DramatistDreamer

I agree with this mostly. I do think that within the daytime drama industry, they saw each other as competitors rather than allies. If there were a unified front advocating for technological advances to be implemented, there may have been a chance of getting there. As much of a passionate cheerleader as Jobs was, the years after his death have been some of the most powerful for the tech industry. There are no longer charismatic front-men like Jobs or recognized leaders like Gates speaking for the industry but the tech industry seems to wield more power than they ever did now that Google and Amazon can decide the fate of entire cities and towns vying for their headquarters or begging for them to lay fiberoptics and other services. Ironically, in the earliest years of Hulu, it was impossible to Fast-Forward ads, something I would think soaps would welcome since you can skip ads on VCRs and DV-Rs and even walk out on a commercial break and return. In the early years of Hulu, you literally had to click on options to show you'd seen the ads before you could return to the actual program. CBS.com (you wanna talk about glitchy? Whew!) adopted this model on their online platform. Netflix remains glitchy at times but that doesn't stop people from subscribing to their service, simply because the content makes it worth their while. This brings me back to the notion of whether perhaps better quality content would've had a stronger case for online viability. Some fans were really vocal only about their opposition to the notion of any of these shows reverting back down to 30 minutes or 15 minutes. It sounded insulting until you remember that the soap opera format began as a 15 minute radio serial before going to live television as 30 minute serials before some went to the 60 minute format. 30 minutes of good drama surpasses 60 minutes of poorly produced content. JMO and maybe in the end, there were too many headwinds as people have said.

Julianne Moore, Bryan Cranston, etc. have been very gracious when speaking about their time on daytime soaps. And that's one of the biggest problems, imo. It's done a lot of lasting damage to the genre. Silly tropes and stereotypical stories that are framed by ridiculous, illogical plot points. Soaps should've dropped those a long time ago but couldn't resist the lazy, sensational, sloppy way out of a story instead of taking a narrative to its logical conclusion. Many times execs use writers to write a shock, extreme ending to what really is a BTS issue. Then years later, seek to correct the extreme plot point with an even less logical story. There are a lot of storylines that I've looked at over the years that I honestly cannot take seriously and if I were to try to describe them to a non-soap fan, I wouldn't be able to keep a straight face. Sometimes I wonder if the people who produce soaps hate soaps. To bring it back around to the original topic, one of the things that soap genre often had going for it was the relatively high production look of the show--it could often mask some very sh*tty storytelling, at times. If you take all that away and put it in an even more intimate format than broadcast television (which, at times the online/Internet platform can be-- it's right in your face, your smartphone or your tablet computer that rests on your bedside table, in your pocket, etc), do you lose the appeal? Sometimes during a web soap, it feels even closer and your eyes can focus even more on the sets to see the details. Before TVs had them, computers had 1080p resolution. So from the very beginning, there was more clarity on computers than there once was on even the most high-end televisions. There was nowhere to hide on the Internet. Lack of resources really shone through and poor quality acting and/or writing was magnified in an even starker contrast. *I often wonder if this was part of the resistance toward the online platform?* I mean, really...I do wonder. CBS, NBC and ABC were all early investors in HULU and ABC at one time, streamed their soaps on the platform but why didn't all three stream their shows completely online where the pressure of ratings would've been less? Did they think it an unsustainable enterprise? What do you think?

These are the same conservatives who picked Obama apart when he was in the White House. SMH.

I tend to be more forgiving when it comes to whether a former soap actor wants to talk about their soap careers. Keep in mind that not every performer had a positive experience on a show and soaps are no exception. Recently, I read one interview when an actor described in detail what a bad experience he had on one particular soap and he was on there for about two years. I wonder if that show and its fans would rather he'd said nothing at all? I didn't mind that either because although I enjoyed the show for many years, I know there were good years and there bad years onscreen and I figured it was probably even more intense BTS. Perhaps its not such a bad thing if a former soap actor stays mum--although personally I enjoy the honesty, even if it makes some squirm, LOL.

For all its numerous flaws, Twitter seems to be the one place where historians, policy experts, reporters and legal experts can consistently connect the dots.

Earlier this month a bunch of us were discussing some of the timeline of events in 1985-1986 and the topic of Sierra and Lily's birth mother revelations surfaced as a topic of discussion and we were talking about that whole storyline of John blackmailing Lucinda over her secret about Sierra's maternity and when Craig knew and whether he wanted to also keep it a secret. I was going off of a memory that Craig discovered the truth when he and Sierra were engaged and he demanded that Lucinda tell Sierra the truth. Interestingly enough, I came across this clip from CBS. I thought I had seen all of these classic clips from CBS over the past few years and I'd only seen the shorter scene of Craig kissing Sierra in her wedding dress but not the longer one where he actually threatens to tell Sierra the truth himself if Lucinda doesn't tell her. I could just cry at the video quality of these clips! I guess, CBS is only allowed to show clips?

Madams and models and pornstars...oh my!

Whoopi explains what happened in the aftermath of the Jeanine Pirro appearance.

Weren't there people on this thread that speculated that the McDougal situation could be more perilous for Trump than that of Stormy McDaniels? I could've sworn we discussed this on this board.

They're all scum but the fact that Trump, who repeatedly throws his associates under the bus, then turns around and acts so aggrieved when one of his associates demonstrates that they have the upper hand, illustrates how much of an incurable narcissist Trump truly is.

For most big name actors, that distinction between screens was tossed out when actors increasingly started to star in HBO produced movies, imo. I make the distinction between streaming platforms with astronomical budgets like Netflix and Amazon and increasingly Hulu and smaller, independent streaming platforms that stream more modest budgeted fare. In that, I believe there still is, if not an outright stigma, a reluctance and an assumption regarding the level of artistic quality on smaller streaming platforms. Recently, I read a Deadline article that discussed how Netflix was abandoning its roots of distributing, producing and streaming indie films in order to chase big fish like Will Smith and Jerry Seinfeld and big budget productions. If you are indeed an independent director, writer, etc.-- your chances of getting your indie budget film, series on Netflix today are much slimmer than they were 6+years ago. But I've recently ventured onto other soap message boards (to lurk, not to join) and people are still complaining about those PP online soaps. Some complaints were about various favorites not appearing and a few complained about the cursing (which, at times did seem a tad overused) and strong sexual content (I thought this was mostly an exaggeration, there was one or two scenes that were suggestive of sexual situations) but the most common complaint was that those "online versions" were not their Pine Valley or their Llandview, coming on their TV sets at the appointed times that they were used to. To me (except for one summer when I was a kid when my oldest brother's girlfriend took over our 1 television set to watch All My Children and General Hospital, I admit to only watching the final years of AMC and OLTL when they were on TV, I would hardly qualify as a longtime viewer), the online incarnations had great production values that were comparable to what you might find on a T.V. daytime drama in the post 90s period and they definitely look a cut above what the remaining T.V. daytime soaps look like today. I think there is still bitterness toward online soaps and the daytime dramas not looking like the soaps that so many fans grew up with and have a fondness for. I wouldn't say hypocritical because people are embracing the streaming platform for their own output but I would say hypocritical because while the remaining 4 soaps degrade themselves on a daily basis, many of these same bloggers who criticized the PP soaps are mostly silent about the rot that is taking place with the four current remaining network soaps.

Shifting excuses, it seems that, like her admirer Trump, Roseanne has shifted her explanation of what ethnicity she believed Jarrett to be.

He got what he deserved. And yes, he should also face charges. No one should have to work in an environment like this.

I would've been impressed had Time actually done this before the election.

Whoa, sounds like Whoopi went Chelsea projects level on Pirro. I am surprised that no one had gone off on Pirro before, tbh.

With some soap fans (again, I stipulate not all), the stigma from the early online web series attempts haven't quite faded. To some, the early efforts at web series conjure up images of low production values and stilted acting. I have to say that good writing would've gone a long way toward making up for low-budgets but many of those series suffered from mediocre writing as well. For a long time, any series outside of Hulu (in its earliest days was a platform created and produced by network television companies/studios) and other network affiliated websites was considered to be unworthy of people's time. It probably didn't help that the Daytime Emmy's first foray online was something of a shambles. I do believe that if there are any hopes to bring back classic shows in any form (and that includes even showing old episodes), a slim hope at this point --the best chance would be on an online platform where ratings are less of an overarching issue than they are on broadcast television, where ratings are pretty much everything.

That's if the vote during the midterm elections will even be secure.

Such tragic news. I'm not the avid follower that I used to be growing up but I do remember Dennis Ten, who was such a talented, graceful skater.

Leaving aside the intense feelings about the Prospect Park reboots, there are other instances in which many (not all, I understand) soap fans have been opposed to having soaps on an online streaming platform. In recent years, anytime the time for the Daytime Emmys rolls around, the complaints about the program being streamed online are consistent. Then there are the fans who constantly wish for their favorite defunct soap to be resurrected but on TV, not online. My favorite category are the soap fans who complain online that they won't be able to see these programs if they're streamed online...while they are online! Personally, I've never had an issue watching anything on my laptop (maybe because my laptop is giant, with a screen just under 20") but in the cases where I needed to watch on a television set, I've found that a HDMI cable works just fine and costs less than $10. Most sports fans, who have been the biggest proponents of using TV screens (the bigger the better) have even begun to come around to the advantages of streaming (especially fans of niche sports). Why do soap fans continue to be so averse to streaming? Is it only screen size? Does the nostalgia factor weigh heavily? Does anyone truly believe that networks are going to pick up cancelled soaps and put them back on broadcast? This is not a rant (okay the part describing my favorite category of soap fan was a bit of a rant). Still...I genuinely welcome discussion on this. Thoughts?

This is an interesting Congressional race. Since it is the New York Times of today, I can't take it for granted that they have actually presented a holistic view of the voters in the Hudson Valley region but I couldn't help but feel heartened by some of the statements made by the residents who called out John Faso and urged the comments to reflect the issues that are important to them, rather than rap lyrics from a decade ago. A Congressional Candidate Used to Be a Rapper. Will It Matter?

One of Trump's secret service agents died while in Scotland. US secret service agent dies after stroke during Trump visit to Scotland

Yikes, and these were the ratings for this year's men's final.

If you wait for people to be ready, most never will. Also, the longer Obama stayed in the Senate, the more likely whatever direction he cast his votes, would be used against him. And we know how high the artificial bar is set for any minority in public office. We have to acknowledge that had the George W. Bush administration not made a complete mess of the country, many voters were unlikely to consider a Barack Obama for president. By the way, Obama spoke today in South Africa on Mandela's centennial birthday and it was an inspiring event! I've almost forgotten what it's like to listen to a president who can articulate a vision and a position, acknowledge the obstacles while encouraging people to become involved in the process toward finding the solutions, but lo and behold! In other news- the kind that details how Black people's daily lives are being disrupted by people calling the police over the dumbest, most petty, arbitrary sh*t, one of the 2 CVS employees who got fired recently ran for City Council! CVS Fires 2 for Calling Police on Black Woman Over Coupon As annoying and anger-inducing as being followed around in a department store is, this is even worse. The thought of it raises my blood pressure.