From the Sublime to the Jersey Shore… -

General Hospital…

“The TV Junkie” by Penny Landau****One of the best story lines in the history of “General Hospital,” second only to the Stone- Robin AIDS arc, is the one airing now during the 55^th season of this long enduring and much beloved daytime drama. One of Port Charles’ main characters, crime boss and coffee importer (ahem!) Sonny Corinthos, played to perfection by the uber-talented Maurice Benard, is reunited with his father Mike Corbin, portrayed by the brilliant Max Gail. You might remember Gail as Detective Stan “Wojo” Wojciehowicz in TV’s “Barney Miller” from 1975-1982, but his role as Mike is far from comedy. You see, Mike Corbin is suffering from Alzheimer’s and Gail is giving a breathtakingly magnificent performance, the likes of which Daytime hasn’t seen since Judith Light exploded in the courtroom as Karen Wolek on “One Life to Life” in 1979. As Mike drifts from the past to the present and back again, Sonny travels the road with him. Sometimes that road is rocky, but Sonny’s doing his best and the relationship between father and son is wonderful and a long time coming. Years ago, Mike left his family when Sonny was a young boy and when his mother remarried, it was to an abusive cop who had no problem beating up on Mike’s son. This illness has brought the two of them together in so many ways, the most important of which is that Sonny is there for his father, letting the past stay in the past. This is a story arc that touches the heart of all those who have experienced Alzheimer’s with a loved one. Especially moving was the scene during the annual Nurses’ Ball when Mike takes to the stage to sing. As he belts out the Sinatra tune “Summer Wind,” he forgets the words mid-song. Sonny jumps onstage with him, calms him down and proceeds to sing it with him. There wasn’t a dry eye in the house, or in my living room, as I watched this beautiful scene being played out. The acting is superb and if Gail doesn’t win an Emmy for this, then there is no Daytime G-d.

Rachel Maddow and kids in cages…

As you might know, I’m a huge fan of Rachel Maddow, the extremely intelligent and articulate commentator on MSNBC. Last week, at the end of her show, following the release of the audio recorded in one of the “shelters” – for lack of a better term – went public, Maddow tried to read an AP report about the “tender age shelters” which housed babies, toddlers and infants. She tried, several times, then tried again, then ended her broadcast.

With things going south politically this year (MY opinion), Maddow, like every other clear-thinking American, has been inundated with so many racist, homophobic, Islamophobic, everything that isn’t WASP-phobic, comments on an hourly basis that it was only a matter of time before she cracked. On air talent is supposed to report the news in an unbiased way, with little emotion. For the most part, Maddow does, but the thought of these shelters for infants and young children, was too much to handle for the gifted host.

With today’s SCOTUS decision, tonight Maddow is addressing the shameful and racist “Muslim Ban,” which the Court decided was legal. Once he added North Korea to the banned countries, it’s not a Muslim ban any longer. Legal, yes, but right? Not even close. She cited the case of Korematsu v. United States, 323 U.S. 214, a landmark United States Supreme Court case concerning the constitutionality of Executive Order 9066, which ordered Japanese Americans into internment camps during World War II regardless of citizenship. In her dissent to the majority’s ruling on the travel ban, Justice Sotomayor compared the decision to the Korematsu case, saying there are “stark parallels” in the reasoning. What happened next? SCOTUS then overruled the Korematsu case, which was enacted by a lie. This “Travel Ban,” proposed by POTUS to save the US safe from our enemies, is not enacted by a lie, but by his constant verbal abuse and hatred for Muslims, except those from the countries where he has hotels or does business. G-d save us.

This Just In…

So they cancelled “Timeless” for the second time and I’m just as upset as the first time. Come on, guys, this is a great show. Ok, so I’m obsessed with quantum physics, time travel and the space time continuum, but who isn’t? Plus, they left us with a WTF? Cliff-hanger and that’s so not fair. Let’s hope there’s another write-in campaign and the show will be saved, yet again. They also cancelled “Scorpion,” an innocuous little show about a bunch on nerds who save the world week after week, while learning to adapt to the society around them. Netflix needs to save both of these shows.

I told you months ago that there was going to be a reboot of “The Nanny” and now, it seems, Fran Drescher and Peter Marc Jacobson are currently in talks for just that. I’ll keep you posted.

“The Chew” is canceled. I’d kinda like to think that it’s the revenge of the “All My Children” g-ds.

Dominic Zamprogna, Dante Falconeri on “General Hospital” since 2009, will be leaving the soap. No word yet if the role is being recast or Dante’s simply disappearing. I’d like to think that he won’t be killed. I mean, a second cop on the PCPD to die this year, plus Sonny losing another son, is just too much for one Mafioso to have to endure.

Until next time… When we go back to the shore…the shore of Miami!

“The TV Junkie” was preceded in her family by a large mahogany cabinet that housed a small screen with a large speaker below. Thus began her love affair with the older sibling in the living room. Theirs was a tenuous relationship, prone to mishaps (forgetting to use the special “screen” for “Winky Dink”), joyous events (“Julie & Carol at Carnegie Hall”), sad moments (Clarabelle saying goodbye to the Peanut Gallery) and a wide range of emotions (the funeral of John F. Kennedy and the Inauguration of Barack Obama). From “Captain Video” to “Star Trek” to “Lost;” from “A Brighter Day” to “The Edge of Night” to “General Hoapital;” from “Peyton Place” to “ “Dynasty” to “Desperate Housewives;” there has never been a greater love, than that of “The TVJ” and the best friend a girl could ever have.