http://tvguide.sympatico.msn.ca/Shame+and+...e_NB.htm?isfa=1

OMG! Can't wait to read this!

Michael Malone, for all his flaws, genuinely loves OLTL just as much as Ron Carlivati and is always a great interview. His problem is for all of his brilliant mind and ideas, without a proper story editor or EP he can fail easily. You could see traces, snatches of great ideas or very beautiful, soaring artsy concepts in his second run but they failed to come together, or the characters would mouth slogans about those ideas without having a cohesive whole or substance behind it, or at least not the substance Malone might intend. Also, I'm sure his Santi story for Antonio, discovering he was a kind of "lost prince," sounded great to MM in his head, and probably sounded great on paper. But what he forgot was that the fans hated Antonio at the time, and the way he executed it was totally OTT - you could do it in a book, on TV it came off laughable. Same thing happened with his terrible Mitch Laurence story. What Malone desperately needs is a focus, a channeling force that sends his work in controlled directions and builds it properly. He had that in the '90s, he didn't have it five years ago.

I greatly prefer RC's run to MM's last, but they could do far worse than to let him consult. And I appreciate that Malone did not let Branco use him to damn RC the way Nelson wanted for not inviting him to a party.

Edited October 2, 200817 yr by Vee

On one hand, it surprises me because Ron has been a far more conventional soap writer than I was. He’s also a great lover of the form, and has worked in the form for a long time. Ron loves the conventions and traditions of the form. So, my first reaction is, I’m surprised. The character having amnesia literally erases the real moral consequences and the real spiritual journey Marty has embarked on. It’s like telling Othello he’s white and Desdemona doesn’t really die. Presumably, Marty will gain her memory, and what will happen, she will be horrified…

BOOM!

Edited October 2, 200817 yr by Sylph

As usual, dear, you have all the attention span of a gnat. Picking and choosing quotes, sifting through Malone's comments negates the point of what he said: Marty will obviously remember, and he thinks RC has a plan. So do I. It would be one thing if Marty never remembers and stays with Todd. That's not going to happen.

Personally, I wish he'd talked a lot more about his second run and all the unrealized stories. But Nelson had an axe to grind.

Edited October 2, 200817 yr by Vee

Interesting on a lot of levels. He was VERY diplomatic. I'd really love to read an interview with him done by somebody...let's just say somebody else.

I don't blame him for giving up on soaps entirely. I still hope that one day he'll try something like a web series.

As usual, dear, you have all the attention span of a gnat. Picking and choosing quotes, sifting through Malone's comments negates the point of what he said: Marty will obviously remember, and he thinks RC has a plan. So do I. It would be one thing if Marty never remembers and stays with Todd. That's not going to happen.

Presumably is a very telling word.

Carlivati is a hack. Terrible writer. There you go.

No one is saying she won't remember, we're saying he writes it cr*ppily.

Carlivati is a hack. Terrible writer. There you go.

MM actually said the exact opposite of that. Do you need me to quote it?

You are one sad, desperate little man.

BOOM!

The interviewee had lots of great responses. I like the "team" concept he repeatedly emphasized, including his "soap mentor" (Josh Griffith) and his "blocking guard" (EP Linda Gottlieb). What else could prove so clearly that it is the TEAM, not individuals, that matter.

But, the "erasure" of the trauma of the past is clearly TEMPORARY. That seems obvious. This is clearly just a ploy to build an EXPLOSIVE moment in the future. I like that...for Todd...it shows he always "one step forward, two back" in his evolution.

I also like that this plot is morally ambivalent...because the two characters ARE connecting. It shows "what might have been", which infuses the tale with more poignancy...because of the inevitable end.

At the same time, it builds a new connection between Todd and Marty so that--WHATEVER their future antipathy--they cannot extinguish that they also found some common ground. The resulting relationship will be complex, ugly, amorphous, hard to read...isn't that a good foundation for years of drama?

MM actually said the exact opposite of that. Do you need me to quote it?

You are one sad, desperate little man.

No he didn't.

Todd and Marty have had common ground before when she knew who she was and what he was to her. The only reason they have this ground is because she has brain damage and he is using her as a salve for his own trauma. I wouldn't want them to approach each other afterwards like, "well, we did have a nice time..." If anything, what he has done here should eradicate all sympathy or empathy she has previously been able to display for Todd post-rape. That should be gone for a very long time, if not forever.

The resulting relationship will be complex, ugly, amorphous, hard to read...isn't that a good foundation for years of drama?

It is cheap, predictable, lazy and offensive.

Todd and Marty have had common ground before when she knew who she was and what he was to her. The only reason they have this ground is because she has brain damage and he is using her as a salve for his own trauma. I wouldn't want them to approach each other afterwards like, "well, we did have a nice time..." If anything, what he has done here should eradicate all sympathy or empathy she has previously been able to display for Todd post-rape. That should be gone for a very long time, if not forever.

Well, I'm a Y&R boy, so in the golden years, Jill and Kay loved and hated. The love was very deep...hidden...but it was what clearly drew them back together again and again.

My hope is that, at some level, the result is: She has some good feeling for him IN SPITE OF EVERYTHING. Of course she has to bury this, and be outraged, and erase all sympathy. But deeper, just deeper, I hope she always also remembers that connection.

I KNOW this is "sick"...but a sick relationship is honestly the very best thing when done right. (Think Mason & CC on Santa Barbara).

No he didn't.

Well, we can parse this stuff to death to look for phantoms of hidden indictments of RC, Sylph, or we can take the man at his word:

TVG: One Life belongs to head writer Ron Carlivati these days. After you left One Life the first time, I never thought I’d love my favourite soap the same way. But a miracle happened: Ron Carlivati made me fall in love with Llanview in a very similar way I felt about One Life when you wrote the show. This year, Ron won an Emmy Award for best writing in his inaugural year as head scribe.

MM: I know and I saw that. I’m very thrilled and proud for One Life and Ron. He was just hired as a writers’ assistant when I left One Life the first time. I hear he’s doing good work.

TVG: Todd has never forgiven himself for raping Marty. And it’s haunted him ever since. For him to kidnap Marty and lie to her about his identity erases 16 years of his character motivation, and back story.

MM: See, Todd’s path to redemption shouldn’t be in any way easy, and amnesia seems like the easy way out. Bullies are always cowards. Todd’s whole life is about redeeming that moment in time. Listen, it’s certainly possible he can redeem himself — the whole Christian faith is based on that belief, but it shouldn’t be easy. I can’t imagine someone who loves this form as much as Ron does, would make it easy. What I’m saying to you is to have faith, because I would expect that Ron has a larger plan. I hope he does.

TVG: Of course. Ron loves to write for Viki and Dorian. He’s a fan of vets.

MM: Every time I pitched a story about Dorian and Viki, Ron would always say, “I got it, Michael.” It doesn’t surprise me that he plays his vets and plays Dorian and Viki just the way they are meant to write that rivalry.

My mistake! He really tore him apart!

MM is uncertain like the rest of us, but he also knows RC better than the rest of us. So he's saying, wait.

It is cheap, predictable, lazy and offensive.

I am breathless. Breathless! Complex relationships, mixtures of love and hate, are "cheap...offensive"??

Oh well, I also like many retcons. So I'm just a loser .