DRW50

Post them here, please! I have some more 70s stuff too but was trying to add other decades. I'd love to see more 70s things, there's so much out there and it's tough to find. I have a few other Tom Hallick things too I will try to post soon. I can't wait to see your articles.

This is a late Capitol promo. I love that pink ice background, like something out of Superman II. Marj Dusay is born for this type of cheese.

From the August 29, 1995 Weekly (K-III Magazines).

Tracey's arrival was self-conscious, smug, stilted, a bad self-parody, and a very dated knockoff of an American primetime soap. It will probably be a big ratings grabber too. Is Diedrick Santer now producing Corrie? I really hated that fishnet stockings thing -- Tracey never wore those. And the show seems to have forgotten she and Peter cared about each other. Of course the show forgets a lot of things these days. At least Kate Ford looks pretty good, so that's something.

Ryan has also killed, although that was in self-defense. I think they should do a prostitution story with Ryan. It would make more sense than the Glenda stuff, and he's not exactly Mr. Personality or Brains, so that body is most of what he's got going for him. I think they are giving Ben little dialogue because they want to show him as being menacing. It works, but this character will have a tough road ahead if he is ever going to become an important character. Santer so firmly established Ben as a joke that anything beyond Ben all singing and all dancing is going to disappoint many. Bradley was a nice guy. He did pressure Stacey to have an abortion and he dumped his girlfriend he moved to Canada with, but other than that he usually tried to do the right thing. I miss Bradley. Santer and DTC had no time for him and only saw him as Stacey's patsy, but his absence has left a void, as there are no other nice guys, although they have kind of put Fatboy in his role.

One of my favorite holiday songs. Get well soon Aretha... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=svm0K7ykYbA

Yeah I don't know how they're going to fill the younger woman absence left by Stacey. I am liking Lauren a little more lately but she still has a long way to go. I forgot to say how much I loved the scene of Janine playing the recording to herself over and over. There have been a lot of quiet and showing, not telling moments in the recent episodes. It makes a nice change.

Yeah, that scene where they said Bianca told them to steal, it was a good scene. This is the type of material I would have preferred for the family in the beginning instead of all the cutesy kids and their cutesy reactions. If they were living in poverty then they probably would have been stealing more often and would have been more out of control. It's also a good contrast to the life Ricky's led and what Bianca's been doing in recent years, something the show has rarely addressed.

I thought this was a fine episode, and whereas some other Christmas episodes, I admired the storytelling more but wasn't overly interested in the characters, this year I could see some writing issues but genuinely cared about most of the people involved. These recent episodes have really excelled at driving up your emotions for the characters. Last year while I could see how they worked out all the details for Archie's murder but it was all so cold, I didn't really care. Yet the show has worked that Christmas, and the Stax Christmas blowup, into this year's story. This story has really built on 3 years of material. Still don't understand the pacing or reasons for Glenda's push down the stairs -- I wonder if they cooked this up because they were writing Peter out? Shirley was amusing at least. Every time I see Roxy without those awful extensions I keep forgetting who she is. It's a shame that the hell of Jane's revenge schemes has been replaced by another big lie she doesn't know about, and she seems dense to not wonder more about exactly what they're hiding. I hate seeing Ian taken back to this level, as the character can be much more. In spite of all this the work from Adam Woodyat and Thomas Law carried the day. Thomas still has a long way to go but I can't believe this is the same actor in those teens in the woods episodes. The scenes where he threw a brick through the window and denounced Ian had a real punch because we've seen more of Peter's good side and we've seen him slowly dragged down by all of Ian's lies. After years of the show not knowing what to do with him, he might finally have some real potential. I hope Thomas will be back. Only when they had the scene of Peter being seen off by mute Ben did I get just how much the teen set has changed over the last year. Only Whitney and Abi made it through the whole year. Loved the scenes with Janine and Max - I don't think they'd work as lovers (she'd never be satisfied being one of Max's harem), but I'd like to see them fighting over the car lot or something. Wasn't as crazy about the scenes in the Vic but for what they were I thought they worked. Janine scenes like that fall into bad camp or good camp -- most of 2009 was bad camp but this one I would put more in the good category. What a contrast to Tracy on Corrie strutting in like the bad Melrose reject most of Corrie has become. The whole Bianca exit story is contrived but I thought Patsy Palmer did a fabulous job. I always love when Bianca is quiet -- Patsy Palmer is so much more than the screamer. The scene where she stole the perfume was contrived but Patsy carried it off. I loved her work in the scene where Bianca lashed out at the cop, and her shock when she realized what she'd done. And Ricky got to do the shouting this time. LOVED everything with the choir. I don't know if you remember, but Emmerdale did this a few years ago, they had a big comic relief choir story to contrast to the misery going on elsewhere. I liked that story more than many others did, but I think it was let down by going on a little too long and being a bit too silly. This story has been shorter and more character-based -- Dot being befuddled by Boney M, Dot wanting to sing solo, only for Kim to take over. And where else can you find glittered cleavage on your soap? Then Lacey delivering such a moving performance when she confessed the truth to Ryan. Moments like that are why I'm going to miss Lacey, even if Stacey is played out. I will also miss her with Kat. This episode also had the first montage I've really enjoyed in a British soap. What an up and down year for Eastenders, possibly the most unstable ever. As the year ends I am still where this summer, before everything became so ugly and hostile and the show fell apart -- I think Kirkwood has added a lot of community and heart to the show and I find it more watchable than I have in quite a few years. I just hope it lasts.

I'm glad you got to read it. I wasn't that into the show but I know it had a lot of devoted fans and since I just have this stuff I hoped someone might be interested. The Weeklys are tough to scan so I'm glad you were able to read it. So was Dalton James let go to hunkify his character? Then they never really went anywhere with the character anyway.

That was fun - I wish we saw more of Darren and Tamwar on the show. That Dot's wig thing is so odd. So did they add the ugly wallpaper because of HD? Do you ever expect Hilda Ogden to wander into the Vic living room now?

I enjoyed most of this last episode. They're doing a good job of building up to the climax while still having plenty of strong character-oriented moments, and the cast has been doing a fantastic job, few weak performances. I just hope it won't fizzle out at the end. This cracks me up. http://holysoap.five.tv/eastenders/news/janines-holy-post-11498 Stacey photos in her last episode. http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/soaps/s2/eastenders/news/a294740/first-look-staceys-final-eastenders-ep.html

An ET piece on GL's 50th anniversary. I'd never seen a few of the black and white clips (not sure who those two men are at the start, is one of them Papa Bauer).

From the November 23, 1999 Weekly (Primedia Inc).

Clearly my sarcasm powers fail again.

Interview from the 12/14/99 Weekly (Primedia Inc) with Paul Wasilewski, who has since gone on to complete and total obscurity. I will type up the interview. It was by Mark McGarry. The photo is Arthur L. Cohen/Televest.

It's fascinating to see the outpouring of passion and trench fighting about Stacey vs Janine that this story, as messy as it has been, has produced. It reminds me much more of American type of soap fan reactions than the usual UK fan reactions.

Some of the first page was cut off. The bottom of each section there:

From the December 14, 1999 Weekly (Primedia Inc).

I have never understood that Linc recast. I wonder if Marland planned all along to bring him back just to kill him off? I imagine that some of his plans must have already been changed by then -- I don't think he would have written Iva out. That whole story is kind of hysterical to watch, mostly because none of Linc's relatives are much in the acting department, and Hannah is a hoot. I do like Connor and yummy Evan, as always. That is also around the time that Lily was working at Walsh, the TV station, and singing. It's hard to believe that later on she and so many others became allergic to careers. One of the reasons I disliked Lily was because I thought she was dull and never understood why she was supposed to be such a little darling, but when I watch again, even though Holden/Lily still bore me to tears, I appreciate her sense of normalcy. I think Martha grounds the role and the material. I was watching one of the November 1986 episodes where Lily and Meg are sparring and Lily, even with all her money, comes across as an insecure, very typical teen, hiding behind bravado as squealing Meg seems so much more at ease with everything.

Levin aged well and had a pretty good body so I think that helped him, along with the hairpiece. This is him in more recent years. You can also see Maureen Garrett, and Randall Edwards (temp Annie 1982 -- I am still looking for her episodes...). http://briangari.com/ryan.html

Looks like the Daily Mail hysteria has already caused them to edit out scenes from the upcoming NYE story. http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=1414123

That was a great interview. Walford Web always asks very focused and perceptive questions. I'm glad they asked about too many affairs. I didn't know they had the Max/Stacey stuff planned so early on. I don't know if I agree about the Brannings blossoming over the last few years - I actually think they were terribly damaged up to early 2010. I think the Dot episode