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[personal profile] shadowkat
1. The Good Place Podcasts with Marc Anthony Jackson

Shawn is the head of the Bad Place. And he recaps each episode, and analyzes all of it, and invites writers and actors to help him. The above one -- has D'Arcy Caden (Janet), and the writers of the episode, Josh Seigal and Dylan Morgan. Must have for D'Arcy Caden fans --- come on, you know who you are. This is my X-mas gift or Hannuakha gift to you -- you can thank me later.

Reminds me of The Succubus Club for Buffy, but much better done. (Caveat, I don't like Podcasts. I can't just listen to something -- I have to interact with it or I get bored and start doing something else at the same time.)

2. The other fun podcasts -- if you are a fan of the X-men, is Jay and Miles X-Plain the X-men, Because Someone Has To .

3. Guilty Pleasures:

These are basically the cultural things that I find deeply comforting and entertaining, and have a life-long weakness for...but they tend to be non-mainstream and most people just don't get.

* X-men comic books and graphic novels ( I fell in love at the age of 18, and never fell out..)
* Romance novels -- specifically historicals
* Superhero television shows and movies and to a degree comics
* Daytime Soap Operas (fell in love as a pre-teen, I blame my mother)
* Japanese Anime
* Musical Theater and Musical films...often based on Musical Theater. (If it's a musical, I'll watch it, even if it is a bad musical)
* Star Wars movies
* Science Fiction/Fantasy novels and television series and films
* Rock Operas..

Date: 2018-12-12 11:49 pm (UTC)
From: [personal profile] sculpturelle
I too was (am?) a big fan of soap operas. Even today, when the shows are waning, if I watch a few days in a row, I'm hooked. I love never-ending stories. Specifically, I was a fan of early 80s Guiding Light (Nola and Quint, Beth and Philip) and As the World Turns (Betsy and Steve and Margot and Tom) and mid 80s and early 90s Days with Stefano DiMera and company (all the early supercouples, but especially Jack and Jennifer in 1990 - Jack is back on the show starting on New Year's Eve; I'll be tuning in for old times' sake LOL). After that, I dabbled in AMC and GH. The last couple I fell hard for was Leo and Greenlee on AMC (Josh Duhamel was simply electric in his first role; he's never done work that even comes close to what he did as Leo). I always seem to get sucked in by a couple dynamic and today that's not really the focus for some unknown reason. But, isn't that what soaps should be about? They really seem to be losing the plot at the moment. This taping the show six months in advance is ridiculous. How can they possibly course correct? Madness, I say! Hopefully, they'll survive in one form or another...

Of course, you know I love romance novels as well. They're pretty hit and miss at the moment, though. It's so hard to get a sense of where quality. Reviews are completely useless with ARC reviews and fake reviews clogging the picture. At least, when publishers had to print books on paper, some editing and vetting was done. Again, the culling has begun, I think. It'll be interesting to see where the industry lands.

Re: Soaps

Date: 2018-12-14 03:34 am (UTC)
From: [personal profile] sculpturelle
Oh boy, you're taking me back here. Such good times...I wish my mom had been into soaps, but she dislikes anything that's serial (I know! Scandalous! LOL. She doesn't like to "commit" for the long haul because she's too faithful and she's be stuck forever. Snortle).

I can't believe how much soap operas "peopled" the landscape of my childhood as well. I still remember whole scenes as if they aired yesterday (some of which were pre-VCR and I only saw them once). Random scenes come to mind unbidden all the time.

My friend's mother used to watch Edge of Night and Love of Life (I think), and I started watching Search for Tomorrow because it aired during lunch (they bused us home for lunch in those days; how extravagant!). IIRC, SFT was a very mature show. And the actors were a cut above the rest. Naturally, it was cancelled early. Hahaha. I loved Capitol! It's a crime that Capitol got replaced by B&B, which has always been horrible. I loved Another World (missed the boat on Texas, though). Great character actors on that show with meaty middle aged roles. And ATWT certainly had a good eye for star material (Meg Ryan, Julianne Moore, Anne Heche, Marisa Tomei...). I was so sad when both AW and ATWT were cancelled. Wow, AW ended nearly 20 years ago.

Ahhh! Fletcher on GL! And Ross, loved him too. Rick Bauer's steadiness. *sniff* I loved tuning in to watch characters react to the evil deeds of Roger Thorpe, James Stenbeck and Stefano DiMera (and their more ambiguous counterparts like Craig Montgomery).

My jump to the ABC soaps coincided with yours. I loved early Jason and Liz, Carly and Sonny (Sarah Browne was so amazing in her first run). I've always loved how under control GH writing seems. The arcs break really really well, and they tackle tough issues. The dialogue is generally great. I'm not a big fan of Sam, though. So I've been avoiding the show. I know Rebecca Budig is on GH and sometimes I catch her bits. She's an awesome actress. AMC was also pretty good, but with shorter (and longer) arcs than GH and sometimes the storylines would rapidly veer into the nonsensical for a time.

For sure, the old faves are getting long in the tooth. I find it painful to watch Kristian Alfonso's face these days. She looks so miserable (or frozen by Botox). Shudder. I've no objection to new blood, but they must be paying really poorly because young actors suck big time at acting and their plot lines don't help. Just make them young adults who do simple stuff like drink and drive, fall in love. And the gay characters on Days spend all their time talking about getting married. Every time I tune in, marriage marriage marriage. Way to unsubtle. OTOH, I guess they're catering to their demographics.

I had no idea the shooting schedule was so bad! No wonder the actors' hair always seems the same and their mannerisms... it's like they've got their lines down pat but I kind of feel that the director is pushing them through their scenes too fast. They have no tonal inflection at all. And they look miserable. There is no room for creativity at all. Let them breathe! LOL. I agree. It does give me greater appreciation for the actors.

Re: Soaps

Date: 2018-12-14 03:35 am (UTC)
From: [personal profile] sculpturelle
Oops... Anne Heche was AW. LOL.

Re: Romance novels

Date: 2018-12-14 03:43 am (UTC)
From: [personal profile] sculpturelle
Lisa Kleypas has tried a few times to "go in a different direction" and I've never made the transition with her. And she's got a huge publisher behind her. Avon is the cream of the crop. There have also been issues with Julia Quinn's work (also Avon, I think). So... fewer editors, eh? Hmmm.

Without a doubt, I've had more luck with very disciplined indy (I think) writers (Penny Reid, Courtney Milan, Lauren Blakeley, Christina Lauren, Sarina Bowen). I do find that when they try to veer outside their niches, though, that it rarely goes smoothly.

Editors will make a comeback! Bold prediction. ;)

I like Laura Kinsale... Loretta Chase as well. Elisa Braden (another indy I think) has a terrific series out that isn't well publicized at all. Word of mouth, strictly.

Happy reading!

Highlights of Good Place Podcast #36

Date: 2018-12-14 01:55 pm (UTC)
cjlasky7: (Default)
From: [personal profile] cjlasky7
Thanks for this!

Must have for D'Arcy Carden fans--come on, you know who you are.

Heh. Yes. Yes, we do.

-- At the start of the podcast, Ted Danson (as Michael) gives us some fun facts: the favorite podcast in the Good Place is Mozart and Jimi Hendrix talking about music; the favorite podcast in the Bad Place is Josef Stalin recapping The Bachelor.

-- When he was running through the plotline of S3 for the actors, Carden could tell Michael Schur had something special in mind for her from the tone of devilish glee in his voice. Her reaction to the pitch for "Janet(s)": "Is there a word that means both 'terrified' and 'honored'?"

-- The entire cast did a full (recorded) run-through of the episode, so Carden could work on the dialogue and blocking on the week off. (Future S3 DVD extra!)

-- The Good Place podcast specializes in fake commercials. This week's entry was for Ugly Mike's Pulled Meat, another Jacksonville nightmare of a restaurant. You could pick out a dozen health code violations from the audio alone.

[Separately, I heard the Nick Offerman Swanson Safe commercial, with Offerman reprising his Parks and Rec character of Ron Swanson. The best part of that one was a court-mandated warning at the end telling people not to be stupid enough to lock yourself in the safe. Yes, we're talking to you, Jason Mendoza.]

-- Janet's boundless void was actually a relatively small stage (40 sq.ft.?) painted bright white, with the connections from the walls to the floors rounded off (i.e., no corners). The illusion was so effective that Carden was terrified of crashing into the walls during the shoot.

-- In his only scene in the void, Danson took one look at the four poles standing in for the four Janets and muttered, "Oh, this is NOT going to be fun." Carden's response was pretty much: Gee, thanks Ted. But Danson did insist that the rest of the cast should be on call in case Carden needed help. Aw. Thanks, Ted!

-- The staging for the big romantic kiss at the end was so complicated that Carden called it "The least romantic thing EVER." At one point, Carden and Kristen Bell laughed in their mouths from the sheer ridiculousness of it all.

-- The scenes with Stephen Merchant (Wernham Hogg represent!) were filmed in the abandoned offices of Countrywide Financial, lending a chilling RW spin to a fanciful tale of bureaucracy run amok. (Well, maybe not "chilling": during the first few days of filming, the air conditioning broke down, and it was over 100 degrees in California.)

-- If you're wondering why Drew Goddard hasn't been in the credits much this year, he was off filming a movie.

-- This episode was supposed to air in January 2019, but Schur convinced NBC to move it before the break, so Carden wouldn't miss out on awards consideration.

-- Marc Anthony Jackson took a sort of pride in the fact that the Soul Squad knew it was time to leave Earth again when Shawn came through the portal. (He is an excellent host, and he has a great voice for audio streaming...)




Edited Date: 2018-12-14 01:57 pm (UTC)

Re: Soaps

Date: 2018-12-14 07:28 pm (UTC)
From: [personal profile] sculpturelle
That makes sense (about the veterans taking more license). I know that Maurice Benard clearly takes his time in his delivery, and of course, Anthony Geary was always himself. His exit storyline was super harrowing but very dramatic. I recorded Days yesterday, and I was watching Chloe during her scenes. I swear she never even swivelled her head. She stood like a statue through all 5 scenes, like a mannequin! A remember this actress from 20 years ago. She used to MOVE. ;-p.

Re: Sam, my issue may be a Kelly Monaco issue. Heh! I don't think I've ever seen a woman come across as slutty (not sexy or sensual) no matter what she says or does. LOL.

I like Grayson McCouch, but they didn't do go things with him on GH. He was cool as Dusty opposite Peyton List (a Kelly Monaco type but not slutty 100% of the time LOL). Talk about buttons...

If Rebecca left GH a year ago, then I haven't check GH out in longer. Yikes. Is "Todd" from OLTL (another great actor!) still dating Liz?

Fandom wars...they bring out the worst in people. I think there's a lot of wish fulfillment fantasy behind them (as well as psychology, of course). My view is that there's something for everyone out there. Why worry about these things.

B&B definitely rides on someone's or something's coattails. Shudder. Brooke was the only tolerable character back in the day.

Ah, Sloan! Such a strong character. I LOVED how the show ended with her! I get goosebumps just remembering it.

Re: Soaps

Date: 2018-12-14 07:29 pm (UTC)
From: [personal profile] sculpturelle
Yes, I knew about his ALS. Sad... Hopefully, actors earn their wings by providing so much entertainment in their lifetime.

Re: Romance novels

Date: 2018-12-14 07:32 pm (UTC)
From: [personal profile] sculpturelle
FYI, I think only Elisa Braden does historicals.

I agree about Alisha Rai being streaky. Madeline Hunter is a fave of mine. I like her older stuff better. It had more backstory. Liz Carlyle is also very good, in a similar vein.

Re: Soaps

Date: 2018-12-15 05:14 pm (UTC)
From: [personal profile] sculpturelle
I know that there are two factions regarding Kelly Monaco. People either love her or hate her. That probably testifies to her having real screen presence and enormous charisma. It just works in reverse on me. LOL. I think I shouldn't describe what bugs me because it's really just a gut, non-sensical reflex on my part.

I was stunned by how well Liz and Franco were vibing the few times I tuned in. Just goes to prove you need to mix and match unlikely characters and actors to discover whether they have chemistry. But since they really film scenes with more than two or three people interacting at a time, it's hard to experiment. Actually, I guess they simply don't have the budget or time to experiment.

Nodding re: Anthony Geary. I'm a bit worried about Matthew Ashford's return to Days because he won't be allowed to improvise. Back in 1990, he was ad-libbing in most scenes and it was the only time Missy Reeves' acting came alive.

Ack! Botox. It's so awful. They DO NOT look better with the surgery. I guess HD digital cameras aren't too kind to natural looking 50 and 60-somethings; and it does seem the surgery extends the actresses' (and actors') careers, sometimes by 25 years. Still... Kathryn Hays was wonderful on As the World Turns at all ages, Hillary B. Smith always looked natural, Erica Slezak...and so many more. I don't need the actors to be über beautiful. I need good meaty stories.

Re: Soaps

Date: 2018-12-15 08:24 pm (UTC)
From: [personal profile] sculpturelle
Oh no! Hillary! :(

I know Botox isn't surgery, but I always speak of it as if it were. It's almost worse than a lift or sculpting because the resulting face looks dead.

Susan Lucci... yeah, she was never a favourite of mine. It does seem that strong personalities, and strong women in particular, seem to rub people all right or all wrong... I will need to examine my own reactions in this perspective.

Matt really had issues during his last stint and was fired. I think the show pretty much ceded to fan pressure to get him back on. The proof will be in the pudding. Meanwhile, I'm watching the episodes in the run-up to his arrival and getting to know all the children of the characters I used to know. Moment of hilarity: Abby/Gabby (split personality) being gaslighted by a woman called...Gabi. It took me a week to figure out she wasn't gaslighting herself. LOL.
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