DRW50

I binge watch the show a few weeks ago, and fell in love with Richie. I was always rooting for Pat and Richie. Richie is like the guy I would marry. I never understood why Richie was supposed to want him. I guess it was supposed to be some innate connection, but the actors didn't have the chemistry to make it work. Patrick was a selfish !@#$%^&*] who spent all his time talking about himself, and who fetishized Richie's ethnicity and culture. Richie would be better off elsewhere.

Good. Glad this case is closed so we can now move on. So sick of hearing about these stupid emails and the investigation, which cost us all millions of dollars for nothing. It will never be over. The hearings will start soon: http://www.politico.com/story/2016/07/chaffetz-comey-clinton-emails-225141 No Clinton scandals are as the media and the GOP never want to let go. That's why they're still dredging up Vince Foster.

Thanks. Well I knew I recognized him from somewhere. I wonder why Brooke stopped getting so many commercials. She was a natural. Maybe she became too familiar...or aged out or whatever.

I wonder if that is saynotoursoap's DM channel. Is that strike material?

Is this Joey Thrower in the Sensodyne ad?

A few promos I clipped out of commercial reels. I checked to see if they were already around - sorry if they were.

I'd been looking forward to the scenes with Laurel finding Gabby and Jacob and then the aftermath with Laurel being humiliated and drinking. It was a perfect twist of fate that the two episodes ended up airing on the same night, which I don't think was supposed to happen if not for the Euros. They were one of the more logical double bills in a while. I liked the balance of light comedy along with seriousness (from David and Leyla) the usual helplessness (Bernice), poor Ashley, and then Laurel being the one initiating everything. She still sees Gabby as her daughter even as Gabby lashes out at her. I don't think she even knew just how much Gabby resents her until this episode. And when Gabby humiliated her about the bruises she left on Jacob's arm, she also realized how alone she is - the only one who defended her was Ashley, and he's increasingly less able to do this by the day. The last scenes where she finally gave in to drinking again were wonderful - a blend of harrowing and just a slight dose of camp, but not enough to overshadow how wrong her relapsing is and how much stress she's under to make her relapse this way. I can't help comparing the writing for Laurel to the writing for many women on Eastenders now, where characters like Sharon and Denise seem to have different personalities from day-to-day, or sometimes, scene-to-scene. You don't see a lot of push from Emmerdale about Laurel being a "strong woman," because they don't feel any need to prove this, or to pat themselves on the back with a questionable idea of just what a strong woman even is. She's a complicated, yet incredibly consistent character, and it goes without saying. I'm just sorry Charlotte Bellamy never gets more credit for everything she gives Laurel.

Olivia broke the back of the studio system (it likely would have happened anyway, but she was the one who did it). It's fitting that so many are gone but she's still here.

This whole flap with Bill Clinton and Loretta Lynch is a great example of why I will never trust him in power. He just can't help himself. I saw someone saying, "Cheney met with people too." Is that really the best argument to use?

Do you think Ceara could have lasted on the show if ABC hadn't put Genie back on GH?

The scenes trying to make Sharon the "new Peggy" (essentially barking nonsense at people and overinvolving herself in the lives of Ronnie and Roxy for no apparent reason) were bad, but even worse was the nauseating realization that the show is now saying Sharon is staying with Phil because he was abused as a child and he needs her as a mother, not as any type of wife or partner. It's shocking and disturbing how much DTC has infantilized Phil and glorified his toxic relationship with Sharon.

Found this in an old commercial reel on Youtube and made a promo of it. I wonder if the story itself was this cheesy and overwrought...

Some rare (all too rare, sadly) positive stories. http://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/2016/06/20/first-syrian-refugees-iowa-seek-peaceful-life/85999580/ http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/01/world/americas/canada-syrian-refugees.html?action=click&contentCollection=Opinion&module=Trending&version=Full&region=Marginalia&pgtype=article

There was a casting report in SOD around 1986 or 1987 that mentioned bringing Hope back. Is that Ron Raines briefly in this (creepy, weird) Datek ad?

I think the problem with US soaps was out of touch executives and rewarding hacks by the mid-90s. The half-hour soaps were as bad as the hour ones. Two times a week probably isn't feasible with the current TV climate - a lot of viewers would just further move on to mass-produced reality shows - but three or four is what I would do. Emmerdale manages to be watchable at six, but Corrie hasn't been able to sustain five a week in years, let alone six. The only upside will be if they put Emmerdale and Corrie on Sundays again and stop clumping so many episodes together in a night.

I don't know if Bright Eyes still posts here (if you don't I can't blame you), but someone is uploading the early episodes of Shortland Street. Enjoy while they're still available.

My main reaction to the fire stuff wasn’t really disappointment, as I know these things are always going to be overhyped, and I don’t really care about effects. Soaps aren’t Hollywood blockbusters, and honestly even a lot of those have had poor effects in recent years. I didn’t really think the effects today were that bad anyway, mostly because they were kept to a minimum.I did think the whole thing felt a bit pointless in the end, and I’m not sure if any of it was needed (I assume ITV pushed to do a stunt so they had no real choice). I guess we’ll see if the aftermath (which was MIA after the helicopter crash) makes up for it. In the short term, seeing the consequences for Nicola, Ronnie and Rakesh will be interesting. And it was nice to see Carly and Dan trying to help out even though they will get no story from it - a nice reminder of Dan’s pledge to try to help people (and of course a homage to his role in the helicopter crash last year). I just hope this won’t have to be Rakesh’s exit story - not when so many other characters get away with so much more.I will say that I don’t understand when Priya started calling Rakesh “Rak.” Oh, and I think Nicola would have spent less time waiting and listening once she didn’t hear anything downstairs. And I think we should have gotten a reaction from David in the shop. Otherwise I thought it was alright. Not anything to remember, but not bad.For me the best part of the episode was Victoria struggling with her attack. We so rarely get proper aftermath on soaps now, especially in the last year or two of Emmerdale, where unless there's a reason for hospital scenes, beatings, car crashes, etc. are quickly forgotten. Seeing confident Victoria lose herself, Adam being frustrated, the consequences for Finn, Holly's guilt, Moira talking about her car accident - this is what soaps are supposed to do. It's not boring or filler, it's absolutely necessary. And these days I appreciate it when it arrives, like water in the desert.

He's hitting up politicians in Iceland and Australia too. http://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/trump-now-hitting-up-iceland-mps-for-cash

How bizarre... http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/trump-fundraising-british-members-parliament

I don't even know where they're going with Belle...it seems endless. I wonder if when Lisa and Zak reunite, as I'm sure they will, she will suddenly be all better. Holly's a weird character, as Sophie isn't that great an actress, but there's something vulnerable about her that makes me care. It looks like Jai is going to have more of a role - I vastly prefer him when he's not playing out the same scenes over and over with Megan. The best part of the promo for me was the Laurel stuff. I especially love the, "I'm not Harriet...MY NAME IS LAUREL!" When Laurel gets so broken it's just spellbinding. I really think this must be it for Lachlan. It's too bad they didn't do more with Thomas Atkinson. They're lucky they have other good actors in his age range - unlike Eastenders and Corrie... Speaking of Rakesh: