DRW50

For a while I was very confused and thought that quote was from Sam Hall.

Kripke? I think he was a hack, mostly. The only two seasons I think he did well were the first two, and then the fourth. I'm also thrown by his homophobia, which I'd forgotten about. He had his moments, and I'd like to believe he didn't realize how homophobic some of the content was, and he had a good eye for casting. Unfortunately his same problems seem to have followed him to Revolution, only with a very weak cast, outside of Giancarlo Esposito. I mostly got back into the show last season because of some of the actors and the occasional good episode, and the show has so many possibilities (which are rarely exploited). There have been a few good episodes this season but since you're busy I can see why you wouldn't want to watch. If you do ever watch you should try Everybody Hates Hitler.

Fascinating article NYT put out yesterday talking about the episode which was airing when JFK was shot. They mention that the full episode is at Paley (I didn't know that), talk about the scenes that didn't air, and interview Don Hastings, Eileen Fulton, and Rosemary Prinz. http://mobile.nytimes.com/2013/11/24/arts/television/as-the-world-turns-interrupted-by-kennedys-shooting.html?from=arts

Bell seemed to sink his teeth into writing for complicated relationships between the Brooks sisters and their mother. It must have been heavy for viewers at the time, but also realistic. I wonder what they might have done with Jennifer if she'd lived longer. The stuff with Peggy is especially sad, and believable.

Minor soap actress? Really? Sounds like a mess.

Thanks. I can't believe it's been twenty or more years since I first saw this on PBS and on the Sci-Fi (NOT SYFY) Channel. Sometimes I've drifted away but never for long, and I never stopped being a fan. I never thought it would be back on the air, and, for all my carping, I never thought it would come back as brilliantly as it did. The best part of Doctor Who is that you can find so many different parts you might be able to find yourself in. There are so many different eras, and so many strong, stark moments that remind you of humanity and heart. The show has made me laugh, made me cry, genuinely terrified me. I can say that about very few programs. Doctor Who is ours, and that can't be taken from us. It's a seemingly simple concept that leads to a million realities. It's not a catchphrase, or one face, or one voice. It's us. As someone whose first real glimpse of the show was a PBS repeat of Tegan and Nyssa in the Worst Outfits Ever, crouching in a cheap tunnel during Snakedance, I didn't ever imagine I'd be here decades later talking about a new episode. Where would my life have been without Tegan, and Sarah Jane, and Liz, and Jo, and K9, and Romana, and Leela, and Harry, and the Brigadier, and Barbara and Ian, and Jamie, and Nyssa, and Donna, and Rory, and Martha? Or so many forgotten ones like Mel, Ben, Polly, Victoria? How would I feel if my favorite companion of all time and one of my favorite TV characters ever hadn't had a chance, nearly thirty years after leaving the show, to prove what a treasure she was, and win over a whole new generation of viewers? I don't know. And I'm incredibly happy that I don't.

Were the scenes just family scenes or were there more? I agree that P&G must have a lot of blame, although Marland seemed to handle the transition at GL better than the Dobsons did (or maybe it was Potter + Marland, I don't know). Didn't Freddie Barthomelew have some issue with the Hughes family as well? Or was that someone else?

Thank you so much. I never knew of this episode being around. Did you see the Jeanne Cooper and Grant Goodeve anthology episode saynotoursoap put up a few days ago?

Casting news. http://www.spoilertv.com/2013/11/the-walking-dead-season-4-andrew-j-west.html

"Not confirmed" about Marco Polo. http://www.digitalspy.com/british-tv/s7/doctor-who/news/a533296/doctor-who-bbc-responds-to-marco-polo-recovery-rumors.html While I don't know if I believe the Mirror story this is based on (it claims someone taped it with a camera while watching on TV at the original airing, and they're having actors dub the voices - they wouldn't have to do that, they already have the soundtrack), I'm hoping this means they do have the episodes.

I don't want to give a link because the BBC has taken some down, but someone put up some Canada PBS intros from the 70s and 80s, by sci-fi author Judith Merril, who called herself The Undoctor, and gave recaps of episodes, history of the characters, mused on philosophy, etc. It's fascinating to watch.

I actually liked Mel quite a bit, and I liked Frank (although I felt like the character was mostly pointless/wasted his last fifteen years on the show, aside from a little with Blake at the end), but I understand what you're saying. Aside from Jordan Clarke and one or two others, this new project doesn't jump out at me with faces I want to see again. For me, GL died before Ellen Wheeler ever came around. Bit by bit, piece by piece, over about ten or more years. The nadir was when Ben Reade, a character I watched grow up, was retroactively made a victim of sexual abuse for no other reason than to say he was a serial killer, because serial killers are raped as children. This sickened me and made me feel ashamed of ever watching the show. Wheeler made a ton of mistakes, like firing Jerry ver Dorn, a tone deaf focus on the wrong characters and couples, some very questionable new characters, a lack of strong storytelling, and yes, the show looked like a Walking Dead cosplay video gone wrong in its last few years. I give her a pass on some of this because I think she did care, and she did try surprisingly hard to bring back some of GL's identity and past at the end. Was the last year good? Generally, no. But aside from AMC, it was the only soap final year where I felt like the people in charge gave a damn. I will always, always be bitter about this, because I gave a lot of my love to ATWT for a long time and, frankly, I felt like Chris Goutman spit in the faces of fans, for no other reason than because he could. Wheeler is, in terms of production and message, delusional, and there was a great deal wrong with her show and her ideas, but I at least felt like she cared. And not just about her ego, the way Goutman did, but about some attempt at remembering what GL was. It could have been so much better, but bringing back people like Nola, Bridget, Dylan, Holly, Fletcher, Ed, some of whom had been roadkill long before she even got to GL, it really gave GL a heart again, and a history. I got to say goodbye. I never got to say goodbye to ATWT. Thanks to Goutman, I never will. I also think she did get the basic idea of GL, even if it was horribly flawed. To me that is GL. In a very vague, vacuous way, but it's still GL. It doesn't even sound like they're bringing GL back, and it's probably going to suck, but I'll still hold out a little hope that it's something worthwhile, because I feel like Wheeler does care about soaps and if she has proper help, then this might help give the idea of soaps some sort of avenue and window, and give New York soap actors more opportunities to, at least, show their talent and range. If she wants to do this, instead of writing a show where viewers leer and guffaw at a woman raping herself, then I hope it works out.

I think Reva had some eggs or something and they made it from that, in Michael's lab. I can't remember.

Looks like the Senate will be abolishing the filibuster. Given that it's looking increasingly likely that the GOP will win the Senate in 2014, I'm a little surprised. I guess they decided they had to push through as many judges as they can. http://talkingpointsmemo.com/dc/harry-reid-may-go-nuclear-this-week-dem-sources

It was a flashback episode - he was playing a young Dean (Jensen Ackles).

Thanks to saynotoursoap. no video

They are hypocrites. They never liked much of anything about her or GL, while they heaped praise on "Cartini" for production values that weren't much different in the end. And they trashed PP up and down for production values and writing that was far better. They're cons.

I wonder who Tom will be playing.

THat first guy looks like one of those mashups of a male and female celebrity. What do you think of those characters who are going or might be going?

He did a very good job. I wouldn't be shocked if he comes back at some point. The woman who was the lead on Being Erica also had a guest role. Kim Rhodes is going to be on next week.