wonderwoman1951

just read of peter yarrow’s — peter, paul, and mary — passing. free link: peter yarrow obit

there are so many examples, but this one really illustrates that point. in her locher room interview, she had the audacity to compare herself to steven bochco. she was address the ‘friends of jlll’ issue and said something along the lines that ‘well, bochco had his stable of actors, so why shouldn’t she.’ well, jill, yes, bochco often brought to people into his shows — BUT THEY WERE NEW SHOWS! — not soaps that had been on the air for decades, where viewers were emotionally invested in characters and who resented when those characters were pushed aside for jll’s favorites. while this is a rather blatant example, it perfectly illustrates how the people in charge of making — and fixing — soaps have absolutely no understanding of why viewers watch soaps.

What survives of Lemay's AW run shows very wealthy characters who have rich inner lives and react in believable ways. And in Marland-era ATWT, you had many rich characters who were still grounded and felt real. The funny part is that the whole idea of soaps being about camp and OTT and glamour became bigger just as the budgets became smaller. Even Y&R and B&B, which were the most "glam" (although outside of some location shoots I always thought B&B looked a bit cheap to be honest), did not survive without huge slashings. You also have to ask what DOES glamourous mean in 2025? Kim Hughes sitting down in her Patterns chair had glamour...does a never-ending supply of veneers, Botox, Ozempic, and wearing American flag bikinis at Maralago? Does the increasingly desiccated Bravo circuit? That's why I don't really need whatever turgid idea of camp or money is around in recent years. I'm happy to save that for whatever Jamey Giddens/Ron Carlivati parody project is in the works next. interesting observation that as budgets decreased, camp and glam increased. and, yes, what does glam even mean these days? didn’t watch much of aw’s later years, so i can’t say much there. but as for doug marland’s ‘world turns,’ he inherited both lucinda walsh and james stenbeck, but brought on the snyders (based on his own family). and while no one in oakdale was likely to wind up on food stamps (even when the snyders were in trouble, someone always bailed them out), the hughes and stewarts all worked for a living.

not so much about economic status or class, what i miss is soaps with characters grounded in reality and emotional authenticity. apple tv+ opened their vault over the weekend and i watched ‘shrinking’. the characters were largely well-educated, extremely well-paid professionals. but the relationships between and among the characters were grounded in familiar and relatable emotional conflicts — parent and child, spouses, friends, colleagues. would be nice if ‘behind the gates’ is at least emotionally grounded, but i’m not holding my breath.

this OTT phenomenon began in the early 80s, with the ascent of primetime soaps — dallas, and in particular, dynasty — that coincided with the ‘luke and laura’ juggernaut. but soaps had already been around for 30+ years — something that get often gets lost in the shuffle. soap fans of a certain age:) remember — and pine — the time when soaps focused on intimate interpersonal relationships between and among family and friends — rather ordinary people familiar to many viewers. here and there some of that slack has been taken up in primetime and streaming. i’ll have a look at ‘behind the gates’ if only to see tamara tunie, but, and i’m paraphrasing here, i have to agree with the poster above who said that in daytime, that ship as sailed

you’re a better reader than me! i’ve never been able to get through it.

link to ajc cartoon: eternal reunion

agreed about that monstrosity around reva’s neck. but, oh what a treat to see such long scenes — in particular, frisco and tony on gh.

whit’s murder trial unfolded while i was working in clinical research lab that had a meeting friday afternoons. ordinarily, we would have ended in enough time that i watch the show in the patient lounge however, that day there was a guest speaker. since i didn’t have a vcr, i excused myself for a potty break and never returned my feelings exactly!

@Soapsuds thanks so much for posting this episode. what a treat! some many memories of what soaps used to be

much as i loathe the health care industrial complex, i’m with vanessa friedman regarding the sexual objectification of the shooter: “But in all the hoo-ha over hotness — and, potentially, the way such stories often get rewritten and recreated by history — what gets lost is the violence, as well as the victims.” here’s the free link: luigi mangione jimmy kimmel went into even more detail: jimmy kimmel outs his staff

i can’t remember lisa brown and john wesley shipp ever sharing a scene as iva and doug on ‘world turns, which i assumed was because it was only a few years after their time on guiding light as nola and kelly.

interesting piece in the ny times (free link). of the six, three were on general hospital. glad to see kathryn hays included so many times the p&g actors aren’t deceased soap stars

very nice obit in the ny times. never knew she had been married and divorced — and afterward had a longtime companion. here’s a gift link: helen gallagher obit

now this was funny… watching a 1991 ‘murder she wrote’ with martha byrne as a young amis woman, at the end of the show, is revealed as the killer of the minister who knocked her. up — with a pitchfork! a coincidence? i think not! hunt block was also in the episode.

make of this what you will. the headline on both the huffpost and ny times read: ”gaetz pulls out.” but some spoilsport at the times changed it to “gaetz withdraws.” i found this both amusing and illuminating.

“Senator Susan Collins, Republican of Maine, said in a statement that Gaetz ‘has put country first’ by withdrawing, adding that it was ‘the best decision that Mr. Gaetz could have made.’” and the best decision for her. she may have talked a good game, but push come to shove, would she have actually voted against him? we’ll never know and i’m sure she’s heaving a huge sign of relief.

as i recall, that lane ride with john dixon was how lucinda was introduced. i recognized her from ‘the doctors,’ but for the life of me could not remember her name — forever for it to come to me such was life before imdb:)

food for thought. free link this is us

this is disturbing — not into wordle, but the cooking app! hope they settle soon free link ny times digital media strike

words fail… free link Trump Says He’ll Protect Women, ‘Like It or Not,’

not that this is news. but, sometimes a picture (or in this case, a graph) really is worth more than 1000 words… free link. comparing harris and trump ads

seems to be her mo. i remember her doubling — tripling, quadrupling — down on valerie garret a few years back on 60 minutes. so annoyed me that i rarely watch her. wonder if does she does this with men , as well, or just women?

putting his money where we always hoped his mouth was… free link bill gates contributes $50 million to harris

wasn’t watch when she was playing michelle, but found this fascinating. gift link. bethany joy lenz memoir