DRW50

I think the event that might have most signaled ATWT sort of finally giving in was Nancy being written as the kindly grandmother, which is something that was much truer to grandmothers on other soaps, and that Nancy had never been. I've always wondered how Helen Wagner felt about that. I guess she must not have minded that much, as she would have left.

Margaret Colin (ex-Margo, ATWT) was on this week's Elementary, which is fitting, since she played a female Watson in a TV pilot or movie about twenty-five years ago.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zn9Ss9rZMcU

Sometimes I forget how good the show looked at this time, even if I was increasingly unhappy with certain stories (Harley/Mallet, Nick, Nick, Nick). Bev looks so gorgeous and glamorous.

She's not killing people because she thinks they threaten her existence - she thinks she is doing this for the group, for survival. She thinks the others are too weak to make the tough choices. She also said, essentially, she was putting them out of their misery, which means this is going into another area entirely. And they don't have the numbers at the prison to be able to keep some type of watch on her. I don't think she's a lunatic who is going to go on a killing spree, but I do think if she was back in that prison, in the place her mind is in now, if she saw more sick people and she was alone with them, she would kill them.

Aside from Henderson Forsythe/Helen Wagner/Chris McLaughlin, the cast wasn't even that old, they just often looked that way. I will never understand why, with all these new, hip changes, Annie still looked like Pat Nixon.

Jay looks weird here. Earlier on I remember seeing photos of him where he sort of looked like he was from gay porn in that era - dark hair, mustache, etc. Here it looks like he tried some sort of odd makeover. He also looks quite older. I can see why they wrote him out, as the character seems to be done. Soapcentral said Valerie's last day is December 31, 1979 (no idea how they knew that) so her end should be coming up soon. I could have sworn they were hinting at Valerie/Ralph in some of these, but I guess not. Valerie has such a natural warmth and sophistication. I wish they'd kept her around. Wouldn't she have made more sense with a sleazy younger guy like Brad than Dee or Annie did? It's weird because the Dobsons wrote a lot for Judith McConnell on Santa Barbara. Yet they either just missed her here, or fired her.

Exactly. I felt like Carol's thought process was, "I need to keep killing sick people because I'm strong and that's what strong people do - no one else will do this, so I have to do it." She was only in the prison for about a day after she killed Karen and David. If she had stayed I could see her killing again. And Glenn would have been a big target, because in her mind, Maggie and Hershel and Rick and so many others wouldn't have the heart to kill Glenn, of all people. So she'd have to be strong again, and do it for them.

That guy looks a lot more like Hartnell in motion than in the photos. I'm pleased for that.

I've seen some mixed reactions, as some Eight fans were very upset that they didn't just have him in Hurt's place, that they needed to give that role to another actor so Moffat could make his mark, that it erased headcanons of Eight, ruined them, etc. Someone said they were reduced to tears, they were so upset. I have always had a problem seeing the Doctor fight in a brutal, bloody war, get his hands dirty, even the darkest Doctor, so in a way I'm relieved that this was addressed and we learn this wasn't quite a Doctor. I can see why some of McGann's fans feel betrayed, because they had these images built and they were torn away, but I have seen very little of his Doctor, so I wasn't as bothered by changing canon. I thought this packed some real punch, and I was pleased that they broke away from the minisodes being too clever or whimsical. McGann did a great job, as you could see his Doctor was trying to be fun, supportive, but actually he was dying inside, long before the crash. The woman, Cass, killing herself because she preferred that to the Doctor's "help," was very stark and a real shock. It's been done before, in The Waters of Mars, but those were very different circumstances. The way this was done was a huge flip on audience expectations. I was very happy to see the Sisters of Karn again, as the Brain of Morbius was a great idea not executed as well as it could have been. Vee told me a little about the woman who played the main priestess. I'd never seen her before but I thought she was great here. I hope they use her again. I've been sort of apathetic about the anniversary, but this did juice my interest some, and I think it's a nice showcase for McGrann and his contribution to this show. I've heard there are petitions to have him in more Doctor Who material. I'm not sure if they would be able to fit him in anywhere, but I do hope they consider it. I haven't seen any McGrann interviews, but here's a Moffat one. http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/doctorwho/articles/Steven-Moffat-on-The-Night-Of-The-Doctor

Maggie knew if Carol had stayed, Glenn would be dead. I thought her reaction was true to her character.

David Morissey will be on Ellen's show today.

I'd say it's because big money in this country doesn't want us to get it right. The whole rollout has been a nightmare. While Obama is good at campaigns, I think he's had a tin ear for this type of stuff, as a lot of the people he's chosen for his departments seem to fumble. I am trying to remember things take time and the 2014 elections are still a year away, because I'm very scared of what will be done to this law, and to many other laws, if the GOP takes over the Senate.

Most of those episodes are on Youtube, I think. They do have some Search for Tomorrow material that isn't. Sometimes you can find the most random soap things on those channels. The first time I saw Another Life was on a channel about women being hypnotized. I've seen some very rare soap clips through channels that are focused on men being tied up, or women being tied up.

Documentary about her in Vegas will be airing on E. http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2013/11/13/documentary-i-am-britney-jean-chronicling-britney-spears-preparing-for-her-las-vegas-residency-to-premiere-sunday-december-22-on-e/215525/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Tvbythenumbers+%28TVbytheNumbers%29

I think I know the answer, but is anyone else here watching this show? It's probably the most uneven show on TV, but I actually did enjoy last night's episode quite a bit.

I think meaning and themes have been a big part of the show from the start, mostly the struggle of whether to hope or to just shut down. I guess they could focus more on the cause of zombies, although to be honest zombies are the least interesting part of the show for me.

Remember all the hysteria over "liberals" who made fun of Christie's weight, and how dare they? I wonder if we will hear any of that now that Palin is joining in. http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/palin-christie-s-appearance-so-extreme-it-s-hard-not-to-comment-on-it

Nia Long is on The Chew today.