Wendy

Maybe this is why Julian McMahon decided to leave the grind of the Dick Wolf show, FBI: Most Wanted a few years back. (Others who have worked on his shows have talked of the very long, strenuous hours.) Either way, this is such a shock and just so sad. How I wish a cure for cancer would be found. May he rest in peace.

I know that Spanish version of "Crying", even if I had never seen Mulholland Drive. It's fantastic. May Rebekah Del Rio rest in peace. Fifty-seven is still too young to die.

I know the pairing was polarizing, but Ric seemed to get story and "meat" when paired with Alexis. His entire pairing with Liz seemed wasted on chaining Carly to a wall and stealing her spawn. I will admit that Ric/Liz could work if someone actually invested in them, but that's the problem: No one seems to really give a damn. And, at this juncture, with his moral compass permanently broken, Ric seems better suited to Ava. I do feel for Becky Herbst, even if I never liked Liz too much. She has been loyal to the show, but the Jason pairing was short circuited, Zander used Liz to get over Emily and was never really going anywhere, and she got paired with freaking Franco. And we know how Lucky shook out. Liz just seems like an afterthought herself, no matter the writing regime.

A bit OT: But I am currently watching the Twilight Zone episode, "Third From The Sun", from 1960, apparently the show's first season [even had the different opening theme and graphics!], and Denise Alexander is playing the teenage daughter of a government official who warns his wife of an impending nuclear war.

Yeah, Sorel was forgettable. But Bunny was certainly fun!

Wow, Hunter connections galore! Bummed about Joe Marinelli. And I had no idea that Charles Bateman had passed last year!

Damn, I loved Bunny Tagliati [and Joe Marinelli playing Joan Crawford as God's receptionist in heaven when Mason ended up there was a riot!]. Rest in peace, Mr. Marinelli. Thanks for the laughs and a complicated character that wasn't just played as a joke!

I have no real attachment to any of the mayoral candidates in NYC. But, like @Vee, I loathe the perv known as Andrew Cuomo. With so much chatter that Cuomo would be tough to beat, I am heartened that voters made it clear that they have had their fill of Mr. Touchy-Feely. Let him and his brother go suck up to the right as fellow slime RFK, Jr. did. You know it's coming.

This should automatically be grounds for impeachment. But you know this Congress won't do jack. Just empty words. Because rules don't apply to Diaper Donnie.

I think that was because of Jennifer Aniston. After all, her dad, John Aniston, was on Days, so TPTB of Friends probably wanted to highlight that connection, and since Joey would not be able to remain with the other five friends to work at Days, as it was based in California, the decision was probably made to just say Days was a soap set in NYC. And the above would also explain why a real NYC NBC soap, Another World, wasn't used. No John Aniston. (And then there's that Drake Ramoray/Drake Hogestyn connection, too!)

Both Taster's Choice coffee and Country Crock commercials in the '80s had continuing "soap" like arcs, too! https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=taster's+choice+soap+opera (List of Taster's Choice videos, one even featured Jane Seymour.) The Country Crock ads, it was just the hands of the couple, but there were a whole series of them. A link to a couple (no pun intended - in one video link) is below:

Oz, to me, is like the evil mirror to Law & Order, since both Kathryn Erbe and Chris Meloni (obviously Det. Elliot Stabler on L&O: SVU/L&O: OC) played such horrible criminals on that versus their white-hat characters on the L&O franchise. And Lee Tergesen, while not a main L&O cast member, often was a guest star in the franchise, and also on Oz. Ditto the great Rita Moreno, who also appeared on L&O: CI as the schizophrenic mother of Det. Bobby Goren/Vincent D'Onofrio. Lots of overlap between those two shows, not to mention more such overlap with Homicide: Life On The Street.

As one that watched the Law & Order franchise, including Criminal Intent, I never knew that Kathryn Erbe, who played Det. Alexandra Eames, made an appearance on Another World, but this clip from 1988 shows she did, along with pre-fame Luke Perry:

Sorry, @brisbydog, but I disagree about Sarah and Xander's crimes being made equal. Sarah kept a secret. Yes, it was wrong. But that didn't justify Xander almost beating Phillip to death. No one put a gun to his head. As for a certain someone on the horizon, I will agree with you in that I look forward to that like I look forward to a root canal. But I fear that tired dance is once more coming.

My late mom had his "Lightnin' Strikes" record. She loved that one.

Hell, Amanda Setton herself is a recast. What's Adrianne Leon up to these days, anyway? In any case, it's General Hospital, not The 700 Club. If Amanda Setton won't do the requisite soap plots/mchanics (including love scenes), she needs to find a new line of work.

Eh, just kill Spinelli.

What I'm about to say may be very unpopular, but while I do feel for Deidre Hall as far as her grief for Drake Hogestyn (shared by much of the cast!), well...while I get not everyone will be buddy-buddy behind the scenes, isn't she paid to act as MARLENA and not Deidre? That's what acting is about: Playing someone that likes other characters on screen, even if that's not the case off screen. I don't know: The whole thing with Kristian/Hope was strange and stood out big time. It just seems unprofessional. Ditto Marlena/Maggie. Maybe both actresses now despise each other, but MARLENA AND MAGGIE were friends. Earn the pay check and act friendly, ladies! (Still, nothing tops prime time's The Good Wife and the whole split screen debacle with Julianna Margulies and Archie Panjabi. And my philosophy is the same there: That was ridiculous, petty, and both women should have just sucked it the hell up for the audience and actually worked together.)

Season 2 adds four new cast members: https://tvline.com/casting-news/the-pitt-season-2-cast-new-medical-students-characters-hbo-max-1235458816/

For once, it wasn't Hunter I recalled Luis Guzman from, but the I Love The... series on VH1. Still, thanks for the usual shout out, @slick jones!

In the current environment, while it's small, there is a crumb of good news: Apparently, San Antonio voted for a DEMOCRATIC mayor, Gina Ortiz, beating the "right-hand man" of Gov. Greg Abbott, former Texas Secretary of State Rolando Pablos. https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/5337199-gina-ortiz-jones-wins-san-antonio/

The second photo featuring the late John Spencer is from the Law & Order episode, "Prescription For Death", which was the (second) pilot/first episode all the way back in 1990! He played the father of a daughter that had gone to the ER for a mere sore throat but ended up dead because the doctor on call was drunk and had given her medication that she had an adverse reaction to, after receiving some other medication. So, he will always have that great distinction in addition to The West Wing. (The first pilot, "Everybody's Favorite Bagman", was filmed in 1988! The show was offered to CBS, but they passed. In syndication, it is oddly placed as the sixth episode of Season 1. And Roy Thinnes played DA Alfred Wentworth there. When NBC picked up the show two years later, Thinnes declined to return, and that's how we got Steven Hill's DA Adam Schiff.)

I am so damned embarrassed to be an American with that...thing...at the helm.

If those two crazy (and I do mean crazy!) kids can't make it, where's the hope for the rest of us?!

Yes, JJ is leaving. SOD just broke the news.