OLTL: Debating Ron Carlivati & The Show

[nell17]

I love the show now. I think Ron has done a great job with the show. He immediately backburned Miles. His marriage to Marty was stupid, he ended that.

He put Todd and Blair back together. They aren't in love, but they are back together.

The Tommy secret is out and the real story (Michael/Marcie vs. Todd) is coming out. That secret went on 1 year longer than it needed to.

We know who killed Spenser, thank god.

All those things were vast improvements to me. I plus Viki's getting a new storyline, that works for me.

[Khan]

>> Do you not agree that a lot can be accomplished with 15 episodes of HW?

Yes. But I also think Dena Higley did a ton of damage to OLTL, and that it'll take Carlivati more than a few shows to correct the mistakes she made. (Presuming, of course, those mistakes can be corrected at all. The truth is, Carlivati has a lot of s**t to clean up, and not all of it is of Higley's doing.)

>> Carlivati prides himself as a "vet" lover. As well as being able to write emotionally-layered, thought-provoking , timely & engaging stories. So far, he's only shown a modicum of that.

Well, it's only been fifteen episodes....

>> If it weren't for Linda Gottlieb, Michael Malone, Josh Griffith & Susan Bedsow Horgan, OLTL would not have transformed itself into a force to reckon with.

That's your yardstick? The Malone/Griffith/Gottlieb era? No offense, Ru, or anyone else, but I'd just as soon forget that period of time in OLTL's history ever happened.

To me, OLTL hasn't been OLTL since 1987, when Viki had an out-of-body experience and went to Heaven. Here, we had one of the most earthy and real soaps on the air (save for the unfortunate mind-control b.s. w/ Dr. Ivan Kipling) doing something so out of the realm of the average viewer's experience that no longer could anyone, young or old, take the show even a little bit seriously. (And the less I say about Eterna, or even "Buchanans of the Old West," the better.)

Granted, I stuck w/ OLTL for as long as I could stomach it (and still tune in occasionally to keep track of what's going on...and what's going wrong), and that was due largely to a handful of actors, including Erika Slezak, Robin Strasser (for as long as she was on the show), Michael Storm, Marilyn Chris, Andrea Evans, Jessica Tuck and Fiona Hutchinson. However, once it became clear Michael Malone preferred stories about his own creations (Angela Holliday, Luna Moody, Andrew Carpenter, Nora, Todd, Marty, Blair, etc.), at the expense of characters who had been front-burner for years and - in most, if not all, cases - were viewer favorites, then, I was done.

And yes, that included Marty's rape, as well as the AIDS Quilt/Homophobia story. I've gone on-record many times before (on other message boards) as admitting I never cared for those stories. I still don't. People can praise those preachy, heavy-handed, "Afterschool Special"-y tales that were only tangentially connected to the show's core all they want. Frankly, I think they did more harm than good, and that's all I have to say about that.

>> I've said it before, and I'll say it again: OLTL is a show that just can't win because when all is said and done, the viewers take what they're feed and swallow it whole.

Say what!? First, you suggest Ken Corday is the most-respected EP, and that Jill Mitwell is an overrated director; and now, this.

>> Where were those so-called fans when the show really started to decline in 1996?

I could've said the same back in '87 or '88. The difference, though, is that I don't presume to speak for the majority of the audience. I thought everything after, and even including, "Round Trip to Heaven" was garbage; some people didn't; to each his own.

>> I am writing a OLTL story outline, a bible if you will. It's gonna take a while cuz I feel that all writers should delve in the depths of a show's history, to go back to its roots.

Well, you better get the ball rolling around episode 9; otherwise, it's off with your head, lol.

[RuAsRuAnAu]

Where were the true fans when it was announced in autumn 2004 that Higley was hired as OLTL's HW? I sent feedback about my disapproval, did you?

If only Malone & Griffith's tenure in 2003/2004 was just as good or even better than they're 1991-1996 stint. The same goes for Broderick's run on OLTL. AMC truly is her show.

I'd take the creations of Malone/Griffith over their successor's characters (1997 to present) any time of the day.

Most respected amongst their respective shows cast (Corday). Hey, I just feel there are better directors- primetime/daytime-than Mitwell. I do not like her style of directing when she is given "special" episodes (Asa's death). If she does stay, I'd rather have Mitwell direct "filler" episodes.

Re: Mitwell. Awards mean nothing. Victoria Rowell, praised by many in and out of the TV industry, has never won a Daytime Emmy, has she?

[Ryan]

Oy....ok Ru....if you think Ron is doing such a bad job, how would you have handled things if you had to clean up Dena's mess.

I'd just love to read your ideas....

[RuAsRuAnAu]

that is not my name

[Ryan]

..................ay dios mio

[dtchicago]

I am enjoying OLTL more days than not and am very pleased with Carlivati's work.

[RuAsRuAnAu]

Richard Culliton turned AMC around from Passanante's mess. Gordon Rayfield & Anna Cascio continued to lead AMC into a good direction.

Hogan Sheffer revitalized an aging and stale ATWT after Laiman botched it.

Lorraine Broderick turned the ATWT ship around after Jessica Klein, Stephen Demorest, Mel Brez & Addie Walsh

Guza Jr. & Pratt turned GH around after McTavish's poor run.

Douglas Marland turned ATWT around after Cynthia Benjamin & Susan Bedsow Horgan's stint. He also improved GH after Richard Holland, Suzanne Holland, Irving Elman & Tex Elman.

Michael Malone transformed OLTL after S. Michael Schnessel & Margaret DePriest.

[Vee]

I think he's doing an excellent job improving the show. He is stuck with horrible stories that he has to follow to satisfactory in-show conclusions no matter what we'd like to see just disappear. The dialogue is excellent all of a sudden, the character interactions are organic (a word Dena Higley hijacked but never understood), and we see more of Nora than I ever expected to again.

Meanwhile Anna [!@#$%^&*] Cascio brought AMC such thrilling characters as Laurie Lewis, Michael Cambias, and Carlos the janitor. No thanks.

[RuAsRuAnAu]

Are you always this rude & nasty to everyone?

[dm.]

Oh geez... can you smell the hostility in the air?

[Dr. Jay S.W.]

No but I am very defensive of the things that I care about. In the real world, I wouldnt be offened by your annoyingness and disrespect but since we are on a Soap Opera Message board, I guess the thing I am defending is my Soap Opera. I smell the Agenda,

"I.... deeply resent the hypocrisy that's on display in my favorite message boards name!"

Ru- "Jay knock it off

Jay" Oh my god.....you stay OUT! of it you little repeating post hyprocritcal agenda with a keyboard, why the hell are you here anyway???

Admin- "Jay!" Listen to me. This is your pain, this not your anger, please, please dont atack the poster, not today,please

Jay" I just.....I just... WANT HER TO LEAVE!!!! I WANT HER TO LEAVE

(Compare it to Tracy's I WANT MY MOMMY scene on GH.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PoHPfnb75Lg

starts at :54 seconds...take a look

[EricMontreal22]

You must not be an AMC fan or regular watcher. While Culliton's stay was plagued by dropped stories, dropped characters and the neverending mess that was Proteus he was a HUGE improvement on Passanante (and the interim after she quickly quit amidst rumours of firings when no one was writing) but that's really not saying much. Still his show had the characters feeling right--then Rayfield came and that ALL fell apart. TONS of very bland new characters shoved down our throats (though I liekd Lysistrata the shrink) etc... Cascio joining him midway thru the run did improve things markedly but it still felt largely out of character for AMC... and wasn't that great (which is prob why McTavish's early eps when she returned seemed soo great)

Khan--I respect your views on OLTL tremendously . I do think that OLTL started to lose it right around the 1984 Nicki/Vicki story--which was great. but aroudn that time, with Sam Hall gone as headwriter and Peegy Sloane almost gone (Why was Michael Shnessel allowed to write so long?) and Rauch in charge the show really became almost all about rich white people--and that's where the feel really started to be lost. I am a HUGE fan of Malone/Griffith's first era even if sometimes it felt preachy (though the coming out and especiallyr ape stories were way too dramatically compelling to merely be preachy IMHO) and I agree that he focused too much on his creations. but I get why he did--to bring the show back to its multi ethnic and economical structure he basically had to--so much of that had been obliterated under Rauch for the past 10 years...

E

[baller]

you use Rayfield and Casico as your standard? WOW, how was it being one of the 4.2 fans then....

It's gotten better---Ron is working to wrap up the stupid storylines in a fast pace, and the stuff coming sounds like worth watching

[ZaraB]

It's not where it could be, but the show is improving, and taking some surprising steps.

The short term returns are not a long term solution, but they show a respect to history. Dena couldn't be bothered to keep the show or characters consistent from week to week. Seeing so many (maybe not all) of the faces return for Asa's goodbye was a rare nod to the fans. Will returning to support his mother. Seeing Addie back in St. Anne's. Llanview begins to be recognizable again.

There were and are a lot of new faces still coming. Some were in the works and some may be necessary to fill voids left by characters just not working. Jared is surprisingly accepted. He's not being pushed down 24/7 - but he is pulling together Natalie and Jessica, two characters who SHOULD be always in some type of story together. We'll see what happens with FF, but RC may be using it to give Viki some airtime and story. A new love interest for her is welcome after watching Clint whipped by Dorian. I almost hope a new guy for Nora is in the works.

I can't help but wonder what pictures Carlivati has of Frons. How is he getting the airtime and focus for the vets past him? I suspect it helps with the acceptance of Jared and Sarah that we are seeing the older generation.