GL: June discussion

[Greg's GL]

Since no one has started a new thread for June, I figured I'd get one started. Even though the GL discussions have been almost non-existent.

I have to say that the month of June thus far has been more of the same. Bad pacing, character destruction and inexplicable location shots.

Who knew that Jeffrey's shooting would bring him so many flowers?!?! He had more flowers in his room than Gus and Tammy combined. I guess if you rape someone (twice), you get a lot more love from the people of Springfield.

They still haven't addressed the gay guy that Josh think slept with his wife (thanks to Cyrus). When is that going to happen? I so want him to dump Cassie.

[UKBoi]

GL needs someone new to come in and take control of all the mindless storylines that dont seem to go anywhere important. It's so hard to care what happens when TPTB dont.

[JackPeyton]

GL needs a new HE & EP and a big event to shake it all up.

[Noel]

GL needs something. I don't know what that something is, but it needs it badly.

[Soapsuds]

Do you still watch GL Noel? I tried watching it yesterday but couldnt take it and changed it to tennis.

[Dale]

It is difficult to fathom how and why we were subjected to a 5 minute scene of Mallet packing up his hotel room.

[Noel]

Yeah, I post up GL clips and I'm able to watch them in its entirety and a YouTube member is very nice in providing the daily previews as well which was a request that I wanted, so yeah, I know what's going on now.

[Sedrick]

The only situation in daytime history that in any way really compares to the current state of GL (and I’m stretching this theory here for all its worth) was the state of GENERAL HOSPITAL in late 1977 when ABC hired Gloria Monty and Doug Marland to pretty much put the program to bed in thirteen weeks. From what I understand, GH at the time was beyond tired and worn out, a good candidate for the cancellation pile. The core audience of housewives that had made the show successful in its early years had long since fled, and the only answer to the show's survival was to hook a new audience (that being a time when TPTB weren't obsessed with only getting a YOUNGER audience...at that time ANY audience would do). Monty and Marland then used both revolutionary production techniques AND (most importantly) STRONG STORYTELLING and RICH CHARACTERIZATIONS...the kind of characters and stories that got people talking. In less than a year, Monty and Marland did the unprecedented: they not only saved GH from the axe, but they lured a totally new HUGE viewership.

IMO GUIDING LIGHT has two options now. The first is to accept the fact that the show will soon end, and with that realization the team being the LIGHT decides to give it there all and go out with at least a little dignity and pride, if not a bang. In the past, some shows have gone this route: THE DOCTORS, arguably SEARCH FOR TOMORROW, in a way LOVING, and GENERATIONS come to mind.

The second option is to go for broke and truly commit to saving the show by turning out a daily product that is far superior to anything else out there, a la GH in the late 70's. The attempt at the new production model is a step in that direction regardless of the fact that honestly it was launched not to be revolutionary but instead in order to work with a drastically slashed budget. With the proper producers and directors, this new model can really work...but in order for that to happen, THERE HAS TO BE STORY IN PLACE.

One of my favorite shows hands down is BBC's EASTENDERS. When GL launched the new model I tuned in faithfully the first month or so because suddenly the show struck me as really being real and relatable just like EE. The opportunity was there for GL to dump the conventions of daytime soaps that in this day and age have really worn the genre down (such as tired clichés and stereotypical storytelling)...I was rooting for the show to zero in on the now highly visible Springfield as a modern American community peopled with characters whose actions and tales would reflect the real world as we know it in the 21st century. Instead, GL went in a totally different direction: they threw out the core tenets of daytime drama that make it work such as continuity, ongoing and intersecting plots, and the overall themes of love, family, and eventual dramatic payoff.

[Greg's GL]

^ ^ Great post, Sedrick. ICAM.

I caught the show today. Reva looked fabulous. It appears as though the "Reva's movie" story is getting to her. Possibly leading to a Josh/Reva reuniting? Looks that way. They still haven't shown any aftermath of Josh finding out the supposed "other man" is actually gay. WTF is going on with that story? Of course, it's meant less Cassie on my screen, which is a good thing.

Well, well, well. Cyrus now has a younger brother on the show - G. Surprise. NOT! I really really wish they would just send his ass back down under. His usefulness has worn off and it's high time for the character to LEAVE SPRINGFIELD.

Tomorrow looks like more of the same. But I seem to enjoy torture, so I'll probably have it on in the background....

[NYC123]

This show is unwatchable......

The storylines suck...........Characters are not written they way they are suppose to be written............

RIP GL.

[Helena]

Watching Ashlee (whether she's doing a scene with Coop or Daisy or whoever) is like nails on a chalkboard.

[P.J.]

Wow...I didn't think anyone else hated Ashlee besides me. I spent that gagworthy "love scene" obsessively staring at Coop's weird sideburns and ear.

I hate to ask...but WTF was Cyrus searching Harley's house for? I missed something, and he spent half the episode circling her kitchen table and searching her van for something.

G/Cyrus, bros? Why...because everyone in Australia knows each other? G is worthless in the first place. He's a bad Jon clone (hmmn...could there be a good Jon clone...there's a condundrum if I ever heard one...)

And that Reva movie. Sttttuuuuuppppiiiiiiddddd and annoying. The only thing that could have saved those scenes is getting a classic flashback of the very same scene from Reva.

[Dan]

Nope. I hate Ashlee too. Her voice is like nails on a friggin' chalkboard.

[Dale]

Greg, my fear is that when GL is mercifully canceled, the last shot of the final show will be of Cyrus and G.

[Greg's GL]

^^^ Dale, don't jinx it!!! :-)

Wouldn't that be the worst possible ending for GL? Something out of a nightmare, IMO. EW/DK probably think these two are wonderful, that's how out of touch they are with the viewers.