ALL: How to Break a Soap

[Pine Charles]

I liked the character of Zarf; I liked Zoe as well.

I also agree with you that it was pretty much the only interesting story that was playing on AMC at the time. It lost me, however, when they had Bianca falling in love with Zoe. I know Zoe was a lesbian woman, but it just seemed like a cop out.

[EricMontreal22]

Yes it did, and an excuse to get both off the show (which we knew was happenign with Eden's contract ending). I wonder if Zoe will EVER even bementioned again lol

[Mitch]

Actually, it wasnt the island itself...it was the way the island stuff was written that was the killer. The show basically couldnt go on without the people they had on the island..so they had to bring them back. However, the way it was written you just knew that none of this stuff was thought out, instead it was tacked on to take up air time and that Reilly didnt really feel like coming up with an explanation.

None of the things we saw beforehand could have happened the way that it was explained...uh, so the woman who was dead was not Maggie but a look alike? How could that be as they took Maggie to the hospital and she died there. Was the other woman actually brutally murdered instead of her? Who was the woman, etc. Who the hell were the ghosts? Why was Celeste having visions? Alice sat there with a donut supposedly stuck in her throat..was that a look alike? We SAW Marlena commit the murders, but then Reilly tells us that she was hypnotized to show that she did it. How was the old rich man on the island when it was not Marlena who supposedly killed him. Not one damn thing made sense after all that build up.

If Reilly could have actually pulled all the murders off, with the reveal that they are all alive, with great clues thrown in to help the audience tie it in together so they said "AHA, that makes sense," for the reveal, then I would have said he was the genius some people say he is. As it was, the only clue that it was actually a hoax is that sometimes people would say "Nothing is at it seems," and all the clocks where constantly at 4:15...or whatever, which is actually kinda funny.

Unfortunatley other soaps have copied this lazy writing..particularly GL, where we find out things have happened off screen we werent privy to, and characters verbally contradict things we saw in earlier scenes.

[JackPeyton]

I do think it was the idea, the go back on all those deaths. by the time they killed doug they knew about the island storyline.

the show could have gone on without those people who were killed. the show chose to cop out and not do hard work to make it.

[KLN]

That's the damn gospel!

[SFK]

I think they recast Josh b/c CE looks a little more like Kendall and Erica, he has a "sharper" more shark-like look which helped with the "new direction" they were taking the character in.

We know soaps, Josh, whether it's CE or another actor, will be back someday. Erica's s/l well will run dry once more, maybe they'll even skip Josh and throw in one of his vindictive kids a la the original Kendall. You know, so we can do that s/l for the THIRD time. But as much as many of us wish we could forget him, we'd take issue with the show if Erica or Josh's sisters never mentioned him again. At least I think we would.

[sheilaforever]

Bingo,

as soon as La Flannery publicly mulls retirement she always gets a vacation package or/and a Stephanie centric storyline or sth. else of her choice. She got her second 3 week long vacation spot after the 2003 negotiations, got Betty White the last time around and this year to keep her happy and probably persuading her to stay a month long break along with the directing at GL...

Still, it's all well deserved and much easier to link with B&B's taping schedule (or at least handleded much better) than those ultra-long Tony Geary/Ingo Rademacher absences at GH.

A several month-long character absense for repeatedly no good reason other than the actor's vacation is also a way to break a soap because it seriously derails this character's stories... However, Y&R did great to cover Eric Braeden's time off this year with lots of pre- or post-taping of little Victor scenes which got sprdad all through October...

[EricMontreal22]

I would. This is why I don't agree with others who just want it all forgotten. It's been said, and I find it more insulting to wipe the canvas clean. Then again does Joe ever talk about any of his off screen kids? I mean they can be practically forgotten anyway.

I keep waiting for Binks to find out her beloved Zach had Josh hunted down and almost killed...