OLTL: Thoughts on Ron Carlivati

[leevo64]

Since rating returns, writers and everything under the soap sun seems to be the new thing to do I thought I'd start a thread about one of the most polarizing writers on daytime, Ron Carlivati. His work has been airing for a year and a few months and by now we all know his deal. Who likes it? Who hates it? Who is undecided?

I am a huge fan of Ron Carlivati. The Paris, TX story was one of all time favorite stories on a soap because it involved so many characters - Viki, the entire Buchanan family, Marcie, Michael, Todd, and new characters like Jared, Charlie and Gigi. The conclusion to the story, in which Marcie held Viki hostage at the Bon Jour Cafe, still sticks in my head as one of the most powerful endings to a soap story arc in a very long time. Other things I love about Carlivati's work is the way stories pan out with clear arcs that were made with love and careful attention to detail. Rex's yearlong journey to fatherhood was richly layered and consistently interesting; Bo's unresolved feelings toward his relationship with Asa was given a poignant and beautiful conclusion; Starr and Jessica's pregnancies collided with such a bang that I didn't see it coming.

There are a few things I didn't like about Carlivati's work this year, such as the Mendorra mess, Tina's botched return, the suspension of disbelief that NOBODY realized Jessica was acting strangely, and the beginning of the Vanessa/Lola story (which seems to be picking up now thanks to Tea's return). 2009 is looking really promising, with Todd's trial, Jessica and Brody's burgeoning love story, Natalie and Jared's engagement, David and the Buchanans and the upcoming drug story at Llanview High.

How do you guys feel about Ron's stuff?

[All My Shadows]

I pretty much loved everything from November 2007 to when Tomlin's work starting airing. Not *loved* everything, but basically approved of most of it. Then when RC returned in May, I was back to enjoying most of it...and then by the time Mendorra and 1968 started, my disenchantment had grown and grown and those two ridiculous storylines just ended it for me. I'm slowly falling back in now with this stuff with Marty, Todd, Tea, and Blair, and I'm paying attention to other parts as well. Vanessa can go back to wherever the hell she came from.

[NYC123]

I love Ron's work. He is one of the writers who actually care about the show's history!

[MichaelGL]

To say that I like the guy would be a huge understatement.

I like that his work seems to echo back to the traditional days of soaps. A rotating group of characters that get a front burner storyline, layered relationshiops and friendships, and the ability to take risks but have a good pay off. It's those and more that really make me see that he has alot to offer to the genre.

[nell17]

I love OLTL. The Paris TX story was my favorite as well. Of course there are a few things I have problems with, but it is the only show I watch from beginning to end with fast forwarding or wanting to.

I'm also waiting for Daivd Vickers Bucahan's story to unfold.

[AddictedToSoaps]

I love Ron Carlivati's writing. Ever since he took over in September 2007 the show improved immensely and I started to enjoy the show again. Once he returned following the strike in May, the show was absolutely amazing. Dorian's BE takeover, Nash's death, Rex and Adriana's wedding, Starr's pregancy, etc. was all must see TV for me. Once the anniversary hit, he got caught up in those stories and the writing really suffered. I liked the Viki in heaven story, I liked only the beginning and end of the Mendorra story, and I only liked the first 2 days of 1968. The writing was pretty bad then, but I still enjoyed some of it. Now the show has finally picked up again and is moving in the right direction.

[rangethatrover]

I enjoy his writing very much. He is far from perfect but he knows how to write a COMPELLING show. He takes risks. It is now the most contemporary and edgy feeling soap on the air to me.

The summer though (with the exception of Marty and Todd) was a DISASTER.

But the show has been exceedingly good for the better part of three months now. And feels like it is being written by a completely different writer than the summer shows.

Christina Comes Home for Christmas, The two weeks of Todd/Marty in November, the Thanksgiving episode- All are emmy worthy episodes.

It doesn't even seem like it is part of the ABC soaps- The show looks excellent, vets are pretty much front and center...

OLTL and Y&R are where it is at right now. As long as they stay consistent, they have some excellent headwriters to take these shows into their twilight years and hopefully extend their lives.

[rhinohide]

I think he's very good. His pacing is weird, just because it's not what I'm used to. Sometimes I think he's moving too slow, but then he throws a twist in and the pace accelerates just at the point I'm about to lose interest. I think he writes with purpose almost every step of the way. Things happen for a reason for the most part. It sometimes takes awhile for the reasons to be revealed and occasionally I think he gets pulled off from his original intention, but generally I am very pleased with how the stories are constructed. I am not pleased with his current focus, because I am not as enamoured of Susan Haskell and Tea and the whole Todd/Marty drama. Not because I hate the story concept, but because these characters just don't appeal to me, although I admit the actresses are very good.

[Kstaff]

He beats Dena Higley all to heck!

[MichaelGL]

I'd hate to think what the Cramer women would be doing right now if Dena was still at the helm. I love how Ron writes Blair, Addie, and Dorian. Very strong independent smart women who are very layered. Can you imagine the pathetic things Blair would be doing if Dena was writing the Todd/Marty/John/Blair quad?

[Ripley Todd]

I think he's really good. He does write some compelling drama and most of the time the show is a nice mixture of love, adventure and drama. I loved his stuff from last year up until the strike. I didn't care for the summer stories and I liked the Anniv stuff. The Mendorra story, and 1968 should have stayed 2 days because the two days they were on with the other anniv stuff was fanastic. I loved it. After that.... not so much. I loved the BE takeover, the fall out from Nash's death, and the fall out from Todd and Marty. My only complaint is that he tends to focus too much at one time on a character or story (this past month I've been OD'd on Todd/Marty).. but overall, I'm really glad RC is the headwriter.

[Dan]

Let me preface this by saying that I still believe that OLTL is one of the best shows on daytime at this moment, even though Maria Bell can write circles around Carlivati. Part of the problem with this show is that Carlivati has an AWFUL writing team. He is wasting the brilliant Carolyn Culliton in the script editor position and frankly, I find the dialogue most days to be very forced and inorganic. It tries too hard to be clever. But overall, the show is in a far better place than most others.

That said, I think that, like so many characters on the show, Ron Carlivati's writing has DID. He can write something so brilliantly traditional and yet, five minutes later, we have taken a trip back to 1980s camp, and back again. We can see strong female characters one minute and than another, we see Todd mind-raping Marty while she is an amnesiac. We see characters using their brain one minute and than in another, we see Tess and Bess run amuck around town with NO ONE even batting an eye. There are so many extremes with his writing that sometimes it can give us whiplash. I think he needs to realize that a show needs to have a consistent vision and to have a consistent vision, you need to walk a tight rope, something I don't think he's very good at.

One one hand, he truly values the show's history, but sometimes he gets SO CAUGHT UP in that history that he has forgotten that no one wants to see a complete retread. There's a fine line between appreciating the past and laying ground for the future. There's a fine line between being controversial and being completely mysoginistic. His pacing is often so haphazard.

Perhaps I'm ragging on him too much, but I see such difference between Y&R and OLTL right now. Take a look at the differences between the BE takeover and the Jabot takeover. On OLTL, we suddenly see Dorian enter the room, no build up, no nothing. Not even a very decent motive for wanting to take over the company. And I don't know about anyone else, but I was confused for WEEKS about how she even took over! The moment itself was rife with such camp that it was hard to get into the scene. Let me tell you Ron. You do not do camp well!

Moving on, Maria Bell built to the Jabot takeover for months. We've seen Jack plotting and scheming, making allies and threats. We know WHY he did it, to get back his father's company. So when he succeeded, it was a great climax. the moment itself was filled with so many great moments as Billy turned on his own mother and Brad reveling in seeing Jill fall on her ass. The acting was also so much more nuanced yet toned down.

I suppose this post says more about my personal taste than any objective critique on Carlivati's writing, but it seems to me that Carlivati often writes like a fan fiction writer, indulging in the personal dreams of an obsessed fan(shoehorning Tina into the canvas with an utterly ridiculous story). Whereas Maria Bell uses her talents to simply create a finely tuned story.

[Toups]

Well, Carlivati wasn't there to oversee the entire takeover storyline, so that's why not everything connected. While for Y&R's takeover, Maria got to shephard the entire plot. Carlivati has proven to write long term stories with almost beat played out. He showed that with Marci-on-the-run which ended in the hostage situation; Langston becoming a Cramer; the Todd/Marty saga and the next chapter of that story is now being played out.

[Dan]

I understand that the strike took out a couple of months of storyline. BUT, I think a business story like that one could have stood a little more planning, even if it was pushed back a little bit because business stories (and mysteries) in particular tend to suck when you are flying by the seat of your pants (just ask GL and its 543545 headwriters).

[dragonflies]

I don't know about that, he's starting to make her look GOOD! I wonder if she'd have even gone there with having Marty re-raped. I'm sorry but that has to be the sickest storyline on daytime this year.

He started out great, then fizzled.