Faulkner

Erstwhile Hollywood starlet Carroll Baker, now 90, gives an impassioned defense of Bill Cosby… Lordy:

It’s an effective game, though. Whether or not that’s a damning statement on the rest of the WTA is up for debate, I suppose. I don’t love watching her play either, but she’s a respectable No. 1.

Well, NuChanel is… diving right in.

Ash Barty just made 25% first serves and still won her opening set 6-1. The level of play is simply not Grand Slam caliber this year.

What Ben is doing is not cute. Agree with everyone else.

A sixth week at No. 1 for “Butter,” a song I’ve yet to hear in the wild. (Its airplay numbers are decent, so it may just be me.) Ed Sheeran’s latest enters the top 10 at No. 5.

It’ll be hilarious if this is the year Karolina Pliskova wins a major title. Lord.

From Nashville 🇺🇸

EL/Tara being No. 1 is NUTS. They are truly clueless.

Certainly B&B too. GH at least has some peaks and valleys lately (the lead-up to Peter and Cyrus’s departures had energy I haven’t seen on Y&R in years, but it all just deflated almost instantly).

Yeah, it’s super sad. The dialogue feels like they think it’s smart but it’s really not at all. It’s just stiff. Victoria, Ashland, and Amanda and her family feel particularly hampered by it. It’s not as pop-culture cutesy as Amanda Beall’s work on AMC, but something about it makes me feel like she has a hand in it as co-HW. If a certain spoiler comes to pass, I might be out. Just out of principle. Part of me watches because I’m trying to envision what behind-the-scenes environment fosters such a show. And I like the community here. But it’s a slooooog to get through episodes, and life is short.

I don’t think what you’re saying is at odds with what I’ve stated. Of course, they have a budget. But storytelling isn’t the priority for them. Other shows manage to do both a little better. The show *feels* like they’ve been told, we don’t care if there’s anything happening on screen. Are you under budget? Yes? Approved!

Oh god. I knew something was coming, but maybe that’s my call to skip this episode. Especially with that TV-14 LSV rating…

Saw FAA just beat Sascha. That’s a huge step forward for him to make a slam QF.

Just embarrassing:

I heard Sonego has been playing stupidly but also had some sh!tty luck with some bad line calls (one of which he didn’t challenge) and the rain delay, which happened when he was BP down (he double-faulted when play resumed). Meanwhile, Federer is just skating along…

One might think Griffith and Morina exist solely to keep costs low… making a compelling or even mildly diverting show is way down the list of priorities…

Do they even have that set anymore? So many sets have come and gone on this show…

This Quinn reveal is anticlimactic. Zoe’s absence in particular is a huge miss, especially when they heavily played her part in this story for weeks.

Now it’s raining…

In lieu of Falynn getting an actual peach, could Kenya bring Falynn on to film just to be messy?

What incentives exist for Y&R to fix anything that’s wrong with the show right now? Ratings don’t appear to be cratering (and CBS didn’t seem alarmed when they were). I think a lot of people (viewers included) are content for Y&R to simply be ambient TV. Background noise while you do other things. Or perhaps there’s a silent majority of viewers who are actively enjoying the show. Certainly the very online are not happy.

Angie Kerber peaking again. She usually does well in even-numbered years, but since 2020 was written off, it makes sense lol.