GL: February Discussion

[RoseVioletDaisy]

The crappy bargain basement indie-rock garbage playing over every damn scene is back now. Was it just me or did yesterday and today's show did look particularly bad, even worse than usual? The colors were washed out, the tint was off and fluctuated from scene to scene, and that hideous bright yellow basement room with an even more horrid sofa that was supposed to be a Bosnian orphanage was downright pathetic.

It was almost as bad as Lurch's buzz cut, creepy-ass smirk, and the um...well...incompetent scene framing during Reva's baby shower on Wednesday's show.

Could Mallet be any more of a pud if he tried? Could Dinah become anymore pointless? Could M&M be any more boring? Seriously, does anybody enjoy seeing these two whining about the injustice that they've been married for all of three months and the big meanie adoption agencies have had the audacity to not hand them a baby on their way out the door on their very first visit?

This inane Spaulding/Cooper feud is like soooooooooooooo 2004 and it wasn't even good then. The Lewis's are a far better foil. As much as I feel for Buzz's grief, I'm over watching him walk around town like an Alan-wannabe zombie while self-serving twits like Lizzie spew meaningless feel-good pop-psychology at him.

Why the hell is this kidnapping debacle being drawn out even further and made even more unbearable? Why not just have Daisy or Bill figure out that he was the kidnapper and kill him right then and there. It could be done in ten minutes, tops. Peapack and GL fans everywhere throw a parade and it's over. Why go to all this trouble and waste all this airtime just to set up Grady's departure? He's a worthless short-term villain and an ugly one at that. At least Cyrus is yummy to look at while he's being an annoying pig. Grady's just an ape. And we're REALLY supposed to believe that these two people are biological brothers? Good casting there, huh?

Phillip & Beth's scenes at the jail and the Four Muskateers preview for next week were the sole highlight of today's show.

[Dan]

That reunion is going to be so sweet. I can't wait for Rick

[Rakesh]

Thoughts on the February 23 episode.

http://rakeshr198.blogspot.com/2009/02/gl-...23-episode.html

Make sure you vote on that GL poll(look on the left hand side).

[Dan]

I think we can all agree that there does seem to be two different shows going on here. I'm really waiting on baited breath to see Jill Lorie Hurst become sole headwriter, but something tells me that with the structure of the writing team as it is, it will be impossible, which means that we have the other three writers who have already presided over some pretty poor periods on the show. Hurst is the only somewhat untested entity.

I do disagree about Phillip's speech though. I thought that was one of the sole highlights of the show.

[Dan]

BTW, I found this interesting:

GL's January discussion thread: 49 replies.

GL's February discussion thread: Now 199 replies.

What a difference a month makes.

Now someone reply quickly so we can clock in 200 replies for this month before midnight lol.

[Rakesh]

I just don't think it was nice to have that speech when the funeral was supposed to take place.

[tanyia2]

Way to go Guiding Light

[Rakesh]

That shows you how much the show has improved.

[Dan]

This is also an interesting tidbit...

On the Friday interview with Buzzworthy Radio, Crystal Chappell revealed that she had been told about the Natalia/Olivia relationship as early as January 2008. If this is true, then the idea that Wheeler nixed the coupling wasn't as accurate as we thought.

[DRW50]

RVD, I love the photos. The caps of Mallet are especially appropriate for the turgidness of the story. I still prefer Rob Bogue to Mark Derwin, but Mallet has been ruined by this horrible Marina story.

Wasn't that idea from Nelson Branco? He just seems to dislike the story (perhaps because he resents how this story is so much better than the AMC Rinks story he trumpeted). Now he's saying he's afraid this story will be about overcoming homosexual urges, when Natalia's look of emptiness after sleeping with Frank implies the story is just the opposite.

[Dan]

I was gonna mention that hack, but I couldn't remember 100% if it was him that spread that news.

I guess Alan Locher hasn't invited him to any parties lately.

[Rakesh]

No way. Nelson is a supporter of Otalia. He constantly pimps them out in the column. If you're looking for positive GL notes when you read his column, it will be about Otalia. As an Otalia fan, I'm happy about that. Although I wish he'd post more positive stuff about other GL people.

[DeliaIrisFan]

Well, for the first time since this new production model, I've watched fairly regularly this month. I've always wanted to see this new production model succeed, and what I've seen this month, I have to say I am both encouraged and disheartened at the same time. The good news is, we've seen that actual stories can be told in this format, just as Irna Phillips was able to tell actual stories on a shoestring budget with actors wearing their own clothes and never being able to stop tape and reshoot a scene unless, essentially, someone had a heart attack on camera or something. That's not news to me, but I've been hearing for the past year that GL's production values are an embarrassment to the genre and that it "doesn't look like a soap" (which I've never understood, since most mainstays of soap production became ingrained because daytime could not afford higher end production, so the current GL production model is actually being true to the roots of the genre, just using today's cost-saving technology). I'm not seeing anything worse than I've seen on soaps over the years.

The bad news is that, after supposedly cutting down to a "bare-bones" production model, it seems to me that they are still wasting money on things that should have been cut out of the budget long before things that are now long-gone (like, NY-based union camera crews, Jerry ver Dorn, etc.). How many new opening sequences has GL had in the past few years? The new one is like nails on a chalkboard to me, kind of creepy in fact, but that's neither here nor there - the point is, it seems like money that GL can't afford to waste. Those music montages, which I agree are terribly done and at times actually take away from the drama of scenes, also have to be pretty expensive. It seemed like at least a half hour of the Oscars was devoted to editing, sound editing, sound mixing, etc. GL's sound/editing is certainly not Oscar calibre, but I bet it doesn't come cheap. Adn why do we still need pyrotechnics? That car blowing up was not necessary. Imagine if the scene had cut with Coop seemingly losing control of the car on the way to stop the wedding, and then in the next scene the doors to the church had opened up as the preacher asked if anyone objected, leaving the audience wondering if Coop had somehow gotten out of the car, and then in the next act it turned out to be Phillip. Then in the next episode Coop is found, the Coopers are called, etc. Phillip could have been interwoven into the story of Coop's death much more subtly. The fact that someone in charge still thinks that such shallow gimmicks that are nowhere near on par with what they can afford to do in primetime and movies are necessary to keep viewers' attention makes me doubt that this experiment will ever lead to any soap truly going "back to basics" - e.g., what they were at their core decades ago when they were produced on a fraction of today's budgets and hugely successful. And the location shots are just superfluous - especially in February in New Jersey (or the midwest, where Springfield is actually supposed to be). Do they want to alienate the cast? Having to mull around in a wedding dress outside in what must have been subzero weather would drive anyone to call their agent and find out if All My Children is still hiring, I would think.

As far as the stories themselves...I actually think they're just so-so. No worse than what we are seeing in general in daytime, and some flashes of really promise, but I actually was more impressed with OLTL more during the brief period when people were singing its praises last year. But that's a matter of personal taste...we seem to be dealing with storytelling by committee across the board, and whatever glimpses of classic soap magic that anyone can find should be savored, IMO. But here's my take on the different stories:

Coop's death is supposed to be a pivotal event, but it's actually kind of hollow for me. Killing off a character who was born on the show (okay, Jenna left Springfield just before giving birth, but still) can be construed as a short-sighted gimmick, IMO, unless the character to be killed off is well-chosen and it would truly rock the loved ones left behind. But Buzz has had so many people around him die suddenly/tragically (in fact I think the last time Justin Deas, with all his Emmys, was given anything of substance to do was when Jenna died in much the same way). And Beth has had how many loves of her life die? It's not 1985, she's not a teenager, and frankly as far as I'm concerned she's not Judi Evans... Does anyone actually think that Beth is going to remember who Coop was after a month or two of Phillip being back? Her melodramatic mourning is not doing anything for me, and I have no concern about the Coopers losing Company. Buzz choosing to buy it and run it for the past decade has been in complete opposition to the character's history anyway... It's good that Phillip is back, and acting like himself. It remains to be seen what he will be doing...it's such a shame that so many shows these days bring back past favorites, hype their return, and put the enormous burden on them to single-handedly save the show. He can't do that - no one actor can - but it would be nice if he continued to act true to form and have something of consequence to do, with people he should be interacting with. And from his scene with Alexandra I take it that her being a drug lord and in jail the last time Phillip was in town has been forgotten? That's just as well...

The new Lizzie is a good actress and I like her rapport with Bill. Dinah and Edmund just seem completely out of place in this production model, sipping wine while plotting about things I don't understand or care about. Dinah is interesting and could be better used with other characters, I think, and I've always liked GT. Edmund just should not be in Springfield, let alone the newly pastoral Springfield. As for the rest of the show, I have tended to skip over the scenes of newer characters I don't recognize. I can't bring myself to watch Reva's preposterous pregnancy story. Susan/Daisy not being old enough to drink is just ridiculous (she would be over 21 even if she had aged in real time) and she has no reason to be in Springfield that I can see without Harley or Dylan in town.

The high-point of the show is Olivia and Natalia. It's a simple story about people and relationships, and it's actually breaking new ground (for GL, and I would argue for daytime). Seems like that's what soaps should be doing. Even without all the rumors flying around about backstage religious fundamentalist agendas, I would be scared that GL is going to screw this up based on daytime's track record in general with LGBT characters, but so far I have liked what I've seen. GL needs to tread carefully, and I don't know that they can, but I'm hoping for the best. I will definitely be checking this out from time to time, even if I am not compelled to watch the rest of GL regularly in the long run.

All in all I think it's a mixed bag, and I feel like I'm kicking the show when it's down. I want to see GL last. I absolutely do not believe that GL is not worth saving - the fact that so much of the show's core has been decimated does not mean it's not viable, when more of what the show was 20 years ago is in tact than has been in tact in my lifetime of what it was in 1937 when it premiered on the radio or 1952 when it moved to TV. There is plenty of history still to be tapped, and new characters could be successfully woven into the history and produce another 70 years of drama. The show is doing as good a job as any right now to tell good stories about people we care about, it's just in the unenviable position of being the most vulnerable show in an industry that is in serious trouble overall.

[DRW50]

After what's happened to Beth Ehlers, I'm not sure about that.

I agree. At that time, OLTL was close to firing on all cylinders. I think even people who want GL to be around for a long time would say GL has room to improve. When I get annoyed about OLTL/GL comparisons it's more about the state of the shows now, when some say GL is the pits and is an embarrassment to daytime, while OLTL is nearly perfect. At this moment I think OLTL is extremely flawed and yet I still see nothing but raves from some of those who cover soaps, while sometimes it seems like GL has the opposite fate. Even praise is conditional, or backhanded.

I loathe the rock music. I almost wish they could try to have no music at all.

I also agree the production model isn't that bad. TBH I've come to prefer it to some of the other soaps on now which are still so studio bound.

[DeliaIrisFan]

Oh dear, what has happened to Beth Ehlers? I know the character and the re-pairing with Ricky Paul Golden has been described as forced (shocking, since the writers had to come up with something to do with them, in the midst of three writing regimes coming and going in a matter of months) and that her mere presence has not single-handedly raised the show's ratings (which I'm sure actually did come as a big shock to the network, since they continue to bank on new actors having that ability while neglecting the talent they already have).

Now, there is an idea. GL actually still has some actors who could sell a scene without any score. Sadly, they used to have many more who are gone, but Justin Deas, Maeve Kinkead, Crystal Chappell, Grant Aleksander, Marj Dusay, etc still have that natural, down-to-earth ability. Probably some of the younger generation could pull it off as well. From what I've seen, it seems like the music people are trying to emulate Weeds...except Weeds has better music, and blaring indie rock music is more appropriate to punctuate a cliffhanger in the kinds of surreal stories that they tell.