Jump to content

OLTL: Discussion for the week February 8


Recommended Posts

  • Members

There were several different Rauch eras, I think this one stood out because of Peggy O'Shea (wasn't she still there?), and because of the high level of commitment. OLTL still has a good cast but a lot of the leads are so detached. Erika really GOES FOR IT throughout this story and while it can be ludicrous at times, it can also be extremely effective, because you believe that she believes what she's doing. I think putting Viki front and center for most of Rauch's run was by far his best idea as producer. Erika can sell almost anything, and even when the writing fell down later on and it descended into a belated "Drugs bad!" type of story, she made it work. It helped that the show never treated her as a joke, or unworthy, which has been an issue starting since around 1996 or 1997.

I think the scenes in the Heaven spaceship and with Mitch are very strongly written, hackneyed, yes, but the good against evil is very effective. I think making Mitch someone who believed his own preaching was a mistake. He was far better as a huckster. The way he is now he has too much power and too much insanity. That does not work on a day to day basis. Malone screwed it up and it's what we have had since. In the long run I think his Mitch story and his making victims out of the Buchanan women have taken a very bad toll on OLTL.

I also feel that, while the 1995 story was amazing, making Victor go quite so far into the depths of evil also had a bad long term effect. The days when Victor was a slightly more grey character still packed a punch, as we see in that with Victor and Viki.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 108
  • Created
  • Last Reply
  • Members

It's been official that the Rauch era of OLTL was it's all time best.  It's true that he was only only as good as his HW, but he was great about getting rid of dead wood who didn't matter to the overall premise of the show.  If he were in charge now, there'd be no Destiny, Schyuler, Kish, Layla, Cristian or Ford.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

Not to insult either actress, but Lillian Haymen and Ellen Holly had been long squandered before Rauch got there, and were basically scenary props by the 1980s. Sadie's only starring story was the Carla reveal of 1969, the rest of the time she was a maid and occassional confidant. And Carla hadn't had a real story since 1979 with Jack Scott -- and even that was treated like a B-plot by the brass to the point where EH unofficially wrote and produced the whole thing herself, while the writers focused on Viki, Pat, Marco, Karen and the emerging Buchanan's. By the time he arrived, they were so isolated and long detached from the more central stories that their characters were dead wood at that point. The same way Carlotta and Renee are today. He was vicious in the way he drop kicked them off the show, but they had both run their course.

In the meantime, though, I wouldn't compare the likes of Scott Clifton, Brett Claywell and Shannell Edmonds to either of them. They at least had squatters rights. If Rauch came back and coldly eliminated their characters, I wouldn't blink.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

One thing I would give Rauch credit for is aside from his issues with Robin Strasser causing him to freeze Dorian out, I think he did generally know the right characters to center the show around (Viki, Tina, Clint, Cord, Asa, Max, Megan, Bo, Jake, Gabrielle, and then to a lesser degree, Michael Grande, Brenda, Renee, Sarah, etc.) I think the overall writing for OLTL was not as strong starting around 88-89 but those characters still managed to keep the show chugging for some time. These days, I feel like the overall writing is sometimes strong, but the characters the show, or Frons, or both, choose to center on are huge albatrosses and probably drive away as many viewers as they attract, if not more. Even the best written story revolving around John as hero, Jessica in peril or the Stacy baby follies is going to struggle to draw viewers, and this isn't one of them. I wish that they had managed to get the chance to just focus this story on Dorian, Blair, Charlie, Natalie, Mitch, Viki, Todd, Jessica, with some moments for Roxy, given her past with Mitch.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members
Anything has to be better. I cringed while watching Dorian convince some FBI agent of the need for Jessica's medical attention.

The problem is though the dead wood recently has been Todd's scenes. At this point he has become so unnecessary they give him the same dialogue for what is amounting to a D-minus story at best. The show needs to be refocused on characters like Viki and Dorian. But if I'm not mistaken, Todd Manning was post Rauch and given the decimation of his character, he needs to be ushered out as the biggest chunk of dead weight on the show. Something is inherently wrong when Fish is a bigger presence in Mitch's botched story versus Todd. If everything I've read is correct, would Rauch tolerate the Ambien-induced performances from TSJ?

I'm willing to get rid of any character (except Viki) if we get a better OLTL out of it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

I don't blame TSJ for seeming bored--I would too. I agree, and the shoveling of the Todd/Tea scenes in the last couple of eps has made that all the more apparent. (Todd was created under Malone/Griffith and Gottlieb in late '92 or early '93 and of course was mainly just meant to be a villain for the rape, but due to fan reaction they kept him on longer, trying to redeem him while also trying to keep him sorta a villain, etc. Roger Howarth left once under Malone already cuz he found it in such poor taste to show a rapist as a hero, but I guess money talks because he returned to the show a couple years later only to still always seem uncomfrotable, understandably, with the role--hence the final recast 7 or so years back)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

Yes, but TSJ seems bored all the time. Whether it be in scenes with his family, Tea, Blair, Marty. Surely the material is not such a burden with every single cast member? I'm sure many other cast members have been bored by their stories over the years but they still make an effort.

Howarth supposedly was promised there would be no sex scenes involving Todd, and for most of the time he was in the role, Todd did generally stay away from that type of story (he rarely touched Tea, and when he was with Blair, their relationship was usually not written as being very hot, even when they had another child together). The problem now is Todd is happy to have sexual relationships with women but all of these relationships and connections are emotionally dead. I still have no idea who came up with this story about Danielle, it is the same scene over and over and the three of them together have as much personality as a lump of coal.

Todd isn't going anywhere, so I don't know why they didn't make him a bigger part of the Mitch story. If they were afraid people would compare Todd to Mitch, that was going to happen whether he was in the story or not.

Instead a lot of the story ended up going to characters who only had limited ties to what was going on and drag most of their scenes down.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

Rauch would adore Todd. Just being a Lord alone would give him bonus points there. He'd be pushed even more front and center. However, anyone playing a B/C-list character named Banks, Williamson, Fish, Vega, Evans or Joplin would get their pink their slip under him. And truth be told, I haven't missed Todd in this Mitch storyline at all. It was a haphazard return that shouldn't have happened in the first place, and therefore I'm relieved if any character on the show who I like was kept him out of it -- despite whatever history they had with him. Let Mitch play with Stacy and Brody. I don't need Todd in that box. It's bad enough Jessica got sucked back into it. In the meantime, I'm good with power couple Todd and Tea (who're literally one of the very few reasons to bother watching the show) reaffirming their relationship, while Mitch is off in the mountains playing Pinky & The Brain with his latest cronie and calling himself the 'Messiah.'

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

They are the only reason I watch but I'm not happy with the writing for them right now and even I am about ready to check out. The rest of the show is one spoof on a soap opera. I have to say being a fan of TNT if you check out the clips on YT you will find that TNT is only on no more than 10 minutes an episode. One day on another board people were complaining about their airtime and they only logged 3:28 minutes that day. I guess if you hate them they just seem to be on forever and if you like them they are not on enough. :wacko::wacko::wacko:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

Gigi noticed something wrong with the baby so she just left in the middle of the night even though a snowstorm had just passed. The baby is premature and she took the child out in the freezing temperature when it doesnt have a coat or any clothes; just wrapped in a blanket. She is walking bc she cant drive and lets not forget she's on a mountain. Where the hell is she going to go with the baby? This makes NO sense but then again why should I be surprised?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.



×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy