DRW50

Thanks for the article. Dixie and Annie were masterful at getting all they could out of that scenario - you'd think Hal Holbrook had been shot by CBS.

I think there are three issues. - how much are polls undercounting Trump support? (based on 2016 and 2020, probably a good amount) - how many "undecided" voters or RFK Jr voters are actually Trump voters (I'd say a good amount) - how successful will the media be at doing what they did in 2016 and turning the race into being about his opponent rather than him? They did this very successfully with Biden. They are now doing the same by zeroing in on any negative they can find with Walz and endlessly hyperventilating on Harris not doing enough press, while whitewashing and praising Trump at every turn. I think he still has an advantage, but at least there is a path for Harris, if enough voters have any sense and voter suppression doesn't carry the day.

NYT doing cleanup duty again. The "reporter" who wrote this did the same on a recent bizarre interview or rally with him.

I can see why people would feel that way. Her work was genuinely good and she finally chose a good reel for herself, but the optics weren't great. Sorry, I know this is way off topic now so I'll stop.

Yes. She made no secret of how much she didn't want to return. Unfortunately, her performances in roles she did seem to really want to play weren't a lot better. But she has her moments.

I think the biggest problems with Rick started in the late '90s/early '00s, which was also when MEK fell off (to be honest I am not a huge MEK fan anyway, although to his credit he has looked much healthier in recent years so more power to him). I can't see Susan in that part at all.

The writing did make Laura a much more reserved character, but I wonder how much is down to Genie Francis losing most of the spark she had when she was first on the show. That can happen with younger performers as they get older. Even by the time of her AMC work she feels colorless to me.

I think he would have been too smarmy, but you never know.

I would agree. Brainard also played a slightly similar character on Santa Barbara, so that's why I named him, but the problem was more the writing and the lack of interest in the characters. By the last years the show only wanted to write for edgy men, even as they had no idea how to write for those men, ending in a bizarre and offputting hybrid (like Jeffrey) along with various psycho or borderline psycho men who often didn't last long (unless they were played by Tom Pelphrey).

Always nice to see Rachel Dratch get work. Two of the current cast members also did an impression. One I enjoyed. One I did not (the one I liked was the second).

A Martinez turned down a role, I think.

Oh for some reason I thought he was in college. Maybe just mixing up as Todd McKee was older than the character. Thanks.

As someone in the comments says, was Sophia even around when Ted went to college? Was that just bad continuity? How do you mess that up given how important her absence was to the backstory? The gesture of Ted passing the torch (or his car keys) to Greg is funny when you remember Greg wouldn't last much longer and would never be mentioned after he left. I'm still half-surprised they remembered Ted after this.

Most of the worst aspects of Rick after he returned in 1995 I'd put down to direction and writing more than anything else, but if I had to choose, I think someone like Michael Brainard might have worked.

Very true. I think he'd only been on AMC a few months when he got that interview. Sometimes I forget how popular he was initially before the character became unbearable.

I didn't love that story but it was definitely a shocking, powerful moment, which helped keep GL's 1997 momentum going. Amy Ecklund was a very underrated actress. She was on paper just cast in a token part but always made Abby seem genuine. They just stopped writing for her, aside from a few moments like the cochlear implant story, because she wasn't intended as one of the leading ladies. I also liked her and Rick a lot as a couple until the show lost interest in them. @Mitch64's idea of a Rick/Bridget pairing is interesting. It could have worked, especially as I think Melissa Hayden would have been a good balance to MOL. Regarding Matt/Vanessa, I completely agree with you that the pairing made more sense when Matt was written with a personality and motivations. By 1996 or so they just stopped writing for Matt entirely as a character. I'm also aware many did love the pairing, and I respect that. Most of my criticism of that period is down to the writing for Vanessa, which wasn't Matt's fault.

Yes. I just thought it was an awful story. Given that Roger had behaved horribly I wasn't rooting for him, but I resented the choices made with the character to get him to that story, including having him rape Dinah. It felt like a major regression all for the sake of having her sleep with his son. The caliber of an actor like Zaslow being stuck in that story...and knowing it would end up being his last storyline. Beaty was certainly a much better actor, but to me that might have been like casting Tim Gibbs as Kevin Buchanan on OLTL - adding so much intensity to a part that didn't need it. The only Ed where I really noticed a blonde look was probably the weakest (Richard Van Vleet), but I do see what you mean. They cast a brunette Rick before MOL too. The main problem with Aleksander as Rick is that Rick hadn't had the dramatic life Philip had had. Even though Jared Ross' Philip was quieter, there was a lot of story for Philip to be darker as he grew up. I think Rick worked as the lighter contrast. It's just that as he got older the show lost sight of how to write for him and they veered into pathetic. I remember MOL telling a story of when they went to Universal for the Lucy and Alan-Michael wedding, and I think he said the director asked him to dance with himself, while all the couples were dancing, and he thought it was [!@#$%^&*] pathetic. And it was.

Can you imagine if Biden went through an interview sounding like Cindy Brady? Or Harris? Or any Democrat? Trump just says and does whatever he wants and too few care. Here's another gem:

CNBC is so blatantly pro-Trump. Sherman must feel very at home. If you can't get this to open it basically shows Musk using any version of tweets that contain "the" and "don" to help push Trump's comeback.

"Plenty of us," doing such heavy lifting. The media establishment gives Vance a big hug as he spews lies and poison all over their channels and this is use as an excuse to try to shame Harris into going on Faux News.

Mark Consuelos interview at about 52 minutes.

I think she did return, briefly, after he died. I mainly think that because I remember a Pure Soap episode where Michael Logan was glad because he said the show was so boring this might be some drama. I have a vague memory of her in widow's weeds.

If you can't click on it, it's "the paper of record" gushing over a Kid Rock hate festival. They also make sure to mention "joy," because, as a few people in the comments mentioned, they likely resented that being used to describe Harris rallies and want to co-opt.

I just feel like NC is the state that always gets away. If there is a surprise win, I will be happy.