DRW50

Did you see some of the past few years? The show has had some ups and downs, but it's OK. I think 2006 and 2007 were their best years, of what I've seen. I haven't really seen anything before 2005, minus a few clips. I do miss some of the humor and the students they had in 2005. I also miss Jessica Harris. The current students, most of the current younger characters, don't do anything for me.

Elliot, Zak, Archie, and Kris found money stuffed in a roof or something. Archie was then kidnapped and demands for the money were made. But I think this was a ploy and Archie was working to try to get all the money for himself.

Newt is off his meds again and is a major suspect in the beating of Gaz, who is the nemesis of Theresa/Lauren/Anita/Newt.

Steph is dating Fernando but Gilly is in love with her.

Rhys was dating Zak's sister, Hayley, but her true feelings are for his brother Josh.

Cindy is trying to marry Tony for his money. Darren for some reason managed to get Hannah to marry him.

Sarah's girlfriend Lydia believes she still has feelings for Zoe.

Ravi was put in a coma after Ash hit him, Ash hit him even though he knew Ravi had an aneurysm. When Anita lashed out at him, he spitefully told her what the family had hidden all her life -- she had been adopted.

How long were Teri and Luke on the show? I didn't think Luke was aroudn that long. Were they any good?

It's a shame they made Gifford a lunatic. I thought he was a great character in those clips he had when Casey arrived. Do you think they made the right decision?

I had no idea Mary Ryan Munisteri wrote for the show. I take it she wasn't around long? She wrote for RH for years. I think her headwriting stint there wasn't a success.

So this Granger woman wasn't any good?

I agree with you about Laura Wright. I always liked her as Ally, when I watched Loving/The City, and I liked her on her GL run, most of the time. I think what I miss in her later work is that she used to have vulnerability along with the toughness, and some warmth. Most of that is gone now, it's just the toughness.

I agree with you about the degrading writing for women on GL at that time. I still get angry at the memory of Marah ripping off her clothes and daring Tony to go through with his rape attempt. I hated the Cassie money problems story, I thought it was contrived, as was the feud with Reva, but I did think she and PAS had good chemistry.

So Casey and Steffi were involved? I didn't know that.

What do you think has happened to Amelia Heinle over the years? Didn't she seem better on Loving? Or was she just fresher?

Can you tell me more about Casey's father, Gifford? I don't know that much about him. Did he come back when Casey was killed?

Do you think the show did a very good job of adding new characters in the late 80s, or were most of them not that good?

I found Rauch's GL to be entertaining, at least more often than not (I didn't think the Lucky Gold stories were entertaining, aside from Lorelei, and minus the increased airtime for the wonderful Meta, the Labine year annoyed me more than anything else), but I do think he dumbed the women down. There was a lot of very insulting material for women, especially when B&E were there. The women existed just to fight over men or to have babies. I really hated what they did with Beth. The story which made me see red was when she chased after Matt and kept telling Vanessa she was old and unattractive. Rauch was obviously not hiding his Maeve Kinkead hate. What was done to Vanessa in those years was just sad. Then again, Laibson and McTavish also thoroughly weakened and marginalized Vanessa, and they had no bad blood with Maeve, so what can I say.

I will say that I thought Rauch did a better job of giving Wendy Moniz material than Laibson/McTavish did. Wendy was not a heroine, she wasn't even that believable as an antiheroine, so making her a crazy b!tch was the way to go. I still laugh at the memory of Dinah unknowingly hitting on her uncle or Dinah running around town wearing a napkin on her face to hide her scar. I don't accept that as being what Dinah should have been, but I preferred her in that role compared to the Dinah who was supposed to be our heroine even though she gave Roger electroshock therapy.

I also thought that the early Cassie, very tough and bitter but with a good heart, was much better than the one who gave her tiara to the poor.

I think the biggest failure with GL in terms of women, in their later years, was what they did to Marah. Not just the Lindsey McKeon recast, but the writing for her. The memory of her showing her "strength", or whatever Rauch and Taggart called it, by ripping off her clothes and demanding Tony go through with his rape attempt ::shudder::

I don't want to generalize, but I do wonder if women have a very different reaction to Rita than men. I think Barbara Norris was supposed to represent a lot of the female viewer reaction to Rita -- expecting the worst of Rita, treating her with thinly veiled disgust.

Did you ever see Lenore's Moonlighting episode? She was in one of the very early episodes. Something about weapon systems or something. She fired a big laser gun and she had big hair and rolled around on the floor with Bruce Willis and it was a hot mess. I can see why she left daytime but I wish she'd stayed, she was perfect for soaps.

GL at that time seemed to have such complex female characters. I would love to sink my teeth into Amanda, Rita, Jackie, Holly.

With the exception of the Rauch years and some of the Conboy period, I think GL was consistently the soap that had complex, dynamic women. Even when GL was in the pits, I don't think they went quite as far into the woman-hating that most soaps did, with a few exceptions. Even at the end, Reva, Dinah, they were complex women. I think that's what I miss about GL the most, as strong, complex women are what got me hooked on soaps.

I remember some people speculated that Rita was forgotten because the show was afraid people would confuse her with Reva. It's weird though that not only did she never return, she was NEVER mentioned, even though she was right there with Ed, Roger, and Holly in their big stories.

Rita just fascinates me. Talk about an antiheroine! She, along with Dorian Lord, wrote the book on that. And has there ever been a sexier woman in soap? My uncle, who mostly teases people about soaps and sees them as being about women who don't leave home, still talks sometimes about how hot she was.

You've probably already read this but I thought it was a good summation of her.

http://glmemories.blogspot.com/2007/06/satisfaction.html

I was just watching some clips of Casey and Ally. Laura Wright and PAS had such great chemistry together (and it was nice to see Laura before she became so cold as an actress). I wish GL hadn't chickened out in their plans to put them together -- they still had good chemistry even as Danny and Cassie.

I hope PAS can get a good soap job soon.

Who said it wont be any more kisses because from what I have been reading on Digital and Marc site there is alot more involve espically them getting caught from a kiss.

That has been my main problem that we can not get more effectinated scenes. I would love for that.

I wonder if we will see the kiss or if they will only show us the reaction of the person who finds them. They edited down the first kiss and have shown none since.

I do like the actors and their chemistry but this story has been so rushed. I wish the people at Eastenders knew how to tell stories. They did in the past. Sharon/Grant/Phil built up for years.

Instead we just have stunts and tired comebacks.

The Masoods and Syed/Christian, along with Bianca's family, are the best part of the show right now, so hopefully they will keep developing them.

I would be more into this story with Christian and Syed if they weren't so rushed and if the actors were allowed to show any affection for each other. They have already said there won't be any more kisses. The main focus seems to be on Syed's family. Christian is a very small part.

I'm sure they would bring Grant back if Ross Kemp was interested.

I don't think that was true about Chris Fountain joining Eastenders.

I never knew Pam Long wrote for this show. That makes 3 canned soaps she was at.

Is that the one where she's in a taxi? That one some claimed was similar to the promo for Secret Diary of a Callgirl.

Sam seems like such an odd character to bring back, but then EE doesn't know how to bring characters back properly anyway, with a few exceptions, like Bianca. I'm still baffled by how pointless Janine has been since her return.

Holy crap, Bonnie Tyler is going to be on Hollyoaks Later!

http://www.digitalspy.com/soaps/a173893/bonnie-tyler-to-guest-in-hollyoaks-later.html

Thanks for the article. This is a real find. You always treat us.

I remember Schmering writing about this in the Soap Opera Encyclopedia, and he said the woman who wrote it only knew how to write for radio soaps and had no idea what she was doing in a TV format.

She later went on to headwrite Love of Life and was supposedly the deathknell for that show, as she wrote some Bambi Brewster story, a hooker with a heart of gold who wanted to find her minister father and learned he had abused her, that made the show the laughingstock of the industry.

Ricky Whittle (Officer Calvin Valentine), Ali Bastain (ex-Becca, currently on The Bill), and Laila Rouass (DI Dale Jackson before she moved to Footballers Wives) are all on this year's Stricly Come Dancing.

Here's Ricky dancing:

Do most Brit Soaps have a similar style? Not meaning the gay thing, but the way their stories are told?

No. The British soaps have varying styles.

Emmerdale is more slow-paced, there's more comedy, more of a slow burn, more "old" people. For many years the show was about farming as much as sex or death. In recent years, starting around a huge plane crash in the village in 1995, the show has become more and more dramatic, although it still has something of its old country flair.

Coronation Street is also more slow-paced, lots more comedy and older characters sitting around trading one-liners. They have tried to amp up the drama in recent years, there's more sex and violence now.

Eastenders is more stunt stunt stunt, there's always a big death or revelation or affair, with a few bad comedy moments mixed in. The show used to be much more complex and rich but not in a long time.

Hollyoaks is teens, issue issue issue, teens, wacky comedy moment, music video, teens.

The Emmerdale lesbian wedding they were talking about was with Zoe Tate and one of her girlfriends. Zoe cheated with her girlfriend's ex-partner not long after the wedding, so no wonder RTD wasn't a fan

Emmerdale had more gay content on their show than any other soap, UK or US. They had gay, bi, and lesbian characters consistently for almost 20 years. Unfortunately that has now stopped.

QAF, huh? That's interesting. Russell Davies is a big Corrie fan, he even wrote one of their video specials and nearly worked for them as a storyliner. He said he wanted that job for years but when he was offered, he turned it down because he realized if he took it he'd never leave. Perhaps he was just having a laugh at those who look down on soaps, or he sees Emmerdale as being inferior to Corrie.

Emmerdale recently brought in a new producer to try to be less crap, or stodgy, or panto. They have a "sexy" new farming family (which basically seems to mean the father wears tight jeans and plunging shirts) and are clearing out some deadwood. It's not bad, although I didn't think the stories last year were bad either.

They had a producer last year named Anita Turner who was treated horribly by the press. They called her "Anita Turnoff" and ran stories about how she fired extras and how she fired a child actor (she did this because he kept crying in scenes with the actor who played his father). I often wonder if a man would get that type of press if he behaved in a similar way.

Something else I always remember about Emmerdale is early in this decade they brought in actors who won some Soapstar reality show. They made them a new family. I guess it's like an extended version of that "Wanna be a Soap Star" Soapnet did for a few years. Anyway, one of the show's leading actresses, who had been there for about 15 years, complained to the press. The family didn't last a year, but they also fired the actress. I wonder if they were just looking for an opportunity anyway.

Do you ever get to see any of the British soaps?

Was that one of the Charlie Brooker shows? He tends to hate everything doesn't he?

Emmerdale is often seen as stodgy and silly and a bit tired. Most of the British soaps are looked down on, although Eastenders, in spite of being seen as too depressing, sometimes gets critical acclaim when they do their much hyped "issue" stories. Corrie is also sneered at but is seen as an institution. Hollyoaks is sometimes praised but often seen as a shallow teen soap.

I really enjoy Emmerdale, I think it's a much better show than it's given credit for and has done "issues" better than EE in recent years.

You might want to look at some of the Debbie/Jasmine clips on Youtube, it's good soap.

The cot death story they had last year was also very good. Here's the first part:

This sounds odd.

http://www.digitalspy.com/soaps/a171715/tragic-skydive-death-for-hollyoaks-later.html

I'm so glad Roman and Deniz are moving back towards each other. They were a fascinating, complex, well-acted, super hot couple and I never knew why they broke up.

The Ramsay stuff will be over soon.

He dies right after he starts a relationship with Emily, I think. I'm not sure.

Barbara Knox is taking six weeks off to recover from an illness. I hope she will be OK. I get upset when people say characters like Rita, Ken, and Emily are just useless relics. They are a link to the past, but the actors are still there, still giving their best, and are a great example of the continuity and seasons of life that many soaps no longer bother with now. When they're gone they can never be replaced.

Yes, Carly is very pretty, yet she can also be sexy. She's one of the most underrated actresses on soaps, UK or US.

Maxwell has a very hot body, moreso than his face, which is just kind of waxen yet well-preserved. I don't know why they keep him in all those clothes so often.

I think Emmerdale at the moment has a number of very hot guys (especially John Barton), although EE is usually the soap which gets attention for their studs. I still remember the hoopla over Walford's new hunk...Callum Munks.

Nick returning isn't a rumor. That's confirmed. There's a rumor Sarah Louise will be returning.

Adam Rickitt has given negative comment about his time on Corrie and from what I've seen he can be easily replaced, if the writing is there. The problem is they don't know how to keep leading men, and often struggle to write for them. What can you say when the leading man on your show is a murderer/attempted murderer of an old man/all-around loon.

Sean is so annoying. Anthony Cotton can't do comedy or drama and has little charisma. I wish they could write him out. He's an easy, safe choice of gay for them. I prefer this to a show that makes a pretense of being hard-hitting but actually delves into the same, or worse, pathetic stereotypes, like Eastenders does with the forced Christian/Syed story, but it's just tiresome. I would rather see Leon stay on the show, and bring back Sean's adorable boyfriend Marcus.

The scene with Tony decimating Liam's mother was fabulous. She's a nice woman and all but I hate those Connors.

David was a normal, happy child for some time, even after his parents Gail and Martin split up. Jack P Shephard wanted to play him as bad and the show went along with that. He began to go off the rails when Martin moved away with his new girlfriend, had a child with her, and was no longer interested in David. David became very bitter, and he started to turn against Gail, especially after he found Gail's former mother in law Ivy's diary. Ivy was grandmother to Gail's oldest kids, Nick and Sarah. Ivy was a real piece of work -- she always had problems with Gail and after her husband and son died Ivy became a complete religious fanatic and miserable all the time...she finally moved to a convent and died in 1995. Anyway, the diary mentioned that Gail had nearly aborted David. David was furious and read the diary to everyone at Christmas dinner.

Things got worse and worse after this, with murder attempts and all sorts of ugliness, culminating in him pushing Gail down the stairs a year and a half ago and going to a facility for a few months. There's rarely been a breather. I think the character needs a break, but they're bringing back Gail's oldest son Nick so there will probably be some rivalry there.