Vee

Oh, I know lol, that's why I said they were broke. The creatives were good but the whole thing was always a grift BTS.

For all the complaints about the first attempt at streaming the soaps (Erika Slezak still echoes some of those critiques about OLTL 2.0 today in her most recent newsletter, and some of them are valid and understandable re: BTS issues/writing or choices while others are just old-fashioned IMO and I disagree with her), those shows on Hulu at least knew to do something different and change up the tone and rhythm for a different medium, and approached the idea of a seasonal model (albeit only when they realized they were broke!). DAYS has had no chance to do that here on top of (again, unlike the other shows) the lack of adequate promotion or real build-up and rollout. They've been given a stacked deck and told to win the poker tournament or die. And it's all for Peacock IMO, because NBCU is flailing. DAYS is a sacrificial lamb, not because I think they actively want to kill it but because they're trying anything for Peacock and don't care what happens to the show.

I still don't believe he will run again for one reason or another, but this is a good point:

Kraushaar is and always will be a right wing shill. The only difference is he's clawed his way back to mainstream outlets very recently, enjoys too much respect from Beltway pals and is very vocal, but he's still a bit of an outlier. People know what he is.

So much for wishcasting. As always, archive.is for the paywall.

Haberman (and quietly invisible sex pest Glenn Thrush) are getting roasted again, as she now seems to be daily in recent months, for trying to spin last night's revelations:

We can get that down.

Pretty big deal. Another big deal:

Pretty humiliating, especially since Semafor has been a joke since launch.

I assume it was a mutual decision with Cari Shayne, unless she was making up something for her benefit - they had no use for Karen without Jagger at that time, IMO. (I know she supposedly turned down a return for PC as well) I do think killing Karen was always a huge waste. Sabato could've been a decent return to the main show once upon a time, but he's a total joke today.

I just assumed ASJ was earmarked for bigger things (which never quite happened for him) and got out. I think Cari Shayne was said to have her reasons too, maybe a family?

Meanwhile, another article you can read using archive.is that feels like it's cheering too much for the GOP to recoup and wishcasting a good outcome, but which is informative about what's going on with McConnell and Thiel/Vance and Masters:

I don't think it is at all a sure thing we can hold through the midterms. Incumbents almost always lose a majority in midterms. But the fact that it's this close is encouraging and not normal, it's based on a variety of recent surprise factors both positive (good bills, etc) and terrible (gun violence, Dobbs). If we can hold the majorities - and I think it's possible - that'll be amazing. But I am not counting on it. I do have some hope for it, which is more than I had a while ago. And I will say that just like 2020-21 and the runoffs, the longer Trump keeps making it about him the better it is for our chances.

I sure as hell wasn't going to be the one to say it, but yeah, seconded.

Walker has a thin lead on Warnock in GA; I'm hoping that can be erased in time. Warnock is part of the future. More Trump drama can only help us in that state, just like last time.

It finally happened. As always, archive.is will get you behind the paywall by plugging in the original NY Times link.

Almost certainly not a hint at anything, just a bit of fun, but it would be a treat to see him on DW; he's still doing good work and his active social media presence is strangely, consistently adorable.

Woof - it has been very difficult to turn away from the final eps of Season 5 and not just binge straight through, which means my material on them is piling up considerably. I'm about 3 eps from the end, and I'll see about starting to parcel out posts about the previous 4-5(?) over the next few days as IRL allows. I do intend to take a bit of a breather before diving into Season 6, but we'll see how long that lasts since the show is so great. I will say that I actually really like Gary and Cathy together - sue me - and I was surprised to see they actually hit the hay. Lisa Hartman is legitimately creating a different character (sometimes in broader ways than others) and her butch vibe suits Ted Shackelford's more internal and at times softer masculinity.

Ask not for whom the bell tolls, it tolls for Chodd:

Thanks @SFK. Erika's newsletters are always very cozy as well as very candid - probably because the newsletter has largely managed to stay under the radar of press attention all these years, with the exception of the Dena Higley flap. I don't agree with her about everything re: the online show, but I understand her viewpoint and I do agree it was only five minutes ahead of its time (and that the management had no idea what they were doing). Anyway, her newsletter is always a delight.