Titans

[Matt P.]

"One Wild Night..."

When Titans came out in 2000, I remember there being such a buzz about it. It had great stars: Victoria Principal, Yasmine Bleeth (sobered), Casper Van Dien. This was truly Dynasty for the millenium. Everything about it seemed great. Fast paced plots, love triangles, romance, and camp. This was what Aaron Spelling was known for creating. When it was cancelled after only airing 11 out of 13 episodes, the era died.

In my honest opinion, I believe that NBC purposely moved Titans from Wed to Monday nights so that it could be cancelled. There wasn't a lot of promotion on the move (rarely did you see the promo above) so that they could have washed their hands of the "risk" they took.

What does anyone else think of this show and do you know where the two unaired episodes are?

[DaytimeFan]

I LOVED Titans...it was a trashterpiece. I actually mean that seriously, it was so OTT, so fantastic, so bitchy, so Aaron Spelling...it was his last great contribution to primetime.

I think you're right. NBC absolutely hated the show and wanted to kill it. The ratings were not bad, they were average. It's important to remember that 2000 was when NBC was riding the Friends/Frasier/Just Shoot Me juggernaut on Thursdays and was riding high. I think NBC execs thought that it would last forever and didn't give anything that wasn't perfect the shaft. As we all know, the success didn't last. The beauty of a show like Titans is that it had a very specific, loyal type of audience. People who watch primetime soaps stick with them for multiple seasons, even when it gets bad, they stick around.

Titans could still be on NBC had they renewed it and they wouldn't be so desperate.

When I think of it, has NBC ever aired a successful prime time soap?

I loved the cast, I loved the show, I loved the promos (which there weren't enough of with the Wednesday to Monday shift)...what a wasted opportunity.

[All My Shadows]

Pretty much, nope. Depends on what you'd consider a primtime soap and what you'd consider successful..."Sisters" is pretty soapy, and that ran for five and half seasons but was never a ratings-grabber. The critics liked it though. Of course, my beloved "Flamingo Road" was around for a season and a half in the early 80s, but it was far from successful ratings-wise (though it did crack the top 50 in season 1) and critically.

Ah..."Titans." I still shoot myself in the foot for not caring then... I remember the promos and stuff well, but I wasn't the demented soul then that I am now, so I didn't give it a second glance. Being the big old Spellingho that I am now, though...I'd love to find some episodes online or if SOAPnet's lame asses would bring it back for a while. I truly believe that it probably was the last of the 90s-style primetime soap format. The 80s had that particular format (rich bitches, lots of them), the 90s had its own particular format (steamy sexiness and ridiculously 90s fashions), but I don't think there's been any real trend for the 00s...not that there've been any real primetime soaps ("Dirty Sexy Money" is NOT NOT NOT NOT NOT NOT NOT NOT NOT NOT the new "Dynasty" or "Dallas." Sorry, but it's not. Not not not not not not not. I can't stress it enough. It's not. NOT.)

[SFK]

I'm VERY sorry that I wasn't more on Titans' a$$, I only caught a handful of eps (scenes, really). I remember some teens galavanting in VP's character's Aston-Martin. I also remember thinking, Damn, Yasmeen is coked out... come to Jesus boo-boo, get your house in order.

Apparently, DSM is revamped a la CPW this season? A greater emphasis on glam, Dynastyesque elements? I'll have to tune in to see.

Apparently (apparently my favorite word today), Brandon Tartikoff was none too keen on the primetime soaps, he didn't even want one for his network. Sounds like he passed Flamingo Road begrudgingly, almost as an experiment, and when it failed, he wasn't exactly devastated to see it go. I loved their opening credits btw.

[DaytimeFan]

DSM isn't anything like CPW...it's crap. I tried to like it, honestly I gave it my best shot. But I just don't. It's dull. The narrative bounces around too much in the past and is too reflective and 'thinking'....Titans got it right, it was about the NOW, Loud, Bold, Brash, Bitchy.

Yasmine was dealing with a coke problem. But she got herself together, went to rehab twice, got married and left LA and hasn't been heard from since. She did the smart thing.

Pratt should try and get Titans back on the air! It was the last of the prime time soaps...also the last show to have an honest to God catfight! Those aren't even in daytime anymore! You have to watch English television to get them! Sacrilege! When will a ballsy producer throw some mildly talented, but cheeky, actors into an OTT show that features Joan Collins as its septuagenarian centerpiece?

[KLN]

I still remember the promos that ran for this show.

"If looks could kill, you wouldn't last five minutes..."

[PAsoapfan]

I loved Titans and was really upset when NBC pulled the plug on the show.

BRILLAINT cast with excellent writing to boot.

DAMN YOU NBC

[Cat]

Thank you so much for clarifying that. I hate it when the networks that cancelled those great 80s soaps in the first place try and pimp their latest dramedy as the new soap-we-cancelled-15-years-ago. It drives me nuts. The big difference being that I can watch a Dynasty repeat and still be on the edge of my seat. I cannot sit through any DSM epiosde, Donald Sutherland or no Donald Sutherland.

As for Titans, it was gone before it had a chance to become the new Melrose Place of the aughties. Casper Van Brainless, sweet-faced John Barrowman, the iconic (in popular TV terms) Perry King! And poor Yasmine Bleeth who looked coked out of her nostrils. In a weird way, her obvious physical struggles with addiction, etched on her face, gave her character this unexpectedly vulnerable and fragile edge which balanced well with her vixenish character.

I would never want her to relapse, but I would love to see Bleeth back on a Primetime soap. I remember watching her when I was little and she played Ryan Fenelli opposite Grant Show on Ryan's Hope.

[All My Shadows]

To me, the main thing is that DSM is such a freaking caricature...like honestly, it does not take itself seriously at all. And I have absolutely no problem with that at all...it's just....that's not "Dynasty." NOT "Dynasty." Half of the fun of "Dynasty" is that it's completely serious...even the catfights were shot as these epic masterpieces. DSM tries too hard to be scandalous. OOOOOOHHHH LOOK IT'S THE DARLING FAMILY! AAAH THEY'RE SO FUCKED UP! THIS ONE'S SCREWING A TRANNY! THIS ONE'S A COKEHEAD! THIS ONE'S JUST LIKE PARIS HILTON!! DIRTY SEXY MONEY IS JUST LIKE DYNASTYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!1!11!11111!!!!!oneoneoneoneleveneleveneleven. No. Just no. It's superficial claptrap, that's what it is.

Poor Yas. I'll always think of her as good old Caroline from my beloved "Baywatch." All the other guys were looking at her while I was looking at David Charvet (signature!).

[DaytimeFan]

Titans had some of the greatest casting, in prime time soap terms, ever. Perry King, Victoria Principal (!), John Barrowman, Yasmine Bleeth, Casper Van Brainless (haha typecasting) and Jack Wagner...it was awesome. And to think that both Donna Mills and Joan Collins were in negotiations to join the show...it's sacrilege that it was canceled. I hated NBC for ending AW but I loathe them for killing Titans.

That's exactly it! It's a caricature! It doesn't take itself seriously for a moment. With Dynasty, the audience realized that it wasn't exactly Proust...but it was a helluva lot of fun and the way the actors played it (dead serious with the exception of Joan Collins always played Alexis with a comedic touch for comedy is where JC truly shines and it's what she really likes)...DSM will NEVER be Dynasty. It'll NEVER be a prime time soap.

Titans was the best of all that Aaron Spelling contributed to prime time television. Sex, money, greed, great looking people, some surprisingly talented actors. Titans was an Aaron Spelling prime time soap orgasm!

[Cat]

Stephanie Beacham gave an interview to TV Guide back when she was on the Colbys, where she talked about Aaron Spelling making her try on hats for a particular scene. He did not go for the most outlandish hats because he believed that, while The Colbys was campy, it also had be serious and believeable -- relatable to the audience in some way. It wasn't a parody, it was a drama.

OMG, Donna Mills and Joan Collins were being drafted to come on the show? Can you imagine?

[DaytimeFan]

That's a good point about the hats...it really illustrates what Aaron Spelling understood about his audience. They LIKED escape, but for escape to work, it has to be relate able. It also can't be insulting. I find DSM insulting to anyone who liked the Aaron Spelling prime time soap...it's as if the creators of that show are saying "Look at how stupid these kinds of shows are, let's make sure we amp up the stupidity, make the dialog overreach and make the show as introspective and deep as we possibly can, all while making it like a spoof!" It's a slap in the face and I hate it and I hope it gets canceled.

Yep, both DM and JC were set to join the cast. Joan Collins was going to play Alexis Carrington Colby (!) having moved to LA and Donna Mills was going to play Perry King's sister. THAT would have been amazing.

[Toups]

Two of Titans' biggest mistake was casting CVD in THE lead role. He was horrible! And the second one was killing off Perry King because of "new direction" to bring in Jack Wagner.

The rest of the cast was great though. I became a John Barrowman (I haven't sen him in anything since ) and Elizabeth Bogush (), after watching Titans.

*steps away from the DSM hate*

[DaytimeFan]

John Barrowman is now a huge star on English television. He plays Captain Jack Harkness on both Dr Who and Torchwood. Big big star. He's done very well for himself, as well he should, he was great on Titans!

[EricMontreal22]

My British friends all thing John's been overexposed--for a while he hosted or was on about 5 diff BBC shows... I admit I find him WAY less appealing the more I see him--and I met the guy when he was in Miss Saigon in London in 1999--super nice guy.