LondonScribe

At this point, I wouldn’t be surprised if the producers and Wes Ramsey himself are just trolling everyone. They can’t be completely oblivious to a lot of the viewer pushback that isn’t based on the character construction, writing etc 

9 hours ago, Dylan said:

Why hopefuly? He brought Adam back. hes a good writer.

That’s an interfering frame of reference. May I ask you to expand of what (else) you have seen this go around under Josh Griffith that you like?

The general consensus here is that he's not got it right (including the writing for Adam) so I’m open to any perspectives that allow me to think about things more

I'm not the ‘target demo’ for that casting but even I can appreciate that Alison Sweeney is probably thanking whoever she worships

Height-wise, he appears to be my height (6’1) and James Scott is 6’5, but I doubt people will care too much.

Counting down to his loosely-Amanda-involved-or-in-the-room death in 3-2-1....

Seriously, I suspect through him, we’ll find out where Imani gets her personality from.

It’s widely known that, save for the loyal U.K. audience and the financial investment by Channel 5, Neighbours would have been axed years ago.

The ratings in Australia haven’t been good for a long time, hence it being moved from Network 10 to their digital platform.

And no, I can’t assist with numbers, I’m afraid.

I think Home and Away stands a little more on its own and remains on Network 7 in Australia.

Which is interesting because I personally found the efforts of producers and senior writers Louise Bowes and Lucy Addario uninspiring, to the extent I stopped watching. I hear the show has found its groove but I’m too far removed to get back into it.

15 minutes ago, Cat said:

I need to watch this show, I have heard sooooo much about it. Downloaded S1 Ep1 -- worth a look? Or should I skip to a later season.

Watch everything. Even the most seemingly inconspicuous thread or utterance matters. 

I was surprised by this as I genuinely thought the TV networks were done with new soaps.

The BBC has Eastenders, Doctors and 2 continuing medical dramas, Casualty and Holby City. As well as River City in Scotland. 
 

ITV with Coronation Street and Emmerdale, having stripped back on their output over the last 20 years, ditching Crossroads, Heartbeat, The Royal, The Royal Today, Night And Day and The Bill.

Channel 4 only has Hollyoaks, after cancelling Brookside.

Channel 5 with no homegrown soap, instead showing the 2 main Australian soaps, Home And Away and Neighbours. 
 

If this new project is as it seems, it’s success will depend on who is chosen to develop it and produce it. Like America, I don’t have a huge amount of confidence in the current crop of producers and showrunners. 
 

Diederick Santer (Eastenders), early Kate Oates (Emmerdale) galvanising after Stuart Blackburn decimated that show, Bryan Kirkwood in Hollyoaks the 1st time round, and Myar Craig-Brown (Holby City) being the last ‘emerging’ producers of any consequence in the last 15 years. 

6 minutes ago, FrenchBug82 said:

Well I for one am sick and tired of a certain section of the population deciding what we can or cannot talk about. One of the main issue around race in this country has been that white people have determined what could or could not be said, talked about and the frame within the conversation could happen. Enough.

ALL soaps are avoiding those topics lest they offend them; I reiterate that is why there is a wide open lane for at least one soap that will be honest and interesting and tackle hot topics without worrying about offending this or that. Those folks can move to the other scaredy-cat soaps instead and let sane people of the 21st century have one.

Correct me if I’m wrong but wasn’t the drunken car crash Devon was in 4 years ago originally conceived as him being stopped by the police and something happening to put him in hospital? But that Sally Sussman and Kay Alden were prevented from doing it?

As was said before, that for now, primetime programming seems to be where the harder hitting storytelling is and daytime soaps appears to conducting a Formula 1 race:

What gets to the finish line first? The audience being primarily catered to, as they cease to be over the next few years (you know what I mean ) or the genre in its entirety?

In a hypothetical situation, if I wrote for an American soap, especially if I were a head writer, I’d be sacked pretty darn quickly, as my sensibilities are a tad dark, gothic even. And I’d definitely want to touch on issues.

1 hour ago, FrenchBug82 said:

It is weird that, once she was recast, the writers decided to mostly reduce Victoria to whiny love interest because that's 1) not what Victoria was initially when played by Heather Tom 2) Amelia Heinle has played somewhat bitchy characters before and can do it very well.

 

 

No they wouldn't. But that's why soaps are dying. This isn't Kansas 1950 anymore, writers. There is a huge audience waiting for stories that tackle the real world. More than the audience of disgruntled bigots who would tune out.
 

I personally agree that it would be good to tell some real world stories in soaps (heck, I live in a country where you’d catch hell for not tackling issues) but I think I read of some viewers online taking umbrage with Days Of Our Lives having new character Paulina calling the people of Salem out for their relative lack of diversity. 
 

I genuinely think there is contingent of remaining viewers who don’t want stories that deal with race or other (Conservative) ‘hot topics’.

15 hours ago, Vee said:

I keep hearing about this show. Guess I should give it a whirl since we're now just about over a year in lockdown here.

You won’t regret it. It’s action packed, tense, intelligent, unforgiving and almost completely devoid of sentimentality.

It’s glorious

I tried to locate an existing thread for this but no luck.

About to broadcast its 6th Series, Line Of Duty follows police anti-corruption unit AC12 as they track the dodgiest of police officers of all ranks while attempting to uncover a wide-ranging conspiracy.

It is broadcast every 1-2 years and has made stars of of the 3 main characters, especially AC12 head, Superintendent Ted Hastings.

(Don’t watch the video if you have not caught up to Series 5 or intend to watch it from the start)

51 minutes ago, titan1978 said:

Oh today’s soaps absolutely depend on the team.

 

I personally think Gary Tomlin is near hack as an EP and as a HW.  However, his time as HW on DAYS with Whitsell, when surrounded by the very strong writing team they had, was much better day to day than anything under Higley, Griffith, or Ron.  The Cullitons especially wrote such great scripts the show was so much more watchable.  I felt the same way about GH under Guza’s various terms there, even when he was co-head with Pratt.

 

 

 

 

I wonder if you may have stumbled across Y&R’s next Head Writer in waiting (possibly with Christopher Whitesell)? Unless either or both are retired.

They both fall into the ‘experienced/recycled’ category favoured.
 

There are suitable (and new) voices within the existing team, but TPTB seem reluctant to promote from within.

Given what has been discussed specifically about Josh Griffith (his name on the ‘marquee’ as it were) and the conclusion drawn about his evident inability to tell stories/Head Write, what were the ingredients that made his first collaboration with Michael Malone over at One Life To Live work so well?

10 hours ago, Ponds said:

Well, Nina doesn't get any sympathy from me after telling a 2 year old that the only mother he's known is not his real mother.  You have to root for Carly on this one.

In the relatively brief time I’ve been watching GH, one thing that has stuck out is Carly’s character being loud, obnoxious (under the guise of being some kind of Mama Bear) and pretty much always getting away with ‘overpowering’ everyone, knowing she’ll end up on top.

In my opinion, that kind of predictability doesn’t make for a relatable or sympathetic character, especially when she’s not meant to be a villain, as determined by the writers.

So when Carly yet again skated it in relation to Nelle’s death (even when the truth she hid came out) showing very little sympathy for Nina’s situation, then threatening to get in the way of a relationship with Wiley, I’d hoped she would be proven wrong and that her attempts to meddle would backfire.

So imagine my frustration now the writers appear to have portrayed Carly as being right again
 

And in a way Nina may not be able to skate herself.

1 hour ago, Cat said:

Thanks Errol. Some of the comments suggest she may replace JG as HW or co-HW. Given her production background, I wonder if she will be eventual showrunner with some episode script-writing as well.

That would be amazing, but daytime soaps seem to be one of the remaining bastions of older attitudes, as well as SONY and CBS.

Eventually, everyone is sacrificed at the altar of Victor Newman. He might end up being Eric Braeden’s 80th Birthday special storyline. 

I jest, of course.

34 minutes ago, Dylan said:

I saw that too lol

Did a quick search (I should be asleep, it’s 3:40am where I am ) and if it’s the same Susan Banks who used to be with TV One, this may turn out to be rather interesting...

The Susan Banks previously associated with TV One has a wealth of experience writing... and Executive Producing. As in a LOT of experience.

If it’s one and the same, then may I cheekily (and unrealistically) throw out there that it may be squeaky bum time at the studio?  

This Monday’s Y&R (March 1st) is written by someone named Susan Banks (no, not that one )

Anything known?

When I was much younger, I couldn’t get into any of the ABC soaps or into Emmerdale. The ABC soaps because I was raised on Y&R and tonally, production, writing, and sound-wise, they were just so different.

Emmerdale because it looked so different to anything I was familiar with, as a London council estate kid, and I found it quite dreary. 
 

I’d like to think I’m a bit more aware of what I should have been paying attention to and what I note now.

Once the brief novelty of seeing Don Diamont (nudge, nudge, wink, wink dialogue included) on Y&R again wore off, it was back to half watching as the show carried on.
 

On 2/6/2021 at 8:14 PM, j swift said:

OLTL's Naomi Vernon, mother of Brad and Samantha, died of an accidental overdose when she feared loosing her husband Dr. Will.

 

I agree with your basic premise that suicide has become verboten territory for soaps, and that does not reflect the actual unfortunate mental health statistics in our culture.  The UK soaps have won accolades in recent years for their portrayal of suicide, including being careful not to mention the planning nor the method of suicide (which is key when trying not to trigger those with ideation). Coronation Street had an intriguing story that showed the effect of suicide not just on the immediate family but those in the town.  An older female character was given this beautiful speech about how we live in a community, but you don't always know what is happening behind closed doors, which is the essence of what soaps were made of. 

 

US soaps have a number of mental health professional characters, so having them deal with the suicide of a client would be a novel plot line.  For some reason, long lost relatives, brain chips, and evil twins have played out several times on soaps, without any mention of the use of therapy to resolve these concerns.  Depression and Drug dependency are usually solved on soaps by the love of a good man/woman/baby, and those diagnosed with the disorder rarely suffer from ongoing emotional, motivational, or financial issues.  Whereas actual issues that effect the lives of fans go unnoticed.  Daytime viewers who are watching because they are out of work, or coping with young children, are being done a disservice by not providing stories that could be both relatable and educational. 

One of the most harrowing and powerful storylines of 2018, Aidan Connor’s suicide. As said, done without providing any details but relying on on the raw reactions of the other characters.

This was treated very sensitively at the time, with what amounted to a ‘trigger warning’ ahead of time, contrary to usual efforts to hide spoilers. Similar to the recent warning given about the Eastenders domestic abuse murder.

You can find the episode online featuring his last day, but below is the episode featuring the discovery and aftermath.

The now famous speech from Gail that has been referenced:

4 minutes ago, AlexElizabeth said:

Here for Gwen and Charlie.

 

"How could I have trusted him? A kidnapper, a rapist..." Claire says as she confides in a serial killer.

That wasn’t lost on me, either

7 hours ago, ranger1rg said:

The Mariah surrogate story is awful. No one asked for this, no one wants to see it. She’s been friends with Abby for what, 10 minutes? And now she’ll carry the baby? GMAFB.

 

Abby’s SOBBING about not having a baby 15 minutes into her marriage shows you how bad this show is right now.

 

And what about Mariah looking around the Chancellor place like it’s some grand mansion? Gag me. That living room is tiny, and no, we don’t believe there’s a wing that Chance hasn’t seen.

 

Who blocked the scene in Victoria’s house when she and Billy were working? Stevie Wonder? They looked stupid and ridiculous sitting in chairs across the room like that.

 

Dont get me started on that set that looks different every time we see it, or the fact that they continue to line up the sofa and chair right in front of the fireplace — but facing away from it.

 

A mess.

Amen.

6 hours ago, KMan101 said:

Reading through the thread, nothing gets me to watch. I DVR it everyday but never have the desire to hit play. Sigh. Why is Griffith still here? Does no one else want the job? Ya'll miss Sally Sussman Morina yet? lol  

I primarily think it’s because the powers that be are content with the show just pottering along. Acceptance that the show (and genre) isn’t what it was, but the viewership isn’t totally in the toilet.
 

Though I wouldn’t be surprised if nobody wants the gig. Or at least anyone the studios would want.

Could be wrong, but I wouldn’t be surprised if the Head Writers of the remaining soaps (Carlivati, O’Connor/Van Etten, even Bradley Bell) are the only people the studio would make a change for, if they left those shows and became available/interest.

And yes, I’ve missed Sally Sussman and Kay Alden’s writing ever since they left. Mal Young was a poor fit for the show and sadly, some of his production ticks have remained. And we know about how things are now.