Members P.J. Posted July 3, 2008 Members Share Posted July 3, 2008 I actually watched Wednesday's episode! And watched as in every minute, even the usually boring Remy/Ava stuff....and was I surprised how cohesive and well, watchable the episode was. I can't remember the last GL episode I watched from beginning to end. Sure, it wasn't classic GL, and I could nitpick things (hey, where's O's scar, or what is this bunk about some Lewis family tradition pre-wedding speech? If there was one, don't you think we'd have it memorized after all of Josh's weddings by now?) And I didn't give up after the five minute song, even as I snarked "so....THIS is why GL needs four head co-writers?" I may actually see some improvement...too bad the entire show doesn't revolve around Bill/Lizzie. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Greg's GL Posted July 3, 2008 Author Members Share Posted July 3, 2008 Whoppee! Bill and Ava got married today! YAY!! Really, that was lame. Ava should have left Bill at the alter and ran away - FAR AWAY - with Remy. After all, you just know that they will reveal that Remy was the donor and hence the father of her baby. Off the subject a little, but the new SOW has an article that MB and RB are officially a couple in real life. It goes on to say that MB isn't RB's first romance with a co-star on GL. I think the first was BE; didn't she leave her hubby for him?? So I guess the Bauer BBQ is on tomorrow. I'll be on the road to the beach so I'm gonna have to miss that one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members P.J. Posted July 3, 2008 Members Share Posted July 3, 2008 Honestly, I think Bill and Ava's loveless marriage is the smartest thing TIIC could do. It's a classic move. I thought these last two shows have been excellent, and way more engaging than GL's been in forever. Of course, I'm sure TIIC will find a way to ruin it, but for today, I thought it was excellent drama. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members RoseVioletDaisy Posted July 3, 2008 Members Share Posted July 3, 2008 Perhaps you didn't notice that I praised whoever wrote Monday's show because I did think it was fairly good but that didn't stop me from pointing how bad Tuesday's was and simply suggested that separating the writers into teams might be one reason for such wild inconsistency between the quality of the show from one episode to the next lately. I have a feeling that while the writing staff being separated was only recently formalized and announced, it's has probably been going on in-practice ever since the format change. They certainly don't need the whole writing staff to put together 50 pages worth of "Dinah eating a salad at card table in Spaulding mansion study", "Cyrus and Grady drinking beer in an empty grass field in the middle of nowhere", "Mallet and Marina having chinese food on a dirty little league playground, and "Frank doing paperwork in SPD parking lot next to the port-o-potty". Just for the record, I would love nothing more than to be able to sing this show's praises from the highest rooftop everyday, it's not my fault that it is as horrible as it is. When it's good, I say so. But when it's so horrible that it makes a mockery of everything GL has always meant and stood for, I say that too. Sadly show's like Monday's that feature important characters doing things that make sense are becoming increasingly rare while boring, waste's of time like Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday are more and more frequent. If the separate writing team's work out and provide better quality episodes on a more frequent basis, I'll be very happy to admit that I was wrong about it being a bad idea. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Juliajms Posted July 3, 2008 Members Share Posted July 3, 2008 Well, I was at one point. I've watched Reva screw Josh over for 20 years or so give or take, so I really understood why Josh was at his limit with her. I could see why he was ready to give up and why he and Cassie didn't change their plans when they found out about Reva's cancer. Now, I'm not so much a fan of Cash, as not quite ready for round 300 of Josh and Reva. However, when they show goes off the air, I think Josh and Reva should end up together, assuming they are still on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members soapfan770 Posted July 4, 2008 Members Share Posted July 4, 2008 What is up with Zimmer's hair? Not a fan of the change. Though I did like her scenes with Billy and Vanessa. Otherwise, this show remains dead. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members MarkH Posted July 4, 2008 Members Share Posted July 4, 2008 I watched the Bauer barbecue today...since Michael O'Leary had talked it up in the soap press as a "treat" for fans. I actually am liking the look of GL more...they're dealing with some of the worst problems of shaky-cam and extreme-closeup, and the sound is better. Plus, I can accept the noise if they're shooting in the real world. I am not a regular viewer of GH or GL, but I watched the two of them side-by-side today (GH was a rerun). I preferred GL...at least today. Why? Because there was a whole canvas of people who knew each other, all interacting (I realize that was rare). The barbecue looked and felt like a barbecue (one of the real advantages of the new production model). There is at least one story with some interest value (Ava and Bill married, while each yearns for another). The stories are thin...but part of what I realized is that GL is now opting for *drama* rather than *melodrama*. That makes it seem dull for many of us accustomed to the *high concept* of other shows (Mendorran princes and mob wars and angels coming to repair old wrongs). Side by side today, though GL seemed more relatable with lots of good ingredients. The older actors (O'Leary, Zimmer, Deas, Clarke, Raines..even Chamberlain) are NOT well served by the harsh light of the outdoors and the cheaper video...but I find the show looks much better streaming on my (decent) LCD screen computer than my (big) TV screen. Part of this is due to the poor signal quality of my CBS affiliate. I really got the feeling that there was *something* left in the old girl. The question is how to graft some kind of entertaining melodrama onto this very realistic paradigm. Here, I think, is where we may run into some conceptual trouble. I think Wheeler and her team are EXPLICITLY avoiding the "grand" story...but in so doing, they are requiring an AWFUL LOT of viewers...to be intrigued by what are fairly pedestrian representations of everyday life. So, here's the question... Many people are feeling that OLTL today is the supreme example of how it could be....huge beats in every story, lots of big emotion. Could such storytelling REALLY be adapted to fit on GL's lower-cost canvas? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members MarkH Posted July 4, 2008 Members Share Posted July 4, 2008 Just now browsing this thread, but this is one of the funniest critiques I have read in ages. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Juliajms Posted July 5, 2008 Members Share Posted July 5, 2008 I'm just glad we got a Bauer BBQ at all. Nothing is sacred these days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Felix Posted July 8, 2008 Members Share Posted July 8, 2008 Yesterday's episode wasn't all that bad. I loved the scene between Olivia and Dinah, with Dinah arranging the flowers. Those actresses are just great. The episode didn't entirely hold my attention, but there were some funny lines about Cassie getting herpes and Jeffrey throwing up a little bit in his mouth (!). I think the "Alan talking to Gus" story is wiggidy wiggidy whack, yo, but I like the fact that they have Dinah acknowledging that fact. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Vee Posted July 8, 2008 Members Share Posted July 8, 2008 Of course it could. Because they know how to tell human stories. GL has forgotten that. They imitate it, with sound, with editing, with mournful looks by actors, so it could almost fool me, but they don't really tell stories anymore. They tell montages. I learned this last year, before it really set in; looking at it briefly you could almost believe it is a good show with a homespun feel and a lot of genuine emotion. When really they're just imitating it for the purposes of a single hour. Looking at a week of shows, nothing stands up. Characters, stories, emotions, nothing. The cast is gutted, they are almost no Bauers. The house is gone. Was Leah, Rick's daughter even there? The major players are almost all people the fans don't give a [!@#$%^&*] about. Character motivation, issues, goals, fears change from moment to moment; the lack of concise breakdowns or long-range planning means no one has any consistent feelings or problems or character traits, which, IRL, we actually do have, believe it or not. We are now asked to care about Cyrus and Grady for no reason. Harley's last scene was on a phone talking about her latest boyfriend. Daisy is immediately into someone else. Olivia is insane. Ava is insane. I could go on. This is not "realistic drama" a la the British soaps. They know how to tell full, loooong stories with driving throughlines for characters and story. Most of GL's stories don't last a month. Their character motivations have a half-life of 45 minutes. And the most exciting thing that happens on that show now is when people go inside. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Matt P. Posted July 8, 2008 Members Share Posted July 8, 2008 When GL's good, it's exciting to watch but when it's boring...it makes me fall asleep only because it's on at 10 in the morning! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ian Posted July 9, 2008 Members Share Posted July 9, 2008 The state of GL lately has me doubt what I said before about it being salvageable... I am a BIG KZ fan but lately even La Zimmer doesn't even have it... where is the writing? This is all for [!@#$%^&*]. No decent stories, no good characters anymore, no rootable couples and the storytelling doesnt even go further than a single episode. Somebody has to pull up their socks and invest in this show (monetarily AND creatively) because it's a big clusterfuck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Greg's GL Posted July 9, 2008 Author Members Share Posted July 9, 2008 LOL. That's too funny, but ICAM. I did watch yesterday's show....but now I'm wondering.....what happened?!?!? Egad, is the show that horrible that I can't remember what happened the previous day, or did I just have one too many cocktails last night : ) I thought the Bauer BBQ was horrible. Cassie and Josh acting as though nothing is wrong? GMAFB. And Leah wasn't there. What about Jude? Nope. Mel? Nope. I thought it was pathetic and a slap in the face to any long-time GL viewer. JMHO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Felix Posted July 9, 2008 Members Share Posted July 9, 2008 Dear Daisy, Rafe is not a "catch." The fact that he ran away has nothing to do with you. The idea that you're sticking with Grady because "he chose you" isn't going to fly. No, your family doesn't like him. Let us not forget, he is a murderer. I mean, that's probably a pretty good reason not to trust someone. In conclusion, get over it. There are more important things going on in the world than you and your boyfriend drama. Please, for the love of God, stop whining. Sincerely, Felix But seriously, more Blake please. Only, preferably not while she's popping pills or acting less mature than her 11-year-old daughter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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