Members Scotty Posted May 25, 2009 Members Share Posted May 25, 2009 Discussion for the week May 25 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members detroitpiston Posted May 25, 2009 Members Share Posted May 25, 2009 Hoping for a good week. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrator Toups Posted May 25, 2009 Administrator Share Posted May 25, 2009 Last week's episodes felt a little bit like pre-strike Carlivati episodes where stories connected and the show felt like an ensemble. I really enjoyed it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members oltl1 Posted May 25, 2009 Members Share Posted May 25, 2009 I totally agree Toups. Stories started to connect and for the most part the dialog was sharp especially the Tea and Blair scenes. The other thing I noticed that reminded me of Carlivati's OLTL was that each episode featured a lot of characters. I've always appreciated that RC tries to remember that Llanview is a community and that, just like in real life, people come in and out of our lives in varying intensities playing either major or supporting roles. For example, when Jessica/ Bess left with Chloe. In the middle of the episode Clint called Bo, who then rushed right over. Normally on soaps, IMO, major characters are featured from the start of an episode and play to the end. It's nice to see that the character connections are remembered and that the beats are played out. Hopefully this show has turned a corner. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DeliaIrisFan Posted May 25, 2009 Members Share Posted May 25, 2009 I agree. This is why I don't want Carlivati going anywhere. I hope the ratings go up for this past week (as much as they go up for any soap anymore) and maybe they can keep up the momentum for a little while, and that he will hopefully be out of the woods for a little while in this pointless, ongoing game of behind-the-scenes musical chairs. He has surely proven that he can repeatedly taken a mish-mash of stories that are a mess and turned out exciting climaxes (whether they were someone else's messes, like what he did with the Bonjour story when he first took over and Nash's death after the writer strike, or messes that happened on his watch, like in November with Todd/Marty and Jessica's DID relapse and now all of the dreck that was happening this spring). I don't believe for a second that much of what happened these past few months was what he would have chosen to have happen; it wreaked of network interference. And I'm perfectly happy to more or less tune out when the show gets bad and tune back in when it seems like interesting things are starting to happen with characters I care about. None of these shows are consistently good anymore, and a lot of writers still play the dénouements like in the old days when the stories had a logical arc that was the result of a unified vision of someone from the beginning (or they never knew how to write intelligent stories to begin with). Whereas OLTL just seems to be going for broke this month - bringing all of these stories to a head that I could have cared less about in and of themselves and letting them intersect and have a ripple effect and make me pretty excited about what will happen next. We didn't even have time to go back to Ray and Dorian and Langston this week, because so much else was going down and so little real time has actually elapsed! I don't really like soaps to rely on violence and over-the-top crises, but the days of 5-minute scenes with characters actually talking are gone, and I don't see how that format could ever really work unless the stories and characters are more well-developed than they can ever be when they're constantly being retooled in response to each new market research survey that comes in. So bring on the explosions and the attempted murders, as long as it's OLTL style - when you know Viki will eventually have her say on all of the shenanigans and Dorian can still have a hot love scene with a daytime star in his own right and there's some humor to balance out all of the darkness. The real test, though, will be this week now that it looks like Stacey and her story will be drawn into the baby switch story. We'll see how that goes... Maybe it will lead to some scenes for Roxy, at least, since the lab tech frat boy also has dirt on her that he can use. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members dm. Posted May 25, 2009 Members Share Posted May 25, 2009 If it's getting better it means Fronsie took a week off and actually let Carlivati do his job without interfering. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members rhinohide Posted May 25, 2009 Members Share Posted May 25, 2009 Was it a light Gigi/Rex/Stacy week? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Bright Eyes Posted May 25, 2009 Members Share Posted May 25, 2009 Yes, in fact, it was! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members oltl1 Posted May 25, 2009 Members Share Posted May 25, 2009 If I remember correctly, they were in 2 episodes all week, with emphasis on Jess/Bess and the Baby Switch story lines. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members rhinohide Posted May 25, 2009 Members Share Posted May 25, 2009 There you have it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Marc Posted May 25, 2009 Members Share Posted May 25, 2009 I think Carlivati is still bogged down with way too many newbies, recurring/dayplayer characters, stunt returns, and kids. I won't give his OLTL credit until I see a severe cutback on all four of those items. I have no interest in Kyle, Stacy, Fish, plotpoint Spring Fling rapists who haven't been on in 15 years, and Starr/Cole/Langston/Markko. Backburner/write out some of that tripe and put the focus back on the characters I know and care about, then maybe I'll give him credit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members tina m Posted May 25, 2009 Members Share Posted May 25, 2009 Should be a good week, haven't read the spoilers in depth but Jess/Tess/Bess/whoever is on the run with the baby XD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DRW50 Posted May 25, 2009 Members Share Posted May 25, 2009 Excluding Stacy and Gigi, I think newbies are the least of OLTL's problems right now. Sadly I actually care more about Fish and Kyle than I do about longtime characters like Todd or Marty. The writing for them has been terrible, and TSJ plays Todd in such a laid-back manner that the constant atrocities piled on him and his family seem even more ridiculous, because he never reacts. All the time spent with Todd and Marty bonding over him helping her get her memory back by recalling the gang rape he created, the idea from the writing that this somehow made them pals now, the endless shrieking and moaning from Tea and Tea browbeating Blair into admitting she still loves Todd, Rebecca's pointless return...I thought it was a huge mess. The baby secret was better done, probably because most of the people in the story are more consistent and easier to care about, but I hope we're going to veer past the predictable weeks of everyone yelling at Natalie and Jared. Just have Viki put on a nun's habit, whack their knuckles, and then forgive them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members leevo64 Posted May 25, 2009 Members Share Posted May 25, 2009 I don't think Marty and Todd can be considered "pals." I think they've made peace with each other (for the 900th time) and are now focusing on their children's well being. Hopefully Marty can finally have a story not connected to the rape now. I agree about the baby switch being much smoother and fun to watch. I have a feeling the Jared/Natalie stuff is coming up once everyone has a chance to breathe, but I can't wait for Viki taking charge of the situation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DRW50 Posted May 26, 2009 Members Share Posted May 26, 2009 If Marty ever has a story which isn't about Todd or about John, then the show will definitely turned a corner. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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