Barbara Bloom Interview in CBS Soap in Depth

[Mitch]

RR is a major kiss ass of Wheelers...hence, why he is on the show still though his character has run its course.

But yes, Wheeler had to switch to this format..however, it is turning out to be more expensive then she thought....she didnt plan out the rise in gas prices, which are killing them to transport everyone to Peapack! They are now way over budget. But part of this problem is that Wheeler didn't plan out....and her insistence on having so many damn shots in Peapack..she could have saved some of the money to work on the couple of the sets to make them more usuable...but she was bound and determined to shoot outside contanlty, even if it doesnt make sense. Hence, you can see the difference between ATWT, which uses them judiciously and they make sense, with the ridiculously inappropriate GL scenes, where Daisy is sitting on the side of a dirt road by herself, or the Foley brothers are wandering around fields, or Dinah has a press conference in a field, or Alan is walking on a baseball diamond.

The fact of the matter, which not too many people are discussing is that Wheeler dropped the ball in many places.

[RoseVioletDaisy]

Precisely, Mitch. The new format isn't the problem per se, it's the amateurish, half-assed implementation that sucks and has driven viewers away, along with the horrendous writing that features no real stories, no character interaction or motivation, and no compelling narrative at all. All we get is actors wandering around empty public parks in the middle of nowhere doing nothing and having Tinker-toy cameras shoved up their noses in tiny, cramped "sets" set up on one side of some poor schmuck production assistant's office.

As for the notion that GL would've been cancelled had EW not gone with the new production model, I'm sure it's true but it's also her own fault. By the time the decision needed to be made, she'd been at the helm of this show for at least three and a half years. She not only didn't stop the bleeding from Weston/Conboy's tenure, she deepened the wounds and drove even more viewers away by the thousands practically every week. The fact that GL even had to choose between getting axed and becoming the unprofessional, pathetic joke that it is today is on her head. And Bloom let her do all of it. If the choice was between no GL and what we're seeing now, I would've respected Bloom and Wheeler a lot more if they'd just admitted that they didn't have enough money to produce GL in a decent, professional, and respectful manner and they'd allow it to finish it's run with a little dignity rather than make a mockery out of it just so P&G could bleed the brand completely dry.

[Dan]

RVD and others said it more eloquently, but would that have been so horrible?

Some have said that the budget cuts and the new format have helped save the show, at least for the forseeable future. But I can't help but wonder if it was worth it. I mean if the only way to "save" a show is to turn it in to a completely different one, is it really worth it? GL, the show that many of us grew up watching. is dead, new production model or otherwise. If Ellen Wheeler wanted to create her Hills clone, then maybe she should have created a new show and let some of us cherish our memories of GL.