Faulkner

FAA needs to do something different. Take a breather and get his body right. Tough R1 for Venus, but at least she got to play Centre.

The show isn’t wonderful. Things don’t feel completely thought through, aside from the general sibling rivalries that have always existed on Y&R. You can still feel the impact of budget cuts, but the spaciousness and vibrancy of the Athletic Club make Y&R feel less claustrophobic. It’s an actual place where people *would* hang out and take meetings, unlike the tiny hotel lobby of the Grand Phoenix. The movement and sense of conflict have improved largely enough to make it more watchable. They remembered this is a soap! Scenes need to have friction, with two people wanting different things and trying to figure out ways of getting them, and couples need to have affairs. Audra has been a great addition as a sneaky snake who loves sex but still has her goals in mind. Audra/Kyle still felt pretty unsexy to me, though, even though the show lavished them with lengthy scenes of them wrestling in bed. Not sure if the current intimacy-coordinator climate has changed how Y&R does these scenes or if it’s just poor direction, but the choreography felt super awkward, like they were posing instead of overcome with passion. Michael Mealor is gorgeous but he can’t sell the sexuality, which is weird, as I thought he did an OK job when he started. They’ve also slowed down the business merry-go-round and added some stakes. (Jack installing Diane at Jabot had at least been in the works for a while, and you can see where it’s leading, whereas JG’s previous attempts at playing out corporate subterfuge have been underwhelming, aside from Lily/Devon/Nate’s battles.) And at least Tucker and Diane have freshened up the tired Ashley/Jack rivalry (some of the recent scenes feel like nearly word-for-word retreads of scenes from Mal Young’s era, when Ashley faked blood tests to suggest Jack wasn’t really an Abbott.) Tucker and Diane remain largely opaque characters who make Ashley and Jack seem like idiots, but TSJ and SW are charismatic enough for me to *somewhat* roll with it. I feel like JG is hedging with them, unsure if he’s going to allow Tucker or Diane to be real vipers in the grass. It makes them feel a bit underbaked as characters. I laughed at Nate as an outright villain needling Nick for not being there when Sally’s baby died and letting Faith get kidnapped. They are letting him venture to dark places. I hope it’s worth it and they let him really wreck Newman. Nikki issuing him a warning felt like a similar scene she had with Drucilla over Nick back in the day. Broken record but AH still isn’t doing it for me. When Victoria forced Nick to take a leave of absence and was volleying with Victor over Nate, I kept thinking of how HT would have played it. Sorry, but if she was credible, I wouldn’t be thinking of someone who hasn’t been in the role in LITERALLY 20 years. Of course, they’d likely be writing things differently if HT were in the role. I’m getting a sense that they’re reverting back to Phyllis as a loudmouth, misunderstood heroine with Michael as her hype man and Christine as the great hand of injustice who just can’t get over her vendetta against the woman who tried to kill her. (Why can’t she just get over it, guys?) That’s not something I’d want to watch. It was refreshing to see her widely disliked for a change, and Stafford actually showed up to play for a while and not just vamp. But this show still sees her someone the audience should root for, like a more flamboyant, female Victor. Michael and Phyllis are not cute, and I need to see people other than Kyle reading her riot act. The Jerry Douglas tribute was ok, but the recasts limited how much they could show. Some of Jerry’s best work was with Terry Lester and Brenda Epperson. Sick of Traci trying to unite her family. Give the woman something else to do.

There are some shows that, even when they weren’t the greatest back in the day, were still watchable on the strengths of the actors, as you say, @Khan, and just the vibe. GL is certainly up there for me. That said, I started watching circa 1990 as a kid, so I don’t have the same deep anger surrounding the decimation of the Bauer family and the other characters who were dismissed around 1983-85. I can certainly imagine people feeling the way I felt when the Santos crime family and the San Cristobal set displaced some of my favorites. But how can you not love Mary Kay Adams jousting with Beverlee McKinsey, for example?

This isn’t famous but it tickles me. It’s from GL 1985. India is warning Maeve about Reva, whom she believes has her gold-digging sights set on Phillip and Kyle. Reva, who was married to H.B. at the time, walks in on the chat, and India calls her every ugly white-trash/slut name in the book. India tells her to “stick to Old Man Lewis and count your blessssssings,” with that amazing Mary Kay Adams’s accent, before working her way to a final degradation: ”DO YOUR BIOLOGICAL TWITCHINGS IN HIS BEDROOM!” This one is more infamous: ”There’s only one last thing left to say. So long, you miserable hypocrites! It’s been real fun! *jazz hands*” - Barbara before leaping through the window in the courtroom on ATWT

Kyrgios has pulled out of Wimbledon. His return from injury seemed premature anyway and he’s not defending any points from last year’s final.

“She loves me. She loves me not. She loves me not. She loves me. She loves me NOT! Can you hear me?!?! Can you hear me?! Do you know what I’ve done?!? It’s Vivian. It’s Vivian!” Vivian to Carly after burying her alive on DAYS. “Go ahead, sweetie. Give it your best shot. Because I’ve faced death. A few times. And compared to that, you are nothing!” Brenda to Skye on GH.

“You’re fired, Roger. Fired from the company. From the marriage. From this club. From the entire town if I can manage it! I’m sure that everyone will find the air a little sweeter without the stench of your presence!” Alexandra, Guiding Light

“Hello, Barbara…” James, As the World Turns “I see you! Oh, Robin, I see you!” Stone, General Hospital

Also, the iconic Dominique, “It’s buuuuuurned… The champagne was obviously frozen in the bottle at some point.” “You have reduced us to a ridiculous suburban joke, and I will never forgive you for this!” Maureen to Lillian, Guiding Light

This is cool Rafa wasn’t at the final to my knowledge.

Years ago, AFI did a “100 Years… 100 Movie Quotes” list citing the great movie lines in film history. (“Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn” from Gone With the Wind ranked No. 1.) What would make a soaps list? Not full scenes or monologues but a line of dialogue that has entered the lexicon in pop culture or among soap fans (even if the line was campy or bad). Some we’ve seen ad nauseum on soap opera clip shows. Some very obvious choices off the top of my head: ”I baptize myself ‘The Slut of Springfield! Isn’t that right, Joshua?! Is that what you want?!” Reva, Guiding Light ”I am Erica Kane! And you are a filthy beast!” Erica, All My Children ”Isn’t that right, Maria?! St. Maria of Wildwind! Tending to the sick in her push-up bra…” Erica, All My Children “Goodbye, Tramp!” Katherine, The Young and the Restless “How much more do you want, Mr. Callison? Haven’t I said what everyone wants to hear? What you want everyone one to hear?! That I am… a common… hooker like Katrina Karr?!!!” Karen, One Life to Live ”My curse on you, Laura and Luke! My curse on BOTH of you!” Liz Taylor’s Helena, General Hospital What else?

Summer 1993 was also the summer of SMG’s Kendall appearing and wreaking havoc on Erica on AMC. For me, that was the last really good summer for soaps (as 1993 was the last really strong year for soaps in general).

I saw Chris Eubanks play FAA at the USO qualies way back in 2018. He lost that match, but it’s so cool to see him win his first title today in Mallorca against a solid grass player like Mannarino. Especially at this point in his career, at 27. He’s now 43 in the world.

GL summer 1993: Kat/David with David accidentally killing Vinnie and going on the run, all the Macaulay West stuff with Joe Lando OLTL summer 1993: the aftermath of Marty’s rape

I’ve seen him in so much stuff over the years, but this was probably the most memorable moment for me. So glad I saw this in the theater and was unspoiled. (If people haven’t seen “Wait Until Dark,” an absolute classic, go watch. TCM used to air it a lot.)

There’s a huge gap between Y&R’s Monday and Friday numbers. Things really really jumped big time on that Friday (when the Cameron/Sharon and Sally stories were coming to their climaxes).

B&B fans got the short end of the stick there.

Wozniacki is un-retiring. Set to return in Montreal: Her Vogue essay about her return. She says she recently had dinner with Serena to talk it through: https://www.vogue.com/article/caroline-wozniacki-is-returning-to-tennis

A spin-off is in the works, with Jax, Brittany, and Kristen in talks to star.

Madonna has postponed her tour due to a “serious bacterial infection” that resulted in an ICU stay.

Looks like you called it. WBD reversed the ousting of TCM’s 25-year head of programming (at least they’ll have his institutional knowledge, which had been a concern) and Spielberg/Scorsese/PTA will partner with the network to curate content.

Oh my gawd. Rinse, repeat.

Sad but inevitable news. The human remains discovered near Mount Baldy have been identified as those of Julian Sands.

He was such a hoot as Lionel on Santa Barbara. He and Louise Sorel were so good together.