DramatistDreamer

Mind you, homeschooling rates were already on the rise among Black households with children.

In recognition of Black History Month (BHM), this Op-Ed on the venerable Ms. Rosa Parks.

Honestly, I would have bet money on this one. It's usually the "burn it all down types, the ones who revel in chaos and violent extremes who never bother to vote. No surprises there.

I would like to see that next episode! If only P&G had given the SoapClassics people more time, perhaps we could have had a clean copy of this storyline, or at least a few episodes.

Many people will say that what they value most in a daytime soap is the escapism that it offers. At least, that's what I often would hear on various messageboards before coming here-- that they didn't want reality to intrude on their fantasy world. However, I am with you. I think the lack of keeping up with the times and these shows being so divorced from reality is why so many viewers decided to leave soaps behind. I know many will bring up societal change and more program and channel options, while ignoring that "Downton Abbey" seemed more progressive than Y&R ever was, and I grew up loving Y&R. Y&R 20, 30 years ago, with all its flaws was still a lot more grounded in reality than Y&R today. Last year, I got a chance to watch and appreciate the Kat and David storylines on Guiding Light and its blend of romance, conflict and social justice and, do any of these shows even try to broach these sorts of storylines? I often mention that ATWT had a storyline (relatively brief, though it was) that would not be out of place today in the BLM era. And even putting aside social issues, you just had characters relating to each other on a hunan level-- wives broaching the uncomfortable topic of lack of communication, lack of desire, lack of sex in a relationship, people having money issues, some may take extreme measures to resolve their issues but the heart of the matter, what lies beneath the surface at the root was usually what people related to. Today's soaps seem to lack those qualities, one reason why I don't watch the current ones. Just on a technical note, today's soaps feature characters that seem really insulated from a realistic world. The drama feels fairly manufactured. Even good sci-fi seems capable of producing conflict that seems organic to that particular world. Daytime Ssoaps seem to have lost this feature.

Lauralee, I forgot about. I was thinking of PB at the time, thought I had typed his name, guess not. I'm talking about active and alive characters still on the canvas. There really aren't tbat many, imo. Nonetheless, my point really is that no other African American actor still on the show has anywhere close to the level of seniority of Sharon or Nick, let alone Paul or Lauren. KSJ came the closest and he's gone. People say Bryton has been on for a long time. Yes and no, on a show where you have people on for 20, 30+ years, it's not remarkable.

That scenario sounds like preparations for a recasting of the role.

I don't believe they need to say anything when they simply let the contract expire without a renrewal. If he were fired without compensation when he had more time left on his contract, they would then need to cite a valid cause or risk a wrongful termination suit. Letting the contract expire without a subsequent renewal, I don't think they need to legally state a reason, doing so is more of a courtesy, I think. If anything, stating a reason that turns out to be proven false really could open the company up to a lawsuit.

Blizzard conditions where I live, which reminds me of previous years when children in Washington DC would sled off of Capitol Hill area. Now because of the insurrection, children won't be able to do that this year. I guess the pandemic might have reduced the numbers, but the security concerns have really put the kibosh on any possibility of it happening.

If a contract is not renewed, does the company really have to give a reason? I'm genuinely curious. It just seems like the company need only say that they are no longer in need of that particular actor's services.

Is Ingo the "Blunder from Down Under"? Who's "Parking Lot Pete" 😂?

Maybe my opinion leans too much one way but from what I've read, it seems like many Burmese are not too concerned with the fate of the Rohingya, only as far as it makes the country look bad but among the exiled Myanmar community there seems to be an acknowledgement that the treatment of the Rohingya has been poor.

Re: Myanmar. I've had this debate with friends over the last several years now. I think Daw Aung San Su Kyi has been a big disappointment, afaic. Friends have argued that she is not in full control and has to try to cajole the leadership (many who are former adversaries, and some former military) so she can make incremental change and that it's not up to her but she has claimed countless times that she is above the current leadership, so I can only be left to think that she is in agreement with the policy on Rohingya, which is 'ethnic cleansing' at the very least and genocide by many definitions. OTOH, it's never a good thing when the military stages a takeover.

Military coup in Myanmar.

Exactly my point. They probably just told him what they wanted to let him down easy. The DG case proves that. I'm perusing Twitter right now and the responses are hilarious.

As soon as I saw the header, I instinctively knew it was going to be him. Just by reading all the posts of you active viewers on thi board, lol. If MO gets less screen time-- I wouldn't be surprised if TPTB pull a "Lily", where viewers temporarily see less Abby, then bring her back full time with a new chance. Wasn't Daniel Goddard appearing less before his character got phased out? I wasn't watching that much at that point, so I'm not sure.

Congrats to Jess Walton (Jill, as the longest running character in the show's history ought to be a major player, on par with Victor and Jack). Congrats to Sharon Case, 50 and fabulous. That KSJ milestone is sad for so many reasons- what might have been. There is a small group, in terms of actors currently on the canvas who have been on longer than KSJ: DD, MTS, EB, ED, BM, TB, KL, TC (don't know if I have forgotten anyone). As it was, KSJ was the longest running African American actor on the show. Now it's Bryton, it's as if a whole history of Black actors no longer even exist on this show, and I'm not even talking about just VR and TLW.

^^Good mental healthcare accessibility is severely lacking in the U.S. and it's so sad.

Apart from their role as antagonists of the former administration and their suing the dickens out of Giuliani, now would be a good time for The Lincoln Project to begin to slink away and I hope they do. At least, it doesn't appear that too many Democrats allowed themselves to become too enamored of this group. They can settle their lawsuit in the shadows. It's time for them to quietly go away.

This came to mind for me as well. It's like, when certain factions on the left, or right of center within the Democratic party can't be seen as going along with anything Nancy Pelosi proposes, so they feel compelled to demonstrate some type of pushback, even if they later vote in favor of the proposal. Some vote against it, when there are enough votes elsewhere to get the measure passed. So much of the pushback often seems performative, but I guess whatever works with the hometown audience?

Exactly.

^^So good that the Biden administration is starting this effort early on in his presidency.

Others may have forgotten about his legal exposures, but I sure haven't.

Oh, I could never forget that $1.3 billion lawsuit! I had this image of Rudy ending up trying to rent Lucy Van Pelt's booth after he can no longer afford to hang his shingle anywhere else. That is, if he's not disbarred by then.