Vee

Shawn looked hot as hell in those power suits. I'd have him back any time.

If he is dying, the Dems are going to have to be prepared to pull the Amy Coney Barrett shuffle to install a new one before November. No courteous feigning towards the norms and puttering around for a few months, which too many Senators still want to do. Because if we don't confirm another justice before the midterms I'm seriously afraid of what we're looking at in terms of both violent insurrection measures and completely breaking down government to try to stop any hearings after. The GOP has waited generations for this balance of the court and for them this is holy war. Speaking of:

Ron isn't the worst fit for DAYS, but whenever he's untempered and unmanaged by a strong counterweight and clear directives, we all know what he does by now. Jamey Giddens has clearly had his share of bad ideas but Ron didn't need his help getting fired from GH. The pet theory (which I know te. did not come up with) that somehow Jamey has overridden Carlivati's better angels and is co-opting the show discounts Ron's own long history of narrative insanity well before this year and this storyline. IMO that's personal and rooted in fandom's resentment over Giddens going from fan to creative. Jamey has obviously come up with a terrible story, but Ron does not need Jamey's help to fùck up. Both problems can exist.

Listen, I'm putting a pin in that because I'm still trying to wrap my head around the current 'climax' to the Ashland story where he just walks out on Victoria when he's confronted and that's it. That can't be all!!

I will always find Johnny Cage so fine. Melrose Place wasted him. I was psyched when they hired Ashby.

I know, that was my point. That's because he already had a parasocial relationship with Ron Carlivati personally, which reached its nadir when he spent hours raging about the disloyalty of the GH cast for leaking against Ron in 2015 and comparing him to Gloria Monty being betrayed by the ensemble in 1991-92 (not the most sympathetic parallel, if he'd taken the time to think it through). I think he's matured a bit from that behavior. I can't speak to his actual writing, other than to say that this entire Sarah/Renee thing is a joke and something he had the experience to know better about.

I think Jamey's matured a bit as a person. Creatively, ehhh. I could swear I remember him grudgingly admitting the Teen Jess story was terrible, but that may be the Mandela effect in action.

Who is Casey?

I would 100% write a ripped from the headlines story where Abby or Victoria goes full Elizabeth Holmes - Steve Jobs turtlenecks and all - and begins running a Theranos-style scam venture for over a year. That doesn't take a ton of money to do, and people would watch and seethe and wait for whoever the character is to get taken down. But those stories don't get told anymore.

The amount of Weekend at Bernie's gifs and/or images I have left on the table...

Tessa and Mariah's fanbase only really hit full flow recently, AFAIC. They'll survive. Y&R can do whatever it wants, it chooses not to here for ulterior motive, as it has for a couple years now. As a gay fan I'll say, as I've said before, that I think the entire, shitty purpose of pairing Mariah with a tertiary, unpopular (for most of her run, anyway) woman in the first place was to section Camryn Grimes off from any leading frontburner story with men the show and/or network had earmarked for female leads they found more conventionally desirable. They think she's too ordinary for Kyle or Devon but it's fine to throw this chick at her. Ugly to say, but I absolutely think that's the toxic mindset and we've seen it before in daytime with lots of str8 characters. And in doing it this way they were able to claim it was progressive and forward-thinking. There's nothing wrong with Mariah being bi, and you can play drama with her and Tessa or any number of other more interesting women in the future. You can do it right now with her and any woman, not just men, and take time away from Abby or Victoria! But AFAIC they want to keep her where she is to keep her away from leading story with the rest of the show. That is an admittedly ugly perspective. Sadly, as a gay viewer who has seen this happen both with gay characters and with attractive leads of any orientation who do not fit into a proscribed box, I also think it is 100% the truth.

No, this is direct: When everyone says you're being rude, you're being rude. Move on.

The King sisters (Hunter and her sister Joey) have been up and coming in Hollywood for a few minutes now. I think Hunter is talented and I see why she's gone far on the show, besides what allegedly went down with Michael Muhney. I also think she was overexposed and overused beyond her natural ability, but those two sisters are doing well and the show needs to not hold the position for her because she's not coming back. (That being said, I also never really felt Summer was the only answer to a starring female role in any and all twentysomething storylines, especially with Mariah around, so...)

It is literally the Jessica story from OLTL all over again. Everyone was expected to roll with her delusions to the point of putting her back in high school as a thirtysomething and letting her pant after Cristian, who had a girlfriend and a job at the school! What's baffling is those involved seem to have learned nothing from that, either as writers or former viewers (like Giddens). I also really liked LG on B&B and in doses here before, and I feel bad for her.

Have you watched B&B? There is barely enough plot and character depth to fill 22 minutes.

From the Hill, an even more perplexing (and IMO not rosy-sounding) take:

If Thomas' seat goes, the GOP would do anything short of another 1/6 and possibly that to try to prevent the seat from being filled. But no, Thomas being ill is definitely not the GOP's plan.

Ashland finessing Nate with his fake cancer is not exactly a ringing endorsement for his skills.

Weiss' stock has definitely fallen in Substack exile. She's becoming toxic. That being said, the NYT is still trying hard to pursue the 'cancel culture' beat, leading to last week's public roasting. We'll see how long it lasts.

I don't think she looked 30, lol. I do think they made her up to look much more adult. She looked great to me, but she also was allegedly on a lot of drugs.

I cannot believe Amanda is still around. For God's sake. If you can bring back Diane Hilary is a breeze.

I said when Carlivati got fired that given the state of the show at the time they should've brought back the (alleged) cocaine tables from Monty's reign to work round the clock to overhaul the show, and I stand by it now.

I had no idea he was still Forrest Alamain. Wow. Who is Petrov again? The entire Jigsaw/Yo Ling thing was so insane and also so very vintage Josh Griffith, almost adjacent to his uber-gothic second OLTL run with Michael Malone. Who with his excesses def should've gotten a shot at this show. The whole 'private school, league of assassins' thing is actually great fun for a show like this IMO, but not with the 17th retcon of John's identity and Tobin Bell lol. I don't mind the bones of the retcon but I feel they should've left it alone.