DRW50

Billie Eilish hosted SNL tonight (she did a pretty good job), and during her monologue, had her mother, Maggie Baird (ex-Taylor, ATWT) come onstage with her. Her mother and father also introduced her first performance.

Which ties in to daytime's irrelevance. The man helped kill one soap, and has barely managed to write one decent story in his entire career. Yet he is given carte blanche on various soaps and treated as a god by the cliqueish, spiteful dregs of what is left of the soap press.

Michael Patrick King said they will not kill off Stanford because it would not be "charming." I think they could have managed to acknowledge the character's death and still found humor and charm, but maybe it's for the best, as it probably would just end up being a 10 minute scene of Carrie doing sad voiceovers while on her laptop.

If the show wants to start acknowledging reality, they have much more pressing issues (like how woefully out of touch the personnel involved have been for many years) than wokeness.

Hack writers making references to shows that ended nearly 35 years ago says it all about daytime's relevance.

That story was done to try to "shock" viewers because of Jay's relationship with Billy. Empty shock value pairings and storylines are all the worthless Kate Oates can manage to produce.

Here is a new interview where the producer explains what happened with Michelle's strange exit. (finale spoilers) https://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/tv-radio/127201094/how-shortland-street-keeps-rising-to-the-challenge

I didn't see this but having middle-aged actresses in the Facts of Life roles seems very desperate, a vanity project gone wrong. The show was never great, but it had genuinely likeable leads that made you care. How that becomes an excuse to trot out overexposed Jennifer Aniston (who is generally about as funny as the clap), I don't know, but it has nothing to do with any legacy Norman Lear ever had as a producer.

I wouldn't be that surprised if he stays away. The character has barely been used for the last 3-4 years anyway. I will say I thought his exit scenes were surprisingly decent - I appreciated the old-school Emmerdale feel of them in that they were mostly solemn and character-driven. And it was good he decided to just leave toxicity behind.

Joan shares some fun Dynasty stories in this 1985 interview. It starts around 32 minutes.

Joan was interviewed for this special - starts about 32 minutes.

It's easy for me to say now, but I never liked Cuomo much. He was attractive (not in the last few years), and charismatic, and he and Don Lemon had a good double act, but his entitlement and smugness were off the charts. His pivot to lecturing viewers on "wokeness" just made me dislike him even more.

Carmine was my favorite on Laverne and Shirley. Michael McKean had some kind words on his passing. The news about Jacqueline Avant was shocking. She seems like a wonderful woman.

Adding to the above:

I still think bringing in Sam, with cameos from his parents, even over Skype, could work, but sadly it isn't likely. I think your idea of various other families makes sense. Joe was married in the '70s - maybe his ex wife had his child and never told him. I do hope Robert returns (with another recast as Ryan Hawley seems to have moved on) in a few years, as I doubt Aaron will be back. Sadly with all the controversies surrounding Matthew Wolfenden and Isabel Hodgins right now I'm not sure how much longer Victoria will be around.

Victor dominated the show for years, to its detriment as time passed. That also didn't seem to do much to stop a steady slide in ratings. The character also became incredibly one-dimensional and therefore difficult to use in a more supporting role. The main problem is many of the younger characters who could have taken some of Victor's role on the canvas were too weak to do so.

Oh you're right. It froze and I missed that part.

This is an old story, but I still thought it was a nice moment. When Aretha Franklin was shooting a video for Everyday People, she put out notices inviting soap actors to participate. Most either didn't care or didn't think it was real, so Lisa was the only one who went. She has two short but memorable shots - playing with a bowler hat, and blowing a bubble.

This just breaks my heart. I loved Iva - one of my favorite soap characters ever. As a kid, something in me connected with her immediately. She suffered and suffered and suffered, which could have been very maudlin, but Lisa rarely played the material in a melodramatic way. She connected with the pain of Iva and never let viewers forget what Iva had gone through, even when it might have been easier to do so. She was at her best in the quiet, sorrowful conversations with her family, or when she found out about Ellie and Kirk. As time passed, the sorrow seemed to completely consume Iva, but I never stopped wanting the character to have everything she had dreamed of and which was never in her grasp. I never forgot Lisa's presence on ATWT, even after Iva was written out and barely mentioned, and I never will. Lisa was born in the wrong era - she would have been right at home in the "queens of the lot" era of the '30s and '40s. That's why she was so at home in the old Hollywood homages Nola went through, especially the Bette Davis moments Davis herself wrote her a fan letter in praise of. Even if the filming was shambolic in that final year, I'm glad Lisa was willing to return as Nola for the finale, and give fans a chance to say goodbye. The main moment going around for Lisa seems to be Lily's paternity reveal, which, to be honest, I did not care for as a scene, so I will post this instead:

That's sad. I remember Marian from when I used to watch Roman and Deniz clips. I wonder how much longer Deniz will be on there... I'm sorry to hear the set has become so unpleasant.