j swift

I preferred Sarah's dress to Theresa's, even if the halter-neck felt a bit dated. Theresa's bows on her shoulders were wild, and the headpiece made no sense with the gown. But, I guess in a universe where your gown magically appears the day of the wedding, you don't get much choice. Also, why would Theresa choose to get ready at Sarah's cramped apartment rather than her huge mansion? And how did Andrew know to find her there? Finally, Xander is giving Jack his half of the newspaper? He's not going to sell it? He's just giving it away, when he has no job, a little baby, and tiny apartment? Any hoo... I love a surprise wedding guest who shows up in a fringed dress, so soapy!

I would hazard to guess that it is less an issue about the past, and more of an issue of a new producer wanting to establish her own team for the future (and waiting until contracts expired). Although, it does call into question the subtext of the whole Body&Soul story.

The “effective immediate” verbiage is always interesting in these press releases. I assume it has something to do with his contract status. But, it is not as if anyone infers that he gave two weeks notice, and now he's going to show Paula and Jeanne Marie how the copy machine works before he leaves. 🙄 Also, gotta love the illusion to DAYS's nine month “unique tape-to-air” schedule.

https://deadline.com/2024/07/days-of-our-lives-head-writer-carlivati-departing-soap-1236015656/

I suppose we'll find out tomorrow, but are Paul and Andrew together as a couple at this point? Because I was wondering about Paul's excuse for going to the wedding.

For rhetorical sake, there are at least two arguments against blaming Ken Corday in this instance. First, according to my review of the story from this interview, it occurred at SOD, not SOW. Second, when Ken Corday got mad at SOW, they published an account of the entire interaction, so there would be no need to keep his name secret many years later.

But, if it lasts until the 70th anniversary, we have the perfect villain origin story for Rachel. Psychotic and unavailable Mom, alcoholic Dad, insecure home, perfectly combine to make a nightmare female antagonist.

Did Johnny ever mention to Chanel that they aren't moving out of the mansion? Between this and the move to California, Johnny makes a lot of decisions without consulting his wife.

Falcon Crest had natural beats to divide the season, based on the pilot, that it never used consistently, which feels like a missed opportunity in retrospect. Upon re-watch, the length of each season is as remarkable, as the number of episodes which are total filler, and don't move the story forward. Dallas, had the annual BBQ, and the Oil Barron's Ball as events that they could build toward mid-season. Whereas Falcon Crest could've utilized the annual harvest, the release of that year's vintage, and other wine-related circumstances that they could've employed. The pilot, and the first season, wrung some tension about having to harvest the grapes on time. And, Angela trying to mess with Chase by limiting the laborers for the harvest. I feel like there were years of drama that could've come from the agricultural side of the winery that went to waste when they started to focus on the racetrack and the newspaper. There was never any tension about the quality of the Falcon Crest wine, or the sales of that year's vintage. Yet, that feels like a more organic story to tell (pardon the pun) than outrageous tales of stolen art and doppelgängers.

I was an avid SOW reader. But, I don't recall her other magazine Episodes, about the ABC soaps, at all. I've seen it on eBay. Yet, I don't think I ever saw it on a magazine stand at the time it was published. I think the shift in the entire soap print media toward irrelevancy can be foretold by the moment when each magazine stopped using their own photographers, and started cutting and pasting production stills.

It is one thing to retire at 70, or even 60. But, Robert Tyler was 35 when Loving was cancelled. He could not have made a ton of money in daytime, or in his previous work as a model. According to IMDB, he then went on to work on a single episode of Star Trek. So, he must have really not enjoyed the entertainment business, because he would've had to find work in some other field in order to support himself for the past 29 years. I wonder if his ex-wife Jessica Collins ever mentioned him in an interview during her time on Y&R? Also, as a member of the tribe, I am always fascinated by Jewish actors who changed their names professionally (he was born Barry Kaufman). It seems so old-fashioned, like something out of the old studio contract days. So, it still amazes me when entertainers drop their last name in order to assimilate.

Did anyone else find it funny that she still refuses to name names? I guess she respects the ethics of journalism. Because if it was Ken Corday, (or any existing producer), there's little that they could do to her now. And it is certainly not libelous to suggest that there were people in the industry that wanted her to be fired due to her opinions. Also, have to admire how hard she still defends Passions. I don't agree, but I admire her willingness to commit to a hot take. Finally, I don't recall it being a mystery who wrote the Marlena columns? I thought she had a byline on most of her writing. But, I guess it was kept a secret at first.

I appreciated that we went back to the original dynamic between Tate and Holly. He's much more cautious about sex than she appears to be. I like the idea that, like many adolescents, he's much more scared about intimacy and risky behaviors than he's willing to admit. And at least we know that there won't be another teen pregnancy coming out of this story. In fact, with Theresa already asking for him to go to the wedding (he only left yesterday), it seems like they've exhausted all the board games in the cabin and will be heading home soon. Although, in Salem, we never know how much time has passed. Just yesterday, Sweet Bits was up for lease, and today it is back in business making multiple wedding cakes (that we'll never see, nor will anyone ever eat). And what's with Johnny and Holly being so instantly forgiving of EJ? And wasn't there a scene where Sarah was sending out invitations? Did she neglect to invite Brady? I know he wasn't aware that it was a double ceremony, but he seemed clueless about the weddings in general.

Ironically, what I enjoyed about EJ and Nicole is that he always admired her cunning sensibility. It is unfortunate that the current triangle is so skewed, because they would've been a fun team to counter Gabi and Stefan.

I was wondering if Harding Lemay did publicity for his book? For example, did he appear on the Today Show, or similar shows? Here's the NYT review (perhaps the Times selected the wrong choice of editor to review the book, but that's typical of their coverage of soap-related news. God forbid, an editor for the Times admitted to watching TV in the 80s, let alone Daytime TV). https://www.nytimes.com/1981/03/12/books/books-of-the-times-037956.html "I wish I could report that we are relieved and uplifted when the break finally comes. But in truth so dismal has the story long since become - so clogged are the pages with Mr. Lemay's undigested anger - that we are, more than anything, numb by the end. Nor does it help much if one doesn't happen to be a fan of soap opera. For if one hasn't ever gotten to know the characters on ''Another World,'' then Mr. Lemay's desiccated plot summaries are not much fun. Of course, I am speaking strictly as an illiterate."

Your question about other cops reminded me about the guy who started at the same time as Goldman, and was the red herring for a bit. Which then reminded me of an issue that I guess will never get resolved because it was written by the scabs from that fateful episode in January. We know that Goldman shot at Lucas and Kate, because she was wounded by Kate's gun. We know that Stefan shot Harris, because he framed Xander. But, we still don't know who lit the fire at the Horton House! I went back to watch it in April, and it is definitely supposed to be three separate people carrying out the crimes simultaneously.

What's funny is that nobody is talking about the clutch position that Sarah is in. She's marrying an heir without a prenup, and he won't get his inheritance until after the wedding, and it becomes community property. If we didn't know better, the whole hunt for Xander's mother to invite her to the wedding would seem a bit more sinister. 🤔

very clever comment

Given his lethargic affect as an actor, will it be that different from how he plays his other scenes? 😉 Also, how does a knife in the back, with zero loss of blood at the scene, cause a coma? I mean, Connie's pretty short, I doubt her knocking Rafe on the back of his head did much damage.

Funny you should mention Chad and Stephanie, because when I was watching today I wondered if Abby was going to be p/o-ed about them sleeping together, just like Gabi is going to be p/o-ed about Ava and Stefan. On the one hand, Chad thought she was dead. But, on the other, it was less than six months later, and most people don't stay dead forever in Salem. Meanwhile, Gabi and Stefan had only been married for a day when she went to prison. So, their commitment was much shorter.

Everyone changing the subject every time Abby's name was mentioned had me cracking up today. Kayla & Stephanie (who finally shared a scene) - “Did you hear Abby might be alive?”, “Yeah, but Everett is coming back and I might like him” Paulina & Abe, - “It looks like Abby's coffin is empty”, “Yeah, but I was thinking about restarting Body and Soul.” Kate & Chad - “Abby might be alive.”, “Yeah, but how about a loan?” It was like nobody could pay attention to Abby possibly coming back from the dead. I guess it happens so often, it is like another dark and cloudy day in Salem.

I listened and Daphne especially has some interesting tales because she was friends with Darren Star while he was developing the series. I can't tell if they're acting or if they just never spoke to each other during filming because they all seem to be hearing each other's origin stories for the first time. For example, Daphne says that she was living with Darren (platonically, obviously), and Laura seems genuinely surprised to hear that information. However, I was left wondering why they had never discussed this before. But, I guess, that's part of the reason they started a podcast.

I think of Yate's Jamie as being the most plausibly written as Rachel's son, (almost like when Matthew 1.0). They were both creative, possessive in matters of the heart, and a little neurotic. Dr. Jamie(s) seems to have eschewed any influence of being raised by Rachel because they were so easily manipulated and rarely a protagonist. I prefer intergenerational stories to be written as if they share some characteristic DNA, as opposed to acting as if they grew up and decided to be the antithesis of their parents. More of a 'sins of the father' or repeated lessons vibe. But, those short shorts may have swayed me.

The wigs on these extras grow more bizarre every episode.

I would suggest tip #1 for Connie, stop returning to the scene of the crime.