FRANCORAMA

It's been a very James Franco week for me. 127 HOURS watched, his reappearance on GENERAL HOSPITAL and his Oscar duties all commanded my attention. He appeared stoned and/or drunk as Oscar host but can you blame him on such a blah night? My household perked up when ex DARK SHADOWS and FALCON CREST actor David Selby briefly showed up in a clip from THE SOCIAL NETWORK, but we quickly lapsed back into drunken oblivion.

R.I.P. TURA SANTANA

Just a quick off-topic post to commemorate Tura Santana, who died on February 4th. Star of FASTER PUSSYCAT KILL! KILL!, she was a true action icon for the ages, funny, smart and, yes, able to fuck your shit up. I recently watched SALT, which I thought was horrible -- what was especially crap was Angelina Jolie's heroine, who is acting in such an opaque manner throughout that everything she does is meaningless and devoid of feeling, even when she's killing the men who murdered her husband. Can you imagine SALT as a lean exploitation film circa 1966 with Tura? She would have brought some heat, humor and no-stunt-person-needed skillz to that shit! Man, today's cinema needs Tura Santana. She will be missed.

Obligatory soap related comment: watching the first season of THE WIRE and am amused to see future ALL MY CHILDREN actor Michael B Jordan as one of the teenage drug dealers. I can't remember Reggie's backstory but it would have been funny if he had been busted for crack before adopted by Jackson!

VIVIAN IS STILL IN THE COFFIN

..so I'm not really watching DAYS OF OUR LIVES right now, sorry! I love Louise Sorel (pictured) but this story should have lasted 2 days tops! This is the kind of crap that sunk PASSIONS.

I have been watching more of ONE LIFE TO LIVE, thanks to the casting of Kim Zimmer and Jessica Leccia from GUIDING LIGHT and Terri Columbino from AS THE WORLD TURNS. However, the hand of ex-ATWT writer Jean Passanante can be felt now that she writes for OLTL. This woman's credo? When in doubt on how to use a character, turn 'em psycho and get them out of town! Sigh.

That being said, I am really enjoying the Psycho Lisa storyline on GENERAL HOSPITAL. It is fascinating that Lisa wasn't killed off or sent to an asylum, as she continues to work at the hospital and everyone just has to deal with it. Today, when Sonny asked Robin if she wanted him to kill Lisa -- how many of us were screaming at the TV "SAY YES!!!" But it is in keeping with Robin's character that she wouldn't do that. Also good viewing was any scene with Adrienne Barbeau and/or Spinelli. I still want Suzanne to mix it up with more people, but her dumbfounded "Is that a kind of code?" response to Spinelli's babblings was very funny. I'm still hoping for Spinelli to get back with Maxie. They just don't sparkle with anyone else the same way.

THE BRUISED, BROKEN BEAUTY OF TOM PELPHREY

Regular readers of this blog will be aware of the DVR issues surrounding our AS THE WORLD TURNS viewing -- namely, I'm still catching up on episodes from November of last year! Tonight we got back in the game with the 11/17 and 18 episodes, featuring Tom Pelphrey (pictured left) with a tremendous nosebleed, the return of Lesli Kay's fabulous Molly, and the erection killer of Luke's parents adopting his boyfriend Noah, thus making them brothers. Yuck! (Yuck not directed at the aforementioned Lesli Kay!)

JET LAGGED DAYTIME EMMYS

Hey, I've been in London so I wasn't able to watch the Daytime Emmys until tonight. Very glad I successfully avoided all spoilers and even happier that AS THE WORLD TURN's Maura West, Julie Pinson and, most especially, Michael Park were all deservedly awarded. The show itself was a mess but I'll forgive it anything for giving my soap some love! (West and Park are pictured left.)

JUDI, DREW AND A CRAPPY SHOW OR TWO

I only saw a bit of DAYS OF OUR LIVES today but was pleased to see Judi Evans back as Adrienne Kiriakis. I loved her recent stint as Maeve on AS THE WORLD TURNS and thought they could have done more with her and Holden.

GENERAL HOSPITAL was excellent today, even as I fear the dark storylines might be driving viewers away, judging by the low ratings. I don't know what has led to the recasting of Michael. Drew Garrett (pictured) is a powerhouse; if for some reason he can't do the show anymore I say throw Michael in jail and don't let him out until Drew can play him again. Aside from that, the scenes where Ethan and Luke talk about Luke's rape of Laura were powerful and well-written. I'm glad GH doesn't just sweep that under the carpet.

Because my DVR is full and I must tape CAPRICA tomorrow, I watched last week's GOSSIP GIRL, which was lukewarm. Who cares about Chuck's mother (even if she is played by MULHOLLAND DRIVE's Laura Harring) or Serena's father? This show should exist in a parentless vacuum. Let's hope the last episode is (was?) better.

WHY AS THE WORLD TURNS WILL NEVER DIE FOR ME

Because we have episodes going back to November 11 2009 clogging up our DVR, that's why! Tonight we watched Tom Pelphrey's first episode, where he brought a theatrical intensity to even this loopy story of youth serums, James Stenbeck and ingenue grabbing on stairwells.