j swift

I almost feel bad for the gown, that has to have it's debut at the most D level Met Gala ever. A gaggle of makeup tutorial stars from youtube does not make for a scintillating evening.

Thanks, it is not quite as titillating as I had built it up in my memory. Ridge has such an oddly timed come-and-hither purr that it sounds like he is trying to seduce Storm and Stephanie. Did all of the guests come in speedos under their tuxedos? Because that is going to be uncomfortable in the drive home. Kristen's dayglo swimsuit with high pony was iconically 80s. I'm also amused at the detail that Stephanie wears a pantsuit to her own pool. RIdge's line that he couldn't help himself but have nonconsensual sex with his brother's girlfriend reminded me that most of these quasi-consent stories are derived from the fact that they took it from behind so they couldn't recognize their partner (see Y&Y Grace, Y&R Drucilla, and B&B Thomas). Most remarkable they used camera trickery to make that yard seem huge.

do you have the link?

The point has been made that the soap press has always been complicit in the "closeting" of actors. Many gay actors have commented that if a writer knew their sexuality then the magazine profile just would not focus on their dating life. Certainly, by the 1990s, productions were not actively suppressing stories about actors, more often it was a fan-driven press with a misguided effort to self-censor the topic. I would imagine most of the jokes in this thread regarding being surprised, remarks about certain men who seemed effeminate, and fantasies about dating actors who they suddenly have in common with, comes from the shock of information, I would encourage everyone, Speculation must be fun, but imagine the self-made closet so many actors inhabit. and stilll maintain filled their shame and fear.

Here's my recollection, feel free to add-in During the build-up to Wayne's murder, he antagonized Steve and Liz. He wanted to strong-arm a merger between his business and Frame Construction. At the same time, he was publically romancing Aunt Liz but secretly seeing Lenore. Liz goes to see Wayne, but before she can enter the building a woman walked into Wayne's apartment with a scarf wrapped around her head. She left, but what the audience at the time didn't know is that Walter had followed her to her lover's apartment. A quarrel ensued, fisticuffs were thrown, and Wayne was impaled by fireplace poker. Walter saw the scarf and used it to wipe the fingerprints off the weapon. During the investigation, a search of Walter and Lenore's house came up empty and it wasn't at Aunt Liz's place. Liz owned a similar scarf that could not be located. Given that this predates DNA testing, they were screwed, so they charged Lenore. Walter made the argument that the lack of the scarf exonerated Lenore because she had no attachment to it since the day she went to see Wayne, which she admitted. The police never found the bloody scarf and Lenore was found not guilty. Walter drank and drove himself to death. Lenore started dating Robert. She discovers the scarf, realizes there is no future in Bay City, packs up Wally and heads out of town.

The contrast between Monique (po) and Kyle's(bh) parenting style was remarkable. I think you need to parent each child differently, according to their needs. But, while Kyle is putting socks on her ten-year-old, Monique immediately shot down any disrespect from her four-year-old. Both kids seem to love to test boundaries, but it is interesting to see how different families are trying to balance responding to their needs with trying to get them to understand the needs of others. I'm also fascinated that Gizelle, (who is funny, but also petty, and doesn't value loyalty), has the girls with the nicest manners on Bravo. She must do some major parenting gymnastics while the cameras are down.

Going back to the SOD critique of Christine's Hawaiian Wedding, I agree with their assessment that she was unusually demanding of her parents (the joke in the article was that if she could convince Jim to move to Genoa City why not Hawaii?). Jessica comes to town in 1988 to thwart a love affair between Christine and her here-to-fore unknown half-brother Scott, she falls in love with John Abbott and they marry (in the corner Terry Lester was probably getting TMJ from grinding his teeth in anger at the prospect of Cricket becoming an Abbott). Less than six months later, Scott escorts Christine to a medical convention to meet Dr. Jim Grainger and tells him that she is his daughter. He immediately joins them in Genoa City, leaving his life and award-winning career behind him. Then, Cricket convinces Jessica and Jim to get married despite the fact that they haven't seen each other in 20 years, John still loved Jessica, Jim presumedly had a long-term relationship with Scott's mother, and Jessica died shortly afterward. That's when the bug became a monster. An interesting detail, Jessica did not die of an AIDS-related illness: John Abbott, who’d been married to Christine’s mom Jessica, along with her father Dr. Jim Grainger and brother Dr. Scott Grainger arrived to talk to Christine about her mother’s death. They explained that a nurse had found a barbiturate in her mother’s bed, a prescription that hadn’t been ordered. An autopsy was ordered by an administrator and proved Jessica died of barbiturate poisoning – not AIDS, which she’d suffered from. Christine couldn’t believe it and demanded to know where her mother would have gotten the pills. John handed over a letter that Jessica wrote before she died, explaining how she hadn’t wanted to linger on in pain as her family stood by and watched. All three men admitted to giving Jessica the pills that ended her suffering. It was among the least educational endings to a socially relevant story in soap history.

Yes, SOD gave a "Picky-Picky" to Cricket's wedding in Hawaii because her father was missing from the guest list. Was the order of photographers at Jabot: Joe Blair, Skip Evans, and then Blade Bladeson? Did Jabot switch to freelancers after the Blade/Rick fiasco or maybe Malcolm was a photographer for a while?

He expands the issue in his WeLoveSoaps Interview, but ultimately you are correct that it was P&G. Hopefully, you still understand my point.

I forgot about her brother the noted-fashion-photographer Joe Blair. How was his absence explained when Cricket's mother and father eventually relocated to Genoa City?

I'm pleased that OLTL set a precedence to no longer have to appease the homophobic bias of certain actors. As opposed to the 70s when Pete Lemay (who had written for the show for more than three years) had to throw out his entire gay storyline for Another World because the unknown actor hired to play Michael Randolph objected. I think we need to decide two issues as a culture : (1) Are you homophobic if you have made homophobic remarks, jokes, or tweets? (I would say this is true) and (2) If you were once homophobic than are you homophobic for life? (this leaves room for debate contingent upon your beliefs in the ability of people to change ).

After finishing this season of Mexican Dynasties on Bravo, I wanted to see Fernando Allendes' early work, so I just binged the whole series and I recommend it. The voodoo turn in season 2 is totally nutty. The reveal of Michael's sister really surprised me. However, even in a binge watch, I lost track of the actual parentage of every character vs who they thought were their parents. By the time Lane's long-lost-father showed up, but he might not have been her biological father, it blew my mind. When the whole town starts talking about Titus and Tyronne, I kept having to remind myself that Tyronne was Michael. Horrible things befall Woody/Skipper and his hair just keeps getting blonder. And one of the soapiest moments in history is when his sister (who may not be biologically related) Constance takes physical therapy in the family pool, in a french-cut bathing suit, despite being paralyzed from the waist down. Barbara Rush and Howard Duff give my favorite performances, but it is easy to see that CBS did not want those two to carry the show because the promos focus on Constance and Lane. Titus was so much scarier than JR because the stakes were higher. He tries to kill multiple characters, he raped at least two women, and he is the legal system in that town. Barbara's hairstylist should also be singled out because that was a herculean amount of teasing. I think my biggest criticism as a modern viewer is that the minority characters are given the cringiest of parts to play. It goes without saying that Esther Rolle as a voodoo priestess, (with a constant bongo underscore), stretches the boundaries of good taste. Fernando's Julio is a physical therapist who can bill for housecalls but still lives in the poorest part of town. And his sister is only there to be a victim of Titus's bigotry. Needless to say, I don't think it is going to get a reboot any time soon, but it was a fun binge.

Genie is great during this period. But it really highlights how her other soap roles were not a good fit for her talents. SOD reported that when she signed on to DAYS as Diana, Genie was hungry to get back on screen. However, from her later interview with Oprah, it appears that every time she got cast on another soap they unsuccessfully tried to play her against type. Diana, Ceara, and Genvieve started as conniving women but they all wound up as passive victims. It seems easier to lure Genie into a new role by saying that the character will be diametrically opposed to Laura, but maybe that's what she is best at playing? On the other hand, I don't think it helped that on DAYS and AMC she was trying to fill a void left by the absence of a more popular character, like Marlena. She was definitely John Black and Jeremy Hunter's rebound romance.

@watson71 posted a fascinating article from the period right before Alan Potter retired as EP in the writer's thread. There's so much to unpack from that article. Who knew Kyra Sedgwick has a brother (he played Hunter who turned out to be a racist who was mean to Tomasina)? Why was this newspaper reporter so dismissive of Laura Malone's rights not to be discriminated against because she gained 15 lbs during her pregnancy (two weight puns in one article seems disrespectful)? Why didn't Chris Rich let them quote him as he was the obvious source of the story? If Chris, Nancy, and Laura were a "constant threesome", where was the father of Laura's baby? I went back to the Another World homepage for the 1984 summaries. I was surprised to read it was Wallingford who made Cecile disappear in the tunnel of love! That was during the David Thatcher murder investigation when Cecile was trying to cover the fact that she had paid off David to distract Sally from Peter Love, but Carl had hired Nurse Emily Benson to knock off David (I always confuse her with the Dr that caused problems for Sharlene and John). However, in November Cecile reappeared in time for sweeps, after Kathleen McKinnon had been impersonating her, and then left to marry the King of Tanquir. Meanwhile, Blaine and Sandy keep getting into fights about reporter's ethics (which is a sudden turn for a former male escort/photographer and his dude rancher/disco manager wife) while working for Carl at KBAY, until they exit the following March. As for Ms. Malone, Blaine was also pregnant at the beginning of 1984, so it is odd that her weight was such an issue for production. In the reading of the synopsis, there was no need for a substitute Blaine during Ms. Malone's maternity leave. Sandy has to go undercover and distance himself from Blaine, for her safety, when investigating Carl, so that could account for her time off without the need to hire another actress. On the other hand, I could understand Chris Rich's concern because that summer saw the ascendance of The Love's of Bay City, as well as the introduction of Caitlin Ewing, who would naturally take screen time away from Sandy. It also makes sense that show wouldn't want to recast Cecile if they were hoping to keep Chris. I'm left with the question of who raised Kevin Thatcher after he was orphaned? I hope not Britney since she was definitely going to jail for shooting Peter, Caitlin was too unreliable to care for a small boy, and Grandma Alice didn't seem to take much interest in him.

Here's my essential SB question: After a review of the first 12 months of the show, do you think the Dobsons knew who killed Channing when they first pitched the story? Or do you think the killer's identity evolved/changed due to the popularity of the cast?

As much as I appreciate Hogan Sheffer, I wonder how his pairing with MAB effected her ability to tell stories. MAB seemed like a 4th gen writer who had long term appreciation of the show. The beginning of her tenure felt like someone was trying to button-up all of the loose holes around Genoa City. In some ways, it was satisfying to find answers to longtime questions such as what happened to Victor's sperm sample. However, too many other details were established that were less than satisfying, such as exploring Jill's paternity. My recollection is that there was a shift when Hogan joined in the second year of her tenure which I no longer found appealing. BTW I always think it is funny that the Clear Springs story was so clearly inspired by the building of The Grove shopping center next door to CBS. Even down to the parking garages which were cause for concern when the mall first opened. I think of writers in terms of generations, the first gen are the creators, the second gen were trained by the first but wanted to rebel against them, third gen were typically people from outside the field to give the show a fresh perspective and fourth gen are people who grew with soaps on TV and are nostalgic for the genre.

After her parent's rejection of her work, then feeling constrained by P&G, and then being locked out of her own creation, returning and being fired again, but having the subsequent team using her content to submit for the Emmy, I think she would have taken the podium by any means necessary. BTW, I love the detail that in addition to trying to get on stage first, Bridget and JFP are sort of wearing the same black dress with white collar detail, which makes for an awesome "who wore it best" contest.

The other mystery that remains is that New World sued the Dobsons for $25 million and The Dobsons countersued New World for $125 million. The Dobsons won the lawsuit and returned to SB, but the financial resolution has never been disclosed. It must have been a lot because they've been retired for 24 years with only passion-projects on their resume... The LA Times did a story on the lawsuit and noted how their prior relationship with P&G affected the way their contract was written with New World. They were so displeased with the amount of perceived interference P&G had done at ATWT that they limited New World's ability to make changes at SB. Which is why when the casting of Pamela became the straw that broke the camel's back they were able to sue and ultimately win. One imagines nobody has had a similar contract since those two left daytime.

P&G hiring The Dobsons at GL without prior consideration or consultation with the Hursley's was described as not being the beginning of their estrangement, but it was the final nail in the coffin. Contrary to popular belief, Bridget was alone at GH as an associate writer, although her sister worked with her for a short amount of time, her husband was still teaching at Stanford (the same university that had her father on faculty). When her contract ended and she met with P&G execs who offered her GL. It expanded to an hour, she needed more writers so she hired Jerry. The SB blog interview has tons of facts I never knew I did not just want a job (at GH, after graduating from Stanford and then Harvard Business School). I was obsessed. I was adamant. I was furious. I was outrageous. I pleaded. I begged. I threatened. I had trained for this. They stonewalled me. No. No job. We'll hire your sister. Which they did. Why not me? “Because you're a party girl.” and “Because you'll never meet the deadlines.” My parents never liked my work, I think, they just liked the ratings the show was getting. How do I know they didn't like my work? I never received one word of compliment He was head of Procter and Gamble Productions. He said, "Of course, Bridget. We've been following your work on GH and think it's wonderful. Do you want to be a headwriter? Or do you prefer to stay an associate writer?" My new contract was set the next week. And then, at the end of that same week, I received a phone call: My mother had terrible cancer and was to be hospitalized for an indefinite length of time. And then another phone call from the Vice President in Charge of Daytime Television at ABC-TV: "Bridget, you can't leave the show. If you leave the show, I'm going to walk into that hospital and fire your mother and your father. I swear to you I will do it." I had to stay on GH. It would kill my parents to be forcibly removed from the show, their creation, their baby. I remained for two more years with GH, this time as headwriter with no assistance from my parents. At the end of this jail sentence, I went dancing off to NY to start writing for Guiding Light. To be fair, The Dobsons later had major beef with P&G as well as New World when they did SB. So, they could have been the instigating thread through all of these battles. However, I am fascinated by how it inspired their writing. Another twist, in 2014 Frank Jr's son Duncan guested on GH, even though Frank Jr had almost no relationship with his father.

I went deep on the connection between the Hursleys of GH and the Dobsons of SB (and others) because I am interested in the number of married soap writers and multigenerational soap families. Bridget was Doris and Frank's daughter from her second marriage and his third. Since Frank had already been married twice before, there was a scandal about Doris (his student)'s mother helping him acquire a professorship to secure the marriage Later they created GH. Bridget grew up and married Jerome and they worked first on Guiding Light which was scheduled opposite GH, just as later SB would be scheduled against GH. The legend is that they rarely spoke, and Frank Sr. never had a relationship with his son Frank Jr from his first marriage. Correct me if I wrong, but while GH always won the ratings battle, it lost viewership during the Dobson's time both at GL and SB But, I want to know what characters were inspired by their own story? Bridget about her mother Doris from the SB blog: " They never watched any of my shows. When they were asked why not, they said, 'Because we want to be proud of Bridget. That's why we don't watch.'" Can you imagine such a cruel comment coming from any of either of their characters? Could this be the inspiration for why Pamela and Sofia were absent from their young children's lives? SB had recurrent themes of how parenthood changed characters for the better such as Julia, Gina, and Caroline. Most of the women in SB could be divided into Good Moms (Gina, Julia, Eden) and Bad Moms (Pamela, Santana, and Victoria) and themes of motherhood and abandonment were intrinsic to the story Was the lack of children on GH for early female characters like Lucile, Jessie, Audrey, and Gail reflective of the Hursley's lack of interest in telling stories about parenting? Obviously, Audrey and Gail became mothers later but there are a remarkably large number of women in the early GH cannon who never raised young children. And from a Michigan Today article about the family: Bridget Dobson retired from TV in 1995, but the plot still thickens. In 2011 she and her half-sisters from Doris Hursley’s first marriage sued ABC, alleging the Hursleys’ estate had been cheated out of royalties generated by “General Hospital.” The plaintiffs are cited as the Hursley heirs. Frank Hursley Jr. (from his first marriage) passed away in 2008; his heirs are not included as part of Frank Sr.’s estate or the litigation. https://michigantoday.umich.edu/2013/07/29/a8670/ It is a cliche that truth is crazier than fiction, but the history between these two couples really caught my interest. I would love to know if anyone has any further sources on their relationship.

The RHOBH aftershow on YT has more info puppy-gate. However, an essential detail seems glossed over. Dorit explains that the woman to whom she gave Lucy L-A-J had a dog car seat and a dog carriage that she regularly took to the dog beach. But, when the woman's mother got sick out of town, the woman couldn't care for the dog and dropped it at a shelter. However, why would an experienced dog owner not just kennel the dog or ask a friend to dog sit? In fact, I can instantly think of at least three alternatives to taking a dog to a shelter, which feels like it would be humiliating for a dog owner. To be fair, given these assumptions, nobody including Dorit could have predicted where Lucy L-A-J would wind up. In the end, I agree with LVP that Dorit is using the Radar drama to deflect from the fact that what she did was wrong and LVP told her so the first time that Dorit told her the news. Also, Erika's rejoinder that she knew the details of the adoption since last summer negates the validity of the scene in the first episode where Dorit seems to tell the story to Erika for the first time. It does explain why Erika always seems nonplussed about information because it is probably the third time that she's heard it.

To be fair, Teddy threw a party in her home and never spoke (although I assume she'll be speaking too much next week from the preview).

These videos are great and so well done. I find watching or re-watching old episodes on YT tedious and I am rarely able to get through a whole episode without fast-forwarding, mostly because of either the pacing or the lack of anticipation of already knowing the outcome of every cliffhanger. It reminds me of hearing a comedian repeat their jokes when you already know the punchline. However, the idea of repackaging old episodes into clips is very appealing. I have enjoyed the yearly summaries on the channel. I appreciate the choice of background music, it has the time-era-appropriate amount of synth. I also appreciate that the non-HD quality of some of the video is offset by the addition of text information and the underscoring. It's just superb what people can do with these old videos to transform it into something that can still be entertaining.

The ending of RHONY was heartbreaking to watch. However, the rest of the hour was an infomercial for some movie, skinnygirl, online shopping, responsible drinking, a circus, and a Halloween pop-up store. Remember in the 90s when you would see Cher sitting on a sofa and think she was giving an interview, but she was actually trying to sell shampoo? That's what this felt like.

Swearing on children aside, I think the logic that LVP wouldn't tell one story to Radar and then contradict it to TMZ holds up. If she is as astute at working the tabloids as Rinna suggests, she wouldn't risk her relationship with Radar by contradicting them to TMZ. Occam's Razor states that one should not make more assumptions than the minimum needed. The idea that LVP sold a story to get back at Dorit, (not for the dog, but for an aside she made last year), and then retracted it to look like a hero is based on a whole lot of assumptions. One of them being that LVP would want/need to look like a hero for rescuing a dog twice from a kill shelter. Now for my conspiracy theory of the week: India decriminalized LGBTQ relationships on September 6th, 2018 which was cause for celebration at Pump on this week's episode, but Boy George played the Greek on October 3rd, 2018 which was shown on last week's episode. I'm not trying to rush the maestro Nik Alaine, but I don't think it took him more than a month to get that party together. Also, do you think Nik's wife that we met last week in LVP's kitchen misses shopping at Kyle's store so that she could say, "I'm Elaine Alaine at Kyle by Alene Too."? https://www.economist.com/the-economist-explains/2018/09/12/how-india-decriminalised-homosexuality https://www.jambase.com/show/boy-george-greek-theatre-los-angeles-20181003