DRW50

That sounds like him... Kristen was fired about 7 or 8 months before Marland left and then Morgan the character outlasted him by 6-7 months - I'm not sure if Jennifer Cooke wanted to leave or was let go.

I rarely if ever am on at the right time to see these, but it would be interesting to hear Carolyn talk about her time at ATWT, which was entirely dominated by the writers strike, and Kristen to talk about her departure from GL and OLTL (wasn't she fired both times?). Kristen was incredibly special as Morgan - she really carried a great deal of Morgan's story on her back and that did not become clear until after her departure.

They aren't asking because he's doing what they want. They hate Democrats and they want Republicans to have a big comeback. Even better, Manchin is setting terms they eat up with relish - they can just blame Democrats for not being bipartisan enough, which they tried to make into an issue with Biden for months. It's a win-win because there really is no idea to what Manchin even wants. He just says "bipartisan" and then walks away. He doesn't want to actually do anything because he doesn't have to - he's rich, he's bought and paid for, and he knows he is likely in his last term. McConnell is now attacking Biden for not being bipartisan enough, and Manchin's games are helping people to believe this. McConnell is now flat-out saying there will be no John Lewis Act, and you can bet Manchin will, in a day, or a week, or a month, blame Biden and Democrats for not being bipartisan enough to get it passed. A lot of leftists are saying that Manchin is just a "rotating villain" Democrats are throwing out into the public eye so they won't have to do anything. To be honest I've heard enough about uneasiness with HR1 to think that could be true on voting rights, but it's obviously not true on infrastructure. Yet thanks to Manchin, not to mention Merrick Garland, many are likely to believe Biden really does not want anything to change, and are more likely to be demoralized.

This is exactly what I saw some worrying about when Garland was chosen for this position. Biden having to then come out and say he doesn't agree just gives the impression that no one in charge.

Yes, Mary joined in fall 1996, two years after Patrick left. She may not have been a heavy presence, but she was there off and on for the last five years of her life (and toward the end was probably more active as Meta than she'd ever been). It's sad to think people are still trying to play those games over a ham who hasn't bothered to give a good performance in over 20 years, but that's the death of daytime for you. The most active I am in any soap Twitter realm is probably AW, which doesn't seem to be as toxic. I grew up watching Peter Simon and I still think highly of his work but even I'd say Mart Hulswit was more suited to the role.

I suppose a great deal of this is down to Mulcahey's own soap work. He wrote for Justin Deas for years, on two soaps, and it was obvious that those at GL absolutely adored Deas (including his co-stars). He also wrote for Peter Simon for years, which is the only way I can see someone saying Mart Hulswit does not even deserve to be used as a photo for Ed.

Pam Long wrote the Philip reveal. Marland did further stretch the story out from the original material the Dobsons provided. I'm not sure I've ever seen a fan of theirs. Rumor is they were paired mostly because Lisa and Larry were together in real life at the time. The only interesting part is Emma's very hurt and bitter reaction, which is also another glimpse into Marland's increasingly dark (and for me more compelling) writing.

One of the things that bothers me about this is if he and Sinema are taking so much focus on how they oppose the filibuster and oppose legislation which is not completely bipartisan, then bringing these bills up for a vote will mean voters can't see that it's mostly Republicans who are blocking them. They are more likely to just say even Democrats in the Senate aren't going along, so it's a waste of time. At this point I'm not even sure what Manchin actually wants to do, beyond getting attention, but I see that another 'bipartisan' infrastructure offer is going around so we'll see what happens.

Clarence was pure class (when he wasn't switching to such smooth, delicious menace) in everything. My parents enjoy watching the Kellie Martin Hallmark movies he was in and he was great even in those.

I can understand the aversion to hearings and oversight - it plays into the idea of Democrats hiding behind Trump rather than having plans, and it's not going to actually go anywhere, but thanks to Manchin, Sinema, and the rest, nothing seems likely to be passed anyway, so I do wonder if they should use more of their time to investigate for the limited time they may have left. I don't agree with many of his views, but I do agree with Will Stancil that if or when Republicans take back Congress in 2023, they will lie and smear and 'investigate' constantly, and as with Benghazi, it will stick.

There was a lot of talk after November about Hispanic underperformance in certain states, with a great deal of blame going to the Biden campaign or to the idea that Biden himself was disliked by many Hispanic voters. One key area was the Rio Grande Valley, which has popped up again tonight. His approval ratings have improved with Hispanic voters, but there are clearly still problems which the party has to address outside of him (as has been mentioned here before, there's a ton of right wing propaganda about socialism and "family' constantly pumped into Hispanic media).

I wish that were the case, but it is seemingly chock full of Tories, who are simultaneously using the channel as propaganda and slowly bleeding it dry because they hate and resent it.

@I Am A Swede

Most people won't see it as outright bad, but it's something else which can be used to nick at what is left of Biden's original agenda and undercut public patience or support. Already this has been used to further undermine support for expanded unemployment benefits, which are no longer going to be extended past August, if they ever were. That means more of a default press and public position gets right wing framing, which is good for the GOP in the midterms and beyond, and bad for the early Biden plans that weren't as focused on austerity politics.

Lieberman also won by running to the right of a liberal Republican. I don't know who or what Sinema thinks she is basing herself on. Meanwhile, Politico and others are spinning the jobs report as bad for Biden. I could argue they're wrong, but it's hard for me to react as much at this point, as I feel like we're slowly drowning in inaction, good or bad numbers. I'm mostly just sad that this will be used as fodder (as anything would be) by Republicans who want to take away unemployment benefits and see more poor people and their children suffer and die.

Sadly, no. The government controls the channel and they are making it become more and more right-wing.

Matt Taibbi (has he ditched crazy-eyes Halper?) finally, proudly admits he is one with the right...only to get incredibly pissy when called out for what he actually said.

We're in a genuinely terrifying moment in our history, and yet the response of so many in the media continues to be begging people to love Maggie Haberman and insisting anyone who doesn't hates women.

I agree, but that seems to be where she is likely to go in her present condition. I'm glad the recall election in California seems to have cratered (for now anyway) as I'm guessing replacing Feinstein was one of the primary goals.

I sometimes feel bad about singling out Manchin, as multiple articles have claimed there are others who share his views (and you hear and see a number of moments from Feinstein, Warner, Coons, etc. which suggest as much), but he's always shoving his face in front of a camera, so I guess he wants the attention.

If you ever watch the first 90 minute episode I'd be interested in your thoughts (actually I think it's the second, not the first) - my main memory of it is when poor Beverlee McKinsey has to drag a phone call out and out and out in order to fill up the runtime.

She was originally a Green Party member - the last 20 years or so of that party (in the US anyway) have been toxic and self-involved beyond all reasoning. I wouldn't be surprised if she switched parties any day, especially after seeing her pal around with vacuous, despicable John Cornyn yesterday at the border wall. Manchin is probably too proud to switch parties, but he will continue to watch us all suffer and lose what little is left of our country so he can show us how bipartisan and sensible he is.

@vetsoapfan you likely already know this, but Eddie Drueding has kindly reuploaded (or I guess uploaded as it was his stuff in the first place, I believe) all the '70s content that was available, including the Jacqueline Courtney scenes you had mentioned wanting to see again. I should go back through those to watch Janice's slow breakdown again. I am so grateful that even what we have is available but I'd love to see the whole thing. Christine Jones is phenomenal there.

And later we learned the cast and crew were only told ONE HOUR before the press was informed. This type of thing might even make Frons shake his head. The fate of the UK soaps breaks my heart. We have seen them go exactly the same way, and frankly, I'd say a few are actually worse than a number of US soaps were at their time of death.