SanDiegoInExile

Speaking of guests, WTH happened to Michael Buble. He looks so.....different. At first I thought it was just natural aging and weight gain, but his body is still svelte and proportional. But his face and hair? Was it red? Bad toupee? Hairweave gone awry? It was just a bit of a shocker.

Kelly has every right to document her experiences. From Day One, I always noticed that the "Kelly" font was smaller, almost an afterthought when KLG left. Regis and KLG had the exact same font size and were presented with equal billing. Honestly that is Kelly's "fault". Her attorneys should have negotiated things like that in advance. KLG is nearly two decades older than Kelly and was married to a man older than Regis. Regis and Frank could take their second wives out on the town, showing off their arm candy. Regis worshiped athletes, so hanging with Frank was a dream come true for him. Just this week, Kelly and Mark rhapsodized about coming from families with 60+ years of marriage. Different worlds X10. None of us will ever know the interpersonal dynamics of the super-rich and super-successful. Did Kelly feel wronged? If my work partner called me an "it" when I showed up on Day One with makeup and hair staff I was paying for out of my own budget, it might throw me for a loop. It's hard to recall all the dynamics from the KLG departure, but I always got the impression that Regis would not have chosen Kelly as the replacement. Kelly clearly had high level executives at ABC promoting her for the cohost role. Regis was always the corporate man, eager to please anyone who would write him a check. I don't plan on reading Kelly's book, but I also imagine that the publishers are thrilled with the "negative" publicity. The message board will go bonkers when Lifetime options the movie rights.

There was yet another article on the "floundering" Peacock which seems to reinforce that the Comcast/NBC/Universal/Peacock conglomerate sent DOOL to Peacock to help bolster the Peacock customer base. https://www.vulture.com/2022/10/peacock-streaming-service-woes.html

He called her Pippa because he could not recall her name. I suppose Pippa is a step up from "It", which was his original term of endearment. It's also telling that the Gelmans no longer socialized or had much contact with Regis and Joy once the retirement was forced. Everyone has at least one fatal flaw. Kelly's: trying too hard instead of just being herself.

She was hired to be a co-host, not a servant or a producer or an intern. If anything, she had poor representation in her initial contractual negotiations. That is her fault, for sure. And it no doubt contributes to her current behavior.

Regis Philbin did not hire Kelly Ripa. He was hired by WABC and ABC syndication (Buena Vista Television). She was hired by WABC and ABC syndication (Buena Vista Television). Regis was all about one thing: Regis. Also makes me wonder what Regis's First Family thinks as well, the ones who didn't capitalize on his fame/connections and were publicly ignored for 20-30 years.

It is hard to put ourselves in the WayBack Machine of the early 2000s. It always seemed pretty clear to me that he tolerated Mrs C. I don't think she was his choice to replace KLG. His constant calling her "Pippa" was pretty demeaning. And if Regis had an office and they offered Mrs C just a cubicle. That's wrong. KLG had an office.

Monday was the observed date for Rosh Hashanah. It is a major holiday in NYC and the show is usually pretaped.

I liked how Dave wore his shorts. There did seem to be a *jolt* to the neighborhood. A lesbian couple, a Vietnamese family, a trendy all-hours white female jogger. Quite the change from the past few years. There did seem to be a few carryover characters, but no Miss Kym? Calvin did seem to lament the "changes" to the neighborhood, though he seemed to mostly focus on the neighbor across the street "selling out" to the Ring Doorbell Guy. Maybe if there had been some additional commentary about gentrification taking hold. The lesbian neighbor mistaking Calvin as the Hired Landscaper was probably designed to reinforce that the neighborhood had flipped. There's supposed to be a later episode this season where Calvin has to hire tech folks to service electric cars when his repair shop falls on hard times. Evolution isn't really a bad thing for a sitcom. The core cast seemed fine, although I would be OK if the pre-teen twerp stayed in his room for the next few seasons. And if Marty would finally come out rather than the implausible engagement to a gorgeous athlete.

Kelly's nickname for Ryan's latest beard has been "Alfred". They used it as code until Ryan went public with his *romance* with Aubry. Kelly still uses it, which seems to get under Ryan's skin. Yet he is the one who initially kept the matter secret.

Syndication is nearly dead. I doubt folks are going to race to watch Jennifer Hudson or Karamo or Sherri. Kelly Clarkson is getting the former Ellen powerhouse stations, so that should keep her afloat for awhile. Drew Barrymore had to revamp her show and sell it in 30-minute blocks to get a renewal. WABC can shave plenty of expense by filming three days a week. Gelman and Art get a nice bonus for coming under budget. Ryan gets free time to woo Alfred. And Kelly gets some Ann Arbor Weekending. Most of the pre-tapes are harmless (and timeless) since the show doesn't refer to current events and both co-hosts have subdued private lives.

Nice rundown of the finale and the producers' plan if there had been a Season Six. https://tvline.com/lists/dynasty-series-finale-ending-explained-steven-returns-james-mackay-interview/cristal-recast/ This made me laugh TVLINE | Did you ever try to get any of the other actors back who left over the years? Like maybe a dream sequence with all three Cristals? I think it definitely did come up at one point, having all of the Cristals together somehow. Obviously that didn’t pan out, but we tried to get as much history as possible. It would have been funny to see them all together. Honestly, they could have easily done it when Blake was watching the Alexis-Dex reunion in the rainy Appalachian woods. Just a 30 second flashback, featuring each of the Krystles for 10 seconds each. Oh well.

I suspect twice-a-week pre-tapings are in their contracts. The Friday show was particularly choppy, with bad edits and cut off moments. The WABC production staff must be out of practice.

https://www.ryanseacrestfoundation.org/ The foundation employs his sister, his mother, and his father. They make more than the Foundation gives away. https://www.lamag.com/citythinkblog/ryan-seacrest-foundation/

I have found that as you watch more episodes (say 5 in a row), the ads decrease even further. Not sure if weekly viewing works for you though. Another trick is to start streaming the show, and then go do something for 45-ish minutes. When the show is about to end, rewind to the beginning. That seems to clear the commercial inventory. Settle in and watch commercial-free.

Not sure NBC will even still have what we have known as a "primetime" lineup when DOOL ends (which I project is years away). As it is, half their lineup is news/sports/reality and the other half DickWolfe. We know Corday is producing 240 episodes under the previous contract. I would bet that Peacock mirrors that for at least two years before maybe cutting down to 200 episodes, then maybe at that point we go to a telenovela type approach, with "standalone" 50-episode stories featuring the existing cast. Comcast wants viewers going to Peacock every day, and this is their best way to get that habit started. DOOL will see 60 years for certain and 75 in some form.

The show is owned and produced by WABC, has a considerably smaller space, no budget for extensive safety protocols, and ratings have been solid without Miffie, Millie, and Beatrice serving as seat fillers. Plus, it's easier to pre-tape without having to worry about coordinating crowd schedules. Also, neither Kelly nor Ryan want to be High Fiving random crowd members.

Yes, it was tragic that the show lasted another 28 years after being ruined. And that Christie Clark quit the show so she could raise a family, mostly overseas.

The show was posting these "cutting room floor" clips over the past year. They are usually not scored with music, so they tend to be sorta flat. A few were entertaining.

This seems like more evidence that DOOL may have been pulled into Peacock rather than pushed off NBC. If NBCuniversalComcast has made the decision to migrate over-the-air entertainment content to bolster Peacock, then DOOL may have been the first step. If they are shutting down NBC as an "entertainment destination", then DOOL is their guinea pig. Imagine the outcry when the LawAndOrder trifecta gets moved. Or the ChicagoTrio. Over the air NBC may simply become News, Interviews, and Reality.

Counting down to the Series Finale. Somewhat dull summaries. I wonder if they re-worked scripts at all? First Kidnapping and Now Theft Season5 Episode520 Airdate 09/2/2022 BIG PROMISES – As Blake (Grant Show) institutes damage control to help Adam (Sam Underwood), Cristal offers advice which falls flat. Sam (Rafael de la Fuente) finds out about an unexpected presence at La Mirage and he and Culhane (Robert C. Riley) enlist Liam (Adam Huber) to help with the situation. Meanwhile, Alexis (Elaine Hendrix) wants to bond with her daughters, so she goes to extreme measures to win over Fallon (Elizabeth Gillies) and Amanda (Eliza Bennett). Lastly, Kirby (Maddison Brown) implements a new life policy and Jeff (Sam Adegoke) is not pleased with the results. The episode was written by Chris Erric Maddox and directed by Pat Santana (#520). Original airdate 9/2/2022 More Power to Her Season5 Episode521 Airdate 09/9/2022 IS ALL AS IT SEEMS? – Tension remains between Blake (Grant Show) and Cristal (Daniella Alonso) as they disagree on business matters and Blake calls in a favor to solve the problem. Alexis (Elaine Hendrix) prepares for Fallon (Elizabeth Gillies) and Liam’s (Adam Huber) baby shower and of course goes over the top! Dominique (Michael Michele) realizes something of great importance to Jeff (Sam Adegoke) is missing, which causes Jeff to question his recent decisions. Sam (Rafael de la Fuente) finds out some compromising information about the hotel and confides in Culhane (Robert C. Riley) and the two come up with a plan to make the problem go away. Adam (Sam Underwood) makes matters worse for his family situation. With Kirby (Maddison Brown) and Amanda (Eliza Bennett) still on shaky ground, Kirby goes to extreme measures to hopefully appease Amanda, and may have found a new majordomo for the Manor in the process. The episode was written by Libby Wells and directed by Michael Allowitz (#521). Original airdate 9/9/2022. https://cwtvpr.com/the-cw/shows/dynasty/

Not sure anyone uses newspapers anymore.

Huh? There are DOOL actors who could actually get jobs on other non-daytime series?

Nothing official has been announced. The media coverage has been almost as bad as the implementation of the change. Most of the stories contain multiple errors, especially the "14,000 archived episodes" which anyone with $10 to buy Peacock Plus can see is not there. Articles cite cast members who haven't aired this decade. And the accompanying photos are years old. Entertainment reporting has always been bad, but this is worse than bad.

Philece Sampler portrayed Renee Dumond DiMera in the early 1980s. She was famously killed off by Andre as a Salem Slasher victim after she reamed the entire town of Salem, person by person, at a glamorous party at the DiMera house on the lake. Sarah Horton was infused with Renee's essence in the recent DOOL storyline. Megan Hathaway was featured in BS2. Cheryl Ann Wilson portrayed her in the mid-1980s. She is now known as Miranda Wilson. She died after Larry Welch threw her against the wall in the spa area of Chris Kositchek's Body Connection gym. Her body was put in an electrified hot tub, which she had planned for Hope. No one except Larry Welch knew she was Stefano's daughter. Stefano famously dressed in drag to secretly attend the funeral. In later years, the ISA dossier on Stefano explained that Megan Hathaway was his daughter, and Joe Mascolo would mention her death in passing from time to time. No one knew that she had been brought back to life until she masterminded the re-collection of the three prisms (which Shane had tossed into the Deep Atlantic to prevent Armageddon). Philece Sampler died in 2021.