OLTL: Debating Ron Carlivati & The Show

[Chris B]

When Nora married Daniel who was an undercover gay serial killer.

[Vee]

Yeah, your writing is like Ibsen on meth. No thanks.

[RuAsRuAnAu]

When Nora married Daniel who was an undercover gay serial killer.

RE: undercover gay serial killer. The story of Nora's husband as a killer was dropped due to protest from many homosexuals who objected to a homosexual character (Daniel) being written as evil. In order to have homosexual characters on daytime, they have to be written as "the good guys" (re: ATWT's Luke & Noah).

[Laurie]

I'm loving OLTL right now. All the stories are enjoyable for me

[David_Vickers]

ONE LIFE is great and the best soap on right now. To improve it, however, I'd axe Michael & John McBain after the Tommy/Mannings/McBain storyline is over.

[leevo64]

While I see where you are coming from with this statement, I do think that if the story were written with some sort of sensitivity - and not as a sensationalistic joke - gay advocacy groups wouldn't have been so outspoken about the story. The story not only had tons of homophobic undertones (like when Bo and Rex were in the gay club) but also bastardized a really nice and likable gay character, Mark. If the story was classic OLTL, it would have explored Mark's point of view, showed Marcie's brother and his disgust for the homophobia spreading around Llanview once again, and the story would have explored the effect of a gay criminal on both the gay and straight communities.

[Vee]

Horseshit.

Gay characters do not have to be written as "good guys." As a gay viewer I would love to see a gay villain, among other things. I don't go in for saints. But the Daniel Colson story was pure dogshit. The character's story was presented in the most lurid, exploitative way possible; not only was he a closet case, but he was marrying a sympathetic female character and single mother; he was [!@#$%^&*] a younger man in seedy hotel rooms, and he was also a serial killer! What the [!@#$%^&*] is that? Was Daniel's true character ever delved into? Was there any real resolution for him, for Nora, for Mark Solomon? No, Mark disappeared; there was no remote attempt at any positive message. Everything was played for shock value; everything was about the "gay horror." there was no attempt to show different types of GLBT people, different personalities, the underlying issues. No, Daniel was simply a gay serial killer. The scenes in the gay club were depicted as Rex and Bo going into the campy bowels of Hell. It was fearmongering exploitation at its worst and there was nothing groundbreaking, intelligent, or well-done about it; it simply played on homophobic stereotypes to do a "shocking" story and used that rationale to claim that it was "doing something new." All homosexuals were in the Daniel Colson story were Dena Higley's latest freaks of the week.

There is a wide berth between giving us gray and realistic GLBT characters on daytime, and giving us the Daniel [!@#$%^&*] Colson story. Know of what you speak the next time you open your mouth.

[AddictedToSoaps]

Exactly. If I recall correctly, he was exposed as being gay only a couple weeks before he left, so his story was never really dealt with.

Back on topic, after a couple weeks of solo Ron - I am simply LOVING OLTL right now, I haven't enjoyed the show this much in a long time.

[RuAsRuAnAu]

I stand by my statement about Higley's gay story.

[Ridge]

Wow a lot discussed here. Firstly I don't think Dena did severe damage to the show, partly because for some time now she has been working with a co-HW or something of the sort. For sometime before her exit the show was rebuilding and was consistent, very miniscule plot holes and good interactions between characters. That has continued IMO. Carlivati has been good the first few months are usually the best and that hasn't failed yet-- but who knows if he can switch up. All that is known is that OLTL is the only soap that has been consistently good for at least 3-4 months and that is a major accomplishment for any soap right now IMO.

[Vee]

What is your statement? That it was good? It was crap. That angry fans ended it? No one ended it for Higley prematurely; she told the story she wanted to tell. Nothing was ever said anywhere about the story being curtailed, by anyone. She intended to tell an exploitative tale about a gay serial killer and his twink lover who promptly disappeared from the canvas after the big sweeps reveal. She didn't intend to do anything else. If you want to believe otherwise you need to offer up proof.

[R Sinclair]

I'm just mad he had skinny, blonde white Sarah get on the microphone talking about: "Timbaland's in da house!"

As a 6'2" twentysomething black man with dreads, that just made me shudder and feel kind of embarrassed for her -- because if I know I can't get away with talking like that, then God Almighty, I know she couldn't have.

[R Sinclair]

What? Telephone operators will forever be employed?

[MichaelGL]

Higley was and will always be a hack IMO.

[RuAsRuAnAu]

There is no denying Higley incapabilities at HW a serialized show. She is OLTL's worst HW to date, followed by McTavish & JFP. The problem with Carlivati is that he has placed most of his eggs in one basket: The Tommy custody story. What about the viewers who do not care for Michael, John, Marcie, Tommy, Starr & Todd? I guess they get no satisfaction. The other "major" story involving Langston is outr of nowhere. Where was the buildup? Poor Robin Strasser- she hasn't had a really good story since Malone left. The current story which holds a modicum of my attention is the Jared/Jessica story.

OLTL's are worse than I predicted. The has indeed improved over Higley's messy stories, but many, including I, feel Carlivati is dragging his feet. What is he waiting for? A cancellation notice like GH had back in 1977? Do not forget that the budgets are based on sweeps performances, and OLTL desperately needs to perform better than expected.

I do not blame Frons for trying to recapture OLTL's 1991-1996 magical years with the hiring of Malone & Griffith. But when things just were not clicking, Frons did not fire Malone/Griffith sooner. Plus, he shouldn't have interferred too heavily in the stories. His "performance" on AMC in 2005 is one of daytime's worst. It perfectly symbolized how he operates ABC Daytime.

Good move with making Culliton the script editor and canning Nipkow. Cannot wait till Cascio arrives. Plus other new writers because they need them. Both Myers & Gialanella are close with Higley/Christopher.