DramatistDreamer

Lamman Rucker (Marshall Travers, ATWT) is co-starring with Mena Suvari in an upcoming WEtv series being labelled as a "supernatural thriller" called South of Hell.

I'm watching CBS Sunday Morning show and they are doing a profile on Cloris Leachman and I had no idea that Morgan Englund (Dylan Lewis) is one of her children. And the resemblance is so obvious too!

I just came across this link to a podcast featuring Kristolyn Lloyd (Dayzee, B&B) on a blog I follow and sometimes read: https://twitter.com/HowlRound/status/667379686985592833

Congrats to Venus Williams, back in the Top 10, at #7, having last been in the Top 10 in 2010. 2nd ranked American at 35 years young. Quite an achievement! As a fan, whose had to listen to endless griping about how she should retire for the last 5+ years, I feel like doing this to all the naysayers:

Some of the Republican presidential candidates look silly with this debate manifesto. Why don't they just go all the way and cut and paste one of J-Lo or Mariah's show riders as an example. Word was that the candidates agreed until they disagreed. Such a mess!

Kathryn Hays really hasn't changed much over the years, just added grace with age. That voice sounds familiar, is it Paul Williams? I just saw a documentary about him like last week and his voice is still pretty fresh. The documentary was called Paul Williams-Still Alive or something like that. The documentary was so-so but interesting nonetheless because I didn't know much about him but I do remember coming across some of his stuff on You Tube and came to realize what a prolific songwriter he was.

Was Christie still stewing over being kick out of the quiet car on Amtrak or his toilet dominating dressing room at the debate center?

I completely agree and I hope that wasn't the message my comment was sending towards you. I just think college is an investment and shouldn't just be totally free. It should be designed to be as affordable as possible and i think kids who are in college should be working a little bit to fund their education or do something in some way that helps contribute to the bottom line. Even if its just paying for the damn books and all. But to say that every kid should go to college for free is just the height of lunacy and one of many reasons why I can't take him or his supporters seriously. And yeah I don't like lumping all the groups together as "the minorities" either. Everyone is different and not everyone in a certain group feels the same way. I appreciate you clarifying your thoughts I am defensive on the matter whenever the issue is raised and the academic vs. vocational training and how politicians, mostly Republican but an increasing number of Democrats seem to equate the option to do either with one's finances. It's also as a result of personal experience of having a teacher actually tell me I was too poor to go to one seemingly out of reach school (he never mention my grades) or people hearing where I grew up and saying things like "Oh but you're so articulate". Once I even had someone look at my resume and say "You went to two really good schools" with a raised eyebrow and a shocked expression. I get weary when I even get an inkling that the conversation even appears to veer in that direction but I understand what you're saying here. I have friends who have their degrees but later decided to do a trade because that's what spoke to them as their career. Some became midwives, carpenters, farmers. I also think that the reverse should also be an option. That someone headed for trade school or has a trade and wants to engage in an academic path, they should have that option. In terms of affordability, I think there is a problem with how the highest tenured professors are paid. You have presidents of Universities who have over a $1 million per year, while the adjunct professors are taking extra jobs to make ends meet, some who pre-ACA didn't have health care. One University was financing 2nd homes (with extremely favorable interest rates) of some of their Deans and department heads. Who is paying for all this, is what I'd like to know? Is there a connection between tuition rates and soaring salaries for those at the very top of the college/university administration? Many Ivy league schools have huge endowments funded by wealthy alumni but many state and private do not, yet still pay their top level staff at rates that might make some executives envious. And they use the same excuse that Wall Street uses, that they must pay their best to keep them. And let's not get into the schools that expect every student to fund the sports program even if many of the athletes are academic failures. I just wish there were more inspection of how schools are spending the money to see if it is being spent/distributed fairly and wisely. We might see some ways in which expenditures could be brought down (maybe don't finance a star professor's entire sabbatical) and tuition made more reasonable. I don't see how free tuition is sustainable. Even in the U.K. where tuition was once free of cost, has had to introduce some type of fee based system. Probably fairly modest compared to the ballooning costs of the U.S. model. And the soaring costs in the U.S. wouldn't be so horrendous if every student that graduated had full employment, which we know is not happening. Obama tried to tie school ratings to things like on time graduation rates, employment rates of graduates as well as starting and career long salaries of graduates but the collection of schools that make up the Higher Education consortium balked and protested until Obama caved and left off some criteria from the rankings. U.S. News & World Report will still be the dominant published guide for choosing schools, I guess. I just happen to think how the colleges and universities are structured financial is a big part of the problem.

I'm not surprised, that Phillips' character's introduction had wishy washy exit story written all over it. At least, it was better than Tucker's non story exit.

I don't think that many 'minorities' (man, that word rubs me the wrong way!) believe that a Sanders administration would get most of his campaign proposals accomplished. Obama got a surprising amount of his campaign promises accomplished but some important ones like the closing of Guantamo prisons, have yet to be completed. Obama had many moderate, middle of the road proposals and was fought tooth and nail on most of them-- Bernie's proposals are considered much more radical and many believe, unachievable. Also, Bernie's past votes concerning gun control irks many minorities that tend to be in favor of gun control as random gun violence tends to hit the inner cities very hard. Bernie's equivocations on previous votes causes many minority voters to give him the side eye. As for the concept that college is only for some (presumably based on your ability to pay), I find that personally insulting. I came from what one might call a working class background. I was considered a low income student and I graduated (on time, which quite a few of my wealthier colleagues did not do) from what some might consider an elite college with a 4.0 GPA. I also went to Grad school (where my only struggle was financial) and graduated with a 3.9 GPA. Lack of financial funds has nothing to do with academic worthiness.

This must be the time period just after Emily and Paul slept together, probably why Paul is acting the way he is, seeing especially that he lost his virginity to Emily.

Wow, why did I not make the connection with Greg B. and Tony Reardon??!! And I watched a slew of GL episodes from '84 on YT this summer! I also thought that flashback between Ellie and Brock was pretty hot too! And him pestering Ellie to tell him whether Craig was better than him in the sack...OMG! I think that there could've been a lot of material for Brock left even if he and Emily broke up and later reconciled, there was also that back and forth with Ellie that could've provided lots of storyline complications down the road too. I don't know whether the actor became too much but all throughout the '80s, ATWT was spoiled for talent, so perhaps the show felt that they didn't need to rely that much on a relatively new character? Is Duke's freakin' jorts a recurring motif or something?? Why do those damn things keep showing up onscreen? Lucinda needs to burn those suckers! John looked pretty horrified too (LOL), probably more likely because he knows that Julie was likely there in their bed. NBA, my theory on Cal is that it probably was Marland doing a bit of chem testing with the Cal character, to see who he'd fit with best maybe? I also liked when they showed another side to Emma. Although from the moment John and Lucinda were in their first scenes together, it was obvious they were great together (even the writing team pre-Marland had them go on a date at Diana's ), I did enjoy seeing a romantic, even whimsical side to Emma when she dated John. She's a bit more fiery with Cal but I liked it as well as seeing that she had two possible suitors at the moment--it was a nice twist that John actually came away with the quilt at the auction ( and Lucinda throwing it off the bed after John put it on was funny!) The reference to Dirty Dancing was very, eh, timely, I guess but the funny part was Tom and Margo tangoing through the crowd while Tom tried to explain to Bob and Kim that it wasn't as bad as it sounded and then Mac's suggestion that he might consider trying it out on Nancy and Bob's reponse about not wanting to end up having to put the both of them in traction was pretty funny. That whole sequence was quick but so amusing, they all looked like they were having a blast. Although I preferred HBS paired with Marx, if it were a choice between Scott Holmes and HBS or Holmes and Dolan, Holmes and HBS were far more interesting. I see Roy's parents but just what the heck happened to Roy?? Maybe Lily is deliberately going for the guy who seems to be the exact opposite of all the guys she's usually attracted to. Usually, those guys had rough and tumble and/or difficult childhoods in some way, Derek seems like he always needs a soft place to land, even if it means stealing someone's feathered nest. Paul's obvious infatuation with Emily kicks into high gear, with not-so-good repurcussions down the road. One previous episode, I kind of got irritated with Lien getting upset with Paul's 'pulling away'. Can Lien make up her mind? First she complained about Paul smothering her with his attention and affection. Now that she's supposedly with Andy (while eyeing Duke), she's upset that she and Paul aren't as close anymore. Ugh. Speaking of Andy...Andy gotta have it! Julie's sexually liberated stance is started to, uh, 'awaken' Andy. You can see him subtly trying to get Lien to be a bit more open, uh, too but Lien is having none of it.

HBS nearly left in 1988, while she was pregnant (there were "goodbye Hilary" type articles in SOD), but Calhoun convinced her to stay as I think she had flexible hours or could bring her baby to work (did he play Adam?). When Calhoun left in 1989, Laurie Caso supposedly did not have the same flexibility toward HBS, and she left. IMO, that baby did seem very attached to 'Margo'/HBS, so you know, I think you may be right. 1989 just seemed like a watershed year. Many changes were afoot. I wouldn't be surprised if Calhoun left sometime between1988 or 1989. I noticed one or two minor technical changes even with the episode I watched yesterday. The Mona Lisa usually featured that roving camera shot, the one that seems to be continuous, where it was done seemingly in one take with no cuts as the camera roved through the crowd at gatherings, particularly the Mona Lisa? I noticed they no longer seemed to be doing this. Those shots could be dazzling, especially with the ambience of the Mona Lisa, but I suppose they probably weren't the most cost effective. Something tells me that by fiscal year '90, P&G probably began paying more attention to the budget. I don't think the real nickel and diming would truly take off in earnest for the next decade or so.

I never really made the leap to DAYS but back in the day, I had some friends who were avid viewers and they used to record DAYS and would take study breaks to watch and I found myself watching with them, it was during the Marlena possession days (lol). Is it true that Sam Stowers is going to be coming on? I loved her on the TOLN's AMC, so I may tune in to see what that's all about. As for ATWT, were these the last days of HBS's Margo? For some reason, this really felt like goodbye. She's good here at really showing how frenetic and frazzled Margo had become over the deception but like you, I wished I could've seen the episodes leading up to her exit, so that I could've seen how exactly the tension built up. I'm not sure why Lyla thought that Casey, Craig or even John could've convinced Margo and Tom not to go through with their plan, Margo and Tom are grown ups with minds of their own. I also would've like to see the episode where Kim interrogates Margo because it seems a bit more like something Lisa would've done, so I would have loved to see how Kim approached the subject. It's a good thing that Lien has become more secure of her place in the family, otherwise she might have been thinking 'WTH, does this woman not like me?! Tom looks like the next one who's gonna lose it, the way that everyone is asking him about Margo, one by one. Boy, Cal sure got around in the times before Connor. He's paired off with every woman in his age range and beyond! I even saw his arm around Lyla. Whoa, slow down there cowboy! Andy and Duke look to be bonding quickly. I guess those brotherly bonds are sure to be tested when Julie walks into town. Is Emily trying to style herself more youthfully because Paul is her escort? That hairstyle and that dress, she looks like she's headed for the school dance with Paul! Maybe one of the many reasons Barbara was giving her the side eye at the Mona Lisa. Charles Keating truly was the Errol Flynn of Daytime dramas. With Duncan gone, I guess they wanted a roguish charmer with a U.K. accent. Down to the Import/Export business- isn't that what Duncan always claimed to do? And what the heck is going on this time between John and Lucinda? Are they separated or just playing games to make the other jealous? I loved seeing all the roving and mingling at the Mona Lisa. Oakdale was such a social place back then. It had a great small town/city feel to it. Susan sometimes annoyed me with her tracking married and unavailable men, but one thing I've always respected about her was her regard for doctor/patient confidentiality and the Hippocratic Oath. She took her duties seriously. Her admonishment of Emily over Adam's paternity seems to demonstrate this. I loved Ann Sward and I liked Lyla but did she only have like 3 songs in her repertoire? I was hoping for the shortened version of From Now On since we've heard it so many dang-on times. The unfortunate side effect of having so many talented actors in such great storylines on ATWT during this decade is the unfortunate high turnover of actors. Actors, after being nominated for awards and being involved in compelling storyline, felt confident in their abilities and wanted to test their talents elsewhere. You can't really blame them but it's kind of sad how many key actors/characters woud be gone by the end of the 80s. It kind of felt like things would never quite be the same with the feel of the show.

I know, NBA, it's great to be able to chat with someone else, episode by episode on some good drama. Of the four remaining daytime soaps, I only bother with one now (B&B) and even that tries my patience. John is getting a taste of his own medicine from Kim, though. I remember when he hounded her and Bob about being considerate of Andy's welfare and feelings during the Doug Cummings trial (so much so that he tried to take Andy to live with him until Andy put his foot down) and also when Andy was first discovered to be an alcoholic. Kim does have a point-- why didn't John just explain to Duke that he had to sit down alone with Andy (and maybe include Margo) and try to explain as soon as he landed in Oakdale? I get that he was preoccupied with making Duke feel at home, but John totally dropped the ball where it concerned filling Andy in on things. I think Duke's observation about John regretting not managing to hold onto Kim was fairly ironic. I was too young to watch but from what my Mother told me of John's machinations to try to keep Kim tied to him-- if Duke only knew... Da'aw, that Bryant is a scene stealer. Craig getting all emotional all over again reading that letter from Sierra while an instrumental version of Suddenly plays in the background gave me the 'feels'. I don't recognize that Craig in the '00s, I rebuke all that had to do with the Craig of ATWT's final decade. And in my mind, Bryant never died, Tonio stole him. That fight between Duke and Caleb seems a bit too choreographed. I half expected John to enter singing 'So You Wanna Be A Boxer' from Bugsy Malone to Duke. It seems like Caleb and Duke could actually be friends. Guess not at this point. The way you feel about Caleb, NBA, is the way I felt about Brian Bloom's Dusty. I still can't believe Lily didn't choose him but Lily preferred guys who played games, which Dusty never could. Love the chemistry between Marie Masters and Melanie Smith. Emily is being downright cheeky at this point and I kinda like it. With Marie and KMH, TPTB made Susan in later years into a more snarky version of all the things that people complain about with Lyla. Susan spent too much time hand-wringing over Emily and then Allison. These scenes reminded me of the more complex relationship that mother and daughter shared. Tonio would never exist on today's soaps. He'd be a straight up abusive villain with zero redeeming qualities-- so much so that we'd all be left wondering why anyone would ever want to sleep with him. At least here, we get a sense that Tonio could at times be charismatic and at least in the beginning of a relationship, he always complimented that woman and made her feel like the most desireable woman on the planet-- until things turned bad. And the fact that he seemingly never got over Sierra (although he could never be faithful to even her) shows that there is at least some humanity there.

Who wears cut-off jeans to go running, Duke? He has to be the most like John of all John's children, though and I forgot how funny those scenes at the mansion were (lol). It's kind of interesting how twisted the relationships became this year. Duke calling Lucinda "Lucy" was reminiscent of Lisa, who couldn't stand John but, if I remember correctly, liked Duke. Then there was the awkward relationship Duke would have with Tom once he begins to date Lien. In a way, you could see Tom quietly judging Duke, although Tom gave Duke more consideration than John had given him, even after he married Margo. LOL @ the collective groans when Duke alluded to his sex life, by mentioning how quiet his bed springs were. Even John blanched at those statements. Even though I like Lien, they had her date Paul, Andy and then Duke. I guess there were no other guys in her age group on the show but that always struck me as weird. I think Ellie's and Emily's tension, at least in the early going had a lot to do with Craig. Emily wanted a chance but missed it with the revelation of her affair with Tonio flushed that chance and she definitely does not seem to like seeing Ellie waltzing into Craig's life and taking up Craig's time diminishing her prospects of ever getting back to where she was with Craig, so it looks like she is trying to play spoiler by using the search for Sierra as a crowbar to pry Craig and Ellie apart. I could also see Ellie not liking or respecting Emily for her effect on Meg and Meg's marriage to Tonio, but if you remember, Ellie herself was involved with a married man, so there's only so far that contempt for Emily could go. Andy and Kim had some nice scenes with Kim trying to get to the heart of why Andy was so upset. With Andy being in a position where he feels he has to compete with Paul for Lien's affections, he now feels that he may have to compete with yet another relative but this time, for his father's attention. I really don't think it truly has to do with John's unfaithfulness to Kim, that's just on the surface. Craig sure was one amorous dude in the 1980s! Probably biased but the hottest pairing that Scott Bryce had on this show was definitely with Finn Carter. Sorry Renée and Melanie, though I liked you both. Iva could have told Ellie that it wasn't wise to get involved with Craig when Sierra could still be out there because she'd definitely come in second in the end. In the end, Ellie knew this despite Craig's handwringing and reluctance to leave her broken-hearted.

Oh cool, I remember her.

It's funny how even though I was a bit too young to fully appreciate ATWT in '83, by '84 I could grasp more of the stories (by '85, I was hooked-lol) somehow, I always remember the Ariel character. Watching this episode made me wish ATWT had brought the character of Ariel back, even occasionally, the way the show often brought Penny and Don Hughes back every now and then. It might have been interesting to have Paul (and even Barbara) interact with James' sister, while still hating James. Later on, when the show brought James' mother on during Paul's murder trial, she seemed delusional so it might have provided a nice counterweight to have one member of that family that was clear eyed (Ariel had great eyes, by the way) where James was concerned, rather than make everyone in James' family look delusional.

Julianne Moore and John Stamos did a soap opera parody on The Late Late Show: Don't judge me but I kinda loved this (lol)! It was oddly meta and everyone committed to acting out the lyrics.

Pam was a role that could've been expanded. I liked Pam too-- was it Robin Morse's choice to leave or was it storyline dictated? As much as I love 1980s soap, I think because the storylines were often so sweeping, writers seemed to have difficulty writing industrious characters and making them flawed-- Pam was one example. As likeable as the actress was and with all that was put into making people care about the character, Pam was destined to always be the confidante and the best friend. I did like the friendship between Meg and Pam though, especially since there was a time when I thought it was impossible for Meg to ever have a female friend or any friend, for that matter. Jennifer Ashe was terrific in those scenes as Meg after the miscarriage. Her hospital scene with Margo was very poignant and it reached back to Margo's miscarriage and her bedside scenes with Iva. Soaps just don't do that type of detail anymore. The Meg character really matured from a girl to a woman, all within the space of a year. Lily was a pretty straight-forward character but Meg, at least back then had far more complexity, I think. As I've said before, I didn't care for that Josh/Meg relationship (I think the Snyders clan had too many pseudo-incestuous relationships going on), but the actors performed great and Ashe was particularly standout in '88. Iva and Kirk were quite passionate. It was the one time that Iva was not written as a sad sack in a relationship, she was quite fiery. Melanie Smith's Emily was the most complex the character of Emily would ever be, I think. ATWT had a boatload of talent in the 1980s, it makes me wonder whether they had any trouble keeping actors on the show.

I'm bingeing on those same group of storylines, NBA! That episode when Duncan found Tonio's battered and limp body in front of Lillith's door. The expression on Lillith's face did make me giggle a little, though. Duncan showed more sympathy than she did. Not only did Lillith look at Tonio like she didn't know him from a can of paint but she looked like, if she could, she would've kicked Tonio's limp body over in front of someone else's door. I know she was trying to convince Duncan that she and Tonio were strangers (rather than potential bedroom buddies) but she couldn't even muster a look of shock or sympathy over Tonio's unconscious body.

Firstly, OMG at To Tell the Truth giving out cartons of cigarettes to the guests like they're giving away mints or something! Secondly, I commiserate with you NBA and DRW50-- those PP online soaps had much going for them but a lot against their success, especially financial incompetence of the production company. And the failure of AMC and OLTL seems to forestall any hopes of a such a revival with any other beloved cancelled daytime drama. From the very beginning it seems that daytime dramas didn't get much respect as a genre-- they were regarded as a dime a dozen- with the exception of a few soaps like Y&R, most shows kept their master reels in poor condition, those that weren't "wiped". Honestly, I would've been satisfied with being able to purchase my favorite storylines and maybe some storylines that I've only heard about but after following the Soap Classics saga, I know this is highly unlikely to ever happen. The production companies themselves only seemed to have any regard for these shows as long as they were cash cows that could sell lots of soap and other products. The more I read about the production, business and financial model of these shows even at their height, the more I feel these companies had a 'take the money and run' type of mentality. I felt that way about PGP, and even SoapClassics and to a certain extent TOLN/PP. Firstly, OMG at To Tell the Truth giving out cartons of cigarettes to the guests like they're giving away mints or something! Secondly, I commiserate with you NBA and DRW50-- those PP online soaps had much going for them but a lot against their success, especially financial incompetence of the production company. And the failure of AMC and OLTL seems to forestall any hopes of a such a revival with any other beloved cancelled daytime drama. From the very beginning it seems that daytime dramas didn't get much respect as a genre-- they were regarded as a dime a dozen- with the exception of a few soaps like Y&R, most shows kept their master reels in poor condition, those that weren't "wiped". Honestly, I would've been satisfied with being able to purchase my favorite storylines and maybe some storylines that I've only heard about but after following the Soap Classics saga, I know this is highly unlikely to ever happen. The production companies themselves only seemed to have any regard for these shows as long as they were cash cows that could sell lots of soap and other products. The more I read about the production, business and financial model of these shows even at their height, the more I feel these companies had a 'take the money and run' type of mentality. I felt that way about PGP, and even SoapClassics and to a certain extent TOLN/PP.

Anyone who has PBS Channel 13/WNET can see Tonya Lee Pinkins (ATWT/AMC) in the play Rasheeda Speaks. Hopefully it will also be available on the Thirteen.org website afterward.

Yup, it was: http://boards.soapoperanetwork.com/topic/43846-soap-stars-where-are-they-now/?do=findComment&comment=1432936

What character did Dana Delaney play?