Vee

OLTL's own Laurence Fishburne is reuniting with Francis Ford Coppola. I've been hearing about this project for decades and am very excited:

An affair to remember:

My guess is Frons. JFP did not have power over Guza AFAIK.

I assure you, getting through the Chibnall era recently has been a real slog lol. But I'm doing it out of love for the franchise. I'm so ready for this to be over and the new start. If RTD hadn't done such mature work recently I'd be less enthused by his return. But I think it's the right thing for a down time for the franchise - Chibnall never seemed fully committed to me, and creatively he was always the wrong choice.

Another rumor: The key classic companion returning for the 60th is

Aaand now it seems Yasmin Finney from Heartstopper - which I've already recommended to @DRW50and which RTD is a big fan of - may be in upcoming Who. Finney is trans. Confirmed: Yasmin is wonderful on Heartstopper. Rumor has it Yasmin may be playing Donna's daughter (named for Rose) - Donna's husband was Black, IIRC. But I don't think the age is quite right, unless we travel forward in time or she's adopted. Reddit spumors from several days ago: I do think they're not just bringing back Tennant/Tate, as rumors are abounding about Matt, Capaldi, etc. News just keeps coming: A swiftly deleted tweet also indicates Matt Smith's return is slated to be announced this weekend, but will drop sooner if he is sighted filming.

They're already at it: Oh, my. Now longtime Moffat/Capaldi-era director (and Nightmare on Elm Street royalty) Rachel Talalay is on-set, as I'd heard she was: And Wilf (Bernard Cribbins):

It's been brought up before here, but I'd totally forgotten where I knew Kim Lankford from. She was heavily featured in HBO's excellent docuseries The Jinx, all about Robert Durst. She was close to one of his victims, Susan Berman, and is one of the regular talking heads in the series. It's very worth a watch.

You don't need to spoiler anything for me, lol. The show's been off the air over 30 years. If I want to avoid something I can handle it. I'm probably only going to check out a few seasons anyway - it's fluff to me vs. Knots Landing, which is already quite addictive. It is painful to see VP/Pam so strong early on when even I know she got mired in a lot of sadsack wife stories later. And did she ever get a major TV role again (or want one)? I wonder if the showrunners at each show have ever reflected on the masculine or feminine driving energies of Dallas vs. KL.

I'm not sure if McKinsey even agreed to do it.

I was not expecting a 'biker hell' episode of Knots Landing. I had forgotten how elegant and addictive a soap with a simple geographic setup can be. Like Melrose, where you knew who was in each apartment and with who and why, Knots' enclosed world really works.

I've felt this for years since seeing her infamous SNL episode and bits of pieces of Dallas throughout my life, but upon seeing multiple full episodes it's official: I have an extremely low tolerance for Charlene Tilton.

I knew of the real Rodi, but I think that's my first glimpse of her. While you can't undo what was done with Blair and I loved Kassie in the role, the recast should never have happened the way it did. I have long thought there is a certain smart way to weave Mia Korf back into the fabric of OLTL to acknowledge her contribution, which was way, way ahead of its time and still is current toda.

As this is part of the anniversary celebration, I doubt this is the end of big announcements or returns. Curiously, Peter Capaldi, Matt Lucas and longtime Moffat-era director Rachel Talalay were all apparently spotted in Cardiff very, very recently.

I think I'll give this a whirl from the start now that I've enmeshed myself in Knots Landing (which I love so far). The Gary/Val episodes of Dallas I watched to prep for Knots were very enjoyable, and it seems like a frothier, at times lighter watch to offset KL. Like many people I've seen bits and pieces of Dallas over the years, but never got into it all the way. I've burrowed through the thread plenty, but if anyone has any other thoughts on the first couple seasons they care to share go nuts.

David Tennant and Catherine Tate are returning next year for the 60th: From the link, which seems overloaded:

More on the CW purge:

It's not every (or most) day(s) I post Bernie Sanders, but for once, I did appreciate him putting Chuck Todd on notice.

Riche and Guza were embroiled in a battle royale over creative control in their last year or two at GH - stuff like the 'billboard couples' of Sonny/Hannah and Jax/Chloe, A Martinez, the outcome of the mixed marrieds storyline were all among the disputes, IIRC. Ultimately Guza got ousted, but Riche quickly followed. That led to the ascent of JFP (after a brief interim where Guza and Labine's staff writers, Michele ValJean and IIRC Karen Harris, took over). When Jill and Megan McTavish tanked the show, the newly-arrived Brian Frons begged Guza to return and save it. Guza did so, but took a co-producer credit for his troubles and retained the lion's share of creative control within the show itself (not above Brian Frons) - as in, no EP could tell him what to do ever again. From what we know, it seems Phelps was reduced to his line producer.

This school board drama in episode 3 has not aged! (The cute teacher randomly laying one on Karen sure has.)

A very detailed dive into Cawthorn's origins, rise and descent and the view from his supporters and backers, which is instructive and informative. A bit too sympathetic for me by half, but that's Politico for you.

I've only watched part of the Florencia interview but she gushes about KDP a lot. And she looks amazing unmade up. Hard to believe it's been almost ten years. She also talks about the terror of Live Week, which IIRC was her first airdate on her 2002 return. (I seem to recall her flubbing her lines on Day 2.) And gushes about working with Robin Mattson who she grew up watching on GH, and loving working with Kim Zimmer on OLTL. Then starts going in about Linda Dano! I didn't know FL was such a child of the soaps - she's very passionate about them. Florencia is now a playwright as well as a performer. Frankly the soaps could do worse than importing executive talent like that, as they once did with others like Francesca James.

I thought I was the only one appalled. It is at least 18 years old, and JVD by his own recollection hated dying his hair in the early years on OLTL as Clint and was thrilled when he was allowed to let it go gray.

He's played three roles. Easton has played four. One was enough.