Boogie Chillen, S01E18, C4P2 (Wed, 5-22-13)

Evelyn waited ALL NIGHT before asking Opal about what happened? That should have been the FIRST place she called/made a beeline for.

Opal refers to Celia and her plaid-clad caboose!  LOVE IT!

I'm having a lot of trouble with the sound levels on the show. I have to turn it way up to hear some voices and way down for others (Angie yelling at BCT about pierced my eardrums! It actually HURT one of my eardrums, which is still throbbing a little even after 30 minutes)! Music on TV, of course is always louder than voices, but just two characters talking to each other as they sit right next to each other can have very different volume levels from one to the other.

Jeeze, AJ fondling the steroids and accompanying paraphernalia reminds me of Kendall (or was it Greenlee?) fondling the pregnancy test at every conceivable (brumpt-TING!) opportunity. He might want to think about getting an actual LOCK on his locker, at the very least.

Robin "a remote control for it would be cool & believable for a rich kid" Coutellier

Boogie Chillen, S01E17, C4P1 (Mon, 5-20-13)

So. How long before David and Angie have sex?

JAR has AMAZING muscle tone for having been in a coma for 5 years. I find it hard to believe he can even sit up, let along WALK, even with help.

Oh please! Celia wants to be virginal, yet she wears THAT to bed (with Pete lying on top of the covers and her under the covers)? I'm not saying she should be wearing a granny gown (too much easy access, in any case), but a flimsy gown that barely covers her ass is pushing it.

BCT has relatively white teeth for the kind of life he's lived. Funny -- he never struck me as someone who flosses and brushes on a regular basis. In fact, I'd expect his teeth to be somewhat on the greenish brown side. I think his teeth WERE kind of dingy back in the day (before bleaching became so commonplace, so I guess I can chalk his pearly whites now up to dentures (or Clorox).

TAN/OT: I knew a girl in high school (circa 1972) who had the whitest teeth I had ever seen. I complimented her on them and she rolled her eyes and confided to me that she had used Ajax cleanser (which I think had bleach in it) on her teeth. It had removed most of the enamel, resulting in cavities in every single tooth! She had already been beautiful and popular before she did that (I couldn't believe she was even TALKING to me or that she was so nice), so I was stunned that she felt she needed to do something so drastic. It definitely made her more human in my eyes. It also was a remembered lesson to not ever use cleanser or household bleach on my teeth.

Robin "we've all done stupid things, especially when we were teenagers" Coutellier

Boogie Chillen, S01E14, C3P4 (Thu, 5-16-13)

Wait, did Brooke mean that Dixie has become a "therapist" when she said it's good that there's a therapist in the family? Yes, I suppose that IS a logical occupation for her. After all, she is widely renowned for her wisdom, sound decision-making processes, and overall level-headedness. Oh please! She's not known as DADD (Dumb As Dirt Dixie) for nothing!

So now they are dissing the CW channel (Celia mentioned it in a derogatory manner having to do with teenage audience stereotypes). What's up with the snide network digs?

What I love even more than JAR calling himself an asshole is the sight and sound of BILLY CLYDE TUGGLE! The sleazy pimp we love to hate because he's just so damn entertaining! I wonder how he'll hold up in today's politically correct atmosphere. OTOH, characters are swearing, showing a LOT of skin, and even jiggling their man-bits for all the internet world to see, so an old school pimp may not be a big deal, current events aside.

Robin "the church lady was a little over-the-top, though" Coutellier

Boogie Chillen, S01E13, C3P3 (Wed, 5-15-13)

Opal! What a sneaky bitch for snitching on Celia (for the sole purpose of keeping Pete for herself)!

Is it my imagination, or are they showing more commercials now? OTOH, I'm "binge watching" at the moment so maybe it just seems like it because I have to sit through them all one after the other without the ability to FF.

Jeeze, I nearly jumped in my chair! JAR was holding AJ's hand and trying to let him know how much he loved him, and then Dixie suddenly opened the sliding door to the room. The sound effect for the sliding door made it sound like Darth Vader was about to sweep into the room!

I love, Love, LOVE that JAR echoed my sentiments and referred to himself as an asshole! :-)

I agree with Debbie that, angst over Cassandra's situation aside, Jesse and Angie are waaaay overbearing on questioning the beaten patient about the sex trafficking ring. Of course, PVH has never been particularly strict about HIPAA violations.

Whoa! It's not often on a soap (never, in fact, until NOW) that you see a guy with loose briefs that allow his package to jiggle around right there on camera! I am, of course referring to the muscle-endowed henchman/porn actor who grabbed Cassandra at the end of the show.

TAN: Speaking of muscle-men, My mother and I were out shopping and, as we waited for a light to change, we looked at a nearby strawberry stand. A man had gotten out of his car to go to walk up to the stand. The first thing I noticed was that his biceps were HUGE. He was modestly dressed and a little on the short side, so they might have been overlooked if I hadn't been looking at the strawberry stand at the time. I pointed him out to my mother. I noticed that his thighs were also bulging with an abundance of muscles and said so. Mom said "he's also bow-legged". He was. I told her that that was because his thighs were so huge that he HAD to walk bow-legged.

Robin "some muscle is nice--too much muscle, not so much" Coutellier

Boogie Chillen, S01E11, C3P1 (Mon, 5-13-13)

Whoa, Zach was getting pretty handsy with Bianca's knee and thigh in his empathy over Miranda's social problems.

How could Jesse have brought the FBI in to help find the kidnapped Cassie without the FBI contacting Angie?

Griff tells Dixie that JAR is suffering from retrograde amnesia and that what causes that kind of amnesia can also cause dramatic personality changes. Soooo, does this mean he might NOT be an asshole?

Poor AJ. He decides to give his father a chance and goes to see him. He looks so hopeful and even bashful seeing his father awake. JAR clearly doesn't know who AJis and treats him like a stranger; AJ looks crushed. AJ is not a little kid anymore, so it's kind of understandable that JAR might not recognize him right away. OR is JAR pretending in order to avoid responsibility for shooting and killing Marissa? Still, it be pretty hard for ANY parent not to at least give a micro-tell upon seeing one's own child.

Robin "when news gets around that JAR is awake, I think he can expect a visit from Bianca" Coutellier

Correction Of Timeline When David Possibly Farts (twice)

Correction, when I asked if David was farting in the Thursday episode, I inadvertently asked it for the wrong day (I watch 3 episodes back-to-back). It was actually on Wednesday's episode (aka S01E08, C2P3).

The video apparently has a countdown marker on the right, but if you hover over a spot on the timeline, it shows the place within the timeline. Sometimes.

They happen during the second scene of David and Cara talking outside. David and Cara had been sitting on the bench, but then Cara gets up and stands behind the bench to continue the conversation (moving around or facing another direction in the middle of a conversation for no reason whatsoever, other than to indicate deception or agitation is a classic soap maneuver; there's probably an acronym for it in the script), and he does the same.

The first fart happens at approximately 13:51/10:24. Cara says "I was hoping you would appreciate me telling you what I did."

About ten seconds later, Cara says something about hoping he would move on and let her do the same.

The first one sounds a little like a shoe squeak, but he's not moving. When it happens again it's a little more rumbling. They could still both be shoe squeaks, but I like to THINK they were farts, because I'm easily amused :-)

Hey, SOMEONE has to point these things out!

Robin "Vince's note to self: buy some Beano on the way home" Coutellier

Boogie Chillen, S01E9, C2P4 (Thu, 5-9-13)

Annnnd here come the boy bands.

At least Miranda was HAPPY about being surprised with a private concert, as opposed to Bianca who had a sweet sixteen party thrust upon her, despite her insistence that she didn't WANT one.  Erica had arranged for the boy band O-Town to serenade her, along with about 100 guests that she either didn't know or didn't like. I think that was also the night (afterward) that she found out that her father had died. Erica always wanted the limelight, but Bianca NEVER did, AND she wasn't interested in boys, although I don't think we knew that at the time.

I wonder if AJ knows that his own father was in a boy band (on the show and in real life).

Jesse is about to be in DEEP shit with Angie over not telling her about Cassandra.

Cassandra, in the meantime, is about to have to earn her keep. And, yes, the timing of it coinciding with the rescue of the three women in Cleveland is a possible problem. It's certainly coincidental, but hardly the PP's fault. I wouldn't be surprised, though, if they change some things by hurriedly rewriting and reshooting some scenes, and possibly easing away from that storyline altogether. They had to do that back in the 1990s when JaNut From Another Planet had a bombing plan that coincided with the Oklahoma City bombing. They dropped that storyline like a hot potato! AMC may no longer be on a big-name network, but they DO have sponsors that may have some input.

Robin "what to do, what to do ..." Coutellier

Boogie Chillen, S01E08, C2P3 (Wed, 5-8-13)

I guess Winifred got over her hatred for Adam; she's back working for him and even RUNNING for him.

Where is Adam going?

Miranda doesn't realize that her biological father raped Bianca; she thinks she "came from a cup" via a sperm donor. Bianca was telling her about how hard it was to have Erica Kane for a mother and how the tabloids ran stories about her being gay. Miranda seemed surprised. Now she's telling Celia about her origins. I think I see some research about her father in the offing. Kendall was on trial for murdering him, but then Bianca remembered that SHE had shot him. That was ALL over the news and tabloids. It shouldn't be too difficult for Miranda (or Celia) to google Bianca and find all sorts of info about her. I put the video on pause to write that, and the next thing out of Miranda's mouth was that she DOES wish she knew who he was or at least what he was like. Foreshadowing much?

Was David FARTING while he was talking to Cara?

How many female characters are on the show right now whose names begin with "C"? Off the top of my head, we have Cara, Celia and Cassandra (Kathy's name starts with a "K").

Ha! Did they just diss The Bachelor (aka, an ABC show)? LOVE IT!

I thought the name of the nail salon was Fancy Finger Nail Salon. The sign on the outside said New Image Nails. New ownership?

Dixie slams Adam for telling the comatose JAR that he's the biggest disappointment of his life. Yet there she is, dumping her frustration that David is back and now honing in on AJ. JAR may be in a coma, but that doesn't mean he can't hear things. WTF? So far he's heard that his father thinks he's worthless, and his arch-enemy is honing in on his son. He cannot even react to it. Adam did reconsider, and told JAR that he loves him.

Speaking of JAR, his face looks very well toned for an alcoholic with MANY severe injuries (not to mention cancer) in his history, who has been in a coma for 5 years. You'd think he would at least be slightly slack-jawed. His hair is also nicely done WITH some kind of product.

Robin "they must have had to degunk JAR's eyes & mouth several times a day" Coutellier

Boogie Chillen, S01E07, C2P2 (Tuesday - 5-7-13)

Yes, I'm VERY late with most of the week. Which is why it was difficult to figure out from the titles where I had left off. I had to do a little math, although I then figured out it will tell me the air-date if I hover my mouse over it. SO, now I'm going to put the season number, episode number, chapter number and part number (abbreviated, of course) in the headers, along with the air-date, so that we can ALL figure out which episode the BC is about.

Ah, at least we hear that Tad IS alive, just off somewhere. He and Tad is "off on assignment" somewhere. Dixie did mention Kathy, so she's in the mix somewhere.

Jesse is STILL keeping Cassie's predicament a secret from Angie!

Celia overhears Pete's friend ribbing him about what a player he is and trying to get info about how he plans to seduce Celia. Pete tells him to knock it off, but doesn't really say much. Celia, who had walked in to meet with him, turns and leaves. THEN Pete tells his friend that Celia is special and it's not like that. Ah, CLASSIC soap!

Wow, Cassandra's makeup is remarkably intact for someone who has been kidnapped, handcuffed to a bed, and beaten.

Robin "what happens when she has to pee or poop?" Coutellier

Boogie Chillen, Monday - 5-6-13

Now we know that Kendall and Zach are actually DIVORCED, not just separated.

Celia reminds a little bit of a Christina Ricci.

Zach thinks that Cassie has been kidnapped for human trafficking purposes.

David was NOT about to strangle JAR at the end of Thursday's show. He was checking JAR's carotid pulse. Dixie saw him, though, and is convinced he was about to strangle him.

Bianca is an IDIOT to leave Miranda there in JAR's bedroom for the night. An I.D.I.O.T.  Why? Because Miranda now has a more urgent need to PROVE to others and HERSELF that she's not a lesbian like her mother. And there's AJ, all besotted (not to mention hot and bothered) with her, giving whatever comfort he can.

I recall Bianca (before coming out) wanting to prove she wasn't really a lesbian by going out with a boy and trying to force herself to have sex with him. I think maybe Leo interrupted them at the boathouse (AND she had changed her mind, but the guy didn't want to stop).

Robin "some things NEVER change" Coutellier

The Skinny On The AMC Reboot, 2013

Someone who hadn't seen the new show yet asked about the generous amount of skin that is displayed in the AMC reboot, 2013. Here are a couple of examples.

In the first one, very early after the show start, we see Cara either remembering or fantasizing about sex with David up against the lockers at PVH.

In the second one, we have AJ rockin' out to music in his room after a shower. In his enthusiasm, the towel around his waist falls to the floor. In this screencap, there's an added bonus of the closed-captioning catching his next line when Miranda walks into his room unannounced.

So, you decide. Does the on-line version of AMC show more skin than you would see on ABC?

My opinion: YUP!

Robin "and that's only in the first episode" Coutellier

AMC - Boogie Chillen Lite, Friday - 5-03-13

Well, that was kind of interesting. On Fridays they will be giving recaps, behind-the-scenes stuff, interviews with various actors and crew members, etc. If regular storyline shows are only going to be on M-Th, it's nice to have something in between, especially at first when we need to rebuild our connection to the show. ETA: We can also skip it if we don't feel like watching because it's not part of the storyline

OTOH, I'm a little hesitant about finding out TOO much information about what goes on behind the scenes on a regular basis. We'll see.

The Friday segments are sort of a separate show with their own name (MORE AMC). If you want to make suggestions, give feedback or have questions about the MA segments, you can email them to:

      moreamc@theonlinenetwork.com.

Robin "all in all, I think it's been a GREAT first week back!" Coutellier

Boogie Chillen, Thursday - 5-2-13

Oh yeah, I believe there are adult-size jeans that Miranda can't fit into. She's such a butterball, after all.

AJ tells Miranda that the trailer park called and they want their trash back. Has anyone ever sat him down and told him about his mama (and Grandma Krystal, for that matter)? Yeah, there's a hospital wing at PVH named after Babe -- there's also a pier in San Diego where quite a few sailors have carved her name in the wood. I wouldn't be surprised to hear that the pier had collapsed from the structural damage!

I see/hear that Griff still sounds like he's about to break into tears with every syllable he utters.

So know we know that JAR is the assh--er--mystery patient (they spelled his name wrong, though (AFAIK). Babe always pronounced it JAR and I'm sticking with it. We still don't know what happened to Tad, though.

David always DID have a hate-on for JAR (and vice versa).

All that medical equipment in JAR's hospital room looks sparkling clean and fresh out of the box. Do they ship in new factory equipment every day for the rich guy?

Now we know for SURE that eBabe (aka Marissa) WAS killed 5 years ago. Well, at least we know there's a gravestone for her, and people seem sad that she's gone.

Pete assures Celia via video that he is NOT a cyber-stalker. He assures her of this via an iPad with the words: TOUCH ME on the screen. In her BEDROOM. There are also flowers for her. In her BEDROOM. Pete's waiting outside her window for her with more flowers. Nope. He's not a stalker. Only creeps who don't respect boundaries are stalkers. Pete's romantic.

The show ends with David putting his hand around JAR's throat. David had decided that JAR being in the prison of his own body was better than him dying; but then he saw JAR's fingers twitching and he's not about to let JAR wake up NOW. So. How long before someone comes into the room and punches David in the face? 5 ... 4 ... 3 ... 2 ...

Robin "I appear to be getting some of my AMC snark back; it's like riding a bicycle" Coutellier

Boogie Chillen, Wednesday - 5-1-13

I'm glad to see that Brooke managed to heal Adam's heart. I've also missed Adam's hissssssses whenever anything he says has an ess sound in it.

The squiggle artwork in Adam's living room reminds me of the squiggle artwork Jack used to have in HIS living room. Or in his house with Erica. Or maybe in his office. Well, Jack had some squiggle artwork SOMEwhere.

OH FGS! There's yet ANOTHER child hidden from David? I think Leora was the ONLY child he ever got to be with from birth and she died at, what, 4 months?

Was McKenzie the little girl (who is now a teenager) that Cara championed the last time around? I remember that Cara had leukemia when she was a child and she was isolated and over-protected and HATED it. So when she saw another little girl being treated the same way, she stood up for her (against the girl's PARENTS). I think Cara got fired and/or banned from the hospital for it.

Questions:

• Do people in PV still go to the Yacht Club?


• How long will it be before someone blows something up?


• How long will it be before a baby or child is kidnapped? We ALREADY have an adult being kidnapped right off the bat, after all.


• ARE there any babies left in PV? If not, how soon before someone is sporting a baby lump?


• Where are Kathy and Jenny? Jenny would probably be with Krystal, assuming Krystal survived, but Kathy is Tad and Dixie's daughter.


• Did Jane buy BJ's and remake it into Jane's Addiction?


• Is there still quicksand out by Willow Lake?


• Did Jamie hire caretakers for the Wallingford estate that he inherited, or did he sell it off or rent it out so he could continue to be a doctor in Africa?


• Is Evelyn the Headmistress really Celia's biological mother or aunt?


• Does Colby Chandler feel eclipsed by Petey's success with apps, given that she had become a video-blog sensation 5 years ago? I don't get the feeling that she was a casualty of the infamous megadeath/engagement party.


• Did Caleb finally say "take this job and shove it" to Cortlandt Electronics? I get the feeling that he abandoned it.

Robin "did Adam beef up security after the 'incident'?" Coutellier

Boogie Chillen, Tuesday - 4-30-13

The new theme song for the show is "The Love We Give" by Imaginary Friends.

All signs so far seem to be pointing to Tad being killed or in a vegetative state. There was some nuance that Bianca needs to get over a loss, too, which makes me wonder if Marissa (aka eBabe) bit the dust at the party, too. I hope JAR bit it. Did I ever mention that I think he's an asshole? And NOW people on the show can CALL him that, if he were ever to show up. Erica hasn't been seen, but I think they are still hoping to bring her back. I was under the impression that Michael Knight WAS going to come back, but I could be wrong about that. In Tad's case, in particular, I don't worry at ALL. He's come back from the dead more than once, I think. Certainly DIXIE has, on several occasions.

AJ comes into the living room and starts peeling off his clothes. His team won something or other. Dixie tries to sound enthusiastic, but she's not convincing. AJ tries to be nice to his Grandma Dixie, but he's clearly uncomfortable talking about the elephant (Tad and/or JAR) in the room; he has things to do and people to see.

The new eating/coffee spot in town is called Jane's Addiction, run by someone named Jane. I suspect Jane gives advice to a lot of people.

Bianca is with Miranda at Jane's Addiction and telling her about tickets to a One Direction concert at Madison Square Garden. Miranda is NOT impressed. Yes, they WERE her favorite group, but that was 10 months ago. It's more Gabby's style (Gabby is 13 now). Besides, Miranda doesn't want to miss a school dance. She seems to relent by the end of their conversation, though. She mentions that Bianca hasn't been to NYC for a long time; she LOVES NYC and she should go up there and enjoy it some time. Bianca looks slightly wistful, but agrees.

Okay, either a writer or Debbi Morgan definitely made a mistake with the script on Monday's show, but at least Angie cleared it up TODAY. Lucy is just starting KINDERGARTEN; Maya, Lucy's mother, is the one who graduated and got a job in Portland at an EcoDesign firm. That certainly makes more sense than to have an infant grow to adulthood and move across the country over the course of 5 years.

Jesse calls Zach and tells him that Cassandra was seen getting into a car registered by his casino. It seems like Jesse and Zach have been out of touch for a while. Zach will get right on it.

Joe visits with Angie. He's up from Florida for a consultation. Ruth didn't feel like coming on the trip. It's hinted that she's depressed after what happened 5 years ago. She's going to spend time visiting with Amanda and Jake instead (well, at least we know now that THEY are alive and well and presumably living in or ear Florida, also). Angie mentions how hard it is to get over a tragedy.

Dixie sits by the mystery patient's side, holding his hand (it's definitely a man; either that or a woman with somewhat hairy arms, although the nails seem nicely manicured). Dixie tearfully says: "I'm here, Baby, just like I promised. " She lovingly holds the hand up to her face. It MUST be either Tad or JAR. Several people (Brooke, Angie, Joe) are clearly worried about Dixie's depression.

At Jane's Addiction, Pete, after schmoozing information from a girl wearing a school uniform like Celia's, hacks into the files of Bramwell Hall and sees that Celia's last name is Fitzgerald (and mutters that the school needs a better firewall to keep hackers out). 

The hot guy from school, Hunter, is also at Jane's Addiction and asks Miranda (after Bianca leaves) if she wants to hang out with him later. She does. AJ comes in and is NOT impressed.

Celia, in the meantime, is upset about how much her "guardian" ignores her, sending her gifts instead of his time. She calls the headmistress Evelyn, even though they've clearly been together for a very long time, taking trips, etc. I don't think Evelyn is her aunt OR her mother. Given that Celia has a guardian and calls someone who is motherly towards her by her first name, I'm guessing that Celia is an orphan or otherwise semi-adrift. She clearly wants to let loose and be like other girls her age, and that is why she is chafing at the constraints set by her guardian. She got off on the tirade about the guardian because Evelyn reminded her that, while she understands Celia's need to do good deeds, the guardian would NOT want her handing out condoms to hookers at the Miranda Center (which is why Evelyn found the condom in her room).

A weepy Dixie leaves the hospital room, promising the patient to be back tomorrow. After she walks out and closes the glass door, the monitor beeps rapidly and the patient's finger twitches. Those hands look too young to be Tad's hands, but they could be using just about anyone to be a body in a bed with a head we can't see yet.

Although the surveillance video seems to show Cassandra willingly going with the man in the video, near the end of the show we see her gagged and handcuffed to a bed. She whimpers and cries and struggles as an evil-looking man stares at her and calmly removes his coat. He's wearing a suit, FWIW.

Robin "will Dixie bring the patient a 'toymama'" Coutellier

Boogie Chillen, Monday - 4-29-13

In case you haven't heard or realized it yet, it's HERE! AMC, as put forth by Prospect Park, is now available via Hulu.com! On a technical note (before you race off to watch it), I've found that navigating it much more likely to be successful using the REWIND ICON (10 seconds) in the browser player window than it is to try to click on a position on the progress bar. Clicking on the bar resulted in odd behavior for me, including losing my audio. I also had problems with Firefox and had to use IE to successfully watch it, but that may be due to some add-ons I have in Firefox. The new show is 30 minutes, rather than 1 hour. I don't know if it will be this way for future shows or just the premiere, but I was able to see it on-line on Hulu by 1-1:30am on (pacific)!

In case you don't recognize me or the "Boogie Chillen" in the header, it's what I called my daily or near-daily comments on the show before it was canceled, and I am now resurrecting it! I have read and posted little in RATSA since the show went off the air, feeling SO betrayed by ABC canceling the show after 41 years! But I'm back NOW. The backstory to Boogie Chillens is that people asked about my comments often and it made it easier to find by giving it a "name". I love John Lee Hooker's music and the Chillen ties in with Children, so that's how I picked the name for it. Please note that BCs are NOT necessarily UPDATES; they are my comments. Certainly this first one for the 2013 resurrection is more of an update, but some days I won't have much to say or will go 2-3 days without commenting and/or lump multiple days together in a single post. I post BCs in rec.arts.tv.soaps.abc on USENET and in this blog.

WELCOME BACK, EVERYONE!!!

AMC starts 5 years from the end of the ABC version, which ended with a cliffhanger. JR was out of control and tried to shoot Bianca and/or Marissa, JR's ex- or soon-to-be ex-wife, who were now a couple. JR was furious that Bianca had "turned" Marissa into a lesbian. Erica got in the way of the bullet as she headed toward the door after Jack. Most of the children are teens now. Oddly Lucy, Maya's baby that Jesse swapped out for he and Angie's baby, who was stillborn, has apparently GRADUATED (high school? college?) and got a job in Portland. Presumably Portland Oregon, not Portland, Maine. And now I keep wanting to spell Portland as "Portlandt". Anyway, Lucy was a BABY the last time we saw her; so far she wins the prize for having the worst case of SORAS (Soap Opera Rapid Aging Syndrome).

Brooke has a nightmare. In the nightmare, David and someone else are wrestling over a gun. She suddenly wakes up, finding herself on the couch. The classic AMC photo album with the words "ALL MY CHILDREN" on the cover is on her lap. Adam rushes to her to reassure her that he's right there for her.

WHOA! A brief, but HOT love scene with Cara and David! I don't know yet if it was a fantasy or a memory. This is DEFINITELY no longer ABC! Cara and David were doing it up against a WALL and showing a *LOT* of skin! A LOT! Maybe I WILL stick around to see how this goes!

Ah, SO nice to see Jesse and Angie in a HOUSE where they belong!  I LOVE Angie's colorful robe, too! I also love that she and Jesse actually look and mostly act like REAL people and they look fabulous doing so!

Dixie looks at a photo of herself and Tad in happier times. She is wistful and misty-eyed, and looks heavenward with love.

Petie is definitely all growed up now (and completely un-dorkified). He had an in-joke while talking on his iPhone, telling someone that it's all changing; everyone is watching TV on-line now :-) He drives around in a sporty convertible and looks like the trendy, hot-shot, rich young man that he is.

Someone has been in a coma or otherwise incapacitated for 5 years, but we don't know who yet. We know this because Cara and Griff, wearing doctor gear at PV Hospital, discuss someone (who is just off-camera) as they look at charts and over to the person in the bed, etc. They obliquely discuss how David would be very angry about whatever it is they have been doing with the patient.

There's a new theme song. It's COMPLETELY different from any of the variations we've heard over the course of 41 years. My closed-captioning gave the name of the song and the artist(s), but I don't remember right now and don't feel like looking for it; I'm sure someone will provide it soon enough. Something about friends and love. The opening montage shows characters, mostly shown in pairs, and has the characters' first names written underneath each one. It's actually a clever way to introduce people to characters, former and new, that they will be seeing.

Adam and Brooke have still not married (the cliffhanger ending was at an engagement party for them 5 years ago). Adam re-proposes. Apparently it's "complicated". AJ comes into the room, mentions Brooke's recurring nightmare, and tells them that it's been 5 years and they need to get over it and move on. Brooke agrees, but can't seem to let go of whatever happened at the party, because so MUCH has been lost.

AJ comes out of the bathroom playing or pretending to play his guitar to music on the stereo. His towel drops unnoticed from around his waist to the floor. We can see quite a bit! Miranda walks into the room and he gets all modest and says "SHIT!" among other things. Miranda makes it clear that they've grown up together and it's no big deal; she's seen him naked LOTS of times (mostly when they were little, though). They clearly have a very strong sibling-like relationship.

He replaces the towel around his waist, and they sit on the bed and look at a post someone wrote on Miranda's facebook wall. The post asks "Is Miranda Montgomery a VAG-itarian or does she eat meat?" Miranda calls them assholes (no bleeps, no wimpy substitution curse words).

Now we know that Cassandra, Natalia and Frankie are still alive, because Angie talks about how blessed she and Jesse are to have such wonderful children and how well they are doing in their lives.

Angie and Jesse have sex on the couch (we don't see that part, just the afterglow). Angie makes double entendres about the size of Jesse's equipment.

Jesse has a BIG surprise for Angie. She can't get the surprise info out of him, though. She goes to take a shower and makes more comments about he and his BIG surprise joining her in the shower. He does, but that happens off-camera.

Jesse's big surprise is that he has arranged for Cassandra to come to visit. He leaves her a message that a driver will be waiting for her with a sign with her name on it. We see her phone lit up with his call. The call is purposely being ignored.

Cortlandt Electronics is going down the tubes and Petie, who is apparently an apps genius, doesn't really want to deal with keeping it from going under. Opal urges him to do otherwise, for his dear departed father's sake, as CE was Palmer's heart and soul.

Wow, SOME of the lockers at  PVHS actually have LOCKS on them! Not Miranda's, of course. I also noticed that the front door to Jesse and Angie's house apparently does not have a deadbolt, despite it belonging to the Chief of Police (assuming he still IS COP), and despite all the chaos and mayhem that has occurred in their lives since the 1980s. Some things NEVER change. I couldn't quite see if the door had a thumblock.

Cara mentions that David is behind bars for manslaughter (presumably due to someone who died (it sounds like possibly MORE than one person died) at the cliffhanger party 5 years ago); she'll deal with him when the time comes. Oh look, there's David NOW, leaving prison! He's headed for home sweet home ... I predict some more Cara/David skin-on-skin action in the not-too-distant future.

Pete (I'll have to stop calling him Petie) is driving around town and sees a teenage girl wearing a plaid schoolgirl skirt get bumped into on the sidewalk, and her stuff tumbles to the ground. She is wearing a very showy charm bracelet. Pete gets off his wheeler-dealer phone call and helps her pick stuff up. She picks up an apple from the ground and takes a big bite out of it. She has to get going. He asks if she's late for detention. She says she's not a student. She's taking a "gap year". She teaches Art History at her old high school. He says he took an extended gap year from Stanford. She asks about it and he tells her he went to California and started his own company. He asks her name as she rushes off to school. She calls back that her name is Celia. Pete sees something shiny on the ground. He picks up a heart that must have fallen from her charm bracelet. It has a photo in it.

Miranda is all ga-ga because Hunter, the most popular boy in school, said "Hey" to her in the hallway. AJ is not impressed and tells her that the guy is a douche and a player. BTW, AJ is a ginger now. I think. It's hard to tell with the lighting. He's definitely not sporting the childhood blond mop-top hairstyle.

All the regulars are  looking GOOD! I noticed that the outdoor scenes/backdrops are quite realistic (I see plain old houses in the near distance out the back window of the taxi David takes to PV. I don't see any mountains or urbanization of PV, but it also doesn't look like the quaint town from the early days of AMC)

Pete tells Opal that the old CE factory may have more potential than he thought. He looks at the locket in his hand. He's planning to stick around for a few days. Opal gushes over him and wants them to do scrapbooking and tai-chi together while he's home. He smiles patiently at her.

Celia arrives in her room at her "old school", wherever that is, and an older woman, presumably a headmistress (or a mom or someone in some sort of authority over Celia), gets on her case for being late and then wants her to explain THIS ("this" being a condom, mercifully still in its package as opposed to recently having been donned on someone's package). Celia looks annoyed. **Edited to add that I didn't even realize that the headmistress is played by Francesca James, who played Kitty/Kelly on AMC way back in the day and later went on to become a director and producer on several soaps.**

Jesse talks on the phone to the limo driver. The driver has bad news.

David visits a grave. We do not see the name on the headstone. He says he's been in prison 5 years for what happened to "you".  Tears run down his face. But now he's back -- and there's going to be hell to pay!

All in all, I'm impressed with the first new show. I'm hoping that the fact that the show is on-line only and clearly has fewer restraints, may make it a little more realistic in some areas. Don't get me wrong; it's still a SOAP, but they clearly can show more skin and say curse words, so we may never again have to hear an AMC character use the word "crud" unless they are referring to baked-on, hard to clean food-matter in a baking pan that was left in the sink, untouched, for 3 days. It's all SHIT from here on out, and I mean that in the nicest possible way!

The teenagers are quite polished. Of course, when I say "polished", I'm thinking of The Tin Man being buffed by machinery in the Emerald City. The young actors, of course, usually have very nice young, firm skin to begin with, but even that skin has been polished down to an exquisite, doll-like finish. It's like they all just came back from a high-end detailing service. I don't have an opinion, one way or another about their acting skills. I think I like Miranda the best, though.

The adults all look marvelous, and yet more realistic than they ever did on ABC. I LOVE that so many of them are still there! It makes the transition to the revamped soap so much easier.

Robin "here we go again!" Coutellier

ON THE NEXT AMC:

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Bianca tells Miranda that she's the coolest mom EVER. Miranda asks why. Bianca says that her friend, Mallory, just scored 4 tickets for a One Direction concert at Madison Square Garden.

Jesse and someone at airport security are viewing video. The guy at the computer says the guy going through some glass doors with someone looks like a driver, presumably with Cassandra. Jesse protests that the driver HE hired said he never even picked her up or even SAW her.

Jesse tells Zach over the phone that he will never guess how "that car" was registered -- under his casino. Zach turns in his chair toward the camera and says "My casino?"

BLAST FROM THE PAST - BC - Tue, 8/29/00

[NOTE: here's a little background information since this is from 2000. 

• Adrian is Adrian Sword (played by Matthew St. Patrick, who later played Keith on Six Feet Under). Adrian was the love child of Opal and a black minister (or something like that); as an adult he was a multi-talented secret agent. MSP was quite yummy-looking, but his acting was very stilted; he did a much better job on SFU.

• At the time, Finola Hughes was very pregnant in real life. 

• Tina was a so-so character who was involved with Adrian.

• Dixie worked for David at the hospital as his assistant.

• Jake was in one of his run-away-from-home-and-into-danger phases and had a planeload of orphans to be evacuated. I think he was in wartorn Chechnya.]

Whoa, NICE special effects (NOT)!  Ryan and Adrian are in a plane that is jolting right and left and they aren't even moving with it.  That's because the CAMERA is what's jerking right and left.  That cameraperson should cut back on the cappucinos.  Adrian hands Ryan a gun and asks if he knows how to use one of them.  Ryan shoves in a clip and says he'll figure it out.  Do I even have to SAY how ludicrous this situation is? 

Considering that they are trying to make such a dramatic impact of Alex first seeing Dimitri at the Hunting Lodge, you would think they would have found a slightly different angle from which to shoot her.  Instead, the camera is to her right and slightly back, CLEARLY showing he belly preceding the rest of her by about 10".  The lampshade was supposed to disguise it, but the camera didn't move back NEARLY far enough, so the lampshade merely illuminates it and calls attention to it. A HUGE blunder that should have been either cut or reshot, IMNSHO.  The rest of their scenes together were fabulous, though, and the scene on the couch was very well-shot. 

I want to know where Greenlee buys that tear-proof makeup!  Wait a minute -- it's probably got so many chemicals in it that she's now sterile, so maybe I'll pass on that.

Before jettisoning all that extra cargo in the cabin, you'd think Ryan and Adrian would have at least LOOKED in them to see what they were getting rid of!  Was I the only one who thought the first crate they sent out the door had Gillian in it (ok, we KNEW she wasn't actually IN it at that point)?  Ah, well, there was that brief little thrill, wasn't there?  While the whole thing was highly unbelievable, Ryan not getting sucked out the door when he tried to pull Gillian's crate and she jumped out was downright laughable.  Not quite as laughable as the coloring-book clouds visible outside the door and window (despite occasional puffs of dry ice vapors), but pretty funny anyway :-)

Tina should really avoid that pigtail look. It's for little girls or teenyboppers. 

Considering the plane is at about 10,000 feet, the door is open, they are in a mostly steel cabin, and Gillian is wearing a sheer blouse, you'd think her nipples would be harder than they would be if, say, she were sitting in a Waco, TX, Kentucky Fried Chicken franchise that didn't even have an overhead fan, much less an air conditioner. 

David grabs Dixie and kisses her -- HARD.  Afterward, she stares at him as he tells her he HAD to do that just to shut her up.  Uh huh.  She continues to stare at him in silent horror and disbelief.  He begs her to say something.  While Dixie didn't say anything, *I* said "LAWSUIT".  Something tells me the I-had-to-do-it-to-shut-her-up wouldn't fly in court.  What am I SAYING?  It would absolutely hold up in a PV court!

When Greenlee was smashing things with the axe, did anyone else think the printer/fax looked more like a plastic vaporizer? 

If the plane barely has enough fuel to get them where they are going, never mind turning back to PV, how did Adrian and Ryan plan on RETURNING with Jake and a bunch of orphans in tow? 

LOD:
Ryan to Gillian re sharing a bedroll to keep warm:  "How about you riding shotgun?"  Gillian:  "I'm not touching a gun unless I have to!"  BWAHAHAHAAA!

Dixie, fresh from the kiss from David, runs into SOS and kisses Tad like she wants to do him right there, standing up at the bar.  She tells him she's missed him SOOO MUCH!  Tad:  "Is that Zepherin Chloride and Betadine I smell?" 

May I say that that is a very unflattering ensemble Dixie has on?  She makes almost anything look good, but that outfit is tight in all the wrong places, making her look frumpy. 

Nice to see someone (Leo) actually playing darts at the loft.  Now if only Scott would walk in.  I thought Leo would point out that Scott lived there too, but then realized that Leo has no reason to take Scott's feelings into consideration. 

Unless this was a daydream sequence (entirely possible [keeping in mind that I haven't seen Wed's show yet] given that sudden jump from standing to them lying on the couch), Alex has now had sex (presumably) within a very short period of time with 2 brothers.  You KNOW what soap opera law has to say about THIS situation.   Sigh -- ANOTHER whose-baby-is-it storyline?  At least she's dressed for the part nowadays.

Robin "Gillian:  Coffee, Tea or ME?" Coutellier

Blast From The Past - Detailed Friday Update, 11/03/00, Part 3 of 3

THE WAVE SET

Hayley and Mateo rush onto the set as Hayley anxiously asks if there is any sign of Arlene. Mateo tells her to relax and forget about Arlene, but Hayley is a nervous wreck. She says Arlene is going to keep coming back until Hayley forgives or pretends to forgive her. They are going live in 60 seconds. Hayley rushes onto stage for last minute powder puffs and Mateo leaves for the photo shoot at SOS. Still nervous, Hayley still manages to jump into her on-screen persona and chats about how fast the year has gone, blah, blah, blah. Arlene drunkenly stumbles in off to the side. Hayley talks about fashion and white leather as Arlene drinks from a flask like a person stumbling in from the desert. Arlene proudly watches her daughter and quietly talks toward her: "There she is -- my Hayley. She's got everything she wants. She's rich, famous. A man who loves her. All your dreams came true, didn't they, Sweetie? And now ... it's Mama's turn!" She steps toward the stage.

Hayley natters away about a web poll, saying the watchers think that Thanksgiving is the number 1 family holiday. Arlene jumps on to the stage and breaks with in: "And what better way than to celebrate with your own famliy? HI! I'm Hayley's mom! I'm today's surprise guest star -- Surprise!!" Hayley IS surprised: "Well, HI, Mom!" She guides Arlene to a seat on stage and says she gets to help her welcome a famed chef (Marcel) from a Pine Valley restaurant who is there to teach them how to make cornbread stuffing [what does cornbread stuffing have to do with fashion?]. Arlene won't be silenced, of course, and she pops up saying who gives a damn about Chef Marcel? She starts to talk about previous Thanksgivings when her husband, Harry Vaughan, used to stuff himself and sit in front of the tube-- The stage crew frantically look through their notes, seeing nothing about Arlene in them. Arlene is loudly talking about Harry undoing his pants and watching football games while Hayley gamely tries to pretend Arlene is not there. Arlene and Hayley loudly talk over each other. Hayley keeps going on about the chef, who has apparently switched jobs in the space of 5 seconds, because she now says he works at Maxim's in Paris. Arlene doesn't want them to cut to a commercial or Chef Marcel. She desperately starts talking about how sorry she is for Hayley's rotten childhood and how she made it all better by marrying Adam, didn't she? Half the children in America want Mom and Dad under the same roof, etc. And she made that dream come true, didn't she? DIDN'T SHE?

While the crew continues to stand there looking perplexed and unsure, Mateo wanders back in, sees what's happening and rushes on-stage to hustle Arlene off-stage. Hayley is near the breaking point as she repeats her welcome to Chef Marcel while Mateo strongarms Arlene to a curtained-off area that has a lot of food, coffee, etc. She fights him and starts to rush back to the stage when Mateo swings her around and dumps a pitcher of ice-water over her head. She shrieks.

Arlene is pissed off and feeling pissed on as she attempts to dry herself with some napkins. Mateo tells her she's lucky that's ALL he did and that she's staying put until the cops come. [I'm still trying to figure out what he thinks they will charge her with. They might find something as far as her interrupting Hayley's show, but what else?] Arlene grins as she thinks she's hit upon a key motivational factor in Mateo's attitude -- she says he hates her because he always has to be in control and he can't control Hayley whenever Arlene is around. Her voice is low and sure of herself as she says: "Well, you know what? She's going to stand by me because she knows -- she knows I love her. Deep down inside, she knows that. But YOU -- you don't KNOW that she'll always love YOU." Mateo: "Please. You think this is some type of competition thing between me and you? You're sick!" Arlene: "Oh, no, Sweetie, there's no competition. A mom's love always wins out in the end. Just watch. Just watch. You go call those cops. You lock me up, you throw away the key. Hayley will stick by me. She always has. No matter how I screw up, no matter how low I sink -- no matter how low I sink, she picks me up, and she puts me to bed like she always has." Mateo asks what, WHAT he could POSSIBLY do to get rid of her -- to make her leave and never come back -- just NAME it! She gives an evil smile, grabs his face and plants a big wet one on him!

He breaks suction and wipes his mouth, telling her she's DISGUSTING! He keeps wiping his mouth with a napkin. She just grins and innocently asks if he didn't like it. Arlene: "Well, you know, Hayley and I are so much alike, I mean, you'd think that if you like the copy you'd LOVE the original." Mateo turns on her and yells that they are NOTHING alike! That's why Arlene is always trying to drag her down -- Hayley has done EVERYTHING with her life and Arlene has done NOTHING! Mateo: "You're the same old loser you've always been! You'll never have what she has!" Arlene gets angry again: "Look, for the record, I am TWICE the woman that Hayley is. And if you're just too much of a wimp to admit it, why don't you ask her last hubby, Alec what's-his-name?" From the doorway, Hayley says: "Ask him what?" [Kelly Ripa's pregnancy has apparently manifested itself by a visit from the breast-fairy, because her breasts are getting bigger by the day.] Arlene looks away with a little self-satisfied, closed-mouth smile.

Arlene tells Hayley that she was just telling Mateo that she and Hayley are so much alike that they even have the same taste [quite literally] in men. Hayley doesn't even care what Arlene is talking about. What she did tonight was UNFORGIVABLE! Arlene is surprised and asks how Hayley could possibly have found out already! Then she realizes that Hayley is not talking about her kissing Mateo and tells him: "Don't worry, Sweetie, she doesn't suspect a thing!" Hayley's voice gets low and gritty as she asks Mateo what Arlene is talking about. Arlene looks like the cat that ate the canary as she urges Mateo to spill. Hayley is now facing him with her back to Arlene. Still tight-lipped, he admits that Arlene kissed him. Arlene brags: "Full on the mouth! I don't know what came over me, Sweetie. I was just -- must have been the stress or something. But I SWEAR to you that it will never happen again, no matter how great the temptation. Right, Mateo?" She grins at the trouble she's causing. Hayley suddenly whirls and wallops Arlene across the face! [THAT was a long time coming!] They glare at each other.

Mateo breaks the tension and takes hold of Hayley's arm, saying it's time to go. They start to stomp off, but Hayley turns and stomps back to Arlene to tell her: "If you EVER touch my husband again, I WILL kill you!"


On the next AMC:

Arlene to Hayley: "You're a pussycat inside. I know that about you. You'd never kill anybody." Adam suddenly appears and says: "What about me, Arlene? You think *I'm* capable of killing you?"

Leo to Bianca: "You're confused, and, you know, this just isn't the way that --" She launches herself into his arms and plants big one on him!

Dixie, standing now and facing David whispers: "That's Tad's car! He's home!" David sulks.

Irreverently submitted,

Robin "Come To Mama" Coutellier

Blast From The Past - Detailed Friday Update, 11/03/00, Part 2 of 3

SOS

Leo and Bianca enter an empty SOS.  Leo:  "We're the MODELS --we're not supposed to be the first ones here!"  Bianca is brooding and he tries to bring her back to the present.  A waitress walks out from the back and asks if they are there for the Enchantment shoot.  When he says yes, she tells him that Tina is in charge, but she appears to be running late.  [So are the camera, makeup, wardrobe and PR people.]  They sit down at the bar and Leo guesses that she did NOT tell Erica -- so what's the plan?  She says there IS no plan.  She doesn't want to think about it anymore -- whatever happens happens.  Things were different last night -- Erica REALLY opened up to her and didn't give her any attitude when Bianca said she didn't want to do the Enchantment campaign.  Leo:  "But here you are!" Bianca:  "She loves me so much, Leo.  She'd do anything for me!  I really think that she would accept whatever I told her.  She doesn't hate gay people.  I mean, she's far too smart for that.  I just -- it's just that she has this -- this idea of who I am, and I don't want to disappoint her. Not yet ... I guess the way I feel is that I LIKE having her look up to me.  I LIKE having her think that I'm the perfect daughter.  You know what she said to me?  She said that last year when she was going through her surgery, she thought of how brave I was and she wished that she were more like ME!"  He quips that Erica is eternally young and she shushes him.  He says Erica LIKES it when he teases, and so does SHE!  They get into a giggling slap/wrestle mode as Tina comes in with Laura.  The rest of the crew is still missing.  Leo is introduced and Laura asks him if he coached volleyball (harking back to his ad-lib at the dance).  She's there to observe a "real" photo shoot.  Tina goes off to check on the missing professionals while Laura flatters the hapless models.

Laura wants to take some shots of the duo while the rest of them [WHAT rest of them -- no one else is THERE] are setting up.  Leo says sure, it would be great for his portfolio.  He starts to go GQ, then squats down in a karate move   She tells them to just do what they were doing when she first came in.  Bianca, still laughing, says she doesn't think she can do that with an audience.  Leo hugs her to him and says it's more FUN with an audience.  She tells Laura he's not REALLY like this as he goes into "fun" model mode, holding her, throwing things at her and generally goofing around and mugging while she keeps laughing and Laura continues to snap pictures.  Tina comes in and says she wasn't able to reach the crew, but Leo says that's okay because they started already.  Tina puts music on (Madonna singing "Vogue") and Leo frolics around, jumping out at Bianca from behind poles, putting her in a headlock, etc.  [I keep thinking of the Brady Bunch movie where Marcia and Jan audition to be teen models]

Erica walks in with a big, beefy looking guy whom she introduces as Bruce Bullitt, the photographer.  Leo starts with some pleasantries, but Bruce totally ignores that and looks him over, holding his chin and checking out his bod (for professional reasons, of course) like he's a piece of meat. Bianca stops giggling and Bruce does the same chin-lifting with her. Bruce tells Erica that he has to hand it to her -- he wouldn't have picked THESE two in a million YEARS, but he thinks he can work with them.  Erica is momentarily taken aback as Bruce says to powder them down.  She smiles and puts her arms around Bianca, saying she KNEW he would ADORE her! Erica sees Laura and, in a not unfriendly way, asks who she is.  Laura introduces herself.  When Erica mentions she thought she was off somewhere, Laura says she was au-pairing for an American couple in China, but she's back now.  Erica thinks that's nice, but this is a closed set. Bianca explains that Laura is a photographer and she wants her to stay.  A guy [who reminds me a little of Jack from Will and Grace] takes Bianca's arm and coos that he's ready for her now.  Erica takes Leo aside and asks if Bianca has confided in him yet.  He said he thought they talked last night and she says yes, it was great and she only wants Bianca to be happy.  He says that the feeling is mutual -- Erica is the most important person in the WORLD to Bianca.  She thanks him for being such a good friend to Bianca.  She walks over to a chair where Bianca is being fussed over and joins in the fussing.  Leo watches them, looking serious, as Laura unobtrusively snaps photos of him from a distance.  He finally notices the camera and gives a quirky smile, but chides her that certain primitive tribes think that taking someone's picture equates to taking their soul.  She says she'll give it back when she's finished with it.  He mugs some more

Erica and Bianca stand up and Bruce mutters that they don't have all day. Erica hugs Bianca and tells her that this is the BEST idea she's ever had! Bianca is going to be SENSATIONAL.  Bianca says she's going to be SICK.  Erica swears that, after the first few rolls, she'll feel like she's been doing this all her life!   With a big smile of encouragement, she bops aside.  Bianca looks tremulous.

Professional picture taking ensues and Bruce tells them to stop looking like statues -- they are the hottest couple in the WORLD!  He wants to see some ENERGY!  Bianca is extremely uncomfortable and Bruce tells Erica it's no use -- they look like HOSTAGES!  Bruce pushes Leo aside and demonstrates.  He gets down on his knees and grabs Bianca's ass, pulling her to him, burying his face near her bosom and says:  "BOOM!  BUTT! HERE!  All right?  Let's go!"  Bianca looks like she'd rather be ANYWHERE else as Leo hops back onto the platform and they look with conspiratorial dread at each other.  Leo awkwardly tries to imitate Bruce's hot embrace of Bianca, but looks as if he's being forced to put the moves on his grandma.  Bianca runs her hands over her face with embarrassment.  She grimaces and looks like she's going to hurl.  Bruce continues to toss out photographer-like phrases such as "Close, close, close!  Get physical here!  Come on, come on, come on!  The rockets are going off!  SLAM, BAM!" Bianca leans over and quietly says to Leo that she CAN'T do this!  He looks up past her amble bosom and says "SURE you can -- it's fun!  Just be stupid!"  He makes another silly face and she cracks up.

Bruce blows up and says he's got Donnie and Marie here!  It's a waste of HIS time and Erica's money!  Erica strides over and sweet-talks him into continuing.  Then she runs over to Bianca and tells her not to be nervous -- it's just PLAYACTING!  She should just imagine he's another boy that she LIKES.  Think of him as the man of her DREAMS!  Bianca closes her eyes and then tosses another look of dread at Leo.  Erica enthuses that they can get this now!  Bianca goes back to the platform and stands there while Bruce once again demonstrates, this time grabbing her waist and thigh, pulling a leg up and bending her backward in a dip, nuzzling her neck. Leo tries to imitate Bruce and approaches Bianca as if there are live grenades on her that he has to defuse.  He puts his hand hesitantly on her ass, then quickly moves it to her thigh as they awkwardly go into a dip. [I'm thinking he's going to throw his back out the way he's bending] Bruce gets frustrated again and says:  "Oh, for God's sake, grab her like a MAN!"  He turns to Erica and says:  "These pretty boys are all alike! Maybe if you had a SON we'd get some fire here!"  Erica:  "Excuse me?" Bruce:  "These male models are all pink around the edges!"   Erica: "Bruce, are you implying that Leo is GAY?"  He says to forget it, but she takes offense and assures him that Leo is NOT gay and that he owes Leo an apology.  Leo and Bianca look at each other and keep quiet. 

Erica accuses Bruce of being too much of a primadonna to apologize and he protests that he just doesn't have TIME for hurt feelings.  Erica insists on an apology to Leo.  Leo walks over and quietly tells her he doesn't need one.  Erica:  "I think you do!  Excuse me.  I mean, if you were gay, all right then, fine, who cares?  But you happen to be a perfectly NORMAL person, and I won't have you insulted!"  Bianca looks crushed at Erica's use of the word "normal".  Erica points out that they are NOT professional models and just need a little guidance and understanding.  Bruce says he never SAID that her friend wasn't NORMAL, he's just trying to get some work done.  They should try again.  At this point, Bianca yells out NO -- she's not going to DO this any MORE!  She runs to the edge of the room.

Erica glares at Bruce and runs over to Bianca to soothe her.  She says it's not HER fault, it's Bruce's -- he thinks he's a genius, but SHE made him and SHE can break him!  Bianca insists it's not him -- she just doesn't know how to do this and she wants to go home!  She begs Erica not to make her do this.  Erica says she doesn't have to do it -- they'll get another photographer.  Bianca says Bruce is the best in the business. Erica still completely misses the point and insists they'll do this another time with a different photographer -- she'll make everything all right!  She clops away, leaving Bianca looking forlorn.

Laura walks over and sympathizes with Bianca, who is blaming herself. Laura thinks this is NOTHING compared to the things supermodels pull -- if she doesn't want her picture taken today, let THEM deal with it!  Leo thanks her for being there.  Laura gazes lovingly at Bianca and says she wouldn't have missed it.  She gives her goodbyes -- a long one for Bianca and a casual one to Leo [I think whoever guessed that Laura and Bianca would get together is probably right]

Bruce and Erica walk over and Bruce apologizes to Leo.  Leo snaps that he knows who he is and doesn't NEED Bruce's PERMISSION.  Erica offers Bianca a ride home, but Bianca says she's fine.  Amazingly enough, Erica says okay, kisses her cheek and leaves!  Bianca looks very, very sad.  Leo asks if she's REALLY okay and she stares meaningfully, yet uncertainly at him. He stares at her.

Bianca says she was wrong about her mother -- she thought that she would be surprised and shocked, maybe, but she was just wrong.  Leo says Erica was just angry.  Bianca says that easy for HIM to say -- HE'S not GAY -- she IS -- she's ABnormal!  He says Erica was just being dramatic -- she was PROTECTING him -- she thought he was being insulted.  Bianca:  "Of course!  Somebody called you gay!  What could be worse than THAT?"  She storms a few feet away.  He says that today was just a bust all the way around -- they should do something else like go to the movies and dinner and just talk about something else.  Bianca agrees.  After all, she's only 16 -- what does SHE know about anything?  Besides, she's only had that one experience at a time when she was dealing with a big problem and living in a dorm with other girls who were dealing with their OWN big problems.  Leo looks skeptically at her and asks if she's trying to talk herself out of being gay.  She looks frustrated.

[For the first time, I actually see through a WINDOW at SOS -- through the gold shimmery tinsel, a street and a parked car can be seen]  Bianca says that when Sarah, the girl she had been involved with, said she wasn't gay anymore and that she never was, she thought Sarah was lying to or fooling herself.  But now Bianca thinks that maybe it IS possible to stop being gay!  Leo says some people stop being gay and some people just pretend to. Bianca is really confused -- how does she know?  He points out that she's NEVER been attracted to guys.  She says she knows that's what she SAID, but ...  He asks if she is saying she wants to be with a guy.  She says it couldn't be just ANY guy.  They are friends and she can count on him, right?  He stands, looks sternly at her and asks if she's saying she wants to make love to him.

Robin "Bianca & Leo would have made a beautiful baby" Coutellier

Blast From The Past - Detailed Friday Update, 11/3/00, Part 1 of 3

I decided to post some older stuff just to keep things going. Back in 2000 (and some before that, maybe) I was posting a detailed update for each Friday's show in rec.arts.tv.soaps(.abc). I am incapable of giving a brief, concise summary and, aided by the captioning/magazine function of my TV video card in my old PC described just about every nuance for every minute of the show. My wrists have been problematic for a very long time, though, and I finally had to give it up. Since they were ridiculously long, though, that gives me some more material to work with NOW, so I'm going to break up this update into (I think) 3 parts over the course of a few days. I just picked this one at random from my archives.

AMC - UPDATE - Friday, November 3, 2000, Part 1

Previously on AMC

Arlene, surprising Hayley on Halloween night by showing up at the condo: "Hayley, please help me."  [Sirens]  Hayley: "You've got two choices -- stay and go to jail or run for your life."

Tad to Dixie upon having their romantic interlude interrupted by urgent business: "I'm going to run back here, ok?  Do me a favor and change into something ridiculously comfortable!"

Bianca's thoughts as she looks at the large portrait of Erica in the living room:  "I'm never going to tell you the truth.  I know it would kill you if you knew what I'm really like."


TAD & DIXIE'S HOUSE

David, his hand still bandaged, quietly lets himself into the living room and looks around.  He's horny and on the PROWL!  He stands there for a moment, hugging himself and trying to fight his surging hormones.  He sees Dixie's sweater on the couch and rushes over to pick it up.  He slowly fondles it, sensuously rubbing it over his face and neck, starting to breathe hard from desire.  His gaze falls on a picture of Tad and Dixie from their most recent wedding.  He drops the sweater, then runs over and grasps the photo frame.  He breathes even harder as he sees the image of a braless Dixie.  He covers Tad's image with his palm and runs his fingers lightly over Dixie's image.  He closes his eyes, aching with desire and appears to be on the edge of an orgasm!  He fights the urge, resulting some sort of heart spasm, causing him to drop the frame and clutch at his heart.

Dixie, hearing the frame hit the floor, calls out questioningly to Tad. David instantly recovers from his heart spasm as she says:  "Is that you? Did you forget something?"  He teeters hesitantly, but with the look of a hunter.  The camera pans toward their bedroom, which has mysteriously relocated itself from the 2nd floor to just off the living room.  As we hear David breathing, it appears he is stalking slowly toward the bedroom -- it's a TRICK, though, because Dixie prances out wearing an extremely low-cut, micro-mini negligee with an open matching "robe", black pantyhose and high-heels, David is nowhere to be seen.  [Psyched!]  She asks the empty living room:  "Did you break something?"  She walks across the room and calls again.  David slinks out from behind a wall.  Dixie's back is to him as he looks at her legs and ass, gulping.  Dixie spies the broken picture frame and bends to pick it up (but then leaves it there).  She keeps calling for Tad.  She looks worried, but then realizes that Tad must be playing love games:  "Oh, I get it -- you want to play Phantom of the Opera?  Ok.  She chuckles with sexy anticipation.  As she starts to remove her robe, she acts coquettish and says:  "We're aaaallll alone, and I'm in the mood for a singing lesson!"  She saucily tosses the robe over her head and behind her.  She hears footsteps as David purposefully walks up behind, taking slow, deep breaths.  Dixie, acting school-girlishly innocent:  "I'm going to sing now.  I hope no one comes up behind me to ravage me!"  She giggles and whispers:  "I feel a mysterious presence. Who is it?"  She turns around and is astounded to see DAVID standing there!  She opens her mouth and starts to step back as he looks at her. He is breathing erratically and twitching  here and there.  [situation aside, his arousal is certainly turning ME on!]

Still panting, David slowly steps up to Dixie ad tells her not to be afraid.  She backs up, then twirls and puts her robe back on (yeah, like THAT covers much of anything].  David slumps onto the couch and she screeches at him not to sit.  He apologizes and says he HAS to.  He rubs his eyes and forehead and says he worried about her -- she's making a big mistake.  She yells at him not to worry about it -- she doesn't want to talk about it, she wants him to GO!  He says he's not talking about her job, he's talking about her HEALTH -- it would be very dangerous for her to switch doctors right now.  She walks away from him and fumes that he's NOT the only cardiologist in the world.  He agrees, but says nobody in the WORLD knows her heart like HE does.  No one can take care of her the way the HE can.  He stares meaningfully at her and she looks back at him, somewhat pityingly and a little frightened.

He walks closer and she backs up.  She babbles that, if it makes him feel better, she'll have the cardiologist send him copies of all her reports. His voice breaking, he earnestly asks her why she is pushing him AWAY? She's very frightened now and says she's not going to talk about this. She opens the door and says he has to leave, NOW!  He yells at her to STOP IT and slams the door shut again.  Why does she keep pretending that this isn't happening?  She yells that he broke into her house!  He keeps yelling at her, telling him that she's KILLING him!  Can't she SEE that? David: "I can't stop the way that I'm feeling for you!  How can I?  All I have to do is close my eyes and picture the way that I see you every single day!"  [Altogether now:  NAKED?]  She protests that she WORKED for him -- she answered his PHONE!  He points and says no, she KISSED him! She says it was just a moment -- a mistake.  He's near tears as he says: "No -- it was much more than that, Dixie.  I SWEAR, I'll DIE if I can't have you!  Are you going to let me DIE, Dixie?  Is that what you really want?"  He stares at her with pleading eyes and she stares back uncomprehendingly at his delusion.

Dixie tells David he doesn't look well.  He seems to be fighting off a faint and is rubbing his neck like he has a sore throat.  Still drawing shuddering breaths, he tells her that all he needs to be well is HER.  He wants her to tell him that they can be friends again.  She goes into major blink-mode as she tells him that he's just PLAYING with her LIFE!  He comes into her home where she has a life, a family and a husband.  He says he's not trying to take anything from her.  She agrees that he's trying to GIVE her something and she doesn't WANT IT!  She insists she's happy with her life and she loves her husband and he loves her.  David thinks that has nothing to do with THEM!  She knows David by now -- does she honestly think he's the kind of person who would throw himself at a woman who didn't WANT him?  [Ally]  Does she REALLY think that he would BEG for a little affection from someone who REALLY wanted him to go away?  Dixie: "Are you kidding me?  I have never met such a HUGE, unMITigated EGO!" She's very forceful as she loudly tells him:  "Let me tell you something, David!  I don't WANT you!  You DISGUST me, as a matter of fact!   I HATE you and I want you to LEAVE!"  She threatens him with a call to the police and he tells her to go ahead -- he's not leaving!  They'll have to drag him out of there in HANDCUFFS!  She suddenly darts for the phone, which just as suddenly rings, causing her to yelp and jump.  After covering her face with her hands, she quickly answers.  She triumphantly spins and with glittering eyes and a shaky voice, tells David that it's Tad.  He glowers at her.

Naturally, Dixie doesn't say a thing about the imminent danger she is in. She explains her shortness of breath by saying she just ran up the stairs from the basement laundry room.  From her side of the conversation, it's clear that he's tied up with business and won't be home after all.  She says she understands and they say goodbye.  David (and everyone else) wants to know why she didn't tell Tad about him being there.  She says it's because Tad would KILL David.  He asks if that was the only reason and she says that Tad is coming home right now.  David states what even a toddler would have picked up on -- no he's not -- Tad called to tell her that he was going to be held up.  It's just them, so now they can have a long, PRIVATE conversation.  She tearfully whispers that she loves her husband and when he cheated on her with Liza, she felt like everything he had ever said to her was a lie.  She didn't think he could possibly love her or respect what they had if he could do something like that.  David says that now she knows it can be more complicated than that -- she could love her husband and still be looking at David the way she's doing right now.  Her voice gets higher and higher as she tells him that she really DOES care about him, and she thinks that it's possible that she's the only one he's let into his heart and that means something, it really DOES [by this time her words are unintelligible and voice is so high-pitched that dogs up and down my street are howling]

She gains a tiny bit of composure and says that all she has to do is think of the look on Tad's face to know that she would NEVER hurt him!  David turns away and rubs his forehead, apologizing and asking her to forgive him.  She cries that he doesn't want her to FORGIVE him -- he wants her to feel SORRY for him!  She breaks down again and says she doesn't know why she feels the way she does about him -- she doesn't WANT to and she HATES it -- she HATES herself!  David turns back to her and begs her not to feel that way.  She's too good and sweet and special.  She's covering her face in her hands and crying and looking downward.  She sounds like a distraught 12-year-old manning the drive-up window at a run-down burger joint, as she says [for the benefit of those who couldn't possibly have understood what she was saying without benefit of closed-captioning]:  "I don't feel GOOD!  I don't feel SWEET or SPECIAL!  I feel like I'm DROWNING!"  He somberly and thoughtfully says he thinks they're both right -- she doesn't REALLY want him to go, but he really shouldn't be there. She grimaces through her tears and shakes her head.  He says he never should have come there and he'll go; she nods.  As he walks away, he looks sick, then faints.  Dixie falls to her knees to help him.

Dixie paws futilely at David's leather jacket until he sits up, gasping for air.  She keeps asking if he's okay and what does he need?  She's bending over displaying quite a bit of her bodacious ta-tas as she says this.  Amazingly, he manages to keep his eyes OFF of said bodacious ta-tas as he despairingly says:  "You said that when you're with me, you feel like you're drowning.  I have felt that way my ENTIRE LIFE!  Like I'm sinking, just trying to survive!"  She tells him it's okay -- she's going to go call an ambulance.  He grabs hers and tells her not to leave him! Their eyes lock and he says:  "God help me!  I would DIE before I hurt you, Dixie.  You're my last hope!"  With a shaking hand and panting breath, he brushes aside her hair as saxophone music suddenly starts to play.  He pulls her face close and she moves with it.  Their lips lock slowly, then more passionately as they start to move with the groove.

[ to be continued tomorrow ... ]

Irreverently submitted,

Robin "did David take a shower before going over to 'seduce' Dixie?"
Coutellier