Vee

I don't remember a time Kim wasn't complaining in public, tbh. But she was right about the show, and right not to re-negotiate. I thought at one point she had had some contractual protection written in re: the cycles, more than most; I think she def was unable to be dropped every 13 weeks. But I may be wrong about that. I could swear she wrote about having that buffer zone in her book and knowing she'd get paid even if they dropped her, but I'm too lazy to pull it up rn.

People have talked about it before and recently too, but I still remain amazed how disdainful he was of the Sven murder plot or whatever it was which, IIRC, was massively popular.

I cannot believe they're potentially going for Carly and Drew. How boring can you get? He is so obviously a Jason stand-in for her (like Serial Killer Franco before him, when Franco was supposed to be the twin) that there is no point.

I'd forgotten how early X-Files started; I thought it was '94 or '95 but no, it was '93 and that was right when Melrose Place was really just starting to build nuclear heat. I think the actual shift in programming took several more years, at least that's how I remember it; I remember what happened to New York Undercover and Living Single, and IIRC those both went down hard (and in NYU's case, very rebranded white) in '97-'98.

We talked a lot about FOX going back to its roots when Empire became a hit. Sadly it didn't last long for them, at least from what little I've paid attention. Yes, the Spelling soaps were giants as well at the same time, but they did have a diverse audience too and the lineup remained diverse until maybe 1996-1997. NBC just letting mediocre shows like Caroline, Susan, Veronica's Closet, etc. run and run always indicated to me a deep level of security with a handful of monster hits like Friends and Frasier that could simply not be penetrated by rivals for a long time.

I have a lot of patience for camp and fun on soaps in moderation, but that's not a word Ron has known in some time. My patience wrapped somewhere before the infamous, long scenes on OLTL with Michael Easton voicing baby Liam McBain (or Banks, I guess, since John and Natalie never married) talking to Andrea Evans voicing Princess David Vickers, the dog.

The Cheers farewell tour seemed to last years. I love watching that show in binges in these pandemic times, but yes, the difference is stark. I don't think the network ever really appreciated ADW. We've all talked about it needing to be revived, but IIRC we discussed it being a Cosby rights issue?

I do wonder if ADW's whole cast change/new generation could've been pulled off at a different time, with the network less skittish and more supportive, or less of a reliance on say, Dwayne and Whitley. I remember thinking it was bold and inspired to try to change things up so much, which made sense for the show's premise. In the '80s in particular I wonder if they could've gotten away with it, but it was a refresh tailored to the '90s too and rightly so I suppose. But there was a perfect storm of problems outside of the show, as Khan mentioned, that left it in a weaker position. (I don't think the power of the early '90s FOX block with Martin, etc. can be overstated) I was under the impression Cheers was already huge thanks to Sam and Diane well before Woody.

I despised Home Improvement, or as I always thought of it, G-rated Roseanne.

For good reason! She should not still be on the show, anymore than Chelsea.

They talk about his pettiness in the article (and James Marsters, among others, has discussed it) but my own weird Joss Whedon ego moment in the past came long, long ago. For years Whedon has been whining about how his script of Alien: Resurrection was 'ruined' by the brilliant French director Jean-Pierre Jeunet. While that film is certainly stylistically OTT, a bit broad and not to everyone's tastes, as a teenaged film nerd I read his script before the film came out, back when it still had a part written in for Chow Yun-Fat and an Earthbound ending. With the exception of a name change to the Chow character and a cheaper ending in the last few pages, that movie is word for word his script, melded with Jeunet's very different sensiibility (and it's a film I like a lot, unlike most of the planet!). The conclusion for me then was, Whedon just doesn't like being out of control. He has to be the master.

I'll just leave this link here, since I did not want to post the Vulture tweet with a giant pic of his face: https://www.vulture.com/article/joss-whedon-allegations.html I think most of our relationships here with Whedon's work are complicated at best, and this piece sure won't change that. Nothing in here surprises me, and a lot of it mortifies me.

Huh, I didn't even know he was on that. Last time I remember seeing him was as a goth desk clerk in a terrible Liam Neeson movie. Good for him.

I wasn't into the Labine idea with Holly as I think it was initially described - my understanding is she was supposed to fall for Olivia who wouldn't be into her. I don't need another riff on The Children's Hour with a lonely pining lesbian, especially as strong a character as Holly. Could I buy bisexual Holly today? Absolutely.

I've never liked Friends and I never will!

Both cuts of it are on Criterion. Diva is less renowned now, but I think I may prefer it - from a series of books with one of the supporting characters, a sort of detective/nomad. It got a re-release and restoration a few years back but I don't know if it's on Blu-Ray. It goes on and off Criterion and various services.

Good news:

Crystal Hunt is, in fact, the Antichrist.

Beineix is best known today for Betty Blue, but his Diva was another of the founding films of the hyper-stylized 'cinema du look' French films of the '80s, many of whose directors and styles (like Luc Besson) ultimately headed West as well. I love Diva.

Say what we will about Farah (and you can say plenty), I have always appreciated her blunt attitude and the fact that she made no secret, from Day 1, how much she respected Erika Slezak and looked up to her. Farah doesn't respect everyone, lol. She never stopped talking about her for her entire run on the show, and their bond worked onscreen. Erika doesn't suffer fools either, and seemed to always like her.

She never elevated AMC. But it didn't surprise me she got hired at Y&R, where she'd never have made it 20 years ago. The pool is small and she's alive.

I just frankly think that as CLB has got campier and campier the pairing has seemed like more and more of a farce. I think you can tell a sensitive storyline about a bisexual Michael coming out late in life without dishonoring the couple. It's not like they're doing anything else! And it would definitely make the latter-day Michael more interesting.

I will say this about 'retconning characters to be gay': I'd do a Far From Heaven story with both Michael and Kevin on Y&R turning out to be gay and/or bi (probably Michael being bi and Kevin gay) in an instant. It doesn't destroy the audience's memories of the good times with Michael and Lauren but it is a more honest accounting.

I understand the impulse. And if it was a different situation I might be more for it, since Kevin Spirtas has been flamingly gay for decades. But the Craig/Nancy thing was wish fulfillment for a segment of the audience and I think it's a shame to take that away from them. Nobody needed to make David Vickers gay on OLTL because I think most of us assume David was already omnisexual and would sleep with anything; why not simply do the same thing with Craig?

I don't see a reason to doubt Burgi's story on his face, if it's true he's vaxxed (my first thought when he was dismissed and recast was that he wasn't). He's not attacking the show. I do also suspect that given his resume he costs less than Robert Newman, so his mistake would be a convenient excuse to recast and cut costs. But they could be completely in the right. It won't make the show any better.