DramatistDreamer

I think I have posted multiple video clips over the years of performances, so I won’t post them again but if anyone wants to dig through threads, provided they haven’t disappeared, you might be able to find some of them. 
Guiding Light was mentioned and Kat (Nia Long) and David (Monti Sharp) were quite a saga and provided some powerful performances.

As The World Turns certainly did not want for talent as they had theater greats like Novella Nelson, Tonya Pinkins and Count Stovall. I will always remember the combative family scene where Winkler bitterly complains about the cops who killed one of his sons and now his other son is a cop. I was really disappointed that Roy’s family was diminished over the years and the relationship between Heather and Roy dissolved.  I know Count Stovall and Tonya Pinkins haven’t been asked about this, but I always wondered whether they have any insight into what happened.

15 hours ago, LondonScribe said:

Funny that I’ve found this.

After a long writers block, I’ve started experimenting with writing 1-2 minute shorts, to get back into it. 

I’ll keep an eye on this to see if anything comes of it.

Good for you! I find myself writing more than a few 10 minute plays, as they seem to be in the most demand these days.

2 hours ago, Khan said:

So, No Labels had No Chance.

Unfortunately there is a No Labels co-founder running in Long Island New York but there are other candidates running as Democrats in that race as well.

48 minutes ago, Khan said:

It's not the reboot/revival series we've hoped for - damn that Bill Cosby! - but it'll do.

It would be a nice surprise if Bonet, Tomei and Devine (we no longer have Mary Alice and Lou Meyers) could be a part of even one of those dates.
The other day, Marisa Tomei was being interview on either The Tonight Show or Late Night With Seth Meyers and they brought up her time on ADW with a clip and all and she seemed genuinely touched, mentioning her friendship with Lisa Bonet (she’s also good friends with Cree Summers, but I haven’t a clue as to when/how they became friends…maybe through Lisa?)

It’s too bad that there seems to be a big intractable road block to having a reunion show (or even limited series) with everyone as their characters as well as some of the children. I think it would be fun to see where everyone is in life and acknowledge the passing of beloved characters).

4 hours ago, BetterForgotten said:

Y&R’s biggest problem is that the show is incapable of actually telling a damn storyline or exploring truly dramatic avenues for whatever they’re dishing out on screen. 
 

Y&R is never going back to being in Bell’s style unfortunately - I think the most we can hope for at this point is at least they can find people who can tell actual, decently plotted stories (even if they’re generic and old-fashion).

In any decent course for writing a play (and even some screenplay courses) prospective writers will be urged to read. It is an assumption (and a fairly accurate one) that in order to write stories that actually have some relevance, you must read. Yes, there is the adage that you should write what you know but if you’re writing a continuing story for volumes over years, there is only so many stories that can be extracted from your only lived in experience before it get monotonous and one-note. Also, tell that to Emily Dickinson or any of the Brontë Sisters. Their writing came as the result of furtive imagination inspired by reading books. Even reading a few news articles a day can inspire ideas. 

There are many times I have tried to watch an episode of Y&R and it just seems as if the writers don’t read. AT all. There’s no detail, clarity, no focus…there’s no there there. 
 

And if things get desperate, pick up an issue of Vanity Fair or GQ, there are some stranger than fiction stories. Pick one and go with it! It certainly works for Law & Order.

To a newspaper. Whatever. It shouldn’t be this dire with these soaps, regardless of budget.

23 hours ago, John said:

They asked Shenell and she was gonna do it but couldnt work it around her college classes

Also Destiny was already 17 when Drew was Born. She already went thru Puberty

And also, people should really stop pretending like colorism doesn’t exist. Soaps have been pulling a fast on on this for decades. Y&R, for all the praise they get for featuring African American characters, there has been a noticeable lightening of color in the featured Black characters. Kristoff St. John even talked about this a couple years before his passing. 
I know this is off topic but it, along with body type issues seems like a taboo issue that doesn’t get discussed honestly.

Whether or not he had anything to do with the headline and/or lede, I am not a fan of Zoltan Kano Youngs who has done hit pieces on VP Harris in the past. 

The ITF/ATP/WTA need to have some training intensive sessions for chair umpires as it seems as if some don’t have full grasp of basic rules. Even if they were in the right, they fail to lower the temperature with players simply because they don’t know how.

Alcaraz and his physical issues seem at bit concerning. I wonder if his style of play is accelerating the types of health issues that took years for Rafa to develop. I am getting a similar feeling that I got with Andreescu years ago, just after she won the U.S. Open.

The writing is at fault. It matters little who is on the canvas if the writing is ineffective. The last time I watched the writing for Summer and Chance was just treading water and ZS was making lemonade out of essentially lemons, in terms of the writing.

You may not immediately recognize the name but you likely will recognize this young woman from the image of her as a little girl who, through her tears had a very strong impact on the meaning of empathy for people with AIDS and HIV. It felt like such a blessing to see her progress and blossom over the years. Still, 39 is too young for her to pass on. May she rest in peace.

https://www.blackenterprise.com/hiv-aids-activist-hydeia-broadbent-dies-at-39/

Do I think FAST is going to fade away after hearing these rumors? No, there are still some strong models for FAST but the ranks may thin a bit with those that are redundant in programming or purpose.
I also think Freevee also got themselves in a bind by trying to function both as a gateway for Prime as well as to sell Amazon crap and then also to try to do original programming—they should have picked a lane.

I was still a bit wary because I have heard of companies denying something is happening, only to reverse themselves later.

Coincidentally, (or the power of tracking?) I came across this on YouTube.

He mentions Amazon having denied something before and it turned out to be exactly what they had previously denied.

Looks like “responsible journalism” strikes again.

8 minutes ago, Vee said:

I agree. The Beltway has always been trying to make the last few years about something they want it to be vs. what it is.

And at this point, these media outlets care very little that they continually get things wrong.

Amazon botched Freevee even more badly than the folks who originally launched Quibi. The first mistake was attaching the app directly to Amazon, where you have to log in using an Amazon login, which Amazon likely thought was clever as it would force anyone who didn’t already have an account to start one, which they hoped would lure people to buy on Amazon.
The moment IMDB got acquired by Amazon, I was waiting for things to wrong and I hated that you needed an Amazon account to sign in. When it was just IMDB, at first you didn’t need to sign in, then you did need to sign in, then it just got worse when the site got Amazon-ed. The entire process became so clunky and onerous. Had they just let the app be similar to Pluto TV where sign in is optional there would be no problem but no, Amazon being Amazon, they needed to track people and try to herd them onto the site to buy things…well, surprise, people didn’t like that.

IMDB should have given preference to Variety or The Hollywood Reporter for the rights to the site. Of course, Amazon would eventually kill Freevee, it was competition to Prime, especially now that Prime is shoving ads , into their shows.

Maybe it is a rumor but since it’s already out there, it really got me thinking about the things I don’t like about the app since Amazon acquired it.

Thanks posting this @DRW50. Yeah, Donahue could have waited for the clip to end before talking. It seems like the habit of someone who is pressed for time. In an editing room when people have to decide where to make cuts, that’s when you hear people chatter over film like this. Otherwise, Donahue is actually engaging with the actors and at least isn’t condescending and let the actors on the panel be their charming selves. 
I wonder who put these clips together? It could be the Donahue people but it reminds me that today, the PAs on shows like The Talk or even The View are unlikely to even watch today’s soaps as the times I have watched their segments, maybe a tribute or anniversary episode on one of the remaining soaps these segments appear out of synch or seem to make little sense.

I love how obviously happy Eileen Fulton is to have Helen Wagner back on the show.

And Eileen’s insistence that had it not been for Lisa, Alexis on Dynasty is unlikely to have happened is probably a correct assumption, even though delivered with bravado.

9 hours ago, Liberty City said:

For me, going from Byrne to Beck was an insult enough... but the difference of figures these women had, given the storyline... it felt like "Yeah we can drop this now!" The Faith swap also... made little sense to me, but to each their own. Maybe had the series not been ending we could've seen more....?

Probably as they’ve done it before, even in the halcyon era of the ‘80s but generally that was among ethnic or color lines.

I mean I don’t get it but I do love the idea of Tonya Pinkins (who is in my avi) and Count Stovall being on a project together. I don’t know if they have any scenes together but I remember they were great on ATWT.

Also, uh @Soapsuds, you may want to cover your eyes for this one.

On 2/7/2024 at 2:52 PM, DramatistDreamer said:

It’s anyone’s guess what will come of this.

ESPN, Fox and Warner Team Up to Create Sports-Streaming Platform

A follow up to this story. Fubo (has anyone used this service?) is suing, citing antitrust violations.

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/business-news/fubotv-files-lawsuit-disney-warner-fox-sports-streaming-platform-1235830781/

I just finished watching Season Two of The Bear and it is intense.

14 hours ago, te. said:

See Allison just walking off on Peyton Place into the unknown, or Stella Chernak leaving town as a disgraced woman.

It would be good if these writers could do something like that, but with a more modern twist.
Today’s soap writers don’t seem to do mysterious very well. They beat us over the head with stereotypical imagery, like characters in terrible disguises and call that mystery.

4 hours ago, Liberty City said:

OMFG SAMEEEEEEEEE

I remember one of Martha Byrne's last major storylines was her problem with her weight that also focused on Lily's daughter Faith. Then both roles were recast with thinner women. Very... weird.

Yeah, the character of Lily was another one that came to mind and the show basically writing half a storyline about Lily’s struggle to lose postpartum weight gain, while they constantly had her wear some of the most dour color pathways Byrne was ever outfitted in.  Lily has been recasted more than twice, so for me, it wasn’t really about the recast of Lily but the recasting of Faith, for me, seemed really jarring. Not only did they change the actress but the personality seemed completely different, they didn’t seem to keep any of the same traits that stood out in the previous actress.

12 minutes ago, Darn said:

I don't know how much guest actors earn but it's gotta be at least a grand, right? A thousand bucks for a few hours of work. Sign me up.

4 hours ago, vetsoapfan said:

In general, I am not a fan of back-from-the-dead stories. They weaken the impact of the original deaths, and ultimately (if a show uses this hackneyed plot device over and over) just become predictable, unrealistic and ridiculous. DAYS is the prime offender in this regard.

When hack writers go on a killing rampage and slaughter multiple beloved characters, however, the egregious and sophomoric writing mistakes must be rectified. If not, the stability of the show itself would be crippled further. Atrocious writing is bad enough, but losing the characters whom the audience is invested in the most would be fatal. History shows us that viewers do not take kindly to the combination of bad writing AND the loss of many fan favorites.

All this to say: sometimes reviving "dead" characters is the lesser of two evils on soaps, and should be done even if it's a stretch.  It would be significantly worse and audience-alienating to let writing blunders stand. This is particularly true when the original death/murder plots were done purely for shock value, and were badly executed to begin with.

This is what I have been complaining about for years. These shows need to be very very thoughtful about who they kill off. Killing off a character, especially a relatively young character, or a matriarch/patriarch because the actor is leaving or even in some cases, simply wants some time off, is so foolhardy.
There are other ways to create dramatic impact, or temporarily take a character off the canvas without killing them. And more times than not, it is a momentary story plot that yields a bit of buzz then proceeds to create more problems down the line. Honestly, if the writers wrote for everyone in earnest, instead of concentrating on a few, they wouldn’t be reduced to so many drastic storyline maneuvers.

On 2/18/2024 at 12:41 PM, dragonflies said:

I cancel and get free trials to paramount plus and usually when I cancel they offer me like two months free to stay lol. I haven't paid for it in ages

 

Hm, when my $2 trial is up, I may try something like this.

22 hours ago, Khan said:

I guess this is the part where Paramount+/Paramount+ with Showtime employees just throw up their hands and sigh, "Well, as long as our paychecks still clear the bank."

Also, wasn't it not long ago that there were talks of Warner Bros. Discovery Aldi's merging with Paramount Global Petsmart?  Has Shari Redstone decided that running her dad's business all alone is just too hard?

This is really the first time I’ve thought about Shari Redstone possibly being worn down by that long fight that she had against Les Moonves years ago. That fight seemingly lasted for years and really only ended when he got kicked out of the company.