AMC: Friday, March 13, 2009

[Southofnowhere]

Eden NEVER got anyone fired. NEVER!

[Southofnowhere]

She keeps the role from being recast so she's not stupid.Plus she owns a place in NYC so it's easy for her to comeback.

[DeeeDee]

[Cheap21]

Colby's return (and subsequent recast) didnt do anything for her

[DeeeDee]

TPTB got Anna Stuart for Greenlee's death & funeral.

[R Sinclair]

Yeah. You're clearly objective.

[Adam]

No Kidding, and I have lost all respect for her in the process..... she's useless and the show can clearly survive without her.

[R Sinclair]

Yeah, I have no problem with Eden, per se... but I do have a problem with the way her decision making process affects this show. I simply DON'T get invested in any storyline regarding Bianca. Like this whole Reese/Bianca storyline, I was like the others... "Oh, yeah... they're only speeding through this story because Eden's about to leave in another 2 weeks."

[Adam]

I watched the storyline for Reese, because it was clearly her story..... Bianca was no more than a set prop and I was more than happy about that. Like I have said, I hope once she comes back to presumably whisk Reese off we never see or here from Bianca or Eden again!

[Guest dc cubs]

I'll say this up front. I am an Eden fan and she is the reason I started watching AMC regularly years ago. I agree that the short term visits haven't helped the Bianca character the last couple of years. It is hard to get invested in the story when you know she won't be on for very long. However, I don't think Eden is holding the show hostage. If AMC really wanted to tell a full story for Bianca they would recast the role. Eden doesn't have enough power in the industry to say you can't recast the role.

The situation works out well for her because at this point I don't think AMC ever has any intentions of telling a long term full story arc of Bianca in a relationship. For as much as AMC talks about their GLAAD awards and such they aren't really committed to telling a story for Bianca. As Adam pointed out this past story was much more about Reese than it was Bianca.

That is why the short term visits work for AMC and Eden. Why should she turn them down when AMC comes calling? Its a job with a paycheck and when she's not at AMC she can work on other projects like her web series. However, it is the fans who get the short end of the deal. As much as I love Eden, if AMC ever really wants to tell a complete story for Bianca they will have to recast the role as I don't think Eden wants another long term commitment at AMC. With the writing for her character her last couple of returns I can't blame her either.

[Money]

Is it me or does Debbie Morgan kinda resemble Latoya Jackson? They have the same nose and cheekbones and I've been noticing it lately ever since she started sporting that dark curly wig. I wish I knew how to do a side by side profile but the similarities were very prominent in her scenes with Reese.

[Steve]

It was a Friday episode, right? I was expecting some sort of cliffhanger but there was none!

According to my Charter Communications cable guide description, Zach & Reese were supposed to share a kiss yesterday. I'm grateful to whomever changed the story; imo, it's more interesting for Zach to be lusting after Reese while her heart truly belongs to Bianca. It was quite clear what Zach wanted when he put his arm around her after informing her that he had left Kendall.

I agree that TPTB should just recast Bianca at this point if they want to tell her story, but I think dc cubs hit the nail on the head. They want the praise from GLAAD without really having a long-term lesbian character.

I'm intrigued by the idea of Opal & Pete both moving in with Tad & Jake. Hopefully, this will turn out to be as funny onscreen as it sounds.

What was up with that grad student rubbing Annie's nose in her doomed marriage to Ryan? I wanted Annie to smack some sense into that idiot!

It seemed to me that this episode marked the end of Amanda/JR and the beginning of Amanda/Jake. If this is going to be a triangle, I hope TBTB remember that JR & Jake are related by marriage (JR was raised as Tad's son, making Jake his uncle). I'd love to see the twisted Martin family dynamics played up more!

[DeeeDee]

Yep.

[SteveFrame]

I honestly think it is a combination of things. I think #1 is that for the most part shows are reluctant to recast major roles these days unless they just have to. It used to be common place for shows to recast roles but today it only happens either early on or with minor characters. Major characters are not recast as often anymore as they used to be.

When Eden left the role of Bianca a few years back - if that had been the 1970's or 1980's Bianca who had been a big part of the stories at that point would have been recast - esp. considering at that point they were pushing big time to make Erica's family the central family on the show. They were the ones getting the holiday stories and shows and so much more. The loss of Bianca hurt that big time along with the fact that they simply just got rid of Reggie who was part of the new thrown together family.

When you have the networks like ABC using phrases like the "real" Greenlee is back along with even soap opera journalists using phrases like the "faux" Lily in their columns - all that give credence to the new mindset of viewers - all of it just leads to the reluctance.

Add to that with AMC in mind after they failed to recast Babe effectively I doubt it will be a long time before we see a Bianca recast.

There used to be a time when soap operas were about characters but today it is more about actors than characters. Even the writers seem to write for actors and not just the character anymore. They build stories around the actors they want to push and not building the story around and about the characters. They even change the character to fit the story they want to push for that actor.

And with that people have the mindset that Eden Riegel is Bianca and not that Bianca is Bianca.

Yes performers bring some of their personality to the role, but soaps have always been about the characters. And even when they were recast the character was still written in character.

Victoria Lord didn't change when we went from Gillian Spencer to Joanne Dorian to Erika Slezak. She was still Victoria Lord. And she was written that way.

Of course some of it has to do with AMC and ABC's committment to Bianca too. Her last 2 returns have had more to do with using her name and the character for publicity than even wanting to showcase her. It goes back to what I said about writing for the actor and using them to tell and promote a story.

But at the same time I agree about Eden Riegel. She should committ to a longer term. you cannot write for a character if they won't committ and Eden has made it clear she won't. It is time to move on.

[RomeAt50]

I don't hold Eden primarly responsible for the problems with Bianca's returns. If TPTB don't think this arrangement is working they could easily not ask her back and recast the character. But I think the problems with Bianca's character is as much due to the terrible writing that effects the rest of the show as it is her short term visits. I think they could've still made this story way better than it was, longterm or not. I'm not convinced the character would not have been damaged anyways if she were recast or ER stayed on longterm when I look at what has happened to the regular characters.

But these days I think TPTB often use a recast as an excuse to change a character. I can understand why people get nervous about recasts because while sometimes the character is more or less the same often they may as well be a new character.