AMC: What do you think of Charles Pratt Jr.?

[SteveFrame]

I can give you 3 fans of the Greenlee & Ryan pairing. My daughter, my ex-wife, and my daughters best friend. They loved Greenlee & Ryan from before and now are so happy they are paired again. My daughter and my ex-wife had both quit the show but are now back watching. And Ryan & Greenlee are their faves.

That is the point that I was trying to make in another thread. Not sayign that you do, but many people on the Internet think that the people on the Internet represent the majority of fans out there when they really don't. My daugher goes to the Internet all the time but she has never visited a soap opera board except to vote in the old SON polls. She doesn't discuss soaps on the boards like a lot of people do. And my ex-wife is hardly ever on the Internet. I have no idea about my daughter's friend.

My daughter is one of those rare people too that love both Zach and Ryan. They are her two favorite male characters even though she was a big fan of Josh especially when he was with Babe.

Anyway my point is that there are people out there. Often we just don't know about them.

[tina m]

Honestly, I haven't been able to really get into any storylines or root for any characters as of late. I'm glad they brought back Bianca and added Tamara Braun but I just have no connection or interest in any storyline from David/Krystal, Zach/Kendall/Bianca/Reese, Annie/Aidan, Greenlee/Ryan sadly.

[leevo64]

I understand that the internet is a very small vocal group of fans and that they are not necessarily representative of the greater base of the show, but I just find it hard to believe that most people find this couple likable, especially after the damage Ryan did to his wife Annie. My mother doesn't post at all or read the message boards, but we were discussing the other day that Ryan should be ashamed of his actions over the past few months.

But I do know what you mean. I just don't find it likely that Ryan and Greenlee are a supercouple to the greater user base of the show.

[Cheap21]

Pratt is the best thing to happen to teh show in YEARS

[LoyaltoAMC]

To be honest, I doubt that many non-Internet fans dissect the storylines or analyze character motivations as much as we do here I think that many viewers see Cam/Rebecca as two attractive people who have a lot of on-screen chemistry together. That's probably what their focus groups tell them. As much as I hate the use of focus groups, they're probably not too far off when it comes to Cam/Rebecca. As long as the story doesn't bore them to tears (a la the Fight Club story), they will continue to watch.

[leevo64]

I guess I don't like to underestimate people's investments in things they enjoy. I don't disagree with you though. I think I just really hate Rylee

[All My Shadows]

I'm liking what Pratt is doing so far, and I'll gladly eat any skeptical words that I'd had when they announced his hiring. He's doing a good job, and hopefully, it only gets better. I'm in the process of making it a point to watch daily, something I haven't done in at least a year and a half to two years.

[Kylie]

I can't say to much, as I've probably seen a total of an hour worth of clips, scenes, since Pratt started...but what I have seen, seems more like AMC to me. I didn't watch the scenes with this foreboding sense of dread. Nor did I really worry about what came next. I felt more at "home" with the clips I've seen, then I have for years.

Yes, Pratt is Pratt. His mark is still clearly there, and somethings never really change with him. That's to be expected. He writes some characters really well, and others he seems to miss the boat completely on. Again, that's pretty much him.

I love what he's done with Erica. For the first time in almost 5 years, she is Erica Kane again. She's almost completely shed her POD and is reclaiming her life. She's got her fire back. She's got her attitude and her eyes are sparkling again. She and Adam work surprisingly well together, and DC seems to bring out something in Susan that has been missing for years. As does Vincent.

Adam has a lot of his fire back, though Pratt still has some work to do there.

Ryan is still Ryan. Blech and more blech.

Greenlee hasn't been Greenlee since Leo died, pretty much. Though, I think Pratt had the chance to bring her back to the Greenlee we all knew and loved/loved to hate, but instead he took her right back to Ryan.

JR is going in mindless circles, and Pratt doesn't seeming willing to give him any real material to work with.

Annie seems like she might actually end up a viable character, and I do like what Pratt is doing with her so far. This might be his one real success story as HW.

David....ah, my beloved David, as dark as he is, he's still David. His interactions with everyone from his past have been spot on. Bianca crumbled those walls around his heart, even just a little bit. Erica doesn't take his [!@#$%^&*] or play his games, and can make him stop and take a step back, just like always. His Martin and Chandler interactions are spot on. As is his time spent with Little A. They all push the right buttons in him, make the glimmers of gray shine through. I do think Pratt is writing him to dark, and needs to be very careful how he's going to get him out of all of this, but otherwise, he knows the character incredibly well

Over all, I think Pratt has what it takes to start rebuilding AMC...but so did B&E. It's just going to be a matter of if he's willing to do it, and if he's going to do it his way, or Frons'. So far, I give him a C+, well see where the new year takes him.

[All My Shadows]

ICAM! I think it goes into what SteveFrame is saying about how Erica never should have been made into some sort of matriarchal figure. You turn her into a Ruth Martin wannabe and she loses everything that makes her Erica. She can grow up and be a mature woman without losing her spark, though, and I think Pratt is getting there. Having her stories actually be her stories and not having her constantly doting on Bianca and Kendall is a giant step in the right direction, IMO. Of course, I still want to see the three of them together as a unit (but I do agree with Steve that the reconciliation was rushed and contrived), but I also want our girl living a life of her own.

[Kylie]

Absolutely. I was always the odd Erica fan out, in the fact that I didn't like her as constant mother/house wife. It's not her. It's not who she is. That doesn't make her a bad person or anything, it's just not her. When you box her in like that, you suck out all that fire that she has in her. She has to try to try so hard to be that good wife/mother that she loses who she really is in the process. It's part of the reason why her relationships fall apart as soon as she gets married.

Pratt gets it. He knows she's at her best when she has her own stories, and ones that are worthy or her. Ones that nurture her best and worst qualities. I'd much rather her setting Fusion on fire as she brings it up to the level Enchantment was, then watch her play cat and mouse with a man as she looses herself in the process.

The biggest thing I noticed about Erica is that her and Susan's eyes, over all appearance, are different, happier, better, they have been in years. Her eyes sparkle. Her acting is better (for the most part, lol). Her hair and wardrobe is better (for the most part, lol). Susan seems like she feels it again, and I think that makes all the difference.

[Adam]

I agree with you Kylie. What he has done with Erica is his crown jewel thus far. Susan also just seems so into it too. Not that she ever would phone in before, she just has this look to her. Its really refreshing. I hope in the new year she is brought to the front burner in a more permanent way.

[dragonflies]

Not seeing much improvement over B&E. There's been more character assassination under him than there was with B&E. He's even continuing the "Babe is a saint" mantra. Sure he killed her off, but continues to prop her in death

I think the only characters he is writing in character is Adam/Erica, Erica has been revitalized, but he needs to put up or shut up when it comes to Adam/Erica. They're stagnant right now

B&E ruined Greenlee's return, but Pratt outdid them, he destroyed a KANE woman(Bianca) who is a core/legacy character in one fell swoop(even SOD says they want to know who this stranger who calls herself Bianca is, she's become that unrecognizable). McTrash ruined Greenlee in '05 with Rylee, and given their(B&E) lack of writing talent couldn't do much for the character. Pratt is supposed to have some semblance of writing talent, but keeps making blunder after blunder

His hard on for Ryan Lavery/Rylee makes me give him a huge thumbs down

[Khan]

In a way, La Kane once again resembles the woman she was becoming after Bianca's birth: accomplished, savvy, a little insecure, but not about to let it deter her in any way. If nothing else, I give Pratt props for rescuing her from being the pathetic mess of a woman who was so annoying even the younger, bitchier, boyfriend-stealing Erica would have found her intolerable.

Now, if I could only forget Kendall...and Josh...and Maddie's kidnapping...and that REALLY unfortunate drug addiction.

[Kylie]

That's the Erica I knew and loved. I like her most like this. When she's herself, flawed and all. I was so tired of her lather, rinse, repeat bullshit with Jack. She lost a little bit more of herself each day that she struggled to make and keep him loving her.

Megan broke so much of Erica's spirit, but Pratt has started to give it back to her. If he can continue, and not put her back with Jack (whom has always quelled that gorgeous fire of hers) and move her to a romance be it with Adam or someone knew, I think Erica will finally be Erica again. It's been a long time coming.

[Kubla Khan]

Pratt, simply, has done a great job with the show. I haven't been this drawn to everything in years.

My top three complaints:

1). Ryan

2). Greenlee

3). Aidan

Cameron Mathison's acting is a JOKE (I don't know what happened there -- because he wasn't always so laughably RIDICULOUS), Rebecca Budig is leaving AMC with a huge phone bill, and Aiden Turner is, and remains, an embarrassment to actors. Let's just say this: Thank god for Melissa Claire Egan.