OLTL: Dropped stories

[Vee]

Apparently, the Miles/Addie stuff before the strike was meant to lead into the Mitch story, where he would turn out to be Rex's father, not Jessica's (she was Clint's), and then Miles would be unveiled as Blair's brother.

[Khan]

So, wait, that would've meant

[A] Addie was Miles and Blair's mother?

Viki was Rex's mother, too?

Right?

[DRW50]

Thank you for the detailed answers, Aaron!

I have no idea what RC's plans for Llanview even are. Jared has become as vanilla as can be, Brody seems to just be marking time with Jess and I think he would be gone by now if Mark Lawson hadn't been so popular with fans, Charlie is MIA and when he is around doesn't fit in that well, Gigi is a nightmare, Stacey is a nightmare, and he has bungled both key returns (Marty, Tina). I really wish they had made more of an effort with Miles. I liked him with Roxy, and I think he could have brought more dimension to Cole's story, or given Blair more to do instead of being this wallflower and victim of John and Todd.

I still wonder if there was supposed to be more to the reveal of Brody's backstory, like we would find out Wes had killed the child and made Brody think he had.

I thought there was a lot of wasted potential with Wes, he was tied to so many characters.

[Scotty]

Going even further back....remember how they dropped the Roxy/Nigel romance?

[DeliaIrisFan]

Well, no, it can't all be blamed on Brian Frons. Brian Frons has bosses that he answers to as well, who have to sell ad time to advertisers who want those supposedly impressionable 12-17 year old viewers. But the idea that the dropped stories on OLTL is inordinate compared to other soaps these days? I don't see it, and not just because every other soap seems to be a discombobulated mess as well. Part of a head writer's job is to submit a detailed, long-range story outline. (Or, it was 15-20 years ago; that may well have changed since then, but if so I would imagine it's changed across the board and reflects the fact that the network execs now prefer head writers spend their time reworking stories, however poorly developed, in response to market research and focus groups than to actually develop solid stories in the first place. But I've heard references to enough such documents to imply that it's still part of the job.) If I failed to produce assignment(s) that are integral to my job, I would be out of a job. I don't think a novice head writer like Carlivati would be exempted from such a requirement that is expected of colleagues with decades of seniority, so I'm thinking he would have been fired before any of his material made it onto the air if he didn't deliver a longterm story projection.

So, assuming that a story plan exists, and it was at some point approved in some form by the higher ups because, surely, it can't be any worse than some of what we've seen on this and other shows in that time, why would Carlivati - why would any writer - create more work for themselves by constantly veering off on such radical tangents? If it were that easy, who in his position wouldn't just keep the show running on auto-pilot and take some longer lunches? (Or, I don't know, spend the time putting some nice, detailed finishing touches on the execution of those stories?) Is he so anxious/obsessive-compulsive that he just doesn't trust his own judgment and can't leave well enough alone? Again, I hardly think a head writer in his first time out of the gate, especially, would be free to hold the entire production hostage to his whims in such a way, and if there were such poor management in place as to allow such a deviation from standard practices, I would think entire cast would be livid. But they're not. A lot of people on that set still seem to think that OLTL under Carlivati is actually better than business as usual.

I would argue that that has been proven. Has this happened at any ABC show since the OJ Simpson debacle, when the numbers suddenly fell across the board a little more sharply than they had been falling, and all of the powers that be started running around saying that the sky is falling? That's going on 15 years ago, and a hell of a lot of head writers have come and gone in that time - a lot of whom had proven track records before. Soap operas were so-called because they were invented to sell soap. It's kind of a cruel irony that after decades of a small niche group of writers and actors and producers and directors carving out careers for themselves doing something within that form that they thought meant more than that; and a devoted core of viewers seeing that and investing their time in these shows, the shows stopped selling enough soap (and other products) to satisfy the networks and the sponsors and the money people came in and took over the whole process. I don't see any other explanation for what's happened on-screen.

For the record, I don't think OLTL has ever been stellar under Carlivati, and I never did. But more often than not when I've watched, I've liked the tone of the show under him a little better than much of what has come before in recent years. I appreciate his humor and his seeming affection for some of these characters, and every once in a while feel like there is someone trying to bring a 21st century perspective to this show. More than that, I appreciate that he has gone to bat to do some things that other writers with more clout never seemed to fight for (a frontburner love story for Viki, returns of characters he seems to genuinely love for reasons that had nothing to do with collecting royalties for having created them, etc.). I completely admit that's subjective and not even based on the kind of first-hand information I would use to form opinions about people I actually know, but that's my sense. So for what it's worth, I hope he's employed at OLTL for however longer it's on the air. I hardly think that he nor anyone else is going to resuscitate the show to the point where it is truly viable in the long term commercially or even (under the restrictions he has to deal with) creatively. My impression of him is more that of a dedicated caretaker who respects the show and is looking after it in its twilight years as best he can - and well enough that every once in a while, it can have a good day when I can come and visit and be reminded of happier times. With GL going off the air after so many unthinkable things have happened to it over the years, I think that really is something.

[Vee]

I don't know.

No - Roxy slept with Mitch during the cult years when Mitch was involved with her and Walter Balsom. That was why Roxy was desperate to keep Alison from spilling the beans about her secret, that's why Roxy has hid the father's identity, and presumably it's the same reason today. Despite claims of "casting," I don't think OLTL has ever wavered from Mitch being Rex's father, and I'll be very disappointed if they have to change it due to scheduling or other issues.

[Aaron]

I agree, I just think a lot of it has to do with the instability of Roscoe Born. They are probably hesitant to go there with Mitch because of Born's notorious unreliability. So they are sort of left with a catch 22... create another role and make it just as powerful (difficult) or move ahead with a Mitch recast. I'm all for the last one, because I'd love to see Mitch return to the canvas as a genuine longterm villain, but in the hands of a more dependable actor.

[tina m]

I was sad that David Chisum completely dropped off OLTL's radar. I think I recently saw him on 90210.

Mitch being Rex's father would have been great.

[brimike]

To this day, I don't really understand what Mitch being Rex's father does for future story. It's about as monumental as Talia being Carlo's daughter. It gives you a couple good episodes, and then it's like "Okay - so what?"

Maybe I'm missing the big picture, because a lot of people on here were really excited about Rex being Mitch's kid. Can someone explain to me what it gets us, story-wise, because it still just seems like a big ol' "meh" to me.

ETA: This isn't me being all I'm-right-and-you're-wrong-and-I-dare-you-to-prove-otherwise. LOL! I genuinely want to know because I'm not getting it.

[chyti]

I would like to know myself because truthfully if everyone already thinks he is all it really is a confirmation to longtime viewers that they were right. Rex's father does nothing but what maybe makes him Jess brother and then what, him being Bo's son would have meant more.

And if someone could please explain to me why would Blair finding her father be important or even exciting does it matter who her father is to the character, I keep reading how this would be a good storyline for her.

[DRW50]

Blair's father would give her new characters to interact with, which she desperately needs. This would also further explore her relationship with Addie, which I thought was the whole point of making Addie sane.

There's nothing to explore with Rex and Mitch, because they already had this story with Jessica/Mitch and that one was bad enough. Rex being Bo's son also wouldn't make a difference, because Rex is already treated as his son anyway.

I don't think any story will make Rex more interesting, or JPL more talented.

[JackPeyton]

isnt her father Asian?

[brimike]

That's kind of how I feel. I happen to like JPL more than you, Carl, but I don't understand what the reveal about his father really gets us, no matter who it is. I really don't think there's anybody they could reveal at this point that would me stand up and take notice. Rex has always been so independent as a character, it's not like he's all caught up in family ties. And it would have an emotional impact on him. The guy's pretty much been running his own life since high school. So no matter who donated the sperm that conceived him, why would it affect him?

[Vanguardian]

Hey, isn't Rex supposed to be gay? More specifically, wasn't that the original plan for JPL when they first introduced him? I think I recall hearing that. I think I remember hearing that Rex was supposed to make sexual advances towards Jen's brother (and Lindsay's son) Will Rappaport! If this was true then that was DEFINITELY dropped!

[JackPeyton]

yeah, but that changed before he even started to air, i think.