DRW50

Thanks for finding that. The photo is from Betty's last appearance on Mama's Family - fitting. That's a lovely interview, and very honest as well.

I guess this new venture will also have hit pieces on Ronan Farrow...

Oh I remember those from Eddie Drueding. I always hope something new might appear.

I definitely had no real sympathy for Rico. The actor was poor (he got better but he was still poor), had no chemistry with Jack, and his stories were just godawful. They were really throwing everything at him early on - leading Jack on and then telling him to stay away, all of Nathan's problems, that strange interlude where he was dismissive of the racism and hate crime against Esther before flying off the handle when he got the same treatment. I assume the original idea was to have Jack help him see through Tom, then that was thrown out the window. They should probably just pair Jack with Marty, although they seem content to just have Marty pining and stuck in B-or-C pairings. I kind of liked Monique, in spite of everything, but she was such an obvious plot device, to the point where they kept bringing her back multiple times in the year when that was clearly not intended because they had gotten sidetracked by things like 3 female cast members getting pregnant. I have heard about some of the homophobic material (a few years ago didn't they have some psycho evil gay guy stalker on the show, or trying to blackmail a straight man into sex, or something...I can't remember). The Lincoln story managed to be biphobic and homophobic all at once, with Lincoln so needy and pathetic he strung along Nicole and Jack, and so selfish that he got high and was locked up while his baby daughter was breathing her last breaths. I still can't believe they even brought back Jack's drug addict ex just so that he and Lincoln could do drugs and have sex. And of course Jack also had to do drugs for a while... The most confusing moment for me was when that woman agreed to get pregnant for Jack and Lincoln. She backed out because she was reminded of her rape, but you had Jack on top of her, clearly getting into the moment, playing it romantically, even though he is meant to be gay. Yes, I get the idea of trying to lighten the mood and not treat it as a misery, but that wasn't how the scene played. It was as if everyone forgot he was not going to be into it. Then afterward they had him say he was relieved to not have to try again because he didn't want to do that again - even though the scene showed no such hesitancy. Anyway, I do like the actress who plays Vivienne...there's something very unique and subtle about her, and she has better chemistry with Chris than Michelle did. (I just realized for half of 2021, there were two McLeod's Daughter actresses on soaps)

ILC was a show that I and a lot of other kids my age were crazy over in the early '90s. I am still sorry some of the finest talent from the show never had the recognition they deserved...

Speaking of Tom, I have rarely seen a soap backpedal so much with a character. In the space of two weeks or less, he went from isolating and manipulating Rico to have access to his money to being the noble-but-tortured true love for Tess. Even if one does not especially like Jack that much, how are we meant to get over Tom drugging him, or Tom claiming that Jack sexually harassed him when none of this was ever addressed again? It doesn't help that Tess went through three love interests in a year. I like Tess, but that is mostly down to the actress, as the character is paper-thin. I also don't like Desi very much. I fully realized why in the recent wedding-mania story. Every time they take baby steps to maturing the character, they go right back to the selfishness and callousness which moves plot along and is good for 'comedy.' Damo's sister really showed her up in her brief stint, managing to be comedic while also having some heartbreaking dramatic moments.

Another NYT figure melting down over far right figures not getting keys to the kingdom.

I'm sure they are genuine friends (as much as Anderson can actually have a friend...), but the neediness from Andy bleeds off the screen. When he "proposed" to Anderson I full on cringed.

There really are no good New Year specials at this point - I am probably just going to look up an old Guy Lombardo special - but I found him to be truly embarrassing and sad, and I got the feeling Anderson did as well.

@Franko Thank you for the Ellen Harper clip. I grew up watching Golden Girls, and I still think the first 3-4 seasons are great, but for me Ellen was Betty's prime role. We all have an Ellen in our family and no one has ever summed up this horrid type of creature more than Betty did - sweet on the surface, dipped in passive-aggressiveness, roaring toward viciousness and cruelty when provoked. Betty also had effortless chemistry with everyone on there, even Ken Berry and Dorothy Lyman, who were just in her last few appearances. I really did love Betty, for her love of animals, and for so many of her game show appearances and TV roles. She was even a naval officer on my favorite show, St. Elsewhere. I did not love the weird fetishization of her with some people in the last decade, complete with "the only good thing left" type comments that she likely would have thought were ridiculous. That is not how I'm going to remember her. There's something fascinating about her leaving us right before the 100th, the last moment of corporate cashing-in. 99 or 100, Betty lived a fantastic life, helped a lot of people, and will be remembered long after we are all gone.

That theme still sends a chill up my spine. I miss the ATWT it represented dearly...

Ben Dreyfuss, son of Richard Dreyfuss, is one of those out of touch pseudo-left-pseudo-centrist patronizing Twitter personalities I just have a vague dislike for. After seeing these tweets, even though he is likely "joking" through the whole thing, that dislike is now less vague.

They should do Lear shows that people haven't heard of, reframed for 2022. It would be interesting to see them tackling something like The Dumplings or Glitter.

@Cat Yes, the Maxwell trial definitely feels like an attempt to silence the speculations. There will still be speculation, but with newsrooms across the country being cut to ribbons, those speculations will be more in the hands of Q-lunatics who are likely to go after Tom Hanks and still believe JFK Jr is waiting to run with Trump. There has been such a steep decline in standards at the BBC, in part because they have to be beholden to the Tories to survive, but this was a jaw-dropping moment. I wonder if they thought most of their viewers wouldn't know who Dershowitz was.

His 2010 election, where he managed to get a GOP primary win for a moron who went on TV telling people to barter chickens for health care, was political genius.

"Bat and Cat" = bleh.