Let's Talk Production Values

[MichaelGL]

You've nailed down the problem about GH. GH like the writing has no depth or warmth to it. It's why JFP is both a genius and an awful producer.

I know people criticize OLTL a bit, sets and production wise, but when you've watched as long as I have, you start to notice that OLTL has some of the most elaborate and detailed sets on ABC. Maybe not as much than Y&R or B&B, but I just love the detailed differences of Llanfair and La Boule(sp?). It's one of the few soaps on ABC that have a mansion for both their leading women. I have to add that both Viki and Dorian's kitchen are so incredibly different, and wonderfully designed. I hope they never destroy any of the sets pertaining to Llanfair or La Boule.

When I first started watching, I hated the Buchanan mansion, but I gotta confess it's grown on me too.

The only other set I like or have liked on OLTL were the diner and currently the carriage house (they need to add more white/vanilla to contrast against those red walls). I also adore the Palace and Rodi's.

The Angel Square Hotel is a complete and utter mess though. Oh and I hated Ultra Violet wth a passion. Thank god nobody hangs out at that dreary place.

Foxy's Roxy's is amazing when you think about how well it fits for the character of Roxy.

You know good thing that AMC doesn't use flashbacks in their shows daily, especially flashbacks dating some 10-20 eyars ago, bc it would put the current AMC production values to shame. Watching the tribute to EH/Myrtle with the past clips, it was like they were clips from another show. With the exception of their hospital set, I don't like any set on All My Children.

[Y&RWorldTurner]

I thought JFP's SB, GL, AW, and OLTL were AMAZINGLY produced. She especially made GL and AW look elegant and grand for their small studio space and cheap-ass P&G budget (yes, even in the 90's, P&G was stingy). Also, JFP knows how to get the most out of her directors, while the production values are just flat on GH, I thought the directing on the show got much BETTER when JFP replaced Riche.

JFP's GL, AW and OLTL were all darkly lit, but they certainly didn't look flat, cheap, and boring to me, like GH is. Granted, as much as I LOVE Wendy Riche, the production values on GH during her tenure weren't much better. I actually though in JFP's first year at GH, she improved a lot of the production values, like Sonny's old penthouse set for example.

And come on, NO ONE can blow up buldings, do shoot-outs, and death scenes like JFP. LOL!

[DeeeDee]

GH's sets are horrible.

Worse than GL.

[Y&RWorldTurner]

OLTL was definitely best produced during the Linda Gottlieb era. She made the show almost look like an East Coast version of Y&R. The show had a lush quality to it, and it hasn't looked as lush since she left. She produced the show like an old Hollywood movie. It was very cinematic and grand. A lot of the sets they use now were either revamped during the Gottlieb era or created during that era, yet they don't look as well now as they did then.

Oh, and OLTL definitely had it's best background music during the Gottlieb era. Again, it was sweeping and Y&R-esque. I know they still have the same composers today, but I HATE the music in OLTL presently. It's all so generic and bland.

[NYC123]

AMC was best around 1990-2000.

IMO everything went downhill from there.

I think OLTL is the best on the east coast HANDS DOWN. AMC/ATWT are cheap looking while GL....are there even sets anymore?

I have to agree with Alvin on GH. GH was very good with the production values when JFP first came abord but everything started to go downhill from there.

[Rakesh]

Of course GL still has sets!

[boldfan01]

Who owns it has varied depending on what was scripted at the time. When John's original (real) will was read, it left the house to Jack, Ashley, Traci and Billy. Gloria was supposed to get one half of John's estate, but the house was not supposed to be part of what she received. However, when Jack's part in faking the second will was exposed and Gloria received her fair share of John's estate, suddenly she and Michael were claiming she was entitled to move into the Abbott mansion, even though that contradicted the earlier episodes. At that same time, no mention was made of Ashley, Traci or Billy's shares, and they made it seem like Jack and Gloria had to share the house, just like Katherine and Jill had to share the Chancellor estate. Maybe jack bought his siblings out since they were all living outside Genoa City.

Then Gloria and Jeff moved out, so the house, under the scripts of the time, would have become all Jack's. And since it was his prior to his marriage to Sharon, it would not be community property and should be all his.

Of course, MAB and company can do whatever the heck they want if and when Jack and Sharon divorce since the previous regime left ownership in such a mess. But personally, I don't see Jack giving up his family home, and why the heck would Sharon even want to live there with all the bad memories of her marriage to Jack? Maybe MAB will use that as a reason to get the Abbott house back to its old look once Sharon moves out. Even with Ashley living at the ranch, Billy at Phyllis's penthouse and Traci in NY, I can see Jack wanting to bring the family home back to its old self again.

[boldfan01]

I don't really watch ABC or DAYS, so I'll have to limit my comments to the CBS shows.

Y&R: Hands down, the best. The show makes good use of its soundstages and, aside from the occasional variation (like Sharon's redecorating the Abbott mansion) has stayed consistent for as long as I can remember.

B&B: Is also very consistent in its use of the mainstays of the show - the Forrester mansion, the executive floor at Forrester Creations, Brooke's and Taylor's homes. I've always like the exterior shots of the Forrester mansion and Brooke's house, but Forrester itself has always been a conundrum. I remember in the late 90s when Brad Bell introduced the house like exterior for FC with the big FC sign outside and that seemed inconsistent with the way the site had been portrayed before, including the sudden disappearance of Ridge's skylight (which returned some time later). But I finally got used to it, only for them to add the new exterior shots so they could introduce the rooftop Sky Lounge. All of a sudden, FC had a flat roof when it didn't have one before, and I can't figure out why. I also don't see why they got rid of the original FC logo (which kind of resembled the original Huxley font of the old B&B logo) with the stylized and simplistic letters FC they have now.

As for the exterior shots, I think the problem is that they have one outdoor set for multiple locations - the Sky Lounge, the Il Giardino restaurant, the Bikini beach cabanas - and they have to both redress it and choose their angles for each location. It's like they try to tell you "This is the restaurant, not the Sky Lounge," and the way they do that kind of kills the illusion.

ATWT - while not quite in the GL production model, they still rebuilt some sets and adopted the use of handheld cameras, and it feels like something's missing since it's not the stuff I remember from watching years ago.

GL - I think the new production model has been debated to death by now, hasn't it?

[rangethatrover]

[EricMontreal22]

Gottlieb era OLTL was *wonderful* to look at (her successor didn't seem to lose too much of that, though some of the finesse was gone I guess by '94) and to listen to. But ABC daytime looked pretty good in general then--I also loved AMC under Behr.

Re the music I recently learned that AMC's score for years was by Sid Ramin who was such a talented musician that he was the only orchestrator Leonard Bernstein would use for his theatre work (he orchestrated West Side Story among others).

[Y&RWorldTurner]

I'm always sad that Gottlieb never EP-ed another soap. Not that I liked those weekly PSA storylines she, Malone, and Griffith turned out (I really didn't care for that era story-wise much, I know, blasphemy!), but because she never got to share her amazing aesthetic instincts with another soap.

Even though I felt like that era of OLTL by the end just did social issue after social issue for the heck of it (and was extremely preachy in my view), I think Gottlieb would've been a wonderful fit for AMC or even one of the P&G soaps. Like her or not, she had a strong vision and fought very hard for those stories to happen at OLTL. I think her tenacity and amazing production values are just the thing AMC in particular needs. I can see her revamping the lighting and giving the sets more dept. LOL!

[Paul Raven]

I agree Y&R has a great look.Since Rauch has been there,there seems to be a push to make the sets look bigger.It's hard to specify what has happened,but the feel is there.

One example-the Abbott entrance has been shot from above,through the staircase.

My only beef,is that too many of the sets have the same feel-brown,beige,wood panelling etc.

Heather's office and her suite at the GCAC look identical.

There needs to be more variety in architectural styles,design and color palettes.

The Newman ranch and Abbott house need a revamp,but Sharon's design sense is not needed!

[bandbfan]

As you and somebody said before, I think FC is the weirdest place. They still occasionally use the "house" looking shot. But even in the interior (without the workout thing) always confused me. There was always that elevator, which, I guess "houses" have, but it always seemed odd to me. And then there was the "basement" which was always pretty big, where Thorne works. And then now as mentioned, on the "roof" the backdrop is of a city, which doesn't fit the shot of the house.

Someone used to mention how the stairs in Brooke's house are only half a floor high. But that's how older "tri-level" houses are, you have three levels with each about a half-floor apart. I don't really think her house is meant to be like that. But that kind of house exists.

[Drew]

I dont get the praise for OLTL's look either. It definitely has that same ABC cheap look to it. Why does every mansion in Llanview and apparently across the globe (Mendora) have those ugly white see through swoopy curtains? Llanview, La Boulet, the Mendoran Palace ...... I applaud them for atleast trying to do windows (cough Days of our Lives), but how hard is it to print up a sky or forrest backdrop for those 2nd story windows? Its not like they have to worry about HD like Y&R does ...

[Drew]

I'm hoping this was a christmas theme that will be gone soon, the tree was also white and lime green. I dont want to face the possibility that they just trashed the classic and still very in Abbott living room.