DRW50

Many on the left love to sneer at the idea that this election is the most important, they say it's said every four years, but I do think many of these entitlements will be on the chopping block depending on 2024.

I hate Luke, I always have, but I do think he should be there, and however I feel about Tony, he was supposedly one of the only reasons Jackie was not fired from GH (and Bobbie turned into a lunatic who would have been killed off, IIRC) in the early '00s.

The story of the Smothers Brothers and how Tom was essentially radicalized (by network TV standards, anyway) by their younger, hipper writers and by the way CBS treated them is a fascinating one. I have watched some of that material in the last few years, and while the political content is mild today (although still more than you'd get in many corporate quarters), what I took away was just how much fun it was to see their act and how well most of the material has aged. I suppose that's why they hung on in the public eye for quite a few years in spite of such a scarring and high-profile firing. Here's an interview they did last year, with, fittingly, CBS.

For some reason when I clicked on this thread it took me back to 2015. I saw mention of Cynthia kicking Porsha in the stomach and thought, "Again??"

So sad. Lee Sun-kyun Dead: Parasite Actor Was 48 – The Hollywood Reporter

@slick jones Thanks. This thread is leaving a real legacy for so many actors, and those who will never know them otherwise.

Carolyn Culliton sometimes replies to an AW "on this day" account. Here are her thoughts on the exit of Fred J Scollay (Charlie Hobson). I'll post them as text too as Twitter will be lucky to be around by this time next year (as most of us will, admittedly). She confirms in a second tweet that he was fired and she didn't know why. On his last day in the studio, Fred came into the production office and sadly said, “I finally found out who you have to [!@#$%^&*] to get off this show …Ada”. We all said we were sorry to see him go.

@Vee Now that you mention it, it is impressive how much they manage to move over without any real awkwardness. The use of flashbacks with Nicole and Adam in particular does a lot to help avoid potential stiltedness. (and I'm glad they did them as this is presumably the only reason those scenes now exist) Phoebe is murdered the next year. I am not sure what happens with Danny and Tracy. Kevin seems like such a tragic character, who tried to do the right thing, repeatedly, and paid for it with his life. Most of that material being lost makes it more difficult to understand the levels of Geraldine's loathing of Raven, because even though Raven is betraying Logan (her replacement replacement son), her behavior isn't as horrible as it seemed to be with how she had treated Kevin. I wonder if Slesar decided to tone down the character by that point or if it just reads worse on the page than it played out onscreen. I wish more of Kevin was around as he has that '70s offbeat quality for leading men that I appreciate.

I can respect that. To be honest, any shame that I think my family would have felt with what GL had become had already happened. For me, anything after the decision to claim Ben was sexually abused and being sexually abused made him a serial killer was just not going to reach such a low...although goodness knows they tried with that incest-loving hambone Jonathan, Cassie's kid who electrified his father and got lots of closeups looking pouty to make sure we knew he was evil, and so on.

I think most actors would rather have the job. I don't really believe there was a huge industry stigma attached to Peapack. To most people, GL was a show their mother or grandmother watched, and not something still on the air in 2009. I don't hear Murray Bartlett going around saying that filming on the cheap for a year hurt his career.

Thanks @Vee .

@slick jones Casey Kramer passed away. IMDB lists her as having roles on Y&R and Falcon Crest, but her obit also mentions a General Hospital role. Casey Kramer - IMDb https://variety.com/2023/film/news/casey-kramer-dead-1235850752/

You are right, which is a shame because the grieving story over Mick could have been very powerful. Instead, she was barely used until time for her drag queen mother and being stalked by her rapist. This is where modern EE's lack of heart really comes into play.

I knew him from his short run on Oz. I thought he was better than Mark Derwin, but I can't argue with those who feel like it was a brand new character.

I think in the case of Lexi, they don't give her as much focus on her own because the actress isn't great, although she has her moments. I like Jay a lot, and I think this is a better type of moving-on story for him than the ketamine plot which was mostly about Ben and Billy being hypocritical scum, but I agree that we needed more from Phil about Albie.

You're right about all of this. I assume Lemay came back and decided he wanted to play those beats even if the best time had already passed. If he had stayed I do wonder if we would have had more estrangement between Mitch and Matthew. I think the writing did try to point out that Rachel was only blaming all the Frames because of regret or bitterness, and that she was wrong in doing so, but they could have been more nuanced (I would have had Josie being a bit of a schemer, or at least edgier).

My thoughts on this episode. It runs long so I'll just put it in spoiler space:

That and the racist issue. I don't think GL ever saw Amelia Marshall as a leading lady, even though I think the audience saw her that way.

@bboy875 The idea of Mindy having Roger's baby is definitely one worth developing. Maybe she would have lied that she lost the baby, but left town and kept it somewhere hidden because of Alexandra's wrath and Roger being Roger.

Eddie Drueding has uploaded some of my favorite episodes from Lemay's short return stint - when Liz blurts out too much to Matthew about Mitch and Janice, leading to Rachel telling Matthew about the circumstances behind his paternity. Now I'm just waiting for the episode where Rachel confronts Liz. (the scene with Liz and Matthew is about 28 minutes into the first episode) I'm sorry that the show did not continue forward with this harder, and at times more manipulative side of Rachel after Lemay left. For all the talk of Lemay making Rachel AW's central heroine, he was also willing to write her as very flawed, which is much more compelling to me than how passive Rachel became in the '90s.

https://www.radiotimes.com/tv/sci-fi/doctor-who-richard-franklin-dies-newsupdate/ One of Emmerdale's more memorable gory deaths, that point near the end of Emmerdale Farm to tell viewers what was on the way.

https://metro.co.uk/2023/12/25/doctor-star-richard-franklin-dies-christmas-day-aged-87-20024799/ The speculation on whether Mike was gay, and then the actual canon events we did get with Mike's breakdown and recovery, add so many layers to the UNIT era. I am sorry to hear he's gone. I suppose there is something fitting on a legend leaving us just as a new era begins. I need to listen to some of the Big Finish audios sometime.

I do think they had some strong stories that year, like the story with Lisa's lawsuit, and Carly's arrival (admittedly a lot of that is down to Maura), but I'll admit to being biased before what came before and after was so much worse.

There were many factors - the departure of Nancy Curlee, JFP's favoritism and power games, the exodus of many of the show's most popular or strongest actors, robbing the show of a core, and some of the strongest stories of 91-92 being set up by the previous producer. I too could not stand Buzz at this time. Everything about him, especially the shouting and smugness, were the antithesis of what I enjoyed about GL. If not for my enjoying Marcy Walker on Santa Barbara I think I also would have been much more negative about her aimless GL run. I will also argue that some of the stories which were praised at the time were not that good and were held up by some of the actors and some strong scriptwriters, especially the Alex/Nick/Mindy plot. The whole thing fell apart, embarrassingly so, without Kimberley and Beverlee.