something. It always makes me a little sad to think that was the only gay man on GL in it's entire lifespan... (I guess Lucy's HIV counselor too, but I'm not sure he ever talked about his sexuality)

Thanks. You can tell she's genuinely touched. I did watch it. Stefan Dennis was great, and the girl playing Zoe was surprisingly good. I also laughed at Susan slipping on a puddle of milk - isn't that how she lost her memory 20 years ago? I liked the genuine congratulation to Eastenders. Neighbours really does have a kind heart. I saw some interview with the guy who plays Harold, talking about how he feels like the show is in good hands now, which he didn't the last time he visited. It's a real contrast to the guy who plays Alf on Home & Away and his recent comments about that show...

DS, then directly at the Neighbours channel.

That would be great. I saw that Jackie Woodburne made a short video thanking Eddie Redmayne...but it's not available to people in the US.

He seems to do a lot of musical theater. I first saw that on tumblr and the person who posted it said he was filming Emmerdale nearby. I got excited, and then I read that it was in Spain. Unless they have a surprise remote where we learn Scott is Annie Sugden's toyboy, that seems very, very unlikely. (Scott being one of Robert's old !@#$%^&*] buddies would make sense, but I doubt they'll go there...) With Donna and Viv both gone the door is probably closed for good, but I still miss the character.

I think Bright Eyes was a Ben Freeman/Scott Windsor fan (another forgotten character, sadly)? Anyway, here's a photo of him recently on the set of Doctor Who, reunited with his old costar JLC (and they both had Debbie...). Someone said he was just filming nearby and wasn't actually filming for the show. Who knows. http://blogtorwho.blogspot.com/2015/02/series-9-alien-revealed.html

September 2003 Soaps in Depth

Ugh that David/Val stuff turns my stomach. So unfair.

Old news, I guess, but Richard Pryor's wife (one of them) talks about Cosby. http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/richard-pryors-wife-slams-bill-777407

More 1981 episodes being uploaded. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKvHjBJskbFGmxUzhXq-IPg

Thanks. I wish I could give you a list of the episodes they cut off and you could give me the closing credit shots... (I'm just kidding) I really love those.

Thanks. It was 17 years, not 25, but I can see why she got it mixed up. Too bad they never brought Penny back after 2000. Then again, when you've got Katie and Janet and Liberty, who gives a [!@#$%^&*] about 54 years of history, right Goutman?

Linda Granger is one of my favorite comedy characters ever. I love that you mentioned her. And I really would have loved seeing her on this show, or maybe The Comeback...she was oddly ahead of her time.