Jump to content

January 19-23, 2009


Toups

Recommended Posts

  • Members

Dee and Drake were put on hiatus for a month in Beth Milstein's care-taker role (back in 2006 I think it was...), and the ratings were stable. If DOOL's ratings drop next week, it will be for other reasons like the end of holidays, electricity shortages etc. If the spumour reported in the Spoiler section is true, then expect a major drop for that later on too...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 94
  • Created
  • Last Reply
  • Members

For me, none of the daytime soaps keep me interested right now. Before people start bashing me, let me start saying that I tried to watch all the other soaps and they all force me to quit daytime dramas altogether; the only soap that I watch is playing video games and when I am cursing at people on Xbox live who wants to talk down to gamers after they win a match.

As far as soaps go, I tried to watch AMC, but that half-a***d movie look made me stop watching the show. B&B is just a bad '80's b-movie gone wrong. ATWT is way too redundant, I mean, you see one character talking Craig in a coffee shop in one scene and in the next scene they're talking again outside the same thing they did in the first scene. GL is just awful, the show is nothing but a five minute commercial break. GH is one big corporate party that goes bankrupt; cheap stunts but no real payoff or follow up...

And there is Days, by which, I feel numb to; even before the whole Drake and Deidre firing uproar and the online fans hatred for Molly Burnett happened, the show has no heart or soul no more.

I only thing I watch in daytime now is court shows and trash talk shows.

The thing that is keeping me into daytime soaps now is backstage news and ratings that even that stuff is kayfabe (too protective) to get.

rangethatrover, you mention what soaps I like, for me it''s mostly in primetime such as some of the faux-reality soaps on MTV and VH1 and primetime dramas on The-N (Degrassi:TNG) and ABC Family (Lincoln Heights), but there also others I watch too online, on my DVR and DVD(s).

Here why?

I'm a collector type of fan as some will called it; I like to see a show from the beginning or at certain time period through the end of that show's run. Now, of course, it hard to watch all 30 years worth of episodes of a soap opera but I feel the soaps industry and these production studios need to get wherever archives they have and made them available to the public. If I can't learn the character's beginning on a show, than I probably won't watch. I know all of daytime is funky about dvd(s) releases because of rights and residuals but, I mean, damn, at least do a recap episodes once in a blue moon. I shouldn't be relying on mom, grandma, or the internet to read or tell about a storyline that happen 20 years ago and why two characters hate each other to this day, old episodes should be out there for me to see. This why I think one of many reasons why soap are not bringing in new viewers.

That's why I also like primetime soaps too because, in most cases (good or bad seasons), they always remind you of the stories they tell throughout the show's run and use them to advance a character's growth in a new episode or season. With daytime, it's hard to say the same thing.

As for the type of daytime soap that I want? I don't think the execs and writers can't offer it. For me, I want a soap that is provocative, dark, in your face, edgy, and thought-provoking that I can root for (and I don't mean it in a JER or OLTL's todd and marty type of way). That's my problem with daytime soaps right now; none of these shows has that or they're too scared to go there.

Since this a rating posts, I'll end it by saying that while some soaps have what fans would called "good stories," I feel that the writers need to sell "good marketable stories" to their viewers.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

These were huge Otalia days. :D

These were horrible Mallet/Marina days... the only saving grace was Edmund's return at the end of Friday's show.

I really hope TPTB take a look at these numbers and realize what works and what doesn't! But I always hope that I win the lottery too and I think I have better odds with that! B)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

Because I never give up trying: Anyone trying to link the weekly or daily fluctuations to a headwriter or show quality is off base. The weekly fluctuations are clearly caused by random events like the weather and/or events going on regionally or nationally. Overall, the soaps are losing viewers so the only way to know if a headwriter or show quality is impacting the ratings is look at the ratings over a 3 to 4 month period which is why MarkH's ratings graphs are so helpful. By looking at the graphs you can tell if a show is holding on to its audience or increasing the audience or losing its audience.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

I think you are dead on actually. I have been vocal about my disdain of AMC's cheap camerawork and all over production values. But I think Chuck Pratt is someone who can write a show that alot of people will want to watch if given time.

But to your "good marketable stories" comment- BINGO. Under Carlivati, OLTL is never going to have a sustained ratings increase. I think the show's style of high comedy and high drama turns people off. I also think that characters like Todd and Marty- are so completely complex, dark, and unlikeable ( I love them) that they are not marketable enough to be featured as heavily as they are.... I don't think OLTL's style is to alot of people's taste.

GH seems to me (Its weird I find myself watching it after not watching for 15 years- It is NOTHING like the GH I grew up with- all of the characters I loved are gone or are featured once a week or once a month- They have some of the most solid actors and cast and dialogue I have heard on daytime. It is very weird though- they seem to only write for the same 10 characters, the whole show is umbrella'ed of of the mob. But that being said, alot of people love mob stuff (The Sopranos was one of my favorite shows of all time). I am surprised that with its 3pm timeslot that GH has not gotten some new viewers. And I think the only reason GH DOES get .2 to .3 higher ratings than AMC or OLTL is because of its timeslot at 3pm. In theory GH should get alot more than that.

And that 1.7 for OLTL last Friday. DAMN.

I never thought I would see the day when OLTL was the lowest rated soap. But its coming soon after April I think.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

I think it's become a given that Fridays will always suck. I don't know why that is but its been the case for so long now it's become the reality.

And OLTL...*sigh* what to say? It's almost not worth beating up on them anymore. Almost.

I said a long time ago that Ron would turn OLTL into a niche soap with a small devoted following a la Passions. I find the dailies interesting because they bear out what Sara Bibel said the DVR+7 shows that people record all three ABC shows but only watch AMC and GH.

I don't know what's going to happen to AMC. Soon they're going to lose Reigel, Braun and Budig. I'll be interested to see what effect that has.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

REIGEL AND BRAUN ARE LEAVING?????? I still think AMC will maintain its 2.0. I think Pratt knows how to write a more mainstream soap that doesn't turn people off.

~Despite Toup's emails, and others I obviously have issues with quotes and responses lollllll I tried to fix but could not++ What a dumdum.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

I think viewers can accept a complex, dark character if the writing is there. Todd was complex and dark during Roger Howarth's first run as Todd and he became a hugely popular character. GL had Roger Thorpe. ATWT had John Dixon and James Stenbeck.

A dark character eventually has to pay a price. This is what I don't see with Todd. He's not paying for the horror he's brought onto people. They've spent months telling us why he shouldn't pay. There's no reason to care because he gets to do whatever he wants.

There also seems to be no point for Marty now. She was blank when she had to be blank to get the story going, now she's bitter and isolated because the story needs her to be. By the time she does get her memory back, if she does, I don't know if viewers will still care.

I think if Carlivati had any story plan in sight for this story viewers would be more accepting.

I think their exits can only help. Bianca was wasted on this return, Reese is a horrible character, and Greenlee lost most of her viability as a character years ago, even before Budig left the first time.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.



  • Recent Posts

    • Oh I knew it was common (I did not realize Muenker's channel was gone - I'm glad I saved all those videos). I just didn't realize it was the case with the rape episode.  I never really felt like she dominated the show in her second stint either, although I can see where she probably did. I can feel it more in some of her first run, because the show was much different before she came in and suddenly a woman we'd seen for a year was [!@#$%^&*] and marrying an entire family.  In that sense Reva is more like Babe than Erica Kane. One of the more infamous AMC lines was, "Babe is love." You just know HB would have said that line about Reva at some point.
    • I disagree; if this were Chris Clenshaw, then I would be worried. But it's a new producer coming in to clearly create the canvas they want to create, and I'm okay with that. Re-introducing characters to shake things up and possibly take some other ones out of the canvas. It'll be interesting to see the finished product.
    • I am ready for our first full week in what feels like a while! They worked Sweeps month!
    • Beyond the Gates: A The Bold and the Beautiful: F Coronation Street: B Days of Our Lives: B- EastEnders: A+ Emmerdale: A- Hollyoaks: B+ General Hospital: C Neighbours: C+ The Young and the Restless: F For me, Beyond the Gates, EastEnders, and Emmerdale led the pack during Sweeps month, with Coronation Street and Days of Our Lives following. General Hospital and Neighbours sit in the middle with what I'd call a "take it or leave it" kind of Sweeps month, and the Bell soaps bombed (per usual).
    • Actors doing this is pretty common. I used to work for a company that produced a very successful sitcom back in the 70s. Actors who were guest stars on the show would ask to be provided tapes of their episodes. I assume they do it for a variety of reasons, i.e. to create a reel of their best work. I know of some soap actors who have uploaded saved work to YT. One is Ariana Muenker, who played Christine Valere on GL. She was uploading scenes from her many soap roles a few months back. Unfortunately, it looks like either she or YT took the channel down. Sharon Gabet and Mark Arnold help the EON YT channel by providing saved episodes. Along with EON eps, Arnold shared a guest stint he did on GL. Those episodes are really interesting because they involve the introduction of Nola's character, which was tied to the Roger storyline. When he came back after faking his death, he hid out at the boarding house. Nola being a snoop figured out something was fishy with him. She ended up helping the police. Very worth seeking out. I don't think anyone else has those episodes.  Makes you wonder if there's more out there than we know of because actors don't want to be bothered to run a YT channel. Can't blame them because it's a lot of trouble, but if only... I agree. While Lucci definitely used her fame from the show to build her brand and get work outside of AMC, Erica was always part of an ensemble. Yeah, she got a couple of whacky stories (like the "unabortion") but she never took over to the detriment of other actors and stories.
    • It must have been sometime in the early 80's. VI said he first heard about Marj Dusay's talent from CH. Hickland worked with her on Capitol.
    • Not having watched AMC was one of the reasons I hesitated to make the comparison, tbf. It's odd--I feel like I could argue Cassie, Olivia, Harley and Dinah suffocated the show along with Reva the last five years.
    • Laurie and Lance accompany Leslie to her Denver concert and she relies me on Lance for support.Unbeknownst to Leslie, Brad has had the operator make a special connection to the concert hall so he can hear her concert. The Maestro, realizing Leslie’s emotional torment over her failing marriage, tries to persuade her to tell Brad about the baby, and when she refuses, he writes a letter to Brad betraying Leslie’s confidence. After another fight with her mother about how learning about her parentage has upset her life, Laurie confides to Leslie that she feels cut off, outside. Stuart overhears this conversation, and Leslie has to tell him the whole story. She tries to explain fairly how Jennifer had left Stuart and actually only spent one night with Bruce, and faced the truth about Laurie only when she was forced to. Stuart is livid over this |betrayal and wants to confront his wife ‘now, but her doctor calls. Her one-year mastectomy checkup was fine, but he’s discovered irregularities in her cardiogram and doesn’t want her under any stress until further tests can be made. Stuart assures Leslie he won’t tell her mother he knows about Laurie until he can do it calmly, and doesn’t tell his daughter about the cardiogram.  When Chris continues to receive obscene calls, Snapper goes straight to the Beckers’. Ron insists he was home with Nancy, and she corroborates this. When she steps between an advancing Snapper and her husband, screaming, “We don’t have a telephone. He couldn't have called Chris,” Snapper finally has to believe her, and he leaves. But moments later Karen tells Nancy that Daddy went out while Mommy was in the shower. Ron insists it was just a few moments, for cigarettes. Nancy lets it pass, but the next morning finds a whole carton of cigarettes in a drawer  and asks why he went out. Ron coldly tells her she’d  better pull herself together, she’s letting this thing with Chris make her a little insane. Nancy ponders telling Chris but decides that all Chris would do is  badmouth Ron again, and she and Karen have no one but Ron and can’t leave him. When a telephone-installation man arrives with their new phone, Nancy asks him not to put it in. But Ron arrives and orders the installation made, telling Nancy she’s trying to run his life, as his mother did. When Nancy tries to call Chris, Ron frighteningly tells Nancy he’s done  everything they said he did, but it’s all her fault, as she never gave him what he needed. When he informs her he’s taking Karen away from her before she can ruin her, Nancy collapses in a catatonic state. Ron then calmly calls the hospital and requests help for his wife, “Fran Jackson,” who has had a breakdown.  Laurie, seeing the extent to which Vanessa will go to keep Lance to herself, warns Lance that his mother’s possessive feelings are unhealthy. Lance suggests Vanessa will consider Leslie a threat also when he learns that Les and Brad are divorcing and things will get easier. As soon as the hospital attendants leave with Nancy, Ron dials Legal Aid and has Karen tell Chris she’s all alone. Stopping only to leave a message for Snapper about where she’s going, Chris rushes to the Beckers’ apartment, only to realize that Ron’s tricked her. Ron sends Karen out of the room and, after expressing his hatred for all women, tells Chris he’s going to prove to her he’s a man. But Karen wanders back in as he has Chris pinned to the wall, and Ron’s mind snaps when he realizes his daughter has seen his perverted side. After smashing the wall mirror, he runs out, and Greg, terrified at learning where Chris is, arrives to find her comforting Karen. Chris takes Karen home, and after several days of fruitless searching for Nancy, she applies for temporary guardianship of Karen. Peggy and Jack set a New Years Eve wedding date, but Stuart is terribly upset to realize how irrational and incomplete Peggy’s plans are. When she suddenly makes all pertinent decisions in the space of a half-hour, Stuart tells Jack this doesn’t indicate certainty, but rather proves his point—she’s just trying to convince herself that the rape didn’t affect hers and it did. A chance remark by Stuart shocks Laurie into realizing he knows she’s not his natural daughter. When she hysterically screams out her alienation and her innate feeling that she was always 'different' he assures her with tears in his eyes that since they really love each other sincerely, it makes no difference; she’ll always be his daughter. Stuart explains that Jen still doesn’t know he has learned the truth, and he would like it to continue that way. In helping Brad pay his bills, Laurie finds Maestro Fausch’s letter and tells Brad that Leslie is pregnant. Ironically, to get to him with this news, she had to get |away from Leslie, and used a meeting with Lance as an excuse. When ‘Lance arrives soon after, he’s angry that Laurie lied, and she later has to explain that she has been helping Brad. Understanding her motives, — Lance agrees that she should continue to press him to |reconcile with Leslie. Brad, however, still won’t reconsider—in fact, the news makes him even more resolute. But Vanessa has had Laurie followed, and hits Leslie with a double blow. She gives her the report saying this proves her sister is involved with her husband, and then assures Leslie that Lance loves her, — not Laurie. Badly confused and hurt, Leslie lashes out by kissing Lance while he sits with her at the piano. Leslie then waits at the apartment for Laurie, and when she arrives, she bitterly accuses her of having an affair with Brad. Laurie angrily assures Leslie she  was with Brad with Lance’s full knowledge and that Leslie’s anger means she still loves Brad. She then explains to Leslie that Brad left her because he’s blind. In shock, Leslie rushes home to confront Brad, furiously berating him for treating her like a child who cannot decide for herself. But Brad, even with Leslie now aware of the situation, refuses to reconcile with her. When Leslie tells Laurie how unreasonable Brad has been, Laurie suggests that Leslie stop seeing everything from her own angle only. 
    • In regards to the Reva vs Erica discussions... I think there was one main difference between the two characters.... Erica never took over/ate up airtime on All My Children.  While she was a larger than life character, she never took over the show and there were times she was even supporting and not the lead.... while Reva basically suffocated Guiding Light in the later years with her presence.
    • That was such a missed opportunity, especially with May sweeps.  And, it would’ve been a much better story for Naomi/Jacob than whatever’s going on with June 
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy