DRW50

I see your point, but the fact that the NYT was so desperate to put a positive spin tells me where the media loyalties lie. They are just in awe of him and his traveling circus and they loathe Hillary.

More of the same about the "beautiful wall" and fearmongering - I imagine the press is pulling its pud as we type. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/08/31/heres-what-donald-trump-said-in-his-big-immigration-speech-annotated/

Oh that liberal media. Gush gush gush over the Mexico trip. http://www.cnbc.com/2016/08/31/trump-hit-a-home-run-with-his-meeting-with-mexicos-president-commentary.html

I'm hoping it's a contract thing and they aren't writing her out. I guess that's part of having a big cast, but she has had so little to do all year.

I felt a little sorry for Paddy, even though he doesn't deserve it. I hope he and Rhona don't reunite. Pierce is likely going soon enough, although I'd rather he stay in some capacity. Jonathan Wrather is even hotter now than he was on Corrie and he looks great in the skimpy outfits he's been wearing this week. They must be leading up to Robert finally addressing his sexuality. I hope they will say he's bi. If they say he's gay I'm going to be very annoyed. It feels like Cain and Charity are just going to go nowhere. I wish Charity had better. It's so sad seeing Ashley this way and knowing it will get worse. I wish they hadn't done this story. I hope we see more of Harriet soon. She is such a wasted character.

I have a feeling this is the end for Emma too, although I'd rather see her stay around. I also can't see Mike Parr staying much longer - I wonder if he's already told them he's leaving. I just hope Finn stays around, even if he barely has a role these days. He's a great character when they try. Nothing about James has ever worked. The relationship with Moira and making him Adam's father were huge mistakes, and he's had no charisma whatsoever. It's hard to believe he's the same actor who was Charlie Stubbs. The rumor mill has said for a while that Denise Black will be out soon. I don't know after that. I'd guess some of the short-term characters floating around, like Pierce, Jermaine and Ronnie.

I think it was to punish Lucinda for her selfishness and neuroses - they tended to punish her by having Lily turn her back on her, but that would never last. John leaving her was a more permanent punishment. It's just too bad they didn't have anything good for him to do while away from her.

I never had much of a feel for it - I don't think they would have been together. It was mostly just to cause angst with Meg and Dusty. I read that Emma was annoyed about Iva/John but I've never seen those episodes.

Angela Corey, loathed by many for her botched prosecution of George Zimmerman and other derided cases (Marissa Alexander, Cristian Fernandez), has lost her primary. Some have said that the woman who beat her is no better, and may be worse, but still, it's good to see voters punish this type of prosecutor. https://www.thenation.com/article/is-angela-corey-the-cruelest-prosecutor-in-america/ http://jacksonville.com/news/metro/2016-08-30/story/northeast-florida-voters-kick-controversial-state-attorney-angela-corey Another controversial prosecutor was turfed thanks in large part to money from the bogeyman of the right, George Soros. http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/politics/os-primary-state-attorney-judges-20160829-story.html

I think Runyeon later said in so many words that his ego was too big at ATWT. I always wondered about Liz Hubbard and Marland. She was known for her ego as well, and that supposedly led him to push her out when he was writing for The Doctors, but at ATWT he seemed to connect with Lucinda and wrote years of terrific material for her. I know she wasn't happy with some of it but most of it was pretty good.

It's part of ABC's use of that show to rehab right wing or far right names who fell from grace. It's one of many reasons I stopped watching.

Sophie Powles is leaving the show. The Sun identified her as "Sophie Fletcher" (as a lot of the article was about Kelvin leaving). The clickbait sites are painting this as a shock quit, but I tend to wonder if this was planned all along. Nothing about her return felt open-ended and it's always been fairly clear to me that her return will likely end in death. http://www.digitalspy.com/soaps/emmerdale/news/a806191/has-emmerdales-sophie-powles-quit-as-holly-barton/ She's done some superb work this time around, and I hope she's proud of that. I wish she were staying, as Moira needs her children to save her from boring, tedious romantic dramas.

Some guy is doing Trump proud by bilking stupid people out of money in his name - with not one dime going to him. http://www.politico.com/story/2016/08/donald-trump-fundraiser-hawes-227486

The media will do anything to help Trump and Republicans win. It will be a very close race.

I wouldn't be surprised about Dan, although I hope he stays. If I had to choose I'd write Kerry out of the two (she can take Amelia with her), as I don't connect with her these days - something doesn't seem natural about her now. Having her with selfish Joanie and Zak so much doesn't help. Dan's such a believable everyman character, and I like that he's the rare soap character who wants to educate himself and work hard to better himself, and does this regardless of whether the people in his life sneer or say it's meaningless. I saw a few old clips of Michelle and Liz on Corrie jeering Steve for going to community college and it just turned my stomach. I do wonder if Priya and Chrissie will get into it. I know Charity and Chrissie were supposed to be rivals but that never happened (maybe because Iain McLeod started writing Charity as an antiheroine instead). All I've heard about Priya is that the situation with Rakesh I think ITV did the one-hour episodes while the Olympics were on, or something. Speaking of Lisa (Jane Cox has been wonderful this year, even as the characters in the story feel used up and hard to sympathize with now), supposedly Joanie Black is going to do panto, which would likely mean Joanie is on the way out. The writing certainly hasn't been kind (she could have been such a unique, fresh character before this stupid Zak affair...).

An article about the AP (which has been hack central for years - just look up Ron Fournier) and their Trump shilling. http://bluenationreview.com/ap-tweets-then-deletes-trump-puff-piece/

It's good to read your thoughts. I've read about the Jardins but remember so little of their story or history. Actually hearing them was startling...especially Barbara Baxley.

Thanks. I wonder if they had more plans but something was dropped or if they didn't.

About 7-8 minutes in, Larry Atlas, who created some computer casting service, says he got a role on Loving. Apparently it was a character named Jules. What was his story?

Disgusting. http://www.politico.com/story/2016/08/donald-trump-dwyane-wade-227467

The comments I read from some that he was singing over her make me laugh...um...there's a reason for that....

Watched the speech. I thought she did a good job. It was a well-written speech in that she had to download a lot of somewhat clumsy information while still seeming approachable, and she just about managed it. I've heard people say these groups shouldn't have gotten free publicity from her, but they already get lots of attention whether she shines a light on them or not. It won't stop the media from doing the "both sides are calling each other racist, it's so nasty!" song and dance, but I guess she knows that. It is at least a way to shame Trump and anyone who tries to whitewash what he enables. And it's something that needed to be said.

The only part I pause at is that a lot of white voters - and a media that enables racism - will blanch at her openly saying he's a racist (even though he is). Still, I respect her for saying it. Coulter's meltdown has been a hoot, as has, even though I dislike the man, Jeb's "We can believe what he says until he changes his mind again tomorrow" gloating statement. Maybe some on the far right are finally realizing he will say and do anything and means none of it - unless you're Putin.

Emmerdale must be the hardest show to produce, thanks to the endless double bills and one-hour episodes, the latter seemingly coming at any random time. They also seem to break producers - I think some of those endless hour episodes are one of the reasons Anita Turner got the push - because unless you're very disciplined like Blyth and Kate Oates were (or pedestian like Blackburn), they spiral out of control. This one had that same wildly out of control feeling I've started coming to expect from Emmerdale again, especially those truly bizarre scenes of Rakesh choking Chrissie out and Chrissie keening afterward. I thought they'd have her reveal this as another part of her mwahaha plan (and I imagine in the end she did give him the money to further screw him over down the line), but instead she seemed to still be hysterical at the end. The Dan/Nicola/Kerry/Jimmy saga also felt...weird, although if this weren't being rushed I think it would be a very good story. I will credit the show for putting a finger on exactly why I've grown cold on the Kerry/Dan relationship by blatantly pointing out that Dan (who owns that house) can't even feel anything because the needs of Zak (a user who doesn't do much beyond sup and use the bed for various purposes) are more important. I hate that setup with freeloading Joanie and Zak living with them - I hate it a lot, but it's so dull sometimes I forget. They reminded me today. Obviously the show isn't going to split Nicola and Jimmy, but various spoilers and the tone of the writing today make me wonder about Kerry and Dan. I don't know how I'd feel about that at this point. I do hope they keep giving Dan a bit more to do because I thought Liam Fox was surprisingly good today. Speaking of blatant, I laughed at Zak missing a call from Belle because he was in bed with Joanie. They keep finding new ways to show us this relationship is a horrible idea. I can't wait for the next one.

I don't think I'll bother with anything that says OJ OJ OJ for why soaps declined. As you said, ATWT and GL were just not good in 1994 (and not that good in 1993 either).