OLTL: writing and characters

[Aback]

Hi. I’m a new OLTL viewer (I started watching on May for the first time), and I was interested in sharing my (sometimes unpopular, I think) opinions with you.

- I don’t really think RC’s material is gold. I must say, it’s better than anything else on the market right now, and I actually look forward to the next episode, but I can see the writing department lacking in many aspects, and it’s definitely far from perfect.

I especially don’t like how scenes are broken down, and interweaved together like in a chess game (for example: here you have Starr&Cole’s scene, then Blair&Todd, then again Starr&Cole, than Blair&Todd, then Starr&Cole and then, let’s say, Dorian! Or, even worse, you have Starr&Cole’s scene, then Blair&Todd, then again Starr&Cole, than [totally out of the blue] Lyndsey! (just for saying) and then Blair&Todd and Starr&Cole. I don’t know if I’m making sense, but that’s pretty much it).

Tina and Madame Delfina are the worst examples of his quirky writing: Tina’s storyline is absolutely ridicoulus, and if it had been written by another hw it would have been quickly dismissed – I’m sure; Madame Delfina… well, I seem to gather that OLTL has been quite ‘the outlandish soap’ in the past (because I read an article saying ‘Way before Passions was even born, OLTL…’), so maybe a character like Delfina actually fits the canvas (even if it’s for a small amount of episodes), after all every soap is different, but, come on… Saying pivotal things out of the blue can be interesting the first time, even the second, but it shouldn’t be the catalyst for EVERY storyline to move on! (Nora/Lyndsey, Viki/Charlie etc)

- Moving on to the characters, I wanted to explore them individually:

Starr: her storyline is pretty standardish IMHO, I can see her claiming her child back once Marcie adopts him/her, and I can’t stand her nasal voice (nor her hairstyle). I like that she’s not being portrayed as the heroine, but given proper layers (sometimes she’s obnoxious, sometimes she’s sweet).

Jared: I don’t particularly like him, I remember the first time I saw him (he was confessing his love to Natalie), I thought he was so silly, but anyway, I really don’t care about him. Am I supposed to? LOL

Natalie: To me, she’s totally bland. She adds nothing to the character, but she probably has potential as a soap actress to grow on the audience and stay for a long time. What’s the story behind Natalie? It looks to me like none of her parents had been around when she was young. Has Viki only raised her boys?

Cole: He’s the typical good guy, I don’t care for him, and for his desire to do the right thing and stuff. Did he grow on-screen as Marty’s son?

Langston and Markko: I really like these two, especially Langston. She’s GORGEOUS and a very good actress IMHO. She just needs a hairstyle makeover IMHO. Markko is quite funny and cute. I think they deserve their own storyline, and the only reason why they’re not giving them anything to do is because TPTB know that they would outshine Starr & Cole.

Sara: My God, she’s awful. I think she’s a veeery bad actress, probably the worst they have, and not really appropriate in the role of Tina’s offspring. I really wanted to punch her when she kept sassing back at the Ambassador while he was holding a gun on Cristian: damn, she had just stopped complaining about Nash’s death and how life is this, life is that… I hate her. But she’s a good singer, I think, so she should probably pursue her music career.

Talia: When I see her with Antonio, I can only think that if we were on Y&R or GL, she, as Antonio’s lover, would be 10 years younger. Plus, I really think that cops stories, police stations and stuff are 1990’s material. I reckon she’s ‘Carlo Hesser’s daughter. I don’t know who this man is, but, anyway, is he played by GL’s former Colonel Dax?

Antonio & Cristian: Puh-leeze, Antonio thinks he’s God’s gift to women! Spare me! I really dislike him, while Cristian is much better looking (IMO) and likeable. I’d love for Antonio to leave the show.

Marcie: I think this woman is really obsessed with this ‘having kids’ things, and I hope they address it. That being said, I kinda enjoy her scenes. I like her.

Blair: I really like her, Kassie DePaiva is an awesome and powerful actress, I really adore her. Blair may have her faults (I hate how she’s always going back to Todd), but she’s captivating to watch.

John: I can’t stand him. At first I liked him, he seemed reassuring (?), or something like that, but, boy!, he never smiles! He always has that drowsy look on his face, always wears black… not my cup of tea, thanks. I whish he left too.

Gigi: I think the actress is awful, she overdoes it, she’s not believable in anything she does. I hated the way he treated Brody when he first came in (it almost looked like she hated him for being alive), while he really has no fault. I don’t really like the character, but I absolutely dislike the actress. Anyway, she can stay. I kinda like her with Rex, so…

Viki: I don’t hate her, or anything, she’s just ‘there’ for me. I thought she was silly when she started crying over Charlie. Gosh, you’re 60 years old, you’ve probably seen more in your soapy life than I ever will in mine, and still you’re crying over your 65-year-old boyfriend telling you a lie?! (and she said it in such a melodramatic way… “A LIE???” She’s a little pathetic)

Brody: he’s my favourite. I think he’s a good actor, really. He almost reminds me of Sean Kanan. I like his genuine feelings, and I hope he stays on the show (hopefully, far from Gigi’s orbit)

more to come later...

[JackPeyton]

i agree with almost everything, esp the writing and the chess game scenes.

Now Cole didnt grow up on screen.

The only thing i disagree with you ona ctually is the actress who plays Sarah. I think shes great in the role. Nothing like AE is as tina, but Sarah isnt Tina nor was she raised by Tina so...

[Vee]

To me, the interwoven scenes ARE the mark of good writing. It's a soap, things are supposed to weave together. We've seen "story islands" before, those are what suck.

I also think Tom Casiello is sadly delusional if he thinks his team was somehow better with the dialogue than the current one. Never before was the dialogue more stilted than under Dena Higley - and frankly, given his layout of how the system works I'd have to blame that on both her and the breakdown writers. I think it's much better now dialogue-wise.

And I like Tina and Delphina because I think there's a time and place for that. Tina comes from a campy era, and you can juxtapose her light against more realistic, human storylines and do both.

[Aback]

You know, I grew up with Bill Bell's Y&R, so I'm used to a very different type of scenes. I realize that, nowadays, they have to do shorter scenes but with the same duration of the segments, so I can see why they are doing this... but still, I don't like it

She just doesn't have the spunk she should have, or that they write her to have (see the 'Come on, shoot him!' scene). But I respect your opinion, and thanks for answering.

Now, going back at it...

---

Nora: I think Nora is the self-righteous character on OLTL, pretty much like Cricket on Y&R, but I like her. Was she presumed dead not too long ago?

Rex: I like Rex, he’s not the usual hero (he’s much more metrosexual than that), but I think I have a problem with the writing for him. Once soaps revolved around women, and sure, sometimes these women themselves revolved around a man, but most of the attention was still on them. This doesn’t happen with OLTL and Rex. I don’t know what the writers feel for him, but they treat him as the show’s heroin, always victimized by someone, always lied to, always in the midst of love triangles but never playing the faulty one. It’s all about Rex. Even this new storyline about him and his father is so contrived, to me. Who is his father?! At this point, I almost don’t care anymore.

Dorian: I love her, she’s my favourite (too). At first, I hated the way she shouted for no apparent reason (she reminded me of Marj Dusay). But then, I fell in love with her and her evilness. I love her scenes, and I love the attention that the actress pays to every detail (even to the supporting players).

Todd: He’s really evil. I see no redemption qualities in him, and I hope that this doesn’t write him into a corner. He risks to become a one-note character, IMO, but until now he’s okay. I just whish he would be punished for something: I don’t like violence, but I’m fine with a violent character as long as he’s recognized as such, and pays for it. I like the actor, he has a very creepy vibe about him.

Bree: I like her, I think she’s got great looks, I appreciate her resemblance to Sleazak and I think she’s proving she’s a good actress with this whole Tess storyline. BTW, why did she develop multiple personalities?

Clint: I really hate Clint, because VerDorn portrays him in such an obnoxious way. I’m really disappointed in him as an actor because he looks so ‘one-note’ to me (I watched him on GL for 10 years). Not a very good recast.

Bo: He’s fine, I think Lyndsey is very hot and I hope he sticks by her no matter what (but I have a feeling he’s the ‘how-could-you’ type). This reminds me: how come I can’t find any youtube video of Lyndsey killing Spencer? Why did she do it? And who’s Jen?!

Shane: I think the actor is miscast, since in the space of 2 years he’ll be taller than Rex and Gigi and they’ll have to recast. Plus, I thought the way he reacted to Brody’s return was totally unrealistic? (‘Daaad? Wow!’)

[Juliajms]

I'm not sure what you mean by, she would be 10 years younger on GL. Talia looks about 15 years younger than Antonio to me. BAB is about 25, so if they went any younger Antonio would look about as bad as Christie Brinkley's soon to be ex.

[Aback]

I think there are different ways of interweaving the scenes, and, as I said, as I grew up watching the 'real' Y&R, I pretty much prefer that one (say, 1999/2000 episodes). The thing is, I think that soaps should build to a 'momentum'. They should reach a climax, that's why I think that this type of going back and forth doesn't work well with the format (in fact, it works for Desperate Housewives).

[Aback]

On Y&R you have Lily and Cane, on GL Mallett and Marina... I think Talia and Antonio are pretty much around the same age. If they were on one of those two soaps, she would be fresh out of High School.

[Juliajms]

No way. Antonio is way older. Well, actually, I can't say that for sure since maybe the characters are supposed to be the same age for all I know, but there is no way the actors are. BAB is 25 and the dude who plays Antonio has to be pushing 40. I think she is way too young for him as was Jess, imo.

Edited: I just checked and BAB is 25 and Kamar is 41. I think they work pretty well together, but the age difference stands out in a huge way to me and has from the start. It was even more glaring when he was married to Jess.

[rhinohide]

Vee somedays I'd agree with you and other days not. I find the dialogue spotty and inconsistent. Some days like yesterday, are really sharp and crisp. Others it is positively banal.

[JackPeyton]

We will just have to disagree because i couldnt disagree more all around.

What see as interwoven i see a mess of them trying to be clever. Storylines can blend together without random scenes being broken up by random other scenes, exp when they do not belog together.

i honestly never pay attention to dialogue. never have on any show, but GL at least 3-4 times an epsiode jumps out at me as horrid.

Delphina i agree with, because shes on a limited amount of time, but Rebecca - err Tina - is a cartoon.

[JackPeyton]

lol... well when Viki was Nikki she would go out to bars and cluibs and take Jess with her. Jess was raped a child and devolped this alter and forgot all about it until Jess herself was going through a lot and the alter started to come out. (i think..)

[Vee]

Like Starr/Michael and Cole/Todd? Those stories DO belong together.

Tina has always been at least some degree of OTT, and her past is built on that so it fits that she'd have a big entrance. Both Rebecca Hotchkiss and Tina are schemers; that's unavoidable as a point of comparison, and Tina came first. The difference for me is, Tina has a heart. She cares more about Sarah than the jewels. She's grandiose and overdramatic and flighty (as Tina ALWAYS was), but she cares.

[Ryan]

The best way to sum up OLTL's dialogue is what rhinohide said....."spotty and inconsistent." I think most of us can agree OLTL needs better script writers. I mean it's not terrible, but damn it could be better, lol.

I like your assessment of OLTL thus far Hotness. On the surface, I think you're pretty spot on about some (but I disagree about many). I think if you knew more about why certain characters are acting this way, you'd understand it a bit better.

For instance, the character of Clint is slowly turning into his father. verDorn's Clint from the time he joined is a different Clint than he is now. Clint is now seeing that sometimes you have to be an ass in order to protect your family. Little by little he's assumed character traits of Asa, and even the characters have called him on it.

Far be it for me to EVER defend Antonio (I tolerate him a lot more now than I ever have), but I don't see what he's done since May that gives off the impression that he thinks he's god's gift to women.

As far as Viki goes, this is Viki's first real romance since the death of her husband Ben a few years ago. The reason why Viki was so upset with the lie is because of everyone who his lie affected. She is very close to Rex (kinda like a son since he's Natalie's brother) and one thing Viki doesn't tolerate is people lying to her. This is a man she gave her heart to and trusted him, defended him when people (such as Natalie) thought he was hiding something.

Rex is far from the show's hero. Rex was a big jackass who manipulated and lied to people, hurt a lot of people to. To watch Rex grow into the person he's become now is a good thing. It shows how you can tweak a character by having them mature without changing completely who they are. Rex still schemes, he still lies (he knew about Todd's son Sam really being alive but kept it secret so Marcie and Michael could keep the baby), but he also has a lot of good qualities too. The death of the love of his live Jen (though he didn't always treat her that way) really shook Rex to his core. Coupled with his friendship with Bo Buchanan, Rex set out to become a better man.

What you mentioned about OLTL's breakdown of scenes is something that many fans who may have only watched CBS soaps and now watch ABC soaps talk about.

It took my friend Jen a while to become acclimated to Y&R's style of breaking down scenes, as she was used to scenes being interwoven (many ABC soaps are like that). I guess it takes a while from the other side of the fence too.

[JackPeyton]

I just see tina as TOO over the top, not somewhat like i assume shes suposed to be.

[Ryan]

Different strokes for different folks I assume. I'm a fan of the interwoven scenes. I don't think it's the show trying to be clever, it's them trying to make the episode flow. I'd rather my episode flow than be a clusterfuck of random randomness, lol.

Thank you! Tina came first. I read on one board where someone couldn't believe OLTL was trying to "copy" the Rebecca character. I was like "honey, you do know that Tina was a full fledged character well before Passions was even born right?"

Tina is a hot mess. That's the best way to describe her. She's kinda like Dorian in that they're OTT in a town full of pretty normal (as can be for a soap) people.