DRW50

Long interview with Bryan Cogman about last night's episode. http://insidetv.ew.com/2014/05/11/game-of-thrones-tyrion-trial-interview/ Michelle Fairley interview (24 spoilers in this) http://www.vulture.com/2014/05/michelle-fairley-on-24-game-of-thrones-chat.html

http://www.makinggameofthrones.com/production-diary/2014/5/9/interview-with-nikolaj-coster-waldau

I forgot to say that I was glad to hear Varys talk about being asexual (and I don't think it was just because he's a eunuch). It was nicely handled. You don't get that on TV very often.

I can see what you mean. I think what bothers me is we had so little time with Yara or her reactions. I keep seeing people say she just abandoned her brother because she was scared of dogs, because she didn't care enough. I think they were trying to say she'd given up because Theon is truly dead, there's no going back, but her POV was so underwritten and it made her look like she was just sort of hitting the road. I wish we'd had more of this and less of...the other scenes in that story. I do think Alfie Allen did an excellent job. http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/game-thrones-director-bathtub-scene-703135

I wasn't talking about his fans (I realize I do talk about fan reactions with many of the characters), more the show itself. Monstrous people have sex, I realize that, but in a years-long story about sexual degradation and torture, I don't get a lot out of seeing him hump and pump, especially when this is intercut with Yara talking about her brother's torture. I know the show has a certain quota to fill regarding female nudity, but I thought the Davos/pirate scene did that well enough.

I see what you're saying. I was mostly talking about how his "How dare you!" type attitude. It just seemed silly to me.

Liz was a friend of the Hughes family, I believe, who had come from England. Paul was Dan's brother. Liz and Dan were in love and had sex. Unfortunately for them, he'd also had sex with Susan during their relationship (I'm sure it was more complicated than this and hopefully someone can give better detail as my memory sucks) and she told him she was pregnant. He and Susan had to marry. Liz was also pregnant. Liz chose not to tell him he was the father, so he would stay with Susan. She married Paul, who, I think, fell in love with her. Irna was appalled by this storyline and killed off Paul (I think he and Dan were both shot), then Liz. The guy who played Dan wasn't happy with the show and she wrote him out. She married Susan off to an impotent man, then wrote her out. I think the only other story she told that caught on with fans was Tom/Carol. Paul should have been kept around, as there was potential for great conflict with Dan (he was the bio son of David and his first wife, while Dan was the son they adopted and passed off as their bio son), but they seemed to have problems with the character, and he was recast multiple times (once with the atrocious Michael Hawkins, using another name at the time). The last actor in the role even said that he understood why he was going, as he thought the stories were sick. I put some articles with these actors many pages ago. I'll have to find them. Here we go: http://boards.soapoperanetwork.com/topic/37693-as-the-world-turns-discussion-thread/?p=928253

She planned for Liz to die in the hospital. Viewers caught on and protested. Liz was spared, but Jane House still left, as she was unhappy with that environment. She planned to burn the recast Liz. As you said, P&G said no. She died some months after being fired, yes. I think she knew the realities of the world but didn't want to face them, or didn't want the viewers to face them. Looking at all the actors who humiliate themselves on Twitter, I think she may have had a point.

She created Kim and she wanted them to be together and raise their child. She was fired due to refusing to back down from this. Her replacements made the changes P&G wanted. saynotoursoap (I think) said in his comments on that era that the Kim/Bob story was actually pretty rough going in terms of their behavior (I think she flew down to Florida to seduce him, or something, even though he was married to her sister), and that Kim only became more of a mainstream heroine after Irna left. She wrote out Dan, Susan, and killed off Liz and Paul, due to the storyline disgusting her. She also put Tom and Carol together. She wanted them to focus on organic foods and living off the land, as she felt that was timely. Lisa's material in that era involved the phantom fetus (she thought she was pregnant with Don's baby - this is when Eileen almost died due to the oxygen tent, I think, wasn't it?), and then I think Lisa was involved with a minister or with some magnate played by Jerry Lacy. She also brought in Penny's Vietnamese adopted daughter, and planned to, presumably, tell an issue story, but when she was fired they wrote Amy out, although Marland brought her back briefly in the late 80s.

I get the feeling that the show wasn't in a good state when she came back. She made some choices that helped keep the show #1 until near the end of the decade, as Kim and Carol were both new heroines who were very popular with the audience and helped freshening things up (especially since the show had lost a lot of female characters due to aging up or popular actors leaving the show). And she made some choices that were a huge disaster. The whole thing with Liz always bothers me the most, as she, if the soap books are true, loathed the actress for doing a nude scene on Broadway (Lenny), and wanted the character dead as a result. Fans refused to let it happen (Liz was supposed to die of an illness). Once the actress left, the character wasn't as popular, so she got away with killing her. Liz sounds like an interesting character who could have run a long time. There is one episode of that era available, although it's poor quality and you may have seen it already. Many pages back saynotoursoap talked in some detail about that era, if anyone wants to find it.

2 minutes in. I guess they're talking about a job and not college. Maybe GL is the story that had a woman wanting to go back to school (Leslie Bauer?) come to think of it.

I saw someone saying that was the first time they'd seen book Shae on TV. Do you agree with that? I couldn't tell whether she was forced or if she was sticking the knife in. I do think Dinklage did a terrific job with all that raw pain, and I hope we are saying goodbye to put-upon Tyrion and seeing a harder edge from now on. I do agree it was rushed. That Jaime/Tywin scene was a little odd for me. Jaime just seems incredibly naive, if not stupid. I don't know if he was sheltered from the true nature of his family or if this is supposed to show the "new" him, but it's tough to buy. Happy we'll get to see more of Selyse next week.

Ew Ramsay. I can't stomach this torture porn or the show's attempts to try to get us all hot and wild over him. Poor Asha/Yara, her big moment being overtaken by more T&A. Loved that bit with Davos standing up for Stannis and pulling off that glove. Great scene. I love their relationship. Davos is the best. A+ to Cersei's hair and dress here. Love Lena's work throughout these scenes. Tough and hard with everyone and barely holding herself together when she has to testify. The Varys/Oberyn scene was a nice surprise. Always happy to see something beyond "Oberyn wants it all...wink wink" scenes.

http://www.makinggameofthrones.com/production-diary/2014/5/8/interview-with-linguist-david-peterson

I remember reading that if Stannis had won the throne, he would have insisted that Shireen inherit it when he died. I'm not sure if that was on the show though. Speaking of the show... Have they ever said that Selyse hates Davos? I feel like I missed that. I tend to miss things on here though. Does Davos just have one son (RIP emo hottie fundamentalist Matthos) on the show?

Sadly the stuff I most want to see (Mac/Rachel/Mitch/Janice) doesn't seem to be available, outside of a few clips. I would pay a few dollars to see the "Mitch bathes Rachel in disco lights" scene.

There's a clip of that in the 40 Years of Soaps special. And when ATWT was forced to change with the times, around 1979 or 1980, Bob was suddenly much more supportive of women in the workforce (as he defended Annie Stewart against chauvinists).

I assume they must have had some fans. Chris Schemering said he was the only man who ever worked as an obstacle to the Rachel/Mac behemoth. I think their initial story was popular. Everything after the amnesia and the baby, I don't know.

I got the feeling it was mutual, but I don't know. At one point I thought it was her choice, then I thought it was the show's. I remember reading somewhere that the character hung on several years longer than she was supposed to, because she was extremely popular with fans. I think at one point she was supposed to die of an illness. One of her last stories, and probably one of the last of that kind for ATWT, was her wanting to want to go back to school, over Bob's vehement objections. Nancy convinced her that her place was in the home.

I'm still amazed they didn't ruin Addie out of spite. They certainly did their best to ignore her. I don't know if you have already seen them, Vee, but someone on Youtube is currently uploading January 2004 videos.

They don't recognize women as queen, do they? (just queen as in wife or mother)

I think Irna was fired as she refused to change it. Irna supposedly saw herself as Kim and I think she wanted Kim to have the happy ending she never did. It's kind of sad when you think about it I'd like to believe she somehow helped influence their later reunion...from wherever she is now. Eddie Man truly was the ideal name for him. The Reid story was Broderick. What a crapfest. Daniel Markel was good as David (and very easy on the eye).

Stannis? I don't know. Speaking of Stannis, here's an interview with Liam Cunningham (Davos) for this Sunday's episode. A Dragonstone only interview is a rare thing indeed. http://www.accesshollywood.com/game-of-thrones-liam-cunningham-on-davos-next-move_article_93972