DramatistDreamer

ESPN is also shoe-horning Wimbledon Qualifying matches onto their ESPN+ service, which I won't be subscribing to.

Not saying anybody here has said this but, when I have read some other threads, I often get the idea that people want older characters to be involved, yes meddle in their children's lives, rather than have active stories of their own. I have heard this of Victor and Nikki on Y&R as people think that they drain too much focus from younger characters. It's not my opinion, although giving them storylines more suitable for twenty year olds isn't the answer either. Having her closeted husband canoodling with Luke seemed very 1995 to me.

That seems more akin to being a shining star on top of a massive dung heap.

It just feels as if people forget that the series didn't begin and end with Marland's tenure. Lucinda's vitality as a character should have boosted as Lily became more and more entrenched in adult life, yet Lucinda didn't go in that direction in the character's latter years. Other than having Lucinda stricken with illness, what was really done with the character to show her as a vital, spirited woman? When Lily became a mother and it was clear that she was fully on her own as a woman, would have been the perfect time to give Lucinda a new path. I don't even remember Lucinda driving much storyline at that point.

They could have done all of this after Marland's death. The characters all outlived him. Why didn't they do it?

In a way, I do agree with this sentiment but it won't likely be China in years to come but a country where even cheaper labor can be exploited like Vietnam and Thailand. In fact, this is already happening. In a decade, or so, it is unlikely to be China though.

A more notable moderator would definitely help. Nobody should feel obligated to watch a moderator or host they don't enjoy. There's also a thought lurking in the back of my mind that if someone, say another SoapClassics were doing research to see if there were enough interest to try to secure another agreement with a P&G to do a compilation set or better yet a streaming platform, they would look at those paltry numbers and assume that the interest in these soaps have surely dissipated and drop the idea. Far-fetched, I know but the SoapsClassics folks had to have gotten the idea to release compilation episodes from somewhere. I'm also probably one of the few people who believe that having have a dozen ATWT YouTube channels, rather than one really comprehensive channel with high-quality videos actually weakens the value of the product.

That's exactly what I meant-- the current soaps like Y&R and B&B regularly draw in the tens of thousands for these livestreams (you can hardly call them reunions when the shows are still airing), while most of the ones featuring cancelled shows, which barely get 2k, are languishing. I can see a scenario where Alan pivots away from the P&G soaps and does more Livestream with the current soaps and possibly some past primetime stars (like when he did w/Allison Arngrim). There's more clicks in it. Seems as if this might be one of many reasons why there has been such a breakdown in the daytime soaps industry. Dysfunction has taken over operations.

It's a very sad situation to see, with no easy solutions. I think that any solution that involves the possibility of an American or even American-led military presence in Taiwan will be anathema to the American people and not necessarily welcomed by the Taiwanese people either. From what I have read, the U.S. has been trying to produce microchips and transistors domestically and a few Taiwanese companies have set up factories in the U.S., presumably in order to circumvent having to go through China's manufacturing and distribution system. That is all taking time, as technology marches on. Perhaps the power of the purse is the only way to have any influence in having a hand in turning back the repression on the Uyghurs but the world has become gluttons for cheaply made goods from China. Even Japan has given up the ghost in assembling and manufacturing their electronics. I do think that if the Chinese government had less power to provide a prosperous life for their citizens, their people might begin to reconsider the "bargain" they made where they surrendered their civil liberties in order to eke out a more "comfortable" lifestyle.

I do wonder if they had a different moderator would more people tune in? The numbers for these livestreams have dropped off considerably. If the numbers get any smaller, soon there will be little to no incentive for actors to do them. Alan must have been disappointed that the Y&R reunion stream couldn't happen because those always easily draw tens of thousands of clicks.

TBH, hearing directly from her, in her own words, it sounded more serious than I had thought. On this board, I heard that she had problems with Beecroft but I honestly assumed it was a case of two actors that had chemistry onscreen and just rubbed each other the wrong way off screen, or that Beecroft rubbed Melanie the wrong way. Her account makes me think that his behavior was really disrespectful towards her and he breached her boundaries, and that it got so bad that she sought intervention. Really disturbing.

Part of me thinks that CBS is really invested in making The Talk last long enough to not give Sharon Osbourne the satisfaction of claiming that she had the power to tank the show due to her absence. Again, my contention is that the show was problematic from the start and minimally impactful on top of that.

Freedoms that Hong Kong used to have are being taken away after Great Britain simply handed over the country to China without bothering to get those freedoms codified and enshrined constitutionally beforehand. Also, Hong Kong has a much larger and powerful pro-China contingent within the government and a business class that were largely complacent, as well as compliant toward China, as China, is by far, their largest trading partner. There are some similarities between Hong Kong and Taiwan, in terms of some ancestral connection to China (which proves to be a menace to both) but there are many differences, historically and culturally. China is a bigger existential threat to Hong Kong than it is to Taiwan, at this time.

As someone who once studied writing for the theater in NYC, I can attest to this. I also took some acting courses as an undergrad and personally got to witness another student in my acting class get verbally chewed out for being tardy for a class. I learned right then and there that being late was a no-no.

JMo but I think many soaps would have been happy to have her but it seems like she pivoted to prime time work soon after ATWT, then took time away. I am not sure if lack of compelling roles had anything to do with it, or if she really felt strongly about taking so long away from acting, but I get the sense that she chose not to do soaps again.

Colleen McDermott seemed very inexperienced during her time on the show. The last time I really looked at episodes where she was featured, she looked mostly overwhelmed to me. Both Melanie and Mary mentioned being raised to feel confident in their abilities, so even when they booked their first onscreen gigs and weren't really sure what they were doing, they felt that they could improve. I don't know if McDermott felt that way while on ATWT, which I assume was her first onscreen gig. Melanie talked about seeing how disciplined all the actors were when she arrived on the show and how certain things like always being prepared and to never be late, became embedded in her consciousness. She said she was shocked when some of the actors who came on after her show up unprepared or late. I wondered whether this was an issue with today's soap actors because in the past 12+ years or so, I have seen some young actors in a few soaps that looked lost, and I often found myself wondering whether it was the writing or the actor that is flailing, maybe both? I also thought man, some of these soaps need to contract Smith to work with a few of these actors who need help.

She said it was her first week on ATWT and Melanie kept raving about Julianne Moore, lol. It didn't seem intentional but Mary Ellen was already somewhat nervous about taking on the role after Moore.

Well, I'm not going to reduce Smith to a hair model, but he seemed rather lackluster for the role he was supposed to play.

😂. I have to see how Alan deals/fumbled that situation. Both ladies look great! I swear the ATWT actors have aged the best of all the soaps.

Oh, the Livestream is still going, lol. I will have to go back when the livestream is over.

Ooh, I missed this, lemme go catch the replay!

Speaking of Ms. Lott, this is so sweet!

Andrew Yang continues to make horrible statement after horrible statement.

Speaking of unsettling.