ALL: Biggest Soap Dissapointments

[SteveFrame]

Oh and Lenore just divorced Robert and left town. She moved to Washington D.C.

[MarkH]

I wouldn't personally date it from Brad's past. I'd start the LML part from Kutna Hora arc (later in the Reliquary story) and John's death (that happened two days after Kutna Hora) until the end of her reign, with the most nonsense beginning when Nikki and Jack started running for office/Kutna Hora. Said differently, I loved the first 6 months, at least, when LML worked with Alden/Smith/Scott etc.

[rhinohide]

GL: Phillip's Insanity. The Destruction of the Bauer and Reardon families.

[MarkH]

You have just offered the definition of "bold genius" or "leadership".

You work in a high risk, high reward way. So, you don't make safe choices, but dramatic ones--the modern vernacular says "balls to the wall".

When you have greats like Lemay or Monty, there will be huge, high-stakes choices made...let's add this new family, or this new front burner character, or let's kill off this sacred cow. The thing about choices like that is that they can work out...or they can't.

Now, I'd obviously add the modern-era greats (Nixon, Bell) to that list. Certainly in the 1970s (if not before and after), these two were major high-risk leaders.

In the modern era...I'm sure I'll get slaughtered for saying this...I'd add Jill Farren Phelps and Ellen Wheeler. To look at GL today is a TESTAMENT to the willingness to try re-invention and high risk. That can fail to work out...but without trying, all we have is stagnation and death.

For JFP, it is clear that she makes these huge choices (not alone, but with her teams; Maureen Bauer GL, Frankie Frame, AW, Blackout GL, Rappaports OLTL, and just about everything she has touched on GH).

For JFP, though, I think we see "good leadership" carried too far. She has decided to make "boldness" her imprimatur. Everything is high stakes. Everything is shock. So, suddenly, GH kills of a core family member every six weeks, guns blare weekly....and it all becomes...not bold...but pedestrian pyrotechnics without requisite simmer and tension buildup.

[Pooch Cafe]

I have two huge disappointments:

-the shooting of Phillip Spaulding (GL)

-the recent non-Bauer BBQ (GL)

Pooch

[SteveFrame]

Yes but the thing with the greats Nixon and Bell is that they cared about the long term and neither have ever made a decision that would end up hurting the shows they worked on. Even when Bell was at Days, ATWT, & GL he didn't. They never dessimated the core of the show. they kept it intact.

Monty and Lemay dessimated the core of the shows they worked on.

Monty is the one that started the dessimation of the Hardy family, put the stars central heroine up to that point Jessie Brewer way on the backburner, and took the show away from the hospital for the most part. Many people blame today but the hospital started being taken away from General Hospital in the late 1970's.

Yes I agree that you have to make bold decisions and be balls to the wall in those decisions. I feel like Nixon, Bell and even Douglas Marland were that way, but the way I see it their decisions helped the genre - Monty's and Lemay's didn't. I would add James E. Reilly to that too. He made bold storyline decisions for Days in the 90's which brought a lot of attention to soaps and to Days especially but those bold decisions were not good for Days or for the genre.

I think Douglas Marland even realized that some of Monty's decisions were bad for the show and for the genre. He said in one interview that they disagreed a lot. He did what he was told, but they didn't agree a lot.

[TC]

Hi SteveFrame,

For anyone interested, Leora Dana's stepdaughter, the lovely SusieLee has been posting at Datalounge (the only remaining civilized thread there) during her convalescence from back surgery. She is the daughter of Kurt Kaznar (Fitzhugh from "Land of the Giants"). I have asked her about her stepmom's relationships with the people on AW. Not much good to say, unfortunately. Apparently Bev McK was somewhat aloof due to the storyline and Vicky Wyndham had a bad diva rep.

Here is something Susie's son posted about her.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3002/254309...a52caa950_b.jpg

Take care,

Tommy

[MarkH]

That was pure Italian. Translation available?

[Quent]

Biggest disappointments at ATWT: 1) Obviously , the firings of Martha Byrne and Scott Bryce. The show just isn't the same without them. 2) The here-today-gone -tomorrow stories of John Dixon and Ben Harris. No explanation. Nothing. 3) The death of Jennifer Munson and Bryant Montgomery, squandering great future potential from core family members. (Although Jen's death did produce short-term great scenes, probably the best death scenes I've ever seen).

[BayCityResident]

The killing of "Frankie" on AW was 'the beginning of the end' for that show. Followed shortly by the firings of Robin Christopher and John Bolger.

[SteveFrame]

See the killing of Frankie didn't bother me as bad. It was disappointing, but for the "big deal" that is made about it especially on the Internet I never got.

Many call her a legacy character when she wasn't even on the show that long. The deaths of Mary Matthews and Steve Frame bothered me a whole lot more - esp. the death of Mary Matthews. Mary Matthews and the original Alice were original cast members and characters.

Even the death of Michael Hudson bothered me more. And then them sending Iris off to prison for a murder she didn't even commit. Those were far worse injuries to the show IMO. They were big parts of families and the death of Michael just put a big hole in the Hudson family and once again the dynamic of the Cory family was hurt with Iris out of the picture.

I loved Frankie but she had only been around for a little over 7 years and she was never even heard of when she showed up in 1989. We knew about her sister Molly who had been a character in the 70's, but Frankie had never even been mentioned by Emma when she lived in Bay City.

[AMCer]

Soaps are full of disappointments and shattered hopes, these are just a few and mostly from the last couple of years.

Marcy Walker's stint on GL.

Joan van Ark's sudden departure from Y&R and the "actress" that replaced her.

I was so excited for Generations, I believed it was to be original and fresh when it premiered but it just turned out to be a big mess of a disappointment.

Joan Collins time on GL, I guess I was asking for one that time.

Every JER story over the last 10 years.

Pam Long's tenure at OLTL, can anyone say miserable?

[MichaelGL]

Where do I start?

GL

Claire Ramsey's return in 2001

Sebastian Hulce/Holly story in 2005

Reva's Breast Cancer

Reva's Menopause/Sleeping with Alfred Baines when her husband was willing to do anything and everything possible to make her happy!

Jonathan/Tammy -Everything was disappointment there.

The Spaulding Family (2003-present)-From the moment Ellen Weston got a hold of this complex family, things have never been the same for this once once intrguing family. it's been one "What the [!@#$%^&*]?" after another.

Gus and Harley-I think the biggest mistake here was making Gus, Alan's son. Ever since it was revealed that he was a Spaulding this couple was never the same for me.

GL celebrating 50 years of being on television by droping the Lighthouse Gala, and instead haviNg Josh and Reva getting married, and celebrating their history as a couple. WTF?

AW

The death of Frankie Frame, truly a big disappointment there.

AMC

Gillian's death.

[RobynIsHere]

PSNS: The return of Grace (2006)

The return of Charity (2006)

[Roman]

DAYS OF OUR LIVES

The Two Romans. And Josh Taylor's portrayal of the character.

Salem Serial Killer (The entire storyline).

The Devil Possesion Storyline.

Ken Corday. Period.

THE YOUNG & THE RESTLESS

Lynn Marie Latham. Truly one of the worst things to happen to that show.

The propping up of Gloria Fisher-Baldwin-Abbott-Bardwell-Bardwell, starting with the Skin Cream Fiasco and continuing on throughout the characters' run.