Faulkner

Country is really dominating. I do love Kacey.

Yeah I have a great fondness for “Dream Weaver” alongside ELO’s “Strange Magic” and “Telephone Line,” which we used to play all summer long during a college job I had (sorting files at a hospital). The video I shared mislabels the song as 1972 (it came out in late ‘75), but there’s something about that era of Beatles/prog rock/R&B-inflected pop that hits right in the sweet spot.

We’ve often talked about “Winters Wednesdays” on Y&R, those episodes where it seemed the Black characters and their glorified C-list stories were most prominently featured. If I recall correctly, during the soap shutdown of the pandemic, when CBS aired a week of classic Winters-themed episodes, most of them were indeed from Wednesdays. Wednesday episodes don’t provide the thrill of Friday cliffhangers or the satisfaction of Monday resolutions. Meanwhile, soaps have often used Tuesdays as a weekly reset button, while others use them to delve deeper into the aftermath of Monday’s drama (personally, I can’t stand it when soaps leave us hanging after Mondays). Thursdays often serve as the ramp-up to the big Friday moments. But Wednesdays have often been labeled as the “throwaway” episodes, even though they offer valuable opportunities for character development or exploring parts of the canvas that deepen the world of the show. Some soaps have used Wednesdays for experimentation. GL, for instance, created its “Into the Light” episodes, most notably Harley’s famous superhero escapade. Y&R has adopted this single-character-focused format from time to time (often to give its actors like Jason Thompson and Michelle Stafford their Emmy reels). I don’t particularly like that format, as it stops the forward momentum of story dead in its tracks and many times feels indulgent (usually featuring writer-propped favorites I can’t stand). Of course, there are a lot of variables involved with keeping a soap moving through a week. Actor episode guarantees being one of them. Soaps can’t usually afford to play people everyday (unless you’re Bradley Bell with a tiny cast of favorites), so choices have to be made and stories need to be rotated. There needs to be some passing of the baton between episodes, of course, with each day’s minor cliffhanger getting some resolution the next day (some soaps just don’t do that, preferring to give some “catharsis” from the day’s episode that doesn’t necessarily make you want to tune in tomorrow—like a big romantic montage). So, what are your thoughts on how daily soaps have structured their weeks? Which soaps do you feel best paced you through the week without dropping the ball mid-week, keeping the tension and momentum going? Are there days of the week you have traditionally most skipped when you were slammed with work or life stuff? Do you recall any soap writers or producers offering their insights or philosophies on how the day of the week dictates content?

What was this about?

LOL

I was at this show.

He has passed.

With Y&R and B&B, everything feels like a lot of the same, story wise. (That latest B&B weekly promo could literally have come from any time in the past two years.) There’s really no need to really watch all the time. I’m hearing mixed things about GH, but those numbers have been yikes for a while now.

It’s funny: Phyllis phucked over both Lily’s (Dru) and Heather’s (Paul) parents. They both should despise her. I hope they’re not putting Lily back in Billy’s orbit, but better her than Victoria again.

Tennis hottie Arthur Fils 🇫🇷

Arthur Fils is entering his thirst-trap era and I’m here for it:

Corbin Bleu (ex-OLTL) showing off his assets in a performance of “Mein Herr” from Cabaret. He and Constance Wu are doing Little Shop of Horrors off-Broadway later this month:

Remember when Y&R haters who rarely watch used to reduce the show to boring business stories? JG be like, “You want boring? I’ll show you boring!” It almost rises to parody.

Look at this little thot:

Glad Brad Maule, Rick Springfield, and Sam Behrens will be on it, as they’ve been off the show for ages and can offer the stories from way back alongside Kin Shriner. Tony Geary will be obviously missed, as Luke/Bobbie shared the closest connection, but hopefully he provides a statement like James DePaiva and others did for MF’s tribute to Andrea Evans. Same for Genie Francis, Sarah Brown, and—fingers crossed—Leslie Charleson.

Not that quality aligns with ratings, but I’ve rarely felt less compelled to watch these shows. Not even out of a sense of curiosity.

Wow. Been a such rough time for soap stars in their 60s and early 70s recently.