DRW50

They gave the vets some bones, definitely. I think that would have continued, albeit in diminishing returns, but Sheffer hated the vets, just as he hated soaps. His contempt and disgust for the genre was clear every time he gave an interview and every time he did deign to write anything for older characters - the sniping between Kim and Susan was cheap and embarrassing. Ever since the late '70s the soaps dumped vets, security, safety, for pretty young things. If anything it's surprising ATWT got back on track in the mid-80s. I just wish they'd stayed there. I will say for all of the last year's faults, I felt more of a vet presence (sans Lisa and Emma) than I had in a long time.

The show lost interest in the Hughes family long before Goutman or Passanante. The only difference was that Goutman/Sheffer stopped giving Margo and Tom stories, but their stories had been so consistently poor in the late '90s it wasn't a big loss.

Nice to see you posting again.

I'd forgotten how damn annoying Regis and Kathie Lee were. I guess she paid attention to that billboard...

The sad thing is looking back it was one of Erica's more coherent stories in AMC's last 15 years. I just wish they hadn't gone such a cheap route. I can't watch that era of the show again...even seeing a photo of Hayley from that point "triggers" me. That story made me feel so sick.

I actually thought the forgiveness scenes would be worse - I thought she would have to beg and cry forgiveness and he would finally get over it. Lowered expectations probably helped me. I don't really know why the drama was so rushed (Johnny was angry for about 3 scenes!), but at least Mick finally admitted it was his fault. Of course, he was immediately told that wasn't true, but I'll take what I can get. I've never "gotten" the Carter family the way I did the most believable EE families, like the Fowlers, and the Slaters (1.0, anyway), because there's so much misery and forced merriment, but I actually did end up enjoying most of their scenes today. Generally I don't care for anything with Linda or Mick, but the pool scenes and the dinner scenes weren't bad - maybe because they were mostly setting up Nancy's exit. The most believable relationships for me are with the siblings, and I also like when Buster gets to spend time with them rather than being Shirley's Phil replacement. I do wish they'd boot Babe from their home. I find her tiresome - they must be gluttons for punishment to put up with her. She should be a guest character at most. I also liked the scenes with Ben and Paul. I just wish they could last. And I loved the "flirting" with Ben and Jay. Such fun. I hope they won't ruin Jay with this upcoming story. I've even come around to liking Stacey and Martin, which of course means we get my #1 EE hatred - money woe stories. Yippee. I must say that other than a few quibbles this was one of the better weeks I can remember on EE in a while. Most of the stories were decent, the characters were relatively two-to-three-dimensional, and characters were called out on their sh!t. It gave me a bit of hope that my old, long gone EE ain't completely dead yet. I should hold onto that for the coming crap I know I'll have no time for...

A while back someone asked me to upload Blackpool Week (Jim and Bet's 2003 return). It takes so long with Dailymotion I forgot about finishing it, but I finally did today. This is the first episode, which was uploaded by someone on Youtube a few years back. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ve6vvcZe1Vg The rest of the week is here, in a playlist I made (this just links to the first but you can find the playlist on my channel): http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x3jt2l7_coronation-street-november-23-2003_fun It's a good slate of episodes, although truth be told I don't think they had enough material to fill the week - a lot of repeat conversations and padding. Jim, always the most entertaining McDonald, is oddly underutilized. The best part for me is Bet's story - tragedy queen to the end, with some very nice work from Julie Goodyear, especially in the last two episodes. I also enjoy Claire and Ashley's trip to Blackpool, where you can see their bond truly begin, and see her becoming Joshua's mother. I will try to ignore Ashley randomly becoming a huge dumbass in the November 28 episode to move the plot along. There are a few stories back in Weatherfield, not really all that interesting, although Deirdre's Jon Lindsay trauma being used to torpedo Bev's relationship was a nice twist.

Someone asked me for more episodes with the Rosemary/Perdy/Grayson saga, and there are other things in them I thought you might enjoy (if you haven't seen these episodes before of course). This one has the oddly short guest turn of Cathy Tyson (of Mona Lisa fame) as a neighbor and friend of Terry's father Duke. Duke is irascible and a man who doesn't want to admit he can't cope with a modern world (and with the "yoof gangs" who plague modern soaps). He is forced to move to the village with estranged son Terry. There was a possibility that Cathy and Terry could have become a couple, or that her teenage son (who appears once or twice) could have settled in with the teen scene (Daz, Scarlett, Victoria), but it never happened and she only made a few more appearances. The most confusing thing about Duke was they wrote him as a fitness fanatic, needling Terry about his gut, when Terry was actually in decent shape and Duke had a spare tire. I kept waiting for a scriptwriter to point this out, but no one ever did. Duke was OK, and I loved Terry so I was glad to see him get more focus, but he never really fit in, especially with the older set. I wasn't surprised to see he was gone by early 2008. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_7B8vsTbSUM&feature=youtu.be This episode continues a strand set up in the first one - Val's long-simmering tension with Sharon, her mini-me and soon forgotten daughter. Val had slept with her boyfriend when she was like 15, which, needless to say, destroyed an already poor relationship. Sharon had been mentioned for several years but only appeared in early 2007, planning to marry a footballer. She made some amends with Val, but Val ruined her wedding by erroneously telling her that her groom-to-be was broke. Sharon then sold a tabloid story about her, and things truly crash around this time due to Val's jealousy of Sharon's bond with Paul, Sharon making a pass at Val's boyfriend Billy Hopwood (just to rile Val up), etc. Diane is in love with Billy at this point (I can't say I blame her - David Crellin was so oddly charismatic in that role), so there's some angst for her as well while she gets in the middle. Anyway, in the second episode, Val spitefully ruins Sharon's big modeling gig, and Sharon ends up getting in a food fight with her at Paul's party-planning Home Farm debut. I really miss that old Blackstock-Lambert family unit.

I'm never going to feel like this story with Aaron and Gordon was the right idea, and I'm always going to think this story was a huge waste of what Gordon could have been, but I will say I'm glad that the verdict was actually guilty. To the end I was expecting one last "twist," like Gordon being found not guilty but keeling over from illness, or some type of murder mystery. I've come to expect the absolute worst from soap rape and sexual abuse stories, after the fiascos with Alicia and with Carla on Corrie.

I was more bothered by the digs from Belinda, as they were presented as "fun," and at least Jean was humbled and called out, but yeah. The show's general approach to this issue has felt clunky. I guess at least I've started to like Kyle rather than see him as a waste of airtime.

Belinda's a great character. I hope we never see her on a regular basis, as she would lose something. Her reactions to Kyle made me roll my eyes, but Carli Norris played everything with the right flippant, casual touch. Way too much of the Kyle stuff here felt like checking off a box, but I'm glad it is out, and I'm glad that DTC's grotesque caricature of Jean was halted long enough for her to realize her mistakes and leave quietly. Of course we end with more misery and money woes for Stacey and Martin, because that's all they ever know how to do with characters... I know it won't last, but boy did I enjoy Johnny reacting to a year of sustained, all-encompassing lies, and telling Mick he blames him. They even had Mick lying to him earlier that day just to drive it home. The Carters are a family built on sickness and lies, and while I don't think Ted Reilly is the best actor, he conveyed the complete emotional collapse of learning all of these "secrets." He's very believable at the weakness of Johnny, mixed with some moments of strength. I already have a feeling this Johnny recast will not be around all that long, between the family being burnt out and the Sam Strike fans reminding me of Chandler Massey fans in their tantrums on social media, but I like him a lot more than I thought I would. I wish that Paul had upbraided Ben for his treatment of Abi on that stage, but I doubt the relationship will last long anyway and Paul is just a plot device. I really like Paul, and I like him with Ben. I hope the show will try to do something with this rather than discard them. I also liked the scene where Ben tried to express some remorse to Abi but they're both just too far gone. Jack putting that vile Babe in her place was very satisfying. I generally am not minding Jack this time around. I really think the girl who plays Linzi has real potential, and she and Jamie Borthwick work well together. Unfortunately it's obvious where this is going, and that will be to a very bad place. I don't know who wrote this episode but overall I enjoyed it a lot more than I thought I would.

She sang that about 50 times.

I'm always thrown by how earnest and overwrought this period is, especially Gottlieb's part of 1991. You can really see that with the hyperdramatic Asa material, where there are scenes upon scenes of Asa wigging out and Renee reacting in horror (the idea of Renee being repulsed by Asa being abusive to a younger version of her is interesting, but it shouldn't have to be so histrionic). Cassie is literally having a breakdown every time she appears in a scene. Bo asks if she forgot the corn nuts? Watch those eyes bug and hear that voice quake. Then you have the dramatic tension between Tina and Cord (which I've never entirely understood given that he was about to be "killed off," unless they wanted to make sure viewers weren't mad when she quickly moved on with Cain). Even the music in a lot of the Asa/Renee scenes is OTT. Then there's the sheer hilarity of Asa and that sword. I fully expected him to accidentally cut Renee - at least they missed that cliche. Phil Carey is having a lot of fun and seems energized by the material, vile as it is, so kudos to him. In contrast, the music and staging of the Joey/Kevin scene is superb - a great example of the best of family drama. Clint trying to help Kevin and later console Viki (if she thought that Kevin's first time was a disaster she's lucky she didn't know what would happen with Joey and Jessica). It's such good family-focused material. And it makes the Sloan story even more forced and more unnecessary. I also thought the little scene with Stephanie and Renee was beautifully done - this is what Pat Elliott (RIP) was best at. I felt sick inside when Viki told Jessica that she wanted to make sure she'd never grow up to be with a man who hurt her, because all I could think of was the later, heinous rewrites that claimed at this time, Niki was taking Jessica out to bars and she was being molested and videotaped. I will never forgive Valentini, Higley, or Frons for that cheap, shock value violation.

Thanks. Yikes at that green outfit in the last one. Not every '80s trend needs a return.

Oh how I laugh: http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/phyllis-schlafly-eagle-forum-plotting-coup

Hmm.

I did! I don't know if it was Kate Oates or the new producer, but I'm so glad. That scene is what soaps used to be about and should still be about - history, community. I truly did not think they would have it. I'm so happy to be wrong. If anyone wants to see the episodes with Zak's testicular cancer stories - they're on Youtube, they start around late June 2001.

Reilly seems a bit awkward and wooden to me (then again so do most of the family), but I can see him as the character. Strike was always a bit too hot and Hollywood for me to believe the cowardice and weakness they wanted to make central to Johnny. I think DTC wanted a hot piece of ass to play his avatar on the screen. Now that he got that out of the way, he was more realistic. Abi is just a plot device. They don't even bother pretending otherwise. It's sad. I kind of wish they'd just write her out, as I don't care about her at this point, but then that would mean even more likelihood of Jay going as well, and at least she gives Max more to do.

With Johnny's return, we see the return of pre-rape Linda, when the show made halting attempts to write her as a character that they never finished because the story was never really about her and because I don't think Kellie Bright was ever entirely playing the person they thought she was supposed to be playing. And that Linda is a real mess. I'd forgotten how much her relationship with Johnny makes me rear back. Not only the infantilization, but the long-running struggles with his sexuality, complete with essentially saying she would rather he be celibate because men will just hurt him like she knew all along. Given that men have ruined her life, it would make sense to me if this was explored more (as I think it could have been explored if Nancy had been with a man more aggressive than Tamwar). The Carters have never come across as a happy or coherent family to me, underneath their singing and easy banter - they've never really connected for me the way that families like the Fowlers or the Slaters once did. I'm sorry Nancy is going as that means there's little time to explore the dynamics, but then, the last time there were 3 Carter kids on the show, there was no effort made to write for them... It's nice that the choice to have a duff-duff focused on Mick watching from the window continues DTC's mission statement for the rape story and the Carters in general - their pain is, in the end, all about Mick (and sometimes Shirley). It's still too soon to tell for me with Ted Reilly. He seems like good casting as Johnny - frankly, he's much better casting for the clear character outline of Johnny (the baby of the family, weak and frail, insecure, good-hearted but fumbling his way through life) than Sam Strike ever was. Do I think he's ever going to be a big actor on EE? I don't know. But I do think he's fine for what Johnny is. The best scene for me was Johnny and Shirley addressing the absolute absurdity of her being his grandmother. I always like Shirley in moments like those. I had to laugh when Johnny said that Luca's mother wanted him to stay. It's nice to know that DTC's mother issues know no town or country. You know, I've always liked Bonnie Langford (I'm one of the proud Melanie Bush fan club of about 10 people...), but I never had any idea of whether or not her acting style would fit into Eastenders. As it turns out, it does - she's not perfect, but she's impressed me on more than one occasion. She did fine tonight with some material that could have crashed over the hill of sheer campery. But the character - the character... Why is this woman shouting the street down for Stacey's honor? Of course it's not even about Stacey - it's all about her (as everything is). If SHE has forgiven Stacey, then Masood must do the same, and it also means he will forgive her, but she doesn't have to confront how much of this crusade is about him not forgiving her. And that's why she kept going, even when he repeatedly asked her to stop and hid away in his house to get away from her. This led to that nasty scene that I enjoyed (Bonnie and Nitin do very well together) where she belittled him for assuming she wanted sex (never mind that she'd once used him for sex while keeping the Arthur secret from him) and his shooting back that she wasn't that attractive. I do think there is some element of the show wanting to make sure everyone forgives Stacey, and I imagine he will fall into line at some point, as everyone always does. But most of it tonight was about Carmel's rampant insecurities. Speaking of Stacey, once again no one seems to be able to stop her from cashing into the furniture. I never wanted Martin to be a caveman to Stacey, but it's disturbing to me that she is so clearly not handling...anything well and he and Kyle mostly just have to react to it. Thank God for Jay, pretty much singlehandedly keeping those Mitchell family scenes alive, being assertive and aggressive in the way that I once thought Sharon was going to be, when I had fleeting hopes for about a week in March 2015 that they were going to bother writing her as anyone of value to the Mitchells (that scene of her staring longingly at the Mitchells as they went back home was possibly the most pathetic Sharon scene yet, which is saying something after the last few years). Jamie was wonderful, especially in his moments with Ben. Jamie and Harry Reid have some of the best chemistry of any duo on the show. It's unfortunate that I still worry this story is to set up Jay's exit, because without Jay, I will not give a flying fuc! about the current Mitchell setup. Yes, Steve McFadden is a good actor, but that isn't enough. Then there's Louise, as pointless as ever. I had to laugh when she lunged for Jay, both because Ben did the same last year, in the exact same spot (their positions were reversed but otherwise it was the same), and because I knew the "14" and "child" stuff was going to start when Tilly Keeper looks older than Jamie Borthwick. I refuse to believe that Lisa, a character I always had a soft spot for, had anything to do with this Identikit nobody. Send her back to the factory please. Could they have been any more obvious that they couldn't have Jack in the scene with Abi and Dot because he wouldn't let Phil take Abi? Why not just say he was in the toilet or something instead of saying he spent 90% of the episode holding Ronnie's hand? It's a shame, because I thought his scene with Abi was one of her best in some time, and he's one of the few to address the basic question - who ARE you? what have you become? If DTC is still there when she returns from seeing Tanya, I wonder if we will get one last "greatest hit" where she buries Ben alive...

DTC clearly wanted Johnny/Ben (even thought Strike and Harry Reid had no chemistry), so I imagine Paul will be written out and we'll get a revival of the story he was seemingly plotting before Strike wisely quit - gay guru Johnny "saving" Ben from himself.