DRW50

This is a break, not permanent. My guess is due to budget.

I think Lucky was in JJ's last two years, and Liz for around that time up to when Jason left in 2000. After that, probably not. It did seem like Guza was trying to push Lucky heavily again when Jonathan first returned.

A-level is still mostly whoever is tied to Sonny/Jason/Carly.

I think it's a combo of many things - I don't believe Frank really wanted him back, Lucky is exclusively tied to characters Frank has no great interest in, and Luke, who defined Lucky, is long gone. We may be getting the same treatment with Lulu if she didn't have a child via Valentin. I think Robert Newman would be fine as Jeff, if they give him a chance. I was never that into him as an actor but he's certainly capable. I would say there are more dynamic actors, but then you look at what GH did with those actors, like Richard Burgi, so maybe it doesn't matter. I'd say maybe Gregg Marx, if he was interested.

I could definitely see Ava becoming paranoid about Liz and scheming against her. I know Ava fans would say that's beneath her and she deserves happiness and a good man, but I think Ava would be better off as a character (the recent OLTL Dorian stuff I watched still in my head) who never lets herself be happy and always wants what she doesn't have. I can see Jake going being down to wanting to avoid Jason/Liz. I also wonder if it's because they want to concentrate more on Jason still being in "adventure" or with the Corinthos and Quartermaine crew (as Sasha is now in that grouping too), and they thought Jake and Liz being in his life would be too confusing. It's a waste as the feud between Jake and Danny could have gone somewhere.

I'm probably a contrarian as I did not care for Liz in the years where the show was pushing her (moreso after JJ left and we got Jason/Liz, the model period, and all the endless dock pity party scenes) but after it became clear the show had no real use for her beyond what moved the plot along (this began somewhere in the mid '00s, if not a few years earlier), I warmed to her a little. The truly ugly way that she was treated in JJ's first return (through no fault of his) still stays with me. Becky Herbst will never be one of my favorite actresses, but she is calm, direct, capable of some subtlety, and after getting to see some of GH of the '60s and '70s over the last decade, is more at home with the foundational acting style of GH than I had realized. She also has chemistry with most of her leading men, which is rare. The show should have done so much more with her as a single mother, should have done much more with her kids, who have now all been shipped off, or in Aidan's case, overaged and given a cynically, depressingly offcamera coming out storyline. But in some ways that may have benefited Liz - look at what happened to Carly and her kids when they were treated as leading characters. They are all completely spent (and one is long dead, somehow staying dead even with ill-fated attempts to change that). It's a shame they apparently did such a half-assed job bringing in her parents as I know a number of fans had wanted that for a long time. I agree that Liz should be in a new relationship. Lucky's return has been exactly what I expected (I believed the show had passed him by, and I still believe that), and Ric makes sense in her life as their version of John Dixon and Kim Hughes. As for Jason - Jake should still be on the canvas and that should cause much more of a relationship between Jason and Liz, but I think that only works as tension over what could have been and never was, not anything now.

Anna may not want to think about that after her liplock with Jason.

That's awesome.

Thanks. Really appreciate you taking the time to look and to respond.

This sums up many of my feelings about Trump and China in this term. I'd go a step further and say I wonder if they own him now (Russia still has a big hold but they've lost a great deal of influence and China has had to bail them out). His ties to Elon, who is also in thrall to China, are another clue. https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2025/02/05/trump-pro-china-moves-00202500

Rebecca Minkoff Exits 'The Real Housewives Of New York' After 1 Season

I think this is Simon Prebble in this vaguely frightening ad.

That makes a lot of sense. We could even tie the bizarre Krystal brain tumor/damage story to the end of the Reagan era - she started the show strong and vibrant and ends as a disappearing shell. Neighbours recently introduced another member of their rich family, who is named Fallon Morell. Another reminder that the main memory many have of Dynasty now seems to be stupid names...and the family in question is another reminder of just how dull rich families often are on soaps (Dynasty in particular after the first few seasons).

Yesterday I was watching this pay cable short film, which was in part made by (and co-starring) Arleen Sorkin. Directed by the wonderful Tom Schiller (who made many great shorts for SNL and the unreleased cult film Nothing Lasts Forever), this also stars Lauren Hutton and Carrie Fisher. There is a wealth of talent involved, to the point where Patrick Duffy just pops up for one scene, but the most interesting part is at around 22 minutes, when we get a montage of people offering "friendly" motherhood advice. You can see Brooke Adams as one of the "helpful" people, but then you really start to get into the part that threw me - several DAYS actors who were not credited with the cast (they do get a "thanks," which presumably means they helped financially as the whole making of feature has a runner on begging for money). They include Macdonald Carey, Frances Reid, and Leann Hunley. It's fun seeing Macdonald and Frances playing characters very far from Tom and Alice. The "thanks" section also has Lee Smith (presumably the costume designer Arleen credited for creating the famous jester outfit she wore on DAYS), Chip Dox (who was an art director at DAYS), Deidre Hall, Al Rabin, and Shelley Curtis. The credits are at around 27 minutes. I was wondering if @JAS0N47 or anyone else might know if any of the other names have ties to DAYS? You can also see a bit of Leann in this behind-the-scenes clip:

Thanks for the extra info. In the long run I think Hallows was the best producer they had.

That definitely had potential, mainly thanks to Cynthia Watros. Sorry, I know this is veering off topic...

I still wish I knew what his plans would have been. I can't say any that happened were great to me, beyond the increased emphasis on character and the longer scenes, but we'll never know.

I was looking at an article from 1982 which described Brookside (which was also set on a cul-de-sac) as "Knots Landing, scouse-style." I knew Knots ran in the UK, I even saw a clip on Points of View complaining about how many times the show had been preempted by the BBC, but I didn't realize it was already an easy press reference there by '82.

If the departure was very sudden, they may not have had the time to change the scripts. Or maybe Frank just didn't care about making the effort. They will probably just have him on long enough to reveal he was the baddie all along and have Sonny, Jason, Valentin save the day. The main way he might stay is if they finally give up on Sidwell and just offload some of those stories onto him.

An episode from late January has been on Youtube for a while. Can't remember if any others ever have (I think saynotoursoap used to have two up).

It's going to get much worse. He is going to make huge cuts to science, the environment, shut down the Department of Education, etc. And no one cares. Even the coverage of the protests about USAID today have both the right (Politico's Trump water-carrier Rachel Bade) and the left (the repulsive Ken Klippenstein, who spends most of his time either going on Steve Bannon's show, talking about how stupid and pathetic Democrats are, or posting any clip of a senator over 60 he can find to act like they are at death's door) shaming them, saying that USAID is for the elites and proves how out of touch Democrats are. Even now the Democrats are still somehow to blame. Nothing Trump does matters. Even planes colliding with helicopters gets more focus on people figuring out which non-white man to blame. As for Palestine - it's very sad, but this is what a lot of Palestine supporters wanted. They were thrilled Trump won. They can be happy now.

I'm sure we'll see Violet again... Lack of family probably should be a reason to write the character out, but he might be better off on his own given what a drag Finn was. I still see some fans talking about how he was the only one who loved Liz's kids and Lucky can never compare. They must really be committed.

Tracy being at the heart of this would make sense. Or Olivia. They both have mob ties that could further justify wanting to keep Gio safe. And now I've realized Tracy is a great grandmother to a 20-year-old. It is one of those moments where I wonder if they will even ponder the dynamics beyond having Ned joke about her being "great-granny." I think Chase is a decent enough B-player, maybe paired off with Sasha if they are both staying around (unless they de-relate her from Cody), but maybe just don't have him at the Nurses' Ball again... JPS also has an extremely vocal fanbase. By the end I don't think Howarth and Easton did. Not to that level, anyway.