DRW50

19 minutes ago, VelekaCarruthers said:

Margaret DePreist set the example for hack head writing (which led to the likes of Higely, McTavish, Reilly) on AW, AMC, AW again and OLTL. She was awful and never lasted in any of those jobs. Her only successful stint was following Smith's six months in 1981 at Days. I think she lasted about 2.5 years.

I think Schemering or someone said she did raise the ratings in that 86-87 stint but watching the onscreen material I have no idea why. I guess sleaze sells.

Maisie's murder (near the end of this episode). I don't think I'd ever seen it before. I wonder if this is the first time Maisie was ever dressed up. 

I notice this is much shorter than some of the later strangling - more like a Vulcan neck pinch. Maybe someone at the show decided they needed to go on more.

1 hour ago, FrenchFan said:

Do you know when Roerick and Gates last appeared ? I also wonder when they were taken off contract.

This reminds me - did your photo stop appearing in the closing credits when you were taken off contract but were still used? I thought I remembered still seeing them (or Roerick at least) in the closing credits for a while. Roerick still appeared fairly often until his death (he died very suddenly - a car crash). Gates rarely appeared those last few years.

Looking at his Wiki I see that Roerick was good friends with EM Forster. I never knew that.

39 minutes ago, Aback said:

I've just found out DS's entire run is available! Where is it exactly?  

I think one episode is missing late in the run but that's all.

It's all out on DVD. I'm not sure about full streaming. Amazon Prime has the episodes up to Barnabas' arrival.

On 5/30/2024 at 7:40 PM, NothinButAttitude said:

Is it bad that I feel that none of the remaining four soaps can be saved (at this point)? 

Honestly, I am at this point where I feel that they need to put the four shows out to pasture and start fresh with The Gates ushering in a group of new soaps. 

Brad will never leave B&B, but if he does, the show will be so horrible that the person who comes in behind won't have anything to fix b/c it'll be rubble at that point. 

What defines the show even more than the tired incestuous stories and characters is that it was born when LA and soaps had a certain glamour - that glamour mostly faded by the mid '90s, and Brad Bell kept the show juiced by tripling down on increasingly OTT plots. And those just don't click anymore, so you have no real foundation and no real future. 

But aside from that glamour, and a few icons like Susan Flannery and Darlene Conley, and some others further down the ladder that I appreciated when I used to watch [like KKL, Bobbie Eakes, Colleen Dion, etc.) I think B&B has also been one of the most generic of soaps. Due to this generic nature, I don't think it would take as much to improve the show as it would the other three soaps.

Semafor truly is a rag out of its time and place, trying to chase a '00s media market that it can't ever get back. That whole tweet is a huge self-own. 

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ce551e71vl4o

I always had such a respect for Marian Robinson, who, after already doing so much in her life to raise a family, had to be there for Michelle, Barack and for Sasha and Malia at a time of such immense racism and bile. I don't think a First Lady has ever faced the consistent level of abuse Michelle faced (and still faces to this day). I know she must be heartbroken right now.

1 hour ago, Vee said:

Always a profile in courage, the NYT Editorial Board has chosen now to declare Trump unfit to run for or take office.

I wonder if this will make them stop their campaign against Biden. 

Not counting on it.

As for public reaction to the verdict, I am so used to the public being apathetic, but I hope they aren't this time. For all of our sakes.

1 hour ago, BetterForgotten said:

I’ve never been more proud to be Heather Rattray’s #1 supporter on this board…

I'm with you there (and fortunately as far as I know Heather doesn't share her opinions on social media).

For any clapperboard fans, you briefly get one at the start of this episode.

1 hour ago, Mona Kane Croft said:

After the 90-minute disaster, what would you say was Another World's biggest failure during the show's last 20-years (1979 to 1999)?  I'm really asking about big fundamental failures -- not casting decisions and smaller mistakes.   

I'll go first.  I think AW's biggest failure during it's final 20-years was never hiring an established well-known head-writer with a long record of success (a writer similar to Nixon, Marland, Bell, Lemay, Phillips, Labine, etc.), AND giving that head-writer the freedom to write, AND keeping that head-writer for 7-8 years.  

What do you consider AW's biggest failure during the show's final 20-years?   

I think the biggest failure was being unable to sustain the momentum they were building up in 1983 and early 1984. I'm not sure about the ratings, but to me there was something that had the potential to be special in that time period, and afterward they never really get it back, even in periods that are generally decent (late '80s/early '90s). 

18 minutes ago, DramatistDreamer said:

You’re welcome. They might need to have a separate FAST channel for their more daring programs but it would be nice to be able to view those episodes of show. Maybe something like PBS Arts?
Although it would also be cool to see episodes of the Bill Moyers program. So many thoughtful programs that were deemed too risky by PBS and dropped and all but completely forgotten these days.

I mean, whatever happened to American Playhouse? As much as I enjoy Masterpiece, I get a bit weary with constantly getting bombarded with British dramatic fare, I would love to see more pieces by writers from the Americas…Canada, the Caribbean, Texas, Miami. How many iterations of Upstairs/Downstairs can they churn out?

Classic episodes of Mystery is another series that I enjoyed and would love to get a second look.

I've gone on about this a lot to some people, but I do weep at what PBS has had to become compared to what they were in the '70s and '80s, and even to the '90s. And instead of the diversity, education and reality they provided, we are now just left with tiktok.

Thanks @slick jones . What a find.

At the end of this clip and start of the next, Johnny Carson comes up with some crazy sitcom ideas and tries to get the audience to laugh when he wants them to laugh. 

Thanks for letting us know. I'd love if they ran Alive from Off Center.

23 minutes ago, Liberty City said:

What'd you think they'd go? Kill him off? 

That's the problem with this type of story. If I know it's going to basically be filed under the lengthy pile of "poor Ste suffers," stories, without having much other impact, I'm not going to care. I didn't have the enthusiasm to feel sorry for a racist/white nationalist. The choice to kill off Harry in part so we'd feel bad for Ste because they were about to reunite felt especially cheap to me, given the grimy origins of that relationship (rutting in Harry's classroom).

10 hours ago, Liberty City said:

I, unlike the other two, have not disliked the "social issue plotlines," and have found them pretty well done, especially the 2019 radicalisation and far-right extremism storyline.

I couldn't get past that turning into yet another "poor Ste" storyline.

On 5/27/2024 at 4:51 AM, Ryan Mason said:

Years ago I put together some animated YouTube videos imagining what it would be like if Ryan's Hope was subject to the ABC soap regime of the late 2000s. Believe it or not, that was one of the ideas I thought they'd force on the show!

I remember watching these - those Xtra Normal videos were a craze at the time and the only thing you could do about Frons grinding ABC Daytime into the dust was laugh. Yours are great time capsules but also genuinely funny (like the Kathleen Tolan bit).

34 minutes ago, Vee said:

Chrishell's star has moved up in the world so it's actually a get.

It's a savvy move for the show, as Chrishell seems to be much more in line with a potential new Neighbours audience than Mischa "I love the '00s" Barton (I say that having been fine with her run on the show). Neighbours has a lot of problems at present with its core which I hope they can address, but if you're going to do all the guest stars, she's one I can understand. 

Having "Yas" as a name reminds me of this Succession meme which is stuck in my head. 

3 hours ago, tiofmso said:

A couple more recommendations for you, the death of Helen Daniels (mostly because of how significant a character she was) and whatever episodes are available of Karl’s affair with Sarah.

Thanks!

Thanks @slick jones . Always appreciate the articles and captures. 

Gene Peterson looks a lot like William Holden in that top cap.

30 minutes ago, janea4old said:

I was a teenager when she was playing Meg.  So vivid her portrayal of a woman with mental illness.  I was suffering from depression myself at the time, and Meg was so intensely sad, I had to stop watching for a while because it triggered me.

The actress did her job well.  I just didn't have anyone to talk to in my small town.

Such a moving story. Thank you for sharing it. The power that soaps once had...

9 minutes ago, Khan said:

It really wouldn't surprise me to learn that was Frank Valentini's doing.  That man really doesn't know what to do with writing that's plot-driven, campy and utterly devoid of wit or intelligence.  He's truly what happens when you let a general manager at a Red Lobster produce a soap opera.

And we see what's happened to Red Lobster.

RIP Elizabeth MacRae (who had more soap credits than I realized).

Elizabeth MacRae Dies: 'General Hospital' & 'Gomer Pyle: USMC' Actor Was 88 (deadline.com)

RIP Elizabeth MacRae (Meg Baldwin). 

Elizabeth MacRae Dies: 'General Hospital' & 'Gomer Pyle: USMC' Actor Was 88 (deadline.com)