Faulkner

Rachel/Raquel is SUING both Tom and Ariana for revenge porn:

I’m curious about the role Amanda Beall plays in the state of things. How much influence does she have? What on the screen springs from her input? Never been a fan of her scripts obviously. But she’d naturally be a candidate to replace JG if that should come to pass—given her rise through the ranks and producer role. Sad that she’s replaced Natalie Minardi Slater as the heir(ess) apparent.

This was the first thing that came to mind when I saw the sad news:

Dude is great at killing characters off screen for no reason. See also Keemo.

They’re going back to having a group of past winners introduce the nominees one by one in each acting category: https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/2024-oscars-past-winners-introduce-acting-nominees-1235837121/

I wonder what said deal entails. Will we see even more austerity? The show feels bare as it is. It’s still so weird that something as Jetsons-sounding as 2028 is four years away.

Rugby 🍑

I watched All of Us Strangers last night on Hulu. Devastating and beautiful film that still makes me emotional thinking about it. Shameful it was largely ignored by the leading award bodies. Andrew Scott, Paul Mescal, Claire Foy, and Jamie Bell were all brilliant. Andrew Scott’s performance in particular is an all-timer. I will never hear this song the same way again:

Yeah, I remember she said it either to SOD or Michael Logan years ago, giving Claire Labine credit for the freedom to write such honest material.

“Pour some sugar on me, honey, TOO!”

Yeah. Agnes and AMC were really committed to a diverse canvas. The Wards on GH had a moment under Labine, but GH has never had a long term commitment to its Black characters. But that moment under Labine was special: The Black characters addressed race with a frankness I’ve not seen elsewhere in daytime while not making “race” the only thing they brought to the show. This performance by Joseph C. Phillips as Justus at Mary Mae’s funeral is great: And this is amazing. Would any other soap allow Black characters to lampoon their core white family in such a way? Actually suggesting they might be anything other than pure and open-hearted about race, even sainted Lila? Devon, Mamie, and Nate can’t even really talk about the elephant in the room with Jill and Billy on Y&R.

I know a lot of hard work goes into producing this show, but you’re right—there’s a pervasive feeling of laziness and halfassedness on Y&R (and B&B—which just recycles stunts). You get a sense of a creative team of writers, et al. who don’t care, which may not be the case, but it’s what comes across. It’s frustrating to watch a show and constantly be confronted with missed opportunities, both from the scripts and the stories.