Drew

Its really stupid to recast Lucy just because of some off air behaviour. I dont get how the same country that can put some of the raunchiest stuff on TV can be so touchy when it comes to the personal lives of their tv personalities. You wouldnt see people fired over here for being in clubs, or being ... gasp ... offensive on a reality show.

As for Ben ... the kid is a horrible actor. No question. I was enjoying his torturing of Louise and fighting with Jordan for what I suspect were different reasons than the show intended.

She's totally not a loser. There's a bunch of layers with that character.

She didn't have much to do in her first episode, but I think there's lots more to come on the bitchy front. She's stirred my interest thus far though. I though she had a good entrance when she rode in.

The only thing it was lacking was this music:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WXV2u6pXA_g

Seriously, it is so weird seeing Tanya Turner (or whatever they want to pretend to call her) on EE. It might help if Zoe Lucker wasnt playing this part with every mannerism she used to play Tanya, but through all her scenes it just felt weird. Like ... "what is she doing in this [!@#$%^&*] part of town?" That said, I'll take Tanya in whatever form I can get!

Well, watched my first ever full EastEnders episode.

A little boring with all those mangy children. Why are Lauren and Lucy like two feet shorter than everyone else? LoL Them kids are the snoozers. I did like that old guy getting one up on them though. But, from what I've seen, I've always hated that old butch cow that was yelling at him and today definitely didn't make me feel any different. Not to mention she was defending Ben's father, who, from what I've read, is basically EE's Todd Manning. Ugh. Also, I don't buy for a SECOND that Ben could ever beat up Lucas. Not in a million years.

Getting that out of the way, this Kim chick was hilar! Love her. Chelsea (I think that's her name) looked gorgeous today.

Darren was cute. He's my favourite so far.

The kids do suck.

The old guy is Ian Beale, who's the square whinny bitch. And AS IF you hate Shirley! Or Phil. Well, he's definitely not Todd Manning atleast.

You need to go back and watch episodes from about 2 weeks ago to see Ben torturing his littler sister. Hillarious.

Yes, but so is everyone else on the show.

Phil told Ben to defend himself, and Ben's solution was putting Jordan into a temporary coma, though he's regretful.

I loved that he was being bullied (and chased through the square) by a pack of girls! ROFL. And his torture of his little sister with burning metal spoons and locking her in sheds all day was just hillarious because of what a horrible actor that kid is. His "angry" face is somewhere between The Hulk, and someone undergoing a brain aneurysm.

I cannot stand Lucas. My fear is this prostitute murder reshoot will extend his stay.

Its not like people fresh off making funeral arrangements or caring for loved ones in the hospital are going to sit down to Corrie, or any soaps, anyway.

So is that why Lucas was freaking out at the plans to dig up the square garden?

Im 2 weeks behind, but Im loving the ridiculousness of Ben torturing his new sister with hot spoons and sheds. That kid trying to act like Tony Soprano is the funniest thing I've ever seen.

HD ... meh. The improvement is nothing to write home about if you'e been playing the SD eps on something that upconverts. The show already looked stunningly realistic to begin with.

Come on, Josh always looked like a Muppet.

Yes but with that hair now ... OMG.

and yes, I saw the dress. Im just at the wedding now. God what a bore these two weeks have been.

One year later and it feels like bizarro world. Mercedes is having sex with Calvin, asking him to marry her. Cindy is married to Tony. Kris is dressing in mens clothing. Gilly looks like a grown up, while Josh looks like a muppet. WTF.

I'm just starting back up again after not watching for a year. How the [!@#$%^&*] does Lauren end up with Gaz?! And Steph with Gilly?

I think they look great. And Albert Square is definitely more depressing.

What did he do?

The episodes I watched were a bit of an adjustment, although that may have been down to the low budget, and the unfortunate blonde wig on one of the main female cast members. I did laugh at all the Home Alone style scenes (people with their hands to their faces).

He messed up the continuity and sabotaged one of the core characters.

Wow, thanks. This is the one that Harding Lemay wrote for, and someone who was once at DS, right?

Yes, Harding Lemay came in at the end and wrecked nearly everything. And Robert Costello and Ron Sproat both came on from Dark Shadows.

I've seen the first set of beginning episodes, they were quite good. Sadly zip.ca hasnt added the rest. I enjoyed the Matthew Morgan arc when I saw that ages ago in low res downloads.

You guys may enjoy Strange Paradise, the CBC attempt at a Dark Shadows that aired in 1969. 20 full episodes are now online. http://www.youtube.com/strangeparadise69

they're bringing Malachy's ex back? SWEET! I loved her.

I dunno about all the newbies. The McQueen's have been great, and I'm liking the Roy's. The Valentines ... eh. Sasha's such a waste of space, Lauren's OK, Calvin's meh, though atleast Leo's funny.

I dont have a problem with "too many" gay stories, just stories that are contrived like Zoe and Sarah having sex on Later. I still think that was stupid.

anyway, i just played catch up on like 5 weeks of episodes, so in brief ....

OMG the whole Mandy/Louise/Warren story was fantastic, I cant wait to find out what really happened to Louise - and i'll miss her and Mandy. I hate the term "hair model", I absolutely despise it, and how anyone could attach a label that means one has no acting ability to either Mandy or Louise's actresses, especially after the month of december's episodes is blind.

Warren's handicapped foster brother can quickly depart, i was not happy seeing him now in the opening titles. I see him getting annoying very quickly, and there are better ways to humanize Warren.

I loved the McQueens at the wedding, stealing the food, bringing the "entertainment" for all to see

The Nativity thing, lol.

I love Anita, and most of the Roy family (except the father)

Teresa ...... um, I dunno. She's basically Carmel and Machaela rolled into one, I dont really see the need for her. And I cant stop looking at that fried mess on top of her head.

have the McQueens made any mention of Mercedes wedding?

yea they're pretty agressive with their censorship over there. Australia's one of the big reasons why alot of the 60s episodes of Doctor Who are available today - recovering episodes and clips from their censorship board.

I didnt like the sudden lesbian thing between Zoe and Sarah. This seems to be the fad now with all primetime shows, characters established as straight forever randomly becoming lesbians for no reason other than to be shocking. Its not like the show's hurting for gay characters like the US shows are, they have Kris and Ravi, and just lost Keiron/Craig and John Paul but they were all front burner.

so I finally played catch up with a months worth of episodes, and Later. Later was soooooooooo good! The location shoots were great - awesome production quality. Esp that shot of Niall on the cliff - both times.

The Ireland and wedding stuff was great, the Liverpool stuff was fun, the Nancy/Zoe/Sarah stuff bored me.

I loved the chubby blonde ex of Mal's, too bad we're done with her.

The one thing I cant get over lately is the cheesiness of the show and its stories. I guess its the best they can do, being forced to be rated G almost every day, only getting X number of PG episodes a year, the show's basically a tween soap. They seemed to handle this better in the past, characters and stories packed more of a punch.

aww, I just finally learned Hannah's name after 4 months and now she's gone.

well Rakesh, any thoughts or insights on the current state of H&A?