DRW50

I think Summer Wine has been canceled. She and the woman who played Mavis both speak badly about the show, which kind of makes me sad, as I really wanted to see them one last time, especially Mavis. The guy who played Eddie Yeats also won't come back, although he didn't say that was because of the quality of the show, he said he doesn't like to leave his home too often. Julie Goodyear couldn't handle the workload the last time she returned in 2002 so I'm not sure what she'd do now but I'd love to see Bet one more time. I also think they should bring back Jed Stone, and Emily's nephew Spider, and Toyah, and Todd Grimshaw, and I wouldn't mind seeing Cilla one more time either. And since he's still alive and seems well I wish they could bring back Dennis Tanner, I <3 Dennis and I think that they screwed him over badly after he left. He was a happy-go-lucky, fun character, and then a few years after his exit they had Dennis stealing from old people and being put in prison.

I think Van is pretty much exactly what Lily's son would be. With Giralmo in the role he would have likely ended up as Noah with a little more acting talent. If they even had him as gay.

I think she auditioned for something else too, it was in some casting director interview a long time ago.

About Linda Evans -- I think Dallas actually came to life because of Linda. David Jacobs said he wrote Knots Landing and then CBS told him they wanted something bigger and something which would center more on the character Linda would have played (Pam). Then by the time he wrote it, Linda had already moved on. Julia Roberts auditioned for a role on....I think...Loving, or Ryan's Hope. Cher was THISCLOSE to playing a role on Search for Tomorrow in 1982. At the last minute, she or her agent decided it was a bad idea, and Michelle Phillips was cast. Yes, IIRC, some of the people at GL, like Liz Keifer, said they were upset at having to make those comments. I thought Toby did a great job with the role but there was a very strong ugliness and desperation in how they wrote for her Amanda. I remember how horrified the longtime fans were.

So Jean Alexander isn't returning. I didn't think she would. I hope they won't decide there's no point in bringing anyone back. I think there are still some slightly lesser known but still interesting characters who could return.

Lacey Turner is going to guest star on Being Human. And, a Phil spoiler, per Soaplife...

Megan Rutherford auditioned to play Vicky/Marley when Jensen Buchanan left AW in 1994. Hillary Bailey Smith auditioned to play Becky Lee Abbott on OLTL in 1979. Phillip Brown was supposed to play Ben Warren on GL, but left very early on, and was replaced by Hunt Block.

I can't see Eva LaRue as Rosanna. While she can play that cold bitchiness it's still odd to imagine her in that role. Cady was a better choice. Christie Clark as Summer on GH? What a wretched role that was. For a long time I've been fascinated by Frances Fisher playing a tough redheaded cop on EON and then Marg Helgenberger being a tough redheaded cop on RH. I guess they were tied together. They cast a Frances type. Lucky break for Marj, who has since gone on to a big career. Sandra Ferguson as Lily seems like an odd fit, although she did play a teen princess on AW. Susan Haskell seems like a little better choice. I don't think Jane Elliott would have been right for Felicia Gallant, and since she has left most of her soaps after a few years they were probably better off with Linda Dano, as Felicia and her friends basically helped carry the show through a lot of lean periods. Did Carrie Genzel audition for Victoria after Heather Tom left in 2003 or after Heather Tom left in 1997? For some reason I thought it was 97. Poor Nolan North. I would love to see him on a soap again, he's so cute and so funny. Scott Reeves is dull and leathery. I guess it pays to be pals with Steve Burton. Hiring Tesreau without an audition was a mistake in this case. Timmins would have been a much better Tina.

New credits and theme on the way: http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/soaps/s13/hollyoaks/scoop/a230177/confirmed-new-credits-and-theme-for-oaks.html

By the way, AMS, you've probably already seen this, but while they haven't gotten to Nick yet, Corripedia has a full list of appearances for a lot of the characters. http://coronationstreet.wikia.com/wiki/Category:List_of_main_character_appearances

AMS, these are the schedules for upcoming episodes, courtesy of Digital Spy: Sunday, June 20 7.30pm - Coronation Street (30 mins) Thursday, June 24 8.30pm - Coronation Street (30 mins) It's all so bewildering. I was like WTF when I realized there was a Thursday episode, as for some reason I thought there wouldn't be. And then there's another one this Sunday but no others until Thursday. I hope that when the World Cup is over they might think of not going back to having the gap from Monday to Thursday.

Danny left with a real whimper, didn't he? Just dumped early in the episode. Not that I care. What an awful actor and character. And the endless mushmouth talking. I barely understood him even as he left. I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop with Glenda. I'm glad they didn't have her doing any side smirks when she was alone or anything but I feel like they may want us to think she is going to be just as much of a problem for Ronnie and Roxy as Danny was. Why did Patrick turn against Liz so vehemently? Anyway, I enjoyed the scenes at the dance. They were the most I've enjoyed the show in quite a while. I loved the scenes with Patrick and Dot, and seeing him grope her. Then Liz talking to Jim about how this music was too old for her, ending in Jim putting on some Elvis so Liz could dance. The Patrick/Liz dance at the end was sweet. How many times are we going to have to see Ryan lord over Janine as she turns to yet another silly scheme? I swear this has been going on for all of 2010. The Denise/Patrick stuff was good insight into Denise. Poor Pat seems to have no life or future. I was so annoyed when she went on about people staying in her room. Selfish Bianca and her kids live in that house rent-free and treat Pat like a pack mule.

I forgot there was an episode last night. I'm glad that they haven't had (so far) Jason as an ass to try to make us root more for Tina/Graeme, and I'm glad they had those nice scenes between Tina and Rita (I thought their relationship had been forgotten), but does anyone else think Tina's reaction has been way beyond a relationship ending? She claims that this isn't about her father but the sudden weeping and the sitting in dark rooms is not something she has done in the past because of a breakup. I think she is too traumatized to be with anyone. They seem to be trying to turn Nick into the new Mike Baldwin. First he talked about how he used to run errands for Mike and sat in his chair. Then we have Carla being eased out of the factory and Nick being in charge. Probably the most blatant was when Julie was calling him "Mr. T" (I could swear some of the old factory girls used to call Mike "Mr. B"), and when Nick called them "girls" and Izzy said they were women, and Nick made a sarcastic comment back to her. That was all very Mike Baldwin. I guess it makes sense to write him this way but I don't think Ben Price has Johnny Briggs's charm, and I also think the world has changed so much that a Mike Baldwin character doesn't work as well today. Even Mike himself didn't work that well in his last 5 or 10 years on the show. Most of his stories ended up being about long lost children. That weird woman who is all over John Stape, it was funny to hear her call him "cock." That's what Bet Lynch and Hilda Ogden used to say all the time. I haven't heard anyone on the show say it in ages.

A Tweet from Lucy Parteger talked about a Dingle family moment that was going to be hard on her, or something. The rumor with the Nathan and Natasha stuff is that

Upcoming scenes: http://www.virginmedia.com/tvradio/soaps/soapspoilers/emmerdale-week-26-2010.php?ssid=1

Thanks. Mink? No wonder some of those scenes seem a bit John Waters-esque... So what do you think of Angelo? This Colleen woman with Alf and Marilyn, is she just a short term character?

I know what you mean. I read some of the main episode thread at Digital Spy before I watched the episodes and so much was about people making negative comments on the looks of Danny Miller and Marc Silcock I thought there must not have been much to talk about. But instead the episodes were very good. The kiss was great, more than I expected, a lot of tenderness and vulnerability with a possibility of more. I never thought they'd show even that much and I hope they won't get a ton of complaints. It was brave writing to have both Aaron and Jackson so nervous, and then have Aaron eager to go to the next step. It seemed like more of this episode was about Jackson's POV, his fears and his longing for Aaron, and a hint of his past (when he said Aaron was lucky to have not lost anything). It was also so important that Aaron stood up for the boy who was being bullied and no longer cared about himself. I almost wish we could see more of that character again, or even Wayne (who finally became more interesting). The stuff with Paddy and Chas (especially the joke about "carrying wood") was great too. And the Wylde drama, which just keeps getting better and more tense and dramatic. And Nathan wearing a denim shirt. He looked good in that, which few do.

Thanks for posting that. She seems like she's very verbose and full of energy, I'm looking more forward to seeing her now.

Andrew is so boring... I liked the scenes where Lyn (who reminds me of Stockard Channing) found out the truth, and reluctantly agreed to stay quiet. The actress who plays Steph seemed to struggle in most of these scenes, perhaps due to some of her problems with the material. That last scene between them was great, as was the scene where Lyn needed Susan's comfort, even though she was keeping a secret that will destroy Susan's daughter.

Jake Wood interview: http://holysoap.five.tv/eastenders/news/jake-saucy-scenes-are-easy-7911

I don't watch this show very often but sometimes I miss seeing Emily Symons on Emmerdale so I wanted to see her on H&A, since I've heard this was the soap she was best in. I really enjoy her presence as Marilyn -- are longtime fans happy to see her back? Is she being true to her character? I didn't see the story where they said she was dying. I guess she still is, but she seems to be in good spirits and adds a lot of life to the show. Are there any teens I should care about? I skip most of that, and the cop stuff. I did think the cop with the short hair was hot. I don't know his name. Is anyone else distracted by the school uniforms? The girls look like tape dispensers. How long has the woman who looks a bit like Tammy Faye Bakker (and someone else I'm blanking on...possibly Amy Sedaris) been on the show? She has a booze problem. I kind of like her, although some of her outfits are scary.

Chesney and a girl - The thing that annoys me most with Simon and the talking is that over and over with Amy, the people around her usually try not to talk in front of her or at least say "We shouldn't talk in front of her." They never do that with Simon. He's written like an adult most of the time. That's brilliant I overstated the stuff with those 3. It didn't take up much of the episode. I think what annoys me most is the implication that Graeme just somehow deserves her as a love interest because he was nice to her. Honestly, that should be about friendship, not rewarded with a hookup. Sometimes friends make hellish lovers.

I normally don't care for Nancy when she does the bickering and snapping but Cheryl deserved it. When the hell will this character go away? She was vile and insecure from the second she saw Nancy. She ruined most of those scenes with her bad drag queen act. Why is she such a small person that a woman possibly dying of cancer barely matters to her? I liked the scene where Frankie and Newt laughed about how he wasn't the craziest one now. Was that it for Loretta? Good riddance. Have they mentioned Debbie or Craig at all in this cancer story? The stuff with Michaela and Zak and the attack was awful. Her rival at work is a silly, one-note caricature, and to plop her and the incredibly stupid plump gang storyline down in the middle of a racial attack is tacky.

I agree that Chensey's secret wasn't worth the buildup. I actually like the idea of Chesney going all Eastenders and selling in a market square, as his family is full of grifters and hustlers and at least he is using that for good. It's just that making it seem very serious, then having Fiz shriek at him for what seemed to be an entire episode, makes the whole thing more ridiculous. I guess this is a way of getting out of having Chesney actually go away to university, which is something most soaps try to avoid. A lot of fans tend to say that Chesney is dead weight and was only interesting when he was a child but compared to most of the actors in his age range on Hollyoaks and Eastenders I think he's OK. He's not that great at soppy emotional stuff but the rest, like sarcasm and anger, he does well. For a show which is often derided as being for "old people", I think Corrie tends to get their teenagers right more often than Eastenders does. Perhaps that's why Corrie's young demos aren't really that different from EE's. I would like to see Peter punch Nick in every episode. The endless smugness is just unbearable. I get especially annoyed when I read descriptions for the episodes which talk about how Natasha (who is rapidly losing any interesting character traits) is threatened by the closeness or chemistry between Nick and Leanne. Leanne acts like she can barely tolerate him and Nick just gives her that weird grimace and squint he gives everyone. I do like Simon but I am tired of people talking about their serious personal problems RIGHT IN FRONT OF HIM. It doesn't make me laugh or whatever it's supposed to do, it just disturbs me. I don't mind Tina and Jason breaking up but why can't they break up because of their own problems, not because she wants Graeme? The scene where she was supposed to be relaxed around Graeme, frankly, it came across as a person spending time with her slightly slow friend. Ciaran is great as the straight man or the guy who pokes fun at other people. The stuff with Mary was brilliant and the moments where he kept teasing Michelle over her school photos and her mother was the first time I've enjoyed Michelle since the time Ryan called her a slut. What did you think of the scenes with John and his teacher friend finding out about his Colin ruse? This story doesn't interest me but the friend, who seems very desperate, is interesting.