The "New" AMC - Part 1 and Part 2

[Soapsuds]

LOL....Have I told you how much I like your posts AMS?

[Soapsuds]

I still wonder where all the love all of sudden came from?...hehe....BTW..PM me Steve..I need to ask you something.

You liked the show before changes happened. Didnt you like it as soon as Pratt was on board??

[Kubla Khan]

I don't care one bit if people have qualms with the Jesse/Rebecca/Natalie timeline. If we're so strict about timelines, then we should start bitching about the fact that Colby should be turning ten this year, Cassandra should be 12, Petey should be 14, JR should be 19, Jake 29, and Jamie 17 or 18.

::anyways, to the point::

I love what Pratt has done with AMC, for the most part. He has brought a wide breadth of stories/actors to the forefront. I love that I can turn on the show and I won't see the same characters dominating the scenes day after day. A lot of stories, a lot of characters being featured -- but most importantly, we get to see the characters MOVE and do stuff around Pine Valley. We see Angie as the doctor, sparring with David. We see her as the concerned, sometimes overbearing mother, we see her as a friend to Krystal...and of course, she's got her main story going on with Rebecca/Natalie/Jesse. With Megan McTavish, we'd be seeing her in the same god darned rehashed Jesse/Rebecca scenes day after day, isolated, without getting to see her as a CITIZEN of Pine Valley. The fact that the cast is being utilized like they should be brings joy to my heart. Under B&E (especially pre-Angie & Jesse), I couldn't even watch because it the same old Zach/Ryan/Kendall/Greenlee/Aidan crap was played literally everyday, topped off with Sabine's grand "I'm really really really sorry" wailing that more than justified her pink slip when the time came to that.

ANYWAY...I'm liking most of the stories, save for Ryan/Greens, but I'll deal. The Taylor/Brot/Jake story is moving along nicely for me, but the key to getting us involved in Taylor (because I do like her...) is going her involved with the rest of the Pine Valley canvas. Shake her up -- let her move around. For example, I just loved her scene with Erica a few weeks ago "This is Taylor -- she killed a man!" I'd like to see her move into other character's orbits -- could you imagine rough military girl ruffling Adam Chandler's feathers?

As for David and misogyny -- please. He's David Hayward, he's always been an out of hand villain. But AMC has never made him a cartoon villain -- they've given him depth and layers every step of the way. You know what makes him tick, and what drives him. And.. the difference between David and true misogynistic characters is that David is not being played as a romantic hero. He is played as the twisted villain that he is. Sonny Corinthos is played as a glorified hero. To be honest, I LOVE the Krystal/David dynamic, because it's so weird/complex. The thing is: Krystal IS vulnerable. She feels like a walking zombie, because she lost her precious daughter and she feels like her husband isn't meeting her emotional needs. She KNOWS David is a SNAKE -- but is drawn to him because he lost Babe, too. She feels a weird emotional connection to David that she doesn't feel with Tad. She is understandably "freaked" by this connection, but I think it is dynamics/beats like this that Pratt does well playing upon. And that is why I feel that his writing has a heck of a lot more depth than the likes of McTavish/B&E.

Did I miss something!? Amanda and JR are a couple now? Have they kissed? Had sex? No. It is very clear, IMO, why JR is drawn to Amanda -- but to say that they are in a 'romance' is stretching it a bit. JR has *not* moved on. It's clear that the death of Babe is still having a huge impact on him; this is not a story where he cries for five minutes and then gets his freak on with the next piece of tail.

[Jonathan]

I love your post Kubla.

[Adam]

Second that!

I too have noticed character are not nearly as isolated and you can expect to see character show up halfway through an episode too

[JackPeyton]

you are kidding right? I mean i get that you dispise reese/bianca as they pose a threat the zens marriage, but really> you dont see anything groundbreaking int he storyline?

Lets recap. Reese & Bianca are two woman. They are in love. They are raising two kids, one a little girl and the other a baby. They plan on getting married or whatever it is they can do in PV. In america, with everything going on right now with same rights for Gays. And this is on daytime tv. Where they kiss, they tell eachother they love eachother, we see them with the kids, etc...

Nothing about that is groundbreaking to you? REALLY?

[Cheap21]

AMC hasnt been this consistently good in a long time. LOVING what Pratt has done

[Steve]

My thoughts exactly! The writing is so much deeper now than it was with McT or B&E and Pine Valley feels like a community again (except for Taylor who needs to be integrated more).

[EricMontreal22]

Agreed 100%--and I defended a lot of the McT stuff ans still think B/E weren't given their fair chance or control. But as someone who expected Pratt to maybe drive the final nail in I'm so pleased. As I wrote on Marlena's board it's still far from perfect, I still often have little "what?" moments, but to have the show in a state where I aactually, while at work, look forward to coming home and seeing what happens, to feel characters that more often than not make sense and are true to their personalities (even obnoxious ones like Ryan), and to have story that doesn't feel liek the same scenes every day but has momentum and excitement--not to mention humour. I dunno what in this current Brian Frons era of ABC Daytime more I could hope for.

I still see need for and want improvements (many are probs I see with Frons' ABC Daytime in egneral though). But I'm sure thankful for what we're getting and have been getting since late August even.

One thing--back during the Tornado stunt Marlena said she didn't get the love for Pratt's vision--I mentioned the increase of humour and she said she didn't see it. Glad to see her change her mind

[rsmith2k2]

I knew this thread would be a doozeeeeeey.

Agreed.

[EricMontreal22]

I agree that Taylor (who I personally really like) needs to be mixed in better. It could be so easy too--just have Ruth take her under her wing--Ruth was meant to help out at the hospital so could have met her there, there's the Jake connection, Ruth's own connections to war, etc

[Adam]

I agree. And the whole bi angle if done right (and so far it has been) happens all the time in the gay world. I know plenty of people who had hetero relationships before identifying themselves as gay. It just isn't groundbreaking because it ruined wedded bliss for Zach and Kendall. Who wants to watch a happy couple in love for more than 5 mins anyway on a soap? Soaps were always based on CONFLICT.

Wow that is an awesome idea! I never ever would have thought about that. Taylor has potential I totally agree.

[EricMontreal22]

And it would also give us Ruth back. WHether people like this Ruth or not, Pine Valley really needs an older matriarch with Myrtle gone--I hope we continue to see Opal (we were for a while but not for a month or so now) but with her whackiness she's not quite the same role

AGreed completley on all the Bianca/Reese stuff. Zendall fan's kinda a broken record when it comes to them... (and how nice is it that Pratt has given Bianca her spunk back. She's still a good person but no longer Saint Bianca)

[marceline]

Didn't AMC cover the issue of bi-curiosity with Maggie? Whatever issues Breese needs to deal with, I hope they leave that one off the table. Sarah, Lena, Maggie and don't get me started on Zarf. How many times does Binks have to fight with a penis?!

[EricMontreal22]

They did--I SUSPECT this won't be the aspect--I hope anyway---Reese seems really certain she's gay. I thought I was bi and was briefly engaged to a girl--but once I went gay I never turned back I dunno, I suspect that's the angle. But I am curious (and honestly intrigued) what her fiance coming will do.