GL: June Discussion

[MarkH]

I'm not saying this barbecue is great or anything (and I'm amazed at how poorly Krista Tesreau recited her lines at the end), but I find this barbecue surprisingly affecting. It was clearly a "let's get everybody together and say goodbye" event, and I found it moving.

Sara Bibel doesn't like the Philip-is-dying umbrella for these final months, but I find it very moving and effective. As Phillip lets go, and says goodbye to each thing, and savors his final day....it is the best possible metaphor.

I say all this as an outsider who doesn't watch regularly. But I thought there was an effective emotional undercurrent to this barbecue that I don't usually see on daytime. The emotions definitely felt real.

[DRW50]

The story came out of nowhere. I think it's too self-conscious. I feel like fans know GL is dying. They don't need a big metaphor. I think they would have rather seen Phillip live.

[RoseVioletDaisy]

Exactly. I think Wheeler still sees herself as some kind of visionary and for some reason thinks that killing off Phillip at the end of the show is some grand poetic metaphor for the demise of the show and that it's super clever. But it just doesn't work for several reasons.

1) It's a tired metaphor that's been, pardon the pun, to death. Not necessarily on soaps but it has been done and is thus no longer fresh enough to be revolutionary. It's also a piss poor metaphor because Guiding Light isn't passively dying of an incurable, unnamed disease like Phillip supposedly is. Guiding Light was brutally murdered by many but the main culprit is none other than Ellen Wheeler herself and the pitiful writing staff she's retained. The show was in big trouble when she came along, yes, but it was not irretrievably butchered to bits. Thanks to her, now it is. And it will apparently end in even worse shape than it is today.

2) As a soap with 72 years of history, the characters have become family for the viewers. I can see how killing Jeffrey, Mallet, Rick, and/or especially Phillip is a metaphor that parallels the show's demise. What Ellen Wheeler doesn't seem to understand is that the vast majority of viewers are far smarter than she and her writers apparently are and don't buy her shallow attempts at irony or deep meaning. The Bauer BBQ is a family reunion for the viewers as well as the characters and in a lot of ways, the final episode will be the ultimate, final reunion with this part of their family. I can't speak for anyone else but the last thing I want to do when I go to a family reunion is watch family members get shot, die of horrible diseases, end up trapped in loveless relationships, and know they'll spend the rest of their lives apart from their true loves. I don't want to tune into the final episode of the GL and see Springfield as a miserable, loveless virtual graveyard littered with the corpses of characters I've loved for years while the living go on with unhappy half-lives.

3) Phillip's death isn't occurring in a vacuum. There's an overriding theme to everything that's being set up right now from Natalia's insane pregnancy and her coldblooded abandoning of Olivia, Rick possibly dying instead of or as well as Phillip, Jeffrey McRapist dying a hero and becoming the patron saint of Springfield while the show's signature supercouple Jeva gets some slapped-together lame-ass excuse for a reunion, Mallet being killed off and maybe Dinah as well with no reunion between them either, to Company possibly blowing up, etc. If Phillip dying was the only tragic thing happening, I might be able to accept it, but in two and a half months every character is still going to be miserable, alone, paired with the wrong person, paired with the right person but for all the wrong reasons, or dead. How's that satisfying in any way? It appears that there is a deep desire here to hurt as many fans as possible as the show ends and Phillip's possible death is just one part of it.

[DRW50]

You said that better than I did, RVD. I can understand how, on paper, Phillip's death would make sense as a way to end the show, but after so much and with all the other death and depression going on, I think it's a bad idea.

Mallet's going to be killed too? They're very bloodthirsty now. They should have killed off some of these people years ago when it would have made a difference.

[RoseVioletDaisy]

The person who broke the story that Natalia was pregnant is saying that Mallet will be killed off, fairly soon.

[P.J.]

I'm not sure Phillip's death wasn't planned all along. In an interview, Rick Hearst said he was in contact with GL about reprising A-M for four to six months (before GL's cancellation was announced). I forget the exact wordage, but it sounded like it was about wrapping up old issues---and now sounds like it was to tie in to Phillip's demise.

But while today didn't overwhelm me, I did get choked up when Rick started bringing up Bert and how she "started" the Bauer BBQ tradition.

[Soapsuds]

I guess Wheeler & Co are so upset GL is cancelled that they are killing off people left and right.

[DRW50]

Very selfish. She's not killing off anyone I care deeply about, although I do respect Phillip's legacy and GA's talent. Sadly, all this sudden death and depression has made me remember, after a good 5-6 months of trying to forget and hoping for the best with GL, that many of those I loved on this show were already killed off (Maureen, Nadine), or ruined, or squandered. The show is already so hollowed out, slowly over a long period of time, that now I just feel numb.

So unless they take a hatchet to Mindy's head, have Blake shot by Rafe, or have Vanessa and Billy in a murder/suicide, I guess I just don't care anymore.

"My" GL is long gone anyway. I was hoping for a nice goodbye for the fans, old and new, especially the new ones who never got to see the true brilliance of this show. It's been sad seeing some of the pure rage from some fan groups, like Otalia fans, who genuinely did believe the best and thought this was going to go out on a high note. And I just ask myself, when was the last time I felt like that? 1993? 1997, before the "wizened old man" fiasco? 2002?

[UCLAN]

"My" GL is long gone anyway. I was hoping for a nice goodbye for the fans, old and new, especially the new ones who never got to see the true brilliance of this show. It's been sad seeing some of the pure rage from some fan groups, like Otalia fans, who genuinely did believe the best and thought this was going to go out on a high note. And I just ask myself, when was the last time I felt like that? 1993? 1997, before the "wizened old man" fiasco? 2002?

I agree with this. I had hoped for a much better ending than this. I had hoped that those who were returning could some how be woven into a storyline that encompassed the entire town. I am extremely disappointed.

[Dan]

I agree completely Carl and RVD. That's exactly how I feel. I admit though that I didn't think that the PTB would let it go out this way. It defies all sense. Yeah, I know; there wasn't much sense in it before, but oh well. Call me naive, but I don't think we are. A 72-year-old show goes off the air, you expect a huge ending. The show deserves it. The fans deserve it. The actors deserve it. We all deserve it. It's common sense. But apparently Wheelie missed the memo. She was probably too busy sobbing in a fetal position.

Agreed. The emotion should have overwhelmed me, but it didn't. But my eyes watered during the toast. Speaking of, today proved that GL somewhere, somehow has access to a piano. Yet they insist continuing to use that elevator muzak. Un-believeble.

[DRW50]

I'm glad you're still posting, Dan. I hope you can stay around some until the end of GL.

I remember you saying you were going to start taping soon. Have you started? I've thought about taping some scenes, but I really haven't found any I enjoy enough to see again. The Phillip/Rick/Ed stuff and some of the Bill/Lizzie story was good but I don't know if I'd want to see it again, it's too sad. I hope they have more of Vanessa/Billy soon.

I do like seeing James and Alan when they shoot hoops or play frisbee. It's so absurd, but humanizes Alan. Even after 15 years I still struggle to see RR's Alan as human.

When did the Bauer barbecue first begin airing? Was it the early 80s?

I also liked when Blake took some money from Phillip and he said, "It's like when we were married."

The Mindy/Billy scene was also good.

[RoseVioletDaisy]

They desperately need to resolve Billy & Vanessa's relationship. Since it's quite plain that there's no way JVD or Ross are coming back, they should put Billy & Vanessa officially together and start hooking up Blake with Matt. How insanely beautiful a couple would they be?

Alan isn't human anymore, he's a caricature of a cartoon villain. I haven't seen him as genuinely human is so many years I can't even remember. James definitely takes after his grandfather: selfish, annoying, inhuman, and a complete waste of time and space.

I loved that scene too. It reminded me of a scene back when Alan-Michael was married to Eleni and Blake held something(I can't for the life of me remember what, maybe the dummy birth control pills he was giving Eleni at the time?) over his head to get a big check out of him and A-M said that it was just like they were married again.

[DRW50]

I agree with both of these (your Alan description also fits Jonathan -- isn't he making another visit soon? Reva's story is in circles so I'll be glad for the diversion). I have a hard time getting past James defrauding countless people out of their life savings. I don't understand why they chose THAT story at this particular time to introduce a bad boy. That's not a bad boy. That's a monster. Remember when they brought Sam Spencer in and the way he bonded with Daisy/Susan was through filesharing? The story was silly, but at least Sam didn't come across like a total sociopath. Every time they say James is like a young Phillip, I don't buy it. He's much more like a young Alan.

I'm hoping they will move with Blake/Matt (i would have said Blake/Frank but there is now so much Natalia baggage, awful awful awful), and more with Billy and Vanessa. Surely they must have something planned for Billy and Vanessa, they keep dropping hints. That scene with Mindy and Billy was so sweet. One thing GL did right with the Lewises and the Shaynes was to have those strong father/daughter bonds. I thought the writing for Reva and Hawk was poor, but even then Kim and Gil moved me, especially when her tough facade broke down and she cried on his shoulder.

I liked the barbecue more than I thought I would. I didn't care for some of the clumsy anvils, and all the nonsense with Olivia being so happy happy (not in character) and ending with hysterical weeping (also not in character). The funny bit where Rick was going to hit on her reminded me of how much I miss seeing her interact with other characters. I liked seeing the games, the moments of family, and the moments between Bill/Michelle and Danny/Marina (I don't remember Danny and Marina having that much chemistry when they were together). I'm sure the Manny fans were disappointed they didn't have more scenes together, but I liked seeing them sort of float around. The scene in the Bauer kitchen with Michelle and Rick was good. This is probably the most I ever enjoyed NSA. I guess a 4 year absence helped.

When Lillian and Buzz were getting frisky at the Bauers I kept wondering if Maureen was going to send down a lightning bolt.

Do you think Leah looks like Lil Kim?

[Dan]

Yeah. I always say I want to delete my soap board accounts, but something always sucks me back in again. I'll try to stay until the finale, but then all bets are off. I'm starting to see the complete futility and absurdity of our discussions on these things. Especially the arguments. So many things are more constructive. But that's my little rant.

I haven't started taping though, nor am I watching every day, but that's because of an erratic work schedule.

I must have missed that line, lmao. BTW, I'm glad Blake played a bit of a prominent role in this episode, just as she should have been.

No thanks. I don't want that fiesty Blake with that annoyingly boring himbo. But a wedding for Vanessa and Billy is one of my main goals for the finale. I really hope (yeah I know how futile it is) that they give Phillip a few days of recovery before the finale, even ER let Noah Wyle live.

See I liked the moments too, but woof, the overall non-gelling of the show is still a major turnoff. So even the sweetest moments that they have been excelling at lately seem like filler because there just isn't anything plotwise of substance at all.

I liked exactly the amount of time Manny were on, lmao. But, I agree, the scene with Rick, Michelle, and the kids was wonderful. Michael O'Leary has always had wonderful chemistry with his siblings.

[Max]

The last couple of episodes marked the first time I have watched GL in a couple of years. And, I must say that I have been enjoying these episodes for a number of reasons. First, I really liked how GL has been emphasizing the importance of family (since I feel that that is a theme which is more closely tied in with GL than any other soap). Secondly, watching Phillip struggle with his terminal illness really adds a special sense of sadness and poignancy as GL winds down to its finale. Additionally, I like how GL has been showing characters engage in the mudane, ordinary activities of life (which gives it a realistic feeling that is certainly not found on any other soap).

However, I must say that I don't buy the Otalia relationship because it is just not believable that Olivia is gay (based upon the years that I have watched her). Furthermore, the two characters really don't have much chemistry with each other. And, if Natalia really loved Olivia, then she shouldn't have been a no-show at the Bauer BBQ.

Apart from the Olivia/Natalia relationship, the only other thing I did not like was the shameless product promotion on P&G's part. It was bad enough that when Natalia entered a convenience store, it was filled with mostly P&G products. (The few non-P&G products on display had phony names like "Pitz" and "o-p-t.") Then, at the Bauer BBQ, Remy was wearing a shirt that displayed the Tide logo. P&G really has a lot of nerve doing this because the last thing GL fans would want to see (as the show is near death) is crass commercialism. (It really feels like P&G is trying to milk every last bit of profit out of GL.) And, given how poorly P&G executives have treated their portfolio of soaps over the past fifteen years, all I can say is that I will go out of my way to avoid purchasing any product manufactured by that sleazy company.