DRW50

The music for the closing credits is so beautiful.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uMOUSXfL9LY http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sy6s4rieOWQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T84khbJtxp0&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T84khbJtxp0&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GIt2Q-UuyJs http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lK_DT3k6o0E&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=81Xy9O7mySE

I agree with you - I also think GL usually excelled at writing for complex female characters who were often battling themselves as much as they were the usual cliches of finding a man, pregnancy, etc. And they had very rich dialogue and complicated relationships between characters. There's a certain basic familiarity which makes you care. I think the only time I was very alienated from that and didn't see it was in the Conboy years, and Jonathan's yelling years.

Thanks.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K-n_fzs2Yvg&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL

At first I thought you meant the comic.

You have to wonder how Dorian came back from that type of story. Yet that darkness suits her character, in many ways, and was a much more interesting shade of the Cramer women than the faux-sisterhood of later years.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zx8tK72nDjY

I love the red and blue contrast of the two ladies in that - wasn't Alex in white? It's just perfect. I really like Robin's work in this clip, when she learned about Cassie's baby dying - it's a good example of how she once could be restrained even when playing such pain. I also like how Erika Slezak stays in the background, since it's not her scene. Would today's "stars", like JPL, do that? Oof, that scene where Andrew talks about the "hollow look" in his eyes, will he have that, gets to me. and of course there's this moment:

I'm not sure how talking about a do-nothing Congress is pro-Obama. Even most Republicans would probably say that.

I'm not sure the media has ever painted him as likeable. The stories they like to tell are that he's cold, remote, etc. NBC and ABC would love someone like Romney. They are full of Republican-leaning outlets and views. Their biggest fantasy is a "moderate" Republican, and even though Romney is hard right on everything, he still fits their view of some kindly tough guy.

As for Nikki Haley, I think she mostly just lucked out, running in the right year, and then the attacks against her were seen as sexist and offensive. She was a protege of an unpopular governor, and as with many politicians, she has realized that being governor is very different than running to be governor. South Carolina is a state where bitter infighting pervades everything - the Republicans are divided and have been for a long time. She just seems like a rookie and most likely she will be bounced in the next primary. If their slate of candidates weren't so poor she would have never had the nomination in the first place.

Romney has flip-flopped on everything. The reason he hasn't backtracked in the last few years is because he's already far to the right on everything. He's just not charismatic, he's very blatant, desperate, and he has a tin ear, repeatedly bragging about his wealth for no apparent reason (joking that he's also unemployed, casually betting 10K). Gingrich is and was too self-destructive and pompous to get the nomination, so that means there's no one left. Santorum is supposedly surging now, but I doubt that will go anywhere. Romney will have endless money, and the support of the media. He will also have a lot of flashy and well-financed candidates going for Congress and the statehouses who can back him up and get out the vote. This race is his to lose - if he doesn't win President next November then it's all down to his many flaws as a candidate.

Do you know if McTavish started the story with Arlene's return? I was surprised by the choice to actually make flashbacks of Hayley and Arlene, around the time Harry died. I wasn't quite sure what was going on, if Harry was ill and Arlene neglected him, or if Arlene accidentally killed him, or what. The story was beyond Kelly Ripa (I kind of laughed at the scene where she stumbled out of the room with her mouth open), but otherwise, it was very meaty material, very well-acted and tough, a good use of history. I much prefer Hayley before Mateo showed up. I guess this was when they were going to do the bomb story that was rewritten at the last minute due to Oklahoma City. What was that with Janet and Tad? Was she in love with him at one time? I was never a fan of the needy side of Brooke, but her scenes with Adam in this episode were really good, some of their best. I'm not sure why AMC chose to avoid another reconciliation at this point, especially since Adam went on to spend almost two years without any real story. I can kind of see why they replaced this Taylor, but I still hate the recast. Also hate Del judging Kendall into being a "nice" person. They did that with Jake and Liza a few years later. I think it was a mistake to make Cecily a good person. There's a real smugness to her which would have been more balanced if she were scheming or bitchy. You can see that in this episode. The only time I actually liked her in her last run was in one of the summer episodes when Laura hitched a ride with her and she was trying to get Laura help.

I love your banner.

I'm bored enough to look too closely at the credits on the April 24 episode and I see that Cecily has much longer hair. When did she cut it? Her hair by this time (and which she kept for most of her second run) aged her about ten years. Did you prefer this jazzier theme to the more solemn one in the April 4 episode?

I remembered that some felt McTavish was there in name only for the end of her 97-99 tenure, so I wondered if it was the same here. The scene where Laurel gets a telegram from Jack saying gee, it's OK, here's your divorce, have a good life, seems tacked on. I wonder if there was initially going to be more of a battle, and it was dropped. What did you think of Corvina?

Thanks for that link. Here's two of April 1995, close to SMG's end run as Kendall. Was McTavish gone by this time? What was that shootout in Noah's apartment? It looks very dramatic. This must have been a "thing" on ABC soaps at this time, as the Spencer home was gunned down not too long before this.