OLTL: Has anyone else given up watching this show?

[Toups]

When you watch a tv show or anything else, yes, ONLY YOU should matter. How does anybody else affect YOU watching a tv show? If someone hates a tv show, how does that affect YOU? It doesn't. If someone loves a tv show, how does that affect YOU? It doesn't. When you watch a tv show, you only think of yourself being entertained!

yeah.......that's what I said!!!

[baller]

But at what point is it too much? Not what the story is saying, but the dragging on of it? If we continue to get the basic scenes of the last two weeks and this dragging out stalling of the story, is it still cutting edge? Taking our my total unlike of the story, I think as it drags on, you are losing viewers and people caring about it. It's like the first Tess reveal--by the time it finally happened, fans had given up and moved on.

The fact that it's turned into basically a one note story, I think the novelty of it all wears off too.

[MichaelGL]

Well those of you who are calling for Carlivati's head, who would you put in place of HW? Megan McTavish, Jean Passanate, Gordon Reyfield?

[rhythmchyc]

I'd rather him stretch out these stories repeating motifs and stalling plot development than something rushed. But that's IMO. If it takes until December for Marty to get her memory back and until next Fall for Todd to get his comeuppance, I'd rather wait. More subtleties are allowed that case, which I think is always crucial in this genre, since the writers are playing around with characters everyday and have the luxury of spending a great deal of time fleshing them and their stories out.

Not that I'm enjoying the Tess or the Carlo Hesser/Christian story at all but I still prefer them to the Mendorra and 1968 stories. It seemed like it took forever but, (I think) in actuality, were developed very poorly and didn't last that long in the end after all, amongst other things.

I'm seeing a shift in storytelling this Fall, which is why I don't think he should be let go. If Tess and Christian and Todd, and even Brody were all a continuation of what had been done this summer, then I think it'd be time to really consider bringing someone else in in the co-capacity. But not firing. It hasn't been long enough yet.

[Y&RWorldTurner]

I think the point some are making is if Carlivati is the best of the bunch, is that really a good thing? If the rest of daytime were in top shape, would people really look at Carlivati's tenure thus far in a positive light? It's something to think about.

As I said before, Carlivati can be entertaining when he wants, but I'd never go as far as to say his OLTL is some of the best and most innovative soap opera I've ever seen. As MTS said, his praises were sung way too soon. He was hyped up to many to be more than he was, and I personally think he got lost in that hype somewhere along the way.

It's easy to say someone is better than McTavish or Passanante. But I hated earlier on when Branco (who apparently is off the Carlivati bandwagon) was calling Carlivati the next Marland, or when Patrick Ewing said his OLTL tenure was on par with Nancy Curlee and company's GL, because Carlivati might be better than the rest of daytime right now, but he's not THAT good, at least to me.

I get the feeling people are so down on the soap industry and fans have felt mistreated for years, and when some glimmer of hope comes along, in this case it's Carlivati, they're ready to hype him up for more than he actually is.

[rhinohide]

Viewers, or at least those who post on this board are divided. Some are enjoying the show and some are not. I will continue to post that I am not enjoying it, but I try not to be overbearing about it, because once I've enumerated my sources of dissatisfaction it doesn't become more persuasive through repetition. Furthermore, if others do wind up eventually agreeing with me, it won't make me enjoy the show more. Misery doesn't really love company. I'd much rather be on Team I THINK CARLIVATI IS KING and be entertained. I am supremely envious of those who are delighted by the show. Thanks to those of you who tolerate my infrequent, yet persistent complaints. It is not my desire to convince you that you're wrong, and the show really is awful. In fact, although we don't agree, as long as we keep discussing it, maybe one day I'll see what you see and enjoy the show again. That's all I care about. I want to enjoy the show. Until then, I like hanging out with you guys. The happy ones.

[KAnder5695]

If enough people hate a show I am enjoying, and turn off the TV and said TV show either gets cancelled or changes are made that go against what I am liking, then it DOES affect me. It is extremely egotistical to believe that my opinion is the only one that matters. There are many shows that I loved that were cancelled because the masses didn't see things the way I did, so to dismiss ratings because I am happy doesn't make much sense to me, but then again I don't go around dismissing sound data just because it differs with my opinion. It isn't just about ME being entertained, it is about gauging success and given the traditional tools that are used in this industry, Ron is NOT a success.

[detroitpiston]

I just wanna say thank you rhino!

I understand that some people don't like the show, but please don't try and act as if the people who do are wrong too. Not everyone is gonna share the same opinion.

[KAnder5695]

It isn't my job to figure out who is the best head writer for OLTL, that is Frank's job (someone whose pink slip is LONG overdue). I didn't know what to expect of Pratt, and he has done some amazing work so far at AMC...he clearly knows who the characters are and are bringing back people who will enhance the canvas. So I would hope that the person who takes over for Ron (if we are ever lucky enough to get a replacement) is someone who takes the time to learn the characters, and get their motivations and not just bring back one time fan favorites and put them in stories that are an embarressment to their talent and their history on the show.

[KAnder5695]

Everyone has their own method. Take me for example, I try not to kiss the butt of whoever is in front of me at the moment for no other reason then to get attention as a general rule, but clearly that has worked well for others.

[dragonflies]

IF he gets his comeuppance, right now I don't have much faith in that. The ONLY way Todd could be remotely redeemed is to lose his kids(all contact), lose everything. He needs to hit rock bottom and then be redeemed by HIS own actions

[DrewH]

I disagree with the comparison to Todd and Marty's storyline and Tess' first reveal. Here's why...

With Todd and Marty, the storyline has changed, been twisted a couple times since this storyline started. In the beginning, in May, you have Todd finding Marty and taking her back to his house in secret. Then, you saw him think of this plan to hurt John and Cole because in Todd's mind, they're the reason his family has been taken from him, not anything he did to them. After the initial "kidnapping," then you have Marty, slowly coming to terms with the fact that things are now different. Instead of Lee taking care of her, it will be yet another stranger to her, this Todd person. You start to see her giving trust to Todd. Then, there's also the danger of John getting closer and closer to finding out exactly who Todd is hiding. You also have Tess thrown into the mix. And now, in recent weeks, we've been seeing Todd fighting with his own feelings for Marty after spending almost five months alone with this woman. Todd is not the most sane man. His actions over the years have proven that. So it's not too out there to believe that Todd, in his mind, would think it would be okay to do what he's doing right now. After spending months and months with this woman, he is going to start developing feelings for her. However, the feelings he's having for Marty are completely taboo due to their past and the rape. And you see that. If we had Todd going straight into being intimate with Marty, having sex with her with no remorse, then yes, I would say that this is wrong. But you can see Todd resisting. You can see him realize that he's going too far when he allows himself to get too close to Marty. And I'm sure the next phase is going to be Marty realizing this and starting to wonder why Todd won't open up to her.

And then you have Dena Higley's Tess storyline, which from the very beginning we knew everything too soon. We knew Jessica had an alternate personality and then we had to watch this stupid storyline for over a year, and still nothing was accomplished. The same things were happening, there wasn't anything new and exciting. There was no character development. It was just the same old trash for almost 2 years before we even knew what the hell caused Jessica's DID, which was a horrible reason.

So no, I can't see those comparisons. I don't feel that this storyline is dragging out. I think that it's being told at the right pace. While it's not your typical soap story that begins and resolves in three months, it does go out longer than that, but the twists and turns keep the storyline fresh and exciting, at least for me.

[DrewH]

But until someone new comes in and gives the fans something fresh and exciting, Carlivati is all we have outside of the recycled head writers that everyone is sick of. Carlivati gave OLTL viewers something they haven't seen in years, compelling storylines that grabbed your attention. He wrote for characters that fans have been wanting to see for years. He is doing something that the other head writers on the other soaps are not doing. So what do you expect fans to do? Of course they're going to rejoice.

As for the people calling Carlivati the next Marland, at the time, that's what they thought. I read Branco's articles about his love for Carlivati, and I read Ewing's article comparing OLTL to old school GL, and they always backed up their opinions with comparisons that made sense.

[DrewH]

What exactly are hoping to get out of your argument? I don't understand.

You are giving your opinion on Carlivati's storylines, which happens to be negative. That's fine. But then there are others that share a different opinion and are enteratined with what they're seeing on OLTL. I get that. It's a difference in opinion.

But then you have this side argument about the ratings and you keep bringing up the fact that it doesn't matter if a single person is enjoying the show because the ratings matter. Well, of course the ratings matter. Ratings are about money. But you are going to have fans that don't give a damn about the ratings. You're going to have fans that feel that the ratings are completely outdated and need to be redone to get with the times.

I'm with Toups in enjoying the show. Does that mean I'm blind to the ratings and don't see it near the bottom? No. I can just ignore that for right now and continue to be enteratined by what Carlivati has to give me. Once I'm not entertained anymore and the ratings are still low, my personal opinion with the show and the ratings will be the same. That doesn't have to always be the case. Y&R is at the top and I'm not enetrained by that show. So to say that ratings are the tell all and be all for everyone is not true.

High ratings do not mean good story, just as low ratings don't always mean bad story.

[DrewH]

And this shows the difference in opinion. I became an AMC fan in 2007 around the time McTavish was fired, and they had people ghostwriting the show until B&E's material started airing later on in the year. That's when I started loving AMC. And then, B&E were given their pink slips, I continued to watch the show, but then of course, it's transition time, and little details that were exclusive to B&E were now being taken over by little details exclusive to Pratt and while there are several people that are loving AMC right now, I can't get into it and I'm slowly phasing myself out of being an AMC fan.

And AMC's ratings are still pretty low as well. I have no doubt that they'll go up with returns and upcoming big storyline, but will Pratt be able to hold those attentions aftewards? Doubtful. Today's daytime audience only seems to come in for big things and then once the dust settles, the ratings come back down. Does that mean the stories bad? No.