DRW50

Frank and Maggie were fired almost immediately when Doug Marland took over, and Maggie was pretty much never spoken of again. Neither of them were. It was odd.

I agree about Danny. I'd bring back Vicki Fowler, Carmel Jackson, a recast Kenny Beale and his kids and grandkids. Nigel (if the actor would come back) for a brief stint, ideally to repair Clare's disastrous return and say goodbye to Dot. Maybe Mary Smith and her daughter. Chelsea. Jake Moon. Darren Miller.

Dolly had an affair with a corrupt, married councilor after she and Matt divorced. She discovered that she was pregnant, and had an abortion. Jean Rogers was upset by this story, as she said Dolly (who had several late term miscarriages) would never have an abortion. She quit. Charity aborted Declan's baby and then covered it up (which is why many felt that her having Ross' baby in prison a year later made so little sense) Linda Glover was seeing a rich snob. She thought they would be together, but his mother matched him with another rich snob. She was essentially thrown out with the trash and decided to induce an abortion with medicine from the vets. As often happens on soaps, especially in that era (this story ran around the same time as Maria Santos' self-abortion story on AMC), she was then unable to carry a child to term. Jasmine was carrying Cain's baby via a fling he used to split her from Debbie. She wasn't sure what to do. Cain was obsessed with having a child, but Jasmine knew he had just been using her. To get payback against Cain, Debbie, with money from Sadie, convinced Jasmine to go through with the abortion. This led to Cain betraying Sadie and stranding her in the whole Tom King kidnap story that was their exit from the show.

I'm hoping re: Jane, as her current wise owl incarnation is truly stomach-churning, but I feel like they may not want to admit just how destructive this story with Bobby was. They really screwed Jovian over. A pointless, unpleasant storyline that was seemingly done just to knock Denise up with the spawn of the devil. He did a good job on Doctor Who - it was a shame to hear people saying oh he can't act, blah blah. He never had a chance. SOC doesn't seem like he's in a hurry to bring people back, although we know none of his plans. I wish he'd bring Chelsea back. She was always the member of the family with the most potential.

If they let Lorna mature a bit in her delivery and have her go back to school (Abi, I mean), I think she could eventually make that work. The campy stuff has never fit her and never will. I hate the whole "new Janine" fallacy. They also missed the prime opportunity to revive her relationships with Ben and Jay - now it will seem forced. Sam Strike is one of those people who has a lot of personal charisma but when it came to how it fit the role, I never really bought it. He would have been better off playing a role like Paul Coker. Ted Reilly is who I pictured Johnny as in my head. But that's not enough when the writing is nonexistent and the Carter family have never been more unpleasant or superfluous. I'd say the best they can do with Johnny is, again, a messy relationship with someone like Steven, a conflict between being a "good" gay and "good" son and doing what he wants, and an actual career. I'm not really expecting anything though. I forgot about Jack. I actually have liked him this time around, but he's always seemed to be there just for Ronnie's fan fiction saga. I'm not sure where to take him when she's gone. I just hope they have dropped the affair with Honey.

I love that idea for Tina. That would be a perfect exit, both for her character and to sum up the Carters. I'd keep Shirley because of Linda Henry, but otherwise the character does feel exhausted. Having a family made her feel more depleted than anything else could have. I had forgotten about Carmel. I'd love to get rid of her. She's just become unbearable as she's taken over the show in recent months, endlessly drinking, feeling sorry for herself, and making everything about herself. That poor Masood's last year on the show was all about being her catspaw has just been such a sad display. If Vincent had chemistry with...anyone, I'd want him around, but he's just sort of there. I'd take him over Kim at the moment though, after the vile way she's been written for this vile Denise pregnancy story. I have a feeling they're just waiting until Ted Reilly's contract is up, but I wish they'd try to do something with Johnny. With proper writing (mainly conflict with Mick, more ties to Steven), he'd work. I've given up on Jane every going anywhere. Ugh. I'd go ahead and write Abi and Lauren out even with Max returning. I'd give them one more chance, but Jossa seems completely over the show and Lorna Fitzgerald is just such a limited actress. Maybe O'Connor has something in mind for them beyond vacuous victimhood. I hope so. It's actually shocking just how isolated Abi is, and not even for a story reason - just because she became such a complete plot device and they never cared about picking her back up.

Bumping this as it seems to still be stuck on page 2 for no apparent reason.

This really is a radio soap with a camera slapped into a spot...

Who else would you get rid of? I'm still so annoyed about Lee, but other than that most of the people who are leaving I can understand. I'm wary of someone I really like and feel has huge potential being cut as some awful karmic balance. I hope not. I'd get rid of Vincent too but I know that isn't likely.

!@#$%^&*] off and never come back, ever, ever, EVER. Best soap news of the year. https://www.thesun.co.uk/tvandshowbiz/1803444/albert-squares-aunt-babe-is-the-latest-eastenders-star-to-give-up-on-the-struggling-bbc-soap/

Someone has uploaded some Capitol episodes that aren't dubbed into another language. The picture and sound quality is not the best, but still, it's a nice treat. If anyone knows SFK you may want to tell him. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvCeTg2pNN-6ineaHE-6aMQ

That's what I thought too.

Apparently he's been back filming again. I don't think there's been anything official said about whether it's temporary to write him out or if he's staying. There was no better time to write him out than what we already got, so hopefully if he returns it won't just be temporary. Belinda was the one who was ashamed of the family and married a rich man. She was haughty and then underneath was a bit of a drunken slut. I don't know if they're trying to continue that now but it just doesn't work. She mostly seems like an overbearing, rude moron.

I've never seen this. Phil will haunt your dreams.

This is the only place online I can even talk about politics (I don't talk about it offline either, really, other than to a few people I'm close to), but I'm so disgusted by this whole election and by the realization that Trump can say and do anything and voters and the press will just support him more - I'm not even sure if I'm going to keep following it. I've always said Hillary will eke out a win or Trump will have a solid win, and that seems more likely by the day. I'm terrified for the country and the world, but I'm at the point where I'm starting to think ignoring it all (beyond voting on election day) is the best way to go. If Hillary wins it will be in spite of so much that has been built to favor Trump, in spite of a public that rewards bigotry and apathy at every turn and in spite of a media that openly talks about how giddy they are that Trump is on the way to the White House. At the moment it's a steep climb, and I don't know if I can see her making it.

BE, The spoilers also make me wonder if

This redheaded woman isn't Kirsten Vigard, is it? I don't think it is but she looks so familiar.

I'd say Phil is more apathetic about anything and everything, including his kids. He only cares when he can use them as an object to make himself feel better. If they acknowledged that Ben is needy and is trying to save Phil because he has nothing else (since Jay is gone and Paul is gone and the show has no relationship between Ben and Kathy), then it would make more sense. The real problem is this should be a complex father/son relationship and it isn't - it's just an abuser and his damaged son. The show is trying to ignore it because otherwise there's nothing to tell. I knew they were coming but I was so annoyed by the scenes of Ben shouting at the doctor for daring to tell him the truth. I hate when Eastenders does this. It's so lazy. Speaking of annoying, I have grown to hate Belinda, who is rude, loud, selfish and stupid in all her appearances. I'm not sure who decided to make a promising character so wretched but I want someone to slap her every time I see her. Between her and Carmel I don't understand why the show has such a truly grotesque view of women, especially older women. I wonder if it's another gay man's fantasy.

Trump Jr jokes about gas chambers. http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/donald-trump-jr-gas-chambers-joke If any Democrat anywhere - even a mayor in a population of 2 - said this, the media would destroy the party for weeks. Trump Jr is another media darling (the press had a big circle jerk about how he and Ivanka were political superstars in the making), so they won't make a peep.

Broadway legend Kelly Sullivan should have been on Tyler Perry shows all along.