j swift

I was thinking of you while watching today's episode, because the funny thing is, since they've moved into that apartment, I don't think the kids have spent more than one night sleeping in their rooms. Last week they were off with Julie, and tonight they're with Rachel, (whose Mom was smart to buy bunk beds because you know those kids are going to be sleeping there the whole time). Rachel's expression when Brady dropped her off was haunting. I can't tell if that child actor is good enough to play subtext, but her attachment to Kristen really felt like a "screw you" to her father for not indulging her every whim. I thought the Chad, EJ, and Kristen scene was amusing, but I feel dumb because I always forget that Kristen is EJ's sister, not his Aunt. I always falsely remember Kristen being Susan's sister, but she's just her doppelgänger. BTW, it does make sense that Susan was always a bit off, I would have an identity crisis too if four different people looked exactly like me! @Gray Bunny I think, given Brady's recent remarks about working at Basic Black, his antagonism with Victor goes back to the CEO struggles, and Victor randomly assigning the CEO duties to others whenever Brady didn't follow his demands. @AbcNbc247 I blame Brady. He's so dumb that he couldn't come up with an excuse about lower car sales taxes in Texas? That guy couldn't evade a telemarketer, let alone Kristen.

EON aired here in Los Angeles at 3pm (soaps tend to air an hour earlier in this market than on the East Coast). At the time, it seemed like a clear case of the affiliate wanting to expand local programming. KABC had a successful history of daytime talkshows, including Regis's original morning show AMLA, and there was an afternoon talkshow called 330, that it would seem they would want to expand to an hour. They were also one of the first to have multi-hour afternoon newscasts. San Francisco and Seattle also had popular afternoon talkshows which aired after EON, and would benefit from expansion. So, I would guess that there was a lot of pressure to get that time back to the affiliates. The programming issue that I don't recall from my youth, but still strikes me as odd, was the 45-minute soap opera! Radio was built on 15 minute time periods, but TV was usually 30 or 60-minute episodes by the time that the ABC soaps went to 45 minutes. I get it that back to back they lasted for 90 minutes, but it seems foreign. Although, today on streaming it is not unusual for DAYS to range anywhere from 42 to 47 minutes per episode, so it probably wouldn't seem as weird to this generation.

TIL, in 1981 ABC Daytime was the most profitable division of the network, out preforming both primetime, news, and sports. Obviously, it did not bring in the most advertising income, but it was the most profitable. I was watching one of my favorite nostalgic playlists on YouTube, the fall network promos by year, and from the 80s through the late 90s, there were soap actors included every year, usually Lucci, but also Jack Wagner and Finola Hughes were shown.

As usual, I am guilty of over thinking it, but I tried anagrams of the word pikeman, and got nothing. The few clues that we seem to know is that pikeman means a military man who uses a pike (which is a weapon that looks like a pike fish's tooth), and we know Mason refers to his boss as a female. So, it could be Valentine, but that wouldn't fit the clues. I also wonder if the scab writers know who the union writers planned to be revealed as the head of pikemen, or if they could change the outcome at will? Obviously, production would know the outcome from the pitch. But, it complicates things that they seem to be moving forward with this story during the strike, rather than relying on short-term interim plots

I'm still out here, wondering if anyone has any theories or reaction to the Pikeman story? Because, as always, GH is delivering during sweeps. Also, I know it is scab-filler, but I enjoyed the flashbacks today

I just thank goodness that John and Marlena only have one deadbeat son living with them. They should be able to enjoy their twilight years without needing to constantly give Brady a timeout for using John's gun and having makeout sessions on the sofa.

If we can somehow find our way back to discussing current events.... I find myself drawn into the Pikeman mystery, and I enjoy the pacing. I mean, it is true that plots only really move during sweeps on GH, but I don't mind a story lingering for a few months. It is not as if it was ever forgotten, and it is a true umbrella story that weaves its way into every other plot. The current generation of soap fans would have ripped their hair during OLTL's Jenny's baby switch story which went on for more than a year. But, I prefer it when a soap puts relationships first, and the mystery is more of a backdrop. Confession: I really only watch GH during sweeps, and then I keep up with the summaries online in the intervening months, so that might affect my acceptance of the pacing issue, but it has me guessing and wondering. Currently, my theory is that Valentin is a red herring and one of the casualties of Anna's obsession will be her relationship with him. I also tend to overcomplicate these soap mysteries, but I can't help but think that there's a clue in the name, because Pikeman doesn't seem very Russian.

Is Ava still wealthy from her family's money? I know most recently she was staying with the Dimera's, but that seem to be a move to help her emotionally, so I was wondering if she's still rich? This distracts me about Sloan's apartment as well. Obviously, we see from the perspective of the fourth wall, but if one were to walk through her door, wouldn't you see straight into the bathroom? DAYS does not have very explicit or intimate sex scenes, so most sets could just be a living room, the inclusion of the bed (and those kitchenettes) just makes everything look smaller.

I don't know what caused the re-cast, I suspect it is a mix of availability and current contractual obligations. But, the latest that I read is that it happens on a plane. Jen gets on the plane, and when it lands, Emily gets off (which I'll admit is an amusing idea).

Why does Bayview Sanitarium have more eligible women than Small Bar? So, Ava's going to being in a relationship, in a mental facility, with a man who reminds her of her son? Is that romantic? And given that her last entanglement was with Johnny, she's really got an Electra Complex thing going on... Also, whose tush is 53-year-old Steve Burton kissing to write that he could be mistaken for 36-year-old Mike Manning? That is stretching the definition of hallucination. Finally, this actor playing the mayor is ridiculously unnatural on screen. Who stands like this?

Christopher Atkins awakened something in me, and many men my age, for which I will always be grateful. Was he an awesome actor? No. Could he wear the heck out of a crop top? You betcha! And for that alone he should be remembered with the appropriate amount of reverence. 🥩🍰

A soap-centric memorial for Bill Friedkin

faux-Eric (Feric?) is a hotsy totsy. I'm a little ashamed to say, in light of recent events, but can you imagine having to be shirtless in bed on your first day on the job? Oh man, soaps are wild!

Sarah is also carrying way too low. Is she having a baby or a fupa?

Maybe it is just that I began watching EON after the switch to ABC, but I feel like it was a better fit with that group of soaps than NBC @Paul Raven. The mystery vibe went well with GH's action adventure era. Monticello was more urban, like Port Charles, than the suburbs of Bay City and Salem. And the glamorous female centered stories that emerged after Adam's departure made sense alongside Erica at AMC, and Dorian at OLTL, as evidenced by the marketing campaign. And @DRW50, while I would watch Raven tie her shoes if that was all that was available in an episode, to be fair if we were watching more mid 80s summer promos we would have seen more of Jodie's stories being previewed.

a360 is the rebrand of AMI, but David Pecker hasn't been the CEO since 2020. That being said, I don't think ownership, or any grand conspiracy, is to blame as much as ad sales. SOD is dependent on the networks to buy ads, so that they can advertise something other than creepy dolls, vinyl handbags, and commemorative plates. It is the exact same issue as how the trades are skewing the coverage of the strike in order to please the studios that buy ads in their papers and websites.

I'm sorry you felt that way, because I hope this is a lively community where everyone gets to say their peace. But I also think that you may have misrepresented the responses to your post. The cast did an excellent job at advocating for themselves. However, Ms Zucker did not make a well considered post in response to fans begging her to speak out. She organized her peers and affected change as a professional. I believe fans should not use social media to either force actors into making a statement, nor should we judge those who have not. I inferred your original post as demanding established actors do something performative to give voice to the audience outrage, which I felt was misguided, so I engaged with you based on that issue.

@DRW50 & @DemetriKane As much of a Debbi fan as I am, we also have to acknowledge that she's been on more final eras of a daytime drama than most other actors in the genre, making her an inadvertent soap killer. (AMC, The City, Loving, Generations, and an honorable mention to Port Charles) I'm not blaming her, just noting the trend...

Obviously, ratings trends are multifactorial, but we should never rule out the huge impact of the expansion of Price is Right to an hour. Check out that timeline, and see its effect on Y&R ratings. I tend to believe that storylines don't create significant audience increases, but it makes the ratings less variable. In other words, a great plot will cause people to not want to miss a day, but compared over time, it does little to attract new viewers. As I noted the in the 1980s ratings thread, if the variability of viewers week-to-week exceeds the variability year-to-year, then any changes have to be attributed to chance.

Thanks @DramatistDreamer I just found Baitz's quote from 2019 when the WGA fired 7,000 non franchised agents: “I am a union man, but … I cannot cut ties with my agents, because I would be forsaking … people who have helped me create a life.” As they say, Fi-core is for life...

The funny thing about Sarah Webber is that when Finn was telling Liz that he dated her sister, I was racking my brain trying to recall when they were on-screen at the same time (of course he meant Hayden). But, also @Liberty City I went to Liz's wiki on the GH fansite and was reminded that Martha substituted as Liz in 2011, which wouldn't rule her out from playing Sarah if it was DAYS, but GH might have a different casting policy. 🤔

Thanks to @janea4old for linking the list. The writers that really stood out to me from that list were Jon Robin Baitz, (creator of Brothers and Sisters, ex-lover of Joe Mantello and Ronan Farrow) because he hasn't written a film since 2015's awful Stonewall, and he mostly writes for Broadway. And Garry Trudeau, creator of Doonesbury cartoon, husband of Jane Pauley, also has no current projects that have been announced and newspapers are not being struck. They both espouse liberal politics. Baitz's play Other Desert Cities was critical of the war in Afghanistan, and obviously Doonesbury pokes fun at conservative politicians. So, it is confusing that they would not support the labor union. Especially given that they don't have current projects, both men could've objected without making such a public statement.

Does Xander still own half of The Spector?

It's ironic that he says he's worked with "hundreds of people, the overwhelming majority of whom would disagree with recent mischaracterizations of [him]." Meanwhile, at least 85% of the cast signed the petition to get rid of him. And, not one person has said a word to defend him, in over a week, including his boss. Perhaps, in light of recent events, he will have the time to reflect on the fact that while he may have worked with many people, nobody is going to mourn his loss. It reminds me of what David Gregory said in his memoir about being fired from Meet the Press. He said that after his anger subsided, he was embarrassed to realize that none of his staff ever mentioned being sad to see him go.

Blame it on my eternal optimism (cue the Karen MacKenzie Pollyanna monologue), but the positive here is that there's hardly been any scenes between Gwen and Brady, so we don't know their chemistry. EOB and EM could have a sparkling rapport. And, the return of Tate makes the custody of Rachel seem more logical. My question has been why is Brady fighting so hard for one kid (who's kind of bratty), while forgetting his other kid? Also, I assume getting Gwen out of the way means that The Spectator will revert to Jack and Jen, which is good. The odd lingering issue for me is the Gwen and Xander relationship. It seems so odd that Xander and Gwen were put together twice as a couple, and then immediately torn apart. I think a Gwen/Rex/Sarah/Xander quad makes more sense that Xander and Chloe. So, I wonder why the writers were never invested in that couple?