OLTL:All of this EP talk

[Khan]

Make mine Mountain Berry, lol.

[Ryan]

Mine? Red....

[Y&RWorldTurner]

Doesn't surprise me, OLTL by all accounts seems to have the most tumultuous behind the scenes history of all the ABC soaps over the past 20 years or so.

I think OLTL's been though more HW's and EP's than AMC or GH.

Not to mention, it's public knowledge that Rauch, Gottlieb, Phelps, and now Valentini had a number of spats with certain actors.

[Khan]

Why do I have the feeling "Writer 1" could've been TC, and "Writer 2", RC, lol?

ITA, though, Ryan. How do you spell "extraneous"? M-I-K, E-Y-J, E-R-O-M-E.

[EricMontreal22]

He seems to work perfectly with Ron C--they both respect and understand each other--and the combo with EP/HW is everything. But with past writers I think he's been an ineffectual nothing lol In the era of Frons I'm not sure qwe could do better.

[AddictedToSoaps]

That's pretty much how I feel as well.

[EastMA2]

I think he's only as good as his writers. He's not a visionary in any way. I can't believe he has lasted as long as he has as EP of this show. There's probably some sentiment there as he has been with the show over 20 years and worked his way up in different positions. I think he's better as a Director or maybe a Supervising Producer, but not EP.

[brimike]

Yeah, you bring up a good point I forgot to mention before.

I think (MUCH like Goutman) he's a GREAT director, and I always enjoy the shows he's credited as director on.

But running the show is a whole different story

[Jess]

From everything I've read, he is a very nice guy. The longtime actors on the show really seem to like him on a personal level. But I think he is a very weak executive producer who grew up on the show and has not made the transition from being one of the guys to the leader. He does not seem to take responsibility well. I do not think he manages the writers well. When things are great, he loves them. When things go south he dumps on them. He also, from gossip anyway, has a lot of favorites and tends to feel threatened when any of the actors question him.

I think he is a weak executive producer and that is why OLTL at best always operates under some form of punctuated equilibrium. The show is really good for a short period of time and then it just sucks. He survival seems to be based more on the fact that the industry has known him a long time and they like him, not because he a visionary or a great leader.

[Vee]

I've had plenty of issues with FV in the past. He comes off downright obnoxious. That said, I think the combination is working right now and I think he has a good eye for music and getting certain acts on the show.

I was always astonished that Erika Slezak loved JFP despite everything (though mostly because of Viki and Ben, I think - which I hated) and has been outright vocal in disliking Linda Gottlieb. But I love ES anyway.

[DaytimeFan]

I'm not an OLTL watcher...but from what I've heard of Valentini he's very well liked by the cast and that goes a long way in securing one's job at ABC.

Furthermore, he's an example of the power of Botox, the man looks 20 years younger than he actually is.

[TC]

I don't like Frankie. I see a big blow-up between him and Ron. Of course, the biggest problem is Brian.

[RobynIsHere]

I'm glad you pointed this out. Whenever I see OLTL, the writing seems good, but the production values just turn me off. Lately the lighting has really pissed me off. But at least it doesn't have that "tape" look that AMC has, or whatever it's called.

[rhinohide]

LMAO! That's classic! Only problem I see with your dialogue is that writer 1 would never have the nerve to say "This is going to suck." Or if he did - the next line would be Valentini saying "See ya. Wouldn't wanna be ya."

Valentini is Frons's yes man. The way he rose through the ranks is by not ruffling the higher ups' feathers and deflecting accountability for mistakes to other people. The guy is made of Teflon and no failure (or utter fiasco) ever sticks to him. He's clever. He's political. He's sly. None of which I have a problem with if he also does what I think an EP should do. But it makes him cautious and that makes him unimaginative. I would think the executive producer is ultimately responsible for overseeing every single aspect of the show to guarantee that what airs is the best possible show he can deliver, within the budget and production constraints. His accountabilities include everything from hair and makeup, lighting, sets, to personnel.

The only obvious fly in the ointment for OLTL that I am seeing (for now) is the actual dialogue. You and I have discussed this (and Toups disagrees). Sometimes the lighting is really bad. The sets could use improvement but they're not ghastly IMO and don't really impact the stories that much, which is the core of soaps' appeal. But I hear from multiple sources that Valentini gets bogged down in the minutae. He is very hands on when it comes to hair and makeup? Why? And then he gets all worked up about the length of Forbes'/Nash's hair but he allows Kamar/Antonio to shave his head? WTF? And how much impact does that really have? He needs to take a step back and see the overall picture from a broader perspective.

Sadly, no matter the profession, the higher up you rise in your field the less you actually touch what drew you to the career in the first place. The best salesperson doesn't necessarily make the best sales manager or VP sales. The best makeup technician won't have the skill sets to be the executive producer. Ultimately it comes down to having a vision, communicating that vision to the people who execute the process, then managing the process so that the execution delivers the vision. Valentini is NOT a visionary. And I don't think he's very good at managing the process. He's been lucky to have the personnel (most notably Carlivati) who are good at managing their own processes. But his skill sets aren't strong enough to ensure that OLTL's recent success will continue and I am already starting to see chinks in the armor.

[JackPeyton]

heres the thing with FV - somehow he is able to play go between frons & rc. because we all know frons didnt want rc as hw, and i dont think bf has as much input at oltl and he does at amc and def at gh. so... for that he should stay.