GL: July discussion

[RoseVioletDaisy]

I swear if I could reach through the TV that whiny little brat would be dead. She is so annoying, stupid, and self-obsessed. Ugh.

Grady is nothing more than a lame attempt to try and re-attract some Jonathan fans with a guy who also has long, dark hair, a long rap sheet, and is "angry" and "brooding". They're also trying to turn Daisy/Grady into a Jammy ripoff complete with Ashlee getting strung along on the side. Daisy's obsession with this loser is desperate, pathetic, and rooted in Harley's abandonment of her, far more than any of the feelings she has about Rafe taking off. Buzz and Reva need to get this girl into serious therapy, not playing these silly little games with her dangerous compulsion. Grady's an unrepentent cold-blooded killer for-hire and Daisy running all over town trying to convince people that Grady is the moral equivalent of Ashlee, Reva, or Buzz is obscene. They should just have Harley send for Daisy, who is forced onto the plane by Buzz, Frank, The National Guard, or I-Don't-Care-Who just as long as she leaves and once she's gone, Grady can go to prison off-screen and we can be done with him too.

[Greg's GL]

^^^ ICAM, RVD. G/Gillespie/Grady is just a half-assed attempt to bring back the Jammy crowd.

Today's (Friday) episode was pretty good, IMO. The quad Ava/Bill/Remy/Lizzie is holding my interest these days and I know I'm one of the few, but I like the Reva movie SL. I just wish in telling the story, that TPTB would have real flashbacks of Reva/Josh intertwined with the Joleen/fake Josh scenes. I think alot of viewers would like that better. And it looks as though things are heating up with that SL. I won't say anything else, but the previews look interesting.

Is it a great show? Not by a long shot. But today held my interest with those 2 stories. At least there were no Foley brothers or whining brat Daisy on my screen. That in itself makes the show utterly more watchable.

Lillian kicked ass today, and even made reference to the fact she contributed to Mo's death. They should use her more, IMO.

The only thing that got on my nerves today was Josh's whining about "poor Cassie". UGH. I'm glad Reva told him off about that one!

[Mitch]

"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?"

To make this process work Wheeler would indeed have to make the whole show about "real life," or as "Real," as a TV show can be..but that's not what she is doing. Sure she is going on and on about how the show is more "real," now as Harley could open a drawer and find a pan, but a prop does not make a real show. Wheeler as usual is talking out of both sides of her mouth, saying that she is producing a show that is different in that it focus on the day to day minutia of life, but that is not coming out in the writing. I dont know about you but its been a damn long time since I ran across an Aussie international jewel thief, who has a hit man brother, who killed a girl, but somehow is walking around with an ankle bracelet. I also dont know of too many international conglomerates who recently had a take over that, uh, I cant even explain how they took over as GL didnt tell me. I also have not seen my D.A. shot at the high school graduation and then had a soccer mom (who is also a cop) go on the run with the shooter. Oh, and not too many major films were shot in my town featuring the love story of my neighbors.

My point is, Wheeler is trying to have it both ways, she is featuring these over the top melodramatic stories, but writing them in flat, no start middle or end way. There are no big moments, even though big over the top characters are running around town doing over the top things in the most, boring bland ways possible. Big [!@#$%^&*] happens, only it means nothing to the citizens of SF, and even less for the viewers. If GL truly was featuring everyday life, Wheeler would have to focus on the very characters and actors she chased away. Peter Simon was great at playing every man, so was JVD. MOL can play the middle aged guy next door, though he is show once a month. They lost Ehlers, who plays the perfect screwed up mom next door..Who do we see? The international jewel thief, the hit man, and the bombastic meglomaniac who is now seeing his son's ghost...that aint real, and that aint relatable.

I thought this new production technique would really let this soap go back to its roots, being about family and dealing with that. as people talk about what they are feeling and why. I dont need to see the big weddings of the 80s, a nice family wedding in a chappel is more relatable to me. A Fourht of July party outside like the real ones I attend is great,...so I was all for it. Except we have people talking about a BIG wedding and we see three people there. We see a Fourth of July party in a field with like, what six people attending with obviously fake hamburgers on the grill. Instead of Papa and Bert in the kitchen it could be Rick and Frank talking about how they feel being middle aged and basically alone again...but we dont see that, we see Marina and Mallet on a swing, but we dont know why or how they go together. We see Reva stareing at a dunk pond but we dont know what she is thinking. Things happen for no reason and are forgotten the next da.

Gl is not working as Wheeler is trying to graft a donkey's ass on a horses' body, and they just dont match.

[RoseVioletDaisy]

The thing that I really don't get about them trying to sell Grady/Grady & Daisy as the new Jonathan/Jammy is that Grady murdered Tammy and was trying to kill Jonathan, so even the vast majority of the Jonathan/Jammy fans, the very people they're trying so hard to capture here, are gonna hate the guy forever no matter what they do! It's so stupid.

Awesome post, Mitch, ICAM.

[TheDSA]

loved Friday's ending of Bill and Lizzie and Josh and Reva. I'm starting to like the movie storyline.

[Juliajms]

I think the guy playing Grady is one of the hottest guys to hit soaps in awhile, but I can't root for the character. I wish a different soap would snap him up so he could play a viable character. Either that or they are going to have to turn him into a Todd Manning type and I don't think that fits on GL.

[Greg's GL]

Wow. Discussion of GL is pretty much non-existent these days. I thought for sure someone would have something to say about "the kiss" between Josh and Reva on Monday.

I don't delude myself - most days the show is horrible. If we're lucky, there is one day a week when it's watchable, and again it looks like that day was Monday. Say what you will about the kiss - I had forgotten how much chemistry RN and KZ have when they're together. Really. He's been stuck with Cassie for so long I'd forgotten. But now look what's happened....Reva has moved out of the Beacon and back to Cross Creek over a KISS. GMAB. And the undestructable couple (I'm not even going to mention their pathetic names) have survived on through this and the demon child and 2 extracirricular rolls in the hay (in her case, literally in the hay). WTF? I guess EW is that blind and delusional if she continues to think this couple has any rooting valule whatsoever. And they're the only couple that she has not broken up in over 2 years. Ugh.

But I don't know if I want Reva back with Josh. She is alot more interesting single. And I know there are a few of us that share that opinion.

I am surprised though with the Remy/Ava/Bill/Lizzie quad. I'm really liking it. You could feel the tension between Remy and Bill. And is it me or do y'all think LSV is growing as an actor? He's not the best, but he's certainly better than he was last year.

Thoughts?

[Greg's GL]

I'm just gonna keep on discussing GL all by my lonesome

WTF with Alan doing a "Crossing Over with John Edward" imitation yesterday? Too funny Is this all they can think to do with him. It's a completely laughable SL.

It looks like EW is FINALLY going to use some vintage Reva/Josh flashbacks on Monday (according to the previews). It's about time. She should have been weaving real footage in with the movie SL since the beginning. Then maybe fans would have cared about the story. She's an idiot.

And now something positive about the show today.......

........

........

eh, nevermind.

[Noel]

Oh, I'm so sorry Greg. I've been busy this week and I haven't had time to watch it so far. I'll probably watch today and see what's up.

[sungrey]

OK, I'll bite. I've mentioned this before in other GL threads... well, what ones that exist on this board... but here goes.

Although I like Mandy Bruno and Rob Bogue as actors, it's almost as if DK thrust them into a story just because they're rumored to be dating in real life. DK, one word of advice: don't do that. Just because a couple may be seeing each other off-screen doesn't mean you have to automatically make them a couple on camera. Rob Bogue and Gina Tognoni have waaaay more chemistry (and it's refreshing to hear Barbara Bloom say we're working on Dinah and Mallet, even if you don't believe her for one second.)

As for Mandy, she and Murray Bartlett had much more chemistry. She clicked with someone and it was fun to see the character. This is the most fun Marina had since Aubrey played her.

The Daisy/G story doesn't resonate as much as it should because the one person that could be pissed off about things (Jonathan) isn't even on the canvas! It could make Alan think twice about what he'd done. His visions about Gus have no value whatsoever because CBS is all pouty about Ricky going over to AMC that they won't even allow flashback scenes to be shown. As for Beth Ehlers... well, let's just say Harley has been destroyed beyond belief and maybe a rest is what's needed for the character.

I'm pretty sure I know the outcome of the Ava story, but to me Michelle's impending exit doesn't mean as much. This is a character that started out with promise but uneven writing turned it into nothing. She's giving Jonathan problems... no wait, she's got the eye of Coop... hold on a second, Alan-Michael's calling... no wait, back to Coop... hold on, maybe Bill's interested... Remy, how are you... and it's no wonder that you can't get invested in any pairing because DK is constantly shuffling the deck.

I hold out hope for this show. The switch to teams of writers may help create more long-term story. The new format is all right, although I believe that a switch to what ATWT uses (lots of location scenes and some sets) may be a better move for this show in the long haul. The trouble is, as long as EW is there you're not going to get it because she believes in shooting GL like a reality show, which it is not.

[Mitch]

It wasnt DK's idea. Mallet and Marina was one of EW's "brainstorms," when she saw Bogue and Bruno together and noticed their chemistry. I see none of it on my screen (what the hell is with Bogue he is become the male version of Ehlers..) So that is how we get Harley and Cyrus (even though they had no chemistry either) and now Swing Set M & M.

However, Babs has told EW to focus on production so maybe we will get less of her bright ideas.

[UKBoi]

The show is actually starting to look a lot better visually; the audio is better and so is the lighting; there's still a little too much shaky cam for my liking, but at least they're making strides at getting better. A lot of the sets look a lot better, maybe it's something to do with lighting, it has a more expensive look. I just wish Gina Tognoni would quit with these attempts at going blonde and realise she looks much better as a brunette with subtle highlights. And I also wish that Harley's/Alan's house would finally get a lick of paint, it's been drywall for years now and it looks like crap.

The opening sequence also still looks like crap. Maybe detroitpiston could rustle something up and send it to Wheeler.

[sungrey]

Oh Christ... it's WHEELER deciding on the chemistry? She needs to let DK and the writers do their jobs then and back away, because almost every single combination she has put together has exploded in her face.

[RoseVioletDaisy]

Yeah, Wheeler seems to have a fetish for putting co-stars who are sleeping together into onscreen pairings with each other no matter how poorly whatever chemistry they do have translates. It just never works though. I knew Bogue and Bruno were together IRL the minute the friendship chemistry that Mallet and Marina once shared on-screen died but wasn't replaced by passion as their relationship supposedly escalated. They, Bruno in particular, seem uncomfortable and almost embarrassed to be doing these scenes together. They are far more at ease doing couples scenes with Tognoni and Bartlett, respectively.

[Matt P.]

Today's episode of GL was amazing. I love when they blend history into the modern new Springfield. Plus we got to see three vets: Josh, Reva, and Billy who we know and love. The previews looked really good. I wonder if Reva will admit her feelings to Josh in front of the whole cast and crew.