DRW50

I was so busy reading various boards talking about the episode that I never had the energy to comment on it myself. I thought it was pretty good, excellent in places. The only real complaint I have is in story mechanics - it was all too distracting, I was constantly reminded I was watching a TV show (a character is created just to overhear a conversation and blurt out a secret; Denise destroys a table of food; Yusef's cousin has to very blatantly, and repeatedly, tell us that Yusef started the fire). That aside, the Masood drama was top-notch, with wonderful performances from everyone, and high drama all around. Hamesh Patel's best performance so far was the scene where he told everyone he and Afia were already married. The scene where Masood punched Yusef was sudden and brutal - exactly what soap violence these days often is not. Seeing Christian and Syed integrated more into family life is a smart decision and it's been very well-paced. Syed is more of a mommy's boy but his steadfast support of Masood in the last few months, in spite of everything Masood has done to him, is touching, and I really wish we could see some more Syed/Masood scenes on their own.

Given that Santer utterly destroyed Tanya and made Max totally irrelevant, I can't imagine what he would do with the characters at this point. I'm just sorry they have, yet again, made Max all about Tanya. He's a very isolated character and he's gone from my favorite person to watch to someone I barely notice. That's the "Tan" touch. I hear a lot of talk about how Max drags Tanya down, but she interacts with a variety of characters, she has a great new friendship with Syed. Max has...

Oh. For some reason I thought the affair wouldn't come out until after she battles cancer. I didn't read closely. I think that there were many issues going on with Ryan onscreen and off that doomed him, and I have mixed feelings on Vanessa, but I would have kept Greg and Mercy, definitely. Greg is a very rare male character for Eastenders. I have no use for more "bad boys" or "hard men" or "ladykillers." I miss the days of Lofty Holloway.

I kept thinking this would be more than a pregnancy. I'm sure Jake and Jo will do a great job. I wonder how this will affect Greg's character - I can see him smothering Tanya and she pushes him out of her life.

I knew he was on by the mid-60's because of the books and the story and script breakdowns I posted some pages ago from that Mary Hartman Mary Noble book, but I didn't realize he was on from 1960. That's quite a run. How many Ricks were there again?

I do wonder about what was going on at the show at this time. This is a decided move away from the 50's episodes I've seen, which are much more full of clear "good" and "bad" characters. How did viewers adapt? What did they think of people like Barbara and Rick and did they miss Meg, or Paul? How long was this after Meg and Paul were gone? 2-3 years? Was the older woman the one who had an evil twin? I can never remember the stories. I have to admit that I wasn't overly enthralled with Rick and Barbara here, but I know how important Rick became later on. The older characters are the ones I was most interested in in this episode. I'd love to see the blooming flower one.

saynotoursoap has put up a 1960 episode which gives us our first glimpse (if we weren't watching the show back when it first aired) of Rick and Barbara. I wonder how long this theme lasted. I don't like it that much. I keep expecting to see Doctor Who grinning at me. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oXhKHSAUiCw&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CrGISjyL8n0&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL

I've always wondered what happened with Rick Ryan when they brought Gary Hudson in in 1982. That ended up being so short-lived.

I'm almost done with this - sorry it's taken a while to type up. Did you see the Search article I posted yesterday?

I think the problem with B&B is overusing the same Forresters. There are a lot of Hughes that didn't need to return, but Frannie, or Andy, for instance, could have easily fit back into story. Why not do that instead of bringing back Meg as a brand new character. I also wish they had brought in Edith Hughes or her and Chris' brother. saynotoursoap uploaded a very rare 1957 episode that shows us more on these characters. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3_k8oF82bvQ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=loGVdFM5q04&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL

February 1957 TV Radio Mirror

February 1957 TV Radio Mirror.

I thought the biggest problem with Jack and Carly was the material - they had the same story again and again. The show never really let them mature, the way Tom and Margo did throughout the 80's. The worst part of the attempts at EON is that Sheffer and Goutman were woefully unsuited to that type of material. I don't remember any story in this time ever having any good ending or followthrough. I never knew why they were so reluctant to bring back any Hughes (except for Chris, again and again). I think they just assumed viewers were too stupid to know the show's history and were ashamed of the soap format and the show's legacy. Even at the end, when Nancy passed away, there was not one mention of most of the family. They somehow managed to mention Susan Hughes, who died before the show began, but nothing of people viewers had seen onscreen and would know.

GL re-used that "they're at Company" thing with the Reardons when Maureen died. I think it's cheap. Bolger has more exotic looks than Aleksander but it does seem like Aleksander was more suited, talent or charisma-wise, to a darker role, whereas Bolger, when JFP tried to make him seem dark (on OLTL), never worked. But I do wish he'd stayed at GL a little longer, or had more to do. I remember how good some of his scenes with India were, when he wasn't acting morally superior to her that is. The desk sex scene is very hot.

Thanks so very much for the writeup on ATWT. It's a good reminder of when networks had patience nad support for soaps, and didn't expect quick miracles. And of how unique ATWT was. Of all the soaps that have gone off in recent years ATWT was the one I still felt had the most life in it, even if the last 15 years of the show I was often so upset by.

Thanks for typing that up. I love reading those. I didn't realize until after doing this that Kathleen died pretty young...at least she and her husband were together to the end, and had a family. I'm sorry none of this show exists as something of a record for her.

TV Radio Mirror September 1960.

October 1961 TV Radio Mirror

Parting Glances was a very groundbreaking movie about AIDS, which was one of Steve Buscemi's first major roles. John Bolger played one of the cleancut lead characters - he and the guy playing his boyfriend had a fairly risque scene for then or now in a semi-major movie. Do you think they had any idea what to do with Phillip when GA returned? What did you think of his story with Chelsea?

Did Bolger want to leave or was he fired because GA was coming back? I know he made Parting Glances around that time, which was pretty brave for an actor, then or now.

It hobbled Phillip's character to center him around Beth again when they knew Judi Evans was leaving. I wonder what they would have done with Phillip if GA hadn't ever returned. It doesn't seem like Bolger was ever overly popular in any of his soap roles, although he was a stunning man.

October 1954 TV Radio Mirror.