chrisml

Besides the Dobsons mentioning the sexual violence, did any writer or producer talk about why SB had so much rape and violence towards women?

Why is Nene back on RHOA? Why didn't they Gunvalson her? Nene made last season unbearable. A two episode suspension is nothing and she doesn't take it seriously so why have her back? I usually hate children on the show but Cynthia's convo with her daughter was what makes the HW great. IT didn't feel scripted, and it was about a real mother/daughter convo. It's not daughters crying about their felon father or privileged white kids whining about having to decorate their dorms.

RHOP are doing everything they can to get people to watch. RHOBH should take notes--not that I'm condoning physical violence, but RHOP keeps it interesting. I can't think of one thing the last couple years on RHOBH that made me want to watch.

It strikes me as more of an F.U. to his ex-wife.

I believe Marcy Walker felt that JFP had uses her (Mw) to keep her job as EP. I thought JFP did a lot of damage to OLTL during her tenure: the women became hysterical and desperate for men. The women were os dumbed down but Erika Slezak thought she was wonderful.

Exactly. When will Bravo learn that viewers don't care about baby stories or "my child is going away to college" stories. I started to watch and Kenya was going on about her baby and I switched off. I'll wait for the baby drama to subside.

Weren't their lawsuits because of the way JFP treated pregnant actresses? For every actor who's a JFP supporter, there's another who can't stand her. I remember Marcy Walker having some choice words for JFP during MW's time at GL.

OC:Gina is just awful. I loathe Vicky, but I would rather see Vicky than Gina. Gina is so entitled for someone who got arrested for drunk driving. Everything is someone else's fault and everyone should obsess about her needs. Gina and the other women were so outraged that Braunwyn mentioned "public school." Did you see their faces? I can't with these entitled witches. Braunwyn was actually giving good advice about public school but the ladies acted as if she had said she had ebola. I wanted to get behind the over the top tea party but the way they treat Emily is just infuriating. Emily is a T***p supporter and they are making me feel for her. Tamra is so desperate to keep her paycheck that she is forcing story to a ridiculous degree. Kelly Dodd may be a nightmare person but her humour is the only thing saving this season. The less said about Tamra's son the better. RHOA: horrible taglines. They need to go back and record new ones. RHONJ:Speaking of entitled, Joe and Teresa are the worst. She never takes responsibility for anything. I don't watch RHONJ (haven't for yrs) but why do people care about her? The whole discussion about ICE and Immigration was so racist and icky. I don't care what happens to either one.

I had no idea that primetime shows were shown in the afternoon. Was this the beginning of syndicating primetime shows? Are the boards safe now? I am trying to ask this in a polite way.

While I liked Heche with Valley, I thought the Ryan/Frankie was a more interesting pairing. I know they toyed with the idea, but it never went anywhere.

The storytelling did Generations in. The cast was strong, but as I wrote previously in the thread, the days spent around the fruitcake showed just how much the writing needed overhauled.

This is all from memory, but I believe that Born sent a song to Rauch where he basically told him off. Roberta Bizeau was fired and Flame's storyline quickly wrapped up as a result. It was probably more involved but that's what I remember.

I think you can continue what works, but also fix what doesn't (the lack of non-Capwell stories and characters). I think the writers and producers had other storylines and characters, but they always went back to the Eden and Cruz storylines. I always hated that the Laura/Michael/Ethan storyline was truncated (currently rewatching SB from that time) and not given enough attention. Poor Michael never got much to do after that until they started to put him with Flame but then that abruptly ended. The show was constantly bringing on new characters and families, but the execs never followed through. You had the attempt to beef up Gina's family with her mother, brother and Bunny, but that didn't go anywhere substantial although Mack lasted longer than most non-Capwell characters. Of all the shows, I think SB was the easiest to fix but the Dobsons, Rauch and Long chose to make the show the easiest to cancel.

IT seems to be what every new EP does when they take on a soap job. They ruin what works and continue what doesn't work. Conboy's tenures had its problems, but a lot of it could be righted rather quickly. It's interesting to me that the Dobsons kept writing for Flame until she was fired because of the Rauch/Born thing.

I just find it all depressing--the number of soaps on the air and how the ratings were compared to the crumbs they get today. I'm in such a nostalgic mood for the soaps lately.

That particular storyline bit was so icky because it basically said the worst thing that can happen to a woman is not to be able to have children. It was such a sexist punishment for Annie. Watros sold all of it, but it still was icky.

They should have just kept Gocke in the role because he had such a good rapport with Mattson, and Brandon grounded Gina. IF I recall, the Dobsons had Gina wanting to have her own child and that's why they had to get rid of Gocke. I'm never for network suits interfering but I really wish they had forced the Dobsons to respect the previous years of the show.

The Dobsons so many idiotic mistakes during their second tenure. They also fired Justin Gocke.

The Dobsons were their own worst enemies when they returned. They should have at least been brought up to speed on the stories, but instead, they tried to undo what had happened in their absence. The show was not boring as they could create first rate individual episodes but so much of their stuff was an insult to the fans who had watched while they were gone. Sexual fantasies about your sister's rapist??? I totally get their frustration and anger, but they should have thought of the viewers. They basically gave a middle finger to the viewers who kept the show on the air long enough for them to return. Were they writing the show when Flame and Michael got together? If so, that's the only one of their stories I liked. That story was too brief because of Born's fight with Rauch.

Carmen Duncan is the only Iris I know so she is Iris to me. Duncan's work during The Chief/Mac's Death storylines was Emmy worthy. She was magnificent. When I see Beverlee McKinsey as Iris, she comes across as over the top because I'm used to Duncan.

I think there was some discussion about Lisa being Felicia's daughter. Didn't Felicia stick up for Lisa when Vicky was causing problems? I always had the sense that they were gearing up for that storyline, but it got shelved when the Lisa character became less vital once Anne Heche took over as Vicky. I don't remember how Lisa left, but I assume Joanna Going could see the writing on the wall, and that's why she left.

The Sonny stuff was with Lane Davies. If my memory serves, Lester's Mason spent his time before the Dobsons' return dealing with Sasha and her subsequent murder.

The Red Swan was an absolute mess. It highlighted the problem with Swajeski's writing. She had great starts to her stories, but she never knew where to go with them. The RS just fizzled out. Swajeski was the type of writer where the individual episodes would be great, but they would never build on each other. She also had this odd thing about having a cliffhanger on Friday and not resolving until Tuesday or Wednesday. She needed someone with good storytelling/plotting skills to keep her on target.

Anne Heche was so good at playing Marley and Vicky that you could tune in halfway through an episode and know that Vicky was pretending to be Marley. That's how good she was. Jensen Buchanan was just awful in both roles. I know she has her fans, but I'm not one of them.

Getting back to GL: Who are some of the characters you think were underappreciated by the writers and/or producers--characters who should have stayed around longer or been given meatier storylines.