DramatistDreamer

This article, which mentions Friends being on Netflix is obviously dated but it's still an interesting read because it details Desi Arnaz and Lucille Ball electing to take a paycut so that Desilu (their production company) could shoot the series in film, rather than the cheaper kinescope (which most T.V. shows shot in at the time) as CBS wanted. Desi Arnaz: How He Changed the Culture of TV With a Single Business Deal It made me wonder what CBS would've done had they had the rights to ATWT. I know many people saw CBS as a possible savior for the show, especially when the show was staring down cancellation but this article made me wonder about the ways in which CBS might have further cheapened the show's budget (hard to believe that would be possible in the lean last years though). From my time in grad school taking a sitcom writing course, I already knew that I Love Lucy was the first multi-camera television sitcom but I really appreciate how negotiating for a better filmed show preserved episodes so well that it allowed Desilu to carve out reruns and what become known as syndication deals. That was incredible foresight.

This has been the claim and stated promise of every Republican presidential administration in the U.S. since I've been alive. The economy always seems to end up with more people on the "dole" upon their exit from office. What very few governments outside of Singapore, Denmark and a few other countries seem to want to acknowledge is that what would best keep people from relying too much on the government would be jobs that actually paid people a living wage that was sustaining enough for people to care of themselves and others (family). It's alarming how seemingly comfortable Americans now appear to be with the reality that most people live paycheck to paycheck and very few people have enough savings to endure an emergency situation, in the short-term, let alone longer term. This crisis has cast a harsh glare on all the deficiencies in the system. And this is the worst possible time to have someone like Trump in office. No time is good but this has to be one of the worst.

It's an interesting occurrence in NYC with people who had originally come from other states now fleeing the city, especially given the data that shows that people flocking to the city in the past 15 years or so, was looked at as a cause of skyrocketing rents and a concentration of companies that have flocked there (in particular, tech companies that had begun to eschew Silicon Valley) as well as an exodus of working class and working poor people, predominantly of color (NYC lost a large chunk of its black population during that time). Large numbers of people who were born and raised in NYC had left previously, not being able to afford it, which makes me wonder, what happens if there is an extended exodus of people moving back to their home states hoping to avoid contagion? The people who were in NYC for generations but moved to other states during the Great Recession are unlikely to return as they've settled and made new lives in other states like Pennsylvania and Georgia. My family who live there, I don't see them leaving NYC. They've been there since they migrated to the U.S. in the 1970s. They were there when Ford told NYC to "drop dead". They were there through the crack epidemic, a huge homeless problem (which unfortunately has become a problem again), through riots (Crown Heights taking place on my aunt's doorstep practically). They were there through 9/11 and Stop and Frisk and K-2 spate of public overdoses(or whatever that drug is named). They are pretty much rooted there.

For about six months and running, I've been saying that there will be a recession due to Trump's incitement of trade wars. Now with this pandemic sweeping the world and having to rely on failed leaders like Trump and Boris Johnson, delays from Italian leadership and others, it looks like we are headed for a global recession that could be very painful and lengthy. https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/international/business/why-the-global-recession-could-last-a-long-time/articleshow/74945319.cms

While China has been known to hide and obfuscate information, this article articulates something that may have caused China's numbers to be understated--the fact that their health ministry set a very high bar in the early days for what constituted a confirmed COVID-19 case, which left out many cases that were either asymptomatic, mild or delayed onset of symptoms. https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/coronavirus/infected-but-feeling-fine-the-unwitting-coronavirus-spreaders/ar-BB120M2c

Broadway star Brian Stokes Mitchell seems to have what sounds like a mild case of COVID-19.

Tonya Pinkins sings a handwashing song. She did sorta scratch her nose at the very beginning though.😕

I really hope my old neighborhood in Harlem stays with that same low infection rate that I'm seeing. One of the worst things to come out of this is the belief that only elderly would be in danger because it has only encouraged some younger people to be less than fully observant of safeguarding their health. In turn, plenty of them, including asymptomatic have gone around spreading COVID-19 to others. Yes, it is still true (for now) that up to now, the fatalities have largely happened in the elderly but who's to say that won't change?

Tuc Watkins (David Vickers/OLTL) appears in Season 2 of the Showtime series Black Monday as Congressman Roger Harris, who has a very memorable encounter with one of the main characters.

Saw that Whoopi is trending and got worried for a moment but saw that this is the reason why. Bernie's cultists are likely flooding Whoopi's mentions with bile and vitriol now.

Oh boy, how things change in the midst of a pandemic! I remember at this time last year, even just before the Oscars, so many industry folk were decrying the streaming platforms. Netflix was regarded as Public Enemy #1 with cinema operators and the studio system that relied on them. Now, so many studios are flocking to streaming platforms to save their non-comic book movies. Romantic comedies, in particular, are beating a hasty path to streaming. Indie producers are looking to capitalize on the sudden need that streaming platforms now have for films that are already ready for distribution but hadn't been sold yet. It's very interesting. No word on how soap fans feel on streaming but I suspect there has been less to whine about in that regard, especially when a show can get interrupted at any moment by a breaking news moment or press conference about the latest grim developments.

Wimbledon used to be my favorite GS tournament when the courts actually played like grass courts. That seems like so long ago. The players who will suffer the most are the ones who lack the financial resources to keep on track and pick up where they left off. Those who were already struggling and needed to travel to play Challengers just to remain viable will suffer the most. Roger has a HOF career and has had one for a decade. Nadal and Djokovic also are shoo-ins for the HOF as are, without question, The Williams Sisters. The people who have yet to win a major and need good timing, good health and fortunate circumstances to go their way will be most at risk because so much can change in a year. Not to mention those who are still waiting to get their tennis careers off the ground. Nothing is a given for anyone at this point.

Remember when folks screamed about the robots coming to take 'our' jobs? How do folks feel now? Personally, it would be reassuring to have robots do certain jobs at times like these.

Really poor on the part of the Tories. If this isn't a signpost of conservatism/austerity, I don't know what is.

Parker really was my first Maureen and I loved her and thought she deserved her Emmy award. I saw Dolan kind of retroactively and was amazed at how fluid her Maureen was compared to how brittle her Margo seemed to me. My lasting memory of Dolan's Margo was her shouting at Casey all the time--of course, it didn't help that TIIC had decided to make both her sons relentless screw-ups. Unfortunately, the Emmy awards mostly seemed to reward shouty-ness and maudlin performances over subtlety or nuanced performances, which is why Kathryn Hays was always overlooked despite her excellence over decades. The commonplace tactics of performative histrionics with men grabbing and over-emoting that you speak of, unfortunately was a direct result of shows wanting to arm their actors with 'Emmy bait' performances, imo. It's a shame it afflicted ATWT the way it had already done with most soaps at the time and still exists today.

The way you identify Marx as being connected with Days is the way I think of Dolan being connected to GL, lol. I can't say that I ever got used to her as Margo.

At the time, he and Colin weren't yet married. I think they were both off the show by the time they wed but they did have wonderful onscreen chemistry. And Deas and Hutchinson had great chemistry too, so yes Deas definitely benefited from more than one great onscreen pairing. That probably had a lot to do with his more disciplined performances. Tom was a character that had been played by other actors, who came and went and Deas must have had some sense that he could be replaced if he didn't focus on just doing good work, which likely kept him honest and his performances earnest. Meanwhile Deas originated the role of Buzz and AFAIK, has been the sole actor ever to play the role. On some level, Deas probably came to believe that he was the only one who could play Buzz. Once an actor believes that he/she is the only one capable of portraying that character, it's probably a challenge to get them to be humble and just do their work and give an earnest performance.

They probably didn't have anyone BTS to reign Deas in. By the mid '90s GL seemed to be mostly made up of a few characters who appeared to have gotten all the spotlight and the rest kind of seemed disappear and fade after missing so long that you wondered whether certain characters were even still on the show. It's no coincidence that as Deas started chewing scenery, the lack of balance on the show was more glaringly obvious than ever.

Why would anyone chop up episodes this way? I detest character and couples' edits.

Interesting article on how a number of authoritarian leaders are using the coronavirus crisis to choke civil liberties and rights, many with no indication of an end date or temporary status. For Autocrats, Coronavirus Is a Chance to Grab Even More Power