Monday, December 22, 2025
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Young and Watchless: The Soap Operas Are Back But Ratings Are Half What They Were Pre-Pandemic Break

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The three daytime soaps that went into reruns are back on the air with new episodes after a three month long pandemic break.

“Days of our Lives” never stopped showing first run episodes.

And the news is not great. All four shows have about half the viewers they left off with in May.

It’s not like all the actors and stories aren’t going full throttle. But August is always a low viewing month. And this August people got out of the habit of watching their shows.

The networks are going to have to step up promotion if they want their audience to return.

Number 1 show “The Young and the Restless” is really suffering with their lowest ratings ever. For the week of August 10th-14th, the total viewers were 2,685,000. “Y&R” should be up at least around 4.1 million.

The soaps have taken a lot of blows this year, starting with interruptions because of the impeachment hearings. The pandemic break was devastating.

So get back to your shows, fans! All the scheming and manipulating and sexy time is back!

 

Skip RNC, Instead Zoom Tonight with Beloved NY Actor Fred Melamed (Curb Your Enthusiasm) and Chef Eric LeVine

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Looking for something to watch tonight besides the horrid Republican convention?

There’s a mouth watering Zoom tonight with beloved New York actor Fred Melamed and famed chef Eric LeVine.

Hope at Home is a virtual series for the American Cancer Society’s Taste of Hope, a New York tradition. You can get the info at tohhopeathomechefericlevine.eventbrite.com. You’ll get a lot of gossip from Fred about his great movie roles including “Curb Your Enthusiasm” and the Coen Brothers’ “A Serious Man.” Eric Levine — a cancer survivor and James Beard nominated chef of the year — will cook up a storm. We may learn to do something more than flip hamburgers!

Here’s Eric in action:

and Fred, of course:

 

Vanity Fair Follows Oprah Magazine with Breonna Taylor Cover, Debuts Black-Centric Issue But Does Their Audience Want It?

Last month, Oprah’s O Magazine put Breonna Taylor on the cover. The African American woman was murdered in her own home by police on March 13, 2020 and no one has been arrested. It was the first time Oprah herself wasn’t the cover subject. Brilliant.

Now, Vanity Fair has followed Oprah’s lead and put Taylor on their cover. Instead of a photograph of Taylor, they commissioned a painting.

The September issue of Vanity Fair is black centric, guest edited by Ta-Nehisi Coates, with stories and contributions by at least 40 African American writers whose names are largely unknown to Vanity Fair readers. It’s an unusual move for editor Radhika Jones, who’s facing declining circulation and low online numbers. She’s clearly aiming for magazine awards, a la the New York Times Magazine’s historic 1619 project. The question is, Do Vanity Fair readers want this?

Coates writes of Black Lives Matter in his searing Guest Editor’s Letter: “A thousand Eric Garners will be tolerated, so long as they are strangled to death in the shadows of the American carceral system, the most sprawling gulag known to man. And so evil does its business in the shadows…”

Last month, Oscar, Tony and Emmy winner Viola Davis — one of my favorite all time people — graced Vanity Fair’s cover. Change is here. The old Vanity Fair of Graydon Carter and Tina Brown is officially dead. Jones is declaring that and so is Conde Nast. Today we are seeing the grisly video of police shooting Jacob Blake in the back as he’s in his car with his three sons. There is no going back. No more celebrating white wealth and whim.

I’m looking forward to reading “The Great Fire” issue — and seeing “carceral” become a word that Microsoft 360 doesn’t run a wavy red line under.

Vanity Fair video

Shepard Smith — Former Voice of Reason on Fox News– Starts Nightly CNBC News Show Begins September 30th at 7pm

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“The News with Shepard Smith.”

For some reason, I can hear Regis Philbin imitating Ted Baxter announcing this serious title.

But really, Shep’s new CNBC show begins September 30th at 7pm. That must be the minute his non compete with former employer Fox News ends. Smith was the voice of reason at Fox for eons until they finally forced him out.

Sanford Cannold and Sally Ramirez have been tapped as the Senior Executive Producer and Executive Producer, respectively.

CNBC traditionally tunes out when all the markets close, so this will revive their fortunes in the evening. If the Shep show works, it can be a building block for more programming. As long as they’re not going crazy conservative to compete with Fox, that’s fine. Maybe it will just be down the middle, sane stuff. Not a bad idea!

Berlin Film Festival Wipes Out Best Actor/Actress, Goes Non-Gender in All Awards, Will This Be a Trend for All Awards?

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Best Actress, Best Actor? No more. At least at the Berlin Film Festival. They’re going non-gender and handing out one acting prize for lead and supporting this winter.

I think it’s just a way of saving money making statues. Cheap Germans.

“The Berlinale has reorganised the prizes awarded by the International Jury in the Competition. For the first time, the performance awards will be defined in a gender-neutral way. Instead of the awards for the Best Actor and the Best Actress, a “Silver Bear for Best Leading Performance” and a “Silver Bear for Best Supporting Performance” shall each be awarded on a gender-neutral basis.”

So there’s no longer a distinction between men and women, and all the gradations. Will this become the norm now for all awards shows? (If you have an opinion on this, all hell will break out, so tread carefully.)

The Berlin Film Festival also says they’re planning a physical film festival despite the high rate of COVID in Europe,  and Americans’ inability to travel there. Good luck!

2nd Claudia Conway Update: Kellyanne Conway Is Leaving Trump White House at End of August to Take Care of Family

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Kellyanne Conway has bent to the will of her 15 year old daughter. She’s leaving the Trump White House at the end of August to take care of her family.

I guess Claudia’s threats to seek emancipation, plus her other observations about her mother’s nefarious work have done the trick.

We owe Claudia a great thank you for ridding us of Kellyanne braying her way through the election. I can only hope we never see her or hear from her again.

Kellyanne’s estranged husband, George Conway, says he’s taking a break from Twitter. But not from the Lincoln Project, I hope. Maybe they’ll get that divorce.

The whole soap opera of Kellyanne and George has taken its toll on their family, not to mention all of us. But it was Claudia who was brave enough to stand up and say Enough! That girl is going places.

Ding dong the witch is dead. Bannon is on bail pending trial. Cohen is serving time at home. Manafort’s in jail. Roger Stone is in limbo. And so on. How lovely. Sean Spicer, I hope, has no career. Sarah Huckabee is waiting tables. Just brilliant.

Kellyanne’s statement:

“The past four years have allowed me blessings beyond compare as a part of history on Election Night 2016 and as Senior Counselor to the President. It’s been heady. It’s been humbling. I am deeply grateful to the President for this honor, and tothe First Lady, the Vice President and Mrs. Pence, my colleagues in the White House and the Administration, and the countless people who supported me and my work. As many convention speakers will demonstrate this week, President Trump’s leadership has hada measurable, positive impact on the peace and prosperity of the nation, and on millions of Americans who feel forgotten no more.The incredible men, women and children we’ve met along the way have reaffirmed my later-in-life experience that public service can be meaningful and consequential. For all of its political differences and cultural cleavages, this is a beautiful country filled with amazing people. The promise of America belongs to us all. I will be transitioning from the White House at the end of this month. George is also making changes. We disagree about plenty but we are united on what matters most: the kids. Our four children are teens and ‘tweens starting a new academic year, in middle school and high school, remotely from home for at least a few months. As millions of parents nationwide know, kids “doing school from home” requires a level of attention and vigilance that is as unusual as these times. This is completely my choice and my voice. In time, I will announce future plans. For now, and for my beloved children, it will be less drama, more mama.”

 

 

Claudia Conway UPDATE: Getting Emancipated “Because of Years of Childhood Trauma and Abuse”

Claudia Conway, 15, says on Twitter this afternoon:
“i’m not getting emancipated because of my mom’s job.. it is because of years of childhood trauma and abuse”

She’s claiming this against her parents, Kellyanne and George Conway. Kellyanne, who is loathed by the public, speaks lies for Donald Trump. George has run a robust public campaign against Trump and by association, Kellyanne. Their living situation cannot be pleasant.

While I’d like to believe Kellyanne Conway dips her children in a vat of boiling oil, it seems unlikely. This family needs help ASAP, and not from Dr. Phil. They need a real therapist. I hope they can get one before things get worse.

y’all love to twist everything
Loudly crying face
Loudly crying face

Trump the Vampire: Announcement Today Per WashPo Is Minor–Clearing Way to Use Plasma Donations from Recovered Patients

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Donald Trump is a vampire after all.

He wants to suck the blood — or the plasma part of it– from recovered COVID patients and use it on new patients.

This is his big announcement today at 6pm. The Washington Post broke the story,  although apparently there was discussion of “convalescent plasma” on the Sunday news shows.

There has been interest in the effectiveness, but it’s not considered any kind of “game changer” in the curing or preventing of COVID. This is not a vaccine and has nothing to do with one. It’s just Trump the Vampire trying to make noise on the eve of the Republican convention.

I was excited because I thought Trump and the My Pillow guy were going to announce a pillow-Clorox cure today.

 

 

Box Office! Russell Crowe’s “Unhinged” Does Terrifying $4 Mil, Mostly at Drive-Ins, “Inception” Redux Fails to Score in Advance of “Tenet”

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There’s box office news! Hello!

Russell Crowe’s horror thriller whatever “Unhinged” opened where theaters could show it and made $4 million. That’s pretty good. Of course, it couldn’t be shown in New York, New Jersey, or California inside theaters. And pretty much most of Florida and Texas.

So where did people see “Unhinged”? According to Exhibitor Relations, the top 5 locations were all drive ins. Four of those were in California, one was in Detroit. That was probably a great way to see this B movie.

The top 10 box office was:

TOP NORTH AMERICA BOX OFFICE 1. UNHINGED ($4M) 2. SPONGEBOB: SOTR ($550k) 3. WORDS ON BATHROOM WALLS ($462k) 4. GOONIES ($260k) 5. CUT THROAT CITY ($240k) 6. EMPIRE STRIKES BACK ($230k) 7. PENINSULA ($210k) 8. JURASSIC PARK ($180k) 9. SONIC ($150k) 10. BACK TO THE FUTURE ($140k)

(Please note that Steven Spielberg or George Lucas has something to do with four of the top 10 movies.)

Solstice Studios’ Mark Gill put “Unhinged” in 1,823 theaters, the widest release for any movie since mid March. Next week, he’ll add a few more theaters. “Unhinged” cost $33 million plus at least $15 million in promotional costs.

In other box office news, Warner Bros. re-released “Inception” in advance of Christopher Nolan’s “Tenet.” No one knows the theater count, and there’s no report of what it made, but it didn’t make the top 10. “Tenet” has an 80 on Rotten Tomatoes, down from an initial 88.

 

Kellyanne Conway’s 15 Year Old Daughter “Pushing for Emancipation”: “My mother’s job ruined my life to begin with”

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Claudia Conway, 15 year old daughter of Trump spokesmonster Kellyanne Conway and Lincoln Project founder George Conway, has had it with her parents and their politics. (The parents are on opposite sides, quite vociferously, of the election.)

She says on Twitter tonight that she is “pushing for emancipation.”

Claudia posted tonight: “I’m officially pushing for emancipation. buckle up because this is probably going to be public one way or another, unfortunately. welcome to my life…

“…i have been using social media as an outlet to express my passions, individuality, and to shed light on some hardships. i have been vulnerable for a reason. thank you for supporting me…

i’m devasted [sic] that my mother is actually speaking at the RNC. like DEVASTATED beyond compare…”

“my mother’s job ruined my life to begin with. heartbreaking that she continues to go down that path after years of watching her children suffer. selfish. it’s all about money and fame, ladies and gentlemen.

And about George Conway, who hates Trump and seems to be estranged from Kellyanne:

“as for my dad, politically, we agree on absolutely nothing. we just both happen to have common sense when it comes to our current president. stop “stanning” him…”

Claudia turns 16 on October 17th. I guess that’s when the emancipation campaign begins. Look, I can’t stand Kellyanne Conway. Her inveterate lying and shilling for Trump, the rationalizing and promoting, all of it makes me sick. Are we enjoying seeing her child attack her? Yes, but only somewhat. It’s a sad comment on the whole Trump debacle that this kid has risen from the ashes of disaster to undo her own parents.