DRW50

I don't know if he's ever said anything officially - it may just be rumors. Emmerdale's never done that good of a job writing for gay men. I do wonder what they will do with Aaron, if Miller had any demands or requests, or if he just wanted the return to get some money for however much time he's there. Sadly even with gay actors, most gay stories on soaps are offensive and poorly written (every gay story HO has ever given Ste has been hideous, utterly hideous - they destroyed the character). Bright Eyes, what do you think of Adam/Aaron?

It's actually a very typical soap trope. It's from radio days. It's just that Bill Bell knew how to make these characters multi-faceted. I have never liked Rena Sofer as an actress but I do enjoy what I see of her work as Quinn. It makes me wonder what might have been if Bill had written had for her. I can't get over how blue JLB's eyes are in that clip. The show truly was beautifully produced in this era. Did Lance ever find out his mother shot him? I guess we all know she didn't keep that promise to stay away... I hope there's material around of the time when they get her surgery to take away her scars.

I wish they would let those out...

No wonder I enjoy her work so much.

The whole thing makes me angry because we're seeing more and more shows with long-term narratives finding success in primetime. And soaps are just totally behind the curve, assuming viewers have the attention span of a gnat.

I tried too. I'm not sure what's happened. I hope everything is OK.

I didn't realize Marcello was popular. That's interesting.

Thanks. Well that's a relief. I am sick of soaps thinking if two characters are gay then it's time for them to be a couple. The rumor was that Miller wasn't comfortable playing a gay character. It also seemed to show in his performances. Charity had sex with Zoe while she was with Chris. Zoe was opposed to her relationship with Chris so there was a hint of manipulation in their relationship, but she did genuinely love Zoe. When Charity was on trial for Chris' murder (Chris had committed suicide as he knew he had a terminal illness and he felt he'd lost Charity to Cain - he framed Charity for his "murder") she tried to manipulate Zoe romantically. Zoe realized it and blasted her during her testimony. After Charity was cleared, she and Zoe did make amends not long before Charity left town. I think Adam is the perfect type of character for this fluid, is-it-real-or-a-con-it's-real-whether-he-says-or-not type of sexuality.

Was the book what Vanessa meant when she said she knew things about Lorie? Did Vanessa ever have any scenes with JL's Leslie? The tension between Lorie and Vanessa is delicious to watch. You can sort of see that Lorie is in over her head, yet you can also see why Vanessa is so rattled. It's a real credit to Bill Bell that he managed to get 4-5 years of story with Vanessa. Today's soaps would get a year at best. Even JER, with his "woman in white" story, only kept her around for about a year.

During Aaron's first run, the show did a poor job in his relationships with men (likely exacerbated by Danny Miller's supposed issues), but he always had more romantic chemistry with Adam than he did with other guys. It's been two years and Adam has changed a lot, so I did wonder, but when I watched some of their scenes, it's still there. And Adam of any characters is screaming for one of those Charity Tate ambiguous-sexuality-for-morally-ambiguous-reasons storylines. I assume they will either keep Aaron celibate or pair him with poor Finn, but I think my idea would have more potential. Oh well. I guess I can just stick to reading the porny fic some fans write of them.

I have no idea. I would hope as an actor he would do his job. I doubt it's going to happen anyway so I guess we won't have to find out.

I know the show would never do it, but I would pay money to see an actual Adam/Aaron storyline this time around. The material would write itself. Adam knowing Aaron still has feelings for him, and using this to his advantage. And he feels so ashamed, on some level, because when Aaron fell in love with him, he was beautiful and pure and had every bright hope of the future, and now he's dead-end trash. Aaron knows Adam is using him, but it's not that simple, because Adam does start to fall in love with him. Yet Aaron can't see this, because he just assumes he's being manipulated and the most he can expect is to get his rocks off, and he's not going to let Adam hurt him by openly declaring his love. It would be such a toxic relationship yet also have the potential for something good or positive down the line. And it would be such a power struggle. I don't think either actor is all that great but they've always had terrific chemistry, and while I know Danny Miller likely won't play that material, it's obvious that their chemistry is romantic/sexual, not just "mates."

Thanks again for these clips. I'm so impressed by the depth of the relationship between Lorie and Stuart. He's got that stalwart side like John McCook's Eric Forrester, but with more backbone and strength, less cheesiness. I love the sarcastic, sad dialogue they have Lorie punctuate the conversation with, especially when she says, her heart breaking, that Mark is "the best brother a girl can ask for." She wails and shrieks but it just seems so real to me. Never an actress putting on a show. And the moment when she realizes he knows...wow. It hurts to watch. The writing for these scenes - how she realizes he knows, how she is so ashamed and lashes out and he just won't let her push him away, and finally she agrees to try her best - is superb. Why don't we have interesting parent/child relationships on soaps today?

I was talking about Michael's boyfriend Brad. Kevin dated a waiter we saw once or twice, but that was about it. I will say in one of his last appearances they worked in a casual line where he joked that he would use a pair of handcuffs with his boyfriend...I wasn't really expecting that.

I don't think you were being that hard on it - the teen set was not very good (which is one of the reasons they were backburnered and written out after about a year), but I do think the actual coming out story was decent. At the time I thought some of it was a little trite, but now I realize what a risk they were taking. No way would a soap now tell a story like that about a high school teacher. I thought Michael and Kevin were hot, as was the guy who played Jason Sheffield, and then Michael's boyfriend, Brad. And the guy who played Scott. Lots of hot guys.

No, she didn't. I didn't even think she was there for the 1998 wedding. That's chilling about the Laurie Dann incident. I can see how that airing right after ATWT must have been unsettling.

I thought he was so gorgeous, and dashing, and charismatic. I don't feel like they knew what to do with the role once he was gone.

I don't really like any of their outfits...Eileen's is the cutest but reminds me of Minnie Mouse. Lisa's is unflattering to her midsection and Kyle looks like she's wearing the wallpaper from a Chinese restaurant.

There's one scene I really want to see...I hope they at least film that. (book spoilers)

Thanks. For some reason I thought he was an Ed recast. That's a relief.

Impressive that Stephen Schnetzer already had tags in promos after being on the show for only a year.

Hard to believe 1994 was so dull that was the type of promo they were running...

I wonder if they were thinking of pairing Karen and Marco up romantically at this point. John Amos was playing Ed Hall, right? Why do they have Ed Hall going on about Rafe "protecting his rich friends"?