OLTL: Discussion for the week December 28

[DRW50]

I agree with you that there's no real reason why Tea, or any woman, would want Todd at this point. I suppose if he moved to a new town and changed his identity, he might get a woman, as he seems very nondescript these days. He could just go work at the local Cracker Barrel and the only time he gets angry is if someone sits in the rocker too long.

Other than continuing to want Todd, I think Tea is written about the same as always and the show seems to adore her. Marty and Blair both seem superfluous, and I won't be surprised if they are gone at this time next year, if OLTL is still on then.

[SFK]

Honestly, I don't remember much being said about him around here, his gratuitous bathing in the barn scene notwithstanding. But I certainly do remember Nellie Branco asking why OLTL wasn't jumping at the chance to give this "super talented" guy a contract.

[Vee]

I'll reserve judgment since Daphne and Tika can act.

Ol' Ford got a lot of attention from fans online and in print with that whole bucketgate thing in the fall. I dunno who decided to bring him back but he did get a fan response. I don't care about the story, though, or rather, I only care about it in terms of potentially providing good material for BU and JT - which they've yet to have, or haven't had in a long time. Ford is a rootless character; someone with more ties or a better hook should be playing his role in their lives.

Re: Asian characters, I've wanted them to add some for years. Still do. But it's a little late to bring back Mia Korf. Fans would riot, as well.

[DeeeDee]

They can.

That won't stop TPTB from giving them substandard stories, meager airtime & getting rid of them while Blair, Marty,

, Tea, Nat, Jess & Gigi are around.

[MichaelGL]

Ford's sudden return is kinda fishy, I wouldn't be surprised if he turned out to be connected to Mitch somehow, perhaps a follower.

[Jennyboom]

I'm glad OLTL had a love scene for them and does not treat Kish like a dirty little secret the way ATWT does for Nuke, but I could not get behind this. It was a cliche ridden and cheesy with the candles and the cheesy background music. They aren't women. I want a love scene for Nuke on ATWT, but not like that. OLTL is just so lucky that the American Family Association did not make a big stink about these scenes as they did when Nuke "open mouthed" kissed. They had all their crazy followers spam the ATWT phone lines. It probably helps that RC is gay and that ABC was foaming at the mouth to do a gay couple since the Nuke fans got national attention to complain about the kiss ban.

[bellcurve]

I'm sorry, but what was it supposed to be? Were they supposed to just rip each other's clothes off and just ride each other doggy? Go to a gloryhole or bathhouse?

It's a daytime drama, not a Falcon Film. I thought it was tastefully done and well-executed and I'm not even really a fan of OLTL.

Also, what is with this "They aren't women" nonsense? Are you implying that women want to be treated like delicate flowers in the bedroom as well? That was incredibly sexist of you.

[DRW50]

The main difference with the shows is ATWT actively courted publicity for Nuke early on. OLTL never has with Kish. That's one of the reasons less attention is paid.

We're not going to get aggressive sex between men on network TV; most of the time we get no sex at all. I thought what we got was sweet and nice, and appropriate for the characters.

[All My Shadows]

And definitely one of the reasons why OLTL seems more organic with their gay characters (well...Kyle and Oliver and Nick...I won't speak for the Amelia/Delphina/Dorian nonsense). Instead of each thing in their storyline being treated like "OMG OMG OMG This is the greatest thing that's ever happened to gays in daytime," it's being treated like a normal story, not the "gay story."

I know not many will agree with this, but I hope that OLTL with Kyle/Oliver is considered the real turning point for gays in daytime and that ATWT and Nuke become just a footnote, on the same page as Billy Douglas and Lynn Carson. OLTL's made some major missteps with this story (the main two, IMO, are how they basically disregarded both characters' prior storylines and the whole Nick/Kyle angle), but on the whole, they've done more for the cause than Nuke ever did. I won't discount Nuke for the things that they did achieve -- a young member of a major family coming out and entering a long-term relationship, showing the two in a long-term relationship, and tossing them their fair share of crappy stories every once and a while -- but Kyle/Oliver just fulfills a lot more, and these are two former day players that have slowly went from tertiary characters to secondary characters. I don't buy this whole "There'd be no Kish without Nuke" stuff either. ABC is ABC. CBS is CBS. ABC and Agnes's shows have rarely shied away from something like this before, so I think that with or without Nuke, OLTL would have tried something like this, and they would be getting all of the praise ATWT's gotten.

For real. It would have been totally out of nowhere for them to have QAF-style sex.

[DRW50]

When ABC or Agnes shows have had same-sex couples, especially if they are men, they were usually limited to hugs or back-patting.

I do think that ATWT breaking the ice probably helped Frons be less skittish. It was only 3 or 4 years ago on OLTL that gay men could only have a relationship if they were short term characters, or if one of them was a serial killer, and none of them ever went beyond a hug.

[Jennyboom]

I'm not expecting QAF anything here. I was just saying I thought the candles and cheesy background music were cliche and could do without that stuff. Other than that, I did think it was tastefully done.

And I agree with others that ATWT just used Luke and Noah for publicity, without giving them any airtime or substantial material. Luke and Noah recently had only 4 appearances in two months! In December, they put them on the air only for the Christmas episode for 3 minutes and did not give them any Christmassy feel good moments. Plus will only get 3 appearances in January.

It seems that OLTL and RC is much more invested in Kyle and Fish than ATWT with Luke and Noah. If Luke and Noah had writers that gave a crap about them, I'm sure Luke and Noah would have been able to break more ground than they did. As it it, they are only given token appearances here and there. One of the characters went blind, so the writers could give them a meaty story. They just refuse to and that makes all the difference between ATWT and OLTL. It doesn't help that ATWT caved to American Family Association pressure to keep Luke and Noah off the air. I'm really glad this hasn't affected OLTL.

[Khan]

To get it where?! LOL!!!

[Khan]

A. MEN.

[Vee]

That sex scene was a typical love scene on ABCD today, which is the most you could ever ask for in terms of equality. I wasn't going to ask for penetration or Kyle or Oliver riding the pony to the dulcet strains of Ginuwine. If anything, what this has done is pave the way for more and hotter scenes between men in soaps' future - if soaps have a future. And really, the daily, commonplace intimacy Fish and Kyle show each other is as tender and sexy as any other couple on the show with chemistry.

[Khan]

Exactly.

What is the point here is that - at last - we, the LGBT community, finally got something out of Kish that heterosexual soap fans have taken for granted: a cheesy-as-hell lovemaking montage, complete w/ candles, soft-rock music, and horrendous dialogue ("Is it always going to be like this?", indeed). Hallelujah!