carld2
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Post by carld2 on Oct 1, 2023 17:14:05 GMT -5
Ste misery woe AND John Paul misery woe. What a treat. I know I'm tuning back in!!!
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carld2
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Post by carld2 on Sept 17, 2023 15:38:18 GMT -5
I read some speculation that the show had to axe its trans and gay male characters as a precondition to finding a new broadcaster in Australia. I don't know if someone has pulled that out of thin air but then again I do know how lousy Aussie broadcasters can be around queer content which is why they even censor lesbian kisses on H&A. At least Shorty got to keep its (presumably less-threatening?) lesbians.. That would be horrible. I wouldn't even be surprised but I hope it isn't the case. Stanley is still there, but barely used. I do think the show has improved over the year, after hitting some real lows in the spring, but it's still not what it could be, and feels increasingly hollow in terms of rep.
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carld2
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Post by carld2 on Sept 12, 2023 9:23:47 GMT -5
wish Amazon/Freevee could revive All My Children & One Life to Live Agree, although the ill-fated PP revivals probably put that to bed. There was an AMC revival pitched to ABC a few years ago by Kelly Ripa and her husband, but it went nowhere.
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carld2
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Post by carld2 on Sept 11, 2023 10:49:15 GMT -5
Matt Wilson is shown filming in this news feature, although they don't interview him. Someone said you can also see a photo of David in here, on the ice cream truck or somewhere, although I couldn't tell what they meant.
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carld2
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Post by carld2 on Sept 11, 2023 10:38:31 GMT -5
Feel like we might be entering the last year or two of the show, but I hope they survive.
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carld2
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Post by carld2 on Sept 8, 2023 13:03:02 GMT -5
Dawn's (temporary) exit last year was hastily written after the actor who plays Dawn (Rebekah Randell) suffered a miscarriage during the filming of the 30th anniversary episodes.
Thank you for sharing. This helps explain just how confusing and abrupt Dawn's exit was at that time last year. Feels like the end for being able to really talk about the show, if there's anything worth talking about - there are still episodes going around, but the easy to access clips for Jack, or the bi/lesbian characters like Nicole, were all wiped from Youtube.
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carld2
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Post by carld2 on Aug 18, 2023 13:33:20 GMT -5
I didn't think it was possible to make Jack more pathetic but they managed it. So he's settled in Sydney, still no boyfriend, and now he's having his dream - of platonic families with his female best friend. Glad it was a short visit because who knows how much more they could degrade the character if he stayed longer. I guess they at least did not have them get involved romantically, as they hinted at a few times last year. Is this a real exit for Dawn (please) or just maternity leave?
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carld2
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Post by carld2 on Jul 10, 2023 21:46:56 GMT -5
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Post by carld2 on Jun 23, 2023 15:23:03 GMT -5
TK had his latest death throes in the last few episodes and there was no sign of Jack returning. I guess he is probably gone for a good while. Considering what a poor state the show is in, probably for the best.
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carld2
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Post by carld2 on Jun 23, 2023 15:20:55 GMT -5
I can't remember if he was canonically gay or not but there's some speculation Curtis Perkins will be back, probably still just in a limited capacity. That may be the most we get.
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carld2
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Post by carld2 on May 20, 2023 7:20:49 GMT -5
Yes, I think it is done. Good riddance. The bits and pieces that I see on instagram are awful. Perhaps they've found a new audience that enjoys this new style? I sure hope so. It's been borderline unwatchable to me for most of the year, with plots that make no damn sense, and just bizarre fan fiction ideas (like Monique running the hospital). I watched a scene with the new intern throwing herself at Nicole and her acting was atrocious.
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carld2
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Post by carld2 on May 13, 2023 0:25:20 GMT -5
Leanne left the show today to go on an open-ended round-the-world cruise with Roz after winning the lottery for a second time. She got a proper send-off that makes me think she won't return. I was surprised because it was only last year that the actress said during an interview that she wasn't planning to retire. The key takeaway is whether this means Jack, whose departure was offscreen, will be back sooner rather than later? If he does return, it doesn't seem like there are any gay men waiting for him - all the male registrars seem to be heterosexual. At least Stanley is still part of the show, despite Jack and Dawn's departures. She will be turning up very soon I suspect - just in time to catch Logan with one of the female registrars, probably. I always figure Leanne will be back at some point but I do wonder just how extended the break will be. (it also makes me wonder what the point of the deafness story was) Jack's exit definitely seemed too rushed to be permanent, to me, but I shouldn't assume. If he does return he will probably still be in the corner anyway.
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carld2
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Post by carld2 on May 11, 2023 23:25:31 GMT -5
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Post by carld2 on May 2, 2023 12:13:19 GMT -5
I am really wondering if the writers are trying to get rid of some of the existing characters now that they have this new group of characters (who I find very uninteresting). Not just Jack, but now Dawn?? I know that Dawn said she might come back but honestly I won't be surprised if she doesn't come back. I'm also wondering if Madonna is going to leave, just based on how lost she seems to feel atm. It feels surreal that Jack left, he didn't even get a proper farewell or anything...it sucks. I'm lowkey hoping that he'll return and that it isn't a forever exit, but I'm not holding onto any hope. I doubt this is the end for Dawn, as she left her dog, but I sure hope it is. The character is at a low - pathetic beyond belief, hanging on for dear life to Jack even when he doesn't need her, not even caring about saying goodbye to her boyfriend AND dumping her dog off on him. She's just unwatchable. It doesn't matter how much the show keeps bringing new people on, the rot is from these dead, dead characters like Dawn and Esther who keep getting stories anyway.
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carld2
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Post by carld2 on May 2, 2023 12:04:48 GMT -5
If this is a permanent exit, it's particularly awful for a long-running character like Jack. And leaving with Dawn feels like it's more of an ordeal than his mother being terminally ill, LOL. I wonder if we will see Stanley anymore. Jack and Dawn were his main links to the show, although they tried to have him befriend Monique. We started seeing him more with the flower kiosk, and Monique, but I wouldn't be shocked if he disappears. At least he didn't die, I guess. If this is Jack's real exit, then it's jaw-droppingly terrible. No goodbye with Stanley, Chris, CeCe or TK, and instead the same agonizing scene with Dawn over and over and over, very little of which was actually about him. No respect for a character who has been on the show for a decade. Another sign of the lack of respect Shortland Street has not only for him but for gay men.
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carld2
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Post by carld2 on Apr 29, 2023 7:04:23 GMT -5
He looks like Logan. I wonder if he's going to be another sibling. (Jack and Dawn dating siblings would be about on brand for them at this point) Well, unless Jack is going to pull a Dawn and turn up like a bad penny despite announcing his exit, he won't get the chance to date anyone onscreen. It looks like our resident sad sack is out. So unless they're committing both the new male characters to a gay romance, this show is due to move boards. Considering how many characters have left and returned in the last year, I was not sure if it was real, but of course you're right. The scenes where Dawn was shouting and demanding that he stay were embarrassingly bad. I am so sick of this idiot.
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carld2
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Post by carld2 on Apr 28, 2023 8:01:38 GMT -5
Apparently a new guy will be among 3 new joiners to the cast: Parker Dawson. Any chance he will be a love interest for Jack? http://instagr.am/p/CrKXsVGBeM_ He looks like Logan. I wonder if he's going to be another sibling. (Jack and Dawn dating siblings would be about on brand for them at this point)
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carld2
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Post by carld2 on Apr 25, 2023 8:22:32 GMT -5
If they are clearing out old cast members, I have no idea why Dawn is still there. No character on the canvas screams "my story is over" as much as she does. While I like the actress, Madonna also seems to have completely run aground as a character. Fond as I am of Marty, I think he has also been written into too stark a corner, especially as I know miserable Esther is going nowhere. Yeah, I think Dawn's story came to a natural end around the time Prince left, or maybe before that when Ali passed. Even with her relationship with Logan, we're meant to believe they're madly in love and belong together, but the build up to the relationship was minimal and the writers put far more effort into some of her other relationships, such as the ones with Prince and Ali. If she stays super long-term, there may be a constant pattern of her getting into relationships and then them breaking up because the actor who plays the love interest wants to leave. It reminds me a little bit of what they do with Esther. I think her actress is great and she wasn't bad when she first started, but now they have no idea what to do with her character and she's just miserable. Her relationship with Marty was always boring and obviously second choice to Curts/Esther as well, I don't get why they didn't have him stay with Monique. I also don't know why she hasn't left already. especially since the writers obviously aren't that bothered about her character anymore. I have been struggling with the writing of Jack's character for a while, but in contrast to other characters, I think there's still story there for him. It really seems like the writers are holding back from giving him any kind of long-lasting romance. The oddest part of the runup to her relationship with Logan is they had her dating the Brightshine youth pastor and also made it clear she had feelings for the detective who only seems to show up when it's time for her to be in the midst of police drama. Logan was just one of many. Their relationship is fine, but I don't believe it has any real weight. As dylan also mentioned, the Marty and Esther relationship is just unpleasant and joyless. They seemed to get them back together because the actress was pregnant in real life and they decided to (crassly) have a child death storyline...at the worst possible time given how bleak the rest of the show was. And Marty, who had finally moved on with Monique, was completely isolated and degraded as a character in the process. This is not a way to run a show in the long term. Even now they seem to hedge their bets on Marty/Monique.
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carld2
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Post by carld2 on Apr 24, 2023 12:20:47 GMT -5
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Post by carld2 on Apr 24, 2023 12:19:01 GMT -5
I saw a post on another board (with no attribution) that Nicky and Ethan would have a fling. Would Ethan really do that knowing Nicky is Gabby's fiance? Nicky is also Aaron's first cousin (half-cousin to be precise, as they share only one grandparent, Faith). I saw a post which suggested the guy who recently arrived to cause problems for Nicky is the one who hooks up with Ethan.
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carld2
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Post by carld2 on Apr 24, 2023 6:06:36 GMT -5
Well we’re about to see a bunch of new faces as six new doctors, one of whom is Chris’s son Harry joins the cast next Monday. With Villi quitting and Jack talking about leaving maybe they’re clearing out old cast members to make room for new. If they are clearing out old cast members, I have no idea why Dawn is still there. No character on the canvas screams "my story is over" as much as she does. While I like the actress, Madonna also seems to have completely run aground as a character. Fond as I am of Marty, I think he has also been written into too stark a corner, especially as I know miserable Esther is going nowhere.
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Post by carld2 on Apr 22, 2023 19:09:43 GMT -5
SPOILERS: YIKES. I don't know what to say about this season other than what the actual fuck?!?! The gays got the least amount of screen time of anyone. Ibon coming out was overdue, but why the fuck didn't he come out in season 1? They had him as a sensitive piano player whose dad saw him as weak and a sissy, yet he was still straight?! Made no sense. He should have come out in season 1, not season 2. The new season was a hot mess. It's not just the fact that the gays got little screen time, it's also the fact that they didn't get a story. Fucking hell... even Eloy and Orson got a story despite only having like 3 scenes together last season. Eloy was away for half the season, very convenient if you ask me. It's clear these writers din't give a shit about their gay (male) characters. Everyone and I mean EVERYONE wanted Ibon and Eloy as the gay male couple, so why the hell did they pair him with Orson?! Made no sense. The lesbians got a decent story though, of course. Oh yeah... and then there's the fact that they LITERALLY just killed one of the gay (male) characters). Ibon was a fan fave, AND he was a main character. They couldn't have killed off Orson instead? He never gave a shit about ELoy anyway. Ibon actually cared about him. There are two things I never forgive in tv shows: killing gay characters and having gay characters sleep with women (unless it's part of them discovering themselves, then it sorta makes sense, but not after coming out). I will say one thing though: there were some hot gay sex scenes, including a threesome, but it didn't make up for the rest... which was shit. This show is dead to me. Did any of this happen in the second series or you just mean in general? Thanks for the review. I think you may have gotten the spoiler tag off.
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carld2
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Post by carld2 on Apr 21, 2023 21:12:28 GMT -5
It's all a mess. But Jack has felt like a straggler on the show nearly the entire time since his family left. When he said today that TK was like a mentor to him, I was like... since when? I don't remember them ever really interacting much at all. Was that all offscreen? They were closer last year, but I don't remember them having a ton to do with each other lately.
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carld2
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Post by carld2 on Apr 21, 2023 10:17:09 GMT -5
Them refusing to give Jack a long-term, meaningful relationship is giving homophopbia. He has so much potential but I can just tell that they aren't focused on him. He's just...there. It'd be a shame for him to leave when he hasn't reached his full potential. I don't know the last time where he's had an actual interesting storyline. The writing for the character feels degrading and belittling, with no end in sight, even as other characters who behave abominably get a free pass. I'm tired of hearing about how arrogant he is and how he needs to learn a lesson when no one says that about characters like Maeve, Harper, Dawn, etc. The show is just incomprehensible to me these days. I still can't get past Viliami going in one week from a story about being groomed to a story about him having sexytimes with Monique at work.
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carld2
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Post by carld2 on Apr 17, 2023 15:52:29 GMT -5
ronweasley thank you for keeping us updated. The conspiracy/homophobia story is something more soaps should tackle, although most of them would do a poor job.
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