j swift

Thank you for the reminder, I just updated the app, and it is very well curated by date

I thought it was a red flag earlier in the week when they announced that they were moving production to New York.  The press release specified that Kelly, the executive producer, and the musical director were all relocating, and the rest of the staff would be determined later.  

While I disagree with your account of Anderson Cooper's coverage of Katrina, (here's a refresher of what he went through to report the story https://nymag.com/nymetro/news/features/14301/ )

I also can't entirely agree with his argument in support of CNN.  I don't need to hear the lies, slander, and threats directly from the mouth of a man who wants to be a dictator rather than a president to feel informed. 

It was in 2002, so I assume it was during the divorce from Victor when they were trying to kill each rather than get a divorce.

BTW - How rude is the Days fandom wiki for using this thumbnail when referencing Nicole?

She was shot during her first time in Salem.

I think the confusion may be that when Nicole miscarried her kid with EJ, which led to the baby switch with Sami and Mia, she was told that she couldn't carry a baby to term because of scaring that occurred during her porn period (perhaps written by someone who forgot she had also been shot). 

If Nicole thought that was a miraculous conception, she must think this pregnancy 21 years after she took a bullet will become the second advent!  Although stranger things have happened in Salem, it is incredible that she can feel the baby move and test for paternity two days after conception. 

EJ was five at the time, so he's probably also forgotten about it.

I don't think Ron would've written it into this week's script that Sloan and Paulina chose to wear skin-tight off-the-shoulder dresses when they were getting ready to go to the police station this week, but I find that stuff funny as hell. 

I'm also amused by the ex-priest covered in tattoos who, after eating a drug-laced biscuit, impregnated his middle-aged ex-girlfriend, that was once shot in the uterus.  

I still feel like there's something progressive about telling time-tested soap tales (like a vixen seducing her unexpecting victim), through the lens of sexually fluid characters.  To re-state my earlier point, I would take offense if Talia identified as bisexual, and making out with Chanel implied that she couldn't maintain an exclusive relationship with Colin.  But, they couldn't be telegraphing any louder that Talia is apprehensive about manipulating Chanel due to her ambivalence about being guilted into it by Colin.

I don't watch in earnest like GH or Y&R, and I know it's not everybody's cup of tea, but I am keeping my subscription as long as Peacock keeps letting me watch with my ad blocker on.

Call me easy (it wouldn't be the first time), but I would rather focus on what's being broadcast currently rather than what could have been.  There's enough to hold my attention for less than an hour daily.  I'm honestly intrigued about what's going to happen next.  And, for me, the low-budget nature of the production has become part of the show's charm.  

It's become de rigueur within this discussion to blame everything on the writer.  But, my point is that this is an adequate idea that is being executed poorly.

It feels like Paulina's panic disorder is meant to give the character some depth, but they've neglected to use it as a social issue.  We're all aware that black women go undiagnosed with mood disorders and cardiac issues due to insensitive doctors, so it would have been interesting to see that part of the story.  Instead, there is so much focus on Jackee's OOT acting choices that there is no room to inform the audience. 

And, not to be a contrarian, but I enjoy the sexiness of DAYS, and you're not going to get that with a bunch of legacy characters as the focal point.  Young, good-looking actors who can emote and be charismatic are challenging to find in daytime.  So, I'm OK with some clunky line readings as long as there is some eye candy, balanced with melodrama, and generational tales, which is what I feel like I'm watching on DAYS 70% of the time.

The one who gets on my nerves these days is Paulina. 

Jackee's acting style is too bombastic.  It is cute when she consults with various men about their love lives, but the character has no humanity.  She acts like she is cast in a 70's sitcom when she indicates her panic as if she were Fred Sanford (This is the big one!).  I want to see the skills she brought to Women of Brewster Place, and not one note portrayal she demonstrated on 227 or Everyone Hates Chris, but there is no nuance, and it is just too big for daytime.

And, not to belabor a point, but doesn't she own their universe's version of Costco?  Why is she living in a condo so small that they eat in the living room?

I'm finding it difficult to reconcile how I feel about actors posting pics of walking the picket line on social media.  Instagram is rife with ambiguity.  On the one hand, I applaud their support of the union; on the other, it seems self-serving to attract more followers by being performatively virtuous.  It makes it challenging to interpret their intentions.

I highly recommend following Adam Ghani on Instagram who has been posting the most marvelous clips in her honor.  https://www.instagram.com/adamtghani/

#

So, the dream of an a la carte media menu is devolving back to the cable model of 2-3 large companies competing for a mass audience?

Maybe CNN thought Kaitlan Collins was more capable of talking over a blowhard after her experience with Don Lemon?  Spoiler alert; she wasn't and she may have permanently destroyed the reputation of CNN.

I just read the excellent recap of August 1989, and I couldn't help but feel that Millee Taggart & Tom King sacrificed Alex to prop up their creation of Clay. 

First of all, what is Alex doing in a Tempest vs. Amourelle business story?  When he was first introduced, it was established that he wasn't very good at management, which was one of the signs that he was pretending to be Clay.  So, why is he still in a business rivalry story two years later?

Second, the writers contrast Alex as a paragon of virtue against Clay as morally ambiguous to explain Ava's attraction to Clay.  Kate is defending Alex, the police allow him to kidnap his child, and he is trying to expose Clay.  But Alex is the more morally ambiguous guy.  Clay is just butt hurt that his family liked his imposter better than him.  Meanwhile, Alex is an international spy willing to abandon his wife to hoodwink a wealthy family and manipulate their generosity. 

The contrast between Clay and Alex is an inspired and groundbreaking approach to a soap story.  But Clay goes down in history as a character who changed his motives and intentions with every re-write and recast.  Meanwhile, the character of Alex is poorly developed from a man of mystery to the most boring of all soap jobs; chief of police.  I will never understand why Port Charles, Salem, and Corinth citizens were willing to employ ex-spies who were once suspected of treason as the head of their law enforcement agencies.

36 minutes ago, carolineg said:

They really did rush Stefan getting his memory back.  I thought the Chloe/Stefan/Gabi triangle would last longer.

Perhaps to @MichaelGL's point, I don't think enough has been done to develop Stefan's character traits or motives to differentiate him from EJ, Jake, or even Alex. 

Is he a playboy, or is he looking for commitment?

Is he like Vivian and obsessed with revenge coupled with a bit of humor?

How does he feel about having no history with his family?

He needs a buddy (like how they use Eric and Brady) to help flesh out the character rather than relying on the actor's charisma. 

That being said, I enjoy the dynamic between Anna and Nicole. She's like the mother she never had (on-screen).  This team excels at writing friendship scenes (Eric and Brady, Xander and Chloe, and Leo and Gwen) over romance.

For the sake of discussion, how is the Talia and Chanel story offensive, but Gabi leading on Li Shin (or the millions of other golddigger plots in DAYS history) went without comment?

I'm not implying that two wrongs make a right, but soaps have a long history of vixens using their sexual wiles to get what they want.  I fail to see why the specifics of this relationship are any different. 

I think there is something progressive about adapting soap opera troupes to characters with more fluid sexuality.  I see Talia telegraphing her ambivalence at manipulating Chanel as a means to rehabilitate the character in the future when Colin is inevitably punished for his evil deeds.

I don't think the idea is groundbreaking or even that intriguing, but I also don't think it disrespects the LGBTQIA audience.  Personally, it would be more offensive if Talia identified as bisexual and they used her intimacy with Chanel and Colin to imply that she could not commit to an exclusive relationship.

If there's a lesson to be learned from Trump's performance tonight it is that we would all be better served by refraining ourselves from name calling and try to express our opinions in first person personal in order to preserve a civil discourse.

To those who are confused about being gullible

https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2022/07/25/rupert-murdoch-donald-trump-splitsville-00047748

https://thespectator.com/topic/why-murdoch-dumped-trump/

https://www.thedailybeast.com/dumping-donald-trump-is-just-the-start-of-rupert-murdochs-ugly-new-era

I thought Murdoch wasn't going to support Trump anymore, but good ol' Page Six came out with this headline the day after he was found guilty of harassment

Melania is now fully on board with the campaign, after his daughter Ivanka Trump stepped back from the spotlight, and she wants to serve as first lady again.

A source told Page Six that Trump is “really beaming next to Melania.”

Mar-a-Lago is apparently abuzz that “the couple seems . . . more bonded than ever. Friends say that Melania’s stepping up — while Ivanka and Jared [Kushner] have stepped aside — has made [Trump] more confident than ever.”

1 hour ago, Khan said:

Compare that to DALLAS, where the best that they could do was have Sue Ellen sell lingerie.

To be fair, she bought the company so that she could control Mandy and get revenge on JR; she wasn't really interested in whatever Victoria's Secret may have been

On 3/1/2023 at 3:12 PM, janea4old said:

Bo was originally Marcus Aurelius, later changed to Beauregard Aurelius.

Marcus Aurelius would have been a little "on the nose" given that his brother was named Roman,  But, somewhere along the way they would've needed to explain why this Irish family named their sons after leaders of the Roman Empire.  And if Caroline had named him Pericles, his Greek origin would've been too obvious.

The last time I bought SOD was in November 2022, on iTunes, to read on a plane.  It was shockingly $4.99.  I remember when the cover advertised that it was 99 cents. It was less than 30 pages.  But it still had ads for those creepy lifelike baby dolls and vinyl handbags with tons of pockets; some things never change.  I get my groceries delivered, so I don't see it in the supermarket anymore as an impulse buy.

To @Errol's point it is remarkable that the websites are profitable enough to maintain them both.  It must be costly because they employ separate writers and photo editors.  IIRC, 30 years ago, when News Corp owned SOD and SOW they shared resources, like Carolyn Hinsey who wrote for both magazines.  I hadn't considered that Soaps in Depth still had an internet presence until I read about it here.