DRW50

Going through some more old uploads on the Rick Thomas channel I found this, which was a lovely surprise (and kudos to Marie Masters for maintaining her lovely face for all the years later, so that she remained recognizable). Sad to think I'm never likely to get to see her work on ATWT at this time. If you want to see the full upload, with a few other people popping up (John Gabriel is in the partial ad at the end, and I think Tim Matheson is in the Folgers ad).

Is this Bob Hastings in the Wesson ad about 8 minutes in?

I think it's a bad idea to ever put anyone on such a high pedestal for your television show. I think it's self-serving, distracting, and does more harm than good. A show that is responsible about covering topics would know better. No politician is perfect, especially not in New York politics, especially with the history of AGs in New York in recent years. To me it's not the same as a woman in a day-to-day situation of abuse and control. Given Whedon's history with similar words and with women in general, I can't take his opinion seriously, but beyond that, I'm not sure what his point had to do with the piece on her, which wasn't even about genuinely criticizing her as much as it was about Bee trying for shock value. He is essentially saying that they can say whatever they want about Ivanka (and by extension, women in general, as that's where this type of stuff tends to lead) because of who she is. That opens up a very ugly door which won't be shut. (the response is usually "Republicans do it too," but if that's the case, it just means we no longer have any ability to even question anything Republicans say)

Thanks. I think that's Ilene Kristen with her? I miss Lisa...

For me it's not really so much about needing to go 'high' (although I think opening the door to the type of commentary I saw - saying that anyone can call a woman a c*** whenever they feel like it, getting offended when anyone says they don't like the word, and going into all sorts of "it isn't bad to call women c***s" backflips - is a very bad idea in the long run) as my not understanding what's so special about these remarks. It's the same as her reminding us yet again about incestuous feelings between father and daughter. Why is this funny or interesting at this point? She has a major TV show for this? It's like when Colbert was going around calling Trump a cock-holster. I'm sure it made him feel like a bad-ass, but it was never especially funny and it just made him look a bit try-hard. Meanwhile her show had a gushing profile of Eric Schneiderman, complete with animating him as a superhero out to save us from Trump, even though he turned out to be a horror himself. A lot of the 'progressive' talk show hosts have appointed themselves as moral guardians, yet they keep coming across as hypocrites and as insincere when just a little more time and effort would help them get their point across much more easily. I think too many on the left are still trying to make sure everyone knows they don't want sand kicked in their faces - to the point where they're often doing most of the kicking themselves. I'm not a big fan of Seth Meyers but I think he's one of the few who gets the balance right.

I didn't know Carole Shelley was on AMC. It's nice to see Dottie outside of Tad.

A bit of Jane on AMC.

Considering this is a man who put a line in the Avengers where Loki basically called Black Widow a c***, I can't say I'm surprised.

I think HBS and Marx were great together, but outside of some reunion scenes that briefly happened between their separation and her miscarriage, I felt like they spent all of Marland's run in sad stories. They seemed much more lively and fun to me pre-Marland. In the long run Marland seemed to take Tom back to what he had been pre-Deas, which I probably should respect, but everything that happened after Marland's passing (along with the show's obvious contempt for Tom and Scott Holmes giving up and giving in to just shouting all his lines) took a huge toll.

I think Bee and Roseanne have different platforms and I do think that there are valid reasons why people were more angry over Roseanne. With that said, I think the people who twisted themselves into knots trying to defend calling Ivanka a c*** by saying things like "What about Trump" or "What about Ted Nugent" and so on are just giving even more ground to the worst of the far right, as they are pretty much saying that they are no better. Ivanka has done a lot to deserve criticism, and I've seen many people criticize her justifiably, based on her actions. Unfortunately, there is often a smugness and underlying misogyny in the way that the women in the administration are talked about, and eventually it bursts right into the open. There's also an obvious need for many on the left, like Samantha Bee, to be the king or queen of their bubble, no longer knowing or caring how anyone outside of said bubble will react. It's the same thing that happened to Kathy Griffin (although in her case I think it was more about wanting publicity than about politics). I've always thought Samantha Bee was very crass, has clunky delivery, and is wildly overrated, and like many of the newer Comedy Central comedians, gets by more based on people knowing she really really hates Trump than on her talent. If her likely being forced to apologize after yet more tedious incest jokes and yet more generic crassness means any form of comedy beyond poopy diaper jokes takes more prominence, I'll be glad. Not that I think it will happen. I've always been confused about why liberals adore her anyway: http://www.slate.com/blogs/schooled/2016/06/17/the_upper_west_side_is_new_york_s_latest_school_integration_battleground.html Anyway, we've heard all about the indecision and peacocking in the White House and the usual hands-in-the-air worthlessness of Congress regarding trade. Here's a bit on the actual businesses that will be affected: https://www.politico.com/story/2018/05/31/trump-trade-war-effects-581461

I've seen people saying over and over that Congress has the power to strip Trump of his trade war tactics. They are just too gutless to do so. The saddest part is the people who are affected by the retaliatory measures from the EU, Canada and Mexico will still support Trump. I did see a tweet "crediting" Kim Kardashian for that vile D'Souza's pardon, which was funnier than any actual political humor I've seen lately.

Fake news. https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/rupaul-claims-trump-touched-him/

The lack of chemistry didn't bother me that much as to me Marland's ATWT wasn't really a hotbed of passionate pairings. Meg/Josh and later Jessica/Duncan are two of my main exceptions. I do think they had written Betsy into a corner, especially once they separated her from the Hughes family. She should have been re-integrated during the period when Julianne's Frannie was being phased out.

I read that. I think he's right. It's actually a very intelligent interview - much better than his silly tape obsession of the last few years. Laurie Metcalf's poor daughter ended up getting grilled over the show ending and about Roseanne's career prospects. https://www.express.co.uk/showbiz/tv-radio/967489/ITV-Good-Morning-Britain-Richard-Madeley-car-crash-interview-Ranvir-Singh-GMB-watch-video

Phasing out smaller stories and lighter comedy, moving toward sleaze, ugliness and shock value.

If only it was with a couple who actually have chemistry.

It's definitely important, as even if nothing else happens it helps honor the women who fought for the cause.

Thanks for finding those interviews. 1996 was not a good year for the show (I think the worst was the story with the woman Des was dating who was still pretending her husband was alive to get his payments), although it did build up stories that Park was able to do a lot with (like Don Brennan's rage). I think Park had some of the right ideas - I'm just sorry about what the show would later become thanks to the changes he pushed through. Logically though, it was going to happen no matter what.

I miss Judy Carne... (I always forget Eileen Brennan [RIP] was on there) Sad to say Kim Kardashian is more qualified than a number of people who work for Trump. This is...very much 2018. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/arkady-babchenko-why-fake-death-kiev-russia-press-conference-putin-critic-a8376076.html

She tweets so much like Trump. Ugh. Why do I have a feeling that she may end up getting a job in his administration.

There was something very special about "Roseanne," which is why the show was so popular in syndication, why people loved the early years so much, and felt so betrayed by the later years, and why the show came back to such huge numbers. It was, at its best, an effortless comedy and drama without the tweeness or pretentiousness of many shows that try to straddle that line. And it had very rich, human characters. It still has stayed with me many years after I watched the show. That's why when I see articles talking about how this sitcom and that sitcom and that other sitcom were all that anyone needed, I just kind of feel like they don't get it - what made this show (mainly the first version, obviously) special is, like all important/great sitcoms, something that can't be replicated. I can see why Gilbert wanted to try again and I think in another universe it would have worked long-term. She never should have brought Roseanne Barr back into the spotlight, ABC shouldn't have either, but I can see why she wanted to try. And now they are reaping the consequences, but I do hope down the line people will be able to enjoy the show again, if Barr has not permanently ruined that for them.

Adios Gowdy Doody. We won't miss you, but we're still terrified of who is going to take your place...

I wouldn't be surprised if Sara Gilbert avoids acting for good after this mess, but like Vee and others have said for the last few months, I do think Sara has given a very strong performance - certainly more than I would have expected. This could have come across as a vanity project for her but her work genuinely didn't, and the bits I saw were much closer to the Darlene of the first 4-5 years of the show, a character I loved, and a character who later became a bad self-parody. I wish she could go back into acting, maybe giving some recurring roles to some of the cast members from Roseanne who aren't likely to bounce back (like Lecy, Michael Fishman, or Natalie West). There's no "bright spot" to any of this, but the one thing I can say as a fan of those first 4-5-6 years I'm glad that I got to see a DJ, Becky and Darlene that I would have wanted them to be (or close enough, anyway) and that I got to see Crystal one last time. No matter how much Roseanne ruined this show (over and over), at least she can't take that away from me.

Thanks for finding that with Lindsey Frost. Is this Don Hastings doing the voiceover for Johnson and Johnson? The guy in the ad is so familiar, as is the woman in the last ad (Susan Brown is in one of the others).

I probably shouldn't laugh but I saw this and I did: