ATWT: Week of January 12, 2009

[winterguy125]

That's not funny.

[brimike]

I know in today's climate... just like ratings remaining stagnant and not falling... you're right and this should be considered a victory.

But I can't see it that way. The fact that they're as botched as everyone else isn't a victory in my eyes.

I know. I'm a downer. Sorry.

[MarkH]

From what I can tell, some were -- ahem -- affected by these scenes . And, yes, I saw the postcards too.

But, look, as long as the Nuke-fanbase-haters alse hate the Carjack-fanbase and Liason-fanbase and Darlena-fanbase and Phick/Shick-fanbases, I am actually very cool with that. Because fanbases can be problematic, and as long as the hate is spread around equally...that's vaguely fair .

But, if the Nuke-fanbase-hate is about the gender of the couple (which, I can tell from this thread, it seems not to be), then I have got a problem with it....

[MarkH]

So, Passions was awful (IMO...sorry to lovers of the show here!). In the final days, someone cut off Julian's penis and Eve sewed it back on backward.

But one of the many beauties of Passions was that they were equal-opportunity awful. As horrible as Vincent's storyline (gay cross-dresser? hermaphrodite? pregnant by his own father?), it was matched in equal measure by mermaid stories and pit-of-hell stories. So, Passions got my respect in that it was consistent, while being color-blind and sexuality-blind.

ATWT has problems, it seems...but if they can manage to be increasingly transparent vis-a-vis issues of race/ethnicity and sexuality and disability, the show still speaks to me in a way that a show which virtually ignores these issues (B&B?) does not.

[Soapsuds]

Eh, I didn't see anything big about today's show. Nuke made up and kissed passionately. Then we see them shirtless..big wow...LOL..oh and the bed undone..wow again...not...LOL. And yes the Nuke fanbase had orgasms. I just checked...LOL. Now that Nuke had "sex" can we ship them far away???

I am curious to see PJ post about this.

[Y&RWorldTurner]

To steal a common statement from DeeeDee, AMEN!

I agree, bad writing and acting shouldn't be excused because they're a gay couple. How is it a victory when one couple suffers from the same nonsensical drivel as other couples?

[Soapsuds]

It's a cop out. If the Nuke fanbase want to gush all over it I am fine with it. As long as they dont complain about them not having sex ..yada..yada..yada.

The scenes between Vincent(Passions) and the other male character(forget the name) having sex was a lot hotter than Nuke's kissing today. They were actually featured kissing on a bed etc..etc.

Glad that you enjoyed it Clint. But forgive me if I dont have any sympathy for a bunch of losers on a board who ban you because you dont want Noah with Luke.

Maybe it is a victory if we dont have to hear from the Nuke fanbase anymore.

Btw...my comments(Nuke) are not directed to anyone on this board.

[All My Shadows]

I can agree with this, but to compare Luke/Noah with Bianca/Reese is a bit much, IMO. Bianca/Reese have done so much more in the last couple of months than Luke/Noah have done in the last year and a couple of months. Why isn't there a big media frenzy over them? They're raising children together, they're planning to get married, they've lived together for quite some time. We've seen them kiss, we know that they've been hitting the sheets. That's all stuff that isn't subjective, and so when you add things that are of subjectivity to that, one might say that Reese and Bianca's relationship background has been displayed more clearly, and Bianca is a well-developed character, and Reese is very much in the process of being developed. But, as I said, that is subjective.

I totally agree. Again, I see it as TPTB thinking "Well, this is what they want to see...so let's quickly figure out a way to make this situation happen, it doesn't really matter if the build up is strong or even there, let's just make it clear that they're going to have sex. The fans will take it just like that."

I'd never tell a fanbase that, either. I'll say it in a thread just to get my feelings out there, but it's so not up to me (or anyone else) to say that they're wrong for supporting what or whoever they want to support. If I don't get it, though, I expect them to not tell me that I'm wrong for thinking Nuke is a crock of sh!t.

Preach it! Nuke is the classic insta-couple, IMO. "Let's put them together because they look hot together, and the fans will just eat it up! The story doesn't even have to be that strong!" And then it's this show, so the characters are constantly changing, and they've managed to strip even the longest of long-running characters (the ones that they use, at least) of all definition, so imagine what they can do with Luke, who's been in "young adult" form for four years, and Noah, who's only been around for a year and a half. I feel nothing.

See, I can totally agree with this, no doubt. They're getting equal treatment from the show...the coupling is based on nothing much, if anything, and it's all about style with little substance. If they were on more than they are, they'd be a hotbed of boredom, for sure.

The difference here, however, is that with the nutty Carjackers (not you, PJ!!) and the nutty Liason people and the nutty Zendall people...their unabashed love for their couples begins and ends with soap opera message boards, magazines, etc. It doesn't leave the soap opera industry. But Nuke is a whole different animal. They've been on the 24 hours news channels, on the newsmagazine shows, and there have been articles about them on most entertainment-based websites. And for me, as a person who views this as the same as most of ATWT's lackluster couplings, I think it's ridiculous that people who have never paid attention to soaps before are praising a couple that is no different from any other ATWT couple outside of the fact that they both are suffering from The Gay.

It's part of personal preference, I guess. A person who truly enjoys Nuke and loves Nuke and thinks that they've been awesome since day one (you know, when Luke flat out hated Noah) wouldn't have a problem with their couple getting press attention and the such, I guess. But me, someone who thinks that Nuke is overblown and based on nothing and an insta-couple...I don't think it's great that someone like Perez Hilton can tune in to the show once every two or three months, see one episode with well-done Nuke material, and then talk about how great Nuke is and how it's such a wonderful story. That's always been my beef with Nuke...they skipped the gigantic steps of building up an attraction between the two of them and jumped head first into tossing out the little kisses and hugs and other "couple stuff," and now the sex. I haven't seen today's episode yet, and honestly, I'm sure the pre-sex stuff was probably entertaining and well-written, but for me, as a soap viewer and not someone who tunes in to see what Nuke is up to and then tunes out for another three weeks, I'm also sure that I won't be jumping up and down rooting for them to do it. I just don't feel it for them.

My God. I. Miss. PASSIONS!!!!!!!!

[P.J.]

LOL...a BIG who GAFF.

That is all, because that's all the time it's worth.

I'm sure some "clock" will activate to keep track of how long it'll be before they're allowed to mind f*ck again.

I don't mind being called nutty....as long as it's said with love.

[All My Shadows]

Okay, and now I've watched Luke and Noah's scenes from today. If we're to believe that this was their first time doing it, why did they randomly decide to do it after an argument?

And yeah, I know that they did it and everything, but that was barely anything to get excited about lol. After Luke took his shirt off, Noah could have very well said "Look, how about I take my shower before you take yours?" Cut to Noah coming out of the bathroom with a towel and no shirt on. "Thanks, Luke, for helping me fix the sink. Too bad your shirt got wet, too, and you had to take it off."

Joking, people. Just kidding.

[brimike]

Especialy since it's the same argument they've been having in four different stories over the course of the last year.

[Y&RWorldTurner]

I'm sure the next Nuke campaign will be sending in Astroglide instead of Hershey Kisses.

[brimike]

That'll be one happy group of interns in the ATWT production office.

[MarkH]

Lots of good comment in here, and in general a lot of agreement. The sole point of disagreement, it seems to me, is whether there was anything "special" about the Nuke sex.

Here's my take on it: All the nonsense is done now. Can there be a gay couple on daytime featuring a core family member? Check. Can that character/couple last on the front burner more than six months? Check. Will they actually show men cuddling, kissing, affectionate? Check. Surely they won't actually have two shirtless men together? Check. Will two gay men actually have SEX on daytime? Check.

I realize some of these walls were broken down before. But Nuke, as a package (and, really, Luke...Noah is just a convenient male partner...this story matters because Lucas (Grimaldi) Snyder is at the core of it), has taken the whole set of taboos and shattered them. Much as AMC accomplished with Bianca.

Now, when a show finally decides to tell this story well...they won't have to cross all these thresholds. It will be assumed that the men will kiss, love, have sex. And so the show can focus on the good drama of it.

My wish, given the quality of the shows right now, is that Y&R or OLTL would take this on. Of course, it seems highly unlikely that Y&R will go there soon. But whichever show picks up the torch, they can only benefit from Nuke.

I'll get out of the ATWT thread now .

[Soapsuds]

Highlighted the obvious in your post.