j swift

Variety's review of the first three episodes of RHoNY (ouch)

Its first three episodes struck this viewer as outlet-store fare — a flashy garment with amateurish tailoring.

This viewer had long since walked away from the show, as its depiction of substance use in particular had gone from “Grey Gardens” kooky to Aronofsky-movie dark. 

Time will tell if this franchise has the juice to go the 13 seasons like “RHONY” did before its reboot, or if it only has a couple of years left

4 hours ago, reallyhateskateonlost said:

Actor strike is on.

I don't want to see rich people striking.

 

 

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/actors-are-going-on-strike-after-talks-with-major-studios-and-streaming-services-fail/ar-AA1dNIZI

@DramatistDreamer Iger's narrative only gains traction because of uninformed people like this that don't value the collective bargaining power of the American worker to get their fair share of corporate profits.  I thought Fran Drescher made this point very clear at today's press conference.

I assume that is a reference to Foxy's, the bar that Opal made Jenny work at when they lived in Center City.

1 hour ago, ~bl~ said:

those vacations won’t be ruined.

Also, note that the average family of four spends $6,320 on a Disneyland vacation, and there are 51,000 visitors to Disneyland every day, but the costumed cast member is only paid an average salary of $34,916.  The average adult ticket price is $150.00 this year, or 7.6 million per day.  So, I think priorities are a little screwed up if we are only worried about whether some kid will get their picture taken with Snow White this summer.  Especially because 80% of them were furloughed without pay during COVID, so they couldn't qualify for unemployment insurance because their employment was not terminated.

1 hour ago, AbcNbc247 said:

Cause it’s stupid lol would you be posting flyers and getting your psychiatrist stepmother involved, if your child was missing and you knew who had her? Or would you do whatever it took to get her back?

On the other hand, the fact that Brady hasn't stuck an airtag on that kid is a real "fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me" scenario.  I mean, this is hardly the first time that one of his children, girlfriends, or family members has been kidnapped.  You'd think he would spend the 20 bucks to track them on his phone.

15 minutes ago, wonderwoman1951 said:

if $40,000 is the average salary, what i’d really like to know is the median. couldn’t find it online. does anyone know?

I couldn't screenshot the PDF, but the median is $26, 276.00, which is just $6,000 over the poverty limit for a single person household in California.  And, given that the average rent for a 1br in Los Angeles County is $2,850, a person would need to gross $9,500 a month just to qualify to rent an apartment.  So, $40,000 annual salary is 65% below what one would need to survive in LA.

Meanwhile, Bob Iger, CEO of Disney just signed a contract extension earning him 62 Million dollars, in salary alone, not counting stock or property.  So, it is reasonable to expect that Disney could afford to pay actors for audition tapes.

It's a Catch-22 that the daytime talk shows can continue during the strike, but actors cannot be interviewed to promote their projects. 

We know Kelly & Mark taped all of their Friday shows in advance, and The Talk went on hiatus, so those are covered, and I guess The View will just do Hot Topics. 

If the strike extends in to the fall, it will be interesting to see if the political candidates will appear as guests.  I expect most shows will pivot to lifestyle and political content.  By September, most producers will be preying for a celebrity divorce, a new reality star, or a royal scandal.

I will accept no Andy-slander in response to this clip, but only the first clue made sense to me - reply if you know the origins of the others

That's a silly take on the situation

For anyone who is as uninformed in statistics as that person, if the average is 40K, that means for every actor making over 1 Million a year, there are thousands making below the poverty level, and current streaming services want to restrict residuals which are the most common source of income for actors.

Feel free to mock collective bargaining, but I believe laborers in any job have the civil right to fair compensation.

50 minutes ago, carolineg said:

The way they write DF's EJ is downright bizarre.

That is very interesting food for thought.

This EJ seems to have no memory of his prior life, his previous feelings about Nicole, Anna, Tony, Clyde, and Abe, or his connection to his children.  The actor is fine, and charismatic, but there is very little resemblance to the original character.

That being said, the character of EJ was never well-developed.  He went from a playboy racecar driver to a lawyer (Remember when Micky was his mentor?  I don't think Maggie does).  Sometimes he was heroic and other times he was cruel.  His motivations were never clear, and the miraculous SORASing meant that he could never interact with Susan.

He's a perfect example of a legacy character that may have made viewers nostalgic, but his return has not been satisfying, and most of the time Stefan makes him feel redundant in terms of plot.  I mean, the whole battle for DI could be between Chad and Stefan, as it was a few years ago, and there is no need for EJ in that story.

19 minutes ago, carolineg said:

It's weird Kate has no children on the canvas right now (except Rex and Lucas sporadic appearances).  

Poor Lucas, Kristin's been in and out of jail twice since he was sentenced.

He only kidnapped one person, Megan killed a Marlena clone, then kidnapped three women, and spent less than a month behind bars.

Dimitri was an international jewel thief who impersonated a federal investigator in order to control a satellite weapon, and he's not only free, but sleeping around and about to get a large inheritance.

Heck, even Lani's been furloughed...

Also, I am of the opinion that these momentary lapses into recast talk are silly.  Freakin' Meryl Streep could be cast as the new Melissa Horton and the show would still need a compelling story.  Actors are not enough.  And this is a show that needs to look into developing characters, not continuing to delve into the past.  The future is not built on hiring more middle-aged actresses, we need fresh, modern, intriguing women whose lives we want to follow for the next decade.

Is this the end of Harris?

I can't believe Megan left before Harris.  All of his scenes with Marlena were overwrought and not entertaining.

Also, I assume there's no follow up to Sloan confessing to Colin about the DNA?

4 hours ago, AbcNbc247 said:

Wendy, I’m glad about who she chose but this is another storyline that shouldn’t be over either.

That story is not over, Wendy's going to be pining away for months.  I still want a Tripp/Talia pairing.  Two medical professionals, with a past, would be a good couple.  Also, I don't love the idea of Talia's sexuality being in question after one kiss with a girl.  I hate when lesbians are portrayed as most sexually fluid, as if making out with a woman when they're drunk is the same thing as being unaware of one's sexual identity.

10 minutes ago, althea-davis said:

How is the quality of the eps on the site? I am trying to decide if I want to subscribe. 

I don't think it requires a subscription anymore. You can either watch it online, or there are apps for Roku, AppleTv etc..

https://watch.itsrealgoodtv.com/

I don't interpret it as misogyny, but I think Ron often uses the trope of failing in romantic relationships to try to garner sympathy for an unlikable character.

(Oh man, I just realized that I defend him far too often...)

Lenz has never publicly spoken about any particular cult, though she did previously appear to allude to cult-like behavior at the Mosaic Church in Los Angeles, sharing that she attended the church on and off for two years and calling it out for alleged abuse on Instagram in 2021. "The level of control displayed, particularly by [leader Erwin] McManus," she wrote, "was disturbing to me and to many other people who have left Mosaic for that very reason."

https://ew.com/tv/bethany-joy-lenz-reveals-cult-10-years/?utm_campaign=entertainmentweekly_entertainmentweekly&utm_content=manual&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_term=64add5995cb8af0001aa62be&fbclid=IwAR3oiJsSxnAi2xMm4ygVb6lLFRpkopTK0CjdxEtghn-cw4myEUCUBgN7gYQ

I think it makes sense that there are a lot of cults in the entertainment business because they depend on others for success and careers, actors are attracted to the idea that they could control their destiny, so that are easy prey for these types of organizations.

10 minutes ago, carolineg said:

There really isn't a good reason to just let Gwen in on the plan. 

That's just what I was thinking yesterday when Dimitri was trying to convince Leo.  Leo's got nothing to lose from telling Gwen everything and using it to sell newspapers.

She recycled her Valentine's blazer? 

I surprised at the sensitivity of Crappie Lake.  I expected a replay of The Simple Life, where small town residents are mocked for their lack of sophistication and rich women learn to respect people who struggle to make ends meet.  But, this show seems to have learned the lessons of why Paris and Nicole would not be celebrated in 2023 (not that they were that popular in the 2000s, given that Fox cancelled the show and sold it to cable within the first season), and it is a much more balanced and sweet show which was not what I imagined given the promotional materials. 

27 minutes ago, Michael said:

It's one thing for him to make a comment to Gwen about how hot Xander is, but the constant sexual harassment is a bad look.

I was intrigued that they sort of addressed this issue yesterday when Leo was in bed with Dimitri and being told to keep it a secret, he lamented that every man he goes after is either straight or otherwise attached, which actually made me pity Leo a bit.

27 minutes ago, Michael said:

too many fake-outs where he seems to learn a lesson and then regresses with no explanation.

27 minutes ago, Michael said:

"This man is 45 and should know better."

However, these are two strong points.  If Leo was saying, "I'm not getting any younger and I need to find a mutually loving relationship", I would sympathize with the character and applaud the creativity.  Yet, writing him as 30something slacker is disingenuous and alienates the audience who sees that is not what he is.

It is amusing to me that Marlena has a blazer for every occasion.  Today's gingham number was perfect for deprogramming someone during the summer.  It says, "I like hypnosis and picnics in the park."

I like the Wendy and Li dynamic.  I think it would be strengthened if we got to know their father and the rest of their family a bit more.  I thought it was clever to use Li's obsession over Gabi to inspire Wendy to make a choice between Tripp and Johnny.  Even though it is entirely predictable that she'll choose Johnny and then pine over Tripp until they get together, like every other love story in Salem (see Xander, Chloe, Sarah, Rex, Nicole, EJ, and Eric for examples).

Can we talk about Rafe's use of Botox?  Those dyed eyebrows are permanently angled in the most distracting directions.

Finally, today, I liked the Gabi/Stefan scenes.  I could see where they are attracted to each other's fiery nature.  It's lost the contrived nature that they dated a few years ago and now are trying to rekindle their relationship.  Unlike Nicole and EJ who make no sense to me, and seem to have completely forgotten about their shared past, Gabi/Stefan are a dynamic duo, and it only took one Spanish pejorative to convince me.   

That's a bizarre story.  It's like buying a car and finding out five years later that it doesn't have a radio.  Reading the entire story makes it more believable, but it is remarkable.

I'm still not used to his new face, but the body is on point - Zac Efron in Cote de Azure

4 hours ago, Bright Eyes said:

Some people have all the luck. He's not bad looking, definitely easy on the eye when you know how much he's got in the bank. 

This inspired me to do a quick Google search, prior to Senior Del Vacchio, whose family owns the largest manufacturer and licensures of sunglasses in the world, she was engaged to Kaan Gunay, the billionaire owner of the Firefly ad agency, Milutin Gatsby, a billionaire film producer, James Packer, the billionaire Australian media owner and former flame of Mariah Carey, Logan Paul, and Ed Westwick.  So, 4/6 of her engagements were to billionaires.  And she was married at 17 to her baby's father.  Thus, she has seven diamond engagement rings, one for every day of the week.  But, considering her history of serial monogamy, I'd hold off on buying her a wedding gift just yet...

45 years and one week, to be exact