DRW50

Jay was also off the show by 1981. I wonder if it was for foreign markets that may have been behind.

Bannon's been on a slide for a year now, but it feels like something has changed recently. Now I see why. The Mercers seem to be the real power brokers on that side now and where they go everyone else follows. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/04/us/politics/bannon-mercer-trump.html https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2018/01/04/steve-bannon-michael-wolff-book-donald-trump-216243 Bannon’s financial patron Rebekah Mercer reportedly cut him off after he, according to the Washington Post, “told several other major conservative donors that he would be able to count on the Mercers’ financial support should he run for president.”

I was going to post that. It just sends a chill up my spine.

Chip Zien (who was a soap producer on RH in 1981) is in this short.

I had Jane Austen's Book Club on, mostly just in the background, and at about 12 minutes into the movie, when Kathy Baker is talking to some woman boo-hooing in front of a marquee, I could swear Jean Carol (Nadine Cooper) is one of the women standing behind Baker. She sort of has this bored extra look on her face, but is very eye-catching. I even said, "Nadine!" Does anyone have this movie and can they watch so I won't feel like a nut? She isn't credited for it in IMDB. It's around 9 minutes on this but it's one of those crappy copies so you may not be able to see it well.

Reading through the stuff that's supposed to be in the book, some of it feels a bit like fan fiction, especially Ivanka believing she would be the first female President. Other parts I can believe.

I loved Concepta so much. I loved the little Hewitt family. It's a shame the character had a sad exit (married to a cheating second husband).

The backbone and the conscience of Emmerdale. @Nothin'ButAttitude I don't know if you watch the show anymore but you may enjoy today's episode. You may also enjoy this:

Thanks for keeping these recaps coming. That line from Val is a great example of the plot-over-character motif of these years, and one of the reasons JVA was likely so unhappy. They likely put that in so viewers would feel her pain more when she was made a mug of. All it really did was just spit on her character's history for a man and a relationship that was never, ever believable.

“Nobody speaks for Trump,” he said. “He speaks for himself. The question is, are they allowed to do things notwithstanding? And the answer is yes, until he decides to pull the rug out from under them. Well, that’s the reality. That’s how this man works.” Isn’t that, I asked, an extraordinary statement of no confidence in the presidency they are supposed to serve? “It’s amazing,” he responded. “Look, the whole thing is amazing. We’ve never been here. But that’s where it is. So, at some point you have to sort of stop saying, you know, ‘This is terrible, it shouldn’t be this way.’ It is this way.”

I know some fans think this will lead to a Ricky or Liam return down the line. I think Ricky works as a supporting character, but I don't really care about most of the Butchers. I love Janine but I never want them to ruin her. Pat is gone. I think bringing in Diane and her family could work though.

Is that the first Meta?

Considering how long the show had run by this time, and how checked out some of the characters could feel, the level of emotion in the goodbyes is moving. It's a real contrast to some recent sitcoms I watched that didn't run near as long but just felt flat by the end, and a good while before, like Parks & Rec. This part really gets me, as does the duality of everything with Julie not being there (and the show refusing to tidy it up or give her a happy ending). Max: I'm sorry I didn't do a better job with Julie. Ann: I'm sorry *I* didn't do a better job with Julie.

I mostly remember Gaines for his sad little role in Fame. I mostly remember Lembeck because I thought he was very cute. I remember the episode where Max and Barbara began to have feelings for each other. Too bad it didn't go anywhere. That was also the first place I saw Ron Rifkin. He did stick out, but most people on the show did. I can't remember believing most of them, even people I liked, like Nanette Fabray and Shelley Fabares.

I'm sure they think it's hilarious - I mostly think it's bad optics, and fodder for anti-gay propaganda. Sadly I'm not surprised at how bad so many are at optics.

I wonder what role Jason Alexander would have gone up for. One of the Williams? Or Traci's professor boyfriend?

It was probably his idea.

I thought Todd was very handsome, but also adrift in generic writing and generic pairings. He and Anne Heche had chemistry, but even then, I didn't like that Marley was paired with him after he'd been with Vicky. The character also never felt all that tied to his family to me, even though he did share plenty of scenes with them. Jamie was such a complex character under Bekins, and it seems like every Jamie after him was cookie cutter. Great post, but Cecile wasn't in her late 30's. I imagine Donna would have secretly listened to the Stones during her great teen love affair with Michael.

Supposedly Anne Heche asked for changes with Marley because of aspects of the character she couldn't take (like that wig, and presumably also how weak and insipid Marley was). I thought Anne did a great job as Marley in those last few years, and I think it was a good balance to Vicky, because it meant she wasn't overexposed and got to keep some of her edge. You could also really feel the love that Vicky had for Marley, especially in that rape trial, a story that honestly shouldn't have worked but somehow did.

I guess we (or me, anyway) take for granted how these men who get all their money from their family are so naive. I was one of those who hoped that Jared and Ivanka would be some kind of a balance, but as the year has passed I get the feeling that Jared's as bad as any of them, while Ivanka is mostly just, as the 2017 word of the year says, complicit.

True. At times it's felt like a purgatory to me, with the worst to come (and I'm not one of those who is waiting for "Santa Mueller" to save the day so I don't even have that). I dearly hope that next year will prove me wrong, but I wake up every day wondering if this is the end. I guess a lot of people in the world have felt that way all their lives, so it reminds me of how privileged I was - and still am - compared to many.

https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2017/12/28/2018-america-new-year-economy-everything-is-awesome-216159 Politico has this every year for the last few years - it was especially glaring last year as I felt like we were going to hell. This year even he admits that anything "good" in America is stained by our resident and that the wonderful, wonderful economy actually isn't going to matter much for most people.

I tend to do most of my ranting over at Walford Web, but I agree. What surprises me is how slipshod the show still feels. I had no expectations for Yorke because I was not a big fan of his era and the show backstage has changed too much, but I thought the show would at least be more cohesive. Maybe it will once more of his own stories kick in, but at present is a mess. They did nothing to establish Stacey cheating on Martin - she suddenly just seemed disgusted by him and dropped her drawers. Then we hear that she just wants to feel free, which I could believe, but the show did nothing to build it up. The writing for Max is also baffling, as I get the feeling they'd rather be rid of him, but know they can't afford to lose him given how lousy the men are on there these days (Ian and Phil alone are totally unwatchable). And the show is lacking any sense of community or heart, as was glaringly apparent over the Christmas season. When Robbie and Donna are your most heartwarming element, something has gone wrong. I was thrown by just how nasty and unlikeable so many of the aftermath scenes were - how petty and how incredibly stupid and small Sharon and Billy looked. So many characters feel so small now, and so inconsistent. And on top of that, many have been, as mentioned, blatantly regressed. Eastenders is always trying to relieve and cannibalize its past. Nothing is left.