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OLTL: Discussion for the week April 13


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You know....since RC began his stint as head writer, he has brought back a number of old characters to Llanview, including:

Tea

Tina

Marty (the original)

Pamela Stuart

Lee Halpern

Allison Perkins

Madam Delphina

Jackie McNaughton

Dallas Jones

Mel

Carlo

Cain

Cord

Alex

Andrew

Hank

Rachel

RJ

Zach Rosen

And he is soon to bring back yet another face from the past to tie into the Marty/John/Todd killer storyline. But can't say who.

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No one ever said his intentions weren't good. I don't think anybody who's been extrememly critical of his writing lately can honestly say they don't think he cares about the show. I defy anyone to accuse him of not giving a crap, like they do other head writers on soaps.

I just think there's some serious interference going on, and the show is suffering for it. Big-time.

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Oh, I agree...and I wasn't being critical of him. I like it when old characters come back to town. I wish the show would bring back even more (e.g., Dr. Larry Wolek).

And I too think that most of his problems have been from interference from above, namely Frons.

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I agree brimike. Not sure I understand why though. The show was getting rave reviews, the ratings were holding steady if not rising, they won the emmy for best writing and direction. It wasn't broken! Why did "somebody" think it needed fixing?

Unfortunately, no matter how much RC cares, I do think he is becoming beaten down by the interference. I can't imagine the stories that are playing out now are remotely similar to what he originally intended.

I was fascinated with Rex's paternity story when Alison Perkins reared her head again, and of course that was squashed by the writers' strike. But this story isn't even about Rex's paternity except as a sidenote or a plot point to further Stacy's manipulations to interfere with Rex and Gigi's grand love story.

The baby swap was potentially a great story that could have been about the conflict between Jessica and Natalie, and would have a profound impact on so many characters. But they swept away the sibling conflict, and Starr and Cole have barely been involved at all. It's been isolated to Natalie and Jared's decision, and it's been stupid, and repetitive.

I honestly think that was just a bone for the Jared and Natalie fans who've had nothing to watch but the same conversation over and over again. They've barely been on, and when they have all they ever talk about is whether or not to tell. So voila! Give them a love scene to keep their fans engaged -- and I don't think we're going to be seeing much of them after the christening.

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Oh, so do I. Sorry - I think my tone in that post may have come across wrong. I didn't think you were criticizing him. And I agree - he's brought a lot of great names back. I think RC is probably the best thing for that show. I say that, but I also say the last month has been bad. Like, Higley bad. Stacy might as well be Claudia Reston-bad. But I don't think RC should be go anywhere. I think whoever is mucking around needs to back off, but we all know that's not going to happen. So at least get a co-head writer hired that the person who is mucking around in the work believes to be in his corner, so the person mucking around in the work backs off, because then (he thinks) his agenda will be achieved.

Then maybe OLTL fans will get their show back.

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I think Ron lost some power when he came back after the strike - punishment by ABC? Sure he got to tell stories he wanted, but he was on a leash and couldn't plan everything out the way he wanted. Everything feels so different now. You're abosuletly right about the story being all about Stacey and not really about Rex's paternity. Jared and Natalie's action don't make any sense. What happened to Natalie vs Jessica? What happened to Clint vs Dorian? Everything about Christian/Layla is a cliche. Viki's not on anymore. Antonio's going after Carlo - huh? That's not even a real storyline. Blah blah blah....there's more.

Everything's is just plot, plot, plot. Nothing's being planned out, there's no big picture anymore. I WANT PRE-STRIKE OLTL BACK!!!!!!!!!! I miss THAT OLTL. We finally have a writer who truly cares and loves OLTL and the idiots in charge have to interfere. Stupid daytime execs. Fuckers.

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Did Pamela Stuart ever have an exit? Isn't she still hanging around the Palace or something? I never got that...

God, now I realize why they never brought Zach back before--the actor *sucks*--it's hard to take a killer seriously when he uses the tone of voice (and lisp) with EVERY single line.

But I'm all for the Woleks and Larry coming back :D

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