Members DeeeDee Posted June 29, 2008 Members Share Posted June 29, 2008 ...Riiiiiiight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Andrew Posted June 29, 2008 Members Share Posted June 29, 2008 One true love they will end up with?, boring! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members GoldenDogs Posted June 29, 2008 Members Share Posted June 29, 2008 If one is above soap writing, why would one frequent a board dedicated to soaps? Wouldn't they be more interested in a board dedicated to primetime? I'm not quite sure I track your statement in relation to the exchange I had with Sylph... B Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Sylph Posted June 29, 2008 Members Share Posted June 29, 2008 I didn't say nobody, just a vaaaaast majority that overshadow the few that now a thing or two. And even those whose resumes you mention don't have a straightforward winning answer. However, I admire the passion the fans have for this genre and the effort they put in keeping it alive. It's just that... that is not enough. Television was never made for the fans. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members GoldenDogs Posted June 29, 2008 Members Share Posted June 29, 2008 We agree! Not to take away from this very interesting and progressive discussion... great points by everyone here and I respect all that is being said... but the very n ature of these types of threads is so pointless. Because we really does need to be done to save the genre will never happen. Now, someone will cry out "Ohhh, the negativity!! It's not helping!" -- well, no it's not. I agree that negativity isn't helping. But it's fact. It's true. As long as clueless executives and detached network suits keep this ridiculous deathgrip on power (and the stubborn refusal to infuse fresh blood into daytime), the genre will continue this blind march into oblivion. We all post here HOPING someone will listen to what we're saying. But they won't. Sadly. When given some spark of life, as in how some people are excited about Ron Carlivati's OLTL, hope is renewed -- I personally think as a group of fans, we go a little overboard. OLTL may be better... but it still is pretty bad, at least compared to the socially-conscious OLTL of old. What do they all that syndrome where hostages begin to be sympathetic of their captors? Any kindness received makes us appreciate even our captors? Well... maybe we're so starved for decent daytime drama that even the most modest improvement in soaps drives us into an excited frenzy, appreciative of what they're giving us. But remember who runs ABC Daytime, friends. It's the same guy currently destroying SoapNet. His very name deflates my hopes and crushes any glimmer of excitement a glimmer of good offers... But on the point of this thread... No, the format of quality daytime drama is fine. The problem is that some "suit" has already "rethought" the format and for that reason is why we're where we are today. Poor ratings, disgruntled fans, helpless writers (well, the ones that don't suck), and blogging backseat scribes who write stories from the perspective of fans and not from the perspective of a network executive with an eye on revenue. B Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members P.J. Posted June 29, 2008 Members Share Posted June 29, 2008 I agree. Good stories, good actors. Sure...the pace of television may have changed so dramatically that you could no longer take three years to reveal Adam's paternity to Hal like Marland did. But that doesn't mean the dramatic fallout has to suffer. Particularly on ATWT, it seems that the emotional beats of the story are rushed along and never explored. That's what's killing daytime. Could I churn out a hundred pages of story a week? Definitely not. But a little fine-tuning (even of JP's crap) would make a lot of story a lot more palatable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members MarkH Posted June 29, 2008 Members Share Posted June 29, 2008 Not me. I don't know the motivations of others... I post to commisserate with like minds. It is like fantasy football. I don't expect what I do to influence the real NFL. It is just fun to play a shadow game with "friends". Soaps are my obsession, so I like to hang out with other obsessives. Are others actually hoping to influence the industry via SON???? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members marceline Posted June 29, 2008 Members Share Posted June 29, 2008 Not me. I look at this like placing bets in a dead pool. I just like to keep track of the odds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members All My Shadows Posted June 29, 2008 Members Share Posted June 29, 2008 This thread is just epic. I'd add in my thoughts, but I don't think I'm worthy. Ooooh, I can answer this one! I come to SON for several reasons, but I don't have any intent whatsoever to try to change anything just by posting here. I come to SON to discuss, to get my own opinions across while also allowing myself to be enlightened by the thoughts and opinions of others. If I wanted to influence the industry, I'd threaten to take away Brian Frons's porn collection if he doesn't stop ruining everything he touches. In posting here and lurking at other places, I've come across several people who make statements like this...acknowledging that OLTL has improved but at the same time saying that it's not a good show. Just for my own curiosity, what do you think makes the show pretty bad right now? I'm interested because I want to be able to look at the show with more viewpoints than just one. I agree that the show isn't very socially-conscious, and I hope that that's something RC is working on. I think he needs to find a comfortable balance between the identities that have made the show popular. Frankly, most of the soaps lost a huge chunk of identity somewhere in the 1980s and 1990s, so it would be a gigantic service to at least the quality of the shows if a proper balance could be found. All right, back onto the sidelines I go! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ReddFoxx Posted June 29, 2008 Members Share Posted June 29, 2008 I'm not sure if anyone already mentioned this, but MyNetworkTV tried a telenovela format with shows having a limited run and then moving on to another novela. It didn't work and they aren't doing it anymore, so I don't think a format change would really work. The problem with the genre is that there really is no competition between the soaps anymore, in previous decades you had more than one program delivering it's best game and the others were trying to keep up by delivering their best stories. Now, it seems like the writers are just going through the motions and not even trying to tell good stories. I think if a completely new daytime soap opera came out, with really good stories and actually give the other soaps a run for their money, they maybe the genre would revive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Sylph Posted June 29, 2008 Members Share Posted June 29, 2008 Take a look at the takeover, for example. Which was scripted by ATWT's worst former scriptwriter Elizabeth Page. If any other show featured a similar storyline, for example GH, the writing would be stellar. This was... A.w.f.u.l. And the acting... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Y&RWorldTurner Posted June 29, 2008 Members Share Posted June 29, 2008 Yes, I agree, the OLTL script writing team is sub par. I think a lot of people let their Ron C love cloud their objectiveness when it comes to this show. Yes, he's OK, but damn, some of those script writers need to go. I agree, if anyone from GH scripted that takeover, it would've been miles better, at least IMO. The dialogue on OLTL is so stilted and generic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Sylph Posted June 29, 2008 Members Share Posted June 29, 2008 This is a big SON problem: people decide on who is a good/bad writer based on his/her personality. I don't hate Elizabeth Page as a person, I hate her writing. And I don't hate her haircut remarks, they just make me laugh whenever I think about them. How can someone be that shallow?! So... If you dig deeper, you will find that people who are big Casiello fans, actually hated his writing before he started the MySpace blog. Good blog - one thing. Good writing for soaps - completely different. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members P.J. Posted June 29, 2008 Members Share Posted June 29, 2008 Liz Page was by no means ATWT's worst scriptwriter. (That honor, IMO, would go to Lynn Martin.) I'm sorry if she doesn't fit OLTL, but she was SUPERB on ATWT. I'd gladly take her back in a heartbeat. She got a really bad rap for that "$200 haircut, blah blah pennypinching now" column. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Sylph Posted June 29, 2008 Members Share Posted June 29, 2008 Haven't I just written I don't hate her haircut remark, I hate her dialogue? It was awful on ATWT and is awful now. And yes, Lynn Martin sucked, too. Donato and Culliton were excellent. And so was Marie Masters when she wrote for the show. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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