j swift

What happened to Bill and Li, is that over already?

Am I the only one? I read that Lucas Adams was one of the new interns on Grey's and I thought they meant the actor who played Tripp on DAYS, until I found out the character is named Lucas Adams. He is played by Niko Terho and is supposed to be the nephew of Derek aka McDreamy

The tone is light hearted and comedic, rather than tell-all, so you shouldn't expect much gossip. She is careful to give her perspective rather than provide judgement. The backstage stuff at AMC is mostly about the friendships forged over long hours among twenty-somethings having their first experiences of fame. She also skips some areas of controversy. There's no mention of Clay Aiken (who was rude to her as a guest co-host), or Jessica Seinfeld (with whom there was a rumored rift), or Howard Stern (her husband was the officiant at his wedding, but they are no longer social). But, it is interesting to hear about peripheral daytime figures like Angela Shapiro, who was a big fan of Kelly, and the difficulties of a woman to gain status within a part of the entertainment business that is specifically marketed to a female audience. It is clear that producers didn't always trust her perspective, even though she exemplified the woman that they wanted to watch the show. For example, she did not approve of the marketing of her first co-host search after Regis left. The show kept making promos comparing Kelly to The Bachelorette, but in reality she had no say in who would be picked to get the job, and even worse, nobody ever asked her opinion.

I read it this weekend, two thumbs up. It is a fun read with some interesting insights both into AMC and Regis. She never seems ungrateful toward either Regis or Lucci, but it is easy to read between the lines about what it was like to be an ambitious upstart against two powerful stalwarts of daytime during both the height of their success and the gradual decline of their fame. One gets the sense that she was never antagonist toward either star, but she watched and learned from the sidelines about how she should handle it when her time came. If Oprah or Ellen wrote a book they would be a hot ticket on most talkshows. But, I find the marketing pretty juicy given her status as the highest rated talkshow in daytime. She's been on The Tonight Show, Colbert, and Kimmel, but, she hasn't been interviewed on Good Morning America or The View; both of which are ABC daytime shows. Now, we know that GMA might be squeamish about having her on with former co-host Michael Strahan. And, there was that time that she called into The View to confront Rosie about "outing" Clay Aiken. However, I find it interesting that Kelly, who I feel was acquitted by the audience in both circumstances, has apparently been blacklisted by both shows...

There are the connections to characters that are off screen and forgotten, like DAYS Maggie's connection to Mia (Chad's baby mamma), but those seem unfair to burden a writer to continually reference. Then, there are the character history facts that get lost like DAYS Chad and Kate. Kate was best friends with Chad's mother, then served as his step-mother, and they were close, but now that she's dying I don't recall Chad even inquiring about her health. Chad also seems to have forgiven Nicole for switching his baby. GH Brook Lynn and Maxie were college roommates, but they never seem to share any nostalgic memories together, and her romance with Nikolas seems long forgotten

Another Butch Hartman sighting from one of my favorite Insta accounts LA in a Minute, which gives LA history lesson in less than a minute To be fair at this point he is more famous as a cartoonist than a soap actor, but I recall the SOD story every time I see him referenced

Sam feels like one of those character that was created by one writer, so future writers didn't want to re-visit her due to WGA issues. I agree that she was a blank slate for a comeback, as she could have grown in many directions during her time away from Springfield. In fact, I think she could have been a great antagonist for either Cassie or Dinah. However, once Ross was gone, and given that Phillip didn't return until the end, her place within the familial structure was tenuous.

I think Mark Harmon aka Field was the weak link. It is hard to know if it was how the character was written or portrayed, but Field lacked the charisma to be believable as the obsession of two women. Unlike Bobby Ewing, who exuded sex appeal and compassion, Field was sort of cold, never as bright as his antagonists, and lacked cunning. For a guy who supposedly stayed in his loveless marriage for political gain, he never appeared that ambitious and his plans for the Cuban part of town seemed both ill-conceived and unmotivated. It doesn't help that Woody was also a total dud and the Job of the family (biblicaly, not an Arrested Development reference). Sam was bit more interesting. But, none of the good guys stood a chance against Michael, Titus and Weldon. The female cast was so strong that having vanilla romantic male leads was a huge disappointment. The blog post from producer Jeff Freilich mentioned in the wiki is oddly ambiguous to me. Flamingo Road finished the 1981-82 season ranked No. 68 out of 105 programs on the air in prime time. Flamingo Road was therefore canceled. Initially, the network decided to run the weekly drama as a daytime soap opera. But that plan, however, did not come to pass. Does he mean that it was initially developed for daytime or that there were plans for a daytime version after the primetime version was cancelled? The second interpretation seems unlikely because why would Mark Harmon, Morgan Fairchild, David Selby, and John Beck be interested in doing daytime, given that their primetime careers were going strong at the time. And re-casting all of the primary roles would ruin the appeal. That being said, it amuses me that Bravo's Mexican Dynasties starring Fernando Allende is sort of the sequel to Flamingo Road that nobody expected.

And that was just her daytime wardrobe, check out her evening attire

According to what I just read, Nola gets pregnant while on vacation, then returns to Madison to marry Billy Aldrich, and pass off the baby as his, when AC Weary's character Tor, a rugged fisherman from the Caribbean who was the actual father, comes to town. Tor has a scene that I'd love to see with Billy where they meet as strangers at The Medicine Man bar and commiserate about women, not knowing that they're both talking about Nola. The next day, Tor convinces Nola to return with him to the Caribbean, which begins Zimmer's pregnancy leave (the SOD date is August 17, 1982). What I was referring to as a surprise is that when Mona dies, Nola returns for the memorial service, and the reading of the will, (when Billy learns he inherited only one dollar). But, SOD (dated November 9, 1982) gives no indication if this was a single episode or not. Thanks @dc11786 for your other answers to my many questions. I had no idea Hillary B. Smith played Kit, but it makes so much sense

Bill Spencer & Tucker McCall were both described as "Richard-Branson-types", but I think the problem is that Branson is not iconic enough to be a recognizable type. I mean they both dress casually, they had those zen sand trays in their office, and both characters were involved in media companies, but there aren't a lot of defining character traits that one could pin to the CEO of Virgin Media. If they were Bill-Gates-types or Steve-Jobs-types, then we could expect certain traits based on those personalities (or lack there of). But, Branson is not enough to base a character upon. So, in the end, Tucker was ill-defined and his motives were ever changing. Hopefully now that he's back (and wearing a tie) we'll get more insight into the character. Many will scoff, but hope springs eternal.

I feel late to the proposal that Karamo is trying to be the second coming of Maury, with a little bit of Ricki Lake's style of conflict resolution thrown in for good measure. I thought the premiere topic about a toxic relationship was trying to establish Karamo as an advice expert, but I never expected that would be the tone everyday. Much like Steve Harvey before him, the smallest bit of research reveals that he's got a sorted past which makes him an unlikely source for relationship advice. Unlike Steve Harvey, he's not a misogynist, but he also lacks the charisma to be credible. The reason why anyone would seek his counsel, except for thirsty folks looking for some social media clout, eludes me. That being said, JHud continues to struggle with expository discourse. The best hosts like Regis, Wendy, and even Sherri, can hold an audience by telling a story. JHud feels like she's trying to teach me a lesson that I never wanted to learn. One day she's talking about not needing external reinforcement to follow your dreams (says the lady who sought fame through American Idol and campaigned hard for her Oscar). The next day she's making a metaphor that every singer has an individual style and so should her audience. It is pure drivel, but at least when Oprah pushed ideas like self-care or reaching for your dreams, she did so years after establishing a relationship with the audience who had seen her grow as a human. JHud is asking us to listen to her life lessons two minutes after we met her. To me their style of moral-driven influencer-entertainment feels out of touch with the needs of their audience and they lack the expertise to carry it off.

I still feel his best performance was as a backup dancer on the left) for Dead or Alive (You spin me right round, baby right round, like a record baby..) https://youtu.be/e0yPUvTJLcY?t=1854

So, Rebecca Wentworth was hiding in plain sight? When Pam goes to find her mother and mistakes her for the maid it makes sense because she was so young when Rebecca took off. However, Cliff was a state official tasked with regulating the oil industry. So, how is it that he never ran into Mrs. and Mr. Wentworth. Were the Barnes kids incapable of traveling outside of Dallas to Houston? Were Rebecca and Katherine never photographed for the society columns of Texas? Given their mutual professional endeavors, did Wentworth Tool and Dye never buy a table at the annual Oil Barron's Ball or get an invitation to the Ewing BBQ? Did Rebecca have any scenes with Miss Ellie? Because I would like to know how she felt about Digger's infatuation with the Queen of Ewing Ranch. I get why they killed off the character relatively quickly because her backstory (including the small age difference between Pam and Katherine) does not hold up to much scrutiny. And the idea that a tool and dye company would suddenly start producing oil is like asking Home Depot to start building condos just because they sell hammers. It would make far more sense to have Cliff stick it to JR by withholding the means of production, rather than being in direct competition.

Yeah, the alt-Nina's were rough until Taylor's return RmJuIxwk.mp4

Here's an oldie, but a goodie, inspired by the return of Emma Samms to GH. We know Anna and Drew are both twins, but does anyone remember that Holly has a look-alike half sister named Paloma? Like most of the Sutton clan she was a thief and a con.

I'm disgusted by the CPS story. Supposedly the Forresters got a recording of the call from one of their "informants" within the system. It is so gross to portray the idea that CPS would leak an anonymous tip. Soaps regularly treat the family court system as corrupt by suggesting that custody would be withheld due to the wealth and power of a family, or social workers are nosy villains out to rip children away from their parents. But, I think it sends an irresponsible message to suggest that suspected child abuse reporting is not anonymous (as it usually occurs online). I also think it is as disheartening to portray the reporting of child abuse as retribution as it is to have the grandfather of the abused child be more concerned about the report than the trauma of the potential harm.

Asking the question on the Oct B&B thread about the most recent Forrester fashion show reminded me of the worst fashion show in B&B history, Felicia's eco-themed show for Spectra Perhaps she was ahead of her time, because she was doing Kim Kardashian's body suits from Balenciaga way back in 1991 Upon reflection most of the "fashion shows" were a couple of bathing suits with some fabric draped over them and a wedding dress for the finale.

Do you think when they open Grindr in Salem it's just Leo?

Matt Lucas's weight loss is remarkable, but the tent seems like a bad place to be to maintain good eating habits

I spent last night reading the SOD summaries of the final six months on Tumblr It may be my favorite source of distraction, even though I am certain they miss certain details, it is easy to get a sense of the plot, and they were written in such an engaging and dramatic fashion that they make for an entertaining read just by themselves. Like many others here, I recall a time when you could keep up with all of the soaps, even those you didn't watch, by reading SOD. I am left with a few question/thoughts. 1. Who played the wife of Steve's long lost half brother? She sounds like a hoot and her introduction made me think that she was cast at time when production must not have been planning for the end of the serial, because it seems odd to add a character with so much inherent drama at a time when they couldn't explore it further. 2. Did they find Steve's half-brother because Phillip had been sending him money on Mona's behalf, so he knew about the brother for awhile? 3. What happens to Phillip at the end? There was a lot of set up between him, Jeff, and Adrienne, but then there's no details about whether he went to the wedding, or what happened to his plans to takeover the hospital once Gretta's boyfriend Theo withdraws his family fortune from the bank. 4. What was Adrienne's motive for wanting to shoot Billy? Also, I totally missed how the switch occurred between Adrienne and her mother. I know Phillip was a creep, but I wondered why the mother couldn't be paired off with him in the end? And was Adrienne's love of Jeff so deep that she just continued the ruse because she felt so lucky to be loved by him (he seemed like a nerd to me)? 5. I was interested to read that Nola returned for Mona's funeral. I thought Kim Zimmer left for maternity leave and never came back for the ending. But, it reads like she was in a couple of scenes to ruin Luke and Natalie, and then left again. I wonder how many episodes she appeared in for Mona's funeral?

I just read an old SOD article about DAYS characters who were "missing in action", or had been given no goodbye scene. Am I correct, given the date of the article, that Maggie, Marie, Micky, Tommy, Don, Julie and Doug didn't attend Bo and Hope's wedding in England? Who sat on the bride's side of the aisle beside her grandmother?

I recall discussing the idea that this Joan Fontaine soap pilot was Grant Aleksander's first post-GL role during our re-read of 1986 SOD news. I just read the NY Times review and it looks like it had the unfortunate timing to be developed just after Dynasty's Moldavian Massacre, at a time when ABC placed its bet that The Colby's would be a hit, but in reality the primetime soap crest had peaked and audiences wanted more sitcoms and dramadies that fall. https://www.nytimes.com/1986/08/22/arts/tv-weekend-abc-s-dark-mansions-a-gothic-family-saga.html It is amusing that Melissa Sue Anderson was becoming type cast as the lovely blind girl (maybe it was her mysterious eyes?). The point about Joan Fontaine is interesting because it had been forty years since Jane Eyre, much like it has been 36 years since Dark Mansions and although 1943 felt prehistoric in 1986, now 1986 feels as if it was just a short time ago to me. The whole thing is on YouTube, so I am going to watch it tonight. Let me know if have any memories of the movie/pilot/proposed series.

Can someone fill me in on Estelle Chadwick (as played by Elizabeth Hubbard)? I know she was an antagonist to Maxie (Christine Ebersole), but I don't recall any details of the story.

When was the last time there was a fashion show on B&B? I know COVID restrictions probably meant that they couldn't film them for awhile. However, there have been so many recent pop culture moments that came from fashion shows in NY, Milan, and now Paris, that it made me wonder when was the last time that Forrester Creations had a runway show?