DramatistDreamer

Simon Cambers mentioned that the ratings for the women's final exceeding the men's were similar to last years women's semifinals (Venus vs. Konta) ratings which exceeded last years men's final!

The Prospect Park soaps, in particular, did well because even though they were still launched slightly ahead of their time, they were launched on a streaming platform that had great infrastructure and was emerging as a highly recognizable name. For the most part, Hulu, even back then had brand recognition. Hulu had already started building a strong sense of trust among an audience. Hulu itself was the invention of a coalition built by the networks and have the support of network television corporations, unlike Netflix which continues to be seen as an interloper (if not an outright threat) in the entertainment ecosystem. Had P&G/PGP tried launching a similar model with, perhaps their longest two running soaps, Guiding Light and As The World Turns, particularly at this time, PGP and those two shows likely would've had less skeptics to deal with than the Prospect Park soaps and might have had an easier time building their audience. To add more to what @SteelCity was talking about, soap fans seem very much to be married to brand recognition and brand loyalty. The soaps and their production companies themselves fostered this mindset over decades--it's how they literally sold soap. By and large, that attitude has remained and soap fans are very staunchly wedded to brands that they grew up with, recognize and have memories of using and enjoying. In the rest of the populations, these attitudes seem to have changed faster-- the embrace of what's new and different, more experimentation. I've found that many (again, not all) soap fans have been reluctant, if not slow, to embrace the new. Many soap fans have memories attached to these brands, including their television programs and frankly, soap fans are not alone in this-- which is why so many of these rebooted series of long ago canceled shows (One Day At A Time, Full House, the upcoming Murphy Brown, even Roseanne-for better or worse) are having such an impact at this time.

I cut the cord almost 8 years ago and while it has been challenging, I definitely don't have any regrets. @Khan An antenna is a viable option for many people (if you live in an apartment building, it gets a bit more tricky). The technology is basically the same as its been for 100 years with some updates but the antennas now transmit faster than cable and streaming for the local channels that you get. Also, there are more than a handful of digital substations that you cannot get on cable or streaming (GetTV, Bounce, etc.) I have sporadically tried watching these shows. Even though the production values of these indie soaps being streamed has vastly improved, I still find a lot of the content (scripts, direction, some of the performances) somewhat lacking. I can't put my finger on it, but there are some elements and nuances that are still missing for me.

Wow, Kathryn Hays had Bell's Palsy? Was she ever interviewed about what she believes brought it on and how she dealt with it?

Gosh, with all the seedy topics lately, these threads are practically getting lost in the tangle!

In some article I recently read I learned that there is no such thing as farm insurance, just crop insurance and certain crops are more difficult to insure than others. You can probably guess the easiest crops to get insurance for-- yes, corn and soy. This is why there is so little bio-diversity in the U.S., farmers are dissuaded from growing a variety of crops, even though it would provide for richer, healthier soil and less of a need for pesticides. There are at least 20 varieties of apples yet, in the U.S., only 4-5 varieties are grown. The pests have adapted to the few varieties grown here, hence the need for stronger and stronger pesticides. Agribusinesses like Monsanto have been trying to subvert the scientific study of certain weedkillers and pesticides (e.g. nicotinoids) and their potentially disastrous effect on the bees but there seems to be some studies' results that suggest that these nicotinoids are the main cause of colony collapse of the bees. It seems that there are solutions but very few in the agricultural industry appear willing to undertake these suggestions.

Resignations happen so frequently now, it should come as no surprise but this letter of resignation is worth a read. Apparently Holtzman is not alone in resigning from the DHS.

Spieth trended quite a lot on Twitter but Tiger Woods was trending pretty much the entire weekend. Pretty fair indicator of just how much people were talking about and watching the tournament.

@JaneAusten has the energy that I wish had to explain things nowadays. @Khan The first outage really had me perplexed when it happened because the outage occurred early on a Saturday morning (just a little after 6am)--hardly a time of high energy usage (like mid-afternoon). The power company was evasive and really couldn't (or wouldn't) offer an explanation on how/why it happened. I wish our media outlets would ask these questions of people. Jeff Bezos and the Walton family are some of the country's/world's wealthiest people. Should anyone who cannot "afford" to pay a fair wage and benefits to their employees really be in business? Americans should ask themselves whether it is truly acceptable for someone who works (even part-time) to be unable to afford to eat healthily or see a doctor?

Remember when President Obama wanted to upgrade the electrical grid nationwide but the Republicans threatened to torpedo any more spending higher than the most meager stimulus plan? Yeah, I remember that. Makes me wonder whether some Republicans were being cultivated by Russian operatives even back then. Perhaps the operatives had a hand in preventing the necessary upgrades to the electrical grid with the hopes that it would be weak enough for them to manipulate and hack. Makes me wonder.

And I've experienced two power outages in the last six weeks!!

@DRW50 That's what I get for clicking on that damn suggestion column. Against my better judgement, I decided to test my theory of how bad the show's final decade was, mainly to see if I was somehow being unfair or whether my initial judgement(s) were correct. I have given up on watching all the way through and have taken to hitting the FF tab. A LOT. I truly am starting to feel badly for the senior and longtime veteran actors, many of whom might as be wallpaper at this point. Some wallpaper is styled better too--honestly some of the worst hair, makeup and clothing choices I've ever seen on the show. I thought Lily's 1988 'mom jeans' were bad but Barbara's satin gold pantsuit is in a league all it's own! Sets, styling, etc. Bad visuals all around.

Trying to get through the summer of 2006 feels like a chore. It's not enjoyable to watch, just a slog. I can watch classic episodes from the 80s more than once. I can even watch some of the 90s and find things to enjoy. The '00s however, at best, I find endless things to critique and propose how many story threads I would junk and how many characters I'd eliminate altogether. Speaking of eliminate, like I said previously, I would have just sent Dusty and Jennifer off together. If tptb wanted to recast Jennifer, they could've then had the space to take their time. Also, re-casting Dusty would've also been a good idea, while they were at it. I felt the same way about Spencer. Kelsey Grammar is a major a*shole but he was at least good at his best known role. Watching ATWT again now, I am even more perplexed as to how Spencer Grammar stayed on the show. There was never any need to bring back Lucy Montgomery, who should've returned to/stayed in Montega. In fact, none of the Montgomerys should've been revived/brought to Oakdale if they couldn't get the O.G. actors, especially Scott Bryce. What they did to Craig annoyed me more than anything else they could've done. I won't be revisiting those recast episodes.

Let's just put it this way: the TMZ headline reads something like "Maria Sharapova's butt being pampered by boyfriend's face".

Yeah, they were/are probably just good friends. Still this picture from years back is kind of cute. Simon's first appearance, I thought he was entertaining and cute but with every successive appearance he seemed to become a totally superfluous character and the writing did him no favors. Paul Leyden couldn't grin his way out of all that garbage writing. IKR? Why can't P&G show some magnanimity with the fans that supported them through decades and release some good quality episode to stream and/or purchase? Also, for the 1980s, Sierra's dress is pretty stylish, not too dated.

Ugh, I'm not going to post the picture. Go to the TMZ twitter page and scroll down...you'll find it soon enough.

OMG at those pictures of Maria on TMZ!

Looks like the ATP is thinning out the ranks of the professional tour, even as it increases prize money for the Challengers.

Good God, what kind of nutjob has America allowed to have access to the nuclear codes?? Also spending cuts (the tax cuts for many, not all were temporary but the tax cuts for corporations will be permanent) won't prevent the next recession (which is very realistic possibility now) from happening. George W. Bush had spending cuts and tax cuts as well. The GOP M.O. is tax cuts, spending cuts and out of control military spending. Now with the fallout from dueling tariffs because of the trade war-should be interesting to see how much pain will be inflicted in the next several months. The benefits of those tax cuts for individuals will have worn off by then.

If only the story not become so convoluted, there might have been some creative space to chart out a better storyline trajectory for Eve. She seemed like the type of character that would've worked on ATWT. It was all there-- there were elements already embedded in the narrative that could've made her a richly complex character, even if she wasn't a permanent member of the cast, could've come and gone ever so often. Without the slasher story, the writers could've played out an undercurrent of suppressed resentment by Eve towards Maddie and vice-versa. Perhaps Eve could've picked up on a perceived bond between her sister and her husband that made her uncomfortable, or jealous/resentful though she couldn't quite put her finger on why. Maddie could've have confronted her sister with her suspicions that Eve must've known, must've had some sense deep down of what was happening but failed to stop it. They could've worked this all out in family therapy sessions (remember when ATWT was known for analysis and therapy?) . Paging Dr. Michaels... Feelings of guilt and anger could've plagued Eve who begins to confide in Jack, which could, in turn, complicate Jack's personal life as the two become friends. Carly may not want Eve around for various reasons (she failed to protect her little sister-"how could she not have known?", she doesn't like her around Jack, etc.) . Eve taking up the role of big sister, could've become overprotective of Maddie and have caused problems between Maddie and Casey (who were on the verge of becoming sexually active). She could've even started to micromanage Henry's life. There's so much that could've been done. Although I decided to stop watching Y&R, the last time I watched, I began to notice that Y&R is starting to commit the same errors in storytelling that ATWT had in its final years. They had a domestic abuse storyline that went horribly awry because it became subsumed in another storyline. I recognized this very early on because I recognized all the early signs. This 'bait and switch' storytelling seems to have become quite common on soaps. The sexual assault storyline, had tptb just focused on that, could've been a tour de force for the actress and for the show but they had to crowd it out with that silly slasher story. So unfortunate. A question to all the BTS experts: were Alexandra Chando and Zach Roerig dating IRL at some point? They would fall under the long tradition of ATWT actors who were either dating or married IRL. I seem to remember some program on MTV in the mid '00s that showcased Chando and the footage they showed seemed to show Chando and Roerig together in a social setting. Maybe they had just bonded to be very close?

Okay, so I have been trying to watch episodes from 2006 (which I slipped in and out of when they aired), to see whether maybe I was being too harsh on storylines from ATWT's final decade as one or two late-period fans have suggested that many fans of the show's previous decades disparage the late years. At random I started watching the time period in mid 2006 when the revelation about Maddie's sexual assault was surfacing. Starting out with the positive (yes, I can find the positives, LOL)-- ATWT still had capable actors who had made their debuts during that time period (up to 2007-08). In particular, ATWT had a pretty decent young adult group, especially in Jesse Lee Soffer, Zach Roerig, Alexandra Chando and Jennifer Landon. Almost all of these actors have gone on to make names for themselves in primetime with Soffer probably being the most prominent in the group. Chando showed that she was certainly capable of producing the kind of range needed to carry the weight of a sexual assault story. The story itself was relevant back then and would still be relevant (perhaps even more so) today. Henry, in the early part of the story-the part that had to do with the revelations that his sister had suffered an assault- became more than just the one-dimensional character he'd been for most of his time on the canvas. He still had his quips and one-liners but it was grounded in more reality and gravitas. In this, Trent Dawson did well, imo. Here's the less-than positive-- The writing was just...not that good. The sexual assault story, which had a promising start (like so many stories of that late period) got absorbed and all but lost when it morphed into a campy, silly Slasher story (complete with a poor facsimile of the shower scene from Psycho) that just looked cheap from every angle. I'd really love to know who decided to include the Slasher story? Was there pressure from the executives to try to expand Maddie's sexual assault story to somehow include more characters? Was this considered the best solution? Was this someone's idea of a summertime story that would attract interest among teens? Also, I understand that ATWT was trying to adopt an interactive approach with InTurn but the execution on screen was so clumsy-- having random teens show up on screen just to yell 'murderer' or 'freak' at Maddie seemed especially bad. I didn't care about these people or their feelings, probably because it was obvious they were just showing up to fulfill their parts from the InTurn promotion. At the time, the promotion was probably pretty interesting but the concept has aged badly. Kind of like the 'Soap Dollars' gimmick which just looks desperate now. I haven't gotten to this part in my YT viewing but from the time I watched on T.V., I remember well what happened to Eve, Henry and Maddie's sister, and I think it was a big mistake to not to keep Eve viable by taking her character in such an extreme direction. I saw a scene between Eve and Jack Snyder and thought I noticed some chemistry. I know that Carly and Jack were endgame but in the meantime, a newly single Eve (once the truth about her husband got out and she divorced him) could have provided a good complication. A crazy Eve, however would've been just another Julia, which I doubt anybody would've wanted to see ever again. I certainly wouldn't have wanted to see it. An Eve that was actually an attractive prospect could've provided good angst for Carly and Jack. (I almost hate to use the word "triangle" but when ATWT was really good, they could do good, complicated triangles without demonizing their characters-- e.g. Tom/Margo/Hal. Although I wouldn't go all the way and say that Kim/Bob/Susan were what most people would call a triangle, it had aspects of one. Also, I have to say that the Tom/Margo/Hal triangle probably worked because Scott Holmes was in the role, rather than Gregg Marx who had a lot of onscreen sexual chemistry with HBS and it might have seemed unrealistic for Margo to be torn unless they created another 'pseudo-cheating' scandal to make Margo turn away.) The older characters are styled pretty poorly, particularly Lisa (was EF doing her own hair & makeup or did the hair/makeup and wardrobe people just really dislike her??). The other storylines like Damians faux-illness and Lucy's infiltrating his household to see if he was faking so Luke wouldn't have to accompany him back to Malta, leaving behind a comotosed Lily who just gave birth--I found myself largely indifferent to this storyline. It was muddled and poorly scripted. Not even Elizabeth Hubbard (who gave it a good try) could save it. Grayson McCouch who was kind of just floating in and out since he was supposed to be a widower in mourning was lifeless. The writers probably should've just made little Johnny his and had Jennifer survive so they could send them all off the canvas into the sunset. The other storylines were Fast-Forward material. The lackluster story of Simon's new wealth and partnering with Carly on designing an apartment complex with Katie being shoehorned into the story is so lackluster that I could care less. My viewing of these episodes feels mostly labored and I'd be surprised if I kept watching.

Have I been paying so little attention that I failed to realize that the new mayor of Charlottesville is an African American woman? Or have I simply forgotten? Surely we've discussed this in this thread...right? She's included in a profile of Charlottesville in the NYT. Year After White Nationalist Rally, Charlottesville Is in Tug of War Over Its Soul

Brought to you by the land that spread spread the enlightenment and meditative movements. Tragic. Seduced by Hate, Indian Politician Embraces a Lynch Mob So much for education broadening and expanding the mind. It's clear that degree attainment does not equal true higher learning.