Faulkner

Matt Bomer

Again, it’s giving late-stage GL.

Korbel was hot af, but that’s all the positivity I can give about that story. (Eyal Podell has apparently had a very successful career writing screenplays for animated movies like The Angry Birds Movie.) These shows are too quick to throw away good characters permanently because they don’t think simply “leaving town” has a big enough dramatic impact (people die IRL tragically, right?), or they can’t figure out a reason for the person to depart the show alive (why would they leave their family, etc., especially if they haven’t done the necessary setup for a prison exit). Colleen’s death damaged so many characters in the long run. Especially Lily, who felt even more isolated in her Cane corner.

For me, that’s the million-dollar question: what does a new daytime soap look like in 2024? I wonder how large the cast can be. The 2-3 family structure is classic soap, but things can get incestuous really quickly without a strong range of unrelated individuals for romantic purposes on a daily, one-hour soap, if that’s indeed the format. Should exorbitant wealth be the focus? I’d be happy with a family that’s merely very comfortable instead of trying to be like the Newmans. There’s too much suspension of disbelief to depict Victor, et al., as billionaires with Y&R’s budgets. Succession could dramatize the Roys’ extravagance with their HBO budgets. Daytime cannot, and it’s often embarrassing to see them try. (Although there’s something appealing about seeing a Black family on that level—people may be looking for that, as daytime has never really gone there.) I know actors realize how much job security matters nowadays, especially with the opportunities shrinking as streamers enter an austerity period (just now seeing this article here). Some stars might be willing to budge on big payouts, but can they afford a cast with several big names?

Thanks, Errol! I’m anticipating the inevitable Vanessa Marcil interview, as she’s teased it on her IG. Like many of us, I haven’t been a huge fan of Sonny/MB since the S&B heyday, but I think he’s done a really good job with his YouTube series.

Other notable SOM episodes, including an interview with Tyler Christopher before his untimely passing: More episodes in the spoiler (to help with loading)

I didn’t want to disrupt the existing GH thread, and Maurice has interviewed people from different soaps (including Trevor St. John, Eileen Davidson, and Christian Le Blanc). If you’re not familiar with the format (most of you are), it’s Maurice’s YouTube series/podcast in which he interviews primarily fellow actors—usually daytime/GH stars but he occasionally interviews well-known “mainstream” names like Sharon Lawrence—about mental health, childhood trauma, and how they manage their careers. MB’s own struggles with bipolar disorder and anxiety are well-documented. His candor about his life (attempts to take his own life, stories of hospitalizations, his threats of violence against his wife during a breakdown, etc.) ultimately gets the interviewee to open up about their own mental health challenges. He says it’s about breaking down the stigmas. Today, he’s releasing an episode with recent Emmy winner Robert Gossett (a.k.a. Marshall Ashford a.k.a. Hat Dad on GH), who opens up about—trigger warning—the loss of his son to suicide, a tragedy Gossett mentioned in his Emmy speech in December.

Crazy. A swarm of bees invaded the main court at Indian Wells during the Alcaraz/Zverev match, causing a delay. Carlitos got stung.