DRW50

I often wonder what Jill's fate would have been without Nancy in the role - Jill was such a challenging character, especially early on, but Nancy always gave her so much heart and sweetness along with the iciness and the harder-edged. Her performance when Edmund died and Jill got hooked on pills was superb and deserved more recognition (I can't remember who won the Emmy that year). It may have been too much for voters, I don't know. Nancy also played the romance and vulnerability so well when she had the right screen partners. I've always thought her work in the Ken George Jones saga was phenomenally good. On paper Jill's behavior should have been a narcissistic betrayal like few others, but Nancy sold the conflicts between Frank (safe because they were finally together, but a mess of a relationship) and Ken ("safe" because she knew how it would end, but she also knew it would break her heart and also if it came out would destroy her relationship with Frank) so well, and she had so much chemistry with Trent Jones as well as her usual rock-solid chemistry with Daniel Hugh Kelly. That story was a high point for me in the last few Soapnet years, and she is a big reason why.

Ashleigh Brewer is joining Home & Away. http://www.digitalspy.com/soaps/home-and-away/interviews/a853696/home-and-away-spoilers-ashleigh-brewer-role-gossip/

Trump is freezing money that would have gone to help Syria. I guess he really will be pulling troops out soon. http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/trump-freezes-200-million-aid-promised-syria/story?id=54140183 I saw a comment somewhere saying he had a phone call with Putin a week or two ago...

I keep reading he's mostly EPA so he can get connections to become governor of Oklahoma. I'll say sorry in advance if this is what OK ends up being stuck with.

@jam6242 thank you for the Bill Bell article.

Catherine Breillat, whom I thought I'd never heard of until I realized she directed Anatomy of Hell (which is a shitty, shitty movie), went on the attack against Asia Argento (and #MeToo to a lesser degree). https://www.indiewire.com/2018/03/catherine-breillat-asia-argento-harvey-weinstein-jessica-chastain-me-too-1201945040/ Argento fired back detailing the horrid treatment she faced while working with Breillat (I don't like Jezebel but anyway...) https://jezebel.com/asia-argento-calls-catherine-breillat-a-sadistic-and-do-1824205021 A very long and I should warn disturbing piece on the guy who created Ren and Stimpy. https://www.buzzfeed.com/arianelange/john-kricfalusi-ren-stimpy-underage-sexual-abuse?utm_term=.viVbdJea5v#.yvqx5vgYJl

Scott Pruitt may be the Trump Cabinet member I dislike most (which is saying a lot). And this is a very odd story about him: http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/exclusive-pruitts-epa-security-broke-door-lobbyist-condo/story?id=54129080 Another story, not about Pruitt, but federal workers talk about the atmosphere. https://www.politico.com/story/2018/03/30/trump-washington-civil-servants-492347

I'm glad that a lot of the writers who have talked about the show (good or bad) have also recommended ODAAT, as I still feel like many are sleeping on it. I'm also glad that ODAAT has not gone too heavy into Trump commentary, even though they could have easily done so for headlines or approval. I agree that the early years of Roseanne have a lot in common with the ODAAT revival, especially with Penelope. The manic depression episode reminded me a great deal of Roseanne.

@Vee mentioned the other article by this guy a few days ago but I don't think this newer one has been mentioned yet. It's long but I'd say it's one of the better takes on the different reactions to the show. https://www.vox.com/culture/2018/3/30/17174720/roseanne-2018-reboot-controversy-trump-explained-review

https://www.thedailybeast.com/how-smallville-actress-allison-mack-became-a-women-branding-cult-leader https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/17/nyregion/nxivm-women-branded-albany.html

I remember reading a lot about this when the stories came out last year. I think some said Kreuk brought Mack into the group.

The main reason nothing happened to Delia is because they kept her around to make us root for the "good" characters. The problem was that so many of the "good" characters were so unlikeable that the contrast never worked as well as it should have. Ilene Kristen was once asked (I think) about fan reaction toward Delia, and she said rather than abuse, she mostly had people who felt sorry for her or understood her. I think that is why the character worked as well as she did, even with years and years of poor, regressive, Groundhog Day writing.

The JoAnna Rhineheart of ABC Daytime.

You know the part that gets me most is that some of the stuff in there, like the talk about his faith and about his father's death, I remember him saying in interviews, in some cases going back years and years. I wonder how much we've just been in some lie with him all along.

If the ratings hold up but the controversy continues I wouldn't be surprised if they pull a Valerie Harper on her.

I saw a Ben Shapiro tweetstorm going around claiming the show/the media/Hollywood had an agenda in trying to say that Trump voters only voted for him based on economic issues and are socially liberal (he was especially upset about "a boy in a dress"). That makes no sense to me because the line from the right wing media is that Hollywood hates Trump voters, sees them as deplorables, etc. so I'm not sure why they would now change course (unless they think Hollywood is trying to brainwash and guilt Trump voters, which wouldn't really make any sense even for the pea brain mentality). It's oddly defensive posturing from a group who deep down can't face that a lot of people did vote for Trump based on the economy. The irony is that Roseanne herself shares a lot of their views, but if they start in on her she won't hesitate to troll and hector them nonstop. And she has about 30 years on them in that department.

Alison Sweeney and ex-DAYS writer Melissa Salmons will be doing Hallmark movies together. I remember a lot of fan praise for Melissa so I'm glad she's getting bigger gigs. http://deadline.com/2018/03/alison-sweeney-topline-hallmark-movie-franchise-the-chronicle-mysteries-1202354275/

The VA Secretary is out, as we move one step closer to privatization. https://www.vox.com/2018/3/28/17120292/david-shulkin-veterans-affairs-ronny-jackson

I never knew Patty Weaver was on that early.

One of the worst decisions the show made was in having Roger become such a sanctimonious prick, blathering away to Delia about her many problems and feeling morally superior to her. He became an awful, unwatchable character. He and his loathsome sister Faith smugging it up about taking all of Delia's money made my blood boil. The self-righteousness of these two, especially after Roger killed a patient through negligence and Faith nearly killed a child through boozing it up, made me sick. Randall Edwards and Ron Hale had no chemistry, but the writing was the big culprit. Randall Edwards brought something special to Delia, and as you suggested, I do think it went against the lazy writing that the character was often subjected to. We got regression, regression, regression, and of course endless prop duty for the Ryans, Faith, Roger. Even Barry looking down on her - a con artist and a bigamist. Yet Randall (even if all the screeching she did tended to get on my nerves) still gave Delia vulnerability and dignity. When I tried to watch the scraps of 1983 Delia on Youtube, it just didn't register. Scheming to get Frank yet again. Broken and lost. If RH had allowed its characters to grow, I wonder if they might have lasted longer.

The Atlantic becomes the latest 'liberal' publication to hire a far right columnist - this one believes women who have abortions should be hanged and made racist comments about a child. https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2018/03/the-atlantics-bad-reasons-for-hiring-kevin-williamson.html

I thought that was a typo at first. That's insane. I guess it shows why networks keep going back to reboots, and also just how important the show was to many many people. I didn't watch, but I'm happy for the cast and crew and I hope it works out for them.

I know there were claims of a distance growing between China and NK over the last few years, and China not having the say they once had. I wonder if this will help thaw that or if it's lip service. If NK does get closer to South Korea that would probably benefit China and bring SK closer to China, so I guess that's an issue as well. I keep waiting for Trump or Bolton to say something stupid and dangerous again about North Korea. The Stormy saga has just been a distraction from the norm.

The budget is likely too small for Home Farm now. They should scrap it. I miss the old theme. I've never liked the current version. A former writer called it drunk carnival music, or something like that.

I think Ned Porteous has done a decent enough job with Joe's anger toward Charity, but the story has barely been about Charity. They don't seem to know what they want to do with Joe. They want us to boo and hiss him, which is why we get the [!@#$%^&*] boring, one-sided pissing contests with Robert, yet they also want us to seemingly care about whether or not he loves Debbie. I think that Justin mostly lost interest in Jacob after he remarried, but it would be nice if they remembered him. Ah yes - Maurel. I hated the Jackson stuff and especially Viv and Terry's deaths. I was not watching when Carl was ruined. I would have hated that too. Then I hated the Katie death plot. Since then I have mostly just checked out mentally, as that told me "my" Emmerdale was gone. I do think the Finn and Kasim story was a huge piece of [!@#$%^&*] though. And I hate the way the show treats Aaron's mental illness. A mockery of self-harm. A mockery of sexual abuse. Using his sexual abuse for a romantic reunion (with a man who abused him and didn't even believe Aaron over his father). And most recently, having Aaron say if he didn't fully accept Robert's son, he was no better than his father. Sick writing. I think most of the village will side with Tracy, but I just don't really care. I'd rather they move Tracy on and let her mature. I agree with you both about Victoria. Sadly she has been so downgraded over the last decade she doesn't even have a personality anymore.