So I play the character of Tariq on the Soap Opera called This is Your Life, airing 24/7/365 on your local television network, kind of like The Truman Show, only with a little bit more creative license. Some episodes you see, and others you don’t. The highlight reels ebb together like the meticulous tidings of yesterday. But…the question remains for me, and for as long as I’ve been playing him (23 years, 7 months, and 4 days), how do you describe Tariq?

I suppose the rightful answer to that question really is: how can you describe Tariq? Sometimes he is this, other times he is that. At moments he is bold and blue, and at others he is cowardly and yellow. I suppose the one thing that truly stands out about him is his need to always, subconsciously, try to do the morally right thing. Don’t get me wrong, he hates authority, and refuses to gladly submit to any other authority besides that of the Almighty and that which He has ordained lawful and good. But, for as long as I have known his character, he seems to always have a knack for the surprising, and a penchant for  the daring, like Brett Favre trying to bomb a Hail Mary through triple coverage. And has gotten luckier more times than I dare to count.

Am I making this out to be a good thing? Most certainly not. In fact, its gotten him into trouble many times in the past, like the countless number of interceptions Favre has thrown in his career. He’s found himself confounded with many a question about why he holds his views. It has led to some very interesting and quotable statements by him.

Sometimes he is an object of ridicule, and other times he is simply a discredited figure of fun. But at the end of the day, he still remains Tariq. Tariq. Tariq. Tariq. Who is he? Tony the Tiger with his Frosted Flakes? (Insert cover athlete here) with his Wheaties? Is he completely something? Do I even know who he is at times? He is a paradoxical convergence of parables that so many have echoed about him. Sometimes funny. Other times a shoulder to cry on. Other times attacked by a fantastically confounded ignorance he cannot even describe.

Do I love my character? After all these years, I certainly hope so. I mean, I’ve grown fond of him. He’s a warming presence in my life. Everywhere I go, people seem to instantly and magically identify me with him. I mean, just last week, I was walking my dogs at the city park and some lady with a hat comes up to me and says “you’re that Tariq, aren’t you?” AND I HAD MY AVAITOR GLASSES ON!  (Okay, so maybe it didn’t quite happen this way, but still, you get the point).

As the years go on and the hair goes completely gray and the stubble grows more pronounced, I’ll always think to myself “Tariq, now there’s somebody that seemed to be going places!  Just who he was, I couldn’t quite tell yah! He even confused the bejesus outta me. He loves unconditionally, but boy does he have a short temper sometimes. He had crazy, inspired ideas for saving the world someday. Still has them. People told him exactly what they thought of him, and what they were thinking at the moment. Tooth and nail, he’s a tough son of a b***h. Sometimes awkward. Sometimes smooth as silk. Always had a knack for saying the most ridiculously possible thing at the moment. ”

So here I am. Forever married to Tariq. I wonder about him sometimes. Who he is, what he does, how he loves, where he’s going, and why he so desperately wants to serve humanity in this day and in this age of history. Maybe someday, long after my time, I’ll have the answer to all these questions and then some. But until that day, I’ll continue asking someone else the answers to all the unanswered questions I have about this Tariq person that every single person in the entire world seems to have linked me to.

   Can I just say that I started off the day with every intention of watching today’s episode while sipping Hot Cocoa without a notepad and pen in sight.  What with Christmas and moving right around the corner I had made the decision to put Addicted to General Hospital to bed for two weeks.  Atlhough there were many moments during Monday’s and Tuesday’s episodes that I was tempted to write a remark down I held fast to my self imposed vacation of sorts.  But as I watching the annual Christmas episode I thought to myself that it would be great to end the year with an episode that was both well acted and paced.  For all the storylines that are prepared throughout the yeat that go no where or characters that sit around waiting to do anything it is a nice surprise when we fans get to spend a rare hour with a smile on our faces for the sheer joy that feeds our GH addiction. 

I was so pleased to see that even with all that is going on with Jason (who I can only assume is spending Christmas with the Quartermaine’s) Sam still chose to spend the day with her mother and sister’s.  Sometimes with the lack of actual Sam/Alexis story (something you writers may want to address in the new year) I forget that Sam is apart of the Davis family.  So it was nice that she was there looking right at home laughing with Kristina and Molly and when Mac walked in with a present for Alexis Sam was one of the first, aside from little miss schemer Molly of course, to beem from ear to ear at the sight of her mother and Mac.  I don’t know if Mac and Alexis have a future and truthfully I don’t care as long as we get to see Alexis and Mac being happy at least 75% of the time.  They each deserve that much if not more.  Heck even Max looked pleased at the possible union and you know it has to uncomfortable for him considering who he works for and whose house he was in.  I do believe however that Michael hasn’t found his place yet and Jax doesn’t seem to be making it any better.  I can only hope that will change in the future and that young Michael Corinthos III will discover that he is more than just his father’s name. 

  Oh Carlyis finding out what you got for Christmas so important that you are willing to trick your youngest son and climb a roof?  Yeah I laughed at that one.  And no I do not care if the reality of falling off a roof that high would mean broken bones in the real world.  Michael also provided a nice little chuckle when he yelled “Morgan” in an exasperatted (forgive the spelling) tone.  I gotta say Morgan you have been Carly’s son for 12 years now (going on how old Aaron Revfem is in real life and not how old Morgan is in Soap World) so there really is no excuse for falling into her trap.  Oh Michael once again I am torn between thinking you are a spoiled selfish brat and a loving thoughtful young man.  Most of the time I can not stand you and then miracle upon miracle you show us a different side and all else is forgiven.  I thought for sure that Carly’s gift was going to be something outrageous, but imagine my surprise when Jax (who lets face it has been riding a fine line between jerk and hero for a while now), Morgan, and Michael got together to present Carly with a family portrait of her 3 children.  Now I know that it has seemed lately that Jax doesn’t care about Michael, but I personally have never believed that for a moment. 

  How adorable is this family?  Finally GH has a couple that is just as much fun to watch happy as they are in turmoil.  Often it is said in the world of Soaps that when a couple gets married and happy they get boring.  Well here is a couple that proves to be an exception to the rule.  And thank goodness for that.  I truly believe that it takes just as much if not more effort to continue to remain entertaining to the viewers when all is well.  This is one couple that in the upcoming year I hope is able to meet every challenge together as a united front.  Now I know this scene wasn’t in today’s show, but when Patrick basically tore into Lisa for even suggesting that the sacrifices he has had to make to be with Robin was anything less than worth it I practically stood up and cheered.  I don’t care how many times they throw Lisa into a scene or make her reiterate once again her past relationship with Patrick I will not stop believing that Patrick for all his faults isn’t completely head over heels in love with his wife and daughter. 

 Perhaps the biggest miracle of all was Lucky and Luke sitting across from each other cementing their bond and love for each other.  No matter what this father and son duo are faced with when you put Jonathan and Anthony in a scene together you can not help but to be reminded of their unstoppable force.  Here are two men that finally for the first time are beginning to see each other for all their faults and differences and love each other anyways.  Lucky has been especially hard on Luke over the past couple of years so it was especially nice when he let his father know that no matter what has happened or will happen he loves him and always will.   It’s moments like these that remind me once again why I love this show and will continue to love it through good times and bad.

  Special Mention:

Ethan reading the Christmas story and being invited to be a part of the family

Spencer Cassadine

Mac proving once again how protective he is of his little girl

Dodger & Cowboy

Spixie heartbreak (please oh please do not let them be over for good)

Dante trying to make nice with Tracy

The slow burn that is Dante & Lulu

The look of love between Tracy & Luke

Well GH fans that is it until the new year.  I hope you enjoyed reading my recaps and random thoughts as much as I enjoyed writing them.  Until next year Merry Christmas!

The San Antonio Nuclear Expansion Soap Opera plot thickens.  Today’s update brings the shocking news that South Texas Project Reactors 3 & 4 could actually cost, not $13 Billion, not even $17 Billion… but $18.2 Billion!

With all the trouble CPS has gotten into recently regarding transparency (a gentle term we’re using that translates roughly to “lying to the public and covering up bad news”), you’d think that they would’ve come forward and made this estimate public as soon as humanly possible.

But you’d be wrong.  Instead, they presented the numbers to their board in a closed session last week (read: NOT public, you’re not invited).  Sometime later, the San Antonio Express-News got wind of the update, “based on numbers provided by the South Texas Project Nuclear Operating Co”, and published the results.

When will CPS learn that they have got to be honest with the public, the mayor, and city council? They told folks all summer long that the plant would cost $13 Billion, even though insiders knew since late June that it could very well be $4 Billion more.  CPS has led a lengthy and sloppy cover-up campaign of STP and nuclear power’s “inconvenient truth” that culminated in resignations, an internal investigation, and several firings and demotions.

Am I going to fast for you? Did you miss a few episodes, and are confused that CPS’ prize project could so quickly fall to pieces? Let’s do a recap.

Previously, on Amores Nucleares:

With just days before San Antonio City Council was to vote to approve $400 million in bonds for new nuclear reactors, it was leaked that the project could actually cost $4 Billion more than CPS had been saying all summer (according to Toshiba, who would actually be building the plant).  The vote was postponed, there was an impromptu press conference, and it came out that CPS staff had actually known about the cost increase for more than a week — Oops! Oh, and the “leak” wasn’t that CPS came out with the truth, an aide from the mayor’s office only found out after confronting CPS about a rumor he’d heard. But how did the mayor’s office find out? NRG, CPS’ partner in the project was the “Deepthroat”, because they were going to announce Toshiba’s $17 Billion cost estimate at a shareholder’s meeting soon after the city council vote and thought, geez, that could look really bad for CPS! Meanwhile,  CPS reps flew to Japan in a hurry to figure things out.  Steve Bartley, interim GM for CPS, resigned.  Furious that CPS had hidden the ugly truth from City Council, the mayor demanded the resignation of two key CPS board members, and got City Council to vote unanimously that they get the boot.  Chairwoman Aurora Geis agreed to go, but Steve Hennigan said “No Way, Jose.” THEN CPS completed an internal audit of the whole shebang to figure out what-the-hell-happened, which found that Steve Bartley was to blame, and everyone else was only guilty of failure in their “responsibility of prompt disclosure”.  And then this week it came out the project could be even more way way expensive than anyone thought (except of course Energia Mia, Public Citizen, SEED Coalition, the Center for American Progress, Nuclear Information and Resource Service, and analysts Arjun Makhijani, Clarence Johnson, Craig Severance, and Mark Cooper to name a few).

That about brings us up to speed.

So what is next? December 31st, Toshiba should come out with a new, “official” cost estimate, which CPS will use to come up with their own cost estimate mid-January. City council is slated to vote January 15th, once and for all, on $400 million in bonds to continue the project.  But clearly, enough is enough.  Tell City Council to stop throwing good money after bad, and to cut their losses before its too late.  Tell them to vote “no” to nuclear bonds January 15th, and start the year off fresh and free from the “ghost of nuclear projects past.”

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By promoting cleaner energy, cleaner government, cleaner cars, and cleaner air for all Texans, we hope to provide for a healthy place to live and prosper. We are Public Citizen Texas.

A while ago I went for a little road trip with some few friends. We took off from Malmö and headed on to Denmark, into Germany, through Anwerp, Belgium. And finally stayed in Calais one night before we drove to England and the beautiful countryside outside London. We stayed in Sussex. Now, the countryside in England is actually stunningly beautiful. I know a lot of us only associate British countryside with daily soap-operas such as “Emmerdale”, or maybe Post Man Pat. And well, it is quite gray, it is quite wet, but – the fields and the nature is absolutely stunning! Now, unfortunately my camera didnt work that well during the trip and I didnt get any decent shots from UK.

But here is one from Calais.

And heres a shot I took a few years ago in Sussex. Just look at it!

  I don’t know if the writers intenionally wrote AJ into the storyline or not but when Dante was describing Michael and stated that he didn’t fit into the family I couldn’t help but to be reminded of AJ.  I know that we are supposed to forget that AJ is Michael’s real father and the only time it is mentioned that he is in fact a Quartermaine is when one of the Q’s die or when they need a place for Michael to go, but the truth of the matter is that Michael since coming out of the corner is more like his biological father everyday.  I am not disputing the fact that Sonny has raised Michael for practically his entire life or that Michael views Sonny and Sonny only as his father.  But they can not rewrite history and I for one hope they don’t.  In fact I hope that one day they explore it even further.  How Freudian would it be for Michael to walk away from the family he has always known and embrace a new life just the way his Uncle Jason did oh so many years ago?  I mean come on this kid is connected to more core families than practically anyone else on the show.  By birth he is a Spencer and a Quartermain and by adoption he is apart of the Corinthos family and you could probably even throw in the Cassadines considering that his Aunt Courtney is the mother to Spencer Cassadine.  Um writers can you please explain to me why you aren’t touching on this well of untapped storyline potential? 

Ok enough of that rambling commentary and onto Thursday’s episode.  I swear I have a freaking headache after the foreshadowing that was being beaten into it.  I felt so frustrated watching the scenes with Dante and Olivia today that I wasn’t sure how much I could take.  After a certain point you just have to say enough is enough we get it already.  “A son shouldn’t be put in the position to destroy hs father” or “A father will forgive his son for anything.”  If that had gone on for much longer I might have screamed.  The Sonny is your father story might be a bit more interesting if it wasn’t shoved down our throats every chance they get.  About the only aspect of this story that I find even remotely interesting is Dante and that has more to do with the fact that he hasn’t been on the show all that long in relation to how long the story has been cooking.  I think there should be a rule that no ongoing storyline should exceed six months to a year.  Any longer than that and it just gets stale and loses it’s staying power.  I think that may be why I am letting myself enjoy the Franco storyline.  I know it won’t last longer than three months tops.  Oh sure the ramifications will last longer than that, but Francos part in the story will end before I get bored with him.

Raise your hand if you saw Franco stealing Claudia’s body coming from a mile away.  1,2,3,4,5…oh screw it I can’t count that high.  It would have been more interesting if Dante had found the body and had to struggle with what he should do with the knowledge.  Although I am slightly intrigued as to what Frano plans on doing with the body.  Maybe he will use it in one of his installations.  Now that would be sick and twisted and sadistically humourous.  What?  Don’t judge me.  Have you ever seen a 1000 ways to die?  Some of that stuff is funny as hell.  Not that I am saying death is funny or isn’t a serious subject…blah, blah, blah.  The show’s freaking funny I don’t care what you say.  Side note:  JF you may be a talented actor but you can’t whistle to save your life.  

  Wow Liz is not only a cheating slut but she is also stupid as hell.  Even Patrick doesn’t have the nerve to piss off Ephiany.  That girl has some nerve that’s for sure.  I was all for a little Rebecca & Lucky cheating action until their scenes together.  Man they ruined that fast.  Oh don’t get me wrong it’s not that I don’t want Lucky to get some serious revenge on Liz and Nikolas nor is it that I didn’t think JJ did a great job.  Because he did.  The way his face lit up when he was remembering days gone bye it felt as though he was reliving some really great times and he was remembering how close he and his dad used to be.  But then Rebecca had to go and ruin it by being well when you get right down to it stalkerish.  Has anyone ever told this girl how to flirt with a guy?  I really want to know what Ethan saw in her, because i just don’t see it.  If one of my guy friends were chatting her up I would tell them to run fast and far.  Now as I am sure you, my readers, have noticed that I haven’t been to kind to Liz lately but I just want to say that I totally applaud Rebecca Herbst for playing this storyline for all it’s worth.  Not once do I ever get the impression that she would rather be playing a different storyline or that she isn’t committed to it 100%  No really I am not just saying that.  I imagine it must be extremely hard to play as though you are in love with two men and the writers give you bubkiss to work with.  This doesn’t mean I am a Liz fan, far from it and it wasn’t this storyline that made me dislike her.  That happened a million stories ago. 

On the other hand sometime the writers get things right and give us such gems as “Sometimes I don’t think you hear the words coming out of your mouth.”  Oh how many times have I thought the exact same thing.  Granted it was usually after I had put my foot in it, but still.  How in the hell does Sam not know about “The List?”  Everyone knows about it.  They had to be joking with that one, right?  Right?  Come on someone please tell me she was joking.  I just want to tell the writers that there are women out there that can find a guy who doesn’t fit the stereotype to be sexy as hell.  Not all of us always go for the chisled adonis’s that cross our screens everyday.  I for one think Spinelli is adorably sexy and I am sure I am not the only one.  So when Maxie says stuff like “How would Spinelli even be able to find someone as sexy as Franco that would sleep with him?”  it makes me mad because I can’t help but to think that we are supposed to believe that Spinelli should thank his lucky stars that a girl as pretty as Maxie would even love a guy as geeky as him.  I thought we were past all that GH.  The one thing I always loved about Spixie is that they were better together than they were apart and isn’t that what makes a good, lasting couple?   Take Robin and Patrick for instance, no matter what gets thrown at them we can no longer imagine one without the other.  As long as GH doesn’t mess with Spixie too much I have a feeling they could eventually reach that level as well.  At least I sure hope so.

  Oh Luke why didn’t you just tell him?  If you think that telling him will hurt him well I have news for you my friend not telling him is going to be so much worse for you.  One of these days you are just going to have to accept the fact that your son is a cop and he is proud of what he does.  Stop acting like you are disappointed in him and be the father you used to be.  Once upon a time you were a man that he could trust and look up to.  Prove that you still are that man and tell him, before it gets any worse.  I know that some of GH’s loyal viewers feel that Lucky is being treated like a fool, but I disagree.  The only reason we feel that way is because we know what is really going on and it ticks us off that he is steadfastly sticking up for the very people who are hurting him.  That is no fool.  If he really was would we like him so much?  Would we care if he got hurt or his world came crashing down?  Of course not, if that were the case we would be yelling “Bring on the pain!’  This is a guy who will stand by those he cares about no matter what.  Sure he and Luke are having problems but there is not a doubt in my mind that if Luke were in trouble that he would be right there doing everything he could to help his dad.  Once upon a time I would have said that I couldn’t wait for Lucky to find out about the betrayal, but no more.  Now all I can do is think about how much this guy’s world is going to crumble and how he is the last person who deserves it.  That is a day that I am not looking forward too.  On a separate note once again Tony and Jonathan prove how great they are together.  And how awesome was it when Luke just came out with no warning whatsoever and laid Nikolas out?  Nik is a guy searching for punishment and boy oh boy did he find it.  ***Pardon for the interuption I know I didn’t post on Monday’s episode but I have to give special props to Tyler Christopher because damn did he kill his scenes.  More a split second I was rooting for him.  Not once in this entire storyline have I believed that Liz loves either of these guys and I wasn’t quite sure about Nik, but I can no longer say that.  Because he showed and then some how much he loves Liz.   I honestly felt bad for him and that credit goes all too Tyler***

Nikolas wasn’t the only one getting punched in this face, but this time I mean it figurtively.  finally after a couple of years pining away for Maxie Spinelli gets everything he ever wanted only to have it ripped from him in a truly horrendous fashion.  This sweet, trusting guy (with a super cute hair cut by the way) was faced with the knowledge that his Maximista cheated on him mere months after their non-wedding.  And being the type of guy he is went straight to the man who helped to cause him so much pain.  For what reason I am sure he didn’t even know at the time, but instead of telling Franco off he was taken aback by the weirdness that even he himself do

  An unexpected twist in the so-saw-that-coming Lisa-Robin-Patrick triangle occurred in Tuesday’s episode when Lisa and Robin travelled to Jake’s and bonded over the loss of a patient.  Yes you did read that correctly.  Apparently a patient dying is code for strange and uncomfortable girl’s night.  Is it just me or did Robin give Lisa a quizical look when she was talking about her internship in Atlanta?  Maybe it was just me, but wouldn’t Lisa turning out to be a fake doctor be a much better story than “I slept with your husband oh so many years ago”?  Well I think so anyways.  Man oh man did Patrick go completely over board when COS Webber stepped in on his territory to soothe the ruffled feather’s of the brother of the dead patient.  I have a feeling though that it had more to do with the fact that Patrick is no longer the big man on campus than defending Lisa’s actions as a surgeon.  That is one guy who does not like it when anyone questions his authority over anything.  I would wonder how Robin puts up with it, but considering she is the same way just with a lighter tone I know why she does.  I don’t know what it is about Lisa, but I feel there is something more going on there than she wants Patrick back.  In fact I don’t see that at all. But maybe I am just hoping they choose not to go the typical soap route this time and shake things up. 

It’s official not only do I have a new favorite romantic couple, but I also have a new favorite Bromance.  Move over Patrick and Coleman because Dante and Lucky are moving in.  How perfect is it that they are partners now?  Oh not officially, but still.  They both struggle with their ties to the other side of the law.  ALthough Dante’s runs stronger than Lucky’s, but considering he doesn’t truly know how strong his ties are I think Lucky’s are emotionally stronger right now.  They both are faced with the fact that their families do not like what they do.  Olivia doesn’t like it because of who his father is and the danger he is in and well Lucky’s family just thinks that being a cop is a crime.  Ironic, huh?  How cute was it that Lucky gave Dante his blessing for dating Lulu and Lulu still can’t bring herself to admit she is dating him.  Hey Lulu if you keep dancing with a guy, kissing him, and going out on dates you are dating him.  Just thought you should know.   On a side note (wow there are alot of them today):  why do the people who know that Dominic isn’t his realy name keep calling him that?  I am chalking it up to the fact that they are trying to help him keep his cover going and not lazy writing.  In fact the only people who call him Dante are Ronnie, Olivia, Kate and Jax.

Speaking of Kate, how can you not love her and Coleman?  They are so perfect for each other it’s scary.  I know they tried playing the whole girl done good with boy done wrong angle with her and Sonny, but somehow it never fit.  Coleman and Kate fit.  I can’t explain it they just do and I am loving every minute of it.  Hey Guza now you can bring Kate back more often and any excuse to see Coleman is a good one.  I have to admit that right now the supporting couples on this show; Diane & Max, Kate & Coleman, Mac & Alexis, and Franco & Jason are making me smile more than the rest of them are.  Dante and Lulu are the exception of course.   

The Band “PLAYER” hit it big with their first hit, “Baby Come Back” which hit #1 on the Billboard Charts in 1978. Not a true “One Hit Wonder”, the group did have two subsequent songs which achieved modest success, “This Time I’m in it for Love” and “Prisoner of your Love“. The original members of the group were only together from 1977-1982 but in the years since, various groups of members have tried to resurrect the group in various forms. The latest version of the group is still performing shows to this date. One of the original members, bassist Ronn Moss, is an actor and has starred on the daytime Soap “The Bold and the Beautiful” since 1987.
“Baby come back” is still a great song after all these years.

I take it that the person reading this has a vocabulary above par and intelligence to match- if the above zwei qualities don’t match your description kindly cease and desist ..

We men think of going through life as if in the Godfather .. Live your life ruthlessly and care for the ones you love and everyone else can go to the bottom of the ocean .. bear in mind I said men and not some teenager’s playboy mansion fantasy .. The females mostly (but not all) virgins think of life as an ongoing Beverly Hills 90210 tv series .. With love, tears and everything else that begets a soap opera.. Nowhere else was this more manifested than when I was black bagged and taken to watch a turd of a movie called new moon which has filled that niche for females that Baywatch did for males in the mid-90’s..

(In movie) “I’m coming…” she said,.. And a 195 females sitting around me echoed the sentiment .. And probably all came at the same time looking at vampiric Mr. Pattinson from the latest clit-lit on screen for the before-cherry popped fraulein..

The orgasmic gasps, giggles & extended toes I witnessed to exposed torsos accompanied by “bite me” seared into their very pupils watching what could only be described as a disturbing and displeasing metaphor for girls losing their virginity..I shudder .. Not to mention terrible porcelain faced acting .. On one hand we have maestro Lee Strasberg’s quietly powerful vision and on the other we have werewolves in underwear .. Ah the choice .. Call Solomon .. We need him…

No, I’m not entirely disparaging a movie that ruined a fine biblical name- I’m disparaging it from the beginning till the credits- which was as welcome as a cigarette after sex..

My vision of women might be a little fundamentalist .. But its right dammit.. (how many of you understood that) – To be a pillar of unwavering support & unflinching loyalty .. To take care of their homes .. To teach their children of the beauty of life.. (The father would teach them of the reality of life ..) That is the role I envision for a woman- my woman..

I see two visions here.. One of fairytales and candy – the other of pragmatism and life itself ..

I’ve always known I was smarter than most people – but am I the only sane man here.. . I mean come on, you dont have to be a candidate for Mensa (an organization for people whose brains are in their cranium as opposed to in their tits and torso i.e. people of high IQ) to see through this veil of unrefined candycorn…

Where have all the thinking men and women gone- 500 years ago all these good looking “people” would have been sold in the slave market and have had nothing more than a lifetime of forced anal sex to look forward to.. Not that much has changed..after all we still have models and rampwalks- only the ugliness is more refined and contoured so as not to affect senibilities outside .. A facade thriving on idiocy..

Ah a fine bildsungroman I did not witness today..

And I remind myself now- that the 130 minutes I lost there I will never get back ..
…

Good Night & Good Luck

One more in my series of short tones. This one sounds like a soap opera sound when something bad just happened. A strange cartoon soap opera, sure, but whatever.

Next week, original funkiness.

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Jorge

  Finally someone told Michael exactly what an ass he was being.  All I can say is that it was about damn time.  I had to rewind that scene just so I could savor it again.  There is one thing I have always admired about Jason and that is even though he works on the other side of the law and his job is to make it as difficult as possible for the cops to pin anything on him he has always managed to do so without making it appear that he doesn’t have any respect for them.  In Jason’s mind the cops are the good guys, especially Lucky.  He knows that he is not a hero or a good guy.  Unlike his boss who honestly believes that he is the misunderstood gangster with a heart of gold. And know his son is going around acting like a complete jackass.  Now I can understand how Carly’s first reaction was to do whatever it took to protect Michael.  She was reacting simply on instinct and was not at all thinking about how it was going to effect Michael in the long run.  But know that she has had time to really see what it is doing to her son she understands that she and the rest made a huge mistake in not coming forward.  In her mind all they are doing is hammering in the fact that in Michael’s world killing is a perfectly logical answer to one’s problems.  Carly was absolutely right when she told Sonny that it is up to her to save Michael because it is obvious Sonny has no idea what he is doing.  Even if she doesn’t go to the police with what really happened she needs to get him some counseling and fast.  Although I am afraid that there might not be any hope left for him. 

Speaking of Sonny, what a jackass move it was to send Johnny on a pointless job just to get in good with Olivia.  If she falls for that frakking bs surprise dinner I am going to be pissed.  Hell I am surprised he hasn’t bothered to pull out the old buy her a dress and wisk her away to the island move he is so fond of considering he has used it on every woman that comes within 15 feet of him.  Do women really fall for that crap?  I mean I know that I lie in bed every night wishing and praying for a man who refuses to listen to anything I say and orders me around because it is quite obvious that I am unable to think or feel for myself.  Yep that’s my idea of a dream man.  I wonder why I haven’t found him yet.  Oh yeah that’s right because I have a BRAIN!!!!  I guess I am just going to have to go back to the drawing board.  Hey writers here’s a tip yes woman do like a strong man who can take control but we also like a man who has substance and doesn’t spend all of his time believing all his own hype.  Men like Sonny make me want to throw up.  I’m not kidding I gag just thinking about them. 

I do not understand how it is possible that a guy like Sonny is looked at as God’s Gift and guys like Spinelli are looked as second best.  I mean what woman wouldn’t want a guy who is smart, thoughtful, sincere, caring, loving, funny, and about a million other adjectives I can’t think of right now.  What because Spinelli is a little on the weird side (which I find to be quite delightful) and doesn’t fit the stereotype of what they think a girl wants we aren’t supposed to see him as an attractive man?  Get with it writers I would rather have a guy like Spinelli over Sonny any day.  And if Maxie knew what was good for her she would wake up and see what a great man she already has.  When I saw the look on Spinelli’s face when he discovered what Maxie had done I wanted to smack her and ask what the hell was she thinking sleeping with Franco? 

  Oh Franco my adorable little pyscho.  Thank you for bringing the laughter back to GH.  I hope I am not supposed to find you menacing because I just think your man crush on Jason is too adorable for words.  And the way you played the awkardness that he felt, genius my friend genius.  I never would have thought to separate the M & M’s by color or to bring out the chips and dip in a effort to make my guest more comfortable.  I wonder if Jason realized that there were 2 psychos in the room.  Probably not.  I find it strange how in Jason’s mind if he had killed Joey Limbo it would have been justified but when Franco did it it was murder.  Isn’t it great the way that Jason is able to compartmentalize his actions?  Here we have the classic who’s the better of the two?  I have to hand it to James Franco he is playing the hell out of his role.  I could care less if he did for performance art or because he was bored and wanted to shake things up.  He is doing a great job and thankfully I am starting to get over the whole “OMG its James Franco!” feeling I had in the beginning.  Now I can just sit back and enjoy it.

Happy Birthday

Donna Mills

Abby of Knots Landing just celebrated a birthday last Friday, December 11. I loved her work on Knots Landing. She was an evil villainess and fun to watch. That eye makeup was her trademark.

Abby Tells Val (Joan Van Ark) about the Twins in Season 6 Finale (Abby actually does a good deed for once!)

Val Slaps Abby (From Season 3)

My God but families can be frustrating.

Much as I’d like to discuss what’s currently coursing through my mind, the time is still not right for full disclosure (is it ever?). Suffice to say it involves an estranged uncle (with whom I could have spoken no more than thrice in the past decade) berating me via his 12 year old son over the internet regarding a most distressing matter, responsibility of which most certainly does not lie at my feet.

Hm. It seems that without specifics the audacity isn’t really very well expressed, so until it can be I’m afraid you’ll have to just take my word for it. He was -wildly- inappropriate, and I found the whole experience quite discomfiting. Last time I stayed with his sister she tried to beat me for calling my Mother, so it shouldn’t really have come as a surprise, fool that I am.

A transcript has, of course, been retained.

I marvel at the endless capacity for complete and utter lunacy that members of my family have. We have more factions and splinters than the IRA, and more plot twists and hidden truths than an episode of Dallas.

I’d thrill you with details but

a) That would be using up a rather ripe blog source rather early in the game.

and

b) I’m not sure how many of our skeletons are in the public domain yet.

Wouldn’t want citations from family solicitors now would we…

Currently watching the Jeremy Irons version of Lolita (nothing quite that extreme in the family so far as I know… but then that’s just so far as I know…). If it wasn’t for the fact that the Peter Sellers version was so outstanding it could be really quite notable… I think the Peter Sellers is a better film in it’s own right, with the Jeremy Irons being a better representation of the book. His performance here really is wonderful; understated, natural and glorious in it’s neuroses. Wonderful. The girls career’s gone steadily downhill since of course; peaked painfully early.

I wonder what’s preferable; producing a single, awe-inspiring piece of work and spending the rest of your life trying yet failing to replicate it… or steadily building something up; better and better, job by job, honing your skills and your craft, a constantly evolving career, but one that is doomed never to pass into greatness – one that will never hit the heights, and ultimately be remembered as little more than heightened mediocrity.

I think if you could come to terms with it (build a life around it, find other, more important things to satisfy you) the latter would be a far happier existence. If you could be satisfied with life and love and family and all that, learn to treat the craft as just a job you enjoy that makes all the rest of life possible, well then the latter would be a life charmed.

If, on the other hand, –

Wow. A duologue scene between Frank Langella and Jeremy Irons. Masterful. Check it out.

– If, on the other hand, –

Oh, it’s Frank Langella’s penis. And now he’s playing piano. Still recommended. What a death scene.

– ahem. IF, on the other hand, you are of the unfortunate bent of NEEDING the art, needing the knowledge that, even if it goes unappreciated and unrecognized by all around you, the knowledge that you have achieved a level of greatness, of something approaching mastery (even if just for a fleeting moment), that you have created some unique, immortal piece of genius, of Art… if you NEED that, and if that would make it all worthwhile… well then. Perhaps the former wouldn’t be so bad. It very much depends on the individual, and on what their motivations are.

I have a worrying idea which side of the fence I may be on… how about yourself?

Heh.

That said, right now I’d be happy to get offered either; late nights with laptops and old films are starting to wear thin…

-Brice out.

A couple of days ago, I made a blog post about CBS’ As the World Turns being cancelled. That TeleNext Media (formerly Procter and Gamble) soap opera will sign off the air effective September 17, 2010. Guiding Light (another CBS-televised soap opera which TeleNext Media also owns) already got pulled on 9/18/2009 after suffering from bad writing for a number of months.

The case I’m arguing is that soap after soap is being kicked out of Daytime TV Land as the years go by, usually at the expense of modernized versions of old game shows or completely new ones; extra talk shows; and oh yeah…something called “reality shows.” Anemic acting and writing are usually among the reasons for the ratings drop and the consequential cancellation of specific soaps, but granted there are still some people that watch soaps during the day. (NOTE: I am not arguing about primetime soaps such as Melrose Place, Falcon Crest, Dallas, Knots Landing, Beverly Hills 90210, Dynasty, and the like because most of those have obviously been more popular…at least in their early years.)

When ATWT leaves the air, CBS will have its two (most popular) soap operas in its schedule as of 2010: The Young and the Restless and The Bold and the Beautiful.

My Take on the Future of the Remaining Soaps (Excluding Melrose Place and the Like)

CBS’ aforementioned Y&R and B&B probably won’t be axed if their ratings remain popular enough over the next year or two. Y&R debuted in 1973, has won over 100 Emmy Awards, and continues to be one of the most watched daytime soaps in the world. B&B debuted in 1987 after the continued failure of Capitol, and has millions of domestic and international viewers.

NBC’s only soap opera, Days of Our Lives, has plenty of viewership on the Internet, so I don’t think Sony’s going to pull that one anytime soon. Speaking of NBC, they’ve had a case history of programming problems. They cancelled the beloved Another World (ATWT’s sister soap) in 1999, then fit its new soap opera, Passions, into the schedule and look what happened: that soap lasted only eight years, terminating in 2007 after experiencing dreadful ratings through its entire run. (Actually, Passions’ life span ended in 2008 on DirecTV’s 101 Network, to whom NBC sold the program in 2007.)

Ratings worth frowning upon also plagued NBC’s telecasting of Search for Tomorrow, which originally debuted in 1951 on CBS and was a big hit there until the mid-1970s. SFT moved to NBC in 1982 after P&G and CBS couldn’t come to agreement on an appropriate time slot for it; its uninteresting storylines after the NBC takeover – not to mention its failure in the ratings, thanks in large part to its pairing with The Doctors, which was a constant slump, and commercial failures for game shows like Hot Potato – signed it the deathticket in December 1986. The Edge of Night met a similar fate several years earlier, but it moved from CBS to ABC in 1975, and ended its final season on ABC as the lowest-rated soap opera during the 1984 season. And speaking of ABC, let me predict what will happen to its remaining soaps!

ABC has the rather bland All My Children, the better-known One Life to Live, and its most-watched soap, General Hospital, still on the air. It had other soaps in the past, including Ryan’s Hope, the aforementioned Edge of Night, and Loving/The City to name at least three. AMC may be the next soap to be told, “Don’t let the door hit you on the way out,” after ATWT’s last episode (particularly the way its production’s been changing – it’s going to be produced in Hollywood instead of New York City from now on to take full advantage of the newest technology), but I’m not too sure about OLTL and especially GH. Those two soaps will probably remain on the air.

A picture of the opening title card for ABC's 'General Hospital'

Anyway, at the rate at which daytime shows are being cancelled (just like old sitcoms and classic cartoon anthologies were on the local networks and in some cases even on cable/satellite), pretty soon there won’t be anymore viewers during the day; just at night. Primetime shows get the highest ratings. The Internet and cable/satellite will probably be better sources of daytime television, and SoapNet doesn’t even show the wide range of classic soap episodes it once did. Now it concentrates mostly on nightly reruns and weekend marathons of current telecasts of the CBS, NBC, and ABC soaps week-by-week.

I honestly believe there should always be some form of daytime drama – and stuff that isn’t reality-based, for that matter – to keep some of the television audience involved. We’ll just have to wait and see what the future of the remaining soaps will be.

The author with Brandon Barash

In addition to a great meal in a hip nightspot (the food really was terrific!), I got to just hang with Barash, who is very open and approachable. In fact, the real Brandon reminded me of the way Johnny is when he is with Olivia – easy-going and fun. The real guy is not an angry young man at all. Before the event got under way, Brandon did a couple of interviews, and was wandering the room like anyone else when I approached him. Dressed neatly but casually in a sweater and loose tie, Brandon was quick with a handshake and happy to make small talk about being on the East Coast. When I suggested that we get our “work stuff” – the official WEEKLY interview – out of the way before dinner, he instantly clicked into business mode. He was still his gregarious self, but focused on the pretend world of Johnny, Olivia, Sonny and GH. Vera interviewed him first, on video for the SOAP OPERA WEEKLY/Soap Opera Digest Web site (See that here) while I held the light for the camera. Then Brandon sat for me. He had to address a lot of the same questions, but I tried to frame the queries a bit differently, and his responses covered the same ground, but without repeating a lot of the same phrasing. That’s a skill, folks. You should think about how many times the stars have to answer basically the same questions over and over; it can be quite a struggle to keep things interesting. With such a lively subject, our conversation quickly took on a life of its own, and I got some really interesting insights, which you will see in an upcoming issue of WEEKLY. After we finished the interview, Brandon posed so I could shoot a number of digital photos for the magazine, our Web site, and the e-mail newsletter. Then Vera snapped the image that accompanies this piece.

In addition to GH, Brandon was eager to discuss the Muscular Dystrophy Association. He is not one of those stars who just picks a cause to support because it will look good on a resume. He has been personally touched by muscular dystrophy – losing a dear friend named Chad to the disease at age 18 — and sees his work as a celebrity ambassador as fulfillment of a lifelong commitment he made in response to that tragedy. “I’m on call to travel to any location to speak to corporations, schools or any group to bolster awareness of muscular dystrophy,” Barash explained. When I asked what fans can do to help, he replied: “They can do many things. They can buy my book, which is a compilation of images I’ve taken [while traveling] over the last several years.” Included are images of such exotic destinations as Amsterdam, Prague, New York and San Diego. “It’s available on yournumberonefan.com, and 100 percent of the proceeds after cost go to MDA. Or they can go to mda.org.”

Barash, who hosted segments of last fall’s Jerry Lewis telethon, understands what he is asking of his fans, and appreciates their support. “A lot of them called in and donated. I love it. They keep me on the air; they write my paycheck, essentially. I need to give back to them the support they give me.”

I have been taking notes for a while on a possible book idea on the militia phenomenon in Rio de Janeiro — the cidade maravilha’s answer to the CONVIVIR and (which became the) AUC paramilitaries of Colombia.

What I have so far is that the following proposition needs to be fleshed out (and rendered in plain English):

There is an historic nexus among the jogo de bicho, the narcoretail trade, carnaval, political corruption, television monopolies (Rede Globo and its allegedly illegal worldwide distribution rights deal with the racketeering-dominated LIESA — whose Web site Globo hosts), and mafia-style anti-democratic mini-states of exception (fiefdoms) with Clockwork Orange levels of gnostic ultraviolence.

If that all sounds crazy, consider the case of the TV Globo soap opera Duas Caras (Two Guys/Two Faces), which ran from October 1, 2007 and May 31, 2008 on the Globo network and in (dubbed) syndication elsewhere in South America (it was particularly popular in Ecuador, one reads).

The soap opera revolves around two central characters: a Rio real estate developer named Marconi Ferraço and a shantytown community leader named Juvenal Antena.

The pairing Marconi-Antena is suggestive of some relation of interdependency between the men: Marconi was the inventor of radio. Radio transmits. The antenna receives.

Interesting. I think there is something to that.

Antena is briefly an employee of Marconi — his security chief — but quits and founds Portelinha in defiance of the new order. Having thrived under the Old Boss, he ceases to receive orders broadcast from the New Boss.

In fact, the two men engage in a vicious power struggle, in the courts and in the streets, over property rights to athe abandoned construction site owned by Ferraço, which Antena and his people invade — recalling the invasions of the MST, a well-known militant agrarian reform movement in Brazil.

(I once observed the MST throwing a BBQ for Noam Chomsy, believe it or not. Superb ribs, gaucho style, and Brazuco-Deutsche keg beer, the best. I was not invited. But my eyes feasted.)

The shantytown is later reciprocally invaded by a drug gang — in cahoots with Marconi, I think.

In a broad way, the relationship between the two men represents the conflicting relationship between the two poles of Rio society: the “asphalt” and the “hillside” (morro).

That is, the on-the-grid formal, taxed, zoned and regulated, city and the off-the-grid, untaxed, unzoned and unregulated informal shantytowns.

In a last-minute plot twist among many others — the blockbuster concluding episode features no fewer than 11 marriages, an all-time record featured widely in Editora Globo bridal magazines — Juvenal Antena and Marconi Ferraço are discovered to be long-lost brothers.

Ferraço (spoilers!) atones for past sins and is reunited with his long-lost love in a Caribbean (fiscal) paradise, while Antena loses his bid for asphalt legitimacy and is left, significantly, lovelorn, alone, and stripped of his former power.

Now, Maria Lima Marques, an M.A. candidate at the Universidade Estadual de Campinas, has observed as follows in a paper for a conference on interdisciplinary culture studies at the Federal University of Bahia in May 2008, titled “Hero or Criminal: Juvena Antena and the Personal Domination of the Portelinha Shantytown” (my trans.):

The Globo soap not only has based the Portelinha shantytown on a real-life shantytown, Rio das Pedras, but has portrayed the community as a model shantytown.

In real life, however, the Rio de Pedras shantytown is run by a vicious and lethal mafia of corrupt police engaged in vice, extortion and protection racketeering and parapolitics — the so-called militias of Rio.

Enthyeme: TV Globo presents shantytowns run by mafias of corrupt police engaged in vic, extortion and protection racketeering — as well as parapolitics, including political assassinations — in a utopian light on national TV.

Notes Maria (my hasty translation):

The Portelinha shantytown was inspired by the community of Rio das Pedras, bordering the Barra de Tijuca, in the Western Zone of Rio de Janeiro. That is, the soap opera was shot at a studio located in the same region. Rio das Pedras grew up in the 1960s and today has more than 40,000 residents.

On TV Globo and its proximity to Rio das Pedras, see

• Rio: “Duas Caras” Actor Visits Rio das Pedras

On militias and the Barra de Tijuca:

• Rio: “Palace Guard and Militiaman Pimped Child Sex Slaves on Upscale Beach”

The latter tends to rebut the myth perpetuated by Globo, as well as by city officials and the foreign press, according to which

• “Vigilantes Impose Peace in Rio Slums”

Compare:

• Rio: “Armed Groups Interfere With Freedom of Association”

Maria continues:

According to sociologist Marcelo Burgos, of the book The Utopia of Rio das Pedras, a Rio Shantytown, the community functions as a passport that enables the individual to take part in the city. It is a place where networks of solidarity coexist with a culture and a politics worthy of the city and the nation.

On the dystopian quality of politics in the real-life community, see

• “Rio: Vote Quimby or You Will Lose Your Job”
• Ballots and Bullets: Delivering Elections With Mafiosos (DEM) And The Party of Mafioso Democracy in Brazil (PMDB)

According to the essays in this book, it is clear that the violence in question is identified with the arrival of the drug traffic. In Rio das Pedras, however, ruled by interpersonal relations of exchange and reciprocity, traditional values are established, with the Residents Association serving as the arbiter between alternative models of social organization, as well as the wielder of power.

By the same token, as the fictitious Portelinha shows, Rio das Pedras has managed to abolish the traffic in its area of influence, for which reason it is considered a special case among Rio communities. It is, however, emphasized quite clearly that a new form of patronage has been established here, driven by the exchange relations mediated by the Residents Association, which taxes the community in return for a security scheme to which all residents are required to submit.

And so on. You see where I might be going with this. The Antena-Marconi pair embodies the Weberian opposition gemeineschaft-geselleschaft) — business relations and family loyalties, say.

The piquancy of the plot thickens when possible political allegory is brought in: The Juvenal = Lula equation was much discussed during the run of the series.

Juvenal, played by one of Brazil’s most distinguished actors, Antônio (Achados e Perdidos, from a novel by the Brazilian Raymond Chandler, García-Roza) Fagundes, has many of the Northeastern mannerisms and demeanor of the President, some thought.

Hotly debated though, so let us not go there quite yet.

For now, let it be said that Maria is on the right track invoking Max Weber to puzzle this out:

Com base em textos escritos pelo autor da novela em seu blog, em autores como Maria Silvia de Carvalho Franco e Sérgio Buarque de Holanda, Marcelo Burgos e fundamentando o conceito de dominação legítima em Max Weber, a análise vem de encontro à polêmica gerada pela personagem, que passeia pelas qualificações de bandido e herói, e já é de grande estima dos expectadores da novela.

Based on posts by the author of Duas Caras on his blog and on the writings of Maria Sílvia Carvalho Franco and Sérgio Buarque de Holanda, and using the Weberian concept of legitimate domination, we analyze the the controversy over the character of Juvenal Antena, who comes to be viewed as both hero and villain and who is greatly respected by program viewers.

On the purported great respect for Antena-analogs in the real world, see

• Rio: “Nadinho Surrenders; Globo Online Readers Overwhelmingly Favor Militias”

That post is actually part of the Batman saga — the most notorious Rio militia is known as The Justice League and allegedly headed by a city councilman and his brother, a state legislator — which I probably have enough notes on for an extensive chapter or two.

Impertinent question: Do Globo employees have to pay protection to the Rio das Pedras militia for the right to come and go at its Barra de Tijuca studios? I accept tips: cbrayton at boizebueditorial.com. Your anonymity respected.

Enthymeme: Portelinha has an escola de samba. Globo has worldwide broadcasting rights to the carnival parades organized by LIESA — prime candidate for a RICO case given its ties to both illegal gambling and the narcoretail trade.

Is Globo inclined to let the militias clean up LIESA — selectively — for family viewing?

Are there militia-sponsored escolas in real life?

A couple of years ago, the Bovespa stock exchanged funded our local escola, the — mighty! mighty! all hail to the glorious! — Pérola Negra. We thought that was absolutely great.

Interesting note: The competing Rede Record came out with a competing soap, also with a militia theme, called Opposite Lives,

… a West Side Story-style Romeo and Juliet revamp set in a Rio de Janeiro favela beset by warfare among the police, militias (the militias are the police) and drug traffickers (but note well, Seu Fausto the cop-militiaman gets a cut of the drug trade)..

My dreamed-of book could even be built around a tale of these two soaps. Hey, yeah!

Unscientific concluding cultural generalization: Brazilians have a well-developed sense of irony.

Well it sure has been a busy week in Port Charles, New York. 

  So they have decided to bring back Steven Webber, now being played by Young & The Restless’s Scott Reeves.  Huh?  I barely remember him from the last time he was on.  Other than the fact that he had a very short flirtation with Carly I can not for the life of me remember anything else he did and I definitly do not remember any scenes he had with his little sister Elizabeth.  You know it would be easier to believe that he and Liz had a close relationship if she had bothered to mention him oh maybe once or twice.  Hell she never even mentions her sister Sarah.  Real close family you have their Liz.  Usually the writers are much better at infusing GH history in with what is currently happening in Port Charles, but this time they have really dropped the ball.  And no mentioning Gram every once and a while does not count.  I know he is only supposed to be a recurring character but it tickled me that he was able to challenge the great Dr. Drake’s massive ego.  Robin does it fairly well as does Ephinany, but still it is nice to seem someone else that does bow to his greatness.  I know it may seem a little premature but I did not like the way that Lisa was telling Robin that she understood if she would be uncomfortable with her working at GH because Robin and Patrick were a newly married couple and they dated back in college.  Um chick it was at least 5 years ago get over yourself I seriously doubt Patrick has been carrying a torch for you that long.  Ok so she may not have meant it that way but it felt like it.

I know that it is the nature of soaps for older characters to slowly fade into the background and everytime it happens fans get all in a tizzy because they are remembering days gone by.  I know this happens and I understand it.  One day the same fate will be visited upon Sonny, Carly, and yes guys even Jason.  I know you don’t want to face it but it is true.  And now it is Monica and Edward’s turn and it is a sad event.  I remember when Monica was having an affair with her didn’t know it at the time nephew Ned.  Or when Edward discovered that he had yet another illegitimate son with Mary Mae Ward.  I know that it is a natural progression, but it just seems wrong.  Now they both are relegated to more than a few minutes screen time every so often.  We didn’t even get a traditional Quartemaine Thanksgiving.  One of the best things about GH on Thanksgiving is we were always treated to an hour of laughter and good times.  But no not this year.  This year all we got was a couple of scenes explaining why they always eat pizza. 

But hey atleast their fake adopted child is getting some screen action.  Ok so she had to get hit by a car to get it, but everyone is required to make sacrifices in these hard times.  I know we are supposed to be rooting for either Liz & Lucky or Liz and Nikolas but I can not bring myself to do it.  Frankly I think Nik and Liz deserve each other.  Apparently Rebecca’s payment for not revealing the truth to Lucky is Lucky himself.  I say go for it girl.  Why the hell not?  I just love how both Liz and Nik get up on their high horse when it comes to Rebecca and her past misdeeds.  No offense but I am pretty sure sleeping with your fiancee’s brother is much worse than trying to scam someone.  This triangle they currently have playing out is so dull and tiresome.  The more they play it out the more I can not stand Elizabeth and I never really liked her much to begin with.  I thought I couldn’t like her any less.  I was wrong.  Loved the line “I will bury you and your little slut too.”  That’s right you tell him Rebecca!

I am truly loving new wonder cops Dante and Lucky.  After all is said and done with this whole undercover storyline I say make them partners and let them clean up this town.  Well not the town mind you, because all they would really have to do is hang out on the docks and they would be able to hear all the going’s on of the underworld.  Funny how with practically the same information Lucky and Dante were able to piece together the crime scene photo and Joey Limbo and Sam and Jason saw practically the same things, plus some different stuff, and they sat around for what seemed like days trying to figure it all out.  Score one for cops.  Poor Luke.  First his son becomes a cop and as his nephew pointed out is a traitor to his family, but then his daughter had to go and fall for one.  I know she says nothing is going on with her and Dante, but doth protest too much.  And any girl that is willing to go to that much trouble to keep a guy from getting his big head shot off s crushing hard core.  That whole freaking scene was too cute.  Whenever Dante is around Lulu his whole face just lights up.  It’s nice to see.  I am glad they are taking their time with this couple because it allows for the viewer to get really invested in them.  Which in turn helps the story in the long run. 

Stay tuned for Part II

"One Life to Live " Star Ilene Kristen Poses for NOH8 Campaign www.noh8campaign.com

Three Questions: One Life to Live\’s Ilene Kristen Says NOH8!

NOH8 in One Life to Live Ilene Kristen Takes a Stand Against Hate

]]> http://glfanfiction.wordpress.com/2009/12/11/part-12-online/ Fri, 11 Dec 2009 16:09:21 +0000 lucienblack http://glfanfiction.wordpress.com/2009/12/11/part-12-online/

Enjoy

As the World Turns, the longest-running soap opera on American television, was canceled Tuesday by CBS, the network which has aired it since the show’s beginning in 1956. This news comes just three months after the ending of Guiding Light, formerly the longest-running soap in radio and television history, which had entertained generations of Americans for seven decades.
In the announcement, Barbara Bloom, senior vice president of daytime programing at CBS, wrote, “It’s extremely difficult to say good-bye to a long-running series that’s been close to our hearts for so long…The almanacs will show As the World Turns as a pioneer of the format, a hallmark for quality with its numerous Emmys, the launching pad for many television and film stars and a daytime ratings powerhouse for parts of three decades.”
The cancellation comes at a particularly bad time not only for the people involved with producing the soap, but also for the soap opera industry in general. With the cancellation announcement, the number of daytime soap operas on the air in the United States will shrink from seven to six. By comparison, there were 12 soap operas on the air in 1997 and 19 in 1973.
While the revelation may have hurt, it was not entirely a surprise. The ratings for the soap opera have fallen to 2.5 million viewers, over 60% from 1993, when the show was watched by 6.5 million viewers daily. Soap Opera Digest editorial director Lynn Leahey said not to call for the death of the genre; its next act may prove more profitable on the Internet. “It has to be turned into a business model. I do think there’s huge potential there. I think if we can deliver the content where people are instead of expecting them to sit in front of their TVs, there’s hope,” Leahey said.
The news was taken particularly hard at As the World Turns’ Brooklyn studios, where the building was closed off to press on Tuesday. “We are disappointed and saddened by the news that the show is not being renewed. It will certainly be a loss for all of us, and for the show’s loyal audience,” said executive producer Christopher Goutman in a prepared statement. “It’s a hell of a Christmas present,” said actress Eileen Fulton, whose spitfire character Lisa was an integral part of the canvas in the show’s top-rated years in the 1960s and 1970s. “I’m just very sad. I’m sad for all of the people who work out there in Brooklyn. We’re a family. I hate to be split up. It’s like a divorce.”
The series, which focuses on the lives, loves and torments in the small Midwestern town of Oakdale, will have a nine-month swan song; the final episode will not be airing until September 2010. Until that time, Procter & Gamble’s TeleNext Media will be trying to find a new home for the show, either on another television network or online. If As the World Turns leaves the air entirely, Procter & Gamble, the company which coined the term “soap opera,” will officially end its 76-year partnership between its cleaning products and the dramatic medium.

'As the World Turns' title card

On December 8 (yesterday), CBS confirmed that As the World Turns, which was the current longest-running soap opera on television, would be cancelled. This cancellation of ATWT came three months after they decided to pull Guiding Light, which spent a record 72 years on the air on radio and television combined. GL was done in by April 2009 thanks to messed-up story handling and bad casting, but that didn’t stop the few fans it had left from staying loyal to the end. ATWT, which debuted in 1956 and enjoyed success in its early years and even during the early 1990s, is being done in thanks to global financial problems that have been faced by its studio, Procter and Gamble Productions (now TeleNext Media). The soap, which featured actors like Marisa Tomei in its life span, has struggled with a shudder-inducing 2.5 rating in contrast to 1993, when 6.5 million people viewed it; it’s scheduled to air its last episode on September 17, 2010 (GL signed off the air on September 18, 2009). TeleNext Media is supposedly searching for a new company to carry ATWT.

“As the World Turns” Cancelled

In my mind, soap operas are forever linked with a flushed, overheated feeling of low-grade fever, the briny taste of chicken noodle soup, and the peculiar impossibility of ever getting quite comfortable while lying on a living room couch, no matter how many times you’ve arranged and rearranged your pillows and blankets.

When I read today that CBS has cancelled the last of the old Proctor & Gamble soaps, ‘As The World Turns,’ I immediately experienced again that metallic cherry taste of Robitussin cough syrup and that damp, clammy feeling of a water bottle gone cool against your chest. I remembered, too, the magic and wonder conveyed by the first bulky, rotary-dialed cable decoder box ever to sit on top of our family TV. Spiderman cartoons on Philadelphia TV! Home Box Office movies in the middle of the day! Oh, the future had arrived and it was going to be very, very good.

In the days before cable television, VCRs, movie rentals, and DVRs, soap operas were a calamity visited upon boys who were too sick to go to school. Weekday television from 8am to 11am offered slim pickings (mostly syndicated reruns of early-’60s-era sitcom fare like ‘Father Knows Best,’ ‘ Dennis the Menace,’ and ‘Hazel’) that were an entertainment feast compared to the network soap opera programming that followed. The soaps were enough to leave any young boy slack-jawed with despair. What are all these women in elegant dresses yelling/crying/simpering about? Why is that mustached man in polyester suit separates shaking that woman like a ragdoll/eavesdropping/whispering into the phone? Why is everyone throwing glassware/fainting/slamming doors? Why is EVERY OTHER SHOT a high-and-tight closeup of someone’s face?

In my childhood home, the TV channels were 2, 4, 5, 7, 9, 11, and 13. CBS, NBC, WNEW, ABC, WOR, WPIX, and public television WNET. After 11am, channels 2, 4, and 7 were a soap opera wasteland. If you were home alone, you could seek some meager refuge in the programming content on channels 5, 9, and 11, which consisted of syndicated talk shows, midday news, and low-budget game shows like Bowling For Dollars). If your mother was home with you, you got the soaps.

My own kids, by the way, find this whole vanished state of affairs—a bizarro world where you couldn’t watch any show you wanted to, at any time—both unlikely and hilarious. They lump these tales in with my accounts of having had dinosaurs for pets and clothespins for toys. (Oh, Daddy, you’re lying again!)

I probably haven’t seen thirty minutes of soap opera broadcasting in the last twenty years. Hospital and auto repair waiting rooms all show Oprah or E! TV, CNN or ESPN now. I knew soap operas still existed, though, because I still see copies of Soap Opera Digest in supermarket checkout aisles. But now the soaps are all but gone.

Oh, there are still a few soaps left. General Hospital. One Life to Live. But they’re a dying breed. Their audiences are small and old.

From the New York Times article I read:

“For the most part soaps these days are watched by older women. Every network soap now has a median viewer age over 50 and only ‘General Hospital’ on ABC is under 53. ‘As the World Turns’ has a median age of 57.8.”

This tells us that some of the women who started watching the soaps in the ’70s and ’80s are still watching them today, but no one new, no one younger, has joined their ranks in the ensuing two decades. Interestingly, the statement that follows the above in the New York Times article is an excellent example of burying the lede:

“That is older than most of the network averages in prime time, during which NBC’s programs have a median age of 48, ABC’s programs 51.4 and CBS’s programs 54.1.”

If the viewership of ‘As the World Turns’ skews far too old to be profitable at a median age of 57.8, what are we to make of an overall prime-time CBS viewership median age of 54.1? It seems like only a matter of time, a few years perhaps, until CBS cancels itself in entirety, with the other networks right behind it.

Who's gonna swim in this deathtrap now?

The most important development was the revelation of Sydney’s killer, and it just felt…rushed and anticlimactic. After spending so many weeks dragging things out and larding on the red herrings, the reveal came via a convenient flashback: Michael’s jealous wife, Vanessa (Brooke Burns), recalled confronting Syd about sleeping with her husband. Sydney knew that Vanessa was also sleeping with Michael’s son David — and was probably the true father of “Michael’s” other son, Noah. So Vanessa flipped out and slashed Sydney, who stumbled into the open courtyard — where Vanessa delivered the killing blow and launched Syd into the pool.

This was so wrong on so many levels. First of all, it makes the entire whodunnit unfair, since Vanessa wasn’t even in the series premiere, when the murder took place (Burns did not show up until episode three.), so fans never had a chance to really solve it. Unless, of course, you predicted the culprit would be someone yet-to-be-revealed. Further, in an apartment complex packed with so many nosy neighbors, nobody looked outside when they heard a woman being slashed to death at the pool? Seriously? And then, in a bit that was clearly supposed to be ironic, Sydney’s daughter Violet drowned Vanessa in that same pool. Again, nobody bothered to look outside when they heard two women fighting in the pool? Nobody? The only person who was in the right place at the right time was Amanda — who stood by and watched Vi drown a woman. Did Amanda know it was Vanessa? Does it matter? Now she has Violet under her thumb — for all the good that will do her.

MP also established a new standard for “Loser,” in the person of Rick, one of Lauren’s johns, who roofied the hooker. Huh? Dude, you paid for her, why would you want to drug her?

Only slightly less believable than everything else that went on was Curtis (another one of MP’s seemingly endless string of Hollywood megaproducers) buying Jonah’s movie idea after the dude’s craptastic pitch. If Curtis throws money around like that, how did he get so damn successful? And, once again referring back to the series premiere, Riley got another opportunity to balk at marrying Jonah, so he finally got smart and dumped her. However, Jonah himself is definitely a winner, because he promptly hooked up with Ella! (At least with her, he knows he’s hooked a baracuda.)

So where does that leave everyone for the second half of the season. Well, Lauren is in her own hospital, fighting for her life after an adverse reaction to being drugged; Jonah and Riley are broken up; Jonah and Ella are an item; Amanda is looking for a $19 million painting (Does she know David is an art thief?); and, apropos of nothing, Auggie started drinking again. Wait, scratch that — Colin Egglesfield has been cut from the cast, so Auggie is either headed for rehab or the boneyard.

And I’m not completely convinced that MELROSE won’t be following him. Part of me would not be surprised if it does not return from hiatus.