DisneyBoy

I tried to think if anyone was foolish enough to try that kind of scenario. The only think that came to mind is White Girls... I think you hit the nail on the head Shannon. Interesting that they overlooked that, I agree...

I can't help but feel like this show is trying for a threeway relationship. It would certainly be groundbreaking. I get the sense this new Abby would be open to it with Gabi...

Yes, she did, though she's been devil-free for nearly a decade. Marlena's long time love John Black had become a real ass on the show starting in 2012, when the wonderful Eileen Davidson returned as his former flame Kristen. He broke up with Marlena in 2013 and basically prioritized work. Right before the 50th, they started having him mea culpa his way back into her heart while still going off on his spy adventures. No explanations were given for why he became such an ass to her in the previous years - he just proposed marriage and Marlena agreed so long as he retired from his Man of Mystery missions. He agreed. But guess where he is now? On yet another mission. *eyeroll* The show always makes a point of keeping the men in the position of being the bad boy with the leather jacket and the dangerous lifestyle, even when they are in their late fifties. It's like the show is willing to acknowledge that women want to be treated well by their husbands, but that deep down they'd rather have bad boys who aren't respectful of them above all else. Too true. All of the women in the movie are basically resigned to their situations. The Teri Garr character does stand up for herself a bit and point out how screwy things are but she's played so much for laughs that I don't think of her as someone who makes positive changes or pushes for them. I just tried imagining this movie as being almost exactly the same, except featuring a white man disguising himself as a black man in order to inspire black people to take less crap from the world around them...and the problems become even more evident. So yeah - a feminist movie? Perhaps not as much as it seems when all the women are taking crap to a point that seems unrealistic. Geena Davis' remark about her co-worker being "the tongue" had no hint of "I tried to sue him or get him fired for that and lost". Worth noting: actor Robert Kelker Kelly played Bo on Days of Our Lives for an extended period back when co-star Alison Sweeney was still in her teenage years. During his run, he begin a relationship with an under-aged girl, and this prompted costars Lisa Rinna and Kristian Alfonso, who were already uncomfortable around him, to go to the producers and have him fired. Alison Sweeney's own mother refused to leave her daughter alone on the set around him. He was fired and never returned. Now, he's still married to that girl he met back then, but it's interesting to see how the ladies banded together in the face of what they felt might be a predatory type male. We see none of that in Tootsie. Again, if there was no blatant misogyny on the set then I suppose it wouldn't have been as juicy an environment for the message the movie is trying to push. I just think if the film had gone for a little bit more nuance and shown, for example, that the executive producer was building a case against the veteran actor essentially molesting women, it wouldn't have felt so much like a White Knight story. Charming. I know someone this almost happened to. They were luckily rushed to the ER had emergency surgery and spent months and months in recovery. Be careful of those kinds of massive headaches people. I didn't see her in any of those aforementioned projects, so I'm still left scratching my head as to what I recognize her from other than this movie. I'll have to take a look at her credits.

Paging Justine Kirkland Duvalier! ...Gabi's attire has been bothering me for months. What's up with her Princess Jasmine cosplay fetish? I think all she and Chad have is a desire to roll around in the sheets and as soon as the show gives them the opportunity to finally do that, I suspect their mutual infatuation would end. I don't particularly like Gabi, but I did like how her relationship with JJ was built over time even though it was kind of sporadic. Looking back, they bonded during the 50th, when neither one was feeling especially worthy of love, then during the plague outbreak in the spring, and then again during the Trio's reign of terror, when JJ was shot... If the show had given her a bit more of a personality or arc, she and JJ could have been a lasting couple. They still might be, who knows? All this to say I don't find her and Chad interesting. They just remind me of two obnoxious people who flirt obviously at every party but never actually hook up, annoying all of those who know them.

If it is any consolation, I am the worst when it comes to 30 day return policies. I can pretty much guarantee you that it's only after 30 days have passed that I try to get something resolved. And those raincheck slips that you sometimes get at the grocery store? I always have some on my fridge from six months prior. Sometimes I even try to redeem them (oh the shame!) ...honestly? Your post choked me up. Things have really changed in my life since I started noticing how easily this person was forgotten by people they've been nothing but nice to. I've lost a lot of faith in people. I'm trying not to be bitter or jaded. You are exactly right about it not being worth the effort to keep up appearances for show. I'm trying instead to appreciate the real happiness I can bring to them one-on-one. Its hard, knowing others are deliberately keeping their distance or don't see this wonderful person as a priority. I think you have to be really lucky to end up in your golden years surrounded by people who still want you in their lives and value you. I used to assume that's what everybody had because that's what families are for, right? They're a guarantee of some sort. It's a childish way to view things but I believed it. Hard to readjust. Seeing things as they are instead of how we would want them to be. By the time we grow old we really aren't in a position to remake our families. They are who they are and finding new friends is almost an impossibility. I suppose I never really believed that people died alone and now I understand that that's what typically happens. I'm going to see if by attending this event I might be able to speak with the other seniors and see if they're interested in a rendezvous with "my" senior at a later date. I might change my mind come the day of, though, and skip it. Thanks again all.

For sure. I mean the poor woman has a lead role on a soap, is acting in New York City and living in an apartment that looks pretty nice, and seems basically like she just attended a funeral at all times. The constant drinking and the shy avoidance of eye contact with others just screams "I'm barely holding on". Her relationship with Dorothy seems to open her up in a way that helps her start to face just how unhappy she's been for so long. To have the rug pulled out from under her and have that trust violated is a pretty huge betrayal, especially considering Michael did it deliberately. He could have kept his distance as Dorothy but instead was all too happy to get to know her while in disguise. I know that facilitates the plot of the movie and his own arc as a recovering semi-chauvinist (well...sorta) but I do find it kind of damning that he doesn't draw any lines in the sand about how he wants to have intimacy with this woman who he must understand is craving a safe shoulder to cry on. It makes the movie more interesting for him to end up entangled in so many people's lives, but he certainly had more agency to put a stop to things before they escalated. The bar scene at the end of the film where he returns the engagement ring to her father, for example, wraps it all up in far too tidy a bow, but at least I felt like they gave a little bit of attention to that relationship, compared to the last scene of the film which glosses over all of her complex issues. I agree, but then I think back to the way they played the scene where Dorothy tries to kiss her in her apartment, and I get the sense that Sydney Pollack probably directed Jessica Lange to show that her character might be on some level semi-attracted to Dorothy as more than a mother figure. I wasn't sure how I felt about that scene. I'm not sure I could really buy that she was feeling any attraction to Dorothy that would have her questioning even for a moment if she were a lesbian, especially considering Dorothy took a long time to start leaning into her head so there was plenty of time for Jessica Lange's character to shut that down. Of course, sometimes when people are confronted by friends in this way, it takes them a few panicked seconds to figure out how to respond and because they love the person so much they're almost willing to briefly consider whether or not to permit a kiss to happen. I guess I just felt like the movie was trying to state that she might have some bisexual leanings and was simply asking herself in that moment whether she was willing to go there with Dorothy in particular. I'm not sure I buy that because it seems like it's a setup for the somewhat phony ending where she simply shrugs off what happens to her enough to spend more time with that guy she threw a drink at earlier in the movie. What do you guys think - is she bisexual? Was she considering something with Dorothy? Was she ever attracted to Dorothy? I got the sense with the way the rest of the film was going that she was purely looking at Dorsey as a surrogate mother and was happily kind of nudging her toward her father, and that when push came to shove she was simply so depressed and distressed that she was willing to ask herself whether or not to go through with kissing Dorothy even though her bottom line is that she isn't attracted to her. ... Honestly, I wouldn't be at all surprised if she was considering suicide or needing to quit her job and leave town by the end of the film. There was something so damaged about her... kind of makes you wonder what she went through when she first became pregnant and how that guy treated her. I did really like the way she kept that man at the party in his place, though. I was going to comment on that in my original post but it was already running really long :) I never forgot that the show's executive producer seemed to be this strong well-dressed woman with great hair and a calm demeanor. The fact that she was not enraged by Michael's live unmasking suggested to me that she runs a steady ship and can weather any storm. For her to look the other way as her director belittles the actresses and one of the veteran stars goes out of his way to tongue them initially bothered me, until I realized yet again that even as a woman at the top of her profession she would still be dealing with that old school mentality and would probably have learned long ago to choose her battles carefully. She hires Dorothy and supports her ad libs probably because she can't stick her neck out too far to rock the boat and is thrilled to see someone else do it so compellingly. I also always liked the fact the floor manager (?) was a black woman. Where have I seen that actress before? I feel like she was in other things. Either that or she just has a really memorable face and I never forgot her from Tootsie. What really galls me is that the stuff I take issue with in the universe of the movie - the misogyny, the sexist writing on the show, all of that - is still very much in play today. Days of Our Lives for example still features female characters marrying or falling in love with their rapists, or getting raped as a means of character development, or needing to constantly be rescued by the men or unrealistically forgiving of their trespasses. During the show's 50th Anniversary about five deadbeat dads/husbands returned to the show to beg for their wives' forgiveness and try to romance them back into the sheets. And whether said men were lifelong assassins with multiple other families or good guy FBI agents who simply vanished for years without explanation, they were quickly forgiven by their families. Stand By Your Man, am I right ladies? It was a bit sickening. I don't know why women would be able to stomach entertainment that seems to want to keep them in such a limited box or tell them that on every level they aren't equal to men. It's astounding that the producers, head writers and network executives have struggled to update soap operas and their tropes over the last few decades. Is it that the public finds something comforting in old fashioned love stories where bulls are bulls and chickens don't try to lay eggs? Soaps have moved forward a little bit, but not all that much since Tootsie was made.

So I thought I would offer an update after all of your kind advice and patience. I finally ended up speaking with the family member who invited me and as feared, the explanation for why my senior was not also invited made little sense. They claimed that because other seniors were being invited, stress was added to the overall event to the point where inviting one more senior would cause another family member to want to withdraw from the event and not bring their elderly mother. Again, since I would have been the one handling all arrangements for the senior I had hoped to bring, I don't see how their presence would have added any stress to anybody else's day, much less upset someone to the point of not wanting to bring their senior. FYI, these two seniors are friends and get along great and rarely see each other. In short it sounded like the organizer wanted to scapegoat this other family member into being the reason why my senior couldn't be invited. I could easily pick up the phone and call this other person and I'm sure I would get a different story, but I'm just over it at this point. I think the bottom line is that the organizers of the event find it stressful enough already because they are coming in from out of town to reunite with family and would probably prefer not have to deal with any additional "old people" then absolutely necessary. The organizer even told me in these exact words "there are too many old people coming". The whole thing turns my stomach because, again, this baptism is purely for show and almost certainly done to please said older people who should still count as members of the family even if it's a bit more difficult for them to get around. I don't think the intentional exclusion of my senior is an expression of anger towards them as much as it is about generally not wanting any more "complications" at the event. I said I would try to attend the church ceremony only if I was able (I'm presently fighting a cold and my senior is also under the weather.) The conversation was polite so I held back on speaking my mind and calling out the silliness of this whole business but my feelings remain the same. I guess we should all enjoy our families because once we cross a certain age threshold they'll just want nothing to do with us. And in case you are wondering, yes, a horde of little children will be present. None of them are considered problematic of course.

I felt like we watching this movie for the first time since I saw it years ago and was astounded by how tight the film is and also by how little has changed in our culture with regards to misogyny, especially in light of current political events. The first time I saw the movie, I already felt like it was kind of outdated for the director of the soap opera to constantly touch the female co-stars and give them condescending names like honey or sweetie. Here we are decades later and I think my eyes are opened much more to how ingrained those behaviors still are in men at the top of their professions. I also really enjoyed the portrait painted of the Jessica Lange character, which I didn't pay much attention to when I first saw the movie. Her longing for a mother figure in her life again is very understated but well presented. I'm a little surprised that she would have tolerated such an abusive relationship with the director, given how strong a support her father must have been for her over the years as her only parent. Nevertheless I think I appreciated the actress character much more this time around, and recognize Jessica's performance as something subtle and layered and integral to the plot of the story rather than as love interest filler. I get a big kick out of Geena Davis with her permed hair in a largely thankless supporting role that she adds some charm to. It's also great fun to see how many of the entertainment industry's harsh realities work their way into the script. Michael is doing everything he can to be a terrific actor and struggling painfully in the opening moments of the movie but in a way that doesn't feel forced. I guess if I have any complaint it's that its difficult for me to believe he is so disciplined that he would screw up playing a tomato in a commercial rather than just go with the flow and accept the paycheck knowing the job is a stupid one and not worth the hassle. Of course we get the Hollywood ending where the couple walks off together, but I think the film should have given us a bit more time before trying to make that seem like a plausible turn of events. I definitely think she would have been too hurt and betrayed to allow a virtual stranger into her life just because he wasn't as bad a guy as her ex. She is a single mother after all who welcomed a man into her bed and left her child alone with him. It probably wouldn't have made for as satisfying an ending in the eyes of the studio but I would have almost rather seen Michael get a good job out of this whole thing then her passive willingness to go on a stroll or date. Actually, now that I think about it, it would have been really fun to see the soap opera tabloids having a field day with his story and some of the fallout from the big reveal that Dorothy had been a man. Were there lawsuits? Was Michael's career over (they got to do the play, but it was suggested it would flop so....)? Soaps were a much bigger deal in the 80s - would have been interesting to delve into that world's reaction a bit. There's a whole epilogue there that they just didn't include, but it keeps the film brisk so I guess we can at least say that. I wonder just how groundbreaking a movie this was at the time it was released. It's still quite relevant today and of course, very funny. I really liked Michael's subtle realization that he wasn't so evolved either when it came to mistreating women. Missed that the first time around too.

Days has been dominated by the supercouples for the last few decades - Bope, Jarlena and Stayla, here's looking at you! - but I'm struggling to think of any real supercouples that have emerged over the last few years. Ejami might qualify if not for the fact that they were constantly trying to kill each other. I know they had a lot of fans and viewers left when they did, but people have mixed feelings about them. Haiden could have been a supercouple if the writing had been a little stronger from the beginning and they hadn't destroyed him for the 50th and then again last summer. ...is the best thing we really have left Chad and Abigail? I don't think the characters should qualify for supercouple status just because they've been on the show together for a long time, but I think they have their fans. They just don't have especially good writing or crackling chemistry. The fact that they had to recast one of the participants maybe should disqualify them. Ericole seemed like they were being built up to be a supercouple but then that was torn down over the course of several years. Dannifer also seemed like a supercouple but the show also tore them apart and they constantly lived in the shadow of Jack and Jennifer, the same way Rafe and Hope are living in the shadow of Bo and Hope right now. Brady seems to get a new woman every year or two so I don't know that any of them qualify, much as I have enjoyed some of them. Don't even get me started on the retconning going on with Danicole. They weren't and never will be more than an afterthought coupling. Is the show even trying to make supercouples anymore or are they just interested in giving the viewers romantic relationships with less of a thought to their permanency? Do you guys think the supercouples helped or hurt the show? Have they been a stabilizing force throughout the course of these various writing regimes and allowed for more interesting long-form narratives, or have they kept the show trapped in a state of suspended animation and prevented natural evolution and character development?

I am watching through great clips of Kristen and Susan from 97 I think and noticing that Jennifer Horton seems to be living in Bo and Hope's house. The stairwell portion of the set is exactly the same, though the rest of the house seems a little different. Is it that Hope eventually moved into the house Jennifer used to occupy, or that they just reused pieces of Jennifer's house when they built a set for Bo and Hope later? Also, where did things go after Kristen and Susan left the show? I know that Roman backed off of Doc, allowing Marlena and John to finally be a couple again, but I don't know when Celeste left the show or what the next big story lines were. I seem to recall that Eileen's last day featured Kristen locked up in the harem but I don't know if they ever explained what happened to Sister Mary Moira who had been living and working in Salem at that point. If I had to guess based on the clips I've been watching, the show shifted focus to Stefano trying to get Lexi on his side and possibly romancing her mother again. Is that what happened? And did any of the characters talk about Kristen in the weeks following Eileen's departure from the show? Or Susan? Or was it "out of sight, out of mind"?

Just saw Friday's episode and enjoyed seeing a bit more of Roman. I've never cared about this character since he was reintroduced in the mid-nineties, and I missed all of the Wayne Northrop years...but I still feel like Roman should have been a bigger presence these last few months given the direction of the storylines and John's absence. I'm actually really offended for him that they haven't thrown him a retirement party. Wasn't he the first big-deal cop out of the current clan of characters? Wasn't he carrying a badge before Bo or John or Abe? It's good timing that Eric's look has changed back to something more in keeping with who the character was in the past now that he's moving home and smiling again, but I am going to miss the hard-edged beard and shaved head look. I really hope they don't transition Eric back into being his boring sweet self. Remember back when we were still theorizing that he could have been the necktie killer? I think Greg would be able to pull off something new with this character if they ever let him. Not much else to say. Ciara, Theo and Claire continue to be astoundingly awkward. I realize the show doesn't do multiple takes of scenes anymore, but at least the veteran actors are seasoned professionals who can get through a single take and make it feel a little real. These kids need a lot more help delivering something passible. The writing is incredibly stilted too. I never got the sense that Theo found Claire physically attractive. Whenever they kiss it feels very sudden and unmotivated. In theory I like the flashbacks to Ciara and Theo's earlier scenes, but they only underscored how weird the writing has been, with them having supposedly been in love only for Theo to now call Claire his first actual girlfriend and say Ciara was only ever his friend. Corday needs to hire two people just to manage quality control and consistency on the show. Nicole's storyline is so bad. I wonder how long it's going to drag out.

Miller is good but I don't think the writing for Abby ever was...at least not until she started to lose it. There was an OldBen? I've tuned out Eli's story because Valerie is lame. You guys are making me wonder if I'm missing out on some great acting. Where is he even going as a character anyway? So...Abe is back to lecturing his kids about who not to date? Didn't take long. I didn't love love love Lexie but I kinda wonder how much more might have been going on in Theo and Abe's lives if she were still around.

Woah...! Poor Nadia. What a creep.

Dena said he was back as of late September... http://soaps.sheknows.com/days-of-our-lives/news/48219/days-of-our-lives-drake-hogestyn-injured-in-fall With a six month delay factored in, he could be back at the end of March...or start of April. From DaysCafe: DELICIOUS (Updated February 28, 2017) John's secret mission involves bringing someone back! SWEET AND SOUR! (Updated February 1, 2017) Someone is coming back to Salem this spring, and it will be a sweet reunion for some, but a sour ending for one ... ...if these are about the same plot...who could John bring back via the ISA? Theresa or Sami might warrant ISA intervention, but I can't think of who else...

I never saw them have scenes together where they were happy and brotherly since I only really started watching in 2012 when Kristen returned. Given how dumb Brady typically is, I wasn't expecting the show to make him Eric's advocate. I would enjoy seeing them being brotherly towards one another (especially since Eric is supposed to be older than Brady by a good 15 years and I don't think I've ever seen him act that way) but then there is the Nicole Factor. She's going to end up with Brady soon and I'm not sure if the show will even address Eric's continued love for her. That could definitely be an obstacle for them. Someone on another board made a comment about some rumor that John will return from his ISA mission with somebody else. That poster was speculating on whether or not it would be Theresa. I haven't heard a thing about this rumor and I'm wondering if any of the rest of you have... From Jennifer Lilley's Dishin Days exit interview, it didn't sound like she had been invited to film again, and since that was in November and they are close to airing the episodes that were filmed in November, and I assume John is returning sometime in the next five weeks, I'm doubting Theresa will turn up with him...though narratively, it would be really cool for Shane to have involved John in Theresa's mission to take down Mateo. Which of course means that's exactly what isn't going to happen. My question is whether or not anyone has heard about when John is likely to return or if he's supposed to be returning with another character in tow...

Let's take bets - how long before Eric gets laid again? It seems to happen twice a year, at most... I'm gonna say...May?

VI is a good actor. Felt it today. He and Cosgrove should start a DOOL Screwed Us club. I literally just said out loud, "Daniel was NOT your....!! Good GOD!!" in response to Eric. This show will Not. Stop. Propping. The fake flashbacks today are hilarious. Maybe Chad could have kicked at the dirt while Gabi licked a lolly and pulled at her pigtails. Does anyone else chuckle about how much shorter than Original Chad Billy is? Can Jennifer get through one week without inserting herself into other people's shit? Run Eric - Run!

Mommie Dearest anyone? Some might believe Christina Crawford was exaggerating but I definitely don't. Stories like that add up to one nasty picture of a woman who needed to control everybody. I still wonder about the depths of the Lauren Graham/Scott Patterson situation on Gilmore Girls.

She was on about a decade ago, I gather. Killed Shawn Brady.

I find it really weird Patrick Wilson, who looks a lot like the classic Aquaman, will be playing the villain. I know very little about Orm, but from what I saw of him on Justice League -The Animated Series he looked a little bit more like Jason Momoa. I don't think Mel Gibson will necessarily destroy a movie at this point, but I don't know that the public will be willing to see any of his movies as "good". Public favor has turned against him big time but if he can manage to direct a decent movie I would consider seeing it. What's the latest on Ben Affleck trying to get out of his Batman contract? I've been hearing lately that both him and Jared Leto have been trying to wriggle out of their marquee roles... that would definitely destabilize the franchises. I kind of wonder when we can hope to see these movies end to make way for a new continuity and a fresh start. I'm guessing there's no chance of that happening anytime before 2020, what with the current films already in production or pre-production. I don't think DC and Warner Brothers would waste too much time to reboot the franchises....so maybe as early as 2022? I'm pretty astonished that there hasn't been an announcement of a New Gods movie, given DC's obsession with that Jack Kirby franchise.

...oh, I see what you did there!

Starri we are in agreement. I'm keeping expectations low for this....

Gotcha. I didn't see Jeremy Jordan playing a convincing villain anyways so I thought the whole concept of setting him up as a future baddie was a big mistake. Plus Toyman ain't exactly super compelling either...

So....more kidnappings!

Wow - expected them to milk the drama, not have Brady behave decently. Thank You!