DramatistDreamer

Of course, nobody asked for my opinion but I am really pleased for Days' fans. For years, even before the PP/TOLN soaps I have believed that streaming was a viable way forward for soaps, including those connected with vintage and long-running daytime dramas. And with Days having the stability of having the streaming platform connected to a major network, flush with money, the production values should at least be somewhere above the average indie web production. The one thing that I am wary of is whether this show will truly have the freedom that web shows usually have, or will the parent network try to monitor and "police" content as they do on network broadcast.

And then the child was written as stillborn. (until the retain in the late 80s) The book is really interesting because it delves deeper into the business aspect of daytime television and the differences in sustaining sponsorship between radio and television, as well as the transitions Phillips had to make.

Sasha's talking crazy. Olympic medals are wonderful add-ons, particularly for players who have already won major titles but it will never be a substitute for a major. Tennis players usually dream of winning Wimbledon or a Roland Garros title and the others. It just seems disingenuous to suggest otherwise. The last time I saw or heard about Pat Rafter, he seemed pretty happy with his life in general and most of all, that he's not coaching the Australian team in Davis Cup. I cannot really speak to how Phillipousis is doing, he has kids now I think. I remember when he did that reality show but that was ages ago.

@wonderwoman1951I am currently reading a book called When Women Invented Television and Irna Phillips is one of the four women profiled in the book and reading about her management of her career with her role as a single mother to her two adopted children definitely made me wonder about the creation of Tom Hughes as he was created by Phillips. Another strangely serendipitous piece of trivia is the fact that her daughter was named Katherine Phillips Hughes. The spellings are different but I remember reading a quote from Kathryn Hays where she mentioned that Don Hastings once told her that when she tested for the role of Kim Hughes that Irna had said that she saw something in Kathryn, I can't remember the whole quote but it made me think that Phillips saw a connection with Hays before she had even been cast in the role.

Question: did Irna Phillips name Tom (Hughes) after her son Tom?

It's interesting, I am reading this book on Women pioneers in television and am on the section on Irna Phillips and Phillips, being from the Chicago seemed acutely aware of the perceptions that people on both U.S. coasts may have had about the Midwest. When she decides to move production of The Guiding Light radio serial to California from Chicago, she was very reluctant, only deciding to do so because she had been to working on other projects that were based there and also for personal reasons. When she moved TGL to California, it was considered the "death knell" for radio soaps. From what I have read, it also seems as though Phillips elevated the social standing of her characters from the working class characters that radio soaps were known for, to the 'professional class' with her reverend in TGL as well as newly introduced characters like doctors and lawyers. With ATWT, I do think there was a consciousness (perhaps self-consciousness) about these Midwestern characters that lasted all the way until the end of the series that was signified in the way they dressed, their comportment, that wasn't haphazard. Characters like Lisa, Kim, Barbara and Lucinda traveled extensively, often taking trips to NYC, London, Milan, Venice, etc. Heck, even Lyla and Margo ventured to NYC and D.C. I would imagine that kept them current fashion-wise, so I never sweat it over reasoning why their styles seemed so sophisticated. It seemed more anachronistic and jarring to see upwardly mobile characters living in the equivalent of a dorm room toward the end of the series.

I can't dismiss the history of tennis at the Olympic Games, for the simple reason of the list of players who have won in the past: Steffi, Capriati, Lindsey, Venus, Serena, Becker, Nadal, Federer, etc. all easily HOF. I can't speak to what it means this year or what significance it will have in years to come but if you asked those players and others who won gold medals in tennis, I think they would say it meant a hell of a lot to them. As to that other situation, the ATP had always maintained that without charges, they felt there was nothing else to go on. The brief amount of time they spent investigating the incident at the Masters tournament in Shanghai yielded nothing (my guess is that no one would talk since they all worked for the tournament and resolved to keep it hush hush). Unfair as it is, the burden of proof is on the accuser in legal matters, so unless she comes forward or there is something more revealed that prompts a revisited investigation, well, I see the ATP continuing on this path. Maybe there are some new revelations coming?

Even before the allegations against Zverev, if it were a match between them, I have always preferred Khachanov. Just saw the score and oh well, I'm glad that I wasn't invested in the tennis this time around.

One of the reasons why I had wished MM had just decided to leave Y&R behind and make a concerted effort to get into prime time. Yes, I understand that the seeming stability of Y&R could have lured her back, but things are more liable to get stale on Y&R than for her to get truly compelling material. Looking at what happened to Loren Lott, Y&R likely did her a favor, she is already getting far more compelling material than what she could ever have hoped for on Y&R. From what I am reading, MM is not getting such great material this time around, even compared to what she had as Hilary. JMO but it seems like such a waste of a charismatic actress.

Unfortunately, it has only become more arduous to keep up. The ITF/ATP/WTA and the broadcast agreements they have made over the recent years have fragmented the viewing audience. Perhaps, it is mostly in the U.S. where this happens, but there are definite times where there is confusion over tournament starts and broadcast and streaming platforms. I don't remember being as frustrated as in the past four years or so, but pandemic viewing really takes the cake.

According to her agent, MM had not had a raise in any of the five years that she had been on the show at that time. A new contract was requested, with an increase in salary. The terms were not met, so MM left and who could blame her? She had been shouldering one of the most active storylines on the show at that time. And, much like they were known to do with Sharon Case, MM's Hilary was popping up in other storylines to prop up flailing stories. It was a lot of screen time, a lot more hours on set, a lot more lines to memorize. Considering she hadn't ever had a raise up to that point, I don't think it was unreasonable to ask for one. I don't care what anyone wants to say, killing the character off was retribution, especially seeing that MM didn't win an Emmy for it, nor did anyone else involved in the storyline, if memory serves me correctly. A waste, just to inflate Sony and Mal Young's over-inflated egos, imo.

Has an Olympic medal ever before been awarded via walkover?

That was total domination by the Jamaican women in the 100m and I am elated for Elaine, Shelly Ann and Shericka!!!

If only they would stop showing his horrid image, but it is the story that is important.

Not gonna pretend that I had been watching tennis in the last two weeks, but 6-1 in the 3rd? That seems like succumbing to pressure to me.🤷🏾‍♀️

And Sjogren's but who's counting.

Will Smith's company pitched and executive produced this movie. He is pretty much the reason it got made in the first place. Personally I had hoped he would have relegated himself to the producer but I also know that has never been Smith's way of doing things.

This probably belongs in the COVID-19 thread but it impacts Japan and the Olympic Games the most. This is pretty much a daily occurrence now.

I just had this V.O. in my head with a daytime soaps type announcer declare, "Due to COVID-19 restrictions, the role of _____ will now be played by..."

Practically too messy for words.

Hopefully Smith, who is likely to be the weak link, comes through on this one.

Did you hear her say that she didn't know where she was landing on her vault? She was flying blind. Having only done back walkovers, I am not in a position to judge someone in a sport where, if you land wrong, you can actually maim yourself. Speaking of accountability, Biles is the only gymnast on Team USA competing as a sexual assault victim for a gymnastics program that failed to take full accountability for wrecking tens if young girl's lives. I am not comparing these women against each at all. Both Venus and Serena have had mental health episodes, that cost them big. They suffered in silence for years. I wouldn't wish that on anyone. I'm just saying appreciate these women. They are extraordinarily talented. They are also human, not robots.

George P. Bush looks like he's just withering on the vine these days, so to speak. I'm old enough to remember when some people were fawning all over him, like he were the conservative answer to 'John John', which I didn't understand, as he seemed fairly vacuous to me, with no ideas of his own. I guess he had hoped that he could be one of Orange Menace's favored vacuous politicians. No such luck for him, I guess. He humiliated himself and disparaged his family for nothing. Oh well.

Also, the lack of consideration for the fact that, along with the weight of expectations, in a city experiencing daily highs of infection rates for COVID-19, without her usual support system of her parents, and being the lone sexual assault survivor of Larry Nassar's "program" expected to compete for Team USA, a team that didn't protect her. F*CK these people who believe she asked for this because she's great at what she does. The discourse around these Black women athletes at this Olympic Games is disgusting and I just want to punch every single person who thinks he or she has the right to disparage them for being human.