I'm not saying Reva should be as utterly peripheral as, say, Pat is now, but I remember when both those characters drove stories and frankly it wasn't that long ago (I'm thinking of Peggy's breast cancer and the ensuing affairs, to start with) and they were far from English Roses. And you can name people on Emmerdale or Coronation St. too, similarly rough old men or women, with major audience investment in their unique personas, and story under their belts despite age. That's a model to follow, and Reva has broken it open for us here in America. What's more, Zim for all her rawness is still not as old-skewing as Pat or Peggy.

I agree with what you were saying, I think you're right, Reva is in their mold, more than the traditional American soap matriarch mold. I put her more towards Pat than Peggy, because Babs Windsor usually adds her own personality to "We're a family" and "Get outta my pub", but Pat's quite a complex character, especially her earlier years, when she was a prostitute, when she was the pariah of the Square, when she lied to Simon Wicks about his father's identity and the writing implied so many different men (I think it was like four men) that even the writers didn't seem to know. The only reason I brought up the airtime is because I'm not sure if Kim would take a supporting role. Pam St. Clement doesn't seem to mind, although I've heard she's battled with some health problems, so if that's true, that may be why she has a more reduced role now.

I honestly believe a 100% that P&G/CBS will not renew Kim Zimmer's contract in June. Her renewel in 2005 where she refused to take a paycut cost many their jobs. It would free a ton of money for the show to let her go. Honestly with Deidre/Drake being let go and it not affecting DAYS ratings one bit, P&G have the upper hand in this negoation. Plus with the economy as bad as it is. I honestly believe they axe Zimmer and announce GL's one year renewel at the same time. She is a big part of GL but Otalia/Grant is their focus. They can buy like 6-8 newcomers with Zimmer's salary. Honestly I believe this is the end of the road for Kim. She is not looking too great and with daytime as bad as it is, I do not see any roles for her in the future. Zimmer tried primetime and failed during her five years off the show.

Kim Zimmer didn't cost anyone [!@#$%^&*]! Period. Did she fired those actors? She she put a gun to P&G's head and demand that they fried those actors? I don't think so. If they want to axe Zimmer, then they can go ahead and do it. They will get a bunch of bad publicity and I'm positive ratings will go down. GL isn't Days or any other show. Sure, Days' D&D got the boot and ratings didn't go down. Well, newsflash - Days' ratings was [!@#$%^&*] until Galen and Eric came on. As soon as those boys came on, that show went up. There is no doubt in my mind that Passions fans didn't follow them to Days. NBC promoted those boys in prime time promos. Plus, they were on the front page of the NBC Passions website for MONTHS.

Firing Drake/Deidre on DAYS had bad publicity but did the ratings go down after they were gone. In fact one wekk they went up over the week Drake/Deidre left. They have caused no audience erosion. Honestly right now GL needs to get renewed and the biggest way to make that happen is to free lots of money. I mean Zimmer's exit could give GL alot more money to do other things with the show. If GL gets renewed until October 2010, then Ellen Wheeler pulled off the impossible she kept the show on the air three years longer then it should have been on. Zimmer has to take a drastic paycut to stay with the show and we all know Kim. Kim needs to realize with how bad the economy is and how scarce soap jobs are for women over 40 she is lucky to be employed. The unemployment rate for actors is about at 96% percent right now. Drake/Deidre are going to do Zimmer. She is a GONER. This baby story has gotten little airtime. I honestly think Kim needs to work on her appearance, she looks really bad right now. Take a year off and renenergize yourself and maybe there will be something. Honestly I will be more shocked if Kim stays at GL.

Why does Ms. Zimmer need to work on her appearance? Is it because she's not extremely thin like Susan Lucci, Kristian Alfonso and other actresses? Do you have a daughter? Would you like for your daughter to starve herself to look thin because she's only seeing thin actresses on TV? I've notice Zims lost weight. She looks great and I could care less if she's "fat."

Two reasons Grant and Otalia. Otalia MANIA as I will call it is taking over CBS. Otalia fans are bombarding the network with everything Otalia and they are just bombarded and Grant's return has been a major plus. GL five months ago was dead but now it is not as dead. Ratings have stablized going up from 1.4 to 1.7 plus increase in viewers. As well as lots of publicity using major publications for Grant's return. Otalia made Entertainment Weekly. Even Zimmer said how popular they are right now. Right now the goal is to get GL renewed and Zimmer's salary could give GL lots of extra money to really save the show. Remember GL has been ZIMMER FREE BEFORE FROM 1990-1994 and the show was just fine.

Shakur Zimmer is still EXPENSIVE that is the problem and Drake/Deidre screwed every vet over. Their NO LOSS AUDIENCE EROSION after they left proves no vet is safe. The goal is to renew GL not RENEW KIM ZIMMER.

As an Otalia fan, I don't understand what this "Otalia MANIA" is all about. Please explain. Who cares about ratings in the 1990s? Last time I check this is 2009 and EVERY soap is in danger. Look at how great Y&R is and it's dropping too. B&B is only maintaining good ratings because it's right after Y&R and a good portion of their fans just leave the channel on(like me) and watch the wacky soap.

I have given Kim Zimmer a lot of [!@#$%^&*] over the years, but this makes me love her. I've been much more fond of her and Reva since the show gave up on selling her as an exotic, holy glamourpuss and acknowledged that she was a) old, promiscuous and c) overweight, and yet still fierce. If GL was in their right minds, they could really sell her as our iteration of a British soap matriarch; when they are being honest about Reva/KZ she closely resembles one of those working-class heroines IMHO.

I'm thrilled Kim Zimmer is calling them out on their [!@#$%^&*] and she's not afraid to. I applaud her for this! It is very unfortunate that other actors on the show doesn't have the balls to do what Zimmer is doing.

I really don't mind Ellen's production model at all. GL is crap but I still watch it. People would say why not tune out? I'm not tuning out. I want GL on the air because I believe it can turn around. I really, really want GL to be on air for atleast 100 years. Unfortunately, I don't know if the show can last 3 more years on air.

I would love for Reva, Jeffrey and their baby to leave town for 3 months and then come back to Springfield.

You know what - I really, really need to rant about GL. It's killing me not to rant because I'm not speaking up. I hope no one is offending by my rant.

___

I'm so [!@#$%^&*] sick and tired of GL's earthquake cameras, shitty sets, idiotic stories and so much more. I cannot believe GL hasn't fired the actors who plays Ashlee, Daisy, Mallet, Marina, and used the money to fix those ugly sets that they have. GL CANNOT bitch about how "small" their sets are. They can hire construction workers and extend those [!@#$%^&*]. All you gotta do is invest in it. Is it so difficult to put your heart and soul into this show and invest in it? Well when you're P&G, I guess you can't. You can only invest in laundry detergents, right? Seriously, if they sets on this show was luxurious and good looking, I'm sure it would go well with Ellen's production model. Then we have the writing, who in their right [!@#$%^&*] mind would hire 5 [!@#$%^&*] head writers? Who??? Even Y&R, a show will 50 writers wouldn't do that [!@#$%^&*]. The majority of GL's writers are all hacks. Good for nothing money hungry hacks. Ellen Wheeler may love this show and is trying to help out but she needs to grow a pair of balls. She need to stop crying 24/7. If this show is going to succeed, weak links shouldn't be employed there. I want someone like Ed Scott to go down there and knock some sense into this woman. Does she not realize when you're at work, it is all about business? Who cares if they are your friends? Fire them if they can't do the job.

Business that values its workers leads to positive results. Morale cannot be underestimated in my opinion as a motivating factor. Without the "we're all in this together" team spirit that Ellen Wheeler encourages, Guiding Light would not have made it to 2009, much less have a future for years into the future as it may have now. Anyway, the show *has* fired people (like Kane Manera). I'm glad Ellen Wheeler is who she is and I don't think she cries too much.

I still like the sets, and think GL's writing and acting are far from crap (although the camerawork is sometimes spotty).

But, I'm glad you were able to get that off your chest, Rakesh!

About Kim (I almost called her Reva, lol) mentioning Otalia, I don't think she mentioned them out of dissatisfaction, just explanation of other stories taking off. It's true that Otalia is one of the stories going on to "keep this sucker on the air."

Edited March 25, 200916 yr by jfung79

I am not the biggest Ellen Wheeler fan but she has seriously kept GL on the air probably four years longer then it should have been. In 2005 CBS was contemplating cancelling it during the whole bloodbath and 2007 it was cancelled. EW might do the impossible and get a 1 year renewel for GL. The Otalia Buzz/Phillip is good for GL. I miss the old production but GL will never bring that back. GL is in it for the long haul with this production, it has improved and it is always ever evolving. It is MUCH better then it was a year ago. NO VET IS SAFE ANYMORE. People have got to realize it that huge soap salaries are a thing of the past and he these vets can walk BUT GOOD FREAKING LUCK FINDING EMPLOYMENT AT 50 years plus.

I am not the biggest Ellen Wheeler fan but she has seriously kept GL on the air probably four years longer then it should have been. In 2005 CBS was contemplating cancelling it during the whole bloodbath and 2007 it was cancelled. EW might do the impossible and get a 1 year renewel for GL. The Otalia Buzz/Phillip is good for GL. I miss the old production but GL will never bring that back. GL is in it for the long haul with this production, it has improved and it is always ever evolving. It is MUCH better then it was a year ago. NO VET IS SAFE ANYMORE. People have got to realize it that huge soap salaries are a thing of the past and he these vets can walk BUT GOOD FREAKING LUCK FINDING EMPLOYMENT AT 50 years plus.

Honestly, I am not willing to give Ellen Wheeler some big pat on the back for "keeping GL alive" because unless the show continues to improve, it's more like keeping someone in a coma on a respirator for another four years. There still isn't any meaningful recovery, but it saves us temporarily from making a painful decision.

Edited March 25, 200916 yr by Dan

:lol:

I was praying you would post that picture. It'll never not be funny.

Boy if Kim Zimmer were to leave GL, no GL thread would ever go past one page because no one gets people talkin' about GL more than La Zimmer! Whenever there's a Zimmer interview, the soap fans get all riled up. She gets people talkin'... you either love her or hate her, but she gets a front page blurb in the soap press, something that few GL'ers can get unless you've been off the show for 4 years (Grant Aleksander).

Garage nostrils

This pic never gets old!

I completely agree that many of Reva's overexposed frontburner sexpot goddess storylines destroyed GL in the 90s, and that she was one of the worst things about it at that time; I also agree the show was better without her in the early '90s, and of very few things I agree with her on, I applauded JFP's choice not to bring Zimmer back on contract at that time. For years I hated Reva with a passion, so much so that her early, classic SLs in the 80s seemed a distant memory.

That said, I truly appreciate Zimmer and Reva now for the unique character they have allowed Reva to evolve (or devolve) into; she's old, fat and loves sex. She's very often an embarrassing wife and mother, and despite marrying into wealth she has never shed her down home roots. She is also a survivor and makes no apologies for herself. There is no other character on American daytime like that which is treated so candidly and with such raw, unvarnished honesty, and most of that is due to Zimmer. That is a magnetic presence which I think needs to be cherished, lest we go back to the Jills and Stephanies and Vikis and Ericas forever. (I love those characters, especially Viki, but Reva is unique.) This is not to say I like Reva's pairing with Jeffrey, but I think the British soaps (and our own American love for vets) prove that a randy, raw-boned old bird like Reva can be a force to be reckoned with story-wise.

Reva's role needs to be understood and given its specific position on the canvas, not removed. You can revitalize the Bauers and Spauldings (at least, you could but I doubt Wheeler will do it right) and other needed families without dumping Reva. IMHO, her appeal is now both something old and timeless to viewers as well as something new to US soaps and totally different.

This was the best description of Reva EVER!!!! And its doubly good as Kimmer would be PISSED reading it!!

Totally agree about Reva being, uh, of a healthy weight with a live and very active libido..so different from the rest of the soaps which have either young things having sex or trot out reanimated cadavers like Erica for an "older," woman! I think part of the problem with the writing with Reva is that Wheeler just doesnt like older women (look at the hit that poor Alex took under her...I really think her character distruction was worse, Phillip went nuts, Alex became a drug lord and then Alan's !@#$%^&*] lap dog for no reason at all..)especially if that older woman has some lbs on her (Wheelie is notorious for not eating but running around and saying she eats all the time but can't gain weight.....oh, Im eating too much of this candy...sweetheart you havent eaten anything solid for three days...)

I like Reva cause Reva looks like a lot of women her age....she also looks like she has big appetites, for food, for men, for drama, for laughs, etc. I firmly believe that the one way to get this show back on track would be to send the Coopers back to their status as runner up in the core families, and make the Spauldings, the Bauers and the Lewises, THE core families, with Reva an entity of her own, but back with Josh,..(sorry, the love scenes with her and her eyeliner wearing consort, past rapists gives me the willies. Brad Cole always looks so dirty to me, and RN always looks like he just stepped out of a shower. Brad Cole = smell like dirty feet, RN= a nice non-fragrant soap and just laundered clothes... but I digress as usual. We need Reva on screen back with Josh...I kind of wish she would buy Company, I could see her behind the bar, smoking a ciggie, bourbon in hand, bitch slapping the latest idiot of SF "Dinah, are you f*cking kidding me, you had Lizzie kidnapped again...what the f*ck is wrong with you, are you still retarded from that brain injury..oh, hold on, I'm horny and Josh is waiting for me back at home....gotta go get me some of that.oh, and I made some good meatloaf, eat some of that you are two damn skinny girl!"

I think Ruth Warrick said it best when she asserted that you should never play as yourself on screen, that is not acting. I feel like that is where Kim Zimmer is now, and that is why the character proves to be very irritating to me.

I agree, I like that Reva is a full sized, beautiful, active character on a soap opera... but that is not to say her characterization is spot on. She is not like the Reva of old, at all. When Reva was over the top in the 80's, it was in a subtle less-than-Dorothy-Lyman sort of way.

Now it seems like Kim is phoning the scenes in. She doesn't deliver, she screams. It comes off as shrill, and not authentic. The new production model and all its flaws seems to accentuating Zimmer's lacks in the acting department. She is one of the few actors who I think became significantly worst in the new model. It is very outside her element. I wonder if she watches herself to see how outside of her element she is.