DRW50

Erika Slezak talks about auditioning for Mary Kennicott on AMC - the casting director did not believe she was right for the part but asked her to audition anyway because they wanted her on tape.

To me she felt this way in the late '90s and early '00s as well. I suppose that could also be down to producer issues, and just how lazy and hollow the show is with many longtime female characters (look at Anna...look at Carly...) but I think there are longstanding problems with Laura as a character and Genie as a performer which nostalgia help to ease. I like Kristen Vaganos. I can believe her as a child of Alexis and Ric and I think it's natural that Molly is no longer quirky given the year of hell she's gone through. You're right though - Molly's just a very generic character on a show full of generic characters. The only ones who aren't generic are given layers by the performers.

This is a nice tribute to Beckley. AMERICAN THEATRE | The Colony Theatre’s Barbara Beckley: Integrity, Generosity, Attention to Detail

Thanks. I should try to watch the first half as it is hard to learn anything about The Catlins.

I suppose that's down to having so many fewer episodes this year. I just hope they get another year.

@janea4old I thought of that too, recast meeting recast. Amusing. Aside from the voice she reminds me a lot of Kristina Wagner.

Have to keep Trina away from any of what the show would consider important character, I suppose. "Cartini" were probably a little ahead of their time in trying to force gay icons while having minimal gay content (that seemed to pick up even more in media after Drag Race became mainstream). I do remember how painfully tryhard Felix, Brad, Sabrina and Britt were. I don't know if they ever got better in the years I was not watching. I am a little surprised they let Emma be so blunt about her. The nickname delivery reminded me of Rob Schneider's Copy Guy character.

Jackee will be guesting on Ted Danson's Netflix show. https://deadline.com/2025/07/a-man-on-the-inside-jackee-harry-season-2-cast-1236449338/

It's awful. Admittedly, you make this sound more interesting than the show has felt for me in a long time. Feet without toes...what would Sally Spectra have said.

I wonder if she was closer to Eric at that time... It was said years back that she was a big fan of DAYS. Sometimes I assume that's just PR material with high profile stars, but when I heard the Frankie story I realized it must be true. I think Julia also auditioned for Santa Barbara.

I missed part of the interview but I saw the last half...I never knew she had been close with Brent either. I'd heard the Julia story once, I think, but still, fun to hear again. I wonder how much she even remembers. She was asked about an old interview she'd given over trying to get the show not to kill Frankie's baby and she said she had no memory of it. I noticed some commenter seemed upset at her and Stephen Schnetzer not being in contact - don't know what that was fully about though. Probably the best part was the interaction with fans. You could tell how many still love her now. One said she realized she was a lesbian because of watching Frankie, and another got Alan to show a collage she had made of Frankie and Cass years earlier. Alice also said that she was raising a young child at the time so didn't pay attention to whether Frankie and Cass were popular, but did start to notice when they were asked to do photo shoots for soap magazines.

Helen Gallagher has a scene at around 25 minutes.

Thanks @Maxim I like how they handled the Viki and Blair encounter, where you aren't sure if Blair is playing up a helpless act or if she is genuinely broken. The scene where Dorian shows Blair her scars is such wonderful soap melodrama.

I think it's also worse with DAYS because some of these characters who are rapidly aged stay around for a long time, which means the absurdity builds up as their kids and their grandkids are aged. We're at a point now where, if the show stays on for a few more years, Kate is probably going to be a great-great-grandmother.

You couldn't really do it in the UK either, aside from Hollyoaks, where, based on current material, Gio would, within the space of two months, have a baby with his boyfriend's sister, get hooked on drugs, get trafficked, then cheat on his boyfriend with a woman and try to get his boyfriend to join them. And be played by someone who constantly looks like he needs to take a big dump. I still wonder if there were Gio/Joss plans. During the brief period where he was friendly with Trina and Joss they seemed to be pushing Joss more heavily, seemingly hoping for a big fan response.

I wish we were, but sometimes I think if channels are around long enough they end up getting hit. There are a few ATWT and GL channels that haven't but they are rarities. Many of them are also clips only. Sometimes I think it also depends on whether they are still uploading (I don't know if Blake Marler was or not). Maybe full episodes could go on Archive, while that is still around.

Grayson McCouch and Michelle Hurd (she has one scene, at least).

Thanks. I guess someone at ABC was being kind after Ryan's Hope.

Thanks for replying @Huntress I am enjoying your comments as well @Ninejamb and @AMCOLTLLover My AWZ viewing, what it was, was mainly in the Deniz/Roman days. I've said it about 50 times in this thread but I'm surprised Deniz is still there.

I'll have to check him out. I think Andrew works best in complex platonic relationships like the one he had with Megan. Maggie is a real washout.

Thanks @Maxim Oddly Elaine reminds me of Susan Lucci in that clip (she even has a similar style here to Lucci). So much potential in a story of Dorian finding out all the layers of her family. If only it had been treated well later on. Maggie was originally cast with Saundra Santiago (she was also originally meant to be paired with Andrew). Saundra and Tonja would have torn the prison bars off and ate them for lunch.

Thanks again @slick jones Some Erika photos that were new to me.