DramatistDreamer

FYI, in the U.S. alone about 700 lives per day are still being lost due to COVID-19. A smaller number compared to its peak, but that is still 700 lives per day, on average.

The question is if. There are conflicting statements that came from the Academy itself. The Academy has already set many dangerous precedents. The aforementioned Allen and Weinstein. Roman Polanski's standing ovation. Many are now citing Adrien Brody grabbing and kissing Halle Berry without her permission as what would be called sexual assault today.

I basically stopped watching daytime soaps several years ago because all I ever seemed to be doing was thinking how differently I would write stories on the daytime soaps I had been watching. After awhile, it got too mentally exhausting just to watch and I realized that not only was I no longer enjoying what I was watching but it was causing me frustration just to watch.

Summer of Soul was such a treasure of a documentary. Questlove earned that award! (I don't like the idea of deserve vs. undeserved).

Elina Svitolina is taking some time off. I didn't see her matches in IW or Miami but just seeing her in the stands and she looks weary. (Gaël also looks somewhat sluggish in his matches too).

Then it's time to find a new therapist. Around the time, I had just finished listening to the audiobook of his autobiography, I checked out his YouTube channel and it documented aspects of him co-writing his memoir and he did have some kind of therapist there. I don't know whether she is his regular therapist, but, at times, he was ducking and dodging the process, missing writing deadlines and no one really called him out on his avoidance. Maybe he needs to see someone else. Chris Rock has been open about seeing a therapist. He said he was diagnosed with some type of learning disability. In an interview last year, he said, in his romantic relationships, women would ask "what's wrong with you?" He said his therapist said he has difficulty reading social cues, like interpreting facial expressions, mood and body language. I just think it is really interesting to see what happened on Sunday evening through the prism of all this. Now there is confusion over conflicting statements about whether Will Smith was asked to leave and refused. At this point though, the Academy awards people will probably be forced to act in some sort of way. What that looks like, I guess we'll see. Honestly, they need to stick the whole ceremony on YouTube, put the ads on a crawl on the bottom of the screen. No breaks, except a brief intermission. This ceremony has descended into a boring parade of corporate sponsors with some clips, speeches and skits in between. Corporate interests have done to the Academy awards what they've done to the Olympic Games. Dulled them.

JMO but it's unlikely that Will will win an Oscar again, at least for acting (perhaps as a producer). I likened his winning for his portrayal of Richard Williams as almost comparable to Jennifer Hudson winning for playing Effie White in Dreamgirls. I'm not sure if people know what I mean by this. Although, tbh, I still think that someone like Sterling K Brown would have been better cast to play Williams but Smith had cultivated such goodwill (no pun intended) that many people felt it was his time. Also, the story of Richard Williams and Venus and Serena Williams is unlike any other story on earth and it was also seen as a sort of celebration of them. The regardless of whether people believed Dominic or Denzel were better (and many people did) this season, knowing the kind of person they believed Will to be, they didn't want to see him lose again. But after this display (I just read an article where Pedro Almodóvar claimed that watching Smith rant in his acceptance speech was like hearing the rants from a cult leader), Will will have to give an undeniably phenomenal performance to ever get an award for acting again. Before the Academy awards ceremony, someone suggested that Will do theater (I don't know why more movie actors won't do theater, it would improve their craft), Macbeth jokes aside, I have thought that he and a few other actors should gave been doing theater for years. But for now, I just think Will needs therapy, he's been carrying around some serious baggage and he can't lift it anymore.

The same Russian television host that referred to Trump as a "partner" has now referred to Gabbard as Russia's girlfriend.

You're welcome.

FAST stands for Free Ad Supported Television. It is for streaming platforms, set top boxes as well as digital transmitted via app and website. It differs from OTA (Over The Air) which mainly refers to television transmission that uses an antenna.

A type of streaming called FAST is becoming a big deal now. More and more entertainment companies are using this platform to stream their entertainment titles from their libraries, particularly their classic holdings. I have seen several reports on this over the last couple months. There have even been a few video seminars and teleconferences on the matter. It will be interesting to see how many more companies large and medium, even small companies get into it. Years ago, I mentioned Sony's Crackle and some people were dismissive. Now all the major entertainment companies have either got their own version of Crackle or are in the process of building one. SonyCrackle, IMDB TV, Tubi, etc. are basically versions of the FAST model. B&B is now using YouTube's platform to stream classic episodes. Days Of Our Lives is dipping their toes into YouTube (it remains to be seen whether it will include more). Will any other companies that have produced soaps get onto the FAST model to start streaming their classic soap titles? Once upon a time when I proposed this, I was told it was impossible due to music rights. I made the rebuttal that it was possible if a show could work out an agreement, maybe to promise not to sell episodes (like SoapClassics did) or maybe provide a link to the companies where people can buy downloads or stream the music heard in the show. Well whatever B&B managed to work out, they are clearly able to stream episodes with original music, including popular music intact. A onetime powerful soaps producing powerhouse like P&G, who currently advertises their products during B&B's YouTube channel-- will someone there finally see sense and build their own YouTube channel dedicated to their entertainment titles?

Even though she's a flake, I expected Susan Collins to vote in favor of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson being confirmed to Associate Justice of the US Supreme Court.

Admittedly, I am also bitter about the last twelve years, particularly the last decade. The actors and longtime fans of the show deserved much better imo. I get that some people saw little problem with the show's final years but I am not one of those people. I am not even talking about sets, wardrobe or hair and makeup but storytelling, and overall treatment of the cast/crew. We have heard from more than one person who described the toxicity practiced by some in the executive production arm of the show. It's been confirmed. You cannot convince me that that level of toxicity did not rot the inner workings of that show. I once worked BTS of a toxic television show. The rot will eventually work its way to the core. If the show had managed to keep some of its soul, and the camaraderie that the majority of the actors who worked on the show during its best years, I would have been more at peace with it ending, but since its cancellation, the negative accounts of the atmosphere there have been trickling out, particularly those final years. What a sour taste it leaves on my palate, that I avoid watching any episodes from that final era.

I agree and had been saying that they should have short storyline arcs with these characters coming into town on occasion, the way Penny and David once went back and forth. It wouldn't have cost that much but it would have required organization, and the show became a mess in the last decade or so.

I know, ATWT was in such a sad state in its final decade. I had to take breaks because it would make me feel highly agitated at times, by the end it felt depressing, tbh. It was almost a full year after the show went off the air that I actually watched the final episodes that someone posted on YouTube. Maybe had I stuck with the show, the show wouldn't have looked so stark to me but going back to look, everything looked dystopian compared with many of the vintage episodes. All they would have had to do was have Lisa decide to start dating again. Ask Casey or someone to helo her create an online dating profile, which Casey, in order to protect. his grandmother, changes some details on her profile. Have her go on a few dates, nearly lose hope until she starts corresponding with someone she clicks with. The person writes to admit that his online profile isn't completely truthful but he wants to meet her. Lisa is skeptical and discusses this with Kim, Casey overheard this and decides to come clean and admit that he wasn't completely honest in her profile. Lisa is upset by this but decides to meet with the stranger from the online dating platform. Only he isn't a stranger, as Lisa soon discovers... But sadly, the producers of ATWT at that time had little regard for Eileen/Lisa. A damn shame since Lisa was the original "bad gal" of daytime television. Her character did things that were unheard of for a woman character in the daytime.

Waaay back in the beginning of this thread I believe most of us had high praise for the content and creative direction of the TOLN soaps. It was clearly the business end of things that killed those shows.

I am eternally grateful that I had taken one of my breaks from watching the show when that vomitous storyline happened. To this day, I have never seen it, which in my brain means it never happened.🙃

The show could have used Ellen in the last decade. Emily was still on the show, Allison and even Susan. Kim could have used a friend and Ellen and Lisa could have settled into a nice "frenemy" relationship, especially when their kin became close. And in her last years, it could have added more dimension to see some scenes with Nancy Hughes not being bored to the core as she listened to Katie's endless prattle.

With their railing in favor of parochial schools as it adheres to their "school choice" battlecry, I'm surprised they're even paying attention to public schools at all. I'm thinking it won't last. Conservative politicians and overfed think tank members are sending their kids to private schools that implement those same programs that claim to loathe. Now that the Oscars that most people never really care about in the first place are a memory, hopefully the focus can shift to missing phone records from the previous administration and the obvious corruption of a Supreme Court justice and his wife.

I noticed this as well. Although I found it deeply aggravating, I was usually able to ignore it until she passed away. Half of those people are unlikely to have even been fans, just bandwagoners seeking attention for their posts and tweets. I am also seeing photos from the Academy awards program where the mix-up between Moonlight and LaLa Land being falsely attributed to the "slap". It's a pet peeve of mine when people post and don't get their facts straight. It ends up spreading misinformation even more.

Over the years, I have proposed or "spitballed' things I would have written for As The World Turns, things I would have done differently, particularly in the final 12 years of the series' run in the ATWT thread. I'll just highlight one story that I wished the show would have revisited-there was a character that was married to one of the show's longstanding characters, Barbara Ryan, who, after being diagnosed with a degenerative and ultimately fatal disease, left in a hot air balloon and was assumed to have later died. Well, you could probably guess part of what I would have done. There is a syndrome called "locked in syndrome" which basically keeps sufferers of the illness "trapped" in their own bodies, unable to move (beyond the twitch of an eye perhaps). Unlike Angela Forrester on B&B, who could grunt (and who was an imposter who was faking anyway), I would have Gunnar, Barbara's assumed dead husband slowly regain his ability to speak after decades of care by doctors and with the recent efforts of a nurse who has come in over the last two years and become devoted to his care (and also has fallen in love with Gunnar). The man who had been a John Doe gradually is able to communicate and the doctors seek to help him uncover his identity and reconnect to his past and his family, including his biological son Dusty Donovan and his ex-wife (were they officially divorced?) Barbara Ryan at the precise time when Barbara is set to marry Henry Coleman. (I also did a treatment years ago about how to bring back a legacy character on a different soap Y&R, which I also proposed a medical mixup and "locked in syndrome" as a possible story mechanism). I always thought the writing in the final decade of ATWT was far too convoluted, yet lacking complexity, especially in a way that made sense. Anyway, I saw this news item in the NYT and it reminded me all over again of my storyline concepts that I had years ago. This story, with the inclusion of somewhat shady research doctors would be a great addition to any such story. They could mix in with the devoted nurse who might develop ulterior motives for maybe keeping Gunnar from reconnecting with his past. It would also complicate things for Henry, as well as Barbara, Dusty, and anyone in Oakdale who remembers Gunnar. Throw in Vienna Hyatt who is still in love with Henry and has an interest in seeing him happy (but with her) and it could have been fun.

As great a dancer as he was, when Michael did Don't Stop Til You Get Enough and Rock With You, I really wouldn't call that the best use of choreography, if it was any choreography at all, it seems improvised. More like grooving to the beat. His serious choreography came with Thriller and he had backup dancers. Even Billie Jean, there were images of the "one" and that black cat. Pleasure Principle was Janet, alone doing full-on choreography on a stripped down set.

There are many ridiculous takes being flung across social media/Twitter. The one asking "what if this were Betty White?" or "What if this were The Rock?" is mind numbingly inane. First of all, can people let this woman's soul rest in peace?! Every week, it seems someone is putting out some ridiculous theory and attaching her name. I'm not even kidding. Her name trends almost every week. Neither she nor The Rock had/have the same comedic sensibilities as Chris Rock. And people are delving into racism, somehow making allusions to voting rights, makes me wonder if people are tweeting soberly or not. Whilr we have people actually working against voting rights sitting in Congress and on the Supreme Court. I wish I could wipe this entire topic from my consciousness. It's getting on my nerves.

Maybe it's just me but I had a moment where I thought Kristoff St. John would probably have some words of enlightenment. He not only knew pretty much all of Black Hollywood but he approached his insights with a sense of equanimity.