DRW50

Oh they're in bliss. Breathlessly quoting Glenn Beck (oh that liberal media), saying he gave the best debate performance of anyone this whole campaign season (which is like giving a prize to the man who only kicks himself in the ass 599 times instead of 600), and dredging up Rocky clips (the ideal for the middle-aged pasties who make up the Beltway) to prove their point. If he still doesn't improve any in the race after tonight, we're going to see grown men weep. I'm not kidding.

It's anti-intellectualism and part of the contempt for Eastenders that DTC types have. He sees it as a sneering campfest. Unfortunately his idea of EE ignores characters like Michelle, who spent her entire time on the show working to get her education and being very proud of that fact. Today she'd just be working on the stalls, or in the pub, carrying Barry's baby and passing it off as Lofty's.

For me it was dark and it took more of an emotional toll because I cared, which I don't on soaps now. At the end of 1992, you had Ellie's abortion, Holden losing his memory and rejecting Lily, the end of the Crawford saga, Margo waiting to hear if she had HIV, Lily disowning her mothers, Barbara mourning for Hal and estranged from Frannie, Mac's Alzheimer's being built up. It's tough to watch at times, but still good drama. I think one of the differences between GL and ATWT at this point was that GL was looser, goofier, amidst the high drama. You had Maureen and Vanessa eating lunch on the floor at Spaulding, people dancing and laughing in the diner, Ed and Ross bantering, Billy and Hamp, the kids being kids, Bridget's antics, etc. Marland didn't really do that type of looseness by that time, outside of a bit with Tom and Margo and then Lucinda's barbs, her secretary Thelma, and the hard-edged acidity of Marcy and Tess that could be a lot of fun. The wedding with Andy and Courtney was nice though.

I tend to wonder whether the new producer will write Max and Cora out. Cora is already all but gone anyway, and Max is mostly just there now for the conclusion of the Bobby story. I think by and large EE has a solid cast, but there also few I would be sad to see go. I have a feeling Jay will be gone by the end of the year though, which I would be sad about. I don't really mind the Cokers these days - I'd probably keep them over a lot of the oldtimers.

At this point I'd rather Abi go. Lorna is a limited actress, and her comparing Abi to Janine left a bad taste in my mouth. It's so boring, as all of DTC's "twists" are. I still think the only time they are going to have Ben come out is if he can date DTC's pet gay/avatar, Johnny. They've stalled so long that I don't give a sh!t anymore and I doubt a lot of others do either.

I'd guess Carson is still there because of Cruz knifing him in the back in Iowa. Not watching the debate, but the media is saying Marco is amazing - what a shocker...

They're really getting desperate to stop him now. Well let's see if he's as adept at evading this type of quagmire as Bill Clinton was. http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/feb/25/donald-trump-sexual-assault-125-million-lawsuit

I've seen enough Hannibal. My problem with Fuller above all else is ego and the fans who worship him as a god. There's no faster way for a show or project to go to pot than this type of over-focus on the people who make it. It's one of the reasons Whedon's shows all crashed after the first few seasons. And the same seems to happen with Fuller - oh look, he has an action figure, isn't that adorable, etc. etc. Star Trek has been run by hacks of varying degrees since the later seasons of TNG (DS9 excluded), so I'm happy to have someone with a fresh vision take over, but I already know a lot of people will love it based on him and then as with Hannibal, violently turn against it when they realize he's not their ideal producer/showrunner/wacky uncle come to life.

He's not, which seems to be the whole point. Some people are calling it a colonialist story and cultural approbation. I don't know what's really right in these circumstances. I'll watch and judge on the product. The Marvel Fu era is not really something that's going to translate to progressive tastes. Is Misty Knight around in the movies or TV shows?

Oh. Thanks. At this point I'm surprised people were expecting it from Marvel. Then again people were upset that Dr. Strange was cast with a white man... Finn's rarely had anything to do on this show so I don't know how he'll be as Danny, but I'm very happy for him. He deserves the break.

I didn't know Danny Rand was Asian. Did they change that recently?

Thanks. I enjoyed the episode. The ponderous-speak was kept to a minimum (mostly confined to Rick going on about how he hadn't seen and now he saw the way Daryl and Michonne always had about Alexandria - a nice sentiment, but not enough to make up for how character-damaging that fiasco was), and everyone got a chance to breathe. Seeing Eugene presented so normally, Denise wanting to do something nice for Tara, Maggie worrying about that Enid girl...even the Carl one-eye stuff was not as melodramatic as I feared. His scene at the end with Michonne was very moving. I love their bond. I still can't bring myself to care about Enid, but at least her hair looks better. The Daryl and Rick scenes were the best they've had in a long time - we hear about them being brothers, and so on, but rarely do they get to have fun. This was just fun. It's tough to care about Spencer as I feel like he's dead meat, but I did like the way they tied up his relationship with his mother. And the actor is so, so handsome. Jesus probably had the best character introduction of any "major" character I can remember since Michonne. They got Michonne and Rick right - it wasn't too romantic or trying too hard to be "hot." It fit the characters and their history perfectly. And it felt utterly natural to them. I hope that will continue. I wish I could shake the feeling that Maggie is going to die...

Well, Vee, I watched the episode, and my DVR stopped right after Michonne and Rick sat on the couch... I'll try to find the last parts somewhere.

I'm glad they called out the Olsen shaming. The AV Club is pretty good. http://www.avclub.com/review/netflixs-fuller-house-porn-parody-without-porn-232696

It's easy to feign strength, like media darling Marco, but what exactly does that mean? Look where W's "strength" got us. And how exactly are we going to put ISIS members into Gitmo? Does he have any idea how resilient and dangerous they are? Oh wait - he doesn't give a damn anyway. He's too busy looking for the camera. Trump isn't really strong either, he's just that drunk guy at the party who shouts the loudest. And that appeals to the media and to many people. He's basically a broken down Reagan.

Marco Rubio IS Bill Clinton. This man could lose every state and would still get the Beltway all horned up. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/02/24/marco-rubio-keeps-losing-so-did-bill-clinton/

Over and over Aaron's abuse story veers into melodrama over character. I remember the self-harm story, the first one, which managed to show Chas desperately trying to do the right thing for Aaron, and managing to do so.This time around, Chas has repeatedly done the worst thing, because she can only think about what she's feeling. And I know it will amount to absolutely nothing, because this is how any relationship Aaron has had in his return stint has been written. Melodrama, accusations, promptly papered over until its time for the next. The show just doesn't have the ability to do this type of material justice. It's too tempting to go wild. It's incredibly sad that among the few strong scenes in this storyline are scenes that involve only Cain and no one else. I guess that's because the show actually bothers to give him a characterization beyond crying or yelling.

I could see some Republicans voting for her (although I think party unity will always win out - that and the Supreme Court), but I can also see a lot of Democrats voting for Trump.

I'd say 1992 is even worse, but then, 1990 is a year I haven't actually seen a ton of. Marland's tenure became increasingly dark, for whatever reason.

To the surprise of no one, a [!@#$%^&*] show. http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/live/2016/feb/23/nevada-republican-caucuses-live-coverage-trump-cruz-rubio

Laurel's father.

A great example of how just how extreme you have to be to be disinivited by CNN (and even then it's only if you go after their employees). Liberal media in action. http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/cnn-boots-roger-stone