DramatistDreamer

LOL.

The only people who question whether DelPo deserves a wildcard are Steve and perhaps Sam. Steve was foolish for opening his mouth in the first place because clearly he spoke this into being.

Just last week Johnson was complaining that he didn't think DelPo should be offered a wildcard, that it might deprive some deserving American player instead. I wonder if that message got back to Juan.

If ATWT had its regular timeslot and never got moved, I'm not sure how GL being moved would specifically hurt ATWT. By the way, what year did that GL morning switch happen, I remember it happening but can't seem to remember when. I still think it was a confluence of factors that resulted in ATWT's decline and cancellation. One of which was tragic and impossible to prepare for- Marland's death. Marland wasn't perfect @YRBB gives a great example above with how Craig evolved but Steve somehow never did. Regardless of what anyone may think of Runyeon, a character on a continuing series should never be allowed to stagnate but I have a suspicion that at that point, all parties were aware that Steve had a very short shelf life left on the Oakdale canvass. Despite this, Marland was adept at tightly constructing his main storylines so that they had a definitive beginning, middle and end. At some point, ATWT stopped doing this well. In fact, all soaps pretty much stopped doing this well. One only need to look at the remaining soaps-many of which leave some storylines stranded, not even bothering to finish each before starting another. I still think that if P&G and CBS had pushed Nielsen (like the Primetime shows eventually did) to stop using antiquated methods to measure viewing #s and patterns, they probably would've discovered that a significant portion of the viewers had migrated to delayed viewing after recording by VCR. Daytime waited for Primetime to complain (only a few years ago) to make this an issue w/DVRs and online. In the 80s/90s most people weren't recording Primetime shows because they were at home watching, which was not true for many Daytime audiences who were working outside the home in increasingly large numbers in the 80s/90s.

Thus him being ranked the top American male means nothing. Especially since that loss means Isner again becomes the #1 ranked American on Monday. It could mean something for seeding at the USO. Maybe.

There is one person interviewed who stated that the reasons for the declines and cancellations of these shows were "complicated" but not just in the statements of some actors but across the industry, the OJ factor has become the accepted narrative. I often wondered why ABC, CBS and NBC Daytime divisions, as well as production companies like P&G didn't pool their resources and try to get the Nielsen people to find a way to include statistics from viewers who recorded soaps via VCR then viewed later- especially in the 1980s when soaps were cash cows and might've wielded more influence. Having seen a Nielsen box as well as knowing how Nielsen boxes work, I don't think it woud've been that difficult. Nielsen eventually did this with online viewing and DVR but I think Primetime TV shows were the drivers behind this. Perhaps Daytime TV, despite all the high ratings and the fact that they were practically supporting their Primetime counterparts in the '80s, may still have regarded themselves as a 'red-headed stepchild' and believed themselves relatively powerless in driving change. If VCR delayed viewing had been included in the Nielsen ratings, this may have made a significant impact in negotiations with sponsors.

Anyone near Pittsfield, MA Tamara Tunie is appearing in a play called American Son at the Barrington Theater with encore performances scheduled for September 14-25.

Mr. Blow speaks truth to power that the overwhelming majority of Black people do not believe that Trump is speaking to them and that it's a ploy to get votes of moderate White Republicans who are uncomfortable voting for a racist troll. In other news, some Sanders staffers have quit the new political group after Sanders appointed Jeff Weaver. Staffers quit new Sanders group after campaign head joined

Steve Johnson is now the top ranked American man (for whatever that's worth) supplanting John Isner. ETA: Johnson just lost to Verdasco in NC.

Listening to raw recording audio from episode 12 of Radio Retropolis' Who Shot the Daytime Soap-The Rise and Fall of As The World Turns & Guiding Light online http://www.radioretropolis.com/ and I'm wondering if anyone has listened to this? Interesting commentary but IMO doesn't give the full picture. For one, I find it weird that there was discussion of the signs of decline and cancellation being present but nary a peep about Another World and honestly, how can you not discuss AW when discussing the cancellation of two other P&G shows?! I wasn't even close to a regular viewer of AW and even I knew that AW's cancellation was a watershed moment, if not at the time, certainly in retrospect once GL and ATWT were in danger. Also, I know that the OJ Simpson trial was seen as the beginning of the end, when daytime dramas started to struggle (although people often also note changes in the lives of women-more entering the workplace and not at home), but earlier this year I looked at the episodes from the early 90s of ATWT and when I got to '94 and '95 and I could barely get through some of the episodes! I couldn't help but wonder whether ATWT expected to lure viewers back with those storylines?! I wondered whether other shows had similarly forgettable storylines during this time and had taken a lot viewer loyalty for granted. For decades, shows like ATWT and GL had pretty loyal viewers, there was probably every reason to believe that they'd return, also perhaps, they decided to put filler on until the majority of those viewers returned? Just a guess but maybe that's too far a reach? I mean, why would you save your strongest storylines for a future return of viewers when that may not happen? Why not put out the strongest storylines immediately and promote the hell out of it, show the viewers what they've been missing? Colleen Zenk was the only guest who commented on ATWT, which I am flummoxed as to why? Her perspective was still enlightening but I wondered how much of what she said was opinion and how much was fact. Her reflections were still great especially of how the NYC location of these shows was mutually beneficial to the show and the actors. The podcast presenter did mention that he thought that the documentary that was done on TVG (later POP) would be just the beginning since he thought there was so much more to tell but he soon realized that TVG (POP) was only interested in highlighting the decline of the genre. I've always believed there was more to tell about the daytime drama, starting with its earliest history but I don't know if anyone has the interest or $$$ to do that volume of research and recording to tell a full story.

Came across this tweet and thought it was cute.

Well, it looks like retaliation lawsuits don't just happen in the soap world. FXNC sounds like a horrible company for a woman to work. Andrea Tantaros Lawsuit Targets Five Executives at Fox News for Retaliation

Friends from Ohio long ago warned about Kasich. They found it almost laughable that media had him pegged as something of a moderate Republican voice when he is anything but moderate. It is only in comparison with Trump, does Kasich look anywhere near moderate. Part of the fear that many progressives have about HRC has to do with some of Bill Clinton's policies that had disastrous effects, most of which stemmed from Bill's desire to be a Centrist. I do think that times are different now and there really is little appetite among the Democratic electorate for a Centrist posture. With the subject of very real income-inequality rising to the top of the Democratic agenda, even if HRC wanted to adopt a Centrist position, she will be tugged more to the left every time. We're no longer in the 90s, we've been through the biggest Recession in most people's lifetime, times are very different from when Bill was president and I believe HRC already knows this. The two things that she could adopt from Bill are his charisma and his ability to communicate with an audience and make them feel as if he is talking to each of them personally. Otherwise, learn from his mistakes and recognize that our present times require a different type of governing. More humanity, less horse-trading.

New York Undercover should've lasted longer than it did. It's so strange when network execs decide to tinker with a show's success, jeopardizing the thing that made it appeal to viewers in the first place. If New York Undercover had existed in today's media landscape the show could've easily migrated to another network, most likely cable or online where executives are more satisfied with more modest ratings numbers. Still haven't seen the Patrice Rushen episode, so if anyone knows a site, let me know. Eartha Kitt's episode left me feeling kind of sad. Interesting that Jasmine Guy got her own Unsung Hollywood, practically on the heels of ADW having theirs last season. I started to watch Charlie Murphy's episode but then the Olympics showed an event I really wanted to watch so I abandoned UH. TV One's website still needs an organized method of archiving their episodes once they stream them.

AsTheWorldStillTurns has posted some episodes from 1987, some I haven't seen online before, right around the time after John and Lucinda's surprise elopement. The episode where Iva comes face to face with cousin Josh who had been posing as 'Rod Landry' Lucinda's newest stablemaster. Also, there's an episode where there is a sweet scene between Craig and Sierra where Sierra tells Craig that she intends to name her unborn child Bryant (Craig's middle name) if she has a boy. At this time everyone, including Sierra and Craig, assume that Tonio is the father of the baby.

And when some face-eating frat wearing a 'Make America Great Again' cap goes roaming around.

God, I miss NYC! FYI: Manafort resigned.

Warning: this is pretty gross, do not look if you have a week stomach because you cannot unsee. 11 nauseating photos of NYC’s naked Trump statue In other embarrassing Trump news, Ivanka inadvertently donates to Hillary's campaign. Ivanka Trump donates to the Hillary Clinton campaign... unwittingly

@DRW50, Christie is hyped in much the same manor that Giuliani is hyped, except Giuliani seems to be a far fouler human being. Giuliani did one good thing in his career which was to marginalize the mob which led to them being diminished in stature. He parlayed that into mayor of NYC which he was mostly mediocre at and did much to inflame police brutality, deaths in police custody and racial violence while simultaneously relegating the working class and poor to guests in their own city while Disney-fying the Big Apple. What no one talks about is that even the White working class who were some of Giuliani's biggest supporters had had their fill of him when September 11, 2001 happened and Giuliani became the self appointed "America's Mayor", parading around lower Manhattan and 'Ground Zero' without protective gear, setting a poor example for emergency workers and volunteers who were doing 9, 10 hour shifts in an area still enveloped in smoke and toxins without protective gear. Giuliani lying to the public and telling them lower Manhattan was "Open for Business" when the acrid smell of burning flesh, twisted metal and smoke could be smelled in Brooklyn and as far as Washington Heights. He didn't even have the class to step aside when Bloomberg was elected mayor after a postponed election could finally take place, instead placing himself on a guest spot on Saturday Night Live, yukking it up and trying to further burnish his career prospects. He's been living off of 9/11 ever since. Honestly, as much disregard and lack of respect as I have for Christie, I have nothing but contempt for Rudolph W. Giuliani.

I'd agree with @ReddFoxx, Christie has been doing absolutely nothing for the state of New Jersey so it's highly unlikely that he'd get enough votes to stay in the governor's mansion. He's highly unpopular, which means no Senate. With a failed Presidential bid and hitching himself to the pariah that is currently the GOP's defacto leader, I don't see any elected office which is attainable for him now.

Interesting article about how Christie administration allowed Trump casinos to minimize their tax burden. Trump Casinos’ Tax Debt Was $30 Million. Then Christie Took Office.

Unfortunately, throughout American history, at the very top of the government has usually been run by people who closely resemble oligarchs. The founding fathers were wealthy landowners who owned slaves and had very patrician and paternalistic mindsets. They believed in the equality of man who were of their ilk, of course. They did not believe in the equality of all. There are exceptions, of course, in terms of men who were not from the moneyed class who became President but those look more like exceptions rather than the rule. Money in politics has always been there, it is just that now, it is not just the political elites with money who have entrée but any idiot with his own company or access to media empire/conglomerate and millions of $$$ to spare that can wield influence in shaping political opinion. Very interesting side effect of the Brexit vote: British Jews applying to restore their family's German citizenship, so that they can have dual citizenship and maintain access to the EU: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/16/world/europe/once-unthinkable-more-british-jews-seek-german-citizenship.html?_r=0

@Nothin'ButAttitude, you're right, the descent really did begin in '94.

I started to comment on the Soap Opera Awards video when I lost power for like an hour yesterday and I was so grouchy and hot I couldn't focus on writing a damn thing. I do remember feeling somewhat sad seeing all the people who are no longer around --Douglas Marland, Dixie Carter, even Terry Lester who was in frame as the camera showed Marland on his way to the stage to accept the award for the show, as well as Marland mentioning the sudden passing of Michael David Morrison and I suddenly thought of the fact that it would be a very short time until Marland would pass as well. Not to mention the fact that I just couldn't shake the feeling that within a decade ATWT, for me, would cease to be the soap I had grown up on and grown to love. I wanted to stay in the celebratory moment of this video but somehow, I just couldn't manage to, knowing the fate would await this show.

Wow…how sad…what an awful way to go out! I wonder how he was on the set of Dharma & Greg and ATWT?? Someone should tweet Martha Byrne and ask.