DRW50

Thanks so much. I had missed that entirely.

I think there were some references to Margo's past and how she had been the other woman, as Barbara could throw this around as a reason to have no remorse for her actions. Barbara was stuck in a rut as a character, and the show already had enough heroines in that age range, so having her decide she'd had her fill and move toward scheming and selfishness could work. Marland seemed content to make various character changes when he took over - Kim and Betsy began sharing far fewer scenes, Steve's uglier qualities were magnified, Margo and Tom lost a lot of their humor and quirkiness (which I think was a real mistake - presumably Marland agreed, as he brought that back 2 recasts and about half a decade later...). Certain longtime characters like Maggie were casually written out and their loved ones all but forgot their existence. I suppose in Barbara's case, it didn't matter as much because she was not in a good place when her heel turn began. The turn is one-note, but does have some entertaining moments, helped by Colleen's ice-cold portrayal. Something does start to get lost as 1986 progresses - she feels more and more like a plot device, especially in her affair with Tonio (a role that always felt somewhat miscast to me). Fortunately her relationship with Hal turns things around and makes her feel more rounded, connecting the old Barbara to the new.

Another Trump-loving Republican legislator has died - this time, a 60-year old Virginia state senator. You can guess how he felt about masks.

The Conners gets a positive writeup in, of all places, Politico. https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2021/01/02/pop-culture-trump-era-2020-analysis-449495

That's Lin Wood talk. I notice that even Trump's closest sycophants are trying to distance themselves from Wood, but it's clear Wood has a lot of influence in the post-Trump future.

I didn't know until Daran Little's tweet that she was actually fired from Corrie. That period may have kept Corrie from slipping into the doldrums, but long-term, it really ripped out the core and heart of the show.

For some reason I thought he debuted on a runway. Maybe I am just remembering Lilith as she was much more interesting.

While there was nothing wrong with her performances, a number of Kate Collins' returns as Ghost Natalie in the late '90s left viewers confused. She never interacted with Trevor, who was supposed to be the love of her life - she interacted with everyone in the family BUT him, including Harold the dog. There are alleged reasons for that, but I can't imagine how disappointed some must have been at the time.

I'm sorry about your loss. I don't think it's uncharitable to say the vaccine rollout has been abysmal, and sadly, exactly as expected. I saw a tweet saying this is the result of 40 years of demonizing and tearing down government efficiency. Trump and his flunkies never gave a damn about the vaccine rollout - they just wanted to come up with a clever name like "Operation Warp Speed" (and amazingly got lots of unearned preemptive praise from many who should have known better - as always). This was sobering but pretty much accurate.

Well said @Vee. @I Am A SwedeI thought you might like this. She isn't really given much chance to talk (perhaps showing how Emmerdale was treated in these years), but Jane Hutcheson (Sandie Merrick) is part of a soap panel around 1986.

Y&R Promo (1986) - YouTube

I'm terrified of what he's going to try to do in the Middle East, on Putin's orders, or just because he wants to start a war before he goes.

I think part of it may be the longer you are in a part, the more you take the character into yourself and struggle with the different paths they take. For instance, Colleen complained at the time of the Gavin storyline because she felt her character was written as being too naive. In Liz's case, I've often wondered if she was still informed by her years as Althea and that's what she missed playing. That and the cycle of Lucinda always being punished for her wicked ways and then going on a loop for it to happen all over again. The problem was that Lucinda being healed, or whole, as Liz may have wanted, wouldn't have made very good soap. But I can understand why she may not have enjoyed playing that on a loop for 7 years. I will say that her unhappiness never shows onscreen.

Sorry to hear of his passing. Goodbye to so many we lost in 2020. And those we won't know about for a few more days, weeks, or months.

As far as I can see, Moira's brother set Charity up to be arrested over a Home Farm break-in. Noah went to warn her and got arrested instead. (there was a good scene I saw on Youtube from a day or two ago where Charity tried to plead with him not to join the army and he said he was trying to get away from her and also trying to find a way to get training and become an engineer - it's a pretty good scene which shows the wisdom of Emmerdale never killing Noah off for shock value/angst, even though it would have been very easy to do)

I remember when Emily returned for David Stewart's death, and how they nearly recast her until Melanie worked out her schedule. This was also when they recast Betsy with that woman no one had ever seen before. I suppose it made more sense with Betsy (although I would have tried to get Suzanne Davidson), but recasting the two main Stewart women audiences of that period would know sort of suggests Caso didn't really take them seriously enough as characters or as a family. Melanie Smith had "it." She was a very sensual actress, but never too much so (otherwise she would have looked like a predator in the storyline with Paul). She managed to be both seductress and hurt girl who still had the scars of being preyed upon. She also worked very well with Marie Masters and Patricia Bruder. She was believable as a busienesswoman, even though she shouldn't have been (KMH generally wasn't). And while I loved characters like Julie, Melanie's Emily was the best fit for the "othered" role that you always needed on a soap like ATWT - someone that the "good" people of the town either tolerate or openly loathe. The only other time ATWT came close to matching that in its last years was Maura West's first run as Carly. I wish Melanie's Emily could have met Carly.

Dingle-heavy montage aside, this was a beautifully written and acted monologue that would have done Kevin Laffan proud IMO.

I agree. Corrie will never be what it was, but it's in better shape than the other soaps at the moment.

I know she left a while back. It's just one of the things (around the time of her story with Chloe and Mark) that made me realize it wasn't worth seeing.

Her affair with Diego, which included scenes where they essentially tortured a blind Sam, breaking into her home, gaslighting her, making out in front of her as she called out to know who was there, etc. It was really crass, unpleasant material that made Emily look like a sociopath.

Those aren't the only problems people had with his tweets.

You had the right idea. Message boards were pretty toxic for a long time and become more about their own culture than the shows. The mid-90s seemed to be the peak of these firing campaigns, culminating in late 1996/early 1997 with the Jeff Trachta fan protest outside the studio, and the fans who sent canned goods into the ATWT studios demanding they "can-her" (Susan Batten's Connor).

Kelly was badly miscast as Emily - she didn't have the vulnerability and, frankly, her voice was grating, which didn't help with all the scenes of Emily whining (and she spent years whining...), but beyond that something just felt "off" about her and her interactions with those around her. She was a bad fit for most of the main characters in Emily's life, at work or at home, and most of her early stories were bad and boring. It wasn't until Emily's pairing with Jef Hamlin that I began to warm to her in the role, and sadly, that only lasted for less than a year before Emily was thrown into a heinous story which obliterated the character. She was then "redeemed" by rape (ugh) before the whole thing started all over again with her desperate efforts to ensnare Tom, which were just pathetic and foolish and toxic (all THAT over Scott Holmes Tom....really????). I did like Emily's relationship with Hal, and that was probably her best pairing. The best I can say about Kelly was that, similar to Liz Keifer, I eventually just sort of got used to her. I'm not surprised to hear about the ugly comments. That viciousness was commonplace on soap boards for many years. I remember even in Soap Opera Weekly around 1994, they made fun of Emily for constantly having her cleavage on display, concluding with, "As Mammy said in Gone With the Wind, t'aint fittin'....and t'aint natural, either."

He struggles to play a hard man, he struggles with his accent, he has no real chemistry with most of his co-stars (I think he and Tony Clay are alright together but that's about the best he gets).