AMC/OLTL: HW Rumor

[Scotty]

Yeah today it was What About Brian, but last week it was for some other show...save those promos for after OLTL.

And, for better or worse it is still my show.......no matter how bad it is.

[Ilovemydays]

I really don't care for the current OLTL SLs but I don't HATE the show.

The primary reason I like OLTL , even though I'm mad about DG and JC, is that I still recognize the show. The characters are basically acting like themselves and they don't have the ridiculous influx of unknown newbies that AMC has.

When Zendall, Rymannie, Zach, Bixie, Annie, Jaime, Babe, Josh, Julia, Colby, Sean and Sydney are in a scene and I switch past AMC I keep going. Either I don't like them or I don't know them and I don't care to know them.

[LookingGlass]

To the poster who clarified what was written by Bell vs. Alden at Y&R, much appreciated! I wasn't entirely certain on when the change happened.

I can't see this working out well at all. AMC is going to tank in sweeps. And probably that's what Frons planned on. GH on the other hand will feel the rewards of Genie's return and will, temporarily, soar in the ratings. So ABC will be pleased with GH, it will not suffer huge budget cuts while AMC and OLTL will. And I fully believe that was the plan.

AMC won't be fixed by cutting more vets. What they need to do is fire the dozen or so useless teens and 20-somethings.

As for Megan getting a co-headwriter That will never work. There's a reason it's never happened before. The co-head will be lying face down in Manhattan's east river with a knife in his/her back within a month.

I'd love to see the stories ABC didn't find up to snuff from Armus. Because they have such high standards in storytelling.

Congratulations Megan, you're one lucky gal.

[SlezaksOLTL]

Erika may have gotten a contract, but as Errol pointed out, the most expensive will be cut. That means no one is safe, no one. If they fire Erika I am gone, done, screw ABCD. Viki IS OLTL, I don't see the show surviving without her when already it is failing miserably and Viki still has no story whatsoever.

As for the useless ones, Vince is totally useless and there is no way you can tell me the show isn't giving him tons of story and airtime. Look who is with Natalie today. Was it Viki? Who should be there and knows what Natalie may do to self-destruct? Was it Clint, or Jess, or Kevin? No, it was newbie Vince, Vince who is on at the expense of RJ, Vince who gets more airtime and story than Erika Slezak. There is no excuse for that, and guess what, yet again the show sucks, the ratings fail.

ETA. When Erika Slezak Viki and Jerry VD Clint get less airtime combined that Vince and Ted, than there is major trouble. How can you expect me to reinvest in the show when Viki and Clint get less airtime and no story but Vince and Ted get more? How is that good for the show. Why is the show still on a dead not exactly dead man weeks later? OL is in the worst state ever.

[Errol]

He is not out of the running, but he isn't really the front runner anymore. As I said, if worse comes to worse, Megan will stay with a Co-HW. Whether or not that is Burton Armus, it is too soon to tell anymore.

[Scotty]

Oh, I agree that if they got rid of Erika Slezak that it would be the straw that broke the camels back. After nearly 36 years on the show, I think she should be given whatever she wants. She should ONLY leave OLTL when she is ready to. If she is forced out, that would be the last straw.

[Errol]

Expensive in the sense of Vincent Irizarry. Been on the show for roughly 10 years, doesn't have a set in stone family attachment to the history of the shows core, barely used except for plot development...expendable.

Susan Lucci, David Canary, Anthony Geary, and Erika Slezak = Safe.

[LookingGlass]

I don't see why they would even consider leaving Megan at AMC. What's so special about her?

If they were smart they would take the ealier Jeff Beldner and Amanda Beall rumor and make it a reality. It may not have been true but it was a great idea.

[SlezaksOLTL]

Thank you Errol. Nice to know Erika is safe. OL would die without her.

[cal3]

But who are those "expensive" people on OLTL? Lindsay and RJ are already gone. Roxie is recurring. Nora but she is also most likely gone in December when her contract is up. Who does that leave? Antonio or Chris but they love writing for them. nuClint perhaps or Bo? Or are we going for the Cramers with Dorian?

[whyamcwhy]

Thanks for the info, Errol. Yeah, I agree LookingGlass. What is so special about McT. She has managed to destroy AMC IMHO. It has never been this bad before. Personally, she should be the first to go.

As far as AMC and cuts to actors, the list for expensive and expendable would be:

Julia Barr/Brooke- gone

Sydney Penny/Julia- gone

James Mitchell/Palmer- drop to recurring

And the list for cheap but expendable:

Del

Sydney

Colby

Annie

Sean

JMHO.

[LookingGlass]

Totally agree with your assessment. Except I think it would be much better to ditch Bobbie Eakes instead of Julia Barr. Brooke is far more important to AMC's history. Julia Barr is adored. And Brooke can easily be dropped into Krystal's role since the story was written for Brooke in the first place!

Would anyone really care of Bobbie got the boot?

Of course it will be Julia Barr though.

[Vee]

OLTL is officially the worst it's ever been IMHO. I've never seen it this close to cancellation and dropping more veterans will only hurt it worse. I can't even watch it the way it is now, it's too painful. I love the show and have watched through everything but no one can dare tell me I am disloyal if I can't bear to look at it right now.

Cutting the right overpriced people would help but they'd never do that. Adding a few classic characters to usher in younger ones would help but they don't do that. GH has done some of that but not enough.

[cal3]

Using Scottoy's episode count list for OLTL, where do the cuts come?

1) Trevor St. John (Todd Manning)----- safe

2) Robert S. Woods (Bo Buchanan)-----connected to core family and history

3) Melissa Arche (Natalie Buchanan)-----safe

4) Kamar de los Reyes (Antonio Vega)-----?

4) Michael Easton (John McBain)-----we'd only be so lucky

4) Renee Elise Goldsberry (Evangeline Williamson)-----safe

4) Paul Satterfield (Spencer Truman)-----newbie easy to lose

8) Melissa Gallo (Adriana Cramer)-----connected to core family and cheap

8) John-Paul Lavoisier (Rex Balsom)-----young newbie

8) Forbes March (Nash Brennan)-----?

8) Bree Williamson (Jessica Buchanan/Tess)-----safe

12) Josh Casaubon (Hugh Hughes)-----gone

13) David Fumero (Cristian Vega)-----?

13) Alexandra Neil (Paige Miller)-----easy to get rid of but they seem to love her

13) Robin Strasser (Dorian Cramer Lord)-----?

16) Kerry Butler (Claudia Reston)-----?

16) Tuc Watkins (David Vickers)-----going

18) Nathaniel Marston (Michael McBain)----doubt they'd try again.

19) Kathy Brier (Marcie Walsh McBain)----?

19) Kassie DePaiva (Blair Manning)-----safe

19) Tobias Truvillion (Vincent Jones)-----cheap newbie easy to get rid of.

22) Mikey Jerome (Ted Osborne)-----cheap newbie easy to get rid of.

22) Hillary B. Smith (Nora Hannen)----up for contract renewal; I suspect she's at the top of the list to go.

22) Tika Sumpter (Layla Williamson)-----cheap newbie easy to get rid of.

25) Robert Leeshock (Bruce Bartlett)-----dead/gone

25) Jerry Ver Dorn (Clint Buchanan)-----?

27) Kristen Alderson (Starr Manning)-----safe

27) Dan Gauthier (Kevin Buchanan)--- gone

27) Heather Tom (Kelly Cramer)-----gone

33) Ilene Kristen (Roxy Balsom)----recurring

35) Patricia Elliott (Renee Buchanan)-----recurring

35) Patricia Mauceri (Carlotta Vega)recurring

35) Erika Slezak (Viki Davidson)-----safe

35) Timothy D. Stickney (R.J. Gannon)-----recurring/not working

35) Brittany Underwood (Langston)-----safe

[R Sinclair]

But, anyway... (that was too damn funny!) I think Frons needs to go. Bottom line. That would cure a multitude of sins right off the bat. THEN, Megan needed to be shown the door back in 2005 when her stories started getting haywire (Fight Club, Di/Dixie, Ryan's "Death" and Resurrection, Jonathan's "Cut the Bad Out" and not being forced to pay for ANY of the THREE lives he brutally took, etc.). Because the last 10 months of this year alone have been painfully campy -- which is NOT what AMC is about. Megan McTavish can really go up against JER's version of DAYS and I swear you wouldn't notice the difference (except that AMC wouldn't have characters talking to themselves at the end of every scene). I keep hearing that rumor that Megan's been pilfering a lot of stuff for AMC from the bibe she wrote for a soap she created called Purgatory. And from the looks of it, all the misery and angst, I can see how one could make that assumption.

Truly, I can.

All these characters are being twisted and shaped and formed into pods, supporting situations that they just wouldn't support. Erica feels no loyalty at ALL to Edmund? She was married to his brother twice, stole his child and he was very warm and welcoming to Bianca, letting her ride the horses at the Wildwind stables years after Erica and Dimitri divorced -- but Erica is just like, "Jonathan murdered him in cold blood while paralyzed and defenseless in a wheelchair. Oh well!"

Kendall can't allow herself to love Zach, because how can she love a man that let another man who violated women be tortured? Are you serious? Ryan almost punched Greenlee in a face, drove off a damn cliff, and brought back the brother that terrorized her and her two step-sisters as well as murdered three people... and we're supposed to believe she loves and trusts him more than Zach? Also, will they address this deep resounding horror Kendall has concerning Zach when she finds out TAD was the one who actually did the deed? I mean, after all, she bought Tad's word over Zach's.

Babe is another story altogether. I've gone on and on about her sociopath ass, so I won't do it here.

But to sum up, Megan's stories are lacking in emotional investment and are completely plot driven.