DaytimeFan

I finally watched Barbara Windsor's last episodes and I was really impressed with them. She did a wonderful job (albiet rather hammy when the Vic was ablaze) with work that was nuanced, sad and effective. The writing definitely did Peggy justice. I wonder where EE is headed now. It has to be a whole new era.

Is it just me or is DC rather boring? I like Lynda and the British one (is her name Cat?)...but the rest are just so dull. Michaele reminds me of Morgan Fairchild if she'd never been born with a sense of humor and on speed. Looking forward to Atlanta, should be terrific. And lest we forget, Beverly Hills is on its way. That one is going to be stupendous.

Absolutely. She's a terrible actress, nobody is disputing that! And you got what I was saying SFK, Raquel takes herself too seriously and it kills her acting. She DOES look like a million though...interesting that she's alone.

OH that sums it up perfectly. Raquel Welch lacks the ability to create the confident *wink* to the audience that Joan Collins excels at. I think the comic touch Joan has is what sets her apart, she plays her 'bitch' roles with a sense of joie de vivre, coupled with aggression. Raquel Welch, on the other hand, always comes across as so mannered, so studied and so damn stiff. Raquel Welch ALWAYS plays the part exactly the same. Be it comedy, drama or soap, she IS Raquel Welch. She is so [!@#$%^&*] serious, it drives me crazy. She has absolutely no sense of humor which I think is deadly. I wish I could like her, but I just NEVER, ever, have.

No response to my thoughtful post Sylph?

Yes, being a Dame seems less than likely, I think Joan's OBE was recognition from the Conservative Party, a nod from HM, a wink from Prince Charles, it is enough for her. I think the aforementioned wanted it for her, wanted her to have something to show for a lifetime's service to British fabulosity. No, she doesn't quite pull off an aristocratic role because she's too bold, too outspoken, too Hollywood and too much damn fun. She's exceptional at playing a self made woman because that is in her DNA. There's a sense of reserve in aristocratic people. Some call it snobbery, some call it dignity, other's don't know what to call it, but it's evident. Nan Kempner could have played a Duchess without even trying, it's just who she was. What's interesting is the number of aristocratic people Joan counts as friends. I'm sure they find her very amusing and very much unlike themselves. I think it's worth pointing out that for all their aristocratic wealth and prestige, Princess Margaret, Diana, Princess of Wales and Sarah, Duchess of York, likely would have traded everything for the life Joan's lived. While their lives have been devoted, to one degree or another, to a sense of duty, Joan Collins has been able to live her life on her terms and with a duty only to herself.

Al was very good casting, looks wise, but he looked like John Forsythe's son and Forsythe looked like a good 'ol boy if there ever was one. It would be priceless if she was Baroness Collins, but that's not going to happen (though she does have a friend in David Cameron). I think Joan Collins OBE would be just delighted if she finally managed to become Dame Joan Collins.

What I don't understand is why anyone needs to be 'greater' than someone else, just seems petty.

You will indeed. You're gonna LOVE it. Now, I didn't make the statement about Al Corley not being aristocratic, but I can see CarlID2's point, Corley was very plain spoken and didn't seem particularly interested in the world around him, so far as the interviews I've seen of him go. Oxenberg's royal lineage is interesting, but I don't understand the jab at Collins being the daughter of a dance teacher and agent, both those things are perfectly respectable jobs and Collins has lived a very cosmopolitan life.

Yes, they do. Heather Locklear and Catherine Oxenberg share one scene in particular that you'll LOVE.

That was a great twist wasn't it? And the way Alexis reacts, it's epic. Michael Nader and Joan Collins had the best chemistry between two people I've ever seen. I would have liked it if they'd actually gotten together in real life.

Birds of a feather flock together... Speaking of aristrocratic actors, Christopher Cazenove really didn't like working with John Forsythe and much preferred working with Joan Collins. Love her or hate her, Joan is fun to work with, which is often half the battle on a big show like Dynasty. But still, Locklear and Collins, I wonder how those two got along?

I've actually heard that Pamela Bellwood wasn't well liked by the producers and half the cast. Aaron Spelling found her difficult to work with and when you consider who Aaron Spelling worked with over the years, that had to mean something. The cast was split into two camps from the second Joan Collins joined the show. There were the cast members who were on John Forsythe's team and then there were those who were behind Joan Collins. It's not hard to decipher who goes where... Forsythe: Evans, Martin, Oxenberg, Locklear Collins: Nader, Thompson, Corley, Carroll, James, Samms Very evenly matched in terms of who mattered. Pamela Bellwood and Joan were actually very good friends on and off the set. The one relationship I've always wondered about is Heather Locklear and Joan Collins. I do know Locklear has given Collins credit for helping her sculpt the Amanda Woodward character, but I've always gotten the sense that Joan intimidated the hell out of Heather and that Heather gravitated towards the more docile Linda Evans.

It all depends on how the Conservatives work with the Lib Dems. If they manage to work well together, he'll have a 5 year max term before he has to request her Majesty to call an election.

It'll be interesting to see how David Cameron and the Lib Dems do in a coalition government. I am rooting for the Conservatives to do well, reign in spending, slash and burn the benefits system and get people working and educated and healthy.

The BBC Election night coverage had 12 million viewers, clobbering ITV and Channel 4. So from a ratings perspective, they did awesome. Tessa Jowell is a Labour MP who was pissed off at Joan Collins (a Conservative). I'd be worried if I was Tessa Jowell, Joan could sue her about that Botox comment since it's evident, from my standpoint, that she doesn't use it. If the Lib Dems go along with the Tories they will have zero credibility left. Soooo many people voted Lib Dem to keep the Tories out, it will be very ironic if it has the opposite effect.

Wow. Not one of the exchanges between CarlID and I survived the SON breakdown. For what it's worth, we concluded that Margaret Thatcher has a very quick wit. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2h03_QbqhHg Also, Joan Collins was on the BBC Election night coverage and was hilarious, she was LIT.

Stumbled upon this clip...for my money between 1:40-2:10 is one of Joan's best scenes, performance wise, in the entirety of her career. Menacing. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ep8AG6Mt0EQ

Jaclyn Smith, Ann-Margret, Susan Anton and Morgan Fairchild all in one episode. AMAZING.

I've just finished with Emerald Point NAS as well...what an odd show. There seems to be some political undertone to it...the Democrat Shapiros writing a show about the navy during the Reagan years...the casting was odd too. I really liked Jill St. John's addition to the cast, it's the only casting decision that made any sense. I think the tired appearance others talk about worked to her advantage since Deanna Kincaid was supposed to be bitter about her sister, that emotion shows on anyone's face! She had a naughty sense of fun about her as well. I loved her in Diamonds are Forever so I think she's something of an acquired taste.

The wife and I (and the baby when he pays attention) are addicted to these shows. We watch all of them...the only women that particularly bother us are some from The RHOOC, some of them are absolutely braindead. But we love Vicki, WHOOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOO!

I don't know if 'Victor's Theme' was used in "Victor, don't go! DON'T GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!" but I do know that it was used in the more recent "Victooooooooooooooooooooooaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaooooooooooooooooor! Oh God, what I supposed to do know? WHAT AM I GONNA DO NOOWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW?! Oooooooooooooooh Victor!"

I think what makes 'Stone's Death Theme' so damn excellent is that it's associated with such a heartbreaking scene. When I hear that music, that's the only thing I think of. It's a beautiful piece of music on it's own...but I feel that the storyline that's associated with it is what makes it so special. Y&R, in my view, has the greatest soap opera background music ever. The older the better.

Ahhhhh 'Dynasty'...if not for Joan Collins it would have been a forgotten one season of early 80's dullness. Thankfully, La Collins swooped in, overhauled the show and became a superstar!

I LOVED MP, back in the day, (can you believe it ended in '99?) this was *the* show. Seasons 1-4 were gold, it started to crumble in season 5 and seasons 6 and 7 were downright awful (although I liked Jamie Luner, she was a nice addition) What made MP unique, something which I haven't seen on TV since it left the air, is how unabashadly mean it was. Everyone was terrible to everyone else...everyone was out for themselves, everybody took no prisoners. It was dog eat dog and bitch eat bitch. The characters WENT FOR IT...today's primetime 'soaps' (DH, DSM, Greys?) don't hold a candle. The only show that had any bite like MP was SATC, which was of course created by the same brilliant man, Mr Darren Star. It saddens me that Aaron Spelling is no longer with us, 'Titans' could have been the kind of trashy, ghastly stylized, visious prime time soap that I still hunger for. I want glamour and characters behaving really badly.