Are the makers of THE BOLD AND THE BEAUTIFUL taking the piss or what? I was laughing my head off at Heather Tom in acne makeup and then my jaw dropped open at the scene of her CARRIE-esque prom humiliation (no pig's blood, alas.) My own personal '80s flashback occurred: the ribbing B&B got during the show's inception for having a character whose entire storyline was having pimples! Seeing Nick as her "prom" date in the present day only served to further underline the disparity in age between these two. While unintentionally funny, I switched off B&B after the first segment.
ONE LIFE TO LIVE continued to impress. They sure know how to use a musical montage to lend dramatic weight. (Ellen Wheeler, are you taking note?) I like the way Adriana and Rex have ended their relationship in a mature, mostly non-histrionic way. We have a lot invested in these characters and it shows respect to the viewers not to get rid of Adriana in a hasty, contrived manner. (Chris Goutman and Jean Passanante, are you taking notes??) I also appreciated the scene between Sarah and Cristian as they talked about Nash and wine. It added some depth to their characters and relationship. And made me want to drink wine. And am I the only one who wants to see a Roxy/Charlie/Viki triangle?
DAYS OF OUR LIVES struggled to hold my attention. As the Unemployed Boyfriend said, "Wow, they're really taking the slow boat to China with this GOOD WILL HUNTING storyline, huh?" Hell yeah. There were some good John Black moments (like when he referred to Sami by the wrong nickname) but I think I'm sticking to Llanview for the moment.
GENERAL HOSPITAL knows how to keep me interested: Maxie and Spinelli! They don't even have to be together to be fabulous! Maxie agreeing to have sex with Johnny for money and to stick it to Lulu is nasty and wonderful. Spinelli dancing with Leyla and calling her "The Austenian One" because he thinks she's like a Jane Austen heroine just melted my heart. As did the scene where Leyla's mean friend dissed him and he didn't even defend himself -- so sad! GH could just keep on pairing up Maxie and Spinelli with every available person in Port Charles forever and I would happily watch.
I can not say the same for GUIDING LIGHT, which is now going off my radar for a bit because it is laugh-out-loud crap. "So...the guy who killed Tammy is now living in someone's garage while Daisy steals money for him? Why doesn't G'day (our cruel nickname for Cyrus) put him up?" queried the Unemployed Boyfriend, and I have no good answers. I giggled at the senes of Daisy stealing fake looking money from various places -- this is how Ellen Wheeler is paying her actors now! I also guffawed at the scene where Mallet shows up at the door because it was so ineptly directed it looked like he was hiding in Daisy's closet, BLUE VELVET-style. And don't get me started on G as a potential love interest for Ashlee. Last week I was worried GL was pushing Daisy and G as the new Tammy and Jonathan. What would be worse is forcing the talented Caitlin Van Zandt to be paired up with G instead. Caitlin -- get in touch with your agent and start auditioning for other shows NOW. You were great in THE SOPRANOS as Allegra so get back in touch with HBO! You are too good to be imprisoned within the confines of Ellen Wheeler's Camera-Phone (TM).
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
'I think I need time away from us"
AAAAAARGHHHH! AS THE WORLD TURNS is going to be gut-wrenching today!
As for Monday's episode, I am surprised how much I enjoyed Cole's return. I think this is because we are now being encouraged to be against Sofie, where before we were supposed to sympathize with her. Now anyone who can cause trouble for Sofie is automatically fun to watch, because Sofie is hateful and deserves punishment from all sides. Loved Barbara laying into her and realizing how wacked Sofie is. Also found Jon Prescott to be settling nicely into the role of Mike.
As for Monday's episode, I am surprised how much I enjoyed Cole's return. I think this is because we are now being encouraged to be against Sofie, where before we were supposed to sympathize with her. Now anyone who can cause trouble for Sofie is automatically fun to watch, because Sofie is hateful and deserves punishment from all sides. Loved Barbara laying into her and realizing how wacked Sofie is. Also found Jon Prescott to be settling nicely into the role of Mike.
Monday, June 9, 2008
CORRIE STAR TRUMPS U.S. SOAPS
I watched the first half of ONE LIFE TO LIVE today, flipping to DAYS OF OUR LIVES during the commercials, which has become my habit of late. Loved the scene of Jessica and Viki talking about Natalie and letting some long-buried resentments come through, about how Natalie thinks she's better than them because of her street smarts. This is something not often mentioned that I was glad to see brought up -- Natalie is a scrapper and wasn't handed the Buchanan lifestyle on a platter. Is Natalie headed for a fall? (Symbolically, of course. We can't have everybody falling through that skylight!)
DAYS OF OUR LIVES continued to amuse with the Nick/Max nerd sandwich and the sparky friendship of Nicole and Ava. Chelsea continues to look fabulous with that fierce haircut, but please, no more fantasy sequences with Dr. Daniel. One of those things I hate in soaps is the fantasy sequence which is presented as real until someone yells the character's name and the scene is revealed as fake. PASSIONS is the worst offender in this case, with entire episodes being devoted to imaginary scenarios that you don't think are imaginary until there's a cut and someone says "That's what WOULD happen if we told Ethan the truth, Mother!" James E Reilly has been long gone from DOOL; let's try and keep his bag of tricks away from Salem! PASSIONS hasn't been cancelled for nothing, ya know.
I skipped out on the rest of today's soaps (DVRing AS THE WORLD TURNS, of course) to catch a bargain matinee ($7!) of WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU SAW YOUR FATHER? It has an amazing cast of British actors, and captures the love and hatred that everybody feels towards their Dad at different points in their lives. Plus, you get to see Colin Firth masturbate in a bathtub.
Ex-CORONATION STREET star Sarah Lancashire has a strong supporting role in the film. My personal experience of CORRIE is fragmented, to say the least. I have caught the random episode staying in England or Toronto, but I really got into the show at the beginning of the millenium when now-defunct US cable station Trio ran a batch of episodes. Oddly, it seems they only had the rights to a six month stretch of CORRIE from the mid or early '90s that focused heavily on Raquel, Des and Curly. So to me, Sarah Lancashire represents CORRIE more than any other actress! I've been able to see other CORRIE episodes on video and DVD, but never got to see Raquel's exit from CORRIE. Seeing Sarah pop up in SKINS or DOCTOR WHO has been fun, but there is something cool about seeing her on the big screen. Hooray for the best barmaid from the Rovers!
DAYS OF OUR LIVES continued to amuse with the Nick/Max nerd sandwich and the sparky friendship of Nicole and Ava. Chelsea continues to look fabulous with that fierce haircut, but please, no more fantasy sequences with Dr. Daniel. One of those things I hate in soaps is the fantasy sequence which is presented as real until someone yells the character's name and the scene is revealed as fake. PASSIONS is the worst offender in this case, with entire episodes being devoted to imaginary scenarios that you don't think are imaginary until there's a cut and someone says "That's what WOULD happen if we told Ethan the truth, Mother!" James E Reilly has been long gone from DOOL; let's try and keep his bag of tricks away from Salem! PASSIONS hasn't been cancelled for nothing, ya know.
I skipped out on the rest of today's soaps (DVRing AS THE WORLD TURNS, of course) to catch a bargain matinee ($7!) of WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU SAW YOUR FATHER? It has an amazing cast of British actors, and captures the love and hatred that everybody feels towards their Dad at different points in their lives. Plus, you get to see Colin Firth masturbate in a bathtub.
Ex-CORONATION STREET star Sarah Lancashire has a strong supporting role in the film. My personal experience of CORRIE is fragmented, to say the least. I have caught the random episode staying in England or Toronto, but I really got into the show at the beginning of the millenium when now-defunct US cable station Trio ran a batch of episodes. Oddly, it seems they only had the rights to a six month stretch of CORRIE from the mid or early '90s that focused heavily on Raquel, Des and Curly. So to me, Sarah Lancashire represents CORRIE more than any other actress! I've been able to see other CORRIE episodes on video and DVD, but never got to see Raquel's exit from CORRIE. Seeing Sarah pop up in SKINS or DOCTOR WHO has been fun, but there is something cool about seeing her on the big screen. Hooray for the best barmaid from the Rovers!
Friday, June 6, 2008
OUT OF CRUELTY COMES TRUTH
So I'm watching THE BOLD AND THE BEAUTIFUL and The Unemployed Boyfriend comes in, takes a look and says "Who's the old fucker?" I start screeching "You are sooooo MEAN! That's Jack Wagner!" His response? "It looks like they took his head and put it on someone else's body."
Meanness aside, The Unemployed Boyfriend has a point. Nick is soooooo....mature (ahem) that pairing him with the younger Katie is icky at best and just plain wrong at worst. How old is Katie supposed to be anyway? I remember her in the '80s with the acne and her crush on Rocco so shouldn't she be considerably older than the "kid sister" Katie has become?
Good thing ONE LIFE TO LIVE kept us both riveted (though I flipped during the commercials to DAYS OF OUR LIVES because I didn't get to check that out yesterday.) Jessica's grief is powerful in it's realistic intensity. Her smackdown of Natalie was well deserved and had my jaw hanging open. To his credit, The Unemployed Boyfriend yelled "OH FUCK OFF!" when he saw hateful Todd with baby Bree; I was too busy laughing at this wicked subversion of those cloying Oreo commercials.
DAYS OF OUR LIVES had interest for both of us as well. The Unemployed Boyfriend expressed his desire to be in the middle of a nerd sandwich as he gazed dreamily at Max and Nick. I expressed my desire to make a speech and say that my late Dad always dreamed of running an eco-unfriendly pub. I just find it highly unlikely that an old dude like Shawn Brady would EVER have expressed eco awareness. He was too busy pulling pints, cursing the DiMeras and crying "Oh Colleen!" Yeah, green issues are an important topic but they just don't fit into the world of soaps. Has anyone ever broken up with anyone else because they weren't making a seperate trash bag for the plastics?
Just when I thought GUIDING LIGHT couldn't get any worse -- it did! G is back and he's Cyrus' brother!!!??? This is the kind of thing Joss Whedon made fun of in BUFFY when he introduced Dawn as Buffy's previously unmentioned sister, only to reveal it was all an elaborate mind-fuck later in the season. Unfortunately, I don't think GL is joking. I have a horrible feeling that G and dull Daisy are being set up as the new Jonathan and Tammy -- forbidden love with a bad boy who is surprisingly related to a main character-- which is ironic because G killed Tammy! I really hope Cassie kills G; the writers can not explain away G's murder of Tammy as an accident because he was HIRED to kill Jonathan and she threw herself in front of G's speeding car! Nor will making him feel guilty redeem the character. This is a non-starter, folks.
On a more positive side, GENERAL HOSPITAL continued to pull our heartstrings with Spinelli and Maxie. My sympathy for him kept on swelling -- first Maxie mocks his moves, then she stands up for him to Kate, then Sonny is mean to him (He called him FREAK BOY! I'm rooting for the Zaccharahs now!) and then Stone Cold defends Spinelli...I can't get enough Spinelli/Maxie right now. Even The Unemployed Boyfriend is starting to sniffle and say "SOMEONE must fall in love with Spinelli EVENTUALLY!"
Happy Gay Pride Weekend to those in Los Angeles; The Boyfriend and I will be too busy practicing Unemployed Shame.
Meanness aside, The Unemployed Boyfriend has a point. Nick is soooooo....mature (ahem) that pairing him with the younger Katie is icky at best and just plain wrong at worst. How old is Katie supposed to be anyway? I remember her in the '80s with the acne and her crush on Rocco so shouldn't she be considerably older than the "kid sister" Katie has become?
Good thing ONE LIFE TO LIVE kept us both riveted (though I flipped during the commercials to DAYS OF OUR LIVES because I didn't get to check that out yesterday.) Jessica's grief is powerful in it's realistic intensity. Her smackdown of Natalie was well deserved and had my jaw hanging open. To his credit, The Unemployed Boyfriend yelled "OH FUCK OFF!" when he saw hateful Todd with baby Bree; I was too busy laughing at this wicked subversion of those cloying Oreo commercials.
DAYS OF OUR LIVES had interest for both of us as well. The Unemployed Boyfriend expressed his desire to be in the middle of a nerd sandwich as he gazed dreamily at Max and Nick. I expressed my desire to make a speech and say that my late Dad always dreamed of running an eco-unfriendly pub. I just find it highly unlikely that an old dude like Shawn Brady would EVER have expressed eco awareness. He was too busy pulling pints, cursing the DiMeras and crying "Oh Colleen!" Yeah, green issues are an important topic but they just don't fit into the world of soaps. Has anyone ever broken up with anyone else because they weren't making a seperate trash bag for the plastics?
Just when I thought GUIDING LIGHT couldn't get any worse -- it did! G is back and he's Cyrus' brother!!!??? This is the kind of thing Joss Whedon made fun of in BUFFY when he introduced Dawn as Buffy's previously unmentioned sister, only to reveal it was all an elaborate mind-fuck later in the season. Unfortunately, I don't think GL is joking. I have a horrible feeling that G and dull Daisy are being set up as the new Jonathan and Tammy -- forbidden love with a bad boy who is surprisingly related to a main character-- which is ironic because G killed Tammy! I really hope Cassie kills G; the writers can not explain away G's murder of Tammy as an accident because he was HIRED to kill Jonathan and she threw herself in front of G's speeding car! Nor will making him feel guilty redeem the character. This is a non-starter, folks.
On a more positive side, GENERAL HOSPITAL continued to pull our heartstrings with Spinelli and Maxie. My sympathy for him kept on swelling -- first Maxie mocks his moves, then she stands up for him to Kate, then Sonny is mean to him (He called him FREAK BOY! I'm rooting for the Zaccharahs now!) and then Stone Cold defends Spinelli...I can't get enough Spinelli/Maxie right now. Even The Unemployed Boyfriend is starting to sniffle and say "SOMEONE must fall in love with Spinelli EVENTUALLY!"
Happy Gay Pride Weekend to those in Los Angeles; The Boyfriend and I will be too busy practicing Unemployed Shame.
ALL MY BORING CHILDREN
I caught the rerun of today's episode of AMC on SoapNet tonight and was surprised at how dull it was. An episode without Jesse and Angie is lifeless! I like seeing Ricky Paull Goldin but they better bring Beth Ehlers on fast to liven things up a bit with him. AMC was so yawn inducing The Unemployed Boyfriend got up from the couch and CLEANED THE KITCHEN!
I wanted to watch DAYS OF OUR LIVES on SoapNet as well but they were showing RELATIVE MADNESS instead. So, SoapNet, are you saying viewers of DOOL are worthless to you? And while you're at it, stop with promoting MVP as an original production when it's a Canadian import! My cold comfort lies in the death of SoapNet's other "original" programming over the years, particularly the truly abysmal FASHIONISTA DIARIES. SoapNet should fill the niche market of people who want to see soaps and classic soap reruns. I get the feeling that SoapNet thinks they are reaching out to a broader market with other, tenously soapy programming when all they're really doing is driving their core audience away.
I wanted to watch DAYS OF OUR LIVES on SoapNet as well but they were showing RELATIVE MADNESS instead. So, SoapNet, are you saying viewers of DOOL are worthless to you? And while you're at it, stop with promoting MVP as an original production when it's a Canadian import! My cold comfort lies in the death of SoapNet's other "original" programming over the years, particularly the truly abysmal FASHIONISTA DIARIES. SoapNet should fill the niche market of people who want to see soaps and classic soap reruns. I get the feeling that SoapNet thinks they are reaching out to a broader market with other, tenously soapy programming when all they're really doing is driving their core audience away.
Thursday, June 5, 2008
VOYAGE OF THE DAMNED
...is the fate of all AS THE WORLD TURNS viewers today! Despite the fun of seeing Elizabeth Hubbard and Van Hansis together, the ship-heavy Nuke story is frustrating and out of character. Why would Noah be mad that Luke came to help him??? Why doesn't anything in this story cohere with anything else??? Because the story was started by writer's strike scabs and finished by the show's permanent writers post-strike, who probably don't care about making all the pieces fit.
We had a full day of soaps today. I got up at 11:30 to watch THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS, but I wish I hadn't bothered. I am gagging to get a job nowadays, as is the Unemployed Boyfriend, so it was utterly galling to see fucking Professor Adrian Korbel walk into the offices of RESTLESS STYLE (!) and walk away with a job writing an article on the "intersection of fashion and art'"!!! Only Phyllis expressed any reservations, which were quickly shut up by Jack and Sharon. Look, I've had an academic article on Alfred Hitchcock published and you don't see me walking into LUCKY magazine looking to write an article on the intersection of shopping and cinema. Carolyn Hinsey wrote in her opinion column in SOAP OPERA DIGEST how crap and unrealistic the running of RESTLESS STYLE is. She's gonna looooooove this...
THE BOLD AND THE BEAUTIFUL was much better. Marcus' interview at Forrester had him suitably nervous, yet enthusiastic enough to get a job there. Credibly, he is starting in shipping and receiving instead of immediately being a fashion designer or perfume creator. I also liked his interaction with Steffy, whose new portrayer is immediately at ease and has already earned my respect. Now, I keep on reading in the soap press that Brandon Beemer is joining the cast as someone "connected" to Marcus. Perhaps...his boyfriend??? I can only dream and hope that B&B would actually bring on some gay characters for a show revolving around the FASHION industry!
ONE LIFE TO LIVE was astonishing. Nash's death had The Unemployed Boyfriend in tears and he doesn't even know who Nash is! Rex's one push of Adriana said volumes. And I appreciated that shot of Brody with his shirt open, offering Gigi some whiskey...I would drink that whisky, too!
I didn't see all of GENERAL HOSPITAL but I did manage to catch the opening Maxie/Spinelli stuff and their final clench. The Unemployed Boyfriend remarked that it would have been funny if the show had ended today on a scene of an obviously sexually sated Maxie and Spinelli, post-coital, still on that desk. The Unemployed One has also started referring to me as Marshmallowista. OMG!!! WE ARE MAXIE AND SPINELLI!!!
We had a full day of soaps today. I got up at 11:30 to watch THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS, but I wish I hadn't bothered. I am gagging to get a job nowadays, as is the Unemployed Boyfriend, so it was utterly galling to see fucking Professor Adrian Korbel walk into the offices of RESTLESS STYLE (!) and walk away with a job writing an article on the "intersection of fashion and art'"!!! Only Phyllis expressed any reservations, which were quickly shut up by Jack and Sharon. Look, I've had an academic article on Alfred Hitchcock published and you don't see me walking into LUCKY magazine looking to write an article on the intersection of shopping and cinema. Carolyn Hinsey wrote in her opinion column in SOAP OPERA DIGEST how crap and unrealistic the running of RESTLESS STYLE is. She's gonna looooooove this...
THE BOLD AND THE BEAUTIFUL was much better. Marcus' interview at Forrester had him suitably nervous, yet enthusiastic enough to get a job there. Credibly, he is starting in shipping and receiving instead of immediately being a fashion designer or perfume creator. I also liked his interaction with Steffy, whose new portrayer is immediately at ease and has already earned my respect. Now, I keep on reading in the soap press that Brandon Beemer is joining the cast as someone "connected" to Marcus. Perhaps...his boyfriend??? I can only dream and hope that B&B would actually bring on some gay characters for a show revolving around the FASHION industry!
ONE LIFE TO LIVE was astonishing. Nash's death had The Unemployed Boyfriend in tears and he doesn't even know who Nash is! Rex's one push of Adriana said volumes. And I appreciated that shot of Brody with his shirt open, offering Gigi some whiskey...I would drink that whisky, too!
I didn't see all of GENERAL HOSPITAL but I did manage to catch the opening Maxie/Spinelli stuff and their final clench. The Unemployed Boyfriend remarked that it would have been funny if the show had ended today on a scene of an obviously sexually sated Maxie and Spinelli, post-coital, still on that desk. The Unemployed One has also started referring to me as Marshmallowista. OMG!!! WE ARE MAXIE AND SPINELLI!!!
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
EVERYONE IS UNEMPLOYED
Don't worry, Van Hansis still has a job. My unemployed ass just needed a random photo of Van to cheer myself up!First The Adorable Cat (well, he never had a job in the first place), then me, and now The Employed Boyfriend is The Unemployed Boyfriend. So our house is now a hot mess of Unemployed Soap Viewers! The only soap he really watches with me is AS THE WORLD TURNS, but he'll pop in and comment on whatever I'm watching. The Unemployed Boyfriend seemed impressed with the Catalina Island set of THE BOLD AND THE BEAUTIFUL and queried why does ATWT look so cheap? I guess he's forgotten that ATWT looks like a Cecil B DeMille production compared to the The Ellen Wheeler Cameraphone (TM) show that is GUIDING LIGHT.
ONE LIFE TO LIVE was -- well, if it was a book I'd say it was unputdownable. When The Unemployed Boyfriend saw Dorian being strangled by Clint he knew I was in for the whole show. Nash's fall throught he skylight was shocking and probably heart attack inducing in those who didn't see it coming. And full marks to titling the episode THROUGH A GLASS, DARKLY. Funny and rather wonderful to come across a random Ingmar Bergman reference. I also loved David trying to talk ghetto with Sean.
Sean: Dorian, you're a doctor, right, like a MD?
David : She's not Dr.Dre, yo.
GENERAL HOSPITAL was not as gripping, but still inspired enough to keep me from Ellen Wheeler's Cameraphone on the other channel. The scenes with Spinelli and Maxie were faaaaaaabulous. I liked seeing some lesbians in Port Charles, too, which bodes well for the rumoured gay doctor in the second season of NIGHT SHIFT. The Unemployed Boyfriend is a bit out of touch when it comes to GH; he saw Kate and was all like "Oh she's back?" since he hasn't seen the show since she went to Manhattan. In fact, the last time he did any attentive viewing of GH was during the Text Message Killer story, which had him yelling "TEXT MESSAGE!" at the screen.
I loved the cliffhanger because I had to evaluate what I thought of these three loathsome women -- Lulu, Carly and Claudia all facing off. My gut reaction? Time for Carly to give you a smackdown, Claudia. And how dare you threaten Lulu!
ATWT was DVRed so I could watch other shows. I'm not in a hurry to watch it because I know yesterday's cliffhanger will not be resolved today. I really hope this story gets a proper resolution, and doesn't get forgoten about like the Ji Min murder story of THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS.
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