AMC: Carruthers talks about Bianca/Reese relationship

[marceline]

I came back to AMC because of this story and the Hubbards/Rebecca. Both have been sad, offensive, disappointing shadows of what the audience was promised. I don't blame ER for walking away and I suspect TB will be joining her in short order despite the rumors. They both go with my thanks and respect. They did the best with what they were given.

[dragonflies]

Yeah I think TB is gone too, SOD and SOW are both reporting ER will be back, and that makes me think Bianca will take Reese back and they'll live happily ever after in France.

I feel for Tamara, Pratt has written Reese so inconsistently, I can only imagine she must have had alot of WTF moments when she saw her scripts

[Guest dc cubs]

Nothing like giving the ending away. What happened to suspense? You would think AMC would want fans to wonder if Rinks gets back together. By reporting that ER is coming back and JHC's comments in this article they are telling everyone it will end well for Rinks. What is the point of keeping TB on the canvas. Fans won't care as much about Reese's journey if AMC already gives away the ending.

[marceline]

My question is: who's the winner in this mess?

Zach, Kendall, Bianca and Reese have all been diminished by this story. Regardless of what, if any, fanbase (thunder clap) one belongs to, it's been done badly. If there are people out there who've enjoyed this story I'd love to hear from them.

Both AMC's and OLTL's promos have given away a lot of information. I don't understand the reasoning behind it. Could it perhaps have something to do with the fact that the official sweeps period was moved to March instead of Feb? Maybe they're trying to bring in the Feb sweeps audience and keep them through March but giving them extra info. I know that makes no sense but nothing does at ABC.

[dragonflies]

Same here Marceline, just going by fan reaction, I haven't seen anyone who's enjoyed this storyline at all. Most people in the gay/lesbian community are offended by the mockery they've made of this and the upcoming wedding.

So Carruthers, if this storyline isn't just for the gay/lesbian community why are you promoting the wedding & what not as such?

They've done this for as long as I can remember. I guess it's because of the hack writing, they have to backpeddle and do damage control

[You're Soaking in it]

Friendships are indeed a factor in gay relationships (heck, all relationships) - and they can lead to misunderstandings, and blurred lines when trust and communication are lacking. So the idea of exploring a close friendship between Zach & Reese wasn't a bad idea if it was simply a FRIENDSHIP that would be a catalyst to more story.

That said, my partner and I thought it was great when this appeared to be leading to a story about Bianca's insecurity. It was an angle I hadn't before seen played to that degree in Bianca. It showed the Erica side of her character, and that, to us, was intriguing. And who else but Erica herself to bring it out in her? At first, it appeared Erica's interference was more of Erica being threatened by Reese, than Reese being a realistic threat to anyone else. The complication of Zach being the "baby donor" was interesting, and still could have been played with Kendall post-coma.

The wrench was thrown as soon as we saw Reese address having feelings for Zach. Then it was a towel-drop. Now a kiss. It just didn't HAVE to go there. Even if TPTB had to write out Eden Riegel, it could have been Bianca deciding to leave to get her emotional act together over her own insecurities. It could have been Bianca not being sure if SHE was prepared to let go of her issues, her family's interference, the complications she'd created for herself with Zach being the donor... you name it... They simply didn't need to "go there" between Zach & Reese, and it shouldn't have.

It still would have worked without that "tantalizing" (the word JHC likes to use) element. Heck, it probably would have been a more intelligent, more emotional story... one that made Bianca & Reese's eventual reunion even more worthwhile.

[nell17]

I agree with this. That's where the story took a bad turn for me. They took it too far and just won't fess up that they made a mistake. I know what I heard and saw. I didn't make that up.

[Angela]

It's damage control. It's not been about good or groundbreaking story in a long time, and it's moved to damage control. Despite claiming the fans are delusional, they know the story they're writing and that admitting to it would be troublesome (invalidates stuff) so they're saying well "right now the fans are delusional, and look we can prove it - they're going to have a happy lesbian ending. We guarantee it. Look at the pretty first same sex marriage pictures."

It's not really that I think they're all that nervous, though. If they were they would have ended the debacle they made out of this without Eden having to go and come back not with making it an ever bigger debacle, they would have had everything settled by the wedding. I do wonder how recent the Eden return decision was made, if it fits into a recent recognition of how badly they mucked up or was this the poor plan all along?

[Vee]

I don't understand what Pratt and Carruthers expected to happen, here. AMC should've learned from the fall of Babe Carey where audience sympathy would always lie in a story like this: With the core child. Bianca has a huge cachet with the audience and probably always will. Factor into that the intense Zach and Kendall fanbase, and the subset of fans who have always clamored for a stable, frontburner lesbian relationship between Bianca and another woman. It's a recipe for disaster. Did Chuck Pratt really believe his GH fetish could so smoothly transition to Pine Valley with Zach Slater filling the Sonny role of cool, cold gunman (shooting Josh and demanding his heart to save "my family") while TB re-took a "Carly" role?

Add into that the fact that it definitely seems as though Braun and Riegel were sold a bill of goods. Tamara Braun has always been dogged by lesbian rumors and frankly I suspect she is all but out and proud. Judging by her comments about only coming back to daytime to play a full-fledged, functional lesbian lead, I think this role was dear to her heart. I suppose there's a chance Pratt can woo her into staying and playing this out, and I think that's his big gamble, but even if they could do that - which I am not so sure they can - do they really expect anyone to support "Zeese" any more than Zach/Greenlee?

[DRW50]

Has this Zeese/Rinks/whatever story done anything for the ratings, as Carruthers indicates? GL hasn't done any big promotion of Natalia and Olivia, but the days that story aired on last week helped lift the show to 1.7.

[JackPeyton]

pshh... really, after seeing the chem between TB & TK thats the way the story should go.

[Vee]

You are, as always, astonishingly predictable. It would be funny if I thought you believed half the things you said. It just comes off desperate.

[JackPeyton]

well im glad you tend to think so much about me.

theres an ignore function, maybe you should use it.

but i am being srs. i was all for bianca/reese. i love tams, i love eden. and they have a nice chem, but its all romance, not sexual. and im a fan of sexual chem. and tb and tk have sexual chem.

as for the comments made by JAC, is anyone really shocked after what we have heard from people for the past 10 years?

[Queen]

I'm curious about this. What fall? Was it because of Miranda? I thought Arabella was everyone's favorite heroine.

[dragonflies]

Vee that's a damn good post, BUT the sympathy isn't lying with Bianca, it's with Kendall, cause Pratt has virtually decimated Bianca to the point her own fans don't recognize her anymore. SOW said it best that they don't recognize who Bianca & Zach are anymore, they're strangers

That's what the pimping of Pratt's pet at the expense of popular core characters has done

LOL true. I find that most people who dislike Kendall/AM and suddenly every woman Zach interacts with, are so "hawt" I saw it with Dixie, Hannah, Annie, Greenlee, so it's hard to take it seriously.