Vee

Mike DiBonis, who notably stepped in it the other day as a reporter passively defending Manchin's POV, has this readout:

If the House is largely unified, and it seems to be, then I think the leaks are accurate (and leaks come from everywhere in Congress, it doesn't need to be Jayapal showing her ass like she has so often done). Pelosi certainly doesn't seem bothered, and it's notable that none of the usual troublemakers have taken a single shot at her doing this process - they've said she's their leader, they support her current plans and have reserved their ire for Sinema and Manchin. No matter how the Beltway likes to frame it, bc they defer to centrists and conservatives, it's not a progressive revolt. The progressives seem to be in array with the WH; these bills are going to get done and they're furthering the President's agenda. If Gottheimer, Sinema and Manchin have a problem with the debate and the public opinion not going their way it's their problem. Old Dick Durbin doesn't go on television and take direct aim at Sinemanchin like he did the other day without a nod from the WH, either. This is coordinated. I don't have to be in love with all these people to find common cause.

Do you guys still check troll reports? Asking for a friend.

Don't feed the troll, John.

It takes a lot for Politico's own to admit this:

That would've definitely been a fun ending. I liked the idea of the Killing Pool but the execution was very silly. Which is what she should really be now, and what Eileen seems to want to do.

Kristen was larger than life by the end of her run. She was not viable to continue indefinitely. That's why I was a little shocked when she came back in the 2010s, bc I didn't know how she could feasibly return to Salem and coexist after all she'd done. (I guess Stefano bought her out of trouble) It worked, but long-term multi-year runs don't, I think. They tried to quasi-redeem her with Haiduk, and it was worth a shot for the audacity's sake given such a talented recast. But they defanged her and got too far away from the character. I think Mark Valley's Jack worked, but the problem was he was almost a totally different person. He was a more conventional leading man in the more simplistic Reilly mold. I never accepted Krista Allen as Billie and never will. It was alien to me. And Julie Pinson was always just a stand-in AFAIC, no matter how much of a cartoon Rinna can be these days.

1.5 isn't enough. Between 2 and 2.5 is where it was always going to end up and where it should be.

JER's conception of men and women, heroes and heroines was generally very narrow IMO. That he resented Ashford's Jack was not surprising. Thaao is a character and a TV legend.

The WH has clearly let folks off the leash re: the very strong criticism from other Dems towards these two. Manchin/Sinema have been feeling the heat in the last few weeks more than ever before, and I think Manchin responds very poorly to pressure. He's started getting less and less of the unquestioning gaggles he likes where he can just shoot the breeze with Capitol Hill kid reporters and less of the TV hits where he isn't asked any clear questions but is instead starting to be poked more and more specifically on details within these engagements, and even the Bloomberg guy the other day got under his skin and made him lose his cool when he asked him about his son's energy company and its blind trust. Whenever Manchin feels pressurized, he does another gaggle or pulls something like he did yesterday - puts out a brazen statement or video, which ultimately said nothing new. I don't think it is going to work for him this time in quite the same way. And that's not even getting to Sinema, who is clearly rattled. We're crossing some sort of Rubicon with the bulk of the majority and I don't know where it leads.

I think it was a mistake to cancel the mothership and leave only SVU which long ago became a crass parody of itself. Organized Crime is solid but it's so different. I am open to it coming back.

I did not know about the crazy Pompeo/Viola Davis interview incident in this thread. Woof.

Yes, Jane House, famously killed falling up the stairs and IIRC an integral part of a central quadrangle at the time.

Yes. Reilly was nuts. And it showed in his work, especially in the 21st century. He could be very smart about long plotting and getting attention for a show, he did some of my favorite stories and couples, but in his later years he turned the dialogue and character work on DAYS into puerile schlock from which it has never fully recovered. I enjoyed DAYS immensely in the mid-90s but I remember the dialogue work being poor even then compared to other shows. People used to get on me hard about this back in the day on here, and they know who they are. We all grew up with the same show. That doesn't mean we're all still in sixth grade, lol. Irna Phillips was the same.

I remember that well, which is why I was shocked to hear him talking about them like they're actual human beings and he lives on Planet Earth lol. That was rare for JER.

There was also the rumor that they toyed with making Eric gay when he came back, which I'm not sure I buy given the show's extreme Catholic bent both before, during and after Reilly.

That's the sanest interview I've ever seen with him (and they're rare, period).

Bad things happen to the teenager who did a bad thing and needs some comeuppance? Shocking. Somehow I'm sure the audience will survive, and certainly Spencer will.

Yeah - IIRC from the '69 episode online, Merrie and Tom befriended Amy at the hospital and bonded over her.

I loved Maison Blanche. So much. I never had it in for Hope/Gina, because I found Kristian Alfonso fascinating (if much tamer on DAYS than she'd been on Melrose Place, my first exposure to her) but I adored Billie. I do remember JER gave a very explicit interview in '97 or so about how he felt John/Hope could be a major couple and would be together bc John and Marlena must pay for their sins against God - adultery, or whatever - and Bo must honor his marriage vows to NuBillie. He gave no indication of reuniting the prior couples at that time. I never knew how much of it was him mugging for the press and playing the teaser, because Reilly's issues with his faith were truly twisted and dogmatic onscreen, especially on Passions later. I did think Drake and Kristian had chemistry, but no one has ever utilized it properly. I also loved Mike and Carrie at the time - sue me.

Actually, I'm p sure that still involves the '69 episode that leaked online - I think there was a little girl at Llanview Hospital who figured into that in the plot with Tom and Meredith. Don't quote me though.

I assume that's Joe Gallison (Tom Edwards) next to Sadie, but who's the little girl?