DRW50

Yet another family values hypocrite. The governor of Missouri. https://www.politico.com/story/2018/01/11/missouri-eric-greitens-affair-335854

I wonder if more focus will ever go onto the loss of retail jobs. It's already been talked about here, but I haven't seen anyone with any actual power trying to stem the tide. I read that the loss of retail jobs - 20,000 over the holiday season no less - is why the last jobs report was underwhelming. The media loves to talk about Joe Palooka and Heartland Jane and mention coal mines and factories, but they don't talk about the local K-Mart or Sears. It's not romantic enough. It's too ordinary. Instead they lionize people like Jeff Bezos who from what I've read is not someone worth lionizing.

I finally got around to watching some of Iron Fist, mostly because I always liked Finn Jones on GoT and because the reviews were so bad I couldn't be disappointed. Anyway, I think I remember it being mentioned before, but Tom Pelphrey plays the main antagonist (sort of). Pelphrey still has some of his usual tics, as he did on GL, but the show has such a somber and slow atmosphere that his performances are much calmer, which is a good thing. Murray Bartlett shows up as Danny Rand's doctor in an asylum. He's very good - quiet, understated, empathetic but unable to truly help. He also has a good American accent, as he did on Looking. I thought Murray was underrated on GL and added a lot of personality and humor to what was a cookie cutter role, so I'm glad to see him still popping up on things years later.

Good points (from everyone). I don't know whether the Oprah stuff belongs here or in the politics thread, but some really are taking her seriously. I saw that Seal (of all people) went after her today about her ties to Weinstein. I'm more concerned about her ties to quacks. https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2018/1/9/16868216/oprah-winfrey-pseudoscience

Another Ronan piece. https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/features/ronan-farrow-hollywood-prince-who-torched-castle-1073405?utm_source=twitter Lena is very well-protected. For all the hype from the media early on about how she was so real and true, she's from a wealthy family and has very influential backers, like that overrated hack Judd Apatow (given the views his work has of women I'm not surprised a number of his flunkies have been involved in sexual harassment or assault controversies). It's saddening to think about how many talented writers and producers and actors fall through the cracks, while she gets chance after chance after chance. This year has reminded me more than ever how out of touch the industry is. This is also the reason I skipped the Golden Globes and will be skipping all awards shows from now on. I'm just tired of the hypocrisy and the gamesmanship and the narcissism. And social media just makes it worse. Things like "Time's Up" are such generic buzzwords that are more about making a subset feel better than about fomenting change. I saw people using that to go after Sam Rockwell and that Sarksgard brother on Big Little Lies for not using speeches to condemn violence or sexism even though they played violent/racist/sexist characters. Surely anyone watching these shows know that racism and sexism are wrong. People who can't stop their Twitter fingers from flying need to go help actual people with actual problems who don't care about Sam Rockwell playing a racist in a movie 5 people have seen.

They have a better chance of keeping the seat without him. An odious man.

I find the whole thing self-serving anyway, to be honest. Not that it's an excuse, but he's a very old man, and many older men start to lose any reserve or coherency at that point. I do feel for the women who have had to deal with this.

This will be my last post in the thread, before anyone says just not to watch the show.

I saw some speculation this is probably just to get money.

Yes, he was killed. Both Jack and Joe were off the canvas over and over, so they could easily have kids out there. Jack even thought he had a child with Marian Wilks.

Maureen's death was what got the attention but JFP made many changes in the show in 1992 and 1993 and I don't think any of them were for the better. Killing Maureen and bringing in Buzz to smack his damn gum and use some bizarre hybrid accent told me most of what I needed to know about what GL was becoming.

I think she'd be a very good President - she's always seemed incredibly intelligent and has good survival skills - but I think her support would be overestimated, mostly because white female voters have shown they will vote for any Republican any time, and I doubt white men will have much support for her. Oprah running would also make it easy for the media to stay in their bubble, which is one of the reasons they were so helpful to Trump in 2015 and 2016.

This isn't about us. "Revered" would, presumably, mean that fans or critics in general loved the show, which was the case for someone like Harding Lemay, or Agnes Nixon. I thought Swajeski's AW was watchable enough, sometimes very good, but the truth is the ratings were poor and critical opinion was mixed at best. I think this was also another period where the show was nearly canceled. I enjoyed Richard Culliton's return in 1998, but I wouldn't be able to come on here and say he was "revered," because he wasn't. A word like that has a very broad reach. It doesn't mean one person and one opinion.

Swajeski's AW wasn't revered.

Between Kyle Maclachlan losing and the latest Hollywood hypocrisy of claiming to be against sexual assault while their actions suggest just the opposite, I'm glad I skipped it.

That makes me nervous as it makes me wonder who is now making all these decisions for him in his absence (or is anyone making them? Are they all just standing around, checking their phones?)

The Sugdens were kneecapped as a family as soon as they had to just rely on Jack. I imagine the Dingles becoming popular played a role in not building up the family (although I'd say it was also down to the Tates and the decline of the farming aspect) but they did bring in Andy, then Diane, and Andy's brother Daz. I think Clive Hornby's death, Luke Tittensor being let go, and the wife-beating story for Andy all happening at the same time closed off so many avenues. Rather than work with what was still there, Gavin Blyth backburnered Victoria and introduced various other girls to have stories that could have been hers. Diane mostly just became a grandmother or Val's sister. There is always heavy focus on Debbie and Aaron when they're around, and Cain, but in other cases it's mostly just some of the Dingles stay around and around, even if they don't have big stories that often (like Marlon or Sam or Zak and Lisa). The Sugdens don't really have anyone around, and no producer builds them up. The Dingles haven't had that many new people brought in in recent years, just a few here and there, but there are so many around it means more of a presence. The Sugdens have none of that. The show doesn't remember or care. Look at Robert, who was obviously brought in by Oates as a generic psycho who would cause problems for her pets.A legacy character permanently tainted as a murderer and sociopath. Sad to say if not for a Dingle, he would likely be long gone. There is still time to bring in more Sugdens or Merricks, but I'm not holding my breath.

The main difference between the Dingles and the Shaynes is that the Shaynes were brought in around the time that GL began slaughtering Bauers, whereas by the time the Dingles became prominent, the damage was already done with the Sugdens. They didn't come in until Joe Sugden was leaving and by that point most of the family was already dead, from daughters to stepchildren to babies...on and on. Joe even used to go on about a "Sugden curse." I think what hurt the Sugdens most was the show no longer wanting to be seen as a farming/rural soap.

The Dingles are so disparate that I don't have the revulsion toward them that many do. I do when they all gang up on people, and act entitled, but otherwise I tend to see them as being different groups. I do dislike when Cain, Chas and Aaron go around harassing people. Of course they barely interact now...

I got it in one sense as I think it helped explain why she became obsessed with Mac's approval again, but I agree it wasn't necessary.

The actor wanted to leave, but they didn't have to kill Luke off. It's just more hollow shock value, like so much of Corrie in recent years. It's garbage, and so ugly and depressing. Some think he may kill Steph too.

I think he won an SOD award for Villain.

Thanks. I always enjoy those. Sad to think this is likely the closest we'll ever see to Bet returning.

In some ways I wonder if the GOP is glad that the sideshow keeps on, distracting everyone, while these types of judicial nominees sail through: https://www.rawstory.com/2018/01/trump-judicial-nominee-claims-gay-judges-shouldnt-hear-lgbt-cases/