DRW50

There were reports a few days ago that she was considering not returning to Corrie because of the workload. Some used this to claim she thought the show was terrible now, and so on, but obviously there was more to it. Deirdre was such an iconic part of Corrie. "Iconic" is overused now, but it fits her almost as well as those trademark huge glasses of Deirdre's best years did. I will always remember the shot of her in court, those glasses and that voice, weeping, "I didn't do it." Deirdre was such a terrific character for such a long time - that voice cracking when she got upset or when she laughed too hard. The tears flooding her eyes at the latest drama in her life. "Oh, Ken." "Tracy luv." Her exasperation but adoration for her mother. I always loved Deirdre most with Ray Langton - to me he was her soulmate, and the memories of her working as a secretary and trying her best to snap back and forth with Len, Ray and Jerry are among my favorites of any soap. I'm so sorry for her loved ones and for the Corrie cast. I hope the industry will pay her the respect she deserves.

Apparently she's been fired and they're recasting (she hadn't filmed anything yet). This is one of the craziest behind the scenes soap things I can remember, especially for UK soaps. Wow. http://www.digitalspy.com/soaps/s3/coronation-street/news/a622475/coronation-street-to-recast-bethany-platt-role-as-katie-redford-dropped.html#~p1P0p9TJ9EMJMM

There isn't much of this part of Mari Lyn's story on Youtube. I had no idea she ever did this. This whole scene is nuts (nice location work though). Did Wade really not know how to swim or did he just want to try to get her to get off the bridge? At least we got to see Doug Wert half-naked.

These comments defending Bill Cosby always seem to amount to: - these women are liars/out for a buck/idiots who got what they deserved - Bill Cosby is still popular (which we see via half-attended shows and social media comments full of bilge) The comments also tend to have some strange nah-nah-nah-nah-nah-nah tone that treats the whole thing as a joke. This is the most disgusting thread I can ever remember on this board, and yes, I do agree with qfan that sometimes there's a groupthink mentality on this board, but that shouldn't be used as justification for some of the bile strewn here over and over again. I just wish it could be locked, but I guess it's too late at this point anyway.

How odd. ITV are investigating why the woman cast to play Bethany Platt seems to be 6 years older than they said she was. This is such common practice but there's been a bizarre backlash over it. http://www.digitalspy.com/soaps/s3/coronation-street/news/a622344/coronation-street-to-investigate-new-cast-members-age-confusion.html#~p1NqpeXfzA0n7B

Ryan likely would have just done what he always did - sigh in judgmental exasperation, shake his head, and talk down to whatever woman who was unfortunate enough to be sharing his bed at the time. I always thought he was a user and a loser. I can't imagine Victoria lasting much longer on the show with or without him. Y&R was moving away from any strong female character.

Unless the key is for a box that has a new storyliner, it's going to be tough to care.

That's one of those stories I always want to see more of (I'd like to see more of the Patrick family, as they were all close to Jack before being written out - now he's mostly just known for marriage to that shrew Frankie). I guess the GoT/HO lovefest continues.

Erica's lots of fun here, although I can see why she exhausted the people in her life. "The world loves lovers!" She had it all but this seemed to only encourage her naivete. I laughed when she said that even though Sara wore dowdy clothes, she must appreciate money. I also really enjoyed her brief scene with Mark. I want to see more of that relationship. Not playing Nina's fantasy as camp (the way many fantasy sequences go) was a wise choice, as it helps explain her decision. Those scenes were great, although I did laugh when she was zoning out at the phone repairman. I wonder how fans at the time felt seeing Nancy Frangione (ex-Tara) getting frisky in the bathtub. Palmer is so controlling and mean and dismissive to Donna. And this is before all that with her and Chuck sleeping together, right? You know you usually just see this era in terms of him controlling Nina as Daisy and Myra cluck at him, but there's a whole other, very unpleasant side. This also reinforces to me even more that he wouldn't have been with Opal long-term. I can see why some fans at the time seemed to have little patience for Devon. She's a huge mess. At first I wondered if they were hinting at pairing her with Mark (her ex-stepfather).

OLTL at ad about 50 minutes. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ADhKWBZwt0I

Liz Hubbard ad at around 15 minutes.The other woman also looks familiar to me. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ADhKWBZwt0I

Liz Hubbard ad at around 15 minutes. This must be around the time she returned as Althea. The other woman also looks familiar to me. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ADhKWBZwt0I

Some think it will involve Jim Branning's death. Others are hoping for Chrissy but I doubt that. I must say Harry Reid has made me care a lot more about Ben than I probably ever have. If not for the Abi story, the general dead spot that is Phil, and my having no trust in DTC, I'd almost be invested in Ben. I think he has especially good rapport with Jamie Borthwick (Jay). I read that Sonia hooked up with Fat Boy (I guess to prove she's straight, which is a thing in Walford now I guess)? Geez. Well, I guess I'll have to look for Carol's reaction at least.

That last one kind of makes me feel sad.

Louise was the one in the episodes a few days before this that Brad slept with and she told him Marco flunked his exams. I guess she was just there for a few days. I like that outsiders vibe too. OLTL had no strong family at this point and this was also an era where many people, especially the younger demo ABC had, were moving from their families to make families of their own choosing, so it was a nice touch. I can't get past those cheesy big glasses they have Richard Weber wear in every scene. Reminds me of Dr. Detroit.

So Louise, the lab woman Brad slept with, was played by Laura Dowd. I've never heard of her. At least the mystery is solved... I love everything with Karen in this. I love that she and Ed treated each other as equals. And her relationship with Marco is so special (the beauty shot with her shoving the napkin into his shirt cracks me up). I'm also glad that they didn't have her giving any sympathy to Brad after what he did to her. Karen and Marco being seated by the woman whose baby they stole is disconcerting. I guess this is fairly early for Dorian LoPinto as Samantha? She and Asa don't click at all. Was Julie Montgomery better with him? I'm glad Bo dropped that accent later on. It feels put-on. Otherwise the scenes with Bo/Pat/Clint were very good. I didn't realize he and Marco were close at this time. It's so weird seeing Tina at this time, so serious, compared to the camp camp camp from 1985 on.

Promo at 49 minutes. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AXO4qZb_ihA

I still wonder how much cheaper LMAD even is.

Promo at about 49 minutes. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AXO4qZb_ihA

It did work out, I'm just talking about the start of the show, and how flip Moonves was about the whole thing, and the end of the P&G soaps. I don't really think the CBS Daytime lineup ever knows what it's doing. I would give Julie Chen or someone in production most of the credit for The Talk turning itself around and moving away from the boring "moms talking about their lives" topic, along with the awkward Leah Remini. Between Y&R's extended identity crisis doldrums and The Price is Right and Let's Make a Deal being rotting corpses, I tend to assume Moonves is content to let CBS Daytime flounder unless someone (like Brad Bell at B&B, or Chen at The Talk) does the work themselves.

The Talk was mostly a vanity project for Mrs. Moonves that probably wouldn't have lasted through retooling without her involvement. It's easy to praise the decision now, but mostly Moonves and P&G just wanted rid of soaps, which is why they canned GL for a game show they treat as a dirty little secret.

Thanks. Great find. I wonder if Bill got that from Irna.