DRW50

I'm surprised at how they lay it out there regarding criticism of the Hortons being pushed out.

The first gay character on soaps who was sure of their sexuality was Lynn Carson on AMC in 1983, played for a few months by Donna Pescow. Hank was the first gay man. Marland initially was going to have Hank leave after learning he had HIV, but he decided it was too grim for both Hank and his partner to have HIV/AIDS, so he just had Hank leave because Charles was ill.

I think this Revealed might have been the best I've seen. They did a good job of going through the Stacey eras (skipping most of the piss-poor 2008, I noticed...I wish they'd mentioned her role in Den's murder story in 2005 but I can see where that wasn't necessary). I did laugh when they had Jake Wood talking about Stacey's sexiness as they showed her in the 2004 episodes -- I don't think that's what he had in mind. I don't believe Janine is "evil", but I liked the segment on her, and that Charlie Brooks always tries to defend Janine. The back and forth with Charlie Brooks and Neil McDermott was lots of fun, they have a breezy chemistry. And they played a clip I'd never seen before -- Janine splashing mud on Laura as she drove by. I love it. I bet you liked that scene Y&RWT... Some great scenes about Stacey's bipolar and her early relationship with Bradley. And the stuff with Mario, priceless. I'm also glad they acknowledged what an important relationship Stacey and Max had. I have to admit that Natalie Cassidy's narration got on my nerves a little. She seemed to be awkward and some of the lines they gave her, like the mock Italian accent, were cringers. I don't ever want to hear Sonia Fowler say "get in there son"

And they say there's no such thing as fate. Being at the last day of taping must have been sad.

http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/eyespy/s13/hollyoaks/news/a295081/eye-spy-oaks-villain-to-die-for-second-time.html

http://www.digitalspy.com/eyespy/a78530/eastenders-tristan-loses-his-watch.html http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/eyespy/s2/eastenders/news/a295080/eye-spy-janine-and-stacey-return-to-enders.html

These politicians who want to shrink the government don't seem to mind paying their family a salary... http://www.pamshouseblend.com/diary/18319/unable-to-hire-cabinet-due-to-pay-limits-me-govelect-lepage-hires-daughter-really

One of the Weeklys from the few months before SuBe began mentioned that one rule for Sunset Beach was no Santa Barbara actors were to be cast. I guess that went away by the time Gordon Thomson was hired. They also said that the show was working hard to get Keith Hamilton Cobb cast on the show. I wonder if that would have been in the role Jason George played? I liked Jason so I'm glad he got the role.

Didn't they initially imply this was the same Julia? I think Lily worked because she was a believable angst-ridden teen. I think that a lot of viewers could sympathize with her because she wasn't the prettiest, she made mistakes, she could be a brat. And while there was a lot of Lily propping, you never had a story like Meg goes psycho and shoots Dusty in the head and frames Lily. The people who didn't like Lily - the few who dared to have that opinion - were still given stories and dimension. Now this is all based on my Youtube viewing. My own experience was in watching starting around late 89/early to mid 90, by which time Heather Rattray was in the role. I liked Heather and I believed her Lily, a cold woman trying to find vulnerability again. I remember being moved by her work when Lily had a miscarriage. I had little time for Byrne's Lily when she returned in 1993. Holden/Lily bored me to tears. So did her endless singing. So did her victim routine. I did grow to like her with Damian and I thought the Orlena saga of gaslighting and terror was entertaining. And I did think Holden and Lily were a natural fit when Jon returned in late 96. My viewing after that was sporadic but I generally preferred Martha as Rose. To me Rose was a more interesting character.

When I read about Jean's return and exit I did think she would be heavily involved in the baby stuff. She works so well with Ronnie and Kat. Some are upset about the way Kat is treating Alfie but to me she's been a lot nicer to him recently. Y&RWT who would you put in the Sharon or Kathy role, of the current cast? I have no idea who.

I was just about to say with all the BK hate, she might end up getting some "Can-Her" petitions. Thanks for the rundown, I am looking forward to seeing this. I will miss Lacey but I think the show has the strongest female cast of any soap, and this is possibly the strongest female cast the show has ever had. I just hope that they will be showcased as well as they have been in these last few episodes. I also wish Whitney would go away.

Susan Batten? Luna is watching over Walford??

The biggest reason Dee Dee finally left Eric is because he hid letters from her home country, as he didn't want her to leave. He didn't realize they were letters saying that her mother was dying. When she learned of this, her mother had already died, and she could not forgive him. I hate Andy/Katie together. Andy is a thug and does not need to be with the plastic princess, and I see little purpose for Katie anyway. I do like the actor who plays the cop and I'm not sure why they've wasted him in this story where he will probably just be psycho of the month. He was a leading man on The Doctors wasn't he? If they're going to bring back Elizabeth's story then they should include Elsa too, wasn't she Elizabeth's daughter? She had the daughter with cute Nick Bates, who was last seen in prison fifteen years ago. They should bring some of these people back, as the show seems so lacking in history at the moment and the new characters are just sort of bland.

Thanks. Of course even when Holden didn't have his memories he just fell in love with Lily all over again. Zzzzz... If it had been me I would have had Holden stay with Janice and get sucked into her quest for power.

That's wonderful!!

I wanted to see more of Doug Wert's Scott with his family. He and Carly worked together but I just didn't care about most of that story, and he seemed to smirk a lot. If he had been with Lisa and Tom more often I think I would have been more involved. The Sam stuff didn't really work either. I mostly liked Joe Breen because of his relationships with Lucinda and Neal. I guess in some ways Runyeon must have resented the way that Steve's sexism and naivete were no longer presented as noble qualities, and were instead used as his downfall. He just had to have the best and most expensive house, even though Betsy didn't want any of that, because he needed to prove what a big man he was. Seeing Craig become the show's younger leading man must have been a strange adjustment too. I love the scenes where Steve gets jealous of Betsy's closeness to Craig. I think the show did a great job in redeeming Craig through Betsy. Frost and Scott Bryce worked so well together as close, true friends. I'd really like to know what story plans Marland had for Holden after his brain damage. I was never a big Holden fan but his coldness and the obsession with Lily bothered me even more after his brain damage/memory loss. Was Hensley not a fan of the memory loss or not a fan of reverting it? FMB gave Holden his memory back as soon as Hensley returned in late 1996. I think it was one of the better moves she made as producer. I've always wanted to see more of Lisa's menopause story, from 1986. Here's a little clip of it - very jumpy - where she is rude to Frannie, unintentionally. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2el0P4KXtMI&feature=related

I love it:

Paul Marquess talks about 2011. http://www.e4.com/video/WJbbBUqSHkoRtZ0Iqz10l/play.e4

The ratings for Emmerdale keep impressing. They were about 2 million above last year's Christmas episode, and Monday's ratings were also very good, around 8 and a half million.

I think the follow-through has improved somewhat, but I agree it was a letdown to not show Vanessa's reaction. I think it's because they don't consider Vanessa an important character (what should have been a long story with Harry was cut short very abruptly), so instead we just hear that they were fighting. I would have rather seen that. Stacey's suicide bid worked for drama (since that was how Bradley died) but I agree about unrealism, since Max has worried about Stacey's health in the past (he was the one who quickly noticed she was off her meds). I think he was just focused on protecting her and getting her out of Walford. Carol and Dot both seem to be drifting. Their struggles are very interesting to watch but I'm hoping we will know more soon. I agree that yesterday's episode was probably the best. Eastenders is still "depressing" at the moment, but they've managed to balance this with a few lighter moments and also show the heartbreaking stuff in a neutral way instead of overdoing the angst. If you look at the episode, Dot is crippled by loneliness, Carol is still screwed up, Jean tries to kill herself, Janine is weeping in the hospital abandoned by everyone after a weird quasi-suicide bid. Yet it just seemed true to the characters. They may be doing what you mentioned with Ryan and Janine; they're both supposed to go down a darker road. I'm not sure if the writing will ever be consistent enough for Ryan though or if McDermott can pull it off.

My jaw dropped when they showed Jean's face in the bathttub. It's not too surprising that the same Mary Whitehouse types who got the NYE episodes cut down did nothing about this extremely disturbing scene. Poor Pat. She still cares about Janine but she's too humiliated and burnt to address it now. Whitney makes my skin crawl. Loved loved that scene where Ronnie said, "This is our second chance." Every episode has been so complex recently. I sure wish it could last...

That type of story you mention with the cheating and fighting would be interesting with someone besides Sean and with a show that wasn't afraid to have men do more than peck cheeks. I'd rather see Marcus stay around as a supporting character who sometimes has his own stories - he could work at the clinic - and who might move Sean into some new type of story. I'd like to see James in a story of his own, especially since they rushed the whole thing with his father.

Soap sets are probably like factories but these years must have been the toughest, working in buildings which probably weren't prepared for advancing technologies or such large casts and working hours, dealing with the aches and pains of expanding daytime. This was also before the era where you would have better ventilation or lighting. I think Janice Lynde said when she left every day she was escaping a prison. I know Brenda Dickson also had complaints but was that more in her second run? I guess a lot of people were more content but you don't pay as much attention to the happier comments. Hey, at least the leading ladies weren't being punched out, like on DAYS, so they weren't too bad off.

I know Jaime Lyn Bauer had a lot of issue with what the actors had to go through at that time - I think they had to share dressing rooms with people not on soaps, or had part-time dressing rooms, they would get colds all the time, and I think they might not have had hot water. Then again Y&R rarely seems to have been a happy set... I love that the first photo is Tom Halick hiking his pants up. And Dick DeColt, is that the biggest porn star name ever? That wall of headshots -- I'd love to have seen that in person. Don't recognize Brenda Dickson at all in the makeup scene.

I think they might just keep James with the Barlows, for their dramas -- unless he has some offcamera night with Marcus or something. Considering how much they seem to be doing shock value storytelling they might have Tracey try to turn him.