juppiter

1996 World Championships:

Michelle Kwan (Gold)

Lu Chen (Silver)

Two beautiful performances, I don't know how the judges picked a winner.

For anyone who doubts Sasha Cohen's talent... Sasha Cohen 2004 World Championships:

When she's on, she's amazing, she was just rarely on. And that's what made her fun to root for.

I know people who have watched just about every major ice skating event for their entire life - what is it about ice skating that appeals to you?

I'm not quite that interested, but I think that might be down to the days when annoying Nancy Kerrigan was in the headlines constantly.

I was watching this and was so drawn in by the beauty and power. It's one of the first times I've "gotten" what it must feel like to enjoy this.

Nancy Kerrigan isn't my favorite by any means, but I feel for her because she was the classic case of the media building someone up and then tearing her down. She was never an angelic victim and she was never a vengeful bitch, she is something between the two.

But anyone I always followed it growing up and what I liked about it is kinda the reason people enjoyed soaps. You watch these ladies, maybe they show a little potential, and it's the same ones year after year and it's exciting to see them become better skaters and each develop their own "storylines." Like Sasha Cohen was always the underdog who could never quite put together two clean programs, but when she was on she was one of the most beautiful skaters. Michelle Kwan was the opposite, the overdog who won competition after competition and all she needed to have the best resume ever was that elusive Olympic Gold.

And like soaps, you have the "vets" who tour professionally and do commentary and it is cool to see them year after year because you grew up watching their careers.

To me it is also exciting to see how the sport itself has evolved over time. Kim Yuna's 2010 Olympic performance was perhaps the most deserving Gold Medal performance ever, and she has really taken her technical difficulty to a level you never would've seen a woman attempting 10 years ago.

Anyone watch the US Nationals this year? NONE of the ladies skated clean. Why is it that the US used to churn out some of the world's most dominant figure skaters and the current crop is just awful? The winner this year, Ashley Wagner, skated decently at best. She deserved the gold in this crop but she didn't blow me away either, her jumps were wobbly and the artistry was just OK... but OK was excellent compared to most of them. t can't see building a franchise around her though, or any of these girls.

Getting a little tired of THE WORLD ACCORDING TO CARL. Some of us are actually old enough to remember these old shows, even from the 70's.

If you don't like his posts don't read them. A lot of us are enjoying them...

As for the 2004 episodes I think we're about to see Randolph Mantooth take over as Hal again. He had temped the year before but this time the casting was a little more permanent with it lasting a year. My biggest complaint I think was the change of physique. They could have gone with James Kiberd again but didn't. Not to mention Mantooth looked like a lot like Michael Zaslow .

When in 1998 did Region stop announcing? I've always thought it was a mistake to get of him.

Don't remember when, but they had the cast do the announcing for a while after that. They didn't need him anymore though, with no sponsor tag in the opening credits. It was like, "Yeah, this show is called As the World Turns, thanks Dan I can read."

The problem is that people like Palin not only make stupid remarks, they are extremely proud of them. There's a strange sense of pride in ignorant views. If Obama went around constantly making stupid comments and then going on about "lamestream media," then politically speaking, he'd be where Palin is now.

Yup. Palin is proud of what she does not know, and it's really caught on among Republicans in general. Look at this: http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/gingrich-hits-romney-knowing-speak-french-150300235.html

And of course the attack on Huntsman for adopting Chinese daughters. Apparently adopting Chinese and speaking French is not conservative? lol.

Duke looks weird with that mustache. I remember liking John's mustache I thought it looked pretty good on Bryggman.

Ah yes, the infamous meeting when Molly insults Rosanna! I'm happy this is finally up as well:

I loved the 50 million dollar baby storyline. I loved Carly in general back then, they really did a number on her character as the years went on.

I enjoyed the fall of 2005 for the most part. The baby switch umbrella story was indeed pretty intriguing as well as Gwen/Carly drama. Still as much as I liked Dusty and Jennifer together, I thought the whole Jen is a crystal meth addict to cope was a bit of a stretch. The whole BJ Green caper was fun but ridiculously unnecessary. Still it beat anything we saw 2006-2010, aside from some moments there in 2009. Passanate screwed up everything she had going good for her, namely the total destruction of Maddie and Gwen.

Anyone else remember those Tyson Chicken commercials there in 2004 with Barbara? They were hilarious although I can't believe Tyson used a fictional psycho at the time to sell their products.

I was thinking about that too! Yeah, that was hilarious.

UGH I hated when Barbara did that, somehow I totally forgot about that. What is she even on trial for anyway? I totally forgot about that.

2004 was just a bad bad year for ATWT. Passanante's 2005 was good though, I will fight anyone who says it wasn't.

I just saw Mark Collier in a new Breathe Right commercial. Maybe he is going to be their primary spokesperson. It isn't much in the way of acting, but I love seeing him on my screen again.

Mark Collier is just a charming guy, I never liked any of his pairings or storylines on ATWT but I liked his presence.

I love Jessica Dunphy as Alison. I really thought she would've done more with her career by now. The recast Alison was awful.

I hated this Chris Hughes too. I wish they had kept Paul Korver.

what is the deal with cabot? did he really die? I know I stopped caring after a while so idr.

That 2004 episode doesn't make me nostalgic at all. What a bore.

edit: I take that back. Seeing Ben Hendricksen was a treat!

Since Obama--a man who has always put principle before politics--is going to have huge coattails, will Democrats be able to regain control of the House as well?

They need 25 seats to regain control but I do not see it happening. Republicans made big gains in state legislatures, so the states that are redistricting will have district gerrymandered to protect Republican incumbents. Not saying the Dems wouldn't have done the same thing, they totally would have (in my state, NY, they passed a law to count prisoners in their home districts for state legislature redistricting instead of at prison because this creates more seats in the liberal downstate as opposed to the more conservative upstate where most of the prisons are).

I think the Democrats could keep the Senate, or it could flip. That is the more interesting chamber to watch for IMO.

Ugh, just ugh...

Maybe she has a point and no would want to see Roger in such a debilitating state, but after all his years of service and importance to the show, they just tossed him out like garbage.

Well, that and you'd think ANYBODY would realize that saying something like that is extremely offensive, let alone somebody as successful in the industry as MADD.

Anyone see Beth Chamberlin on SVU a couple weeks ago? She was really good, and the episode in general was one of the best in years IMO.

Why do you feel it violated what Knots represented? I thought it was a mistake because Linda was a highlight to me in a season that's not my favorite (season 12) but that is a strong way of putting it.

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Love this!

This is terrific! Whoever made this is so talented.

I think I know what you're talking about. I didn't really start watching GL until about '93 I guess, I know Marj was already playing Alex by that time. But you hear that cymbal crash/crescendo at 1:20? I think that came in sooner in later versions of the closing theme.

I miss WoST, good times.

I miss earlier WoST. It got crazier and crazier as the years went on. And so did its webmaster.

Anyway, Carl thanks for posting this as well as the long Jelinda's theme in the ATWT thread. "Hold on to Love" and "Jelinda's Theme" are the most breathtaking soap themes IMO.

That Chris was SO bad!!! And yes, they have New York accents in Oakdale, just like they had them in Springfield with Drew Jacobs...though of course she was not born in SF, but in Califorinia!! "So Michele, I jus' godda know who my mudder is!!!" And I am embarrassed to say it, but I always thought Eddie was kind of hot!

Why are you embarrassed? He is hot. As long as you're not an ATM he has no problem with you

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ZIP-cRfN50

God this Chris was so awful. I didn't realize they had New York accents in Oakdale

I agree with you, although I'd add a few others like Constance Ford and Douglass Watson.

There was a certain "good riddance" type of attitude from some fans when Larry quit, but he never phoned it in, and he kept the character vital even when the writing wasn't there. That he came back for the end shows that it was never his own arrogance which hurt his work, but very shabby, short-sighted treatment by Goutman and company.

I don't know if you can really classify that as a "quit" though since TPTB didn't renew his contract and wanted him to go recurring. Since his reason for staying with ATWT was to maintain a steady paycheck, it makes sense that he had no interest in being recurring.

And it must be hard to be a soap actor, since there is a lot of repetition, and we always hate it when TPTB rewrite the past... imagine how annoying it is for THEM, since they were the ones living it, and have to act like what they knew happened didn't happen.

All I can think is that if this had aired twenty years later we would've complained about how the Walsh/Snyders had "RappaDavidson'd" ATWT

Right, true. But this Chris was a pretty boy so I considered him a model. I think he is. It's too bad the writers never knew what to do with Chris and never seemed satisfied with any actor in the role. He should have followed in Bob's footsteps. Have several lovers (maybe even a Lisa-type), then a true love (Jennifer/Kim type). I dunno that I consider Emily a Lisa-type.

I really liked this Chris (Paul Korver) and then Dylan Bruce but nobody ever lasted long in the role. I didn't like Bailey Chase, Ben Jorgenson, or whats-his-face-who's-always-on-soaps-when-they-get-canceled.