OLTL: Thumbs DOWN

[leevo64]

Lord knows I LOVE me some One Life to Live and I'm one of the biggest Carlivati fanboys there is, but I can't ignore the current issues I'm having with the show lately. It's not that the stories are boring; they're actually quite suspenseful. It's not that the acting is bad - in fact, most of them are highly talented. I am giving OLTL thumbs down right now because there's something MISSING from my beloved show.

Here's what's making me annoyed --

1. Stacy Morasco - I can already see SOD giving her worst new character/most annoying character in their Best/Worst of 2009 feature. It's like she was ripped out of the Days of our Lives handbook of annoying blonde schemers. Whereas characters like Gigi and Charlie were introduced beautifully and carefully, Stacy burst in Llanview with all cylinders firing, exhibiting cliche after cliche and batting her bitchy little eyes. Are we really supposed to believe that Rex and Gigi would fall for her crap? If this was 2003, Rex and Stacy would be scheming TOGETHER. Just because Rex is a daddy now doesn't mean he has to lose his smarts. The nail in the coffin for the character was holding Shane's life over Gigi's head. Thanks to that move, I - and probably the audience - will never accept her as a root-worthy character.

2. Natalie and Jared - Last year, Natalie and Jared almost lost everything they loved because of a lie that affected everyone around them. Now they have the information about Chloe/Hope that could changed everything and they're hiding it. AGAIN. When Jessica and the Buchanans find out that Natalie lied to them it's going to be Summer of '08 all over again. The baby switch story is doing everything else right, but this piece of the puzzle doesn't fit.

3. Viki and Charlie - Where the hell are my signature couple? We spent so much time getting to know Charlie and watching Viki find love again in 2007 and 2008 and now that they're finally happy, we never see them. One of Carlivati's main goals upon starting his tenure at the show was to give Viki a great story. He succeeded in doing that for so long and now the network allegedly doesn't want him to continue. Let's see more of the Thanksgiving 2008-caliber stuff and less of Viki pouring coffee.

4. Starr and Cole - I will always love Starr, having watched her grow up on screen. I was so incredibly impressed with Kristen Alderson during the pregnancy story and had nothing but praise for the young actress. But lately she's been shrill and whiney, lamenting her messed up life in every scene. Cole, meanwhile, has become a hot-tempered, anrgy jerk. Brandon Buddy's come such a long way as an actor but the material is not working. Forget the pills and hottie teachers - bring back the Romeo and Juliet that you worked so hard to make us love.

5. The Back Burner - I enjoyed watching Talia, Antonio, Christian, Leyla, and Sarah being friends in 2008. Mendorra aside, there was nothing wrong with these supporting characters. While Justis Bolding wasn't a huge hit with fans the character of Sarah is an important one that should be a Llanview fixture. As soon as Sarah left town and Christian proved what an idiot he was, the group became non-existent. Antonio's gone and soon Talia will be too; Christian and Leyla are going to hook up, if for no other reason than nobody knows what to do with the two characters. In the past year, Llanview's had more than its fair share of sadness and sorrow; give us some friends having fun together and being happy.

[Darn]

The show is absolutely horrible outside of Bo and Nora's drama with Matthew's paralysis. HBS and RSW have been fantastic and it's the only remotely true to life story going on right now. The rest is nothing but crap with a side of bullshit.

[rangethatrover]

My standards have been reset (lowered) for all soaps. OLTL is good mindless entertainment right now. Every one of your comments is 100% correct though!

If the show would give me some more Viki and Charlie I would be very happy myself.

Like I have said- Stacy is badly written, was introduced like an atomic bomb "HERE SHE IS, BITCHES!! BOOM!!! LOVE, BRIAN FRONS.

She is obviously a terribly written, plot driven, storyline manipulation character. Her acting is average. She plays a good one dimensional bitch. I am enjoying her more and more- for what she is. Its really no different from any B&B character.

Today was boring though, but the suspense is there, and I am looking forward to finding out who the serial killer is and I actually now care who Rex's dad is.

The show reeks of corporate interference though..

Oh yeah- the acting- First time in OLTL's history where there are so many terrible actors. I blame the casting director and Brian Frons. from Bree to Farah to the godawful Kristen Alderson to Fumero to the two caricatures who play Moe and Noelle- Its B&B or Days basically.

[Sylph]

This is so funny, I have no words to describe it!

[rhythmchyc]

OLTL has been, for lack of a better word, annoying, ever since Todd jumped off that building.

Everything since then has been half-assed.

No one's passionate anymore.

[bellcurve]

Well, the casting director IS Julie Madison. This is the same chick who thought Mikey Jerome would be a great fit for One Life to Live, nevermind the fact that he had never stepped foot into anyone's acting class prior to being on Soapstar, was extremely rude and unprofessional to his fellow actors, and cried more than Ellen Wheeler at a press conference during his love scenes.

[rangethatrover]

Bad acting to me is the thing I REALLY can't stand. Yeah, I notice Sharon Lennon's at times clunky scripts, but nothing turns me off more than bad acting. if you CAN'T feel the scene and CRY? THEN DON'T.

But then again, Y&R has one of the more consistent casts (and better writers who understands the soap basics- you would never see a character written and shoved to the forefront like Stacey) but I maybe watch Y&R once a week now. It doesn't hold my interest for more than 15 minutes. If I want to watch paint dry, I'll paint a wall and watch it dry. I don't even miss that show and I wouldn't miss OLTL either. I have more fun watching clips on Youtube when the show was excellent (or addictive) then I do post 1998 or so.

It is entertaining to me and that's it. There a still and handful of characters I actually care about but they are hardly on.

[DRW50]

I think they have to kill Todd. He's a cancer on the show. Not fun, not entertaining, not interesting. TSJ doesn't care anymore and they have no idea what to do with him. The current story, with Jack replacing Starr as Todd's #1 sycophant, turns my stomach.

[Leia]

Brava! But #5? I don't think Sarah is needed at all. Adrianna made that set fun. I barely remember Sarah but I'll never forget Adrianna punching Gigi at her wedding.

[rangethatrover]

ROTFLMAO. Ellen Wheeler comment!

Bellcurve = LOVE!!!

You kill me, I think you are the only one here with my sick sense of humor.

[rangethatrover]

Harlem! I didn't read #5 until your post- Yeah I disagree with that whole thing. But the rest if what you said I agree with. David Fumero stands for everything I hate about soaps and actors. And as far as Talia- She is the actress version of Wine and Xanax. She puts my ass to sleep. See ya Tally-Ho!! And layla- blahsville. She IS an okay actress though. Its a shame they could not have injected her into the Starr/Stacey/Schyler "story"

[MichaelGL]

I know it's far from being the soap it once was in early 2008, but damn it's pretty entertaining if I say so myself. People were saying that OLTL was starting to look like PSSNs under RC, I think these days it seems more like SuBe.

[Sylph]

You two... Hysterical together! I'm having so much fun reading you "twisted" posts!

[rangethatrover]

You gotta laugh these shows are so obnoxious

I mean look at the latest news-

"THE PUSSYCAT DOLLS!" I shook my head and laughed

OLTL wants to be EVERYTHING. You have your shows like Y&R which is so smug in its superiority and seriousness- the show is almost oppressive. Then you have OLTL which has the Pussycat Dolls, campy villianesses, excellent acting and horrible acting (sometimes in the same scene), the MTV aspect, all these young children, you have bad bald caps, Matthew's "not only am I paralyzed but I also fight cougars" WTF is it with that cat scratch? You have all these hunky men and these shrieking women-Gigi/Stacey/Jessica- Its just a hot mess. But there is SO much going on. Its disappointing considering what the show could be- but still fun. For now anyway. And we have Rachel coming on soon. I figure this actress will suck too.

[Y&RWorldTurner]

Well, she does come from Passions.