Post Of The Year 2022: Your Nominations

[Mel O'Drama]

As with last year, we're going to have this thread running all the way to the end of the year for you to nominate your favourite posts.

At the end of the year, your nominated posts will go to the vote and the winner will receive the Post Of The Year award and its accompanying points and kudos!

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How to nominate:

To nominate a post, simply add it to this thread using the multi-quote option. Posts from any thread can be quoted in this one.

It would be great if you tag the member who made the post so they know you've nominated them. Feel free, if you wish, to add the reason you like it so much.

There are no limits, other than the post needs to have been made in 2022.


Please note: you can vote for more than one post, so don't wait until December in case a better one comes along. Simply vote for a winning post as soon as you see it and drop it in here.


Have fun voting.

 

[9unfold]

4) catch up on sleep

DFF... No approving nod!?!? Today I have achieved what others dream about. Took Dear Mama to the hair dresser, paid for the wash and set, waited in a car park soooo cold polar bear aplenty were look at me as if I was their next meal. Got a sweet deal on some crazy strong Polish beer, nailing that just right, solved the issues with the Windows 11 update now the laptop is running super fast and not freezing with every key stroke (hence the hyperbole... that was an epiphany BTW) Updated my iTunes to work with W11, crossed swords with the Godless cat next door and lost the fight. And have been bouncing around my iTunes and I can only describe my music choices as.... I feel the hand of Jah at work. Actually F*** that, It's all me Me ME! But I'm not one to blow my own trumpet.

Now with a nod of approval for being a great human being, DFF.

@Biggie offered this as justification for a nod of approval from another TT member. Hair dressers, God, militant cats and a winning taste in music. All in one post, all made sense in a unique way.

 

[Biggie's B.I.G Manger Mash-up]

@Biggie offered this as justification for a nod of approval from another TT member. Hair dressers, God, militant cats and a winning taste in music. All in one post, all made sense in a unique way.

I appreciate you taking the time to nominate my post. As I frequently do I circled back and reviewed my work. Quite frankly I'm thinking that it's uber gold!

On a similar point. Last year I texted a chum of mine to finalise the plans for a sun down 'til sun up session. He responded with "I have never imagined that it was possible to weave together street walkers, Chorizo sausage, the poorly bat in Wuhan and the metro the wiped out the dinosaurs to confirm a date"...Drop mic, exit stage left for me!

 

[Biggie's B.I.G Manger Mash-up]

Oh my goodness! I go away for a couple of weeks and on my return find that my cute little fluffy babies have turned into teenagers

.. and they want to fly. Here are Lipstick and Guys trio ....

they are growing real feathers now

These two were having a real humdinger of a fight until Lipstick stepped in and stopped them ....

"oye you two! stop it, break it up!"

I've not seen a parent step in and halt a fight before, maybe they have and I've just missed it?





Then this made me laugh, its Guy tickling one of his youngsters...

"Dad! hey! stop it dad! no stop it that tickles!!"

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Meanwhile, a few miles away.

Liberty is still covering her babies with straw to keep them warm ...

She's so caring and maternal





I can't get over how much Lunar and Celeste have changed ....

They look more like birds now




Check out the foot on Lunar/Celeste ...

I love it!

This post deserves recognition.
@Long Lashes has set and maintained a high level of excellence with this thread.

But this post stands out for the truly amazing photos captured.

 

[Mel O'Drama]

Here's one hot off @James from London's press. The entire post makes the Winning rating seem inadequate, but the analysis in this section especially blew me away as I read...

For its ninth season finale, KNOTS rips up the rule book by opening with the longest unbroken scene in Soap Land history, a two-hander between Jill and Val lasting more than fifteen minutes. Were this not unconventional enough, four of the show’s six principle players — Karen, Mack, Gary and Abby — don’t show up until the final third of the ep while a fifth — Greg — doesn’t appear at all.

Jill sets her store out early on. She wants Val to commit suicide and if she doesn’t, Jill will shoot her dead anyway, and let her kids find her with her brains splattered over the wall. When Val asks why, Jill replies by dissecting her personality in a way that feels almost taboo: “You must know why. You can’t not know how you get under people’s skin … You have the gift of making people, especially Gary, but not only Gary, say, ‘Poor Val. Poor Val isn’t responsible for the way she feels or the way she acts or the way she is. You can’t blame poor Val — because she’s poor Val. She can’t help being just a little bit crazy.’ … They forget that Poor Val takes advantage of their pity, how Poor Val’s as self-centred as they come, how Poor Val needs them to keep saying, ’Poor Val’ because it’s her excuse to be a child and it absolves her of her absolute selfishness!” Needless to say, this isn’t how characters in Soap Land ordinarily insult each other, even at their most vicious. Jill's speech is the psychological equivalent of the words Val used to describe her own physical appearance in that motel room in Season 6 (“You’re as flat as a board! … You look like a man!”). The specificity of Jill’s words is equally organic. I very much doubt that "Poor Val" is how David Jacobs originally envisaged the character for her first appearance on DALLAS yet it’s a harsh but fair description of the high-maintenance soap diva she has evolved into — albeit from the point of view of someone who hasn’t received the memo that this is how all high-maintenance soap divas are obliged to behave, otherwise there would be no story.

While Val is suitably stunned and terrified, Teri Austin is quietly excellent as Jill. Having followed her every move as she painstakingly established her alibi in the preceding episode, it feels like we are now complicit in Jill’s crime to the point where she is more relatable in this situation than Val — it’s easier to understand what it’s like to be driven to distraction by someone who plays on their victim status than it is to be terrorised by a madwoman in a funny wig. There’s a darkly comic moment after Val protests that no-one would ever believe she’d kill herself. “Everyone’ll believe it!” Jill assures her, almost laughing. “Just listen to how the words roll trippingly off the tongue — ‘Poor Val committed suicide.’” It’s funny because it’s true.

 

[9unfold]

Everything feels very different today and I'm still shocked at how shocked and upset I am about our Queens passing .. if this makes any sense?

Its been sad to witness her health declining, especially since she lost Prince Philip, but I always thought and hoped she would go on to at least 100 like her mother before her. She was an incredible lady and I was proud to have HM Queen Elizabeth as a figurehead for our country.





Its been very touching hearing and seeing tributes from around the world, here are a few ...

Paris

The lights on the Eiffel Tower were turned off






The Yankee Stadium America

Members of the New York Yankees stood during a moment of silence in honor of Queen Elizabeth II.






The Empire State Building in New York City

The Empire State Building lit up in purple and sparkled in silver n tribute.





Canada

Queen Elizabeth's Royal Cypher is projected on the Peace Tower of the Parliament Buildings in Ottawa.






Brazil

Christ The Redeemer bears the colours of Great Britain's flag , in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.





Israel

The Union Jack and Israel's flag are projected on the walls of Jerusalem's Old City.




Australia

A 96 gun salute is fired at Parliament House forecourt in Canberra,.





Japan

The British Embassy in Tokyo.




Czech Republic

The British Embassy in Prague.


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There are so many more, she was admired by so many.

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@Long Lashes has set and maintained a high standard with her posts. But this has raised the bar. She deserves recognition for her efforts Excellent and without equal .

 

[Angels Chanting]

I nominate the following post by @Mel O'Drama in the World Cup of 80s Soap Cliffhangers thread:

Round 1 - Week 8

AKA Lorimararama III: The Ewings Strike Back

Match 1

How ironic: Dallas's Knotsiest emotional cliffhanger versus Knots's broadest, almost traditional Dallas-style cliffhanger. One Ewing brother "dies" as another returns from the "dead".

This Knots episode has everything thrown in (including a kitchen sink or two): mysterious phone calls leading characters into position like chess pieces; heavily pregnant Val sitting in a car under which a bomb is said to be planted; Abby kidnapped after getting in over her head trying to do the right thing; an assassination attempt on Gary's life (with Mack faking Gary's death after an earlier attempt, Gary is almost literally a dead man walking); Mack essentially accidentally shooting his own (estranged) wife. I love that it's all about obsession: Mack's "at any cost" obsessive pursuit of Wolfbridge has already practically cost him his marriage and now paints targets on the backs of his friends and neighbours. Val is put in harms way because she still loves Gary. So, too, does Abby, but her drive for money and power has created a lot of the situation. Karen being in the right place at the wrong time is very true to her character who can't resist getting involved. It almost has too much going on to the point that the episode only makes true sense when watched in its place as the culmination of a story that's bubbled away for the best part of a season. On face value it looks very plot-driven, but scratch the surface and there's a complex skein to be found. Either way, it's tremendous fun. The lengthy recap at the beginning of Season Six got replayed ad nauseam on my old VHS player in the late Eighties.

Who Shot JR vs The Moldavian Massacre was a difficult choice for many. For me, this is even more challenging. I'm very fond of both these cliffhangers.

The Dallas episode is indeed one of the greatest. It looks wonderful, the score is beautiful and it feels extremely cinematic (reinforced by its longer running length). It's a bold choice for an exit, and has long felt for me like a natural choice for a series ending (rather than simply a season finale). It's a game changer, extremely rewatchable, and probably a more satisfying complete episode than the Knots episode. Ultimately, though this particular Dallas ending feels less cliffhanger-y than the Knots finale.

Since Dallas - with its brand loyalty - is going to thrash it anyway, I'll give my underdog vote to the spinoff's most outrageous hour...

Knots Landing - Season Five

Match 2

Gary's AA meeting - although the culmination of a terrific and powerful two-part story - is still a throwback to Knots's episodic early years. Ahead of time, I was fairly sure I wasn't going to vote for it on the basis that it's not very cliffhangery. However, the fact that it's up against another emotional cliffhanger with a sense of finality has thrown it well and truly back onto the table.

I hadn't really thought about it, but these two episodes essentially tell the same story. Gary is tempted away from Poor Val by some combination of Jock's three Bs. Val stands stoically by her man-in-crisis, making excuses for him and believing in him. Until she doesn't. Val's decisive action gives him a wakeup call and he faces the prospect of living without her. With two very different outcomes.

Both stories pack an emotional punch and represent turning points for the characters. Season One ends on a hopeful note as Gary chooses to do the right thing and starts to claw his way back. I can't even think of that final image of Val enthusiastically applauding Gary with tears in her eyes without my own eyes stinging. In the context of this match, it's even more bittersweet to think that the man she has such faith in will continue to destroy himself and his marriage for another two years before Val has her eyes well and truly opened.

By Season Three, one feels there simply is no way back for either Gary or Val. That long shot of Val's Pinto screeching out of the cul de sac in darkness as Gary watches helplessly feels pretty cataclysmic: not only the end of Gary and Val's second marriage (which it is) but also potentially the end of Knots Landing. We were introduced to the cul de sac mainly through Val's eyes. She's been our sherpa. The thought of the series continuing without her on Seaview Circle is unthinkable. It's as though she's leaving us, the loyal viewer, as well as her cheating husband.

The Season One ending makes me want to cheer and then come back to find out what happens next. But the Season Three ending demands the viewer's return to watch the inevitable fallout from Val's drastic choice, which is the mark of a good cliffhanger.

If we were voting for entire episodes, this would be a very difficult choice, and I'd still be trying to choose between Gary literally choosing the bottle of alcohol over Val in front of her eyes and Lilimae blackmailing "the blonde kid" into attending Val's party.

It's still been closer than I thought it would be, but the TTWC focus on the cliffhanger element makes my choice easier...

Knots Landing - Season Three

My reason for the nomination is the same as my reaction to it when it was first posted:

"This is such a brilliant analysis of the 4 cliffhangers in play this week, highlighting nuances and connections that I never previously considered, I can only marvel at its cleverness."

 

[Mel O'Drama]

Two more contenders:





Another from @James fog London Dungeons that I haven't been able to forget...

Guy Pearce playing Mike again is the Running Up That Hill getting to No 1 of TV, or Running Up That Hill getting to No 1 is the Guy Pearce playing Mike again of pop. One of the two.

And this analysis in the Capricorn Crude thread from @Thrillie Trolleson which was the first thing I read this morning (and I'm still reeling)...

Who shot JR? Well, I think they all did. I truly believe that the most obvious suspects wanted him dead in the last episode of season 3.
These last 7 episodes have been unstopwatchable soap heaven but when you take a moment to think about it then it's hard to ignore the contrivances contributed to the overall storyline.
It just happened to be Jock's gun, there just happened to be an old and forgotten legal document about Ewing 23, there just happened to be an Asian revolution without any details as to why, it just happened to be Digger who shot Hutch McKinney - and with just enough time to confess it - because it just so happened that Hutch was having an affair with Digger's wife.
The only seriously legitimate soaptastic moment is when Bobby tells his parents that he's leaving Southfork. Because that's his decision.
However, we wouldn't have reached this point without everything building up to it.

All soaps are terribly contrived, the challenge is to make sure that it doesn't feel that way. To make all that nonsense look perfectly believable - and hugely entertaining.
This is DALLAS on top form, everything is in place and everything clicks, all the characters are charismatic for various reasons.

Pam is all over the place looking for her mother and it's fascinating to know that one day she is going to be "that mother". And that's just another reason to love TNT DALLAS.
Probably the best soapy storyline is Miss Ellie coming to terms with her mastectomy, that problem that just wouldn't go away.
Not because it's the most exciting part of these episodes but because it was happening right in front of my very nose and I didn't realize it until she explained it to Jock.
Mimosa Park is melting in the dark...etc.

This first fully serialized and very successful DALLAS series is going to be a tough act to follow and with the benefit of hindsight I think it's safe to say that it's become sort of a template for future, equally successful Texas-size soap plots.
Apart from Mark Jennings I don't see an awful lot of future DYNASTY in it. Obviously they wanted to copy the success of DALLAS, but the characters and storylines are so different and I'm sure that's why the Scorpio Peak Saga became a TV smash in its own right.

I also want to mention (again) one of my all-time favourite gut-punching DALLAS scenes: Dusty Farlow's death on SoapLand TV.
I think what makes it so strong is that most of the emotional impact is dumped on the viewer. The fact that Sue Ellen pours herself a drink at this particular stage of the narrative is telling enough, but the real meltdown happens off-screen. And after that, Dusty is mentioned only once in Dr. Elby's office.
This allows her secret drama to fester and it's quite frustrating because we expect these soap characters to make a song and dance about everything.

It's nice that people still remember the Who Shot JR phenomenon but it couldn't have been without all that soap greatness preceding it. The fact that many people watched the same thing because there wasn't much to choose from doesn't change the other fact that this was highly entertaining and addictive TV in a way that only soap opera can be.