j swift

There's no sense of urgency at The Spectator. I get that it is the same day all week, but Chad interviewed Paulina, now Nicole is going to write the story, after she settles in and flirts with Eric. I mean, if they have this big story about the Mayor misusing her power, there should be momentum about wanted to get it out ASAP. Also, I understand structurally that Leo needs more motive to spill his story to EJ, but Dimitri's release is ridiculous. His whole story was tied to his inheritance, and now that he's released, he's no longer going to pursue it? Come on... His release merits at least a mention of Gwen living in Alamania. I hope Chanel's sitch means that Johnny's going to need to step up and save Sweet Bites (or is it Bits?). He needs a purpose. Also, liking EJ's assistant. DAYS has a good history of comedic characters, and EJ requires someone who is likable to soften the character a bit. I don't know anyone like her in real life in 2024, but it is TV, so I will give her a pass.

Adam Harrington (aka nuJagger) is in today's episode of Palm Royale. Look at how great he looks with his hair pushed back (the fake tan is a comedic choice for the show).

It is definitely marketed to a niche audience. But, even if one were a fan of glass block, and was willing to repaint the exterior. By the time you ripped out the kitchen and the bathroom to this century's standards, you might as well just tear down the whole house. So, @Vee, while I appreciate you offering to buy it for me as a surprise (which is why I assume you didn't tag me), I think I'll pass. 😉

I still pay twice as much per month for the New York Times, and they hardly ever feature cute topless dudes. 😅

Now wait a gosh darn minute, Konstantin thinks that the only copy of the prenup is in the safe and if he steals it, then it won't be valid? Won't Maggie's lawyers have a copy? (I guess that one wouldn't be signed, but still...) And why wouldn't Maggie have sent a copy back to her attorney once it was signed. The pretence for this whole caper feels faulty. According to the movies, marrying for a green card is fraud, so all Maggie would need to do is say that's why Konnie married her and the entire thing would be invalid. Also this: Is that really it for Tripp and Wendy? They aren't listed on the comings and goings, so I bet something will keep them in town. Unless the couple is so dull that they don't even warrant a c&g mention. Also, Kayla's shoes were distractingly ugly.

I'm jealous of how much time they have before school/work in Salem. I'm running around, gulping down some coffee and reading @AbcNbc247's summary. Meanwhile, they're drinking a latte in the town square, or someone has laid out a plate of pastries in the living room that they gobble whilst wearing silk robes. You may have to live with all of your half-siblings in the same house in Salem, but the mornings seem pretty luxurious. 😉

After a good night's sleep, here are my notes. Overall, I wish it was more about the history of the show, taken from Tom Lisanti's interviews, rather than an oral history with several previously printed sources sprinkled into it. I think the writing is the strongest when the author describes the plot within the context of the times. For example, when explaining the murder of Michael Pavel was, in part, a reaction to Y&R changing time slots and the need to create an event to lure away viewers from CBS. The structure gets really tedious when he ends each chapter with a review of Daytime Emmy nominations and then a preview of what's to come. I thought it really needed an editor when I read two separate people talk about Randal Edwards in an episode of Tales of the Unexpected with Carol Lynley. I also began to skip the repetitive interviews about how nice they thought each other was when they first met. There were also several spurious links between the scripted lines of the ABC promos implying how the executive really felt about the show. For example, a commercial touting that Delia's back, did not necessarily mean that Jackie Smith supported her rehiring. Similarly, Jon Michael Reed's take on the show is often confused with the audience response, despite a lack of established correlation. And I didn't need Richard Backus's three-page summary of his soap career, including the inevitable remark that he liked Beverly McKinsey when he was on AW. That being said, there are some hilarious moments. The setup of three interviews shading Joe Hardy, and the surprise popup of Joe Hardy himself talking about joining the show, was the best use of the interview structure. The cast is vicious about the perceived lack of talent of Michael Hennesy (Joe recast), Matthew Labine (Claire's son), and Catherine Larson (Lizzie). And @NothinButAttitude's aforementioned discussion of Agnes Nixon was tea that I had never heard spilled, including that Nixon would ignore Labine at network and awards functions. And, in turn, Labine's characterization of Gloria Monty's style of shorter scenes being “destructive” was wickedly fun. Also, big meow to Catherine Hicks mentioning that she got cast for Jack Lemon's Tribute on Broadway over Kate Mulgrew, and then Kate announces Catherine's hiring to the RH cast, but doesn't show up to her goodbye party. I thought there was also some relatable workplace drama that could occur anywhere from a sound stage in Brooklyn to an accounting office in Omaha. For example, everyone gossips about Sarah Felder (Siobhan) being hard to work with and not traditionally beautiful for daytime. Then, Art Rutter says that he never heard anyone mention she wasn't pretty, (implying that her firing was mostly due to her mercurial nature with her co-stars). Louise Shaffer (Rae) admits to often not paying attention to BTS drama because she was focused on “paying off her mortgage.” I also laughed that Louise would choose scenes for her Emmy reel because her hips looked good, rather than for their dramatic content. And, multiple people made digs at Helen Gallagher (Maeve) for being cold toward new actors, despite her statement that Ryan's Hope had the reputation as the “most welcoming set in daytime.” Finally, Taggart's story about network notes at the start of her tenure coming from an unknown source who just envisioned a woman in “a padded cell” as being another example of getting unhelpful interference, rather than resources and more promotion. There was also a ton of information that was new to me. I had forgotten about Michael Pavel's backstory with his mother and Tiso. The idea to make Seneca suddenly gay, and Jackie Smith's retort that she discouraged “homosexual stories because they are not romantic to our viewers.” James Wleck (Ben) dating Catherine Larson (Lizzie) and then Maria Portillo (Nancy Don), like Jon Hensley who couldn't keep it in his pants. The fact that Kate Mulgrew (Mary) was only 20 when she started, the age difference between her and Michael Levin (Jack), and the idea that he was wearing a hairpiece the whole time. Bernie Burrow (Johnny) negotiating an extra fee for appearing in the intro leading to all the actors temporarily being cut from the opening sequence. And (Chaz) Brian McGovern's touching tale about calling Paul Meyer weekly for years, was heartwarming. I also thought Nancy Addison (Jill) gets short shrift. For example, she gets nominated in 1977, but there's no context for her story at the time. There was an interesting idea about Delia being more popular with viewers than Jill or Mary, who are portrayed in the book as modern women, but strident and judgmental. It made me think about how the production was often out of touch with the audience. Yes, it was unique to have two professional, feminist, romantic leads of the show. But, I could imagine why a woman at home in the mid-70s may not find it aspirational to be in the workforce, and being sympathetic toward a young mother like Delia. Also, Claire Labine fights hard for stories about Mary, but when Jackie Smith is given more control the rating raise by 45%. There's also a ton that's missing. For example, Millee Taggart was very upfront about her temporary falling out with Tom King at the end of their time on the show. But, we never get the full story of what happened to the friendship between Paul and Claire after he quit in 1982 and she kept comming back. Also, when Claire Labine comes back the second time, she insists that her former casting director returns, then that person leaves, and we never learn why or when. Then there's the typical stuff about the show becoming Kirkland's Hope under PFS. However, in this telling it doesn't seem fair because Labine created Hollis Kirkland, and each family member was tied to a Ryan. So, the real story seems to be who was the one who leaked that complaint to the soap press, and how it became lore. But, nobody seems willing to confess. Finally, I really wanted stories about life as a soap actor in late 70s New York. I want some Studio 54 stuff, a few tales about drug use, and there's no mention of any actor's sexuality during the sexual liberation period or during the height of the AIDS crisis. I'm glad I read it, thanks for the push @NothinButAttitude and I enjoyed your take @safe (also odd that a website has the RH bible, but not Paul Meyer's kids or the author of the book). It is required reading for any soap fan who wants to round out their knowledge base of the show. And, an excellent book club selection. I recommend the digital/kindle version, because I found myself forgetting the characters played by certain actors, or the jobs of various production crew. So it was helpful to use the search function to reference their full title in their first interview.

I was reading Kate's bio, post-Stefano marriage, which is a period when I wasn't watching the show. I'm pleased she's no longer in crazed mode, ala her bizarre choices regarding Rafe and Jordan, (which turned out to be justified). But, I wish they would reference her history more regularly (i.e. Clyde, Rafe, Chad). And, it seems unfair that she lost so much wealth and power in order to settle for Roman. I just think it is a bad moral to her story that in order to find love, she had to give up all of her business acumen and drive. She should be out there trying to franchise Brady Pubs in every airport in America, not just visiting her son in a monastery. And how has she completely escaped punishment for getting Harris to shoot Megan? I feel like we don't need a Sami return/recast, if they would use Kate more appropriately as an antagonist.

I also just finished. I have notes, but I'll go back to read the postings of others who read it, so I am not redundant. My overall grade is 6/10, it needed a much better editor. There was some good gossip, and I'm glad I finally read it.

ya got me @NothinButAttitude, I've had a digital copy since October, I'll go read to tonight, and we can book club it out this week 😉

I'm not sure if you meant Mary or Maeve's kids, but he was older than Ryan Fenilli, Mary's daughter, but younger than Frank, Maeve's oldest. Because there was a big deal made within the story that he was younger than Jill. Was Dakota created by a writer other than Claire? That might explain her distaste for the character. Any writer who wrote a backstory as extensive as the Labine's did for the Ryan's would be excused for not liking a retcon. To me, Dakota's another character whose dive into moral depravity seems poorly motivated. He's this simple sailor, who suddenly wants to fix elections with the mob. I guess docking a boat in Manhattan was expensive, but that was never brought up as part of his motives. EDIT: NYT says currently it only costs $490 a month to dock a boat at the 79th Street Basin on the Upper West Side, which was the closest to Ryan's Bar. But, you can't live aboard full time by law in NYC.

I'm grateful for the plethora of free digital sources for SOD, because its publisher was busy erasing their website's history in order to deliberately misinform voters about the former president. For example, this excerpt of Pecker's testimony from Trump's hush money trial on Thursday: After the “Access Hollywood” tape was revealed in October 2016, featuring Mr. Trump’s boasts about groping women, one of Mr. Pecker’s editors scrubbed an AMI publication’s website of a 2008 article describing Mr. Trump as a “playboy man.” I guess we're lucky that none of the soap actors ran for office while seeking the favor of AMI, like Arnold Schwarzenegger, or those articles may have been “scrubbed” as well.

IMHO, Johnno is one of those great ideas which suffered from poor execution. After the original triangles were played out, multiple recasts of core characters, and failed attempts to expand the stories to include other families, the casting of Johnno was a realignment with the past. However, the character flip-flopped between being a hero and an antagonist. It often felt as if they tried to make him either like Frank or like Delia, when he should've just been a combination of the two. The casting of Lizzie was not great, as the uncharismatic actress did little to inspire why that character would be sought after by so many men. And then, rather than having Ben just be the third wheel in the triangle, they felt the need to explore his backstory, which then devolved into Nancy-Don and that whole set of characters. So, an attempt to modernize and set a new era was undermined by meandering storytelling, poor casting, and a lack of scenes between Johnno and his family to re-establish their relationships with him as an adult.

Whom I am betting is somehow tied to Konstantin, given their animosity.

Jason47 is very kind to offer the services of his scanner, because AMI's scanners were busy creating false images of Ted Cruz's father and Lee Harvey Oswald in order to help Trump win the election in 2016 https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/national-enquirer-ted-cruz-father-rafael-lee-harvey-oswald-rcna149027 “We mashed the photos and the different picture with Lee Harvey Oswald. And mashed the two together. And that’s how that story was prepared — created I would say," Pecker said on the witness stand. Which is why I think the foolishness that @DramatistDreamer references is actually part of their business plan, and I would not count on them to preserve anything. Nor would I spend a dime to access their archives.

Given that she's British, I am guessing she'll be connected to Sloan. Remember her brother's English accent? Unless she's Katerina, Konstantin's daughter.

I've enjoyed Lucas as a dad. But, beyond his romantic life, he needs a base of power. I still think of Lucas as the spoiled brat from military school. However, now that he doesn't seem to have an endless flow of resources, he's a bit less interesting. If he could legitimately oppose EJ or be a threat to the Kiriakis clan, then he would have a purpose. But, to me, the actor is not charismatic enough for me to wish for a romantic pairing just to keep him within the story.

I'm not into this ⬆️ use of sexuality as gossip in 2024, nor do I think of it as pertinent to the topic of this thread. We should celebrate actors who come out (no matter when), and support the cause. Those who choose to maintain privacy because of a selfish belief that it will hurt their career potential, are neither interesting nor intriguing to me. People who depend on public support while hiding their sexuality for personal gains are bad. And we should not treat them as if they have this cute, sexy secret. This is no way to be inferred as a criticism of the poster, who seems to be having fun with their insider information. It is a personal quirk that I find this kind of hearsay to be archaic and discouraging. I'll get off of my high horse now, and let the guessing continue (my vote is for Stacy Galina, although her dual role was in the 90s).

And another...

That would be an excellent twist!

So excited about next week. If the promo is real, they can't be accused of treading water anymore.

@AbcNbc247 So, you don't think Lucas should live the rest of his life as a monk? 😅 Where's Alex this morning? Wasn't that the point of he and Kristen sleeping together? Also, newspapers in Salem hire their reporters from the classified section? Or is that an HR thing, since the last guy they hired is living a double life? Finally, I bet ten cents that the writers are using lethargy as a symptom of radiation poisoning rather than discolored skin because it is the cheapest to visualize.

Don't forget a subtle dig at Maggie. That's the basis of their rapport. 🤨 Also, how long did the Bella reboot last? It feels like they put out one issue and pulled the plug. Maybe he should've hired Everett…

And what's Marlena going to say in their bi-annual therapy sessions?