DramatistDreamer

Sadly, I am not surprised by this.

He never runs out of profoundly stupid things to say.

Oh well, I'm not paying attention today, obviously.

I thought about adding a disclaimer at the bottom of the post reminding people that it is the New York Times but I figured everybody already knows what The Times is about and will adjust expectations accordingly.

Thanks @Juliajms. It would be interesting if there were a national health study to see how many people have been affected (even incidentally) but the seemingly constant political turmoil. I'm one of those people who had the feeling that things would be every bit as bad as they've turned out but knowing it and actually experiencing it are almost two different things. Days like today, I miss my elementary school days when the biggest problems I had could seemingly be dissolved (or at least put on ice) by the weekend. Today, it's mild, slightly overcast with a light mist in the air, the type of weather I would have relished as a little girl when I'd look forward to the short walk home from the bus stop and getting to the VCR to rewind my recorded soaps. I really wish I had had the resources to buy a lot of VHS tapes, so I didn't have to record over episodes and I could've stock-piled episodes like some people did. I could do with some of those episodes now (unfortunately most are not on YT).

Not Slick but according to Soap Opera Wiki, Wendy Drew played the role from April 1956-September 1960. I'm not sure how accurate these dates are but I have heard of the actress. https://soap-operas.fandom.com/wiki/Ellen_Lowell

You're welcome @Khan. When the troubles of the world get to feel as though they've reached (over)saturation point, I often feel like disengaging with the world. Over the past week or so, I've been dealing with a personal issue that has really got me feeling down (it's less about me and more about what loved ones are currently going through) but I realize that thoroughly disengaging (which I have tried) probably makes me feel worse. I still ponder emotional disengagement but as a writer, that's probably all but completely impossible. In any case, I've developed a life-long habit of reading and consuming the news, which means I can't help but care about what goes on in the world, although, right now, I really wish I didn't.

The NYT has an article that discusses the issue of Anti-Semitism coming from various political spectrums. I am providing the link because the embed contains an image that may be disturbing and I don't want to be insensitive (sometimes I feel as if I've become desensitized to racist imagery because I've had to face it so often) to anyone. Anti-Semitism Is Back, From the Left, Right and Islamist Extremes. Why?

Seems as if attitudes, in general, haven't much changed since then.

She tags these folks when she criticizes them too, lol. I've seen her do this to her old employer CNN when she asked them about their lack of diversity behind the camera.

Yeah, when I think back, I think, with the exceptions of those two storylines, I didn't feel much about Margo during her run and it wasn't just the awful writing. Perhaps because TPTB knew that they had a recast and the two previous actresses had been so popular, the writing had become self-conscious, at times, too concerned with making the audience like the new Margo. Whereas with HBS, in particular, I felt like her Margo could genuinely make me laugh at something that might not have even been written that way in the script...she could also make me mad enough to want to shake the living daylights out of her but she never made me feel indifferent toward her. And with Margaret Colin's Margo, well, she was the one who had an affair with another woman's (Barbara) husband, so obviously the writers weren't too concerned about whether the viewers would end up hating Margo and one of Colin's strengths was that she could really make Margo endearing, even after all that messiness. Even though MC and HBS had slightly different approaches to their portrayals, HBS kept that off-beat witticism that MC had started. When MC would cackle, it made you cackle. When HBS had that rapid fire giggle, you'd giggle. And yes, both also benefited from good writing.

Huh? What is this ever about?

TBH, I think most of the ATWT cast stays actively busy. Larry Brygmann, Margaret Colin, Tom Wiggin, Tamara Tunie and many others do theater, at the B'way and regional level. IA with your assessment of the last Tom & Margo. Ellen Dolan's performances as Maureen Bauer were strong and a bit off-beat yet warm (although Ellen Parker was the Maureen I grew up knowing and I loved her portrayal as well). I can see why a casting director would expect that all of that could carry over to Margo Hughes but only the strength aspects seemed to carry over. I think ED's Margo had a very challenging storyline right from the start and it seemed as if when that was over, she only had one really powerful performance left and that was the rape storyline. I didn't really get the warmth from her and although she cracked jokes and smiled a lot, that easy humor that Margo always had seemed to fall flat or get lost. Although he wasn't my favorite Tom, I liked some aspects of Scott Holmes' portrayal of Tom when he was with Hillary Bailey Smith. They had a good poignant vibe which could veer into romantic, if lacking the passion that HBS had with Gregg Marx. I do think the writing became uninspired during much of Holmes and Dolan's run and perhaps they just got tired.

Did anyone see this?

Oh, I know all too well about how property assessments go. Where I grew up, there was a sharp line between the depressed "urban" areas and the wealthy suburbs. The urban areas could hardly get necessary resources on a consistent basis and were consistently undervalued (while still facing a high property tax burden), while in the suburban areas, where residents could hire their own assessor, their the value of their properties would be suitably assessed. I only found out about this when my mother's neighborhood was put under eminent domain and the city's assessor was trying to undervalue her property and she ended up contesting the initial assessment.

The coverage was so minimal, especially once it became clear that there would be no prospect of another Daley becoming mayor. It's as if when Chicago is not specifically about corruption or violence or racism, the media cannot be bothered to find an angle in which to tell a story. Despite this being what looked to be a pretty significant race (in terms of historical precedent) in one of the biggest cities in the U.S., there were really only a handful of news articles about it.

The last few years of Emily were weepy, whiny and maudlin. It was almost unbearable.

I'm not sure what Emily was supposed to be by that time. You should really dig further back to when Melanie Smith portrayed the character. Yes, she slept with James and Paul Stenbeck but she was no Brooke Logan type.

My apologies too. The ATWT thread is free though, LOL. Today's the 63rd anniversary (would've been) and nary a peep about it.

Nothing to see here, everything's perfectly fine.

Well, I also read that CBS itself offered to buy As The World Turns but P&G refused. I could never understand P&G's attitude. It wasn't like they feared competition for other shows, they were the veritable 'dogs in the manger'. Well, they're struggling internally so maybe they should've taken that network money for their shows. (*shrugs*)

An especially poignant statement to make on today, of all days. I wonder whether Netflix's restrictive contracts will impact their status of being near the top of the list for creatives. I'm sure the money has a lot of appeal but for those who regard themselves as unwavering artists...well, artists value freedom. I know that this has changed the way that I see Netflix a vehicle for creative works.

As much as I enjoy Unsung, some of their contributors exaggerate! Saying that Adina Howard paved the way for Lil Kim and Foxy Brown?? Does Millie Jackson not exist? I love the voice of Shirley Murdoch but one contributor claimed that she was on par with Aretha Franklin...Aretha Franklin?? I give props to Crystal Waters, who didn't have the best voice but made it work well for her and carved out a career with longevity! Is she the "Queen of House"? I think Jocelyn Brown would have something to say about that. If Loleatta Hathaway were still around, she could very easily contend for that title too. But that 100% Pure Love was by far her best song. Had no idea the actor Michael K. Williams did choreography, he's a great dancer. I wonder if he still dances? As for Kim Wayans mocking her, In Living Color could be brutal but even Waters admitted that she sold about another 100,000 copies in the wake of that episode. FWIW, Wayans also mocked Tracy Chapman's Fast Car by singing "I Write A Fast Song". Glenn Jones should be interesting.

Meanwhile in North Carolina.