Should soaps have more primetime episodes?

[Vee]

IMO they should do more primetime eps, if only to stretch the limits of content and language and make them more malleable in daytime from then on. I'd push for that innovation.

[DRW50]

Daytime used to be so far ahead of primetime in content and story (if not language). They've fallen so far behind. I'd like to see them try to catch up. They were trying, in halting steps, up until Janet Jackson's nipple outraged the nation, but even that was more about some brief nude flashes than quality.

[MarkH]

See, I'm not sure I agree. This is relative to my show, Y&R. Because in some ways (naturalness of acting and dialogue, sumptuousness of sets; HD and widescreen) I think Y&R

may be better now than it was then. Some actors from back then (most noticeably, to me, Melody Thomas) have also improved. I'll take my "present" over the "past".

I wonder if you are right. Since GL's ratings have really not improved with all the "Phillip Happens Here" promos (which were EVERYWHERE), I'm not sure this is yet viewed as enough of a success to bring in the eyeballs.

I don't like B&B's locations, but I think that has to do with the narrow artificiality (a rooftop, a parking lot). GL has gone more expansive (a whole town). While I fully understand the issues people have with those locations (not a good match for Springfield as it was; pointless scenes in fields), at least one gets a sense that one is getting to know the town.

Yes, I have noticed ATWT looks/sounds better too. But if Ellen Wheeler's interview with the bloggers is right, ATWT's way of doing it involves a much larger crew and is much more expensive.

Yes, you are right, especially with the older actors. My feeling is that this reflects their striving for "verisimilitude". One is supposed to see "real people"

Really? I guess I haven't noticed all that you say about British soaps...but I haven't seen Coronation Street in years either.

What about the claim that GL is supposed to be more like, say "Friday Night Lights". Remember Dogma 95, the "verisimilitude" filmmaking movement? I think shows like FNL and maybe GL are striving to be a television equivalent. I'd probably add "The Office" to that list too. I happen to love "The Office" (although they achieve stylistic harmony with their storytelling by using a 'documentary' format; they built one huge real office set too...although there is a fair bit of location work).

Personally, I don't need all TV shows to be beautifully cinematic. I have programs like "Lost" for that purpose. Some "cheaper" looking shows work for me, but the storytelling has to match the production model. GL is clearly now exploring how to merge more classic stories with this production model.

As she has from the beginning, Ellen Wheeler earns my HIGHEST respect for experimenting. She has read and embraced the lessons of "Who Moved My Cheese". I can safely say this, though, because I have no long-term investment in GL. So I view this very much as an outsider who keeps catching clips at cbs.com. I did see it live yesterday, and found GL much more interesting than GH.

That was more consistent with my recollection...but I haven't seen anything British lately (soaps-wise).

I don't know. I think Deas and Zimmer and "Billy Lewis" look HORRIBL]E. Not just aged, not just overweight (that happens to many of us)...but poorly dressed and ... not attractive.

I'm guessing this is another one of those "verisimilitude" moves...but it really does turn one off.

I'm with you on B&B. What I can say--whever I see the location work on GL--is that my mind thinks "breath of fresh air". It gives GL a unique visual signature. But this is from a non-regular viewer, so take it for what it is worth. What I will say is that I have watched MORE since GL left the studio.

[bellcurve]

I've seen the new Springfield and I still don't get a sense that I know the town. You don't need to get a sense of where B&B is set, because everyone has heard of Los Angeles, Beverly Hills, Bel Air, etc. B&B isn't set in some fictitious suburb or slice of life town. We always complain about how soap characters are rarely seen at work. At least when B&B shoots stuff on the rooftop or in a parking lot, the characters have a reason to be there. They're at work. It's not as though Rick and Steffy are in the middle of the Television City parking lot because they decided to go jogging and the only place the show could afford to do that scene was in the the lot. And the way we get to know the town is not through the flashy location shoots and that one historic looking bridge GL likes to use as Peapack in February and then for Germany in November; we get to know the town through the characters FIRST! I call bullsh!t on that one. The thing is, is that you can tell ATWT is working with a barebones crew as well! In their location shoots, they are clearly using cheaper cameras. The Nuke stuff on the roof looked like it was shot with those exact same cameras that GL uses. The big difference between the way ATWT shoots their location stuff and the way GL shoots is that you can tell the former actually coordinates their location shoots, whereas the latter kind of goes out of it's way to just shoot anything at anytime and doesn't even bother to map out multiple plans in the event of inclement weather. But there's no way ATWT has more crew members and/or uses better equipment than GL during it's location shoots. There's a difference between finding a show "interesting" and actually being so moved by the show that you want to watch it every day. Y&RWorldTurner is SO right on about GL's production values. I don't have a problem with shows that don't look like Y&R. My problem is with shows that you can tell obviously suffer from poor planning and/or a lack of passion. And this is the clip I believe is the one he's referring to in regards to the weather changing. I doubt this has changed, just knowing how poorly planned most, if not all, of GL's production model is. I need a source, an official press release...something. I don't buy it at all. I can't believe Moonves and Tassler haven't stepped in to pull the plug on this Godawful show.

[Y&RWorldTurner]

^Yes, that's EXACTLY the clip bellcurve! God, it's so embarrassing. I understand how sometimes writing can outweigh production, but that mistake is too stupid to ignore.

[Dan]

All valid points. The coordination and continuity should be much better. It shouldn't be snowing, rainy, and sunny simultaneously in one episode. There was an episode last week. When Buzz and Alan had their heart attacks, it was just cloudy and the snow on the ground was melting, but in the next scene, Remy and Christina were in what looked like a big snow shower. What they need to do is get all of the actors for one episode together in Peapack and shoot the outdoor scenes all in one day, which is something I'm shocked that they don't seem to do. It seems like such a common sense thing to do. And it only takes a few seconds to check weather.com to get a weather report.

I will say this though. In general, I, like MarkH, don't seem to see anything particularly horrible about the majority of the show's production. The sound quality still seems fine to me. It's not like I have to turn up the volume to hear the conversation, so it must be good enough for me. The camera shaking does get on my nerves on days when it seems the cameraperson had too much caffeine, but otherwise it doesn't tend to bother me. The new format has been horrible on Kim Zimmer though. I agree she just looks meh. Of course, her horrible hair color is part of the problem. She needs to go back to blonde. It suited her better IMO.

Now the music IS horrible and needs to be fixed stat and this Gabrielle Solarino needs to be dumped and replaced with someone that knows soap music. The horrible music is the only thing (besides bad writing) that can take me out of a scene these days on GL. Even when the scene is so well-written that I bawl like Coop's death.