The Sud's Report 3/12/10

[SFK]

We were just watching an early episode where they were eating out of a Pringles can with the logo covered by tape, a few scenes later, Emma's crying watching a soap opera eating out of a Ruffles bag that's as big as her, then in an even later scene J.T., Toby, and Liberty (who I ALWAYS mistakenly call "Destiny") are fighting over several Pringles cans with the logos plain as day. Confusing product placement. In the original, the bitchy girl in high school was always eating Dipps.

[All My Shadows]

I love my DTNG too, and I'm not ashamed! Seasons three through five were the glory years for me, though some people actually like the last few seasons best out of the whole series. Go figure.

I was pissed at how The N only aired the original series in the wee hours of the morning. Only rarely would they have a little marathon of it. Now that it's TEENick, we'll never see the original there ever again.

[leahanna]

I don't believe anything Nelson says so I don't believe this partying thing, I also don't believe anyone at ABC said it also, otherwise he would have named his source. I liked Kish but there were two problems the gay marriage/election thing was too over the top, viewers myself included, were looking forward to Viki and Dorian battling it out and there was none of that so a lot of viewers were upset about that, I also think the way they portrayed people that were against gay marriage as bible holding cross clutching bigots was wrong, it was too agenda driven and biased. I also wish they would have made Kyle and Fish different character why not CJ Roberts and River Carpenter, River could have been having the coming out tale it would have affected more of the cast and they would have been connected to two core families. That being said it is not Kish's fault that the rating are bad, that lies at RC's feet, he is a horrible HW, he knows nothing of OLTL history or their characters, Jessica was not a slutty teen, Dani should be 8 not 16 and that stupid joke was not funny it was insulting and Rex and Gigi are supporting players, sidekicks, not leading players. To me it seems they dropped the Sierra story and dropped everyone in it, but I think they should have kept Kish and got rid of fan hater FF and rested JPL for a while.

[Mike_Cady fan]

I still hate that they let these actors go I <3 Fish, i think he's adorable and Kyle an dhim were just soo fun to watch..it took away from the Mitch-Madness LOL

[dragonflies]

I don't think the rapemance was as much popular as it was controversial. I don't think Todd has had a popular story in YEARS

[Adam]

I agree with you here, Todd has never for me been a character that you can consistently (if ever) root for. The character certainly has not had any appeal what so ever in some time.

[dragonflies]

We agree

I'm still waiting for it to be revealed the character TSJ is playing is Walker Lawrence who's been brainwashed by Mitch, cause he sure hasn't been written as Todd in a very, very, very long time. It's a whole new character.

[SFK]

Maybe RH's Todd put a Todd Manning microchip in TSJ's Walker's head?

[catsmeouch]

If Trevor's Todd isn't Todd, then how did his DNA match Dani's DNA when Roger's Todd was the one who slept with Tea?

[dragonflies]

DNA tests can be manipulated

[catsmeouch]

But by whom?

[DRW50]

They go to Genoa City to get their results fixed. Todd is actually Phillip Chancellor.

[Doyen]

I'm glad they're gone. I wish ABC and the soap press would quit scurrying to come up with explanatory damage control. Let the fanbots throw their tantrums. They'll either get over it, or they won't. Like I said in another thread, it's too bad that the actors lost their jobs, but I absolutely will not miss their characters at all. Fish was easily the boringest, lamest, whiniest, most indecisive, annoyingly vulnerable, "gee Wally..." character I've seen on the show in the last ten years. And quite possibly the most unbelievable cop television ever created. If he were a bit more comedic, I would swear that he was plucked from the Police Academy series. Meanwhile, Kyle took Antonio's place as OLTL's resident hypocrite and self-righteous phony. April can't get here soon enough.

That being said...

I don't think Kyle/Fish hindered the ratings, but they sure as hell didn't help. OLTL exploited them for all the extra press, and soaked them up all the nominations and awards, that they could...but in the end, none of it had any real affect on the numbers -- which was the whole point to begin with. Sponsors don't care about kudos from TV Guide online bloggers and After Elton commentators. Did some people really think that the show was going to set Kyle and Fish up to be full circle characters who, in addition to their own stories, would be solidly mixing it up with others? That they'd be fully fleshed out characters, who just happened to be gay? Come on now. I could told you nine months ago when it was announced that they were going there with this story that this was a mere publicity stunt and ratings ploy...designed to also cash in on the press that ATWT, GL and Y&R were getting for their like stories/characters at the time -- and that once the stunt apexed, it would be curtains. Truth be told, I can't imagine Kish beyond this baby plot. I mean, seriously, what would have been next? The only thing I can imagine is them becoming daytime TV's version of Mitchell and Cam...changing diapers, having quasi-quirky moments with the baby, and maybe going on play dates at the park with Cole, Starr and Hope. Please.

What keeps characters like Rex and Gigi from being "niche" like them is that they are also connected to, have a firm history with, and regularly interact (and sometimes have intermingling stories) with main characters like Bo, Natalie and Viki...which further legitimizes them to the overall audience. Kyle and Fish's inner circle consists of backburner-prone Roxy, Layla and Cristian. I get the feeling, though, that some viewers actually thought that this alliance of C-level supporting/recurring characters would somehow strengthen them all; that those Crayla/Kish double dates and Roxy mother-figure interactions would slowly escalate into something bigger and they'd all become more prominent through their interactions with each other. And from there ::: BAM ::: this great diverse utopian fantasy, that also gives viewers an alternative from John, Rex and Todd. *snicker* No. When you're best friends, and main clique, consists of characters who too can be written out at any minute (and furthermore have for years existed as being expendable seat fillers), that only makes your position on the show weaker. Instead of trying to be BFF's with Roxy, Kyle should have sought to get in good with Dorian...and rather than spilling his guts to Cristian/Layla, Fish should have tried to bump Rex out of the way so that he could be Bo's surrogate son. Same could be said for Schuyler. After leaving the carriage house following his flings with Gigi, he should have stopped by Llanfair and introduced himself to Viki. Maybe try and fill that void left by Kevin and Joey.

When you're a new character who doesn't interact with anyone important, it's only a matter of time before "mainstream" viewers decide that they don't care. That's why of all the newbies, Kim (who I hope they recast) was the only one who was on her way to becoming full circle...even though she began just as insignificantly as the others. She (or the writers) knew who to network with.

But like I said, I didn't care for Kyle or Fish to begin with, so that they never managed to cross (and are ultimately being written out) doesn't bother me at all.

[DRW50]

These connections are very tenuous and were essentially dropped as soon as OLTL felt Gigi and Rex were "stars". At one time Rex and Natalie were close, but they rarely interact now -- to me this relationship has been defined in recent years by the scenes where Natalie disappeared and Rex did not care where she was. Then, when she was found, without his help, and she went to see him, they proceeded to talk all about his problems. Bo and Rex interact briefly, only long enough for Bo to tell Rex how wonderful he is. Gigi and Viki almost never speak anymore.

The way I see it is, Rex and Gigi spent almost all of last year in scenes with people who were not tied to anyone on the main canvas. If every single character in your story has been fired, and you are the lead in this story, then you aren't all that popular. JPL and Farah both went to the soap press to complain about this story. Farah complained about fan reaction. This story was also front and center during ratings losses. Yet they aren't going anywhere? Why is Gigi worth keeping around just because she once used to know Viki?

I liked Cris/Layla/Fish/Kyle because on a show that rarely values relationships or family bonds of any kind beyond occasional scenes of, "Let's talk about your love life and how viewers need to know they are supposed to like you," they were believable friends, people who cared about each other. They were a nice oasis. And now that's gone, and what's left?

Are you enjoying any of the current stories with other characters? Given that the show has dropped or rewritten all these stories, from Brody/Jessica, to Marty's rapidly ending pregnancy, to Todd seeing Tea as his great love, someone out there must not like them. Yet none of these stories have warranted firings.

[DRW50]

The other thing is, if this is about characters who weren't tied to the canvas, I still don't understand why Rachel was fired before anyone else, since she is heavily tied to the Buchanans. They dumped her after only one bad story, a story whose failure wasn't her fault. I don't think I can ever believe Rachel is less tied to the canvas than the likes of Gigi.