DramatistDreamer

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.

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.