EastEnding

Fridays shan't be the same now that EastEnders has ended in LA. Insert deep, sad sigh here. For those of us who love the non sequitur, high-build to anti-climax soap of the blue collar families on Albert Square, this is a heavy blow.

It's not like KOCE gave us much of a warning. No. Just a flash of a title card announcing that it shall no longer be broadcasting it. Bastards. They have yet to reply to my email as to just how much dough we need to raise to get it back on. Evidently, it's an expensive show to air.

This is the second time this EE has been pulled away from me. BBC America was first to betray. How could a network with the letters BBC in their name drop the quintessential Brit soap? Isn't that up there with dissing the Queen? That cancellation happened right before my trip to Dublin and I was so excited to see it "live" for once. I was three weeks behind on BBC America, which meant I had to go online to catch up. Of course, my trip was timed with the most boring storyline ever (the one where Alfie's grandmother was set to marry that conman). Still, it was a kick to see it in its proper time zone (though not in the UK, which was an equal kick). When I came back, I stayed current by reading the synopsis on the EE website. But, four episodes a week took a great deal of time and dedication to manage and, slowly, I let it go only to go back to watching the show on PBS. Their episodes were over five years behind, and airing only two episodes a week was only making it worse.

I knew the storylines already, but they were fun to re-watch. Reliving Frank and Pat's betrayal of Peggy and Roy. The many meltdowns of Phil Mitchell. Janine becoming a coke-addicted prostitute. And we were just getting to the good part where Melanie flees after Steve's death and we aren't sure if she's going to keep the baby or not when KOCE pulled the plug. Now I'll never get to see the skinny Sonia and watch her marry Martin, the father of her baby she gave up for adoption years before (though it probably would have taken over a decade to get there). I mean, you think life in LA is dramatic, but we don't have nuffin' on what goes on in London's EastEnd.

Click here to see the hilarious scene where Sonia give birth, completely unaware that, at 15, she's preggers (they disabled the embed code, hence the link). Watch Steve Owen die below (and, yes, that is Martin Kemp from Spandau Ballet), in two parts.