GL Changes Look This Week

[Chris B]

^ You say that like she isn't being held prisoner by Alan!

[Ryan]

I hope GL continues to make adjustments. Once they work out all the kinks, this really could work for them.

[Noel]

I will admit that my 67 year old aunt would KILL for those curtains of Lizzie's when I watched on Thursday. Seriously, I'm not kidding.

[Khan]

Too bad GL isn't on ABC, and this isn't happening during the Angie Shapiro era. Otherwise, Noel, your aunt could "Shop the Soaps".

[brimike]

*shudder

I haven't thought about THAT phrase in years.

The hair on the back of my neck is standing straight up.

* double shudder

[Khan]

Oh, come on. You know you dialed up and bought one of those Todd Manning dolls. Don't lie, lol.

[MichaelGL]

Lizzie's room looks like it would go better with the Jessup Farmhouse. I agree that it's not believable that Lizzie would have a room that small at the Spaulding mansion.

[JackPeyton]

I just have this insane love for mandy bruno. lol. to be honest, it is all personal and nothing to do with her acting. it goes back to like 06 and one night in las vegas.

but i dont think shes a bad actress, but i dont think shes a good actress. shes just kinda... there.

not to say i am not king of cheese when it omes to soaps. i like that title actually.

[JackPeyton]

What? Dont even try and say you didnt rush to dial up that number nd order the same collar for your dog that courtney had for hers on GH!!

[Sylph]

'Guiding Light' modernizes production

Sudser uses handheld cameras, real locations

By MICHAEL MALONEY

Guiding Light," TV's longest-running dramatic series, is freshening up its approach.

The 71-year-old soap opera has implemented a new production model. Pedestal cameras, limited sets and the traditional control booth have been replaced with handheld cameras, 40 permanent sets and a faster editing process. "Light" now produces 20% of its weekly footage with location shooting in Peapack, N.J., which doubles for the show's fictional setting of Springfield.

The reason for the new model is twofold: It's intended to create a more modern experience for viewers while being cost efficient for Procter & Gamble Prods. and CBS.

"It's become widely accepted that soaps need to do something (in order to survive)," says Ellen Wheeler, "Light's" executive producer who began her daytime career as an actress on "Another World" in 1984. "This is an opportunity to reach out to people who never would've considering watching a soap because of its look."

"Light" is no stranger to embracing technology. The Irna Phillips-created drama was among the first soaps to segue from radio to TV (1952), switch transmitting from black-and-white to color (1967), expand from 15 to 30 minutes (1968) and become available via podcast (2005).

"The new format allows the characters to live in a 360-degree universe as opposed to a proscenium stage," says Barbara Bloom, senior VP of daytime at CBS. "We hope that this will increase viewership."

"Light's" new model has challenged and invigorated the cast.

"It's exciting to be part of this evolution," says Beth Chamberlain, who has played heroine Beth Raines since 1989.

Adds Crystal Chappell, an Emmy winner for her role as the engaging Olivia Spencer: "As an actor, you have a lot more freedom. (Shooting in Peapack) gives a sense of truly being in a town."

Other soaps, including ABC's "The City" and NBC's "Sunset Beach," incorporated some elements of "Light's" model. Both were short-lived.

"Technology has changed changed a lot since 'The City,' " notes Bloom, a former ABC daytime exec. "We're trying to deliver Springfield in the most compelling and impactful way possible."

"Everyone agrees that something needs to be done to save these shows," says Michael Bruno, a talent manger who specializes in daytime. "CBS and Ellen are to be applauded for trying this."

Reps at NBC and its lone soap, "Days of Our Lives," opted not to comment on the possibility of following "Light's" new format. They may not need to, however: "Days" has experienced a ratings increase since changing its creative team last year, re-emphasizing core characters and giving viewers a payoff to a storyline that began decades ago.

"If we felt that reworking our model would be successful, I'm sure we would," says Brian Frons, president of daytime at Disney-ABC Television Group (home of sudsers "All My Children," "One Life to Live" and "General Hospital"), who feels that soap fans gravitate toward shows with the strongest storytelling, no matter how they're shot.

"If you have a great story and you shoot your show in Hawaii, you can have a terrific episode of 'Lost,' " says Frons, "but if the script and story aren't good, all you have is a show that shoots in Hawaii. There's a graveyard filled with those in primetime. It's no different in daytime."

"It always comes down to the writing," concurs Wheeler, who hopes "Light" fans follow the show in its new format just as they did when the drama moved from radio to TV. "We can't just sit back and do nothing. We've vowed to do everything we can in order to be around for as long as we can."


http://www.variety.com/awardcentral_article/VR1117982881.html?nav=news&categoryid=1985&cs=1

[GoldenDogs]

Hey Ryan..

I hope GL continues to make adjustments, too... they risk a lot here. But what is really killing me about this is that ANY professional television production put something on the air that needs SO MANY technical tweaks and adjustments... Honestly, I think it's terribly unprofessional. And a bad thing to promote the hell out of it, then people tune in and find it to be a disaster! Of course, we know the ratings weren't there for the big debut, but if there was a single person who tuned in that never had before, why would they want to watch again? You only get one chance at a first impression...

Besides, I still say soaps would do better to look into their history file to recall what has always worked and build upon that. Reinventing the wheel every few years is an absolute waste of time and resources. I don't even give Ellen props for making the effort... because the effort is terribly misguided.

B

[UKBoi]

While I agree that anyone who tuned in that day would have probably not bothered to watch again, I do think that any new production model needs tweaks and adjustments to get it right, like when soaps first went from radio TV, from black and white to colour, from 15 minutes to half an hour and then an hour, this is just another change that will take a while to be just right. Although that being said they really did pick an odd date to relaunch it because the progress they've made since then with the new format has come on leaps and bounds. I understand they wanted to go for 2.29.08 because of the leap year and everything, but if they had waited and started with Monday's episode things would have been much better (Monday's ep, I think, was the one that starts with a narrative from Harley).

I've been on both sides of the fence for this production model, I was really positive in the run up to it, SO negative in the first week but now I'm back to being positive for it; I also feel they've gotten the knack of structuring the episodes well (it was rather all over the place in the first week or so), and I do honestly give Ellen Wheeler props for trying something new and cutting costs WHILE being innovative. GL looks the most real out of all the soaps; where else will you see a character walk outside and get her paper in the morning, walk back inside the house, have a shower, have a conversation in the bedroom, go for lunch to a restaurant, come home (to a different room in the house) and then be outside in the park. I know people say that it's the writing that matters, but all these little touches of having a character go about their day to day life adds something to the show and makes it more relatable, and the plots also seem to be picking up. I just wish that GL would use more of their cast and get the balance right.

[All My Shadows]

I totally agree, especially with the last part. I've pretty much submerged myself in classic soap goodness thanks to YouTube, stuff I have on tape, etc., and I truly ache for the genre. The people in charge are too full of themselves and their ideas to *sit* down, *look* at what made daytime a force to be reckoned with for 40-50 years, and *take note* of what needs to be done. Progress is good. Progress is great. But progress doesn't always mean making these dramatic changes. When you think about it, the shows have strayed so far away from what made them what they are (or were), that the act of going back to their roots would be huge step forward.

[RoseVioletDaisy]

I'm sorry to be so blunt, but this woman is a complete and utter moron who understands nothing about soaps or it's fans. She's right that something needed to be done in order to facilitate the show's survival, but making it look cheaper, tackier, and more tasteless than ever is not the answer, certainly not if their goal is to reach out to viewers who shunned soaps in the past because of their look. The traditional soap look is a thousand times better than this ridiculous experiment. Despite having their budget cut to the bone and only being available on DirecTV, Passions looks like a freaking hollywood epic compared to GL. The sets are decent, the actors look good, and the you can actually hear what's being said. The answer to helping soaps survive is to purge the genre of all the stubborn and brain-dead producers and writers like Wheeler, Kreizman, Guza, and Corday who have no idea what they're doing, have no respect for the genre or it's fans, and are never held accountable for the numerous failures.

Wheeler's newfound ability to produce a one-hour soap for what looks like about a $1.99 a pop will help GL stay on the air, but at what cost? The show is just horrible on every possible level. Now maybe someone who doesn't know what soaps are supposed to look like, doesn't know who any of the characters on GL are, and have no idea how they should be behaving with one another might get a kick out of the '70's amateur porn production values, incessantly sleazy behavior, and the seemingly random hook-ups but I think it's pretty unbearable to anyone who has ever known or loved GL.

Please get this through you're thick heads before it's too late: Camera work, music, and other asthetics don't matter to soap viewers. If the show sucks, it sucks and people tune out. This show will continue to suck and bleed viewers by the thousands until or unless you bite the bullet and find a writer who knows the show, knows what they're doing, and is actually willing to try and fix this mess.

To be honest, I just don't buy this supposed enthusiasm from the cast. These actors are too smart to believe that this is anything positive. They have to know that not only is it a desperate attempt to keep a slowly sinking ship afloat and that not only does the show look horrible, so do they. All the actors look sickly, pale, and significantly older, not to mention that this "style" really shows off the weaknesses of the lesser actors and the laziness of the actors who've been phoning in their performances for years.

Yeah, technology has changed alot since The City. Unfortunately, The City looked ten times better over a decade ago in it's first episode than Bizarro-World GL ever has or probably ever will. It's not the technology, it's the experience and artistic vision behind it that matters. So not only is GL saddled with horrible writing but the incompetent execution of the technology and techniques behind this "new model" make the whole show feel more like a bad joke than a bold experiment. If NewCokeGL is the future of soaps, the genre is truly dead.

Couldn't they have tried hiring a real writer first? That would've been cheaper and probably a heckuva lot more effective at re-energizing both the actors and the fanbase.

Has the Earth just fallen off of it's axis? Brian Frons just said something that makes sense? What planet am I on?!

And when exactly when will you be getting on that writing problem you've got over there? Or are you simply content to have GL stay on the air by the skin of it's teeth and rack up a few meaningless sympathy Emmys every year?

[AddictedToSoaps]

Well Frons, for once I agree with what you're saying.

Well Ellen, I'm glad you have finally admitted that. After all these articles about GL's new production model never has she fully admitted that the writing is the key and most important factor of a soap. She's always babbled on about how fans want to see real grass and real trees that make them feel closer and more connected to the characters. And OK Ellen, if you want to do everything possible to keep GL around, then do whatever it takes to get that hack fired.