Nelson Branco Interviews former HW (OLTL) Michael Malone

[marceline]

I have no doubt Malone knew Nelson's agenda and was well-guarded. That's the problem with Nelson's going back and forth between gossip columnist and journalist. He thinks he can determine how he is perceived by his subjects and he can't. I'm actually sorry he chose to focus SO much on RC and the Todd/Marty stuff. But we all know that when Nelson has an agenda it must be served.

[Vee]

That was also Carolyn Hinsey's folly. Though she was actually smarter than him. The [!@#$%^&*] he did regarding Marlena Delacroix (I think it was her) was so unbelievably unprofessional.

[Y&RWorldTurner]

I was never a big on Malone's first or second stint at OLTL, but he's a well spoken man who seems to understand character study.

I think a major flaw with all the ABC soaps is that they don't have strong EP's, as Frons has essentially taken over that role and the weak EP's they have act as figureheads. In the 90's, the ABC soaps had strong and fearless women like Felicia Minei-Behr, Linda Gottlieb, and Wendy Riche fighting for and preserving some integrity in their soaps. Sadly, there's no one like that anymore in any of the soaps.

[baller]

To me, that doesn't actually seem to strike a lot of confidence in what Ron's doing right now on OLTL.

I've always heard that too--and you know what, good for him. Some current players in this story could learn a thing or two.

The comparison to the Luke and Laura story doesn't work for me, because they just spent SOO long at OLTL staying away from that with the character of Todd. And like every other part of the history of these characters, we're just suppose to throw it out the window now and accept blindly.

I will contend that Higly did start the murder of Marty when she came back, but this puts all the nails in the coffin for the character--and for a lot of viewers.

[Vee]

If this ruined Marty, she wouldn't have amnesia.

And if we were supposed to throw out the history of the characters, she wouldn't flash back to the rape or look into the past on Todd's computer today. She wouldn't need to be hidden. She wouldn't get back her memory.

[JONNYSBRO]

In the interview what I got was Malone was a big fan of Ron Carlivati. Most of the OLTL writing staff loved Ron. Even Tom Casiello said when he wrote OLTL everyone including Dena would go to Ron for OLTL history. He was known as the OLTL encyclopedia, he knew the show inside and out. I do not think Susan Haskell would come back to OLTL if this was just a Todd/Marty romance, she came back to tell a rape revisted storyline which can ecompass an entire canvas. IMO OLTL has really gotten better in the last two weeks. IMO Carlivati can revive himself. I see alot of stuff coming to ahead. I also enjoyed seeing the vulnerable side of Tess, he is making her human again. I think Ron hit a rough patch. I think what happened was all the stuff that happened in May/June was all stuff pre-strike but he had a shortage of storyline during the anniversary episodes. I think Ron might do well with a co-head writer. I think promote Carolyn Culliton as his co-head writer, she is a wonder to have in this role as she taught Hogan all the best parts of soap. I think having that extra co-head writer could make everything gell bigtime. Carolyn is an asset to any writing team.

[marceline]

I didn't. I got the sense of a respect and affection but not much more than that. Compare his discussion of Ron with his praise of Gottlieb. Malone and Carlivati are VERY different writers. He hints at that in the way he agrees with Nelson's version of Todd. He's just enough of a class act not to criticize RC. I think a lot of that was professional courtesy. Nelson clearly had an axe to grind and Malone has probably seen enough backstage politics to last a lifetime. I also wager he's "given up" the character of Todd and detached himself from the show as a whole. ("I haven’t thought about Llanview in such a long time!") How many of us still give a real damn what happens at our former places of employment? He can see the whole thing from a distance in the rearview mirror.

This interview was notable as much for what wasn't said as what was.

[RoseVioletDaisy]

I agree. Malone seemed like he was being very polite and respectful of RC but I got the impression that he was more confused by his bizarre decisions than impressed by anything he's done. He seemed hopeful that he'd find a way to extricate himself and the show from the messes he's created, particularly Todd/Marty, but I didn't get the impression that he was confident of that by any means. And at this point, Malone probably wants as little to do with the political garbage and in-fighting that goes on as possible.

[Y&RWorldTurner]

What Malone's working relationship with Carlivati was, we'll never know. Malone also said that he doesn't watch OLTL anymore, so I don't expect him to give any real analysis on Carlivati's writing and what his likes/dislikes are with Carlivati's stories and characters. Hearing from Nelson what's happening on the show is obviously nothing like watching the show for yourself. With Gottlieb and Nixon, he worked longer with these people and has friendships with them, so that might explain his adoration of them.

[Vee]

People will spin anything. Some of you were dying (as I'm sure was Nelson) for the great Michael Malone to call out Ron Carlivati and excoriate his stories, and when he said Ron was a good guy and did good work and he said he thought RC had a plan behind it, you're trying to play the "but what did he really mean??" game.

[marceline]

Believe it or not I wasn't. There is a lot I want to hear from Michael Malone but the discussion of Carlivati wasn't in that mix. When I reference the things that weren't mentioned, I'm talking about issues like working for Frons or trying to write socially conscious stories or how his first tenure at OLTL differed from his second. I'm sure Malone has lots of opinions about Ron. I'm sure he also has opinions about Danielle Steele and James Frey too. His opinion of those so-called writers in no way affects mine.

As I said above, I'm sorry Nelson wasted so much of his time with Malone forcing him to discuss the work of an inferior writer. Ron doesn't deserve that much consideration. He's a minor league hack who was lucky enough to still be around at the death of the genre. It doesn't matter what he does to the show. The patient's dead.

[Vee]

You're a downer.

[JONNYSBRO]

The thing is Ron has always been beloved by the writing team. He is looked at as the OLTL encyclopedia. He knows the characters inside and out and has been with the show since 1996. Ron has been with OLTL for 12 years plus was a super fan of the show. He is nowhere near a hack considering the crap I am seeing from other writers in daytime. Yes he had a decline in the summer but IMO he is reving back up. The show is getting better and I have a feeling it will be back to greatness again. I trust Ron far more then I did Dena Higley. What people do not realize is Malone tried to do a rape revisted story with Blair's rape on NY's in 2003 and it flopped so badly. It was told in a vaccum with no affects on the cast and no real climax. It was like a big huge stunt. People do not realize though OLTL's success had alot to do with Josh Griffith not just Malone. In fact when Grffith left in 1995 a year before Malone did, the show went downhill. It was very plot driven aka the Men of 21, Todd/Marty's inching toward romance, Carlo's return. I just realized Josh Grffith was a major part of the show. In 2003 Malone was a consultant while JG was the head writer. In the beginning there return was okay but then Griffith left and Malone became head writer it was awful. Most of Malone's tenure was made of convoluted plots aka Mitch Laurence, Victor Lord being alive, Dorian's botched return, Walker, the Sant invasion, the love house with all the blah teens and just alot of bad stories. I realized again JG never got the full credit he deserved, he was a massive part of what made Malone successful. Anyways I am a fan of RC and believe him. I saw his fabulous writing in June and I know I can see it again. What Ron might need is a co-head writer and IMO Carolyn Culliton is a good choice for the position.

[dc11786]

Malone cannot be blamed for Victor Lord. The story was already in place when Griffith (who was either alone or Malone was consulting) arrived. Lorraine Broderick, Christopher Whitsell, and Gary Tomlin laid all the groundwork for he story, which is probably why Victor was killed off quickly after returning.

The Blair/Todd rape trial was bad because it was all blamed on a tumor. Malone's biggest problem was he was blowing through plot at record pace and needed to slow stuff down. I think a lot of his story ideas were really good, but the show needed to developed and nurtured.

Malone, and Griffith, reestablished a lot in his second tenure: revitalizing the Buchanan family, reigniting the Dorian/Viki flame, and bringing back a lot of long time favorites and writing out a lot of rather lame duck characters.

[Vee]

MM CAN be blamed for Victor Lord's return. He and JG created the Malone-titled (he liked "titling" his storylines) "Heart Of A Lord" story which went nowhere. Under Whitesell, Tomlin and Broderick's plans, Mitch died in February 2003. MM and JG were so enamored of Mitch they kept him going for another interminable five months.