Unpopular Opinions

[R Sinclair]

To this day, I have to continue to give Kassie her props for Live week. She stepped up to the challenge.

Speaking of Live week, I think Slezak got off EASY.

[PAsoapfan]

HATE HATE Laura Wright with a freakin passion.

Also can't stand

Alicia Minshew

Rebecca Budig

Alexa Havins- Another blonde bimbo who can't act.

Kim Zimmer

Jacob Young

Ingo Radchamcer (sp?)

Maurice Bernard (Most over rated actor on GH

I miss Robin Christopher.

Didn't like AMC babyswitch at all.

[JackPeyton]

couldnt agree more.

My List-

Zendull is a horrid couple.

Sarah Brown can never liove up to the hype and is a very weak actress who only did well because of an amazing perfectly written story.

John is the worst thing to ever to Marlena

Martah Madison & brandon Beemer being fired wasnt a bad thing

Nick & Sharon suck as a couple.

Jack Abbott is a awful char and PB gets wya to much credit.

Judith Chapmen is amazing.

Erin Torpy, K&E Alderson, other kids who grow up int eh role - they are almost never good as adults in the role. I am never sad when they are let down and wlecome the change.

Susan Lucci didnt deserve all her emmy noms

I like parker & liberty on ATWT

I love GL's new filming style.

I love the stunts GH does.

[Cat]

GH:

The mob is not necessarily a bad thing on the show. It's the Sonny-Jason-Carly hero-pimping and egregious lack of balance which is whack.

[DeliaIrisFan]

I could not log into this site for the longest time because I forgot my password...so most of mine have already been said by someone else. But I'll just kind of expound on a few that I may have a little more to add...

• I agree completely with those who said that Michael Malone's first go-round was overrated and preachy...or at least what I've seen of it on YouTube and elsewhere. The thing is, I like the idea of OLTL as the socially progressive show, I so wish I could see some of the Carla Grey story, and I loved the stories GH was doing under Claire Labine at the time Malone was first writing OLTL. But I just don't think Malone did it as well as most seem to think he did. I think the gang rape storyline was essentially the same formula as a misogynistic Megan McTavish rape story (bad girl who's been on the show for about a nanosecond gets punished and simultaneously gains sympathy from the audience by being raped, and then sees the error of her ways and becomes a heroine). As for the Billy Douglas story, the much-criticized dialogue of OLTL today looks like Patrick Mulcahey's work next to some of what I have seen from that (Ryan Phillipe's mother explaining to his father that their son's boyfriend "is a special friend, like we were in college"). And maybe I am missing something, but I also never understood why the audience was supposed to root for Viki to leave Clint because he's a homophobe, when the man she was leaving him for was an even bigger homophobe - one who never made peace with his son before he died of AIDS? As a gay man, I of all people did not find Clint particularly likable in what I've seen of him in this story, but I've seen him in enough other stories to know that whatever their differences Clint would never let Kevin or Joey or Cord or Jessica die without realizing that he loves them exactly as they are and telling them so. So why on earth would I like Sloane better?

• On that same note, I may be even more in the minority on this, but I actually think the stuff I've seen from Malone's work around 1995 or so showed improvement and perhaps an increased understanding of the genre than his earlier work. Viki's DID seemed like a classic soap story with a few new, groundbreaking twists (I actually saw bits and pieces of that at the time and actually believed it was totally in keeping with the show's history...ok, maybe that is because I was 14 or 15 at the time). And Slezak gave one hell of a tour de force performance. Also, I think having the show's other monstrous rapist turn out to be Victor's long-lost son was a much more effective way of connecting Todd's story to the core of the show than the earlier attempt during the rape trial, when Marty mistakenly identified Kevin as one of her rapists, which cheapened the whole thing. And Dorian and Joey were lovely together, and the issues that stood in their way (which were far more complicated than their ages) were never swept under the rug, as much as I might have liked them to be.

• I haven't seen more than 5 minutes of GL since its new barebones production model, but I like the idea. The part about filming in New Jersey sounds stupid though, and I don't see why it can't be done in more residential areas of nyc and within the studio, and if the result is poor than I think GL should just hire tech people who are able to work with those resources. Surely there are enough talented indie filmmakers in NY who could use a dayjob. I think if done right this could be a model that could save daytime, but other shows could hopefully use it in time to lower costs without completely jettisoning actors who've been with the show long enough to be paid well. Maybe there are some other superficial ways of cutting production costs (what if instead of issuing an edict that Justin Deas and all his Emmys could only be used the third Tuesday of every month, the writers were allowed to use whoever they wanted, but there was a moratorium on any kind of plot development that would require pyrotechnics or stunts?). If something that looks like what I've seen of GL lately can actually air on network television in 2008, then CBS should be able to keep its claim of having the longest running show on tv and spend comparatively no money producing it, and whatever they made in ad revenue would be icing on the cake. Of course, if the ratings went up and it turned out soap viewers still want to see old favorites in good, human stories more than they want to see cheap imitations of things primetime and movies do better anyway, other soaps might have to follow suit.

• That said, again not being a regular GL viewer, I have nothing to base this on, but I want to believe Ellen Wheeler has the show's best interests at heart and simply does not have the freedom to make it as good as she could make it. It's probably 99% nostalgia on my part (although she IS a very good actress and I'd like to think that should translate to other related skills). I know there is somewhat of a divide between CBS P&G show viewers and AW viewers, which P&G created by their horrible mishandling of moving AW characters to ATWT after AW was canceled, but I want Ellen Wheeler to succeed because she practically grew up on-screen on soaps. Under slightly different circumstances, that could be Martha Byrne or Beth Ehlers who learned other aspects of the show and worked their way up to being executive producer, and given the way things worked out for them I think that might have been a better outcome. (Oh yeah, is it unpopular to still think Beth Ehlers is one of the best actresses in daytime? The last I saw of her was when she played Irna Phillips in the GL anniversary show, which I think she nailed btw, and I think the AMC casting stunt will probably blow up in ABC's faces, but I've never seen a false note from this woman and even if her last performances at GL have not been up to that level, I don't believe for a second she's forgotten how to act. I would look to the directing and the material she had to work with before I would even think of casting blame in BE's direction.)

• I have never seen the appeal of the Bell shows. Female characters whose lives revolve around getting/keeping men; everyone having lots of money; beautiful people who may or may not have the talent to match; dialogue that is either ridiculously melodramatic or clunky plot exposition...so many of the negative stereotypes that people have of soap operas. I also think that Y&R raising the stakes on production values in daytime in the 70s may have been a factor in the downfall of the genre similar to what Gloria Monty did at GH that was previously mentioned - which I also agree with. Jacking up the production costs may have led to increased attention from the networks as to how that money is being spent, and increased anxiety about ratings because more ad revenue is needed to turn a profit from producing these shows. The Bells more than anyone (with John Conboy) moved soaps away from the world of theater to the world of movies - and not just geographically.

• That said, I've actually been checking out B&B lately, because it may well be the most grounded, reality-based soap remaining on TV these days. I never thought I'd live to see the day when I would turn to B&B for simple, homespun drama. What's more, although it is obviously radically different than an episode of Ryan's Hope on SoapNet or an episode of Edge of Night online, it is the last of the half hour soaps and I must say there is something - dare I say? - classic about B&B's structure. And the half hour (more like twenty minutes with fast-forward) just flies by.

[MoTheGreat]

I don't see what so special about RHTodd & Kassie Blair. I would want to leave too if I was stuck with KDPBlair as my only love interest while she can spread her legs for every Tom, Dick, & Harry.

I love TSJ Todd he add more to Todd character. & I love when he calls Blair what she is.

[applcin]

One of the reasons I never took to Marty, Nora and Todd (and still don't care about them to this day) is that they began to be introduced/featured heavily during this period and this was around one of the times I stopped watching the show. They brought in Marty while Megan was dying, obviously needing to replace a leading lady. I saw her introduction but not much beyond that as I quit watching for a time around the same time that Joe Lando left.

As a longtime OLTL fan and Clint fan, I found turning Clint into a homophobe to be out of character and offensive. I felt it was done for nothing more than to build rooting value for a Viki/Sloan pairing. You know, that old standby of crucifying one character to prop another. As it happened, then Clint Ritchie had a horrible tractor accident and was off the show for months, and wasn't replaced, so that also was a factor in building up Viki/Sloan.

It's not unpopular to me. She was my favorite on GL for years. I was happy I got to tell her so a few years ago and got a big bear hug and photo.

Anyway, ITA with what you're saying. I grew tired of GL a long time before I actually stopped watching in 2005 (when DAM left)...those last few years DAM and BE were the ONLY reasons I still bothered with the show. I've missed seeing BE but in a way I'm kinda glad I didn't have to witness her character's decimation on top of everything else. (I know, some folks feel her character was destroyed long before then.) AMC is another show I have a long on and off history with (I've been tuning in mainly to see Jesse and Angie, moreso Jesse) but I am looking forward to seeing BE in a new venue as a new character.

[MTSRocks]

Robin Christopher was never the best thing about GH, and I didn't mind to see her go. And even though Marcil wasn't my pick, I don't think she was robbed for an Emmy.

[Dr. Jay S.W.]

I loved Jennifer Bransford on GH and LOATHE Laura Wright with a passion.

[detroitpiston]

And to think I was about to say ITA.

[All My Shadows]

ITA! I can watch B&B on its worst day in a long time and it'll still feel more like the stuff that I've seen online and in reruns. Everything's contained and close together. Most of the characters know each other and it's not weird for two characters to have a random conversation. On the hour-long shows, everything's spread so far out. There are characters that have absolutely nothing to do with other characters at all. Characters bounce from place to place to place within the hour, but on B&B, the characters aren't always on the move. It's slow-moving and I think it's way more intimate than any of the other soaps.

[NYC123]

Vanessa Marcil SUCKS! She did not deserve that emmy in 2003.

[detroitpiston]

Amen!

[PAsoapfan]

WORD!!!!

[UKBoi]

Jennifer Gareis is the reason why I watch B&B. Katherine Kelly Lang and Susan Flannery can go, as far as I'm concerned. I'm all for Felicia vs Donna instead of Brooke vs Stephanie