DRW50

Ballot fights are always a bad idea.

Typical pseudo-liberal New Republic, and typical of the "liberals" who often throw gays under the bus and emphasizes that gay rights just aren't a big deal (these are the types of people who wrote articles after the 2004 elections saying that Democrats should support anti-gay legislation - this is why I do not like to define myself by any party). Basically, Arizona was an "easy" win and liberals are distracted by "bright shiny objects." Because of course, a law that would allow wide swathes of the public to be discriminated against and is being fought in many states is no biggie. http://www.newrepublic.com/article/116789/liberalism-arizona-gay-rights-and-arkansas-medicaid-expansion

Thank you so much for finding that. I will have to watch those before they're taken down. More of 1987 is especially wonderful (Faren isnt't singing is she...? Eh) Anyway, Vee mentioned this article in the status updates. MTS chooses her five craziest Nikki moments. Some of these clips are very rare - I'd never seen them. http://www.tvguide.com/News/Melody-Thomas-Scott-35-Years-Young-Restless-1078295.aspx

PP had a low budget and the shows were high quality. P&G soaps revived and reinvented themselves again and again. If someone really tried, I have no doubt that the same would happen again. AW could have run for decades more with proper handling.

Eva Marie Saint will be on CBS Sunday Morning. http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2014/02/27/hollywood-veteran-eva-marie-saint-speaks-with-cbs-sunday-morning/240733/

Great chapter. Poor Carly. What a mess. Is Sage texting Jack? Nice that you mentioned Remy. I enjoy your characterization of Cass - a hothead who means well, and generally, is right, even if others don't seem to see it. I'm glad we're getting back to some of these other stories.

I'm always a little surprised when Stephen Martines gets acting work, as he seemed so generic to me. But good luck to him. I did like him a little in his last year or so at GH.

Thanks. That's fascinating. I'd never seen her. She's very pretty. I'm surprised she didn't have more acting work.

Sort of like JvD at Guiding Light. They ran so many talented people out of those P&G soaps in the 80s.

I tend to think about her (alleged) plastic surgery, although perhaps she looks better now.

I'm watching this through Netflix (which means I get to hear the commentary too, which is nice). I just finished episode 4. I'm not unspoiled, although I don't know every detail to come. Overall I enjoy the show. The casting for the Starks was superb, especially Michelle Fairley as Catelyn. Catelyn's insecurities course through her and eat at what is a very intelligent and at times very kind woman. She's such a rich character, and bleeds charisma and intensity in every scene. The only casting I think comes close is Sean Bean as Ned (amazing, amazing, amazing), and Lena Headey and Nikolas-Coster Waldjau as Cersei and Jaime - these characters should be loathsome (especially with the way Jaime runs people down to make himself feel more important), but the acting is sublime and nuanced in ways I can't describe. By and large the casting is fine, especially when the writing is there. I must say I was very disappointed by Aiden Gillen as Littlefinger. He's smarmy and obvious from the start, thus making Ned and Catelyn seem gullible for believing his spin. This helped make Catelyn taking Tyrion prisoner seem more rushed and inexplicable, which is a shame. I can see why George Martin said he was disappointed with how Littlefinger came across on the show. I remember GIllen being very smarmy and obvious on the little I watched of the UK QAF, but this isn't the same role... I feel a little sorry for Emilia Clarke, because she's good as Dany, if unpolished at times, but the whole story is so murky and offputting, especially the message of rape turning to love and empowerment through rape (and apparently some of this would have been even worse if the actors hadn't dealt with some of it during filming). Her brother makes me cringe with his histrionics that just OTT and false. That scene he had with Louise from Hollyoaks where she was turned on by talk of dragons was so much better than anything else he's had in these episodes - in that moment I saw the actor's talent. The way it's filmed also feels very cheaply done - it reminds me of a porny version of Xena or Hercules, mixed in with the Solid Gold "native" dancers who have boobs! and kill each other! Poor Jason Mamoa with that shoe polish on his face that throws me out of his scenes. Otherwise he's been decent and complex. I do like the basic concepts of Dany's empowerment (even if it was through rape - ugh), family history, the dragons, her insane father and the jagged throne that cut him over and over (brilliant imagery...), so I am hoping that things will pick up. At first I struggled with Arya and Tyrion because the writing for them was a little too precious for me, but I've grown to care more about them. Everything with Tyrion felt very one note (he's an imp! he likes the common people but lashes out because of what life has done to him! and so forth), but the scenes with Jon on the wall went a long way toward making me care about him. Jon has such a purity as a character, an innate goodness, and it goes a long way to help make the stories of him helping the poor and weak on the wall more palatable and less like some sort of elitist fairy tale (that and Tyrion pointing out to him that he's had opportunities they never had). I do hope the long monologues from wall people hating the winter will stop soon - the best monologue on winter was that incredible story from Old Nan, moment that made me just stop and stare at the TV, the whole thing was so perfect.

I think one of the problems with "there's no story without ____" (Lisa, Brandi, et al) is that there's no story anyway.

I will never forget that the AP called opponents of this bill "shrill", and afterward, huge amounts of people from all sides of the political spectrum objected to the bill. The AP can kiss my ass. This is huge, beating this bill back, especially in Arizona, which is a laboratory for this type of legislation. There are similar bills in many states, so it's not over, but I'm happy about this bill at this moment. I just hope people won't take their eye of the ball.

Moniz was a revelation as the psycho bitch/lost little girl mixture of Dinah. I loved her work in those last few years. I was at a point where I didn't care what it did to the character's integrity because I had never seen her earlier incarnations and Moniz's work always made me want to kick my TV up to that point.

I'm sorry to hear that. I think some of his episodes are on Youtube. He was the football player, right?

I think the stalker story would have been OK if there had been an aftermath, instead of Holly mostly being offcamera.

I kept wondering what happened to Ken feeling that a husband shouldn't say anything negative to one of the housewives.

It will be good to see another companion, if this is the case. Not sure if that's where they're going with this. I do miss male companions (and I hope there may not be a romance, although if there is one, that's OK too). I remember him on Emmerdale. He was on around the same time as JLC. They left around the same time. He was part of the umbrella story about the crooked cop who dated Jasmine's friend/lover Debbie, and who tried to rape Jasmine when he caught her in his apartment, digging for info. He wasn't a good actor, but that was about five years ago, and his main story (in love with his horsy police partner, Donna) was crap, so he might be better now.

Not surprised about Carlton or Joyce, if true. Carlton was a huge flop, and Joyce has no real relationships with anyone in the cast - she's sort of friends with a few, and hates Brandi, who has already had so much toxic feud storyline. I think the show is doing her a favor. She seems too sweet and innocent (and I don't think it's an act) for a vile show like this. Unless one of Brandi/Lisa/Yolanda goes too, then the sinkhole will continue to fester. I wish they realized this. If it turns into some "dream team reunited" story my eyes will roll back in my head.

So he got fired while on vacation? Poor guy. I've heard a few episodes from around the time of the shooting, when her mother and her mother's husband were talking about her being in the holding cell and how scared her mother was for her. How long was her mother around? I heard one or two episodes where Carolyn was finally learning to accept Skip's girlfriend, only for the girlfriend to say she wasn't ready for marriage. How long did this take place after the trial?

TV Star Parade May 1973

TV Star Parade May 1973

Joyce has one of the most interesting positions on the show, in that she isn't close to anyone (except Kyle, I guess), but is in the middle of things. I do wonder if they may cut her out for that reason, since she may just turn into this show's OC Alexis.

That's the episode which led to the big brawl and arrests.