Monday, May 05, 2008

A New Beginning?

  • Dixie's back as a ghost -- and we'll take it.
  • After a grueling 22 hours in solitary confinement, Sam Woods rescues Erica and gets her a new tube of lip gloss.
  • Blandie's up to no good, and viewers everywhere yawn.
  • Zach ships Aidan to Africa to rescue Jake Martin. (We, uh, see a pretty good opportunity here to, ahem, clear the path for Jake and Greenlee, Mr. and Mrs. Head Writer.... Just a suggestion, folks.)
  • Don't say "no-no" to Ya-Ya -- she's a keeper.

Lots of stuff to talk about. Where do we begin? Mini-Hands Julia rumors, new head writer rumors, Emmy busts, ladybugs.... Our little show has beens so much fun! Do your thing and post your thoughts on it all, here.

5/2/08 Podcast

41 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi Guys,

Great show as usual.

It was just ridiculous how Erica had nightmares and was going out of her mind after a few hours in solitary. They could have saved that at least for after her first full day.

I so wish Aidan wouldn't come back from Africa. That would make for a great storyline for Greens and Jake and at least give her a reason to be mad (just a little) at Zach.

Can I just say it again? Dixie is BEAUTIFUL! Dead or alive it's so amazing to have her back.

Terry in Toronto

Anonymous said...

Sorry Terry but he is going to return.
However **** RUMOR/SPOILER**** I do beleive he is going to leave because Greens wil tell him she doesn't want to have kids with him and he thinks that means that she does not love him as much as she does Ryan.

Elyse

BELINDA said...

I haven't finished listening to the podcast yet, but I wanted to chime in on Aidan Devane/Aiden Turner. He's not the WORST actor I've ever seen, but he definitely ain't no Sir Laurence Olivier. I haven't seen him in anything else, but something tells me he probably doesn't have a whole lot of range.
And a lot of the time, he seems as bored with his scenes as we are!

Limited skills aside, I think the character also has been hindered by poor development - considering how long he's been on AMC, we really don't know all that much about him when compared to what we know about other characters who've been on the show the same length of time or less.

I've always liked the character 'cos he was one of the few truly good guys, but then he had to go and put his, um, "spotted dick" in Kendall's "Yorkshire pudding," so to speak. This didn't make him an ALTOGETHER bad guy in my eyes, just one with hideously bad judgment, poor impulse control and no blood flowing to his brain. HOWEVER, the way he's acted after the fact has tarnished the character of Aidan for me - especially the way he has the COJONES to look Zach in the eye
and act like he's his right-hand man.

It seems to me that the writers don't know what the deuce to do with this character. One minute he's playing bodyguard to a second-rate novelist - 'cos let's face it, in REAL life, Kendall wouldn't be a high-profile author - the next he's goin' tew Afriker tew sive Jike Mah-tin, 'e is!

And despite how good-looking he is, his chemistry with the ladies on the show is more nice-guy-you-chat-with-to-kill-time-at-the-laundromat
than romantic interest (with the exception of Sabine, with whom he was great). It's weird that someone so pretty is so "bleah" and vomitorious in love scenes. But word has it that he's a Frons favorite, so the writers have had to keep scrounging up storylines for Aiden.

The sad truth is: The character outlived his usefulness a LONG time ago, he has no blood ties to Pine Valley and now that Jesse's back, Tad doesn't need him as his best mate anymore.

Anonymous said...

I thought Erica looked beautiful in the solitary confinement scenes, absurd though they were. Normally she wears too much makeup, and it's true, when you get older, you should wear less. And she had on flats too! Can't remember ever seeing EEK in flats. Does the prison provide little canvas flats in the same matchy matchy color as the jumpsuits? Oh, how funny was it when Sam Woods shows up like a superhero and carries her out of the cell! Another good week for AMC.

Blue Skies

Anonymous said...

jordan.. definitely watch one life to live it's so good right now! amc is my soap for 20 years and i've only been watching oltl for like 2 but it's now so much better and it's the soap i look forward to everyday. WATCH!

Anonymous said...

Jordan

OLTL is ROCKIN!!!

RC's material is back on the air (which is great considering how boring it was with the SCABS)

honestly, the entire episode keeps yor attention and if you can. try to catch this Mondays (the 5th) on SoapNet or something cause it was AMAZING

Anonymous said...

Whoa Dixie. I think she was channeling the spirit of Samantha Stevens when she appeared before Adam. That little giggle, the slightly retro hairdo, and I was totally bewitched. Did anyone else immediately think of Sam? It was great to see Dix again and she looks delicious.

There has been so much positive feedback from the fans how can TPTB possibly avoid bring back Cady?

Anonymous said...

I guess I am blogger 44. Keep it up. Great job....

jordan hudson said...

Brown Penny
I was thinking the special effects were better on Bewitched then Mondays episode. I kept waiting for Cady to come out with a black wig and be dixie's wicked cousin Delta. It's camp,Fun and Cady & David are working it.

Why would cassie leave Angie a note. Who leaves a note when you can just call someone's cell phone. That was weird to me lol.

Ricky Paul as Jake two thumbs up.

Belinda your analysis on why Aidan doesn't work as a character so on point.
Yes I will be watching OLTL with the real Marty and Tina coming back. Plus the upcoming annual B.E. shareholder's meeting coming up. Llanview will be sizzling.

Now if only Laura would come out of that comatose state on Gh. ABC would have me back on all three of there shows.

Anonymous said...

Hey guys, as always great job!;o)

as for the show...LOVE MY Dix! the scenes between her/Adam are fabulous/hilarious and Cady looks amazing, as usual. now they have added Opal to the mix and Jill L. just plain rocks! that's MY "REAL" AMC! now if only they get to bringing her back...ALIVE. don't care what they do, don't care if she really is a ghost, hallucination, whatever at the moment...just bring her back!

BTW, come on just give us a little hint in ref to Julia's departure. funny thing is, i've been reading scoops and there's not even a build up as to what's going to happen to her...as far as what you guys hinted at. they said she's moving away, but not the other thing. it even seems Tad will be the one to get hurt...hmmmmmmm

last note...what do guys think of NuColby...as far as her first performance? is it too soon to tell? the only thing i will say is she looks a lot like CS/Amanda, but w/ blonder hair.

until then,

JerseyRican

Anonymous said...

oh yeah and i love Ya Ya too...well i've loved her since America's Next Top Model. seen her in "Take The Lead" and a Lifetime movie. therefore, knew she had the acting chops. anyways i welcome her...seems like a great addition not only to the Hubbards, but to AMC.

also love JR's hair cut...much better.

JerseyRican

Anonymous said...

Jordan you were so right! This NuNotColby is dead behind the eyes and blander then Blandie. She's missing the spark Amber had.

Kate Schmidt said...

Hooray for crazy ghost Dixie! I nearly wet myself laughing when she slapped her own ass today. That whole scene with Dixie/Adam/Opal was one of the funniest I've seen on AMC in a long, long time.

I can't wait until Sunday to hear you guys talk about it. :)

Anonymous said...

I agree that the Adam/Dixie/Opal combo was priceless! Three veterans who know what they're doing and knock it out of the ballpark every time. Cady wiggling her butt with that wicked come-and-get-it smile had me rolling on the floor laughing!

I didn't think NuColby was totally awful but it took me a while to get who she was. It wasn't until Frankie called this blonde chick with the ventroloquist-dummy-smile "Colby" that I realized our little Amber is officially-for real-no joking, gone. NuColby wasn't great, she wasn't terrible, she wasn't Colby.

Terry in Toronto

Anonymous said...

Ashley,

what did you think on nuColby

Ashley said...

I haven't seen her yet!!!!!!! I know, I know, viwers - I gotta catch up on the shows!

Ash
xo

Anonymous said...

Ashley,

you have GOT to watch this week has been GOOD

ritchie/annie are chilling with their scenes. my favorite part of the show!!! BM and MCE ROCK!!

Jake, Carmen and Ya-Ya are great

and we had an Opal and Plamer scene!!!!!

and what do you think
Action Jackson, or Sexy Samy Woods

Love the podcast!!

lucyb24 said...

Wow! That was fast. NuColby is already in the credits. If they were going to hire a carbon copy almost duplicate version of the original Colby (except imho, not as pretty) why didn't they just keep the original? She doesn't even look all that much older.

Erica Kane said...

It is weird to me that they added Nu-Colby to the opening credits so fast and yet did not add Nu-Jake. They had the opportunity to add him and yet they just missed the boat.

Arizonagal said...

So Aidan is coming back from Africa? That could be a good thing. There will be the inevitable triangle between Greens/Jake/Aidan and ya'll know our boy Aidan is gonna lose big time. TPTB could never convince anyone that Aidan and Greenlee would make it as a couple. They don't even have the fans cheering for them. I don't get how such a good looking man could have NO chemistry with anyone in PV. He never lights up the screen, EVER.

Dead Dixie is brash, has sass, is sexy and just plain fun. She's more like Sabrina, Sam's sistah.

Who ya gonna call? Ghost Dixie!

arizonagal

Anonymous said...

Where is the tracking device planted on A-Dumb

Laura said...

I forgot to mention this a long time ago but A-dumb's model shot is at the beauty school where I took my daughter for cheap up-do's for dances. He is totally qualified to be a pretty haircut model, but not much else. Ashley I was so excited when you used my term A-dumb. Glad you liked it. I am calling Nu-Colby, Colby cheese, kind of a cheesy actress, and a cheesy way to get rid of a good actress.

Anonymous said...

Ashley and Jordan, excellent show as usual. I so enjoyed your Erica and Gwendolyn parody, Ashley. Fantabulous!

I'm behind on my AMC this week, but when I do tune in, I enjoy it. New Jake is great. NuBabe is even okay these days! JR wears too much makeup, but that can be corrected. I'm done with the Greenlee-Zach friendship. Can't what happened in the hole stay in the hole? Are there no enemies these days? Jeez.. . Blandie is kinda interesting when she's opposite Richie. Maybe TPTB could turn her evil afterall? Oh, and Yaya. I like the girl, but have a small quibble: she is too beautiful! I mean, c'mon, we have fabulous looking people on our story, and no one tops Alicia in my book, but this girl is totally unbelievable as a typical teenage girl. She rocks chartreuse like it's no big deal!

Love y'all!
Becky

Anonymous said...

Yeah, where Is that tracking device? Zach told him to "put this in your ear" and Aidan heard "put this in your rear." Yes folks, it's a homing device AND a hemorrhoid treatment.

Anonymous said...

LOL! hemorrhoid treatment! I hope we don't have to watch while the Sudanese militia go searching for the homing device.

Poor, poor Aidumb.

Julia is so beautiful and is that much more tragic because we know she's heading to the slaughter. I loved her "moving to Perth" scene with Dr Joe and her new haircut rocks!

Terry in Toronto

Anonymous said...

hey guys,

there's a rumor that R&B singer/actress ("Moesha")Brandy is joining the cast. ::thoughts::

also from SOD that GL's BE/Harley has been given time off and it's most likely she won't be coming back after that time. therefore, do you think the rumors will come to be? she'll end up on AMC, as a re-casted Hayley?

JerseyRican

Ashley said...

So I finally saw NuColby. Here's what I thought:

-- She's awful.
-- She doesn't look older than Ambyr
-- She isn't as pretty as Ambyr
-- She looks like she's wearing an orange Betty Boop wig.
-- And - oh yeah - she's awful.

Sorry, folks -- I normally try not to be so blatant about my playa-hater rants, but this makes NO FREAKIN' SENSE. Her weird short hair and curls icked me out, and she freakin' can't act!!!

This has Judy Blye Wilson's stink all over it!!!!!!!!!!!!!

(Other than that, I am LOVING AMC THIS WEEK! Warren Buf-fay!?! "Action Jackson" vs. "Sexy Sammy" ?!?!? I love it!)

Anonymous said...

Well I'll chime in here too Ashley. Your rather brutal assessment of NuColby is right on. This is a pointless recast. I truly hope TPTB had to recast because Ambyr is moving on to bigger and better things, because otherwise, what the h*ll was the point?

jordan hudson said...

well with the exception of NuColby. For me this was a hell of a week IN Pine Valley. I can't remember when I enjoyed an entire week as much as this. It was great seeing so much of jill, cady, David. My god they even threw in Palmer.RPG is hitting it out of the ballpark with jake hope they do right by him.

While I do think the writers have done an amazing job at turning the show around from the horrid state Mctavish left it in, in such a short time. We are now at a crucial point. It seems they are dropping the ball. Lazy Lazy Lazy... they seem to be dropping the ball with Robert Garnder. It seems they will end this story and Im sorry a diamond, an Elephant and the death of a beloved herione is not enough to justify why Jesse was on the run for 20 years.

The possibilities for Robert were great but the writers seem to lack imagination. I really have to give props to Ron Carveretti ( I know I must me spelling the last name wrong.) Out of the new generation of Daytime writers. he is the only one in my eyes who understands how to really be a head writer of a show and still be contemporary.
Yes with Tina coming back, Adrianna & Rex's wedding. And the upcoming B.E. shareholders meeting and what will happen there, I'm leaving Springfield and moving to Llanview. Soap Weekley's cover got it on point OLTL Ron and Frank know why we watch the soaps.

Arizonagal on Bewitched it was Sam's cousin Serena. And yes cady is channeling the great Elizabeth Motgomery.

Anonymous said...

I'm starting to think that NuColby wasn't put in for age reasons; that could've been a rumor based on the actress's actual age. JR called her his little sister, but he's 24 - and I think he knows math. She doesn't look any older, anyway. I see a casting pattern with her and NuBabe - they got someone who looks a lot like her, but in the process, got someone kinda creepy-looking. She seemed even blander than Blandie on Wednesday, but I'll give her some time to get used to the role.

Jordan, please, it's Ron Carlivati. :p And OLTL was amazing this week! I forgot how good the show was under him. He seems to be dispatching with most of the story directions and steering it back the way it should go. And he has it perfect. The suspense is terrible...I hope it lasts. :D

Anonymous said...

okay so superposter is reporting that a source told him (was it you guys? LOL)that SP's last air date is May 22nd and still there are no scoops in ref to this. i mean w/ Cady/Dix and the whole pancake nonsense there weren't that many scoops either, but at least there were a few. w/ this one, not one. therefore, guys come on gives us a little hint as to how she's killed. lack of creativity...no kidding! if they didn't want to go the custody battle route because they wanted to unfortunately get rid of SP, then have Julia go back to the Witness Protection Program. have someone threaten her connected to Garret/the Dragon again and she would ultimately do something selfless like only she would and let Kate-thy be w/ Tad because she wouldn't want her to live that miserable life on the run. see no need for more death. *sigh*

also ICAM Jordan what a waste of Rob. they should have brought on another actor to pin the Jesse crap (very disappointing s/l...should have connected it to Angie's father like you suggested Jordan) on and kept this actor as Rob for a Tad story. just imagine...delving into Tad's past again, even could have dealt w/ the Madden crap too w/ him being reminded of how he tapped into that dark side, all coming back due to Rob being in the picture. then you could have had the bonus of Ruth, Joe and Opal in the mix...their history w/ Ray and how Rob would fit into all that w/ reminding them of him. you know the stuff they got into for like a minute. should have been more. what a waste of potential and history.

Anonymous said...

hehehe forgot to sign...JerseyRican.

Arizonagal said...

Add me to the list of folks who are bummed out by the waste of Sledgehammer. Come on now TPTB, here you have a terrific actor with a lot of charisma and a character with so much potential, and you turn him into good old mustache twirling one-note Snidley Whiplash. Rob Gardner has all sorts of historical ties to Pine Valley - Tad and Jenny's uncle, Opal's bro-in-law. I still wish there was a way to redeem him and keep him on the canvas.

Oh and Ricky Paull has aged well because he's just not that old. IMDB says he's as old as Michael Lowry and 10 years younger than J Eddie Peck. Sheesh, who knew J Eddie was that old. Talk about aging well!

Zonagal

Anonymous said...

OK, y'all, I just finished watching and WHAT AN AWESOME WEEK! This makes two weeks in a row for this show...and when is the last time THAT happened? Just some highlights:

1. Ghostly Dixie slapping that thang! Cady McClain is having a good ol' time with this, and have to agree with all of you on the Bewitched references. I can totally see why Cady's enjoying herself; McClain wants Dixie to GROW. Unfortunately, this is hard to do when everything must come back to Tad and Dixie. THis is one problem with supercouples (witness: Luke and Laura). Now if TPTB or Jordan and Ashley can just think of a way to get Dix back permanently but allow her to have the fun she's having in this role.

2. Opal, Opal, Opal. Opal is the WHOLE reason I started watching AMC 18 years ago when she was trying to snag her some Palmer. Anything to get that woman back in a scene is worth it to me, from dilly-dallying with Palmer (so nice to see him; Ashley be kind on this week's podcast. ;-) to playing with Warren Buff-AY (a hoot!) to mentoring Richie (I know this character probably has to go, but would be much more interested in seeing more of Opal's rehab of Richie), Jill Larson, we have missed you dearly.

3. NuJake is great so far. He's already had some great snarky one-liners. Yes, please get him with Greens fast. This storyline is interesting, and I hope it's not over due to the way Friday wrapped up.

4. Bringing back Nurse Hazel. I loved Nurse Hazel. (I loved the Nurse Laura had with the heart transplant too, but I digress) It is nice when shows can do something like this with a character actress.

Of course, there were some off-notes. Richie's storyline is so over...it's like the writers do not know how to end this, because he's so bad he can't be redeemed, yet the fans appreciate the actor so much. Richie and nuBabe were the only times I was saying, "C'mon people." this week. As for nuColby, or Colby Cheese, she doesn't BOTHER me, but like everyone else, I'm wondering why the recast. Ms. Childers did a nice job having this character grow up over the past year (hated Colby when she was first on) to where she grew on almost all the fans. With one or two swift scenes, this new actress (writers?) have turned this character back into a Paris Hilton wannabe. So much for SORAS...

I'll say it again, the reason AMC is rocking these past two weeks is that everyone is being played EVENLY. If you are tired of Richie and NuBabe, just wait a moment, because they'll be onto the next storyline. It's not like a year ago when all we could do is sit through everyone milling around the hospital waiting to find out the results of the CRASH. Don't like J and A (don't understand how you couldn't), well then here comes Erica in the clink. THis is the key to good soap opera writing. Now they only need to do one more thing:

FIX THE BURNERS

There are no burners on this show. A good soap has several pots heating on several burners. I realize this is sweeps, but with everything on the front burner right now, there's nothing simmering on the back of the stove for the summer. ANd if you think about it, almost everything we're watching (Jake in Sudan, Dixie's ghost and the Kate-hy reveal) have all been microwaved in the past few weeks. I'm hoping this is just a case of a little behind-the-scenes switcheroo, but I dunno. It's important to keep all those burners moving, and know when to rotate the pots.

crs-17

jordan hudson said...

Crs17....you nailed it. It amazes me that people are writing and getting paid for the crap that is being put on air. It is an art that sadly is dying. All I can say is that GL is really being written so poorly. Which is so hard to swallow when the co head writer is Donna Swajeski who had an amazing run on AW.
Well Ash and I know how Ms. Penny is leaving....but we don't want to spoil it for peopel who don't want to know exactly how it will go down.
It was hard watching the Julia scenes this week knowing what her fate is. She aint making it down under. Well sort of......

I already said how Dixie can be alive and its more plausible then a Diamond in an elephant. David Hayward afraid for his daughter's life put a toxin in the pancakes so he could fake Babes death and protect her by gettign her out of harms way. Instead he got Dixie the love of his life and when she woke up just like Maria Santos not knowing who she was. He took her away.
As for Dixie not being a doormat but fun and sassy that is on the writers. You can make a character interesting and still be true to the characte. Lazy writers Luke and Laura were amazing under Claire Labine. Yet the current writers have re written history Luke telling tracy that he never wanted Lulu and all that crap.
Will miss you ambyer and syd

Anonymous said...

Tad getting all high and mighty with Zach was so disappointing. As I recall Zach is the person who went through a trial and covered for Tad when he murdered Greg Madden. I understand that Tad was upset when he thought Jake was dead but no reason to blame Zach for supposedly intentionally sending Aidumb to his death. Doesn't Tad know a majority of viewers would off Aidum ourselves if we could?!

Terry in Toronto

Anonymous said...

If TIIC ever decide to do the right thing and bring Dixie back for real, this is the version they need to bring back; the fun loving, sassy, playful and smart Dixie who won't take crapola from anyone.

Anonymous said...

Terry in Toronto,

I so agree with you! I was laughing so hard when Tad said to Kendall, "Aidan told me, but he said you swore you'd never tell a soul." As if to blame Kendall for Aidan's situation... Uh, Kendall told her HUSBAND. He has way more right to be told than you do, Tad!

It was so weird.

Becky

P.S. Ashley and Jordan, do y'all read Raven's spoilers on the Soapcentral message board? Juicy casting tidbits this week...

spunkyroc said...

Hey Ashley,

A few weeks ago you and I think Jordan were commenting on Liva's(Miss Tonya Pinckins) hair. Just want to let you know she has dreadlocks not cornrows. I think her hair is cool but I think the wardrobe department needs to put her in clothes that don't clash with her hair color. Just wanted to be your resident "Ethnic Hair Style Liason," LOL!!!!

Great job as usual,
Spunkyroc AKA Rochelle

Anonymous said...

I just have to say it. This NuBabe is growing on me. I'm not saying I love her, or even like her. I'm getting used to her and I think she's a decent actress. Lukewarm praise, but praise nonetheless. Really I think her biggest distraction is her plastic surgery.

Norn Cutson said...

ive been listening to all the old episodes & when you said "ill call you Gwendolyn!"

i started laughin & cryin all over my desk!