Hello World,
Fab news! Josie and the Pussycats is finally coming to DVD! I am so excited!!! Check out the link:
http://tvshowsondvd.com/newsitem.cfm?NewsID=7349
Later dayz
Monday, May 21, 2007
Thursday, May 17, 2007
Bad News
Bad News: Veronica Mars is Cancelled.
Good News: The CW is turning the book series "Gossip Girl" into a series.
http://news.aol.com/entertainment/tv/articles/_a/the-cw-cancels-cult-hit-veronica-mars/20070517121309990001?ecid=RSS0001
Good News: The CW is turning the book series "Gossip Girl" into a series.
http://news.aol.com/entertainment/tv/articles/_a/the-cw-cancels-cult-hit-veronica-mars/20070517121309990001?ecid=RSS0001
Is this true?
Is Gayle King really adopting a South African child? Check this out:
http://mediatakeout.com/5921/exclusive_gayle_king_to_adopt_south_african_child.html
If this is true, then I'm very happy for Gayle. I wonder if she'll talk a/b this on her show on XM?
http://mediatakeout.com/5921/exclusive_gayle_king_to_adopt_south_african_child.html
If this is true, then I'm very happy for Gayle. I wonder if she'll talk a/b this on her show on XM?
Wednesday, May 9, 2007
OJ Simpson refused service.
OJ's lawyer is a donkey. OJ wasn't refused service because of race but because he's a murderer, plain and simple. Stuff like that should happen to OJ more, but maybe it doesn't happen because people are afraid of ending up like Nicole and Ron (seriously!). Good for the restaurant owner. He has courage, but now I'd walk with some security or a gun if I were him.
read more | digg story
read more | digg story
Patrick Moore complains women ruining BBC
What the hell is up with this guy? What a mysoginist [sic]! If he hates women so much, why doesn't he just become gay? But you know, I don't even think the queens would put up with that crap!
read more | digg story
read more | digg story
Are They For Real?: How Do Fictional Soaps Deal With Real-Life Situations
How have soaps dealt with certain issues such as rape, abortion, AIDS, cancer, and eating disorders? Do they show realistic portrayals, or do they tend to sweep these issues under the rug?
Every once in awhile, soap operas have a storyline where a character has been raped. It is always difficult for soap opera writers and directors to portray a rape because they cannot graphically show a woman being raped due to TV censorship. In the past, rape was not as graphic as it is today. In the late 1970s on General Hospital, the character of Luke Spencer raped the woman he loves, Laura, on the dance floor of a club. The way, though, that the rape was portrayed was as if it was a seduction rather than a rape. Luke is dancing with Laura, and he slowly drags Laura to the floor and rapes her, but the camera does not show that part. What’s interesting about after the rape is that Luke and Laura’s love not only survived, they married, had children, and became the most famous soap couple of all time. An interesting anecdote to this is the actor who plays Luke, Anthony Geary, has said that he would be bothered when he would go to fan club events, female fans of Luke would cry,” Rape me! Rape me, Luke.”
Another example of how rape in soaps was portrayed in the past was in the soap opera Guiding Light in the early 1980s. The character of Holly was raped by her husband, Roger. At least in this case, as opposed to the Luke and Laura case, Holly is shown struggling on the bed with her husband. What was interesting about this rape was that it was the first time on television viewers could see that rape is rape, even within a marriage.
In later years, the subject of rape in soap operas still remains a delicate issue, but the difference between now as opposed to the past is that: 1. The rapes are a little bit, but not much, more violent and graphic and 2) The soap opera shows the repercussions of the rape. This means that viewers don’t just see the rape and it is forgotten. There is the rape, and then comes the constant reminders of the rape spanning from months to even years. In 1998 on General Hospital, the character of Elizabeth Webber had been raped by an attacker, and viewers of the show saw how, after the rape, Elizabeth had been affected mentally and emotionally. Her rape led her to fall in love with Lucky Spencer, who is not only Luke and Laura’s son (who was not the product of Luke’s raping of Laura), but he also happened to find Elizabeth after she was raped. Elizabeth’s rape lead to Lucky eventually finding out that his father had raped his mother twenty years before, and after many years, viewers were not only subject to Laura’s anger at Luke over being raped but also Lucky’s anger at Luke for raping his mother. In other words, General Hospital had finally shown the repercussions of the rape, even though it was long overdue.
Like rape, another serious issue carefully dealt with in soaps from time to time is abortion. Because of censorship rules, soap operas cannot show the graphic details of an abortion. Because of this, and the political issue of pro-life versus pro-choice, is why abortion is an issue rarely discussed on soaps. Whenever a soap character has an abortion, the show is quick to move on with the storyline and forget that it ever happened. For example, both General Hospital and Days of Our Lives had young, female characters that had abortions, were anguished about it for awhile, and then moved on with life. This is great for the characters, but perhaps not so great for young girls watching these shows because they may think that having an abortion is not a big deal and there are few repercussions.
Medical conditions on soap operas like AIDS and cancer are discussed every once in awhile, but there seems to be more of a bias in soaps towards discussing cancer over AIDS. In the past, soap characters, particularly the female ones, have had leukemia, breast cancer, and lupus. In the 1990s, One Life to Live had made strides by featuring a character with a little-known disease such as lupus. But two other ABC shows, All My Children and General Hospital, are noteworthy for their portrayal of AIDS in soap operas. In the early 1990s, a character on All My Children learns she is HIV positive, and she is later a victim of an attack because of her HIV. General Hospital also featured the character of Robin Scorpio, a character whom long-time viewers had seen grow up from a child to a teenager, contract HIV from her boyfriend. Viewers later saw her boyfriend die from HIV-related complications, but the Robin character is not only still alive, she has become a doctor despite having to live with being HIV positive for the rest of her life. Robin is a very important General Hospital character for a few reasons: 1) She is the daughter of a popular couple, so viewers feel like they have known Robin all of their lives. 2) She is an example that people who contract HIV are not social deviants but normal people. Anyone can get it. 3) Having HIV does not equate a death sentence. 4) Robin is a woman, and statistically, women contract HIV and AIDS more than men.
Compared to life-threatening diseases, eating disorders are mentioned comparatively less often. All My Children’s Bianca, the same character who had come out of the closet, was a bulimic in her pre-teen years. On As the World Turns, pre-teen Faith is suffering with a bit of anorexia, a bit of bulimia, and body image issues in general. As with other heavy issues like rape and abortion, eating disorders can never be accurately portrayed, especially the vomiting that is involved with bulimia, which may be a reason why it is not shown very much on daytime soaps.
Even violence is a delicate issues on soap operas. The producers of ABC's One Life to Live scrapped a bunch of episodes about a student shooting up his high school in light of the Virginia Tech shootings. Usually in soaps, when violence such as shooting or stabbing is involved, there is either a killer on the loose or there is spy/mob activity going on. General Hospital is probably the best example of this because of the character of Sonny Corinthos, who is a mobster. Ever since Sonny came to town years ago, Port Charles, the fictional New York town where General Hospital is set up, has experienced non-stop shootings which are usually between Sonny and a rival mobster.
A tactic soaps often use is to implement violence in a situation where all or most of the soap's characters are involved, and this is usually done during a sweeps period to get ratings. The situation is usually very emotional and intense, more than usual for a soap opera. For example, during February sweeps, General Hospital had a hostage situation where the majority of Port Charles' citizens were being held hostage at a hotel. By the end of it, one person was shot (It happened to be HIV-positive Robin), a veteran character was dead from heart complications, and the hotel exploded due to a bomb. This is exciting and entertaining television but not all that realistic. Port Charles in particular has had so many fires, bombings, shootings, and virus scares that it makes one wonder why anyone would want to live there if it really existed.
Every once in awhile, soap operas have a storyline where a character has been raped. It is always difficult for soap opera writers and directors to portray a rape because they cannot graphically show a woman being raped due to TV censorship. In the past, rape was not as graphic as it is today. In the late 1970s on General Hospital, the character of Luke Spencer raped the woman he loves, Laura, on the dance floor of a club. The way, though, that the rape was portrayed was as if it was a seduction rather than a rape. Luke is dancing with Laura, and he slowly drags Laura to the floor and rapes her, but the camera does not show that part. What’s interesting about after the rape is that Luke and Laura’s love not only survived, they married, had children, and became the most famous soap couple of all time. An interesting anecdote to this is the actor who plays Luke, Anthony Geary, has said that he would be bothered when he would go to fan club events, female fans of Luke would cry,” Rape me! Rape me, Luke.”
Another example of how rape in soaps was portrayed in the past was in the soap opera Guiding Light in the early 1980s. The character of Holly was raped by her husband, Roger. At least in this case, as opposed to the Luke and Laura case, Holly is shown struggling on the bed with her husband. What was interesting about this rape was that it was the first time on television viewers could see that rape is rape, even within a marriage.
In later years, the subject of rape in soap operas still remains a delicate issue, but the difference between now as opposed to the past is that: 1. The rapes are a little bit, but not much, more violent and graphic and 2) The soap opera shows the repercussions of the rape. This means that viewers don’t just see the rape and it is forgotten. There is the rape, and then comes the constant reminders of the rape spanning from months to even years. In 1998 on General Hospital, the character of Elizabeth Webber had been raped by an attacker, and viewers of the show saw how, after the rape, Elizabeth had been affected mentally and emotionally. Her rape led her to fall in love with Lucky Spencer, who is not only Luke and Laura’s son (who was not the product of Luke’s raping of Laura), but he also happened to find Elizabeth after she was raped. Elizabeth’s rape lead to Lucky eventually finding out that his father had raped his mother twenty years before, and after many years, viewers were not only subject to Laura’s anger at Luke over being raped but also Lucky’s anger at Luke for raping his mother. In other words, General Hospital had finally shown the repercussions of the rape, even though it was long overdue.
Like rape, another serious issue carefully dealt with in soaps from time to time is abortion. Because of censorship rules, soap operas cannot show the graphic details of an abortion. Because of this, and the political issue of pro-life versus pro-choice, is why abortion is an issue rarely discussed on soaps. Whenever a soap character has an abortion, the show is quick to move on with the storyline and forget that it ever happened. For example, both General Hospital and Days of Our Lives had young, female characters that had abortions, were anguished about it for awhile, and then moved on with life. This is great for the characters, but perhaps not so great for young girls watching these shows because they may think that having an abortion is not a big deal and there are few repercussions.
Medical conditions on soap operas like AIDS and cancer are discussed every once in awhile, but there seems to be more of a bias in soaps towards discussing cancer over AIDS. In the past, soap characters, particularly the female ones, have had leukemia, breast cancer, and lupus. In the 1990s, One Life to Live had made strides by featuring a character with a little-known disease such as lupus. But two other ABC shows, All My Children and General Hospital, are noteworthy for their portrayal of AIDS in soap operas. In the early 1990s, a character on All My Children learns she is HIV positive, and she is later a victim of an attack because of her HIV. General Hospital also featured the character of Robin Scorpio, a character whom long-time viewers had seen grow up from a child to a teenager, contract HIV from her boyfriend. Viewers later saw her boyfriend die from HIV-related complications, but the Robin character is not only still alive, she has become a doctor despite having to live with being HIV positive for the rest of her life. Robin is a very important General Hospital character for a few reasons: 1) She is the daughter of a popular couple, so viewers feel like they have known Robin all of their lives. 2) She is an example that people who contract HIV are not social deviants but normal people. Anyone can get it. 3) Having HIV does not equate a death sentence. 4) Robin is a woman, and statistically, women contract HIV and AIDS more than men.
Compared to life-threatening diseases, eating disorders are mentioned comparatively less often. All My Children’s Bianca, the same character who had come out of the closet, was a bulimic in her pre-teen years. On As the World Turns, pre-teen Faith is suffering with a bit of anorexia, a bit of bulimia, and body image issues in general. As with other heavy issues like rape and abortion, eating disorders can never be accurately portrayed, especially the vomiting that is involved with bulimia, which may be a reason why it is not shown very much on daytime soaps.
Even violence is a delicate issues on soap operas. The producers of ABC's One Life to Live scrapped a bunch of episodes about a student shooting up his high school in light of the Virginia Tech shootings. Usually in soaps, when violence such as shooting or stabbing is involved, there is either a killer on the loose or there is spy/mob activity going on. General Hospital is probably the best example of this because of the character of Sonny Corinthos, who is a mobster. Ever since Sonny came to town years ago, Port Charles, the fictional New York town where General Hospital is set up, has experienced non-stop shootings which are usually between Sonny and a rival mobster.
A tactic soaps often use is to implement violence in a situation where all or most of the soap's characters are involved, and this is usually done during a sweeps period to get ratings. The situation is usually very emotional and intense, more than usual for a soap opera. For example, during February sweeps, General Hospital had a hostage situation where the majority of Port Charles' citizens were being held hostage at a hotel. By the end of it, one person was shot (It happened to be HIV-positive Robin), a veteran character was dead from heart complications, and the hotel exploded due to a bomb. This is exciting and entertaining television but not all that realistic. Port Charles in particular has had so many fires, bombings, shootings, and virus scares that it makes one wonder why anyone would want to live there if it really existed.
Soaps Get Technical: How Daytime Dramas are Using New Media To Survive
Daytime soap operas represent a past time of television. In the past, people in general had more time on their hands to watch television. Now, with the Internet, cable TV, and other distractions, television networks are constantly looking for new ways to get and keep audiences. Daytime soaps are no exception, especially with low ratings to worry about. The soaps are using technology as a life preserve to save them from cancellation.
A good example of technology being used to seal the fate of a soap in danger of cancellation is Passions. A few months ago, NBC announced that it would be cancelling Passions, which was a shock but at the same time, it wasn’t. The cancellation news was a shock because Passions has earned a good amount of ratings, especially with teenaged girls and young women, but its ratings are always horrible in comparison to the other ten soap operas on TV. Of the ten, Passions is always rated the lowest, and Passions has been network television for eight years. In 2007, NBC says it is cancelling Passions because it wants to add another hour to the morning show Today, and also the network wants to cut back on its budget. As soon as NBC announced Passions’ cancellation, there was immediately speculation that SOAPNET would pick up the show. SOAPNET is a network owned by Disney which repeats soap operas such as General Hospital, The Young and The Restless, and Days of Our Lives (the other NBC soap) at night. It would have made sense to put Passions on SOAPNET, but SOAPNET did not want it. It seemed like there was no hope for Passions, but it was recently announced that DIRECTV would pick up the show. New episodes will run five days a week, and reruns will be shown on the weekend.
Passions will be the first soap opera that was saved in cancellation in this way. Producers of popular cancelled soaps of the past must be kicking themselves for not having the option to have been saved by satellite television. Even if DIRECTV did not catch Passions before it fell, the Internet could have saved it. Passions fans can already watch episodes of the soap on NBC’s website. If it wasn’t already going to DIRECTV, Passions could have made history by becoming the first soap opera that was on television but could now only be seen online. It’s not as if it would be the first time that a soap opera moved from one medium to another. Shows such as Guiding Light and As the World Turns are the only soaps on television today that originally started on radio, so why not with a show like Passions that is in danger of cancellation. With dwindling ratings, it is an option that soaps should definitely consider.
Although the majority of soap operas are not in as much relative danger of cancellation as Passions, let’s face it. Daytime soaps are considered by many in America to be archaic, boring, and lacking in creativity and innovation, so what better way to spruce up the viewing public’s image of soaps than to use it together with new media technologies. For example, two soap operas-As the World Turns and Guiding Light-are available for download on iTunes. What’s interesting about this is that the downloads are only audio and not video downloads, which hearkens back to the radio years of those two particular soaps. It is a positive thing because Proctor & Gamble-owned As the World Turns and Guiding Light have comparatively older viewers than the other two CBS soaps: The Young and the Restless and The Bold and the Beautiful, so iTunes is an alternative to get viewers, especially young, technologically savvy viewers, interested in the P&G soaps.
With the exception of the P&G soaps and Passions, the other daytime soaps don’t offer their shows on iTunes. So for a soap fan that misses their favorite show, SOAPNET is another alternative. As previously mentioned, SOAPNET’s allure is that you can watch your favorite soaps even at night if you miss them during the day. SOAPNET, as with anything in life, had good and bad points. The network is good if you, for example, do not feel like watching General Hospital at the time it is broadcast on your ABC-affiliate. SOAPNET is also useful if you forgot to program your VCR or TiVo. On the down side, SOAPNET does not show all of the soap operas. Another big downer is that SOAPNET is very biased towards ABC’s soap operas, which isn’t surprising since both SOAPNET and ABC are owned by Disney. It is only very recently that SOAPNET introduced The Young and The Restless and Days of Our Lives to the lineup; before, the lineup was all of ABC’s soaps.
Basically, if you are watching SOAPNET for the non-ABC shows, you will feel cheated and that there is nothing much for you to watch, but the network wants to show that it has a cornucopia of programming for a soap viewer. What is great about SOAPNET is that it has original programming such as I Want to Be a Soap Star, a reality show where aspiring actors and actresses compete to win a 13-week contract on a soap. The network also has Soapography, a series about the biographies of soap opera stars.
Of course, what about the person who doesn’t have iTunes or SOAPNET? Well, of course, there is always the good old-fashioned Internet. All three of the major networks have websites for their soap operas. The websites contain information on the soap characters, cast bios, story synopses, and more. These sites are also interactive so that fans can vote on polls and write on message boards.
A good example of technology being used to seal the fate of a soap in danger of cancellation is Passions. A few months ago, NBC announced that it would be cancelling Passions, which was a shock but at the same time, it wasn’t. The cancellation news was a shock because Passions has earned a good amount of ratings, especially with teenaged girls and young women, but its ratings are always horrible in comparison to the other ten soap operas on TV. Of the ten, Passions is always rated the lowest, and Passions has been network television for eight years. In 2007, NBC says it is cancelling Passions because it wants to add another hour to the morning show Today, and also the network wants to cut back on its budget. As soon as NBC announced Passions’ cancellation, there was immediately speculation that SOAPNET would pick up the show. SOAPNET is a network owned by Disney which repeats soap operas such as General Hospital, The Young and The Restless, and Days of Our Lives (the other NBC soap) at night. It would have made sense to put Passions on SOAPNET, but SOAPNET did not want it. It seemed like there was no hope for Passions, but it was recently announced that DIRECTV would pick up the show. New episodes will run five days a week, and reruns will be shown on the weekend.
Passions will be the first soap opera that was saved in cancellation in this way. Producers of popular cancelled soaps of the past must be kicking themselves for not having the option to have been saved by satellite television. Even if DIRECTV did not catch Passions before it fell, the Internet could have saved it. Passions fans can already watch episodes of the soap on NBC’s website. If it wasn’t already going to DIRECTV, Passions could have made history by becoming the first soap opera that was on television but could now only be seen online. It’s not as if it would be the first time that a soap opera moved from one medium to another. Shows such as Guiding Light and As the World Turns are the only soaps on television today that originally started on radio, so why not with a show like Passions that is in danger of cancellation. With dwindling ratings, it is an option that soaps should definitely consider.
Although the majority of soap operas are not in as much relative danger of cancellation as Passions, let’s face it. Daytime soaps are considered by many in America to be archaic, boring, and lacking in creativity and innovation, so what better way to spruce up the viewing public’s image of soaps than to use it together with new media technologies. For example, two soap operas-As the World Turns and Guiding Light-are available for download on iTunes. What’s interesting about this is that the downloads are only audio and not video downloads, which hearkens back to the radio years of those two particular soaps. It is a positive thing because Proctor & Gamble-owned As the World Turns and Guiding Light have comparatively older viewers than the other two CBS soaps: The Young and the Restless and The Bold and the Beautiful, so iTunes is an alternative to get viewers, especially young, technologically savvy viewers, interested in the P&G soaps.
With the exception of the P&G soaps and Passions, the other daytime soaps don’t offer their shows on iTunes. So for a soap fan that misses their favorite show, SOAPNET is another alternative. As previously mentioned, SOAPNET’s allure is that you can watch your favorite soaps even at night if you miss them during the day. SOAPNET, as with anything in life, had good and bad points. The network is good if you, for example, do not feel like watching General Hospital at the time it is broadcast on your ABC-affiliate. SOAPNET is also useful if you forgot to program your VCR or TiVo. On the down side, SOAPNET does not show all of the soap operas. Another big downer is that SOAPNET is very biased towards ABC’s soap operas, which isn’t surprising since both SOAPNET and ABC are owned by Disney. It is only very recently that SOAPNET introduced The Young and The Restless and Days of Our Lives to the lineup; before, the lineup was all of ABC’s soaps.
Basically, if you are watching SOAPNET for the non-ABC shows, you will feel cheated and that there is nothing much for you to watch, but the network wants to show that it has a cornucopia of programming for a soap viewer. What is great about SOAPNET is that it has original programming such as I Want to Be a Soap Star, a reality show where aspiring actors and actresses compete to win a 13-week contract on a soap. The network also has Soapography, a series about the biographies of soap opera stars.
Of course, what about the person who doesn’t have iTunes or SOAPNET? Well, of course, there is always the good old-fashioned Internet. All three of the major networks have websites for their soap operas. The websites contain information on the soap characters, cast bios, story synopses, and more. These sites are also interactive so that fans can vote on polls and write on message boards.
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