GL: Kim Zimmer is Mad!

[Sylph]

Am I the only one who doesn't like the woman?  And think she's a tiny, tiny bit overrated?

[MarkH]

I didn't watch The Doctors, so my first exposure to her was as Echo DiSavoy on OLTL.

That storyline was forgettable...but Kim just took my breath away. Those blue eyes, that expressive face...I thought she was one of the sexiest creatures on daytime (Judith Chapman on Y&R was on the list too....I guess it is something with the haunting blue eyes. Brandon Beemer has 'em now ]

Anyway, years ago when she won either an Emmy or a SOD-award, she admitted "I like to chew the scenery". That's what she is good for, and every show needs someone like that: The brassy or ballsy driver of story. Y&R has Braeden and Stafford and Leblanc and Morrow. B&B has Flannery and HAD the best--Darlene! AMC has Canary. And so forth. If Zimmer departs, the ONLY ones left to occupy this niche are the Spauldings--Alan, and the seldom-seen Alexandra (and maybe Tognoni's Dinah...but not really).

More than that, as you well know, soaps are complex puzzles...gumbos where you need a lot of just-right ingredients. GL without Zimmer (used properly) is a blander melange.

I do wish that Zimmer would reconnect with her sexuality and sensuality (I realize she is no longer 20, but she can still be sexy), and play that beat again.

[Sylph]

I understand what you're saying, but it's just that her whole demeanor, various gaffes, statements etc. bug me seriuosly. I agree that each show should have a scene thief, but it's actually funny how I don't like some of those people you mention, e.g. Braeden (God, I cannot stand him). I'm this close to hating La Flannery, but that has to do with the way Stephanie has been written for quite some time.

I've said it when I first joined SON: this show is dead. And has been for many, many years. It should have been cancelled quite some time ago. At least that way it would have gone off the air as decently as possible. Now these people are sucking every bit of life left in it, and when it finally gets cancelled – no one will care.

[Cheyenne]

[MarkH]

Wow, that is strong! You're not the only one to say it...but when I hear stuff like that, it sends shivers down my spine.

But I even mourn Passions, since it is yet another death for the genre, even if the show sucks.

[Sylph]

What can I do? The pain I feel because these people robbed me of something great I should have seen is indescribable. They have ravaged the soap, like vultures they picked every bit of rotten meat left on the bones of this show and continue doing it while at the same time revelling in their endeavours. (I should point out that I do appreciate their effort in trying to modernise it with this format – that isn't working, by the way – although I cannot help it but I feel as if they're trying to deceive me, trying to sort of solve the problem by shoving this fiasco down my throat thinking these fans are stupid, they'll buy it.)

Certainly, I'm not omniscient and I cannot see what could've happened had Nancy Curlee stayed and wrote the show without network and P&G's interference. But I'm pretty damn sure it would have been a blast, or at least tons better than it is now. Sadly, as always, this "what could have happened if...?" way of thinking is futile and leads to nowhere.

If these people truly love this show as much as they proclaim, then they should step down. And by those people I mean Bloom, Wheeler and Kreizman. It's doubtful how much that will solve the problem, but it will show they have – a conscience.

[P.J.]

No, not exactly. There are times she says what needs to be said. HOWEVER, it seems more and more often she just opens her trap to hear herself speak. If I had a choice between her, Maeve Kincaid and Maureen Garrett, I'd keep Maeve or Maureen 99% of the time, regardless of how intertwined Reva is to the history of the show.

The problem with Reva is that she's done everything and had just about everyone on the show. If there's anyone I don't really mind being backburnered, it's Reva.

It's not that Kim's talent isn't real. But I do think people have built her up so much it annoys those of us who don't think she poops roses.

I don't think the show is unsalvagable. God, the way Danny Cosgrove just lit up this show proves it. I do think The Suits need to clean house, starting with Wheeler and Krietzman, and the new Ex Producer needs to have a clear focus on who the people in Springfield are.

[DaytimeFan]

I have a conflicted opinion of Zimmer. On one hand she's a loud, brassy scenery chewer who seems like a lot of fun if you're on her side. On the other hand she seems to have an inflated ego...plus she didn't get along with Joan Collins when she did GL in 02 while everyone else in the cast thought Joan was a blast...Zimmer was backburned during that period too. The lady obviously doesn't like being anything but front and center.

That being said, she simply wants to work her guarantee...she wants to act. She's an actress, that's what she does. I think, at this point, she doesn't give a damn about what happens with P&G...she saw what they did to Martha Byrne.

[Sylph]

Excellent post, P. J.!

I'm glad to hear that there are people who believe there is a solution for this show.  I'm not one of them, though.

[R Sinclair]

Nope, you're not.

That's why I am strongly believing there is "more to the story." I am SURE she used her brass, ego and heightened sense of importance and rubbed the "executive director (what the hell?)" or the "suits" the wrong way, and she's being put in her place. That's just MY opinion. For instance, she even admitted to saying she thought Tom Pelphrey couldn't act and told TPTB that they would make a mistake casting him. It's like, do your damn job and let them do theirs! There are plenty of people who think her loud, in your face, exaggerated scenery chewing is bullshit (raising my hand), but there are many people who think it's pure Emmy winning brilliance! I appreciate she also has publicly said her initial impression proved to be wrong, but it's little bits and pieces of things like that that make me think that she is no stranger to throwning her "weight" around and could've done it one too many times. I'm not saying it's right, I'm not saying it's wrong, I'm just saying that's the way it is sometimes. People in positions of power are no strangers to using their professional positions to take out their personal feelings. Like I said, I believe there's more to the story. I doubt this woman was acting her butt off and then one day, realized she'd only been on set three times in five months, or something.

As shrill as I thought Martha was, I enjoyed her acting a lot more than I enjoy Zimmer's. Plus, Byrne seemed to be more of a team player. Even after the whole news of her dismissal broke, I don't recall Byrne using her fans to create such a divisive "Us versus Them" atmosphere. Sure, she wasn't happy, but she wasn't seething and snarling, either. But as for the Byrne situation, wasn't it different? I thought it wasn't about working her guarantee but it was about them lowering her guarantee altogether? Cut in pay, not cut in screen time. I could be wrong, so...

[JackPeyton]

Here is the thing. Regaurdless if you love her or hate her, she IS the most paid person at Guiding Light, a show with a super tight budget, and she is sitting at home? That speaks itself for why soaps in general are failing. they are wasting money on someone they are not using.

[Sylph]

Excellent! Fire her then!

[JSROCKS]

ICAM Wasn't there a major blood letting after Kim had her public I'm not taking a pay-cut thingy the last time around????? Well maybe she's preparing herself for what she knows will be the obvious inevitable cut of all ---

[RavenWhitney]

The fact is Zimmer is GL's answer to Victoria Rowell...nutsy bananas. KZ has contained it a little more than VR who's certifiable. But Zimmer has troubles; she's tired, emotional and gained a lot of weight. She just doesn't look good on the tube. It's ashame. Look at Kathryn Hays or Eileen Fulton or Susan Lucci...they've aged gracefully and had front burner stories for years. Kim needs some time off to get some therapy, go to a fat farm and get a job on an ABC soap. GL is history anyway...she couldn't save it now even if she had a killer storyline.

[R Sinclair]

Maybe Brown and Esensten can leave AMC... Write her another good old fashioned Clone story and she'll stop all this kicking and screaming.