Faulkner

It’s crazy the things soaps have gotten away with. And neither Lindsay (Korman) Hartley nor Galen Gering are Latino, yet they’ve played Latino characters on both Passions and DAYS. (Lindsay also played Latina on AMC.) At least Jordi Vilasuso and Camila Banus are Cuban-American.

I’m sure Kelly and Ryan are all hands on deck this weekend putting together a Regis tribute package for Monday:

Oh wow

Agree, and I think it’s also timing. There’s the surprise factor, and there’s a real vacuum in music right now, especially with everyone on pause. (Note: She’s also not competing with summer blockbusters for attention, with movie theaters closed.) Look at the songs right behind her on streaming: from DaBaby and Juice WRLD. Those artists are huge with core listeners on streaming services, but not household names who could galvanize audiences of all kinds (where even older listeners will take notice). A big star could really take advantage of this moment with a well-received record. I think even Gaga’s album popped way more than it would have in normal times.

I do wonder if we’ll ever see box set-style curated stories, like a few episodes detailing Marlena’s possession or a series highlighting the Bo/Hope romance, which may actually be a much better bingeing experience. They’d likely have to deal with some music replacement stuff, but at least it wouldn’t be such a gargantuan task for so little payoff. They’d never get a license fee to cover the costs of remastering and dealing with rights for thousands of episodes, especially with ‘80s episodes where there was so much popular music.

I think if they were going to do a Janelle song, “Tightrope,” “Dance Apocalyptic,” or “Cold War” would have been better. Just more energetic.

I’m curious how a new Rihanna or Adele album would do.

From Chicago 🇺🇸

It’s *really* gross. You definitely see what a dark, damaged character Luke was in many ways, which I know Tony Geary wanted to play up after his ‘90s return, but they also dance around it. It’s very uncomfortable to watch. I feel like I need to backtrack to 78-79 to truly understand what they were aiming to do. George Gaynes was a versatile actor, yet I still find it weird to watch Punky Brewster’s foster dad as this ruthless mob boss. Even as its characterization and storytelling declined, GH maintained the quality of its day-to-day scripts well into the 2000s, far beyond that of the other soaps. 1980 GH’s dialogue was incredibly smart. There was a throwaway scene between Dr. Jesse Brewer and her partner Dan Rooney about dating late in life, and the dialogue was so thoughtful and rich and full of wisdom that I took notice. Just the caliber of the scripts were so much higher then. Each character’s voice felt so singular.

They all but telegraphed that would win the crown, but it was deserved. She turned it this season. Last week’s LSFYL to Reba’s “Fancy” should have been epic, but it was one of the worst in the whole franchise. Wrong queens for that song, which lends itself to an emotional performance (like “Black Velvet”) and not turns and flips. Why bring back Newark LaGuardia Kennedy Davenport for that?

I’ve seen a few takes comparing this album to my favorite National song, “Pink Rabbits.” I definitely hear it a little bit, as well as Lana Del Rey and Mazzy Star. (Although I’m not particularly bowled over by the album so far. Her vocals have come a LONG way over the years, I agree.)

From the Philippines 🇵🇭

Not unexpected.

A lot of people find the National a bit boring but I enjoy them. I’d say these are more exciting:

This is the highlight:

I wonder if we should brace ourselves for an explosion of surprise material from artists who’ve been holed up creating new music. Especially if they have home studios and what-not. It’s been a very slow few months. I know some artists want to wait until they can support new releases with tours, but who knows when that’s gonna happen at this point. Concerts will likely be one of the last things to return.

From Toronto 🇨🇦

I love The National (of which Aaron Dessner is a member), so I’m interested in seeing how this goes. That sound is certainly not on trend in terms of what gets streamed, but who knows? Her most loyal fans will certainly will follow her anywhere. Not sure what she has to prove anyway.