Contessa Donatella

I was looking at my list of favorite writers: Lemay, Labine, Curlee, Swajeski, Hurst, Mulcahey, the Dobsons, Marland, Val Jean, CCulliton, Falken Smith, Bell, Nixon & Phillips. 15. I like writers. 15 is probably a lot. So sue me. Since Bridget has died, now I count only 7 among the living. And only one of them is currently employed as a soap writer! Truly it is the end of an era.

Well, advice on life? Ari Zucker? Okay. Shawn Christian? IDK. But, Steve Burton? ARE WE JOKING?!!

I suppose I was pretty dorky myself! At least I was not star-struck & totally shy!!! No, it was at a time when he & I would DM every day, so not an interview per se. We'd talk politics & twitter stuff & always we'd talk about soaps, his career, specifically Santa Barbara & Douglas Marland. He informed me of things about SFT & Mary-Ellis Bunim (who he was a staunch defender of). About Pete Lemay's brief time at SFT. About how furious he was with the errors on his IMDb & wikipedia pages! He was the one who told me that those writers like him who had been hired for Texas actually wrote for AW for a few months but nowhere is there any credit, which burned him up. I only took notes on SB, GL & a little GH. I felt so fortunate to spend that time with him. And, I really picked his brain! Good grief! I think that is the worst case of SORAS I've ever heard of!

Me, I thought today was Stacy's day! Part of that, of course, is having gone so long without seeing her, which is a prerequisite for me, that Kristen be on & off & off again & then on. NOT on on on nonstop all the time. Besides that her scene with EricM was well written for both characters. Really good dialog, very aware of their histories as well as his current mood because of the Tate crisis. And, she showed such range. Kristen began furious & worked through understanding & compassionate, all the way to reassuring & then finally flirting. I concur. Oh, you boys, just any chance to get Andrew or Paul!!! I don't see anything beyond self-interest when it comes to Melinda. I still don't see what she got out of all of this. Oh yes, I am so so worried. How can we trust them to do another whole dump onto the already over-loaded retcon history of one John Black! Carolyn's rosary was an excellent touch! Today was another good DAYS.

I just love Lynn Herring! Her words are so wonderful & I can just hear her saying this! Back when they did their Elvis/Graceland weekend she got stuck in an airport for a few hours & took a pic & posted it on UglyX (formerly Twitter). Well, selfies are often odd perspective but in this one she looked like she was all legs! YES! You put that together quickly. And, he did die in December.

The dance mini-segment was meant to be Finola but that morning she tested positive for Covid. So Kelly said she'd do it. They did an "emergency fitting" & Kelly wore that fabulous red dress that previously Finola was going to wear! It is true that these ladies are no slouch in keeping themselves fit but, Kelly & Becky are their two teeny tiny women (Think size double ought!) and Finola is, well, a very normal beautiful body. So, a great dress but they did wonders making it fit Monaco!!!

Well, they do fittings & make alterations, so they have their great support people making them look good!

P&G began to get out of the domestic products business in 2000. In the 70s daytime coughed up 70% of network profits. P&G was once the major advertiser.

Speaking of this, there were 3 actors rumored to have had affairs with JFP. I know one was not. And, I bet none were. Of course I might just be impossibly naive. I will say that it was RKK where I know it was not true.

Someone termed a coinage about pink collar ghetto!

Thanks. I wonder what that was about. Do we know what they did in between?

Their Costume Designer Shawn Reeves conceived of the bridal gown segment. 3 of them are their oldest stored items. Also he got them to put Bob Miller's name on it. He was this amazing Costume Designer who did those weddings & who died last year. Lucy's red hat is gone. They loaned the entire red dress & hat to Disney for an event & when it was returned the hat was no longer included! You KNOW some fan now has it hidden at their house! Shawn did Portia's wedding last year. The other dresses are Bob Miller dresses.

Thank you for signing! As of earlier today we have 1204 signatures! That's very good but I am hoping to get to 1500.

If it were me, I'd include the word TEXAS. Excellent edit!! I will use this! But, I want to ask you if you've signed my petition to try to get Beverlee a Posthumous Lifetime Achievement Emmy? https://chng.it/9s22wzb7rF

Some say that Mulcahey is the best at 2 person dialog, literally of anyone. Of course, I've also been told that Bruce Barry is the best director who ever lived. And, this is coming from people in the business, not from fans. Also, you're totally welcome.

Mona, you had asked about Beverly Penberthy? I specifically inquired. She's 92 & unable to either attend or to sit for an interview. Sigh. So, life happens. EF, yeah, seeing Dano's name on the list put a huge smile on my face!! BTW, she has recently joined my forum. So now I have 1600 soap fans, Mimi Torchin, Marlena deLaCroix, Sharon Rose Gabet & on very rare occasions: Kim Zimmer, Maureen Garrett & Ellen Wheeler. Oh, and Veleka Gray.

Update! https://www.greenvelope.com/card/.public-8efca4cc5d754199b8abcf5451a6cc4235373031343331 ANOTHER WORLD 60TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION Sat., May 4, 2024 in Tarrytown, NY About 80 tickets left to sell. Actors: Judith Barcroft Washam (Lenore Moore 1966-1971) Barbara Rodell (Lee Randolph 1968-1969) Leonie Norton (Cindy Clark 1970-1972) Ariana Muenker (Marianne Randolph 1975-1977) Susan Keith (Cecile DePoulignac 1979-1981) Janice Lynde (Tracy DeWitt 1979-1981) Linda Dano (Felicia Gallant 1983-1999) Lewis Arlt (David Thatcher 1983-1984, Ken Jordan 1990-1991, Scriptwriter) Sofia Landon Geier (Jennifer Thatcher 1983, Donna Love 1990-1991, 1993, Scriptwriter 1992-1999) Kale Browne (Michael Hudson 1986-1993, 1995-1998) Laurence Lau (Jamie Frame 1986-1990) Anne Marie Howard (Nicole Love 1987-1989) James Kiberd (Dustin Trent 1989) Russell Todd (Jamie Frame 1990-1993) Crew: Janet Iacobuzio (Scriptwriter 1989-1992, Associate Head Writer 1994-1995) Steven Bergman (Set Photographer 1990-1999) Jim Semmelman (Stage Manager 1996-1999) Family Members: David & Honor Heath, representing their Mother, Liza Chapman (Janet Matthews) Mark Penberthy, representing his Mother, Beverly Penberthy (Pat Randolph)

Here is the rest of the Patrick Mulcahey notes, most is GL, although it ends up on GH at the very end. Patrick Mulcahey at GL Spent a lot of apprentice time with Douglas at GL. (He always said Douglas, never Doug.) Allen Potter fired Jane Elliot & he & Douglas had this huge falling out over it. In this one scene Mike Bauer was chasing Alan Spaulding on horseback & a helicopter dipped down & saved Alan. P&G pitched this lame idea that instead it was a blue Mercedes not a helicopter. Nola - Kelly - Floyd - Morgan, these were his Emmy material people. Patrick was Douglas's protege & Douglas was his mentor. Douglas was a terrible liar but he morphed into this great storyteller. Douglas asked his niece Tracy, what would be the most romantic thing to happen? She said, "The cutest boy would notice me & only me." John Wesley Shipp was very tight with Douglas. There is nudity in A New Day In Eden, that soap on Showtime has men's bare behinds shown. GL: I understand staying away & I understand coming back but I don't understand getting from one to the other. Nancy Curlee & Douglas: not much in common. Ross's election night dream. Ed & Ross conversation, that was mine. Rachel Miner & Bryan Buffington & Ben Reade: that they actually did the scene that I wrote especially for them! Lisa Brown & Maeve Kincaid. Voices in your head? YES Melissa Hayden! He said he is not optimistic about broadcast soaps when they are off of network goodies. Streaming! The future. He said Bob Guza created Carly. But, the outline did not make any sense. Click. Boom! You do what you think is right. Producer Wendy Riche!! Gloria Monty: not "real people". We were ordered: Do NOT write kisses for L&L. There are 2 Patrick Mulcahey's - him & his husband.

Update! https://www.greenvelope.com/card/.public-8efca4cc5d754199b8abcf5451a6cc4235373031343331 ANOTHER WORLD 60TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION Sat., May 4, 2024 in Tarrytown, NY About 80 tickets left to sell. Actors: Judith Barcroft Washam (Lenore Moore 1966-1971) Barbara Rodell (Lee Randolph 1968-1969) Leonie Norton (Cindy Clark 1970-1972) Ariana Muenker (Marianne Randolph 1975-1977) Susan Keith (Cecile DePoulignac 1979-1981) Janice Lynde (Tracy DeWitt 1979-1981) Linda Dano (Felicia Gallant 1983-1999) Lewis Arlt (David Thatcher 1983-1984, Ken Jordan 1990-1991, Scriptwriter) Sofia Landon Geier (Jennifer Thatcher 1983, Donna Love 1990-1991, 1993, Scriptwriter 1992-1999) Kale Browne (Michael Hudson 1986-1993, 1995-1998) Laurence Lau (Jamie Frame 1986-1990) Anne Marie Howard (Nicole Love 1987-1989) James Kiberd (Dustin Trent 1989) Russell Todd (Jamie Frame 1990-1993) Crew: Janet Iacobuzio (Scriptwriter 1989-1992, Associate Head Writer 1994-1995) Steven Bergman (Set Photographer 1990-1999) Jim Semmelman (Stage Manager 1996-1999) Family Members: David & Honor Heath, representing their Mother, Liza Chapman (Janet Matthews) Mark Penberthy, representing his Mother, Beverly Penberthy (Pat Randolph)

I saw part of it & I had been thinking maybe I would watch & immediately I was outta there! SO BAD.

Where do you see that? I don't see any sign that happened.

YAY!!! 🤔😛🤣🤨👏

I can honestly say that Irna's inclusion is the only thing that makes me glad I have that book! We think of her as inventing all of the tropes & all of the cliches of traditional televised soap operas & here she was being modern & forward-thinking about throwing out one of them & they didn't want to listen to her! Other people, like Lee Phillip Bell, without any reservation at all, call her a genius. Personally I think soaps have always had a sense of humor about themselves. But BITD that was not negative or destructive, just self-deprecating. Now, I completely agree that the whole industry has a horrible self-esteem issue. People honestly do not believe they are "as good as" other genres. I wonder if other genres in similar positions experience this. Comic books? Sci-fi? I don't think so. I also agree that when individual soaps began to be less differentiated & more carbon copy that soaps lost a sense of themselves.

It's so emblematic of how bad it is that people reacted with horror basically to his saying how great the show's going to be as soon as we see his new stuff. I mean if Ron's old stuff is bad, and we know it is, then how much worse could new stuff be?! I'm very much afraid we're going to find out! Today mostly I appreciated Maggie with Nicole & ComaHolly. Paulina's attack of coughing, being choked, etc. was really truly awful! They need to sort out what is wrong with her. Stephanie's scene with Everett,I think, has finally made me realize that I just don't like Stephanie. Ava kissing on Stefan to create a plausible reason for them to be together so much simply makes NO sense. His wife is in prison, in the infirmary, and locked down. There's no way he's gonna be fooling around.

I think this is key. I read someone talking about the speical & they said it really wasn't about the show's history at all. Instead it was about where the show is headed. And that, to me, makes it even worse that they highlighted the return of JasonM the way they did. However, I think of 2 quotes by Frank earlier when they had the more traditional non-celebration of the anniversary. Because that's what they're doing - not celebrating legacy. Anyway, Frank said 2 things, one tracks & the other is off. "For a large part of the audience it is an incredibly nostalgic, familiar show that they love to check into." - Frank Valentini, Variety GH60, April 2023 "We're not focusing on the history. We're moving forward with the history." - Frank Valentini, Variety GH60, April 2023 So, I tend to think that they're sort of having an identity crisis as a show. And, as a result of this kind of schizophrenic philosophy they inadvertently made Steve Burton way more important than they likely meant to.