DRW50

Hadn't seen this before. A lot more time than I expected is spent on the Angelique vampire story (which I wasn't a huge fan of but it's interesting to hear her talk about it a bit). I miss Lara and I miss this version of the Sci-Fi Channel. I assume someone there thought the first photo was her (it's not).

That clip gives me a specific kind of rage. There are few things I hate more about modern soaps than the smug self-references. Jamey and Ron both seem so much more interested in smirking at themselves and smirking at soaps (and of course a mention of Soap Twitter - how cutting edge) than providing anything that will give them a legacy.

@asafi Sandra Nelson was extremely underrated as Phyllis. She played a lot of the darkness the portrayal later lost. It was unfortunate seeing her just slowly fade away from the canvas.

Thanks. That's amazing!

I just never bought the reunion because most of the time after the reunion took place offcamera and barely involved the kids. He blamed Denise for Amy's self-harm and told her she couldn't leave or Amy's fate would be on her. That's grotesque and was never dealt with because we're just supposed to accept Jack treating women like garbage. I can agree with you about Cindy and Ian, but that just makes the whole thing boring and pointless to me (especially since almost none was oncamera). The other issue here is that I think Michelle Collins actually has more chemistry with Adam Woodyatt than she does with Colin Salmon or Micah Balfour, and the show is so hesitant to pull the trigger on George/Cindy anyway. The whole thing was confusing and tell-don't-show and badly acted to boot.

Definitely. I knew they had some interaction, what with Trisha being Stacey's best friend, but I'd never seen them have a faceoff like this. James Horan is probably my favorite Clay, even if I'm not entirely sure why. It's lovely and timeless. I don't think they ever should have changed it.

@Ben @LondonScribe Thanks to @Forever8 for finding this.

I wonder if that would have happened if Lanna hadn't left. Thanks for the extra details. This seems beneath the characters, in some ways, and is the type of writing more mature female characters in degrading ways that reminds me of later daytime stories, but everyone involved is so easy to invest in and there's enough of a history for most of them (even if not together) where it doesn't just seem like dolls being thrown at each other. Reading the part where Don said he was going to leave Salem makes me wonder why they didn't just have him go ahead and leave (he vanishes around 85 doesn't he?)

@Forever8 Thanks for letting us know! Love it.

A promo that was new to me (they got the date wrong - I think it's 1989).

They flunked out in primetime. They had to go to soaps. They never got over the resentment. It was all about them. Even their publicity photos dripped ego.

I think he must have just returned for the paycheck as he seemed happier when he was away from the show. I've seen people defend the Ian smashup ripoff and Cindy falling in the snow ripoff because they represent the anniversary and history. That is something you can do in a fun video for fans, not on your big Christmas episode. It also has no real impact because the show is obsessed with ripping itself off anyway - what's different now?

Thanks @JAS0N47 . This is all such high drama. Sometimes I wonder if Liz took over a part Mary might have played. How much groundwork was there between Liz and Marie? (or either lady and Neil)

Compared to what has come after, it wouldn't have been a bad pairing - DTC seemed to go out of his way to trash them (and then gave Denise incredibly bad material with no followup, like having her become a drunk and abuse Patrick). Ian has been very poorly served since his return. He may as well not have come back. It says it all about how useful he is to the current team that his reaction for the Christmas episode was to rip off a scene a long-dead character had 40 years ago.

Even worse, she did not bother to properly introduce these actors beyond assuming people would love them because she loved them. She did such a bad job that even Vincent Irizarry, who had been popular with GL fans almost a decade before JFP's arrival, got a mediocre/poor response.

This has been up before, but I didn't see it when I looked through Youtube today, so I reuploaded it. If I missed it my apologies. @dc11786 @NothinButAttitude @SoapDope @Forever8 @Franko @Vee @Paul Raven @Contessa Donatella @slick jones @kalbir @John @Liberty City I like how they handled Kyle's eulogy for his cop friend, even if the scene itself was the usual cheese.

It certainly could be. Thanks.

You're right. I believed then and I believe now that JFP had no interest in soaps, and may have been outright ashamed of them, similar to Guza, Pratt, etc. She compared AW to ER, Cheers, and NYPD Blue. No show rests on one character. GL could have survived without Maureen if the show had been in a better place. Unfortunately, what Maureen represented is what JFP, and many others, saw as meaningless and boring. I remember when JFP used to say she had actually built up Maureen's role on the canvas in order to kill her off, and that's the only reason viewers were upset. So essentially, the only reason JFP had any sense of heart, community, or family on GL was to snuff it out for viewers to get upset. And this was something to brag about.

It would make sense for such a low-key exit if he comes back from the burns incredibly embittered and out to get everyone, but based on recent returns, he may just play cards for a month. (then again, they did try to get Lulu moving fast once she woke up) I don't remember the last time anyone at GH knew what to do with Lucy. Decades? At least she isn't being presented as the heavy like last year, but that's not saying much. I'm just glad Lynn is still able to work with everything she's had to go through. Thanks. I guess I'm too used to soap characters being able to do 500 jobs at once.

You'd think Spinelli would have helped. Are they still close?

AW's later years weren't that ritzy. Vicky Hudson may have been the most frugal millionaire ever seen on TV. The Love Mansion was long gone. Victoria Wyndham, meanwhile, complained in one interview about the absurdity of the Corys now answering their own door, and it's true, if you compare the Cory setup in the '70s or even the '80s to what they were by the end. Marland had a way of presenting struggles but not being down in the dirt. The Snyders always needed money, but Lily had two rich grandfathers to help save the day. And so many of them ended up working for a huge international company. Tom and Margo were middle-class, living on takeouts and working all the time, but they had a beautiful house (I loved their '90s house set).

Trudeau has been the face of attacks for so long now, and the politics that he preached (inclusion, diversity) are now a pariah. I'm surprised he has lasted this long. It's more interesting to me to see how the far right are trying to cope with Trump and his fascist clown car. Doug Ford was very openly aggressive against Trump's threats, whereas in the UK, Nigel Farage is cowering in fear, Ted Cruz style, of Elon Musk.

I don't blame you there. For me the relationship with Georgie and John and their kids was a foundational part of the show. Having Trevor lash out as he wasn't the son they were worried about (due to his brother having cancer) was believable, but the tone was so dark and bleak. It was extremely difficult to watch. And rather than giving a rebuilding period, this just went right into the therapist story, which made me sick and led me to quit watching.

Great find @MissPalmer I don't believe this is on Youtube anymore so I am reuploading. A very grounded, if somewhat brittle, interview with Claudia Lonow. The most interesting part is probably when she says she doesn't care that she isn't in the opening, she's just glad to work. And of course not long after she got in the credits she was written out...

The writing for both is terrible. I'd gladly choose "neither." More gimmicks to hide how hollow EE is now. It's nice to see Diane Parish showcased but none of this benefits Denise.