DRW50

Wendie Malick would have been a great soap bitch. So the last scene, aside from Larry Aurbach wandering around empty sets, was it Betsy fainting, or the one with Ray? Interesting that they were having some Asian characters on the show right near the end, were these major characters or just temporary? And bringing in a younger sister for Liane, I guess they really didn't know they were going to be canceled until right near the end. I guess Elliott acting as prosecutor in a case involving his ex wife and her boyfriend wasn't any conflict of interest...at least not in soap world. John Aniston was gone from the show by this time right?

I think the potential was there in those first months; it was a big mistake to have Roxy sleep with Jack, any drama to be found in that was not worth the sacrifice. I don't think the characters work very well in conflict, this just ends up with shouting. They are better as a unit.

Nino Schibetta - Oz

Night of the Hunter

Push It - Salt n Pepa

Little Shop of Horrors

Naughty - Chaka Khan

Laurette Barber - China Beach

Julia

JJ Walker - Good Times

Here's a short bit of Rita Symons and Sam Womack auditioning.

I agree that he belongs on Emmerdale. He was a very interesting character, even if they squandered him by having him just there to wind Andy up. Karl Davies wanted to leave the show. I don't think he's ever said anything about returning, one way or the other. From 2006-2009 he was filming a show called Kingdom with Stephen Fry but that has been canceled. I'd love to see him back again but I think the show might feel they have moved on from the Sugdens. Not having Matt or Dolly at the funeral was a waste. I guess they might have felt that they were on such a long time ago that viewers didn't need to see them, but this was about saying goodbye to history, to the very essence of Emmerdale, not just a character.

I think that would be too dark...although anything in this story might be dark. I wonder if Natasha might go to prison and Maisie is sent away to a clinic. Either that or they flee the country with Will.

Not a big surprise. I was surprised she stayed this long, she rarely stays anywhere for long. I'm sorry to see her go, she was fantastic, far better than a lot of the stunt casting on soaps in recent years. I hope they won't just write out all the Wyldes/Lambs because Maisie and Natasha are going. I think Nathan is a great character and while there is not exactly a huge purpose for Ryan, I think he could work as a flawed but decent young male character if he gets the writing. There aren't a lot of them on the canvas at the moment.

I think the show took her for granted. Apparently they were surprised she quit. I wonder if the last straw was the extremely degrading story about having sex in the toilets with Jack, then behaving like his grieving widow-to-be after barely dating him, before being dumped offcamera. If they'd ever given her a good story then she could have been an asset to the show. I think that Santer tended to just lump all the black characters together in one storyline without actually giving most of them a point of view. I do wonder what Daphne is, she kind of went through various stages, so that might be interesting. I'd like to see more of Kim too, as we never really actually saw her grieving, perhaps because she was there to get a reaction out of the Foxes, not to actually show her emotions.

Amello, Robert and Debbie had sex not long before his disastrous exit from the village. Funnily enough, the guy who plays Robert, Karl Davies, has for about four or five years been dating Jenna Louise Coleman, who played Debbie's best friend/soulmate Jasmine. Jackson tends to just be written as giving banter, in lieu of a strong characterization. It's kind of odd, but I don't think they know what to do with him as he was mostly brought in to give Aaron a love interest (not that you'd know they were love interests based on the body language). Probably the one episode where he wasn't like that was the one where he and Aaron first consummated their relationship. Perhaps things will improve

They've used music a fair amount over the last few years. My all time favorite was the superb episode where Ashley and a very distant and angry Laurel won custody of their biological son Arthur from the parents he'd been mistakenly given to at birth, Greg and Mel Doland. Kate Bush's "This Woman's Work" played at the start of the episode, and then near the end, when Mel Doland collapsed in tears outside the judge's chambers. Using it too much blunts the impact and also invites itself to criticism -- already some at DS are saying the scene was ruined because of the music choice.

Rarren to go - classic. Nice to see Darren's bare chest (I wish he didn't wax though). The only time I enjoyed Mitzeee was when she sprayed Val with the big water gun. I thought her entrance was very poorly done -- why focus on the back of her legs, which frankly didn't look too great, to show us how hot she was? Is she supposed to be hot or is she supposed to THINK she's hot, like Katie Price/Jordan? There's a difference. And there's no faster way to make me tire of someone than putting them in a scene with Duncan and his pigfaces. The stuff with Loretta just makes Frankie and Steph look stupid. I'm glad they had the moment where Nancy realized Loretta was the one in control. Didn't care for the lipstick but otherwise they've done a good job transitioning Nancy into older clothes. At least Jem almost sort of seemed happy a few times in the episode. The water fight was fun.

Ben was sort of like Van's son in the early years of the show, right? Were they close when Ben returned as an adult?

Whose ass is that? That seems like something Freddie Mercury would have done if he would have gotten away with it. That song is definitely in the groove of Moroder. The start reminds me of I Feel Love.

Kim Tiddy backstage. Some fun moments with Jimmy McKenna and Ashley Taylor Dawson, it's a bit boring until then.

Cherie was mentioned briefly in the December 78 SOD, as dating Andy Merriot's dual identity. I guess she wasn't a very important character. Do you think any of these characters staying around would have made a difference to the show? For some reason I thought Cal and Rick were there until the end, I'm not sure why. I hope the recaps helped fill in a few blanks...

Always love this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QXA5qEG_Ho0 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ffzgkJy5zTI&feature=related

Thanks for posting those interviews. The show went to a lot of effort to try to keep this a secret and I'm glad the public seems to have responded. I think it helps that the clues are there if you look for them. It's better to not be totally surprised than to be surprised and annoyed, don't you think? Poor Denise looked so old and gaunt when she was locked up in And credit to Don Gilet for his rambling and scary as hell "eulogy" for Denise. I really enjoy Diane Parish, even that interview has so much life to it. I love the part where she said she hid her face and hair and walked like Fatboy to get to a taping. And Tameka Empson, that was a hilarious quote -- chalk and cheese and the macaroni casserole hasn't been made yet. I hope they still have plans for Denise, and Diane just couldn't talk about it. After all this great stuff in the past few months that has shown what an asset she is to the show, I'd like to see more of her. I assume that's why they brought Kim back and also brought in Daphne. A gap between the front teeth is OK with me (look at how far Lauren Hutton has gone), but this one was a bit distracting. I don't know what to make of Daphne, in some scenes she seemed slightly dizzy and in others she was tough. I can't wait to see Denise, Kim, and Daphne in a scene together. I can't help feeling a little sorry for Liz. Apparently Libby feels the same way. I was never a big fan of Liz but when Patrick was so dismissive towards her I did feel bad, as at one point she was in love with him. I guess it's a bit obvious but I liked the contrast of the Foxes together as the Mitchells were apart. I'm not sure if Roxy would have moved out so quickly (although they at least had her react appropriately to living with Glenda), but perhaps she's afraid if she stays with Peggy she will begin to doubt Ronnie again. This has been one of the first times I have ever really bought the relationship between Ronnie and Roxy. I know there will probably be more conflict to come but it's been nice to see Roxy support her sister. And Albert still exists! I wonder if this will end with the family forgiving Peggy, as I can't see such a downbeat exit happening for an iconic character, one who has no bad blood with the show, as Wendy Richard did. I'm glad they had Peggy remember her relationship with the vile Harry Slater, although at first I did a double take as I thought she called him "Charlie" (actually she said "charming"). Having Jodie react that way to Darren is a bit silly and makes her look foolish, which they have managed to successfully avoid most of the time, but I did love Max's reaction. Jake Wood is so good at comedy. It's been a strong week for Eastenders, and hopefully that will just keep going.

Thanks Paul Raven. I hope I didn't post anything you were going to post, I always enjoy the recaps you post So Bruce had leukemia for most of 1978? You could tell in the earlier 1977 stuff that Ian was probably going to end up dead. I didn't realize that was how it would be though. Did Arlene lose this baby? So Carrie was Arlene's mother. Did she ever have any other stories? Was she just a talk-to?