I think the way I look at it is that it's hard for Luke and Noah to have a big storyline that involves more people if others don't actually play a part in the story. James' return had Jack and Carly and Henry and V. playing huge roles in the storyline, but the focus was always about Paul and Meg. Seems to me that's the case here.

Quote:Quote:Noah would've made the perfect Jethro. Heh, especially since we know how clueless the boy can be! I gotta say though he's driving me to distraction. It was bad enough earlier this week when he made Luke feel guilty about his running for president when they had clearly discussed it at length so Noah should not have been surprised to hear the news. And that promo clip made it clear he doesn't believe Luke when he says this not about Kevin. Luke looked really hurt by that. He deserves better.Even when the episode clearly showed that Luke knew HE WAS WRONG not to tell Noah about running ("You are the first person I should have told Noah", "You (Casey) aren't the one who should be apologizing", the Luke lovers somehow still find a way to blame Noah. Some things never change.Personally, I'm ready for Noah to find a new boyfriend but I'm afraid the writers won't expend any energy writing for Noah.

FTR, I happen to love both characters and nobody is blaming Noah for anything. I just happen to think that in this case, Luke had done nothing wrong and there was no reason for him to apologize. And Noah pouting and making Luke feel guilty seemed childish. Again, it had been discussed at length already. Luke said he was going to do it, Noah was aware of that. So there was nothing for him to be surprised and put out about.

Post deleted by WEEKLYMala

It's been my experience that characters do and say things that we disagree with all the time. The writers tell us Paul and Meg should be together, but I think they are toxic and should be a millions miles apart and off my screen. They tell us that Em and Casey were a doomed couple that never could have worked. But I think they were amazing together and had the potential for years and years of great storytelling. What the writers say and what I think differ at times and this is another example. It's not inventing or making up anything, it's called having a different point of view, which is allowed and shouldn't bring on personal attacks.

SarahC - You can defend Noah as you see fit, but turning it into a "Noah lovers vs. Luke lovers" argument and specifically calling out Anthony in that manner violates our board rules. I've deleted your posts.

Post deleted by WEEKLYMala

I'm kind of wondering if Luke and Kevin might have a debate before the election day....

Maybe that spoiler about Luke and Kevin squaring off for Thursday's show is about that.

Do I have to whip out reminders of how we act on these forums? I guess I do!

#1. I am not concerned with how posters behave on other message boards or the banning policies of other message boards. I am concerned with what goes on here.

#2. When I have asked someone several times to monitor what they say about fellow posters, TPTB, and the soap press and those requests are met with nothing but open hostility and the continued flouting of our board rules, it makes me incredibly cranky.

#3. I tend to give posters a ton of leeway precisely because differing opinions are allowed here. That stops now. (Er, the leeway, that is. Not the allowing of differing opinions. You can still offer dissent, as long as you're being respectful about it.)

I agree that I don't think Luke did anything wrong, but I also don't blame Noah for feeling the way he felt. Luke got Reg to put his name on the ballot and didn't tell Noah about it. I wish the show could have made Noah supportive of Luke for more than 2 minutes. It just seems like they are rushing it to the conclusion and have Noah upset right away. I do think Noah has a right to be concerned, but they have to show the reasons why Noah is upset. As for the airtime or lack of airtime, I know that Luke and Noah are going to be on 2 days out of 3. I'm happy they get at least 2 days for once. I just don't get why they can't be on 3 out of 3 days, especially when Casey and Alison are.

It's still possible that they are on all three days. The fact that they're not mentioned in the daily spoilers for that day, doesn't mean anything.

But I'm happy with two days and I like Alison and Casey, so I don't have a problem with them.

I don't think Alison and Casey are taking over Nuke's story. Just look at the november sweeps spoilers. They're about Luke (which means Noah too), but we really don't know a lot about what's going to happen with Alison/Casey after election day.

To me, it was just classic "push me pull me" - Noah was hurt because of something unintentional that happened, and when Luke figured that out, he went into overdrive to make Noah feel better...that was his first priority. It's really, to me, one of the things that make Luke and Noah stand out above all the rest, they're shown putting the feelings of the other above their own quite a bit, and usually it's the opposite.

I couldn't agree more with you, Richard. I am dreading that scene of Alison being humiliated and wandering through Old Town in her underwear. Jean Passanante never, NEVER stops this. She just loves to have the female characters on this show be weak, pathetic and degraded. It's sickening.

Sadly, storylines pegged around the mistreatment of women are all too common across the board in soaps. It's something that I really wish would stop.

I agree Mala that it's all too common and that's why it's so troubling. It's hard to understand when there are a lot of women in key positions in soaps largely targeting a female audience that they don't get that many of their viewers do not find it to be entertaining. The worst part is there usually isn't the proper fallout and they show it all forgotten in a day or two like women should just get over something like this I wish too they would wakeup and stop this type of story.

Quote:SarahC, there is no question of hairstyle criticizing (of the non-bashing variety) being okay "now" when it was clearly okay before.I'm confused. If this is ok, why does it say in the official rules of this board:Quote:1. Please do not engage in personal attacks on actors, actresses, The Powers That Be, or members of the soap press. This includes criticism of their physical appearance, speculation about their talent or lack thereof, and thoughts on their level of intelligence.So criticizing an actor's physical appearance is ok, despite what the rules say? I just want to make sure I understand for future reference. And, IMHO, when you are criticizing something, you are bashing something. I think finding fault with something and bashing something is the same to me, but that's only my opinion.

Just my opinion, and no one else's, but perhaps there's a difference in saying an actor's appearance on the show, as they were dressed or made up or made to look by the show itself, is different than criticizing how someone looks in real life....could that be it? The actor themselves is in control of one, but not the other, so maybe could it be along the same lines as critiquing the character vs. critiquing the actor?

In other words - to me, "Noah's hair looked funny today" isn't the same as saying "Jake's hair etc. etc." Does that make any sense at all???

Of course there's a difference. I realize that some are uber-sensitive about any negative comments of any kind of their favorites (which would seem to not include Dusty cause I know there was much said about his hair issues and there wasn't a peep from anyone) but people know when a line is being crossed between making a comment about someone having a bad hair day and saying someone is unattractive. It is two completely different things. It's all about the tone and the spirit in which the comment is being said, something that has been demonstrated in this very thread. Though to keep the peace, you won't hear any further comments from me about Noah's hair. I can't promise not to criticize him on how he treats his boyfriend though!

Further down in the Rules thread, I clarified it thusly...Quote:There's a distinct difference between saying, "Man, Mala's wearing an ugly dress today," and "Mala is a fat cow who wouldn't look good in anything." Or saying "Joe is a stupid hack who can't write," and "Joe's Sweeps storyline didn't work for me and here's why..."That is what the bashing/criticism rule boils down to.Also, there is, indeed, the added factor of tone and intent. If someone is clearly a fan of a character and is taking a fond jab, that is different from a hater going off on the actor.It's a thin line, but it's there.Jake/Noah is not being singled out. In addition to the Dusty hair/beard chatter, I also left open a post where someone wanted Margo's hair to go back to being redder.

I guess what I'm saying is if Luke and Noah get less depth and airtime than the other characters, wouldn't that make them supporting characters in this story? I like Casey and Alison and care about what happens to them as well, but we aren't really seeing how anything is affecting Luke so far. The show hasn't made clear if Luke is doing this because of old feelings for Kevin, he still has a grudge against Kevin, or another reason. I would also like to know why Noah is jealous of Kevin at this point and why he thinks Luke should not be running. If Luke and Kevin were spending a lot of time together, then I could see it. I actually do wish Luke and Kevin would be friends again and we would get to see Noah's reaction to that.

I don't see how what happens to Casey and Alison affects Luke. It only affects Luke if he is involved in their plan and I see that he isn't. It seems to me that everything is happening around Luke instead of him being part of the action. He is just a bystander in the storyline, which I honestly wouldn't have a problem with if there weren't constant proclamations of Luke and Noah having a big story and more airtime. I could be wrong, but that's just the way it seems to me.

Is it possible to move this endless discussion about airtime to the proper thread as has already been asked? I thought there was a thread just for going on and on about it. It is particularly annoying since it's based something that hasn't even happened yet.

I can't believe you think that what happens to Alison this week won't have an effect on Luke (and Noah). Mark and his crew are kidnapping Alison. I can see why Noah thinks that all of this is going way too far. I'm going to wait and see what happens before I make assumptions. While the action this week might revolve around Casey and Alison, we do know that there is a story for Luke and Noah (Luke's self-destructive behavior). Do we know what happens to Alison and Casey after November 4th? No, there was nothing about them in the November Sweeps spoilers.

You make a valid point, Mark, especially about actually seeing something before making any assumptions.

What I'm saying is, shouldn't the action be centering on Luke and Noah in order to demonstrate that Luke is being self destructive? What behavior of Luke's has been self destructive so far? So far, Luke hasn't really engaged in any type of behavior. Reg put Luke's name on a ballot for an election that Luke hasn't even campaigned for yet. I don't think that is self destructive. I am definitely interested in what happens with Alison and Casey. However, what happens to Alison has an indirect effect on Luke and not a direct effect. If all the action revolves around Casey and Alison, where is the story for Luke and Noah?

Luke's self-destructive behavior is a direct result of the election story. And the action is not "centered" on Alison and Casey for the whole arc. It's just part of the story arc, an impetus for what Luke chooses to do next. The four characters are all involved to varying degrees. It's not just Luke and Noah's story. It IS a story encompassing them all.

Good, I hope it is a story that encompasses them all. All four are favorites of mine.

Is it worst to be boring or stupid? As I sit and watch today's show, it's the question I keep asking myself. The Brad/Katie/Spencer plot is boring (not to mention predictable). And the Meg/Paul/Dusty/Em plot is just stupid (and repetitive). I couldn't get over how blase Paul was about killing Dusty and how he changed his mind after three words from a psychic (though it could have been more, it seemed like an entire scene was missing there). And while Jack and Janet are sweet and cute, it's hard to believe that Brad and Katie could be so overjoyed about their news when they were around this time last year. They know how this turns out. It's like a big white elephant in the room. As the show heads in to November sweeps, they have to do better than more of the same old, same old.

Interesting that Em talks about not having any friends... she trashed the best friendship she'd had in years.

I did think it was funny that despite that he's a total whack job, Paul ran out and got highlights.

OMG! Can't we all just get along?

ROTFL. Wouldn't it be nice to all get along?

And, AnthonyL, maybe Paul futzing with his hairstyle is how he deals with stress and trauma? It's the only way to explain how he gets his colors done every few weeks, is always getting a trim, etc. Heck, he probably has a stylist locked away at Fairwinds somewhere just for that purpose! Other soap characters hit the bar and unload on the bartender, you just know Paul vents while he's getting a shampoo!

In fact, it's too bad Paul and Dusty aren't pals, because Dusty could sure use a salon appointment. LOL.

I agree with you about today's scenes with Paul. I was thinking I got up and missed a scene! Brad is really upsetting me about sticking up for Spencer so much. This is not like Brad - going against Katie. By the way....talking about Austin. My daughter was watching a re-run of Sabrina, The Teenage Witch the other day and Austin was on it! I laughed and said "Look it's Brad" He was playing a wierd art gallery guy I think! He looks just as good now as he did back then....it was from 2002 (I looked to see how long ago it was!)

Sorry Mala, I am still pretty new at this texting lingo...what does ROTFL mean?

"ROTFL" is "Rolling On The Floor Laughing." It's not texting lingo, but rather longstanding Internet-speak.

(A better alternative to "Rolling On The Floor Crying," that's for sure!)

Mala, I thnk you've solved the great Oakdale mystery. It's obviously Paul's hairstylist who's beng held prisoner in that big giant vase at Fairwinds.

Quote:ROTFL. Wouldn't it be nice to all get along?And, AnthonyL, maybe Paul futzing with his hairstyle is how he deals with stress and trauma? It's the only way to explain how he gets his colors done every few weeks, is always getting a trim, etc. Heck, he probably has a stylist locked away at Fairwinds somewhere just for that purpose! Other soap characters hit the bar and unload on the bartender, you just know Paul vents while he's getting a shampoo! In fact, it's too bad Paul and Dusty aren't pals, because Dusty could sure use a salon appointment. LOL. HA! I wonder if Luke has the same stylist since he and Paul spend more time getting their hair done than anyone else in Oakdale.I think I could deal with Dusty's longer hair if he shaved off the beard (though I prefer the short hair). He's covering that handsome mug and that's a shame!

Quote:Mala, I thnk you've solved the great Oakdale mystery. It's obviously Paul's hairstylist who's beng held prisoner in that big giant vase at Fairwinds.

You know, if Paul wanted to solve his financial crises without Dusty's help, all he would have to do is let poor Fernando out of the vase and rent him out to coiffurically-challenged Oakdale residents. He'd make back all his cash in NO time.

(And now I can't get the idea of Luke and Paul getting mani-pedis together out of my head.)

Quote:Quote:Mala, I thnk you've solved the great Oakdale mystery. It's obviously Paul's hairstylist who's beng held prisoner in that big giant vase at Fairwinds. You know, if Paul wanted to solve his financial crises without Dusty's help, all he would have to do is let poor Fernando out of the vase and rent him out to coiffurically-challenged Oakdale residents. He'd make back all his cash in NO time.(And now I can't get the idea of Luke and Paul getting mani-pedis together out of my head.) And he's even named after an ABBA song, how great is that? hehe

I KNEW you'd catch that!

Quote:I KNEW you'd catch that! Pick one...A. Great mindsB. Warped mindsC. Great warped mindsthink alike. I pick "c".

And about tomorrow's episode, I'm looking forward to seeing if either Liz Hubbard or Larry Lau can actually skate, or if they just fake it.

OK I missed the ABBA connection. What song? And I am sure I should know this. Someone is going to take away my rainbow card that's for sure.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ohr4P8E_io

Well, I guess they're coming to get my card now because I SO didn't get it.

Charmed - Give up the rainbow card if you have to, but never, EVER let go of your toaster oven.

And Anthony, don't take it too hard. "Fernando" isn't even remotely my favorite ABBA song.

Since I'm the only one who totally got it, do I need to be worried about myself and/or my sanity?

Mala They would have to pry that toaster oven out of my cold dead hands. I worked to hard to get that. It's not easy converting str8 men to our side. Just kidding. That ABBA song must not have been very popular because I don't recall ever hearing it before.

Brad was a complete idiot today. Why would he take Spencer's side over Katie? It's like Noah taking Ameera's side over Luke's. But this makes no sense. Brad has no reason to do this. Plus isn't the fact that she is trying to be like Katie sending up red flags? I like the actress, but I liked her Olivia character betterr.

I find it odd that Brad is acting all high and mighty with Katie as well. Wasn't he the one who almost killed someone, then had everybody lying to save his sorry butt not that long ago? didn't it (temporarily) cost his brother his job? Now he is taking the side of a total stranger over his own wife? Maybe I missed something.....

One thing that surprised me (in a good way) was to see Anthony Herrera on the show, for some reason I just assumed his stint was over this time, but I'm glad it's not. the persistence of it makes me wonder if he's really dead? Knowing James, there's an elaborate system of projectors or something, that he's installed at Fairwinds, to creep out Paul. Wouldn't put it past him!