Vee

Minor note: Two young GL vets have turned up in something I had to watch recently - Yelling to the Sky, a gritty if derivative indie about a young girl (Zoe Kravitz) who turns drug dealer. Has Gabourey Sidibe from Precious as her nemesis, but as for GL, EJ Bonilla (Rafe) has a bit part as one of the girl gang's boyfriends, and Billy Kay (Shayne) - now 28 years old - is still playing high schoolers. He turns up as a preppy drug dealer in a sweater vest with longish hair. I guess he sort of sells it, he still looks about the same, if a bit puffier. But it's a little silly.

Amazing how it's always "that lone guy".

50/50. Please. This ain't 2000 or 2004. Voter suppression can only do so much in 20 fuckin' 12. It was a wide enough lead in '08 to be unable to be faked then, and Mitt Romney is no John McCain and Paul Ryan no Palin (who was equally a fraud, but a far better entertainer). It's not going to be close. Yes, I have been drinking, what of it.

Romney had a very slim chance before last night. If anyone thinks he has a chance after last night, I got a bridge to sell you. That Libya answer is going to live in infamy. It's history now, and Obama broke him on live television, with spontaneous applause.

That was lovely.

Get ready to cry.

There was no reason one of those kids could not be Brenda's, either, maybe fobbed off on a relative or adopted, in secret. That is an old, old soap staple. Remember, a weird plot point of that first season was that Kelly had a young son by Dylan, who was a deadbeat dad. It would've ignited that show like wildfire if Kelly discovered one of her students (and one of the regular teen cast) was Brenda's illegitimate son/daughter - also with Dylan, but conceived in the '90s during their time together away from the States. I thought Jennie Garth in particular had a formidable presence in that early time of the new show, and thought they really fucked her and the two Wilson parents over.

I lost interest in that show once they dumped Kelly, Brenda, Ryan Eggold, Rob Estes and Lori Loughlin. It was already swiftly moving to terrible before that but it really got bad when they cut all those ties and started blitzing through stories and pairings faster than B&B. A real waste of talent and of a brand. AnnaLynne McCord is great, as is Jessica Stroup, as is the guy playing Navid, as was Tristan Wilds (on The Wire). And Jessica Lowndes is talented, and Matt Lanter is still hot. But the show is a hot mess.

After Dorian confessed in 2007, they very deliberately changed the date of Victor Sr.'s death back to the '70s in the Lord crypt. I think that said it all about RC's regard for the 2003 story.

Dorian out and out said she killed Victor in 2007. I don't know if I believed it, but I think it was more explicitly put there - however randomly - to cast doubt on the 2003 story where Malone foolishly revived Victor. Dorian addresses it with "if that was him..." In typical Carlivati work, this would be a lead-in to a future retcon of a bad story/explanation, but they never touched it again. I always preferred that Viki did it, but w/e.

Dorian did learn that secret, in 2003. Viki casually mentioned it to her at a chat after they escaped their plane crash in Saranac. Dorian looked shocked. Cut to commercial. 30 minutes later, their segment returns and Dorian is leaving Llanfair - "I'm glad we got that out of the way." Thank you, Brian Frons.

I really don't agree with that take, but that's me. They've given me plenty of Rory this year. I think all the companions have gotten happy endings in the revival, but many have a bittersweet edge. Rose and the Doctor were separated forever (until that clone [!@#$%^&*]) despite her full family and life in another universe. Martha went on with her life and found love. Donna lost her memory of the Doctor but has found love and money. And Amy and Rory are together and happy, but back in time - and from our POV, already gone.

Who knows? I heard some recent interview had Gillan and Darvill very nervously hemming and hawing their way around whether they might appear in the anniversary next year - but this time did seem like a rather final end. I do think their exit was great because, like their very presence as a team, it brought home one of the core tenets of the series that revival-only fans don't always recognize; there can be more than one companion of more than one type, and sometimes, they don't always have the happiest of endings. (Though Amy and Rory did live happily ever after, after a fashion.) I saw some fan thing somewhere with Sarah Jane writing Amy's obit some 5-10 years ago, about her career as a writer and activist (she was the only reporter Nixon trusted!) and crediting her with inspiring her to become a journalist. That was sweet.

The difference, of course, with the Romanas is that with Lalla Ward in the role it's almost official in some of the stories that this regenerated Romana and the Doctor are in a relationship - they're too close. I actually kind of prefer Romana II, though I love them both, simply for that subtle, mature dimension. One can fanwank that the Doctor latches onto Rose partly because of the physical resemblance between the two (well, I see it, anyway).

Oh, BTW, this is cute - the latest of reviews of the new series by a four year old girl, Lindalee Rose, who particularly latched onto Amy, as the character originated as Little Amelia:

Oh, I'd taken Elisabeth Sladen for granted too. I think everyone did at that point. Who else could possibly have staged such a comeback in pop culture, capturing yet another generation of fans and children and actually getting her own spinoff as a woman in her sixties? We thought she'd outlast us all. With Lis and Sarah Jane I think it's different than acknowledging another companion's death. It also makes me worry for Tom Baker. I loved Caroline John - particularly on her Jon Pertwee-era DVD appearances and commentaries, which she was sharp as a tack - and Mary Tamm. Mary Tamm was a huge shock. I actually thought she had a lot of fun in her year on the show, though obviously not enough for her to stick around. I remember her in one of those crazy international thrillers in the '70s - The Odessa File with Jon Voight.

I haven't read much of the books, but I'm familiar with them. I know most of the current writers worked on the New Adventures or the rest of the novel range, so I like to think most of that happened - Ace just came back home later. I do think time with the Doctor also turned both Rose and Martha fairly paramilitary - Rose is running Torchwood, and Martha did her time with UNIT and then became some sort of roving mercenary. I'm sure Sarah Jane will be addressed soon. They dealt with the Brigadier and they'll get to her. I just am not entirely looking forward to it, simply due to the fact that Lis Sladen's death still makes me so incredibly sad.

There is a long, lovely story with Sophie Aldred in one of the recent DW Magazine issues where she reads aloud an email from RTD outlining in detail her scripted return on SJA, with Ace driving up in a stretch limo, a hip, beautiful businesswoman, as Sarah Jane mentions at the end of Death of the Doctor. Later in the story, "Dorothy" would prove she is still good ol' Ace despite her wealth and power, helping Sarah Jane and the kids bash the monsters with a bat. I wish they'd gotten to do it. Both Freema and Noel Clarke were intended to become regulars on Torchwood after DW Series 4, which is why they leave with Jack at the end of Journey's End. It didn't pan out, as Freema got other shows and Noel is busy with his films and such, and so the Lois Habiba character was added to Children of Earth in Martha's place. Jack is a Moffat creation, and I'm sure he'll be back sooner or later. I do think Torchwood is a shambles again. COE was masterful IMO, perhaps the best thing produced in the entire franchise since 2005, but the first two series were dross despite a great cast, and Miracle Day was mostly awful. I personally would love to see Tommy Knight as Luke. But that would require addressing Sarah Jane, which I'm not sure I can bear. I do not want them to write Lis Sladen's death in - I'd rather they say she is still off in space on adventures - but I guess they must soon.

That is cute. We really don't know how close we are to the end with River. She's pardoned, but she's part-Gallifreyan, and her age and appearance are admittedly fluid; she confirmed in Let's Kill Hitler that she could manipulate the aging process. She could have years left. I'm fairly positive we'll be seeing her at least throughout the rest of Series 7 at key points, like perhaps the anniversary. The ongoing Silence/question story is still lurking, waiting. I actually liked a lot of her scenes later on with Amy and Rory, particularly the garden scene in last year's finale. You could see how their family relationship worked and that it worked for them. And I liked the Mels micro-saga, showing that they actually had 'raised' her in a way. That was weird and wonderfully Who. I would love to see Jack again. I know he was supposed to appear in A Good Man Goes to War but Barrowman wasn't available. I'm sure he'll turn up soon. I have a selfish wish to see, say, Janet Fielding as Tegan - I think that would be hilarious with Matt Smith - but I doubt she's high on the list, though the Fifth Doctor is supposedly Moffat's favorite. (And RTD had planned an Ace episode for The Sarah Jane Adventures before Sladen passed, which sounded fantastic. Personally I wish they'd done a similar new kids' spinoff with Katy Manning as Jo...) I'm sure James Corden will return soon as Craig Owens. He's great. I also wouldn't mind seeing William Russell, but I doubt he's in any condition to do so. Most of all I want to see Paul McGann recognized next year.

I don't think Moffat cares much for women who idolize the Doctor. Amy grew out of it, and River never truly has. He understands, I think, that the Doctor stands apart in a way - though I did love the Doctor and Rose's romance when it worked in the first series, and I love the Doctor and River. And Jenna-Louise Coleman's companion, whoever she truly turns out to be, has been heavily promoted as someone who can out-think and out-talk the Doctor. And while I loved Donna, I will say that the inability of RTD to truly conceive of a character who didn't either idolize or love the Doctor was what screwed up Martha. I adored Freema Agyeman and Martha, and I thought she had the kind of game staying power and spunk that made Elisabeth Sladen stick in people's minds. If they hadn't forced a crush angle and written her out for the more high-profile Catherine Tate - who could only ever do a year - I think Martha could've done a long, long run as a fully functional companion like the old days. As it is, Amy and Rory ended up being the ones to do that instead.

I liked Amy from the start. People got on her because she was 'too sexy' or too bitchy or whatever, but I think the character is one of the most fully realized companions ever. She has a profound arc. She goes from confused, insecure, defensive young woman to wife to working woman to mother. She has a life and times outside the Doctor, while with the Doctor. No other companion has truly had that. I loved Rose in her day, but it grated on me how willing she was to throw everything away for him. Part of it was that she was very young, but it didn't help that the creative team seemed to valorize that POV at the time. And it made Series 2 unbearable for me. Rory, too, was a huge step. A similar character, Mickey Smith, was basically mocked and dismissed early on under Nine and Ten as the 'tin dog' and left there, though they did eventually rehab the character - but he never got Rose, as I'd once predicted would be his arc. When I first watched Series 1 I thought Rose would eventually grow out of her life with the Doctor and come to find a mature relationship with Mickey. Instead, he left her and she got a clone. That was a wretched ending for an incredibly influential and important companion and co-star who, despite my issues with Rose's later character development, had a profound and immensely positive effect on making the revival work. Without Billie Piper it would not have gone off so well. But with Arthur Darvill and Rory, they promoted and championed him at every turn. Every time you thought Amy was preaching the gospel of the Doctor, it turned out she was preaching the gospel of Rory. They made him a full, amazing character and hero in his own right. I loved so much of the RTD era, but one key failing was that he never would have thought to do that. I will miss them both terribly, and I think they were incredibly influential and groundbreaking companions both as the first team since the '80s, and as a married couple - and two people that lived their own fully fleshed-out lives alongside the Doctor, as opposed to Rose or Donna, who had their fine backstories and supporting cast but lived for their times with the Doctor.

I don't believe that the public is going to see this that way at all. It's contemptuous of most Americans and the American way in general.

Carl, I'm sorry but you're wrong. There will always, always be Beltway village media who try to force the false equivalency, yes, that much is true. But just because they try doesn't mean it always works and is all-consuming. It failed in 08 and it's failing even harder now. The public and press reaction to this has been overwhelming shock and disgust. It's going nuclear. Going by the desperate spinning of Andrea Mitchell, Chuck Todd or most of the droogs at Politico will always make you unhappy. But they are not the majority. And even they know this is awful and another death blow. I'm sure Todd will say so this morning, and Mitchell all but admitted it last night. I understand the way those kind of press corps tools work; I grew up in a family that worked inside the Beltway village. But you can't let it all get to you. Those few shills are trying to preserve a mentality and a cocktail circuit that needs that mentality, and above all preserve the illusion of the 'close' horse race election to keep ratings and ad revenue up. But they know how bad this tape is, and they know this election is done. It's one thing to be practical and pragmatic. But in this case, letting a few negative voices dominate the spectrum from your vantage point is only feeding a dying beast. They know they're spinning ashes.

Mitt Romney is actually running out of ways to self destruct. I thought the McCain campaign was the apex of failure. I was wrong.

Season 5 was interesting in hindsight because it was when they declared they were going to retool the show to make it 'more grounded' again, less insane like the heights (or depths) of Season 4. They introduced Taylor and Kyle, Sam, etc. and unfortunately phased out Kimberly, which I still think was a dire mistake. And the problems didn't end there. They forced the interminable Jake/Alison pairing no one liked and kept it going all year before finally ending it with both actors being simultaneously dismissed. They backburnered Sydney. Yet I did like some of the experimentation at the time. The Amanda/Peter/Taylor/Kyle story worked. Kyle and Syd worked. Even Craig worked at first, kind of. By the end of the season they had gone full-on back to crazy town, with Taylor dressing up like Peter's dead wife and the rage epilepsy madness. That was the end of Taylor being seen as any kind of remotely grounded character - although the embarrassing phone sex interludes with Peter earlier on ("I lust you") didn't help, either. I enjoyed Lisa Rinna as a more comic character in Season 6, and missed her when she left, but Taylor lost something when the storylines went nuts. It was a terrible mistake to get rid of Marcia and Laura Leighton, and it was foolish not to write Billy out with Alison. Season 6 is easily the worst in the series. It's just awful. I think Season 7 actually restored a lot of the show's glory - particularly when it turned Lexi into a queen bitch - and I think it was much better than 90210 at the time when it went off. I even liked the revival series. It had its dog plots and couples, as did the original show, but I thought a great deal of it worked, and I thought Katie Cassidy was a star. I was amazed it wasn't renewed, as it was way better than the 90210 revival, with key roles for Amanda and Michael. The only mistake was killing Syd a second time.