DRW50

Thanks. I'm surprised they didn't have a two-for-one with Kathy

I probably will watch that with Nancy. I watch stuff with Duncan and Cheryl but that's mostly because they are usually foisted on characters I like...except when Cheryl is with the Valentines, and I watched that because Sasha treated her like the trash she is. I think this story annoys me more because I just think that she's such an obvious cuckoo and yet everyone believes her over Jake. Not that Jake is the picture of sanity but it's all too convenient.

Jem continues to be dull, and when she speaks in a manner which is not snotty, she sounds like she has a speech impediment. Sorry but I just don't care about what her father did offcamera years ago. So far I'm mostly just interested in Heidi, who is kooky glamorous yet strangely maternal. I can't get used to Tricia Dingle on this show. Her uptalking, the perpetual perkiness, doesn't help. I can't figure out whether she's on some sort of a con. The Costello sons are just kind of there. The youngest, the blonde one, looks like Neighbours casting, and his line readings are Sasha Valentine-esque. The older one, who looks like a cross between Max and Dan Futterman, seems to be able to act, but I'm not really very interested in him as of yet. The scenes where he beat Zak at football were a bizarre way to try to introduce a new character, especially that weird montage, and while he has a nice body, I think when you have a slo-mo of someone doing their own Lucky Vanous parody (hello 1994!), they automatically look less attractive. Still skipping anything with Loretta. Today was a difficult test, as some of her scenes involved Darren. Sorry Darren! Anyway, I really liked the scene with Darren and Jack and the dog.

Stacey has become so isolated from most of the characters...I'd forgotten about this scene. They should have her come back into the Lucas story before it ends. Every time I see this type of scene I always think of:

That was such a WTF moment. Say one thing about Kathleen Hutchinson (wasn't this still her?), she seemed to know how to do the American primetime soap moments better than just about anyone else at Eastenders. Peggy can be such a ridiculous character sometimes, they were lucky to have Barbara Windsor who makes that stuff work (and of course she was lucky to have them). I guess it helped that Barbara wasn't around until the end of the story. Two years of Peggy yapping and snapping at the Watts would have been exhausting.

Sometimes I think some writers are best at a certain soap. Harvey seems more suited to Corrie. I guess Daran Little managed to do well at Hollyoaks (and is now at Eastenders) but Little also may always have his heart at Corrie.

Kirkwood can take Simon Crowther...he already wrote for Hollyoaks (although I think that was pre-Kirkwood). He just should avoid hiring Kim Crowther.

You're right -- the other British soaps never had a long term matriarch. Corrie had strong women but they were not heads of families, they were more prominent figures in the community. Eastenders was similar, unless you count Pauline. The real head of the family early on was Lou, and she probably would have stayed around a long time (Anna Wing is still alive and acting even now), but Wing wanted to leave after a few years. The only other soap which comes close was Crossroads, with Noelle Gordon, who was the head of her show for almost 20 years until she was fired in 1982. I sometimes wonder if the McAllisters worked out the way they were supposed to or if the show gave up on them. Their main claim to fame is bringing the Dingles in. It's funny you mention uptight, because the man who played the father of the family was the lead in some of those "naughty" (not porn, but a lot of nudity from men and women) British films of the 70s.

Someone said that one of the soap magazines

It's surprising to see the ratings so strong, because none of these stories are the traditional shock value fare -- no big explosions, no affairs being revealed. Denise was killed off recently but the aftermath of that is still playing out. For the show to get such huge ratings at a time when the stories are much more emotional and psychological, and involve very unpleasant subjects like a woman dealing with her sexual abuse as a girl, is really something. I think it proves again that you don't necessarily need sensational stories, just powerful, character-driven moments, and I think it also helps show that solid pacing will help keep viewers interested (although I know these ratings are also building up on what has been happening with ratings momentum for 2-3 years now). Sometimes I think soaps say hey, let's just have some filler and then people will come back for the big moment. You can have a show where every episode has one big moment or another, and where the filler isn't slapped together at the last minute. I know it's about more than quality (if it were about quality I think Emmerdale would be higher and Corrie lower) but still, I'm really happy the show is getting rewarded for their very consistent run this summer. The show hasn't been this consistent for me since John Yorke.

Finian's Rainbow

I thought that in Christian's early months on the show they said he cheated on his partners. I can't remember now. I thought the show did a good job, at least in those scenes after Jordan got angry and left the Branning house, of showing why Abi would become tired of Jordan and have a crush on Darren. I was a bit thrown last week when she suddenly just had a crush on him. I can't help feeling sorry for the young man who plays Jordan. For months all he had to talk about was that damn tree. Now it's endless talk about how it's my fault and think of me and me me me me me.

I guess it just reminds us how unpredictable the most predictable of soaps could be at this time. It also says a lot about the LOL audience, who supposedly abandoned the show around these years because of all the attempts at bringing in radical new subject matter. These characters seem, by Van and Bruce standards, to be fairly out of the mainstream, yet the audience adored them. Just as the SFT audience adored Jo even as she changed with the times, divorcing, not needing a man. The audience might have been more patient if the soaps had been more nuanced in their attempts to bring about change.

I thought this was a strong episode. I also thought it was notable that you had three big stories featuring characters of three different races -- this is something which really hasn't been all that common since the days of Tony Holland and Julia Smith. They finally addressed that Patrick's biological family is long gone, he feels like he failed them. He has used Denise and her kids as a surrogate family and once that ended disastrously it is understandable that Patrick would implode. Patrick is a character again, not just a plot point. It's a long time coming. Rudolph Walker was wonderful. The scene which probably got me most was the look on Jim's face at what Patrick was saying. John Bardon is such a strong actor even now. Tiana Benjamin is so underrated, she's been very good every day in this storyline. Nice continuity to remember the little troll doll Preeti gave her, even if it's gone now. I always prefer Kim in the quieter moments, as she was with Libby and Chelsea and Jordan, but the railing at Lucas was a very dramatic scene. I was not fond of the way Zainab was written in this episode. I don't believe that Zainab would be callous about Libby's feelings just because Syed has left the family for Christian. That scene where she couldn't believe the Minute Mart was closed was kind of odd. I also tend to roll my eyes sometimes at the idea of Tamwar torn between brother and parents, as he has never been all that close to Syed, and should have felt more resentment over what Syed did to Amira than he has felt. Still, the scenes where he asked Syed to come home were good. Christian going to the mosque didn't surprise me. I do wish that they would address Christian's past inability to stay faithful to a partner. This is another occasion where you can't just say "Gay men don't cheat." Not all of them do, but Christian does. Anyway, overall Marc Elliot and John Partridge are believable in the intimate moments and I'm glad Eastenders let the characters kiss for a second. Has Dagenham Dave been on the show before? I was happy to see Olive again. Sylvia Syms is a very well respected actress in the UK and she always adds a little spark to her work on EE. Olive is a button-pusher and a real piece of work at times -- she always seems to say something that causes an uproar. I remember how rude she was to Stella, which ended in Stella banging her own head against the wall again and again. The rape reveal scenes were as good as I expected, or better. I will say that I didn't really like how Glenda used the situation to her advantage, I would have liked more genuine remorse from her, but oh well, I guess that's her character. Seeing Peggy look and look for a reason not to believe Ronnie was just awful, but true to life. Roxy's anger was the best work I've ever seen from Rita Symons. And of course Samantha Womack was amazing, as Y&RWT mentioned she underplayed her scenes as Ronnie would. Heartbreaking stuff. The scene where Jack supported her was a very important moment, as this is the type of stuff Rack rarely had until recently. The moment I felt the worst for Ronnie was when she said she was just a little tart. And the way she talked about how Archie preyed on her, and her memories being so clear, all the little details. I feel like someone did their homework with these scenes. It was strange she chose that as it was as dated as Glenda's wedding dress. I thought the dress was kind of strange for her but I did like the waist, what do you call that, empire? I also really liked the scene where Libby remembered she has to plan two funerals. I don't normally think Belinda is the greatest actress but she's come into her own lately. Her reaction to Patrick throwing them out was so sad.

That doesn't surprise me, sadly. Allan had awful casting instincts. Rae's not too bad. I wonder when we will see her again.

I wish the Muppet Show version of this was online, I just loved it to pieces! You could tell she loved every minute she was on the show. Oh, it is online! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VU1ihNmbv50

I wonder if this is going to be short term and they may give the pub back. This isn't exactly being treated as some big changing of the guard, at least not if those photos are any indication.

You should have seen Nicola 5-6 years back! She had very short, chopped up hair, like a warped cereal bowl was on her head, and she also had braces. That photo is awful (and it looks cheap -- the lighting is shocking), but I actually think she's looked much better in recent years -- probably her best look was around 2008 when she had long hair which also had a wave. I don't like the idea of Jimmy and Nicola running the Woolpack. Nicola Wheeler has even said she thinks Nicola would be a horrible landlady. I can see Jimmy enjoying himself but Nicola would never stoop to running a pub.

That was weird! I liked it though, surprisingly, and I learned a few lines I'd never understood before. Everyone involved in those scenes was great but I was most happy that Myra finally learned the truth. I'm glad she's being included. I loved her reaction to finding out almost instantaneously that Calvin had had affairs with Theresa AND Mercedes.

That scene with Darren and Jack confused me. I couldn't tell if Jack was supposed to be annoyed or amused. I will say that I'm very glad the show has put Jack back in the pub. I do not think that Jack and Frankie should own the pub anymore, as that was a dead end storywise and that place has too many horrors for them to ever work as their place of business, but I'm glad Jack is still working there, it's a way to integrate him back into the cast after he has been on the sidelines for years. So far I like Carl and Heidi, but I keep thinking of who they look like. Carl looks like Michael Lucas, and Heidi reminds me of a cross between Beverly D'Angelo and Amy Poehler (it's the crazy eyes). I wondered if Carl uses Botox, as he might have a bit more expression in his face if he didn't. Cheryl was even more pathetic than usual -- she's so entitled and so delusional. I hope we don't have to hear any more of this crap about her thinking Jack is obsessed with her. And I am tired of that weird grin where she looks like she's had a stroke. I've decided to just start skipping all the Loretta scenes. I think this was the first time they had anything between Jem and Ravi. I didn't like the montage of "Close to You" as they did their sparring, it felt very cheap. Ravi has a very nice body but apparently Marquess never saw the story where he had to seduce Kris and Nancy. When he tries to be seductive he comes across like a creepo, it's that weird lisp that goes into his voice. And Jem is a flat, boring actress.

Amello did you get to see the photos I put above?

I think that Phil is a character whose story relevance ended a number of years ago but who is seen as very important as some kind of part of the fabric. I was never fond of the "hardman" stuff they put on him when Grant left, although it was very popular with the public. The last time I really liked one of his stories was when he was with Kate. The Stella story had some fantastic moments (the woman who played Stella was unbelievable, and I can't believe she's Emma Thompson's sister!), but wasn't followed up on. The show I think made a mistake in not wanting to explore Phil's relationship with Ben, and instead, somewhat shamefully IMO, siding with Phil and treating Ben as some pathetic thing to be mocked. They stuck to this story and to Phil bedding various attractive women instead of actually writing for Phil. At least they are finally exploring more of the story now but because the character was so hyped up as being mythic you still hear some say "I'm tired of Phil being blamed" or "Phil is a hardman, why aren't they showing him be tough!" Depending on the success of any other existing characters, or new characters, over the next year or two, I think it could be time for Phil to go. I think generally a lot of the Mitchell dynamics are played out. I guess it also depends on how the recast of Ben works and what they do with him, if he can give Phil a different type of storyline. Apparently Soaplife is saying that in early August

Some photos for http://gofugyourself.celebuzz.com/go_fug_yourself/2010/07/a_fuglyoaks_wedding071910.html

Have you seen Monday's episode yet? I haven't quite yet. I did want to see the Costellos, and to see Val again, I really liked Val after she got settled in.