Vee

Tuning in for the holiday to see if Mel - who I never liked - gets it. A few annoying questions from a very infrequent viewer these days: Is it me or do they keep pairing Ian with variations on the same domestic/shrinking violet woman with different names? First Laura, then Jane, now whoever this Jean person is? I know she's Stacey's mother and has been around but she's new to me and new per Ian AFAIK. (Why did Jane never come home after Max was found out, BTW? Not that I care about her much but I'm curious. And how is Max still hanging around after all he pulled?) I'm not saying Ian is worthy of some sexbomb, but at a glance it still seems like virtually the same character model with different variations. Does Kathy have any actual storyline? Same with Tina. Speaking of, I know they're opening a gay bar soon which is lovely news, but maybe they could also add more actual gay people with real storylines beyond impregnating women, murdering someone or just light fodder. Did Ben get killed off by Patrick Bergin from Patriot Games' family after leaving with the fake money, or is he alright?

LOL:

Wasn't Bruno Langley (who played gay Todd on Corrie, but to my knowledge isn't gay) fired for assaulting a woman? And had a wife or partner and child. Lachlan Buchanan didn't make much effort to hide after Y&R. He even was the first gay guy on Fuller House.

This is a touching surprise. Barbara Windsor speaks up for Shane Richie at his Christmas panto:

The only one of these I didn't know about was Brent Weber who was obscure. I thought everyone knew about JB, PAS, Ian Buchanan over a decade ago.

I thought people on Mars knew Paul Anthony Stewart was gay years ago.

ETA: Bernie's ridiculous official statement re: running today is catching plenty of heat.

I still have no idea why Mel came back.

At least it seems (per TMZ) the split pre-dates the show's return, so it's not a 'I'm a star again' thing.

If he didn't know he didn't want to know. And still doesn't. Like a lot of the far left. If they attempt this they're playing the game with the wrong Speaker:

I caught the Kat/Alfie showdown tonight. I doubt he's dead, but that scripted material was brutal, especially re: Alfie; not sure how they can come back from some of that narratively, but I was never one of their bigger fans even back in the old days. Maybe a more invested or regular viewer could offer their opinion on tonight's scenes vs. the Kat/Alfie romantic heyday, which I have some familiarity with but not a ton.

The thing is, we aren't helpless. We have levers to take action, and we did that this fall and will do so more. You're right that it's a test, but what matters now is following through with action in the new year. Merry merry, everyone.

And now, to cap off the year, I could never make this up:

I'm so sick of the antisemite wing of the far left.

Yeah, the 'spoofing/playing themselves' concept news has already been around for a year. That's not what the recent story alleged, though, so it remains to be seen if that original idea is still in the mix, or if the above ET link is merely regurgitating the original news from months ago for clickbait. (Daily Mail definitely just repurposes old stories and is extremely unreliable) Personally, I hope not; it won't work. As for Jason Wiles, Colin was never intended to be longterm according to the above interviews. They began dirtying him up pretty fast with drugs. Susan, I have no idea.

Not all of the left hated Obama. But much of the far left certainly did, because he was young, non-white and not from their handpicked list of saviors from the Bush years, many of whom were either has-beens or journalists. The attitude was and remained 'who does he think he is?' - to the point that a lot of those 2000s-era superstars have now drifted to the right or so far left that they might as well be right. The reason they attack O'Rourke - or Harris, or Booker - are for much the same reasons: Those candidates are not their chosen saviors or superstars, i.e. Bernie. Anyone who challenges Bernie's shine is to be crushed. I don't think it'll work as well as they hope, not after everything the public has seen about Bernie, Jill Stein, etc.'s roles in 2016 in the last two years. They're also extremely alienating in their methods. But I could be wrong. (There's also an obvious racial/gender animus re: Harris, Booker and other female candidates or candidates of color, just as there was with Obama and Clinton.) I don't think any next Democratic president is a guaranteed one-termer should we win in 2020. I think people could've easily claimed that about Obama going in, but in the crunch year it was never close IMO. It depends on a lot of things we can't know yet. And 'bothsides-ism' is under more public assault than ever before thanks to the rise of social media, which is good for the future, if anything right now is.

If he gets the nom I'll probably be fine with it provided he has a non-white/male running mate. But I'd rather he be someone else's running mate atm. And I wouldn't lose hope. I honestly wasn't sure I'd see an Obama in my lifetime. (My mother, who was going to work for Bobby Kennedy, spent his entire election night speech in '08 fearing he'd be shot onstage.)