BetterForgotten

In the radio soaps thread, it was said a similar story was done on a radio soaps years before (amnesia and the farm elements) that Bell may have taken inspiration from.

I’m glad to see Erika again on daytime, but I am not going to lie that the thought of possibly seeing a relative of Monica’s that we’ve never seen before getting airtime during her likely passing and being played by a friend of Frank’s (granted a true daytime legend and a good one) doesn’t annoy me a bit. But whatever, it’s good to see Erika again on soaps after so long.

Yeah, it was said that the reason Kat and Phil were rarely in scenes together for years was because Jesse and Steve didn’t get along. The phone tapping tabloid scandal also created a lot of mistrust in the cast in the early 00’s - I’ve seen people suggest (with no proof obviously) that information about Steve and Lucy Benjamin’s then relationship came out as a result from tapping Jessie somehow. A lot of the cast assumed each other were selling stories about them to the tabloids. Barbara Windsor also said that Jessie and Patsy Palmer were the only two cast mates she ever had a tiff with, in both cases because they held up production sometimes. She later mended things with them both, but in Jessie’s case, she did say she exploded at her (but later felt bad as she realized Jessie was going through things personally and had a tough time adjusting to sudden fame) and then went crying into John Yorke’s office. Whatever the case, Jessie and Steve seem to be on good terms now. Jessie posted some pics on her IG today. https://www.instagram.com/p/DOfrtb6DPYf/?igsh=MXZ0OGJpemoxM3VtZg==

My feelings exactly and I would bet my savings this doesn’t last very long.

Bad quality video, but Jessie and Michelle presented Steve McFadden with the Serial Performance NTA tonight:

It’s almost an out of body experience seeing Kat, Zoe, and Anthony in scenes together again after 22 years knowing their history.

I’ve yet to sit through an entire episode of this. I find these two so obnoxious together as hosts.

Marlena Delacrock is more like it. I can’t believe she’s still writing these blogs as if anyone cares. SPW was a long time ago, and a lot of her blogs (at least a decade or more ago) were littered with poor research and often bizarre takes on what’s really happening. I can’t say I’ve read anything she’s written about soaps in years though, until this, and yikes…

Probably because it’s based in LA and they want the guests to be in studio as it’s recorded. Sheila Ducksworth and Karla Mosley still have some roots in LA.

He should honestly be grateful he even lasted this long with such peripheral ties and being a supporting character for most of that time. Regardless of his behaviour, this was a long time coming.

He was responsible for the Branning extension in 2006, and most famously, the Stacey/Max affair. He tends to force Max into places on the show he doesn’t even belong, and tends to revisit the Max/Stacey well for the most inane reasons (like when he had Stacey and Max sleep together again in 2018 with no buildup or for no apparent reason other than he wanted them to). That line from Max to Zoe this week about her “reminding” him of Stacey reeked of him, and sure enough, he wrote that script.

I wouldn't be surprised if that Max idea came from that one trick pony, Simon Ashdown. Who used to be very good, but can no longer hide any bias in whatever he writes.

I know Jessie's had some personal issues in recent years (oddly, reminiscent to what she went through during her first stint, lol). But I think Clenshaw had a very limited focus, and liked the characters he liked and just let the ones he didn't have the most interest in just roll along. I know he dedicated his last week to Kat/Alfie's wedding, but generally, I don't think he gave the character much focus beyond the surface. Whether the material turns out good in the long-term remains to be seen, but I do think Wadey at least acknowledges that Kat needs more focus, and apparently his first ideas when becoming EP was this Zoe return and putting Kat back in the Vic.

JFP never worked with Matt Cohen. He was a Valentini hire at GH.

Detective? Sounds like a recurring role…

Behind the scenes video from this week’s episodes. Ben Wadey sure loves to talk and be on camera, eh?

In typical modern EastEnders fashion, this Zoe return story has been overstuffed with a gunshot, secret twins, murder, and an involvement from a returning Max Branning. As soon as this show does something decent, they have to over egg it somehow. The best thing remains Jessie and Michelle’s commitment to the material and their chemistry. That was honestly enough to hold up this return story without so many other things tacked onto it.

CJL was on the flagship CBS affiliate local newscast in NYC yesterday:

He’s fine for the role and not a bad choice, but yes, Griffith cannot write and will likely do the character a disservice once again.

Overall, I wouldn’t say the show is great, but it’s not as bad as other eras either. I’m here for the Zoe return story to see how it unfolds.

Kat and Zoe’s scenes were always going to be electric, but I think I was genuinely moved by the scenes Zoe shared with Mo. This was the best use of Mo that I’ve probably seen in 20 years. The Slater era will always have a special place in my heart, and I’ll always love Kat no matter how offbeat the writing can get for her at times. Her first stint was that impactful for me and my consciousness. To this day, I think Kat’s first stint was the last time I saw a fully developed character development arc on a soap. There was a reference to the Kat/Zoe two-hander from 2001 in today’s episode. Back then, Kat told Zoe something about how a chip dinner from Mo was warm and comforting to her, and that was a breakthrough moment for her and Zoe after the mother/daughter revelation. Kat said the same thing in today’s episode when she was having the chip dinner with her family, and then the camera panned to a reaction on Zoe’s face. I’m always shocked when EE (or soaps in general these days) remembers little details like that. I’m also glad they acknowledged that Kat and Zoe ended things on a good note the last time they were onscreen together. It was an interesting choice to examine Kat’s life today with Zoe’s perspective. Just Zoe observing how Kat has changed, and how she is with her other kids and knowing deep down that she and Kat were never really allowed to have that, and that there will always be an awkward element of them going between being sisters and mother/daughter. I know EE doesn’t really do them anymore, but I really wished this could have been another Kat/Zoe two-handed. They would have honestly been enough to fill an entire episode (and more). But because this is modern EE, they had to tack that stupid and unnecessary shooting in at the end to heighten things that didn’t really need it.

Yes, that’s true and these scrips are written so far in advance as well. I saw it retweeted a few times but now see it’s mainly because it’s being disputed, lol

Interesting as I know Jessie asked them to not recast Zoe and to only do a return story of Michelle Ryan came back (she didn’t feel there would be any impact otherwise).

I give it 6 months tops before Griffith loses interest and he’s out. Same with Tamara.