DRW50

Amanda was a heroine. She was also a bit of a spoiled princess. I did like Amanda, as I felt like she was a genuinely sweet person, but not a pushover, as Vicky quickly learned. She also tended to pay for her mistakes, there was rarely the propping you get sometimes. I liked Amanda and Evan but I loved Vicky and Evan. I've never understood why they wrote Charles Grant/Evan out just as his story should have been picking up steam. They basically stranded Sandra with poor or nonexistent Sam recasts for years until she left. I've never seen the second Evan. Here's a photo of him. He looks a bit like Dan Gauthier. http://www.igs.net/~awhp/1evanf.html Dennis was Iris's son. He was AW's resident hunk at that time I guess. Chris Bruno. Bruno played gay teacher Michael Delaney on AMC from 1995-1997. He also played a sheriff on the Dead Zone TV series.

You mean Claudia? I always had a bit of a soft spot for her. She was so average compared to everyone else around her and that obviously drove her nuts. She had this very weird, dreamlike quality about her. She would have been great as a psycho, the show's version of Jill Bennett or Julia Cumson.

I really enjoyed Sandra on SuBe. The GH recast is one I choose not to think about, but it wasn't her fault (Botox aside) -- Kristina Wagner returned a few years later and was no better. The show just hates writing for veteran characters. I thought Cali Timmons was great as Paulina. She was a believable con artist yet she was also very vulnerable and she had good chemistry with Tom Eplin and some fun fights with Iris. I believe AW wanted Judi all along. They cast Cali and then waited for Judi's DAYS contract to expire. When Judi left, they fired Cali. So you're watching Jensen's Marley, right? I have never seen that much of her but I've heard a lot of fans didn't care for her. Sadly Marley just was written off, which was not beneficial to Vicky's character whatsoever.

Evan Frame wasn't played by the same actor. The 94-95 Evan was Eric Scott Woods. The show was leading up to a more permanent reunion between Amanda and Evan, I think, but then he was abruptly written out. I remember some fans saying that they were happy when Amanda went brunette because as a little girl, Amanda had always had dark hair, and only with Sandra Ferguson did she have blonde hair. But it's odd that in a few years Amanda was blonde, brunette, and redhead. I liked Sandra Ferguson just fine, I haven't seen enough of Christine Tucci to say, but I thought Laura Moss got a raw deal. She had a lot of charisma and spunk and she was very pretty. She got the blame for a crappy story.

Sandra I think left in summer 1993. Christine Tucci arrived a few months later and played Amanda through Amanda's marriage to Grant and brief reunion with Evan Frame. JFP fired Christine Tucci in summer 1995. Amanda left town with daughter Alli. They returned for Christmas 1996, with Amanda now played by Laura Moss (and Alli by Lindsay Lohan, for about 5-6 months or so). During this time Amanda had a flirtation with Jake when they worked at the paper together, and then got involved in the stupid plot to demonize Carl and make Rachel leave him. Amanda wore a dark wig and used a bad fake accent and pretended to be his mistress. As this story wound down, in early 1998, Moss was fired and replaced by Sandra Ferguson, whose first scenes were about making things up with Rachel and about her driver, Cameron Sinclair.

And even he was only on the show from May-November 1964, before they recast with Sheperd Strudwick. I wonder if he wished he'd stayed on ATWT.

Once again pacing is all over the place. They burnt through what could have been weeks of storyline in one episode. And Masood, he has so quickly thrown away his children under some guise of "It will be better for them if I'm on another continent, wooing my secret girlfriend." All this about his great relationship for Jane rushed through after months of it barely being mentioned? It makes him look fickle, and he also seems to have amnesia, either that or he's putting all the blame for his own judgments onto Zainab. I've enjoyed the Masood/Zainab relationship because it has not been the saga of the dragon lady and her burdened, whimpering husband. I hope that's not gone forever. Tamwar also seems to have lost his entire personality. I know they are all having problems right now but it seems like once characters start getting more dramatic stories, they lose most of their quirkiness and brightness, at least that's how it was on Hollyoaks when the Deans and the McQueens began getting dramatic stories. Then there was the suicide attempt, which went by so fast and, thanks to Marc Elliot's performance, had about as much impact as if Syed had an ingrown toenail. Syed, you've been turned straight overnight. It's a miracle! <Syed's eyes well up and he pouts> Syed, you've won the lottery! <Syed's eyes well up and he pouts> Syed, Pat and Darren are having sex in your living room! <Syed's eyes well up and he pouts> If Syed constantly has the same look on his face, and the same reactions to everything, how can I tell when he is upset about something? And Christian -- what was all that melodramatic blathering to Roxy about being her gay plaything and how she may want to get drunk and sleep around but he doesn't? That's all he's ever done. Does he think that casting himself in a bad 40s movie as some sort of Bette Davis knockoff means he's morally superior to Roxy now? This character gets on my nerves. I don't even like Roxy but she was doing Christian a favor. Nina Wadia and Nitin Ganatra were fantastic but there's only so much you can do. What Nina did with the scene where she said Syed would be better off dead was a tour de force. It's a shame that Zainab has repeatedly been demonized in this story because other characters have not been sympathetic enough in their own right. Even now I somehow see Zainab as more of a victim than most of the people in her life. I've always felt like the show was not the same without Pauline. I guess this is my new Pauline, for better or worse. I hope Nina gets through all this better than Wendy did when she was in the role. I remember Marc Elliot saying how upset Nina was with some of these scenes. She's such a fantastic actress but the material they have been giving her, they are writing her into such a corner.

That tongue thing Jennifer O'Neil does at :40 freaks me out. If she did that in Summer of '42, no wonder it was a hit. Was it Wendy Fulton that Schemering said was miscast or annoying on this show? Or was it Jaime Lyn Bauer? I can't remember. I remember Fulton as Jean Hackney on Knots Landing and that character worked my last nerve. (Never mind, he said Bauer's talents were wasted, not anything about miscast) It's always strange seeing Jonathan Frakes when he was younger and thinner; he looked better with some meat on his bones and with the beard. I guess this is where he and Genie Francis met? I remember him mostly from Paper Dolls, where I assumed his bitchy secretary character was gay until the show said otherwise. Ian McShane, wow! I never knew he did one of those shows. I guess he's more known now for Deadwood and for that ponderous Kings show. Michael Woods. Was this before he went to GL? Never much acting talent but he was very hot for a long time (he doesn't look too bad now either, hair issues aside). I didn't know Al Corley was on this show. Was he in the original miniseries?

Thanks for that. I wish they'd asked her about Des. That was nice of her to lie about Ricky Whittle being a good actor. Jacqui has been underused, but the whole MY BABY! MY BABY! saga that went on for about two years badly damaged the character. I hope they can go back to what she was initially.

That's sweet, he wants to be on the show for a long time. I hope he gets his wish. I'm sure a lot of people will be amazed if the show's even on in 5 years.

Falling over in the snow, not even giving her Julia's Theme?

Anderson's probably lucky because I think Kirkwood may avoid giving him the axe, since Kirkwood might be accused of a personal bias. I do wonder if it's just a matter of time. There seems to be less tolerance of dud actors, and Anderson has been a big dud. He's also heavily damaged Whitney, who was supposedly going to be a big character for the future.

I think Wendy objected to Pauline ever marrying again. If Pauline had had a comfortable relationship with a man which did not involve marriage, she probably would have gone along with that. I doubt Pauline would have had a happy ending even if Wendy had wanted one. Few ever really leave Eastenders happy, with a few exceptions, if the show wants them to return, like Sharon or Michelle. Even then, they are often killed off in time, like Kathy, or Angie. The problem with making Pauline the villain was the story was terrible and the people involved were unpleasant -- not that far off from what the show is doing today. Sonia and her overnight lesbianism and generally pointless, dumb Martin. They had no idea what to do with any of the characters on the show at that time and they just acted out of spite. The story as it is now doesn't even have that excuse, since Nina Wadia isn't Wendy Richard. I think they didn't have the audience sympathy for Syed or Christian that they may have anticipated, which means the story isn't working as well as it could have, so they're overcompensating now. I don't think it's worth damaging other, more compelling characters. I think that was just supposed to show how paranoid and isolated he was. Janine was sort of humoring him until he freaked out.

I'm sure living with her is very difficult, but it wasn't that long ago when Masood was leading the charge against Syed, when Zainab herself was more vulnerable. It's only when it suits him that she's the villain. From Zainab's point of view, closing the business makes sense. Thanks to Syed, they have lost tons of customers. Jane was all over Masood in spite of her short-lived fury over Masood leaving Christian injured in the street -- she must wonder where that will go next (and based on Masood's actions towards Jane over the past year, she's probably right). The longer they work together, the more likely that things will get worse. I just feel disappointed seeing them make Zainab the villain to try to generate pity for other characters. They seem to think they can do to her what they did to Pauline. It was annoying enough to watch what happened to her, much less seeing Zainab turned into a harridan for the likes of Syed or this weird Jane/Masood stuff.

Devon Anderson was barred from the BSAs... http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/soaps/s2/eastenders/news/a219635/devon-anderson-fears-eastenders-axe.html Talking about another story, the spoilers that came out today mention

They've always been close, but in her mind, he left her brother for dead. In the space of an episode, they're laughing, being very touchy-feely, and then he wants to go away with her. It just makes me wonder why they even had Christian beaten up, since it serves no story purpose. I guess what confuses me is how they veer between Masood disowning his son because of the shame brought onto his family, and Masood actually wanting to be close to his son, and only holding back because Zainab doesn't want Syed around. A few weeks ago it was Masood who was leading this shaming and now it's all on her shoulders. She could seduce Ryan, to get back at Whitney (and Whitney goes "Who's Ryan?"). She gets pregnant. She gives that baby, a boy, to Jane. Then Janine finds out, and makes Ryan take the baby back. As it's a little baby boy and he scrunches up his face a lot, she names him Frank, after her father, and her life is complete. Meanwhile, Jane weeps about not having any babies, and the soap gods magically heal her uterus, because they can't take hearing it anymore. I don't even know if it's in transition so much as Santer just didn't care about the show beyond stunts. Once he finished his last stunt, what was left? Hopefully that will be remedied now. I also hope they get better casting for the kids. Louise is even worse than Dotty. I think of all the kids only one or two can act.

They are making Masood look awful. To want to abandon his entire family, including a baby, to run away with Jane...who was not all that long ago, until she shrugged it off, furious with him for leaving her brother bleeding on the ground? And we seem to be back to, "The family would be great if Zainab weren't so nasty," which wasn't the story they were telling only a few weeks ago. As always the pacing and continuity on the show now is very confusing. Lucas now constantly goes around like he wants to whoop some ass. They should ask viewers who they want Lucas to throttle next. Janine and Roxy seem to know how to shut Syed down. It's refreshing.

Sorry. I didn't know if that was a spoiler since the story's already started on the episodes. I'll spoiler it from now on.

I think he looks OK, I think he looks better than Ben Price does, it's more I just don't see him with Tina, based on their personalities. I think at some point Tina would seriously question why she has been passing herself around to every man in the Platt family history, aside from the gay ones. It's a good thing Martin, with his fondness for young girls, is long gone.

Graeme and Tina on the grass. The pose makes him look like her father... http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/showbiz/tv/soaps/2970164/Graeme-Proctor-gets-to-grips-with-Tina-McIntyre.html Craig Gazey's said they could be the new Raquel and Curly, which kind of confuses me, because they have nothing in common with Raquel or Curly.

She sounds like Sarah Louise. I hope they won't have her seduce Steve, ugh.

So, finally watched the funeral episodes... Outside of the slanging match between Tracy and Becky, which I don't care about, I thought the funeral was a very fitting sendoff for Blanche. What I liked was that they had characters who didn't go along with the idea that Blanche was some curmodgeonly dear (Roy barely managed to hide the contempt he felt for her), as that's fitting to what Blanche was. She could be nasty sometimes, and not just because it was what someone needed to hear. I also liked the beautifully written conversation Deirdre had with Ken about how no one but her had ever seen the kind or supportive side of her mother. This is true of a lot of people after they die, but this and the comments Deirdre made about Blanche being so proud during Tracy's christening were a nice reminder that Blanche wasn't always a battleaxe. In her first years on the show she was a much warmer person, she still had sarcasm and told home truths, but there wasn't as much bitterness. I'm glad the show references those days because I think that was Deirdre's peak as a character, her days with Ray -- she was much funnier and feistier, and not so dour. I think one of the reasons they made Blanche dour was to match what Deirdre had become. Deirdre's eulogy was also very well put together, Anne Kirkbride, who I'm not overly fond of in emotional scenes, gave such wonderful performances with these moments. It also got to me when they kept cutting to poor Peter as he cried. The relationship between Peter and Blanche was one of the best on the show in recent years and I'm glad they gave Peter some moments of his own to talk to Leanne about his loss. If Kim Crowther is to be remembered positively for anything, it should be bringing Peter back and making him an important part of the show. Ken's speech was also lovely, and you could tell William Roache was affected by what he was saying. Roache is often seen as being a wooden actor but this performance seemed to be from the heart. Anyway, it was a much better goodbye than I had initially thought she'd get, as it was full of the heart and the little moments which are more difficult to come by on soaps now. I was watching a minute of the Goodbye Blanche special and they showed one of her first scenes as Blanche. She bumped into Jerry Booth, who is one of my all time favorite Corrie characters. I hope Maggie Jones and Graham Habberfield are having a nice conversation right now

They didn't have anything to say to each other on Corrie (I think they just showed May and Archie sitting next to each other at the wake), but Roy Hudd and June Whitfield worked on a radio show together in the late 90s. http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/how-we-met-june-whitfield-and-roy-hudd-1291789.html Corrie will be going HD at the end of the month. http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/broadcasting/s3/coronation-street/news/a219473/coronation-street-to-join-itv1-hd.html

I can't remember anyone smoking on Hollyoaks. I read that they have a ban on that, even though a number of their cast members smoke. Emmerdale doesn't have a lot of smoking. Aaron used to smoke sometimes. So does Chas. Eli smoked sometimes. On American soaps characters only smoke if they're evil or if they don't care about life anymore. When Buzz Cooper on GL gave up on life for a while, he started smoking again for the first time in many years. It just shows Corrie's uniqueness, I guess, in that even now when smoking is so verboten in popular culture, you will still see so many character smoking, and not in a "Smoking is bad," way. It doesn't bother me, because the truth is that tons of people still smoke and it's insulting to say they're bad people. The only downside is that when I hear Deirdre, especially when she's crying or laughing, she sounds exactly like a relative of mine who spends much of her time hacking up tar.

Wow, thanks. This is the one that Harding Lemay wrote for, and someone who was once at DS, right?