I think Mommy Waldorf just gave me an eating disorder.

Was that Tea from One Life to Live of days gone by? I kept thinking it was her and then deciding not and then changing my mind again...

Okay, I went and looked it up. It IS Tea (Florencia Lozano). Wheee. I always liked her on OLTL, except for when her character was way too stupid for a savvy Latina lawyer and got involved with Todd when he was in a particularly abusive phase. This role is certainly quite different. Good for her.

I was pleasantly surprised to see Téa too...brought back a lot of memories of when I used to watch OLTL and always liked her too until that same storyline that arlykeeno mentioned (I still remember when she got hit over the head by Todd...yikes). It's cool to see her in such a different role. I also saw her in Macbeth last summer in Central Park and thought she was awesome...but no one I was with had ever seen OLTL and didn't appreciate the leap from soap to Shakespeare. In any case, look at how many actors got their start in soaps...everyone from Morgan Freeman and Denzel Washington to Julianne Moore and Robin Penn. Florencia's in good company and hopefully will bring her more interesting roles...and where's Roger Howarth now?

Also? I thought that her casting was perfect as she and Leighton Meester actually resemble each other (along with the van der Woodsens)! Whereas I was hard-pressed to see how Adam Brody was related to Peter Gallagher or Kelly Rowan...Don't get me wrong, physical resemblance shouldn't be the deciding factor when casting...but it's nice when it works out and it usually works out with female characters. The last time I remember thinking about how well a mother and daughter were cast (aside from the obvious example of Gilmore Girls) was in Once and Again with Evan Rachel Wood and Susanna Thompson - they look eerily alike.

I like Florencia from her OLTL days. It's great to see her on the tube again. I think she was channeling her inner Julie Cooper last night.

That really is her. I had no idea, until right now. I am going to have to rewatch it on my TiVo this weekend.

It took me till the very end of the show to realize it was Florencia Lozano, it had been bugging me the whole episode. Cool! I always liked her as Tea and I'm glad she's found her way back to the screen again. I haven't seen her since she was on OLTL, which was (gulp) 10 years ago.

Heh, while perusing IMDB I discovered that Serena's little bro Eric is played by Connor Paolo, another OLTL alum (he played Starr's boyfried Travis).

OMG. Just reading the recap....both Florencia and Kelly are TOO YOUNG to be playing MOTHERS to high school aged/teenaged girls?!?!?!?! I think of Tea and (always to me) Judy/Megan (from Homefront/Melrose Place) believing I am still a Junior in College, not a mother of 3, the oldest being a 15 year old daughter. Suffice to say, this show is making me feel old. BUT, I will make this appointment viewing with said 15 year old daughter.

What happened?! Why did they recast Eleanor? Margaret Colin is yet another soap opera veteran but I wonder why they changed their mind about Florencia.

It's funny to think that there's only one degree of separation (i.e., Hilary Bailey Smith) between Eleanors #1 and #2, but I wish I knew the reason for the recast. Florencia seemed more like a UES power player; MC (much though I loved her in Something Wild) felt slightly cartoony to me. The comparison to Stockard Channing was not un-apt, IMO.

Boo! I want Florencia back. Although FL is too young to have a daughter Blair's age, FL totally nailed the snooty fashion designer character.

Florencia turns 38 in December (and Kelly Rutherford will be 39 in 3 weeks), so I guess she's old enough to have a 16/17 year-old-daughter, if she married young. Although casting inappropriately-young actresses might be one way to illustrate how exceptionally the mothers are able to maintain themselves, I suppose.

Florencia just finished a month-long run in a play, so perhaps she was just unavailable for a while. (Although GG shoots in NYC, so…) Btw, Margaret Colin is 49.

I concur. I preferred Eleanor the First because she had the unaffected, distant yet meddlesome refrigerator mother character down. Plus I think she looked the part if you factor in probable face lifts, botox and all the trendy plastic surgery procedures routine for these UES moms.

While I'm happy, Margaret Colin is working, I prefered Florencia in the role. Margaret is also noticably older looking than Florencia (who looks young for her age) which bugged me.

I think I read before the pilot even aired that they were recasting Florencia, but after I saw her in the pilot I thought that must not have been true, but I guess they just didn't bother to reshoot her scenes.

Is Mommy Waldorf a worse mother than I thought or is there just a huge inconsistency from the writers? Why does Eleanor make comments about Blair's weight when she knows that Blair is bulimic? When I watched the pilot I thought that Blair would develop bulimia rather than it being known by her family for over a year now. It just surprised me that Eleanor would not know exactly what Blair would do with the pie. Or maybe she does really know and is taunting Blair when she says "Pick one of the desserts Mommy made for you instead." That's just sick!

I can relate with the inconsistencies. When mothers casually lecture their children, they seem to understand them so much, but when they actually go parental, it's like they forgot everything.

I love Mrs. Waldorf btw.

I think Eleanor runs hot and cold when it comes to Blair and her bulimia. I think she makes the snide, ("before you tuck into that, you may find a non fat yogurt more to your liking") comments, because the last thing a world famous fashion designer wants is a "fat" daughter. That would impinge on Eleanor's reputation and business, and we cannot have that. Blair is an extension of Eleanor and Waldorf Designs after all.

Also, I thought Eleanor was taunting Blair about the pie because B bringing up Harold and her relationship with her father insulted and wounded an already pissed off and jealous Eleanor, and instead of being a mother, she was thinking like a vindicative bitch ready to lash out where ever the threats were coming. And just so happened it was coming from her daughter. So what better way to push her buttons then to taunt and tempt her with food? Emotional abuse? Hell yeah. But mother/daughter relationships, ESPECIALLY in the arena of food and weight, can be bitchy, complicated and competitive. It's no joke that Eleanor commented that Blair gets her scheming from her mother. They both know how to go for the jugular.

I think MC rocks, I've liked her since she I saw her in Pretty in Pink. I even liked her in Independence Day.

I love Eleanor! I think she has the kooky fashion designer role down, but then she can be quite sharp and cruel to Blair when she wants. I can't believe they used a different Eleanor in the Pilot! I'm glad they changed her, this Eleanor is a lot better.

I certainly like the replacement to the original Eleanor. Never saw that soap actress who had the part initially, but she looked like Blair's - 7 years - older sister, so it was impossible for me to buy her as Leighton's mom really.