06.30.09
Soap Opera Weekly: Blogging With Mala
I’ve found the perfect way to deal with Meg’s forever-revolving door of swains on ATWT: focusing on how pretty Marie Wilson’s hair looks. Love the deep red highlights! However, I can’t hand-wave Margo’s acceptance of Adam quite as easily. In fact, it makes me see red in a different way. ATWT has done a beautiful job of calling back to Emily, Susan and Larry’s history, but how could they forget a quintessential part of Margo’s: she was raped. I cannot believe that she would let Adam have a free pass for attacking Gwen, no matter how much her bullet wound hurts and how glad she is to see him alive. I remember how tender she was with Maddie during Maddie’s rape reveal storyline. I get that she’s fragile and she loves her son, but to have jealous whiner Casey being the only one pointing out Emperor Adam isn’t wearing clothes is ridiculous. Casey stole some bonds. Adam attacked multiple women. I love this redemption arc, but not at the expense of Margo or acknowledging how violence against women is completely unacceptable.
But enough about that which annoys me and spikes my blood pressure. Let me talk about something that makes me happy: B&B! Nick teaching Bridget how to golf today was so cute! I really enjoyed that wink to Jack Wagner’s real-life passion. I also can’t get enough of Jackie and Owen. The outdoor remote really showcases even more effectively how gorgeous Lesley-Anne Down is. The pink sun hat framed her face perfectly. And, yes, okay, Brandon Beemer’s a good lookin’ fella in those beach-friendly duds. The arm candy definitely complemented Jackie’s candy-colored hat! (Not that Beemer’s just arm candy.) Back home in LA, Katherine Kelly Lang gave it her all as Brooke reeled from the news of Ridge’s betrayal. She is such a good crier that she should give a workshop to aspiring soap heroines!
originally posted on soapoperaweekly.com
06.29.09
Soap Opera Weekly: Blogging With Mala
Was I supposed to be laughing hysterically at Y&R’s Adam today? ‘Cause, dude, that was sheer comedy gold. I already discussed how young Rafe looks on Friday, but today, he pretty much made Adam look like Chester the Molester. Could their post-romp scene have been ANY more awkward? From the stiff posture to the straightening of shirt collars, I could not stop cracking up. I don’t mean to be crass, but that had to have been the lamest, least passionate “afterglow” I’ve seen in my life. It’s probably a good thing the sex that preceded it was off screen. Can you imagine how awkward that must have been? And then the hilarity continued with Adam dialing up Heather to immediately reassert his heterosexuality with an emergency booty call. Where it did take place? On the very same couch where he and Rafe played partially dressed Twister! Since Adam had enough sense to shower in between encounters, let’s hope he cleaned that leather, too!
I know it’s not politically correct to be laughing at this story — and I do acknowledge that it has deeply offensive elements — but I just can’t take it seriously right now!
The only thing funnier than Adam’s desperation was Victor finding Mary Jane’s kitty and waving his hand in front of its glass eyes. I think at that point, I may have actually fallen out of my chair. Episodes of Y&R need to start coming with warnings, like “May cause hysteria” or “Please do not eat anything as choking may occur.”
I feel like there’s a strong thread of crack running through all the CBS shows lately. Mostly the good kind.
I’ve loved “Kamikaze GL” just going all out. B&B always pushes the envelope (today Jackie and Owen had a surfing and sex conversation that made me blush). ATWT has a whole lotta cracktastic insanity going on: Henry in drag, Winston Mayer’s return, Riley-is-Adam, Emily’s eggstravaganza.
Some of the storylines work, some fail miserably. But the network is taking chances, and that’s to be commended. In this day and age, where we need to sell soaps any we can to keep the genre alive, I can appreciate the intent even if the execution isn’t always up to snuff.
originally posted on soapoperaweekly.com
06.26.09
Soap Opera Weekly: Blogging With Mala
I gotta tell ya, I’ve known the “big secret” about ATWT’s Riley for months and I still got chills at the end of today’s episode. I cannot say enough good things about Ellen Dolan, who has played the notes of Margo’s grief and gradual acceptance of Riley perfectly as this story unfolded. Why she’s frequently wasted as the hapless cop who always shows up at the end of a big story instead of being a part of it, I’ll never know. At any rate, I think a part of Margo knew who Riley was from the moment he arrived in town. That became hauntingly clear with each passing day but crystallized today, when her naked emotions turned into a flat directive for Casey to quit digging into Riley’s identity. Steel crept into her eyes and her voice. And if I haven’t said it before, I’ll say it now: I freakin’ love when Margo goes all badass and pulls her gun on people. It’s just too bad that Colonel Homophobe managed to surprise her, get her off balance, and squeeze off a shot. However, what happened afterwards was arguably the soapiest thing I’ve seen on ATWT in weeks. At least until next week’s set of Emily-related reveals, that is! Riley and Mayer grappling for the gun and then Riley running to Margo…stricken, holding her close, gasping out, “Mom!” Oh, man. It was awesome. As I said, I knew he was Adam, but I’m really hoping that there are viewers out there who were surprised by that moment.
I have to give props to Tom Degnan, by the way. I think he’s done a good job so far as a man desperate to make amends and forge family bonds. It’s going to be interesting to see how his performance changes now that he’s Adam and not Adam-pretending-to-be-Riley.
Speaking of Adams, I’m also incredibly impressed by Michael Muhney, who stepped into the role of Y&R’s troubled Newman scion yesterday. He hit the ground running. There may have been a little unevenness on his first day, but who can blame him? He’s never done soap before! Today, any trace of unfamiliarity seemed to be gone, and I felt he really embraced Adam. That was encapsulated in the scene where Adam spoke aloud to Hope, raging about how his twisted side had come from Victor. Is Adam a whiner who needs to get over his daddy issues? Yes. Does that make him any less compelling as a villain? No. And then, when Rafe came in and started searching Adam’s room, I actually started laughing. Adam’s desperation was palpable, and I loved that you could see the instant his kooky plan to dive t Rafe’s attention occurred to him. He awkwardly fumbled with Rafe’s shirt, patting at the buttons, and then lowered the boom about his “feelings” for the young lawyer. And, boy, do I mean young. Who gave Yani Gellman that 12-year-old Catholic schoolboy haircut? Sure, Adam’s a skeeve for manipulating a gay man, but he’s a bigger skeeve for putting the moves on somebody who doesn’t look old enough to shave! Hee! In any case, Rafe’s deer-in-headlights expression at Adam’s confession made me laugh and laugh. Oh, Adam, what a tangled web you weave…
originally posted on soapoperaweekly.com
06.24.09
The TBR pile.
I keep forgetting all the things I need to read, so for the sake of posterity, here’s my current To Be Read List…
Along For the Ride, by Sarah Dessen
Bound By Your Touch, by Meredith Duran
Written on Your Skin, by Meredith Duran
White Witch, Black Curse, by Kim Harrison
Jellicoe Road, by Melina Marchetta
Fragile Eternity, by Melissa Marr
A Victory of Eagles, by Naomi Novik
Love You Hate You Miss You, by Elizabeth Scott
Something Maybe, by Elizabeth Scott
Stealing Heaven, by Elizabeth Scott
Not out yet::
The Fire King, by Marjorie M. Liu
Frostbitten, by Kelley Armstrong
06.23.09
Soap Opera Weekly: Blogging With Mala
Let’s talk various soaps, shall we? Sadly, Y&R won’t be on the list as President Obama decided to host a press conference that spanned the 12:30-1:30 slot. This should probably go on record as yet another change from the Bush administration: President Bush always used to pre-empt our 10 a.m. GL viewing!
Speaking of which, today on Kamikaze GL, a naked Bill almost had his inseam measured by a blasé tailor who observed, “If you’ve seen one, you’ve seen ‘em all.” And then Lillian disagreed, citing her nursing expertise. No, I am not even kidding. I laughed so hard that I think I sprained something. Maybe more shows should take the “live every day as if it’s your last” approach to writing? Or, you know, they could all just have dueling babies. Because my other favorite part of the show was when Reva brought Colin over to Marina’s, asking if she could watch both him and Henry (aka The Awesomest Baby on Daytime). It’s kind of ingenious, really. If one baby makes Marina and Mallet interesting, imagine what two can do? Too bad Reva returned for her kid before the episode was over.
ATWT saw the return of everyone’s favorite homophobic colonel, Win Mayer, and I couldn’t help but crack up as Daniel Hugh Kelly puffed on that cigar and played the nefarious villain to the cheesy hilt. Poor Riley, he doesn’t know what he’s in for, getting involved with Col. Homophobe. And, yes, as if there’s any doubt, I’m on Team Riley/Margo during this silly conflict with Casey. Jealousy has no place when someone is grieving the loss of their child. Casey looks like an utter git for trying to take Riley away from Margo and going off on Ali for calling him out on his pettiness. Even if Riley is up to something shady. But more on that at a later date!
Johnny continues to be my favorite GH character, and JoLivia my favorite couple. Their scenes yesterday and today were hot, hot, hot! I just have one request: Can Claudia please knock it off with the cougar talk, as well as the “ho” and “skank” designations? No.1: Olivia’s not that old. No. 2: Let she who is without sluttiness cast the first “whore!” Claudia is carrying a child that may or may not be Ric’s and she has the nerve to cast aspersions on Olivia, who hasn’t slept with anyone besides Johnny since she hit town over 6 months ago? Please! It’s ridiculous.
originally posted on soapoperaweekly.com
06.22.09
Soap Opera Weekly: Blogging With Mala
Much has been made of Y&R’s wunderkind, Billy Miller, but I’ve got to give a major shout-out to Daniel Goddard, who has never been better as the conflicted Cane. Goddard’s been absolutely wonderful at playing a man desperate to keep his secrets — and his newfound family’s love. He always looks worn and beaten and sad; his hair even looks like he ceaselessly runs his fingers through it. I know that when the truth about Phillip III inevitably comes out, Lily — who can’t stop raving about Cane’s honesty — and Jill and Kay are going to be devastated and likely turn their backs on him, but I just feel so darned sorry for this guy. Con artist or no, he’s sold me on the fact that this is the first time he’s felt worthwhile and loved.
And in other Y&R notes, today we also had the first stirrings of the much-talked about Rafe/Adam story, as Rafe told Adam he couldn’t represent Newman and his aunt Estella at the same time. I totally sensed some sparks, that will no doubt light into flames when Michael Muhney takes over on the 25th and really gets the ball rolling. Regardless of what went down between Chris Engen and Y&R, I feel like this is a classic soap story that just happens to involve two men. I mean, how many times have you seen a daytime villain or villainness put the moves on someone to keep from getting exposed? It’s a soap cliché! It happens all the time! The difference is that, this time, it’s a man manipulating another man to cover his hide. And to really move forward with equal LGBT representation, we can’t just tell coming out stories, safe stories of a gay teen’s first love, etc. Soaps have to be unafraid to tell the messy stories, too. So, kudos to Y&R for taking a risk. I can’t wait to see exactly how far Adam is willing to go to cover his tracks…and if he can ever come back from all this Ashley insanity.
Of course, if Todd can become OLTL’s leading man and GH’s Ric can avoid getting killed off after the Panic Room, I’m thinkin’ Adam probably has a long future in Genoa City!
originally posted on soapoperaweekly.com
06.21.09
Taking a shot at Hot Shot.
I almost didn’t pick up up Susan Elizabeth Phillips’ 1991 novel Hot Shot from the library, because of its generic romance novel cover. No, not the shirtless hunk with the bosomed maiden, but the anti-bodice ripper covers that have been churned out of late…generic pastoral scenes or flower sprigs. This one featured an idyllic lake with a solitary rowboat and a huge shock of purple flowering bushes. And it colored my perception of what the book might be about. However, having had experience with Phillips before, and flipping through the first few pages, I put my reservations aside and checked it out.
I’m so delighted I did!
It’s funny that cover designs are so important to this genre, to the point where it doesn’t reflect what’s on the inside. Nowhere does a rowboat or flowering plant figure into this story! I wouldn’t even call it a “romance novel,” though romance is a definite element. The driving thrust of the tale is Susannah Faulconer growing and coming into her own. That actually tends to be a theme in many of Phillips’ book…the men are important, but not as important as the heroine finding her way and discovering what she wants out of life.
In this particular case, Susannah’s journey takes place during the ’70s and ’80s and the early rise of the personal computer industry. It celebrates brash ideas and geek culture and name checks Apple’s Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak, as well as IBM and Atari. There is more talk of processors and chips and motherboards in Hot Shot than there is throbbing members and heaving chests. It’s a wonderfully well-researched novel about friends pursuing a dream. Phillips is actually stellar at pulling one into a world. I remember how effortlessly she painted Hollywood in her debut contemporary, Glitter Baby, and she does something similar here.
I was reading Hot Shot at dinner, on the train, before bed, and finished it up this morning, all with a sense of deep satisfaction.
06.18.09
Soap Opera Weekly: Blogging With Mala
I find myself at odds about what to blog about: really enjoying GH’s Johnny and Olivia, getting addicted to THE UNUSUALS just as it runs its last episode, or raving about GL’s Henry’s hats. So, I’m just going to try and hit all the points!
In just a handful of months, I’ve come to enjoy not one but two Johnny pairings, and I have to tell you, this is just weird for me. It’s not that I didn’t like Johnny before, it’s just he’s the latest in a long line of 20-something guys on GH. So when Brandon Barash debuted in 2007, I told myself not to get too attached. But somewhere along the way, I got attached anyway. I kinda love this character. I love that Johnny is one of the few people in town who has Claudia’s number and despite loving his sister, he doesn’t let the two-bit schemer off the hook. I will not lie, I also loved him wading into the Spinelli/Matt antics at Jake’s and efficiently taking care of the situation. I love the piano-playing, even though Jake’s needs slightly more cheerful musical selections. (The classical dirges could send already depressed drunks even further into their cups!) I love how Johnny is with Maxie and Olivia. It’s playful, it’s fun, it’s not about being each other’s soulmates and skipping off to have babies…and it’s smokin’ hot. Jolivia’s brief piano duet was sexy as Hell, as was Johnny “checking her engine” today.
Fighting summer rerun season tooth and nail and desperate for something new to watch, I actually gave THE UNUSUALS a shot last week and this week — only to realize that the show got the ax from ABC. That sucks, because I really like the ensemble cast! Adam Goldberg and Harold Perrineau are straight up hilarious; I really enjoyed Joshua Cole as the more serious cop, Cole, and Amber Tamblyn and Jeremy Renner’s Shraeger and Walsh had major partner chemistry — despite the fact that Amber will always be teen Emily from GH to me. LOL. That’ll teach me to wait until the last possible minute to start watching a TV show!
Last but not least, I am enthralled by Henry’s hat collection on GL. I mean, the kid’s cute enough as it is, with those big, dark eyes, but then he has all these jaunty hats and I’m a total ball of mush. Today he was sporting one of his favorite blue striped newsboy caps and I actually lost track of what my colleague Gabby was saying to me. She had to come around my desk to see what caught my attention. Yes, she agreed the hat was adorable. In fact, if I can find enough pictures of Henry’s head toppers, you might see a Style sidebar in our GL pages coming up sometime soon. LOL. (You readers and my mother probably have the same refrain at this point: “Mala, just have some kids of your own!” Then again, what if I had my own kid and he/she looked terrible in hats? What then?)
originally posted on soapoperaweekly.com
06.16.09
Soap Opera Weekly: Blogging With Mala
Look, it’s a blog entry NOT about GUIDING LIGHT! (At least to start off with.) Instead, I’m going to lead with ONE LIFE TO LIVE and ALL MY CHILDREN, both of which I’ve started catching up on.
I tuned in to AMC for Jake and Amanda’s wedding, which was an adorable laugh-fest, and the birth of Amanda’s son, which was a six-hanky sobfest. That baby was so cute, so tiny and sleepy, and Chrishell Stause knocked the goodbye scenes with him out of the park. I also really adore her chemistry with Ricky Paull Goldin. This is one of those cases where an actor is brought on for one thing but takes off in a completely different way. Goldin came on with Beth Ehlers from That Show I’m Not Mentioning Until Later, ostensibly to try and recapture their Gus/Harley couple spark, but it’s Jake and Amanda that really caught fire. They’re funny and romantic — and Jake totally rocked those orange-pink scrubs!
Less pleasing to the eye was Dorian’s meltdown at Markko’s graduation party on OLTL. I was horrified, and if you know me and my hot buttons, I think you know exactly why. So, getting dumped and drunk turns Dorian Lord into an over-privileged bigot? Come on. Sure, I remember it being pretty painful when Carlotta was her maid and then gradually shifted over to the Angel Square storyline, but was it anywhere near this outwardly offensive? Thinking Markko’s parents were the help?! The way she belittled Shaun and his “little friend” and then talked down to Moe and Noelle?! I wanted to hide under my desk. Sure, Dorian’s stuck-up but her daughters Adrianna and Langston are both half-Latin, and I just think that was a poor, poor direction for the writers to take her. I actually cheered Langston yelling at her and shoving her in the pool.
On the bright side for OLTL, I got up to speed on the Kyle/Fish storyline this weekend (what there is of it) and can safely say that if handled correctly, it has potential! I love the contrast between serious, job-oriented Fish and major screw-up Kyle. I love that there’s clear UST (Unresolved Sexual Tension) between them, and I can’t wait to see more. Plus, I’ve loved Brett Claywell since he played Tim on ONE TREE HILL.
Now, to the obligatory GL squee. Rafe’s reaction to Olivia and Natalia’s uber-chaste love affair was spot-on. His bewilderment at his religious mother purportedly going against everything she taught him was completely understandable. It wasn’t as simple as, “Ew! Mom! You’re gay?!” It was, “Are you still the woman who raised me?” And that’s a question he’s going to have to find the answer to in his own time, realizing that, yes, Natalia is still the woman of faith and virtue who taught him right from wrong. However, I did have to laugh at Frank slipping Rafe booze after all was said and done. I think one of my favorite parts of “Kamikaze GL,” (see Joe’s blog for the explanation of THAT) is that do-gooder Frank is turning into such a bitter, cranky rebel. It’s about time!
originally posted on soapoperaweekly.com
06.15.09
Chariots of fire.
I was at the annual Big Apple Barbecue Block Party on Saturday, and, unfortunately, the weather wasn’t really conducive to getting my bbq love on. It fluctuated between rain and clouds, the air bearing a faint chill. But what was remarkable, unexpected, and so very New York, was a parade of Hare Krishnas and other assorted Radha/Govinda devotees down 5th Avenue, right past Madison Square Park. Desi, black, Latin, white… clad in saris and lehengas and panjabis. They were celebrating Rath Yatra, a huge Indian festival for Jaganath, a very specific version of Krishna.
It was so surreal. To be standing there, the taint of beef brisket on my tongue, reveling in meat and Americana, as the parade thundered by. I spied the rath with the Jaganath/Subudra/Balarama murthis, though I was too dumbstruck to get a picture of it. And then I found a relatively quiet patch of sidewalk and called my mother, who told me that Jaganath must have wanted me to see him, to receive that blessing. “At a barbecue festival? While I’m eating beef and pork?” I scoffed. She laughed, paraphrasing Sri Ramakrishna — a sentiment about good deeds and good intentions outweighing one’s diet.
I’ve never been a particularly religious person… at least as an adult. As a child, I was a huge Krishna fan. I had a calendar from New Vrindavan up on my wall, with a luminous picture of the baby Krishna, and I used to offer him sugar cubes and raisins and dutifully recite my prayers. Faith was so simple then, something achieved by rote and ritual, something I never questioned. The older I’ve gotten, the more of an atheist I’ve become. Too cynical, too bitter, for God and too horrified by things done in his name.
And yet… I do feel lucky to have seen the rath go by. Maybe, just maybe, I do feel a little bit blessed.
