OLTL:Why isn't more criticism directed at RC?

[DeeeDee]

You aren't the only one.

But that's the problem.

No matter how popular they are or potential they have, they are never going to make anything happen if they can't even get a portion of Gex's airtime/story unless they're subservient to their white peers.

Whether that's Frons call or Ron's it needs to be addressed.

It's surprising they haven't run a Real Kelly campaign given Gina couldn't have been cheap.

[Soapsuds]

Dont give them any ideas. Although they did run a Kelly returns promo when she first return which seems no one cared to watch.

[MichaelGL]

This is very true, there have been several stories RC has told that have been original.

[SOAPSFOREVER]

The headwriter is responsible for all aspects of writing. He or she dictates the pace of the show, based on his/her daily breakdowns for each episode. If he doesn't want 30 scenes in a show, no one is holding a gun to his head. RC makes that decision at OLTl. As for the dialogue being atrocious, while there is a script editor who's partially responsible for what gets through to air, RC as headwriter should be reading the final edited scripts before they go into the network and making additional changes if necessary. OLTL has very "clever" or "arch" dialogue. The characters don't speak as "real" people speak. It sounds written, not natural. It takes the viewer out of the moment. The real genius headwriters (Marland, Bill Bell, Irna Phillips, harding Lemay) know that. They aren't saying, "Look how clever and brilliant I am" (or how brilliant my scripts are). RC comes off this way to me. He's trying to appear hip and fresh, but so many of his stories don't resonate because they miss so many important emotional beats.

[DRW50]

There is never any major followthrough to any story. It's all stunt, stunt, followed by a shrug. From the BE takeover to Matthew's paralysis and conflict with his parents somehow becoming about the wooden Danielle.

[Khan]

Say what?

Frankly, in comparison to other soap scribes, I think it's about equal.

[Y&RWorldTurner]

I really think he'll be out of a job soon, or demoted.

There is no way I think ABC is supportive of this guy anymore.

[marceline]

Argh Danielle! I can't think of a bigger "f*** you" to the audience than Mutant D. They continually referenced that SISP was six years ago then Ron just makes Danielle a teenager because he feels like it and expects the audience to suck it up even going so far as to make a joke about it. I know soaps do stupid things but that shows such a disrespect for the audience. It's no different than Erica's unabortion and I hope Dani suffers the same fate. Does anybody need a transplant?

[Soapsuds]

Enter Jean Passsanante.

[Llantano Incorporated]

Despite all of Ron's missteps, the thing that I feel when watching OLTL is a sincere love for it by the writers and producers.

And despite my anger about the show writing off Rachel, and dismantling the sense of a "community" with all walks of life, races, and sexual preferences- (And again I am not a KISH fan) I still feel that the show is one of the best left. Which is not saying much. But my opinions of what works on OLTL are not always very mainstream. I thought the Todd/Marty "Rapemance" storyline was brilliant. As were the performances.

And when I watch Y&R, I do not feel that sense of caring about the show. You can almost feel Hogan's disdain with every line.

This IS a really strong point. But the other side of that is the fact that he cares about long term viewers and attempts- i said ATTEMPTS- to reward our loyalty.

[EricMontreal22]

It didn't make a diff with James E Reilly

[EricMontreal22]

With Nelson I think it's the humble pie thing as well--he's praised OLTL as the best for a while now, and damnit he's not gonna be wrong.

[DeeeDee]

Sometimes you are what you eat.

Even if it's your own young.

[EricMontreal22]

I agree with much of what you say about RC's era Vee, but I do agree here. In theory, I agree with you. But I just didn't think it was well done. They still haven't addressed if the gay marriages got legalized or not--Dorian dropped that, there was very little about the importance or reasoning behind it, more just the weird Nick being secretive, etc, angle, and while I found parts of the ceremony itself touching, most of it I found cartoonish. I dunno, to me it did kinda undermine what was going on with Kish at the time. Maybe if they had done it later as a seperate story I could see it more as the idealized fantasy you do.

Yeah I don't really mind the Moe/Noelle stuff--they've hardly jeopardized screen time.

I think you have, but I will agree with Leia. I do think some of the soap press have overpraised RC because he's an example of what they've been championing--someone rising from the ranks, fresh blood instead of just re-hiring McTavish or (worse) Leah Laiman.

[EricMontreal22]

I agree that we didn't need a big anti gay marriage thing at this point--I just found the story poorly executed.

Not to be too much of a grump, but you're wrong about the Vietnam war on AMC. Agnes speaks in a NYTimes article from '71 I believe about soaps going more social, and in one of her Paley videos how ABC had no probs with it but felt she had to show the other side, something she didn't really want to do. But in the end she did (granted to as small a degree as she could) via Pheobe and Charles (both actors hated spouting things they didn't believe in, the actor playign Charles in particular).

Later in 1987 in one of the Paley seminars, she addresses why she hasn't had a heavier gay storyline except the Devon lesbian one. She says shge's been trying to do one for a while but ABC wants her to strongly express the other side as well, something she said she'd refuse to do because she doesn't want any audience members sympathizing with characters who feel being gay is a choice or wrong (this is an example of what I love about Agnes' writing but I know some--like Sylph on here--hate), so she was trying to work her way around that (she does say one reason she made Cyndi the one with AIDS was to combat the view it was a gay disease.

I barely remembered the wedding--and yeah, I agree.