AMC: Daytime’s Brigadoon (But What Happens Next?)

[Jonathan]

I'm surprised Marlena didn't post this herself. I think this is worth the read especially if you've been following Lorraine Broderick's work for the last 2-3 months.

Part 1

http://marlenadelacroix.com/?p=316

Part 2

http://marlenadelacroix.com/?p=318

I feel like what we're seeing on screen right now is closest to Agnes Nixon's vision of All My Children and I'm really enjoying it.

But I'm on the fence as to whether this vision is sustainable in the current daytime landscape. I feel like the daytime audience has a short attention span and in order to hold their interest, you have to provide some shock. Providing too much shock, however, leads to craptastic writing a la McTavish and Pratt. They went way overboard on more than one occasion, to the point where the characters and the show itself were so unrecognizable.

The solution would be a synergy of traditional storytelling, like Broderick's, with a tiny bit of sensationalism thrown in, keeping in mind not to go too far over the edge. The last time I saw this was actually at Greenlee and David's wedding, which was the most preposterous and enjoyable event I had watched on TV in a very long time. There was shock, but there was also good human drama. This occurred at the time when Pratt's reign was coming to an end and Broderick was tweaking his work. Pratt came up with the framework, but Broderick provided the layers. Is Broderick capable of doing this on her own? Maybe. But since Greenlee and David's wedding, it seems her main focus has been to reorganize, redefine, and set-up for the next regime, so she hasn't really delivered much oomph in her stories. She's definitely brought the heart back to the show, but is that enough to sustain and grow an audience?

[EricMontreal22]

I think, like always with Marlena, it's a really well thought out piece. I do feel she's... hrmm. Jumping the gun a bit I guess. But I hope not. (the cynic in me who knows Marlena's past with the show thinks she saw Broderick's name and gave her a bit too much credit. I LOVE Amc right now, but I wouldn't rate it above a B+--there still are some major probs, though they seem to be getting addressed one by one...)

Also, let's be honest here, Broderick has DONE sensationalism before--and not just at OLTL and ATWT, but at AMC (and not just having someone try to gun a gay on tv and get his sister, or having Santa Claus come to Pine Valley, but in the 80s too.). AMC an soaps have ALWAYS had elements of wonderful, "soapy" sensationalism, and I almost feel (and I don't think Marlena meant this) that the piece acts like decades back they were just these brilliant character pieces.

[AllMyDaysatGH]

I love what she said here about Annie...I never really looked at it that way. The way she compared Pratt's Annie, to Lorraine Broderick's was spot on. He had a more plotty approach, while Broderick is giving more depth to the character, and we are almost seeing her go through her madness, fearing it. Annie clearly is close to losing it, always being so paranoid about Brooke possibly stealing Adam away from her.

Thanks for posting, and I agree with her that AMC needs a stronger Executive Producer. Wendy Riche would be the perfect choice, I wonder what happened with that rumor awhile ago about her possibly coming back to ABC Daytime? LoL .

[EricMontreal22]

That;'s the prob, I don't think stronger EPs will ever be at ABCD under Frons.

I also think Angie was as strong under past teams--maybe Marlena didn't see--but NEVER had a story to show why.

[DRW50]

I definitely can't agree with that, but I'd much rather see praise like this heaped on Lorraine Broderick, in spite of her flaws as a headwriter, than the endless sucking up the soap press did in 2008-2009 with MAB.

[JackPeyton]

Really?

This is high up there on the list. But the best? No.

[Sylph]

It's high on the list?

[JackPeyton]

I would say so, yes. In a matter of mere episodes the show went from unwatchable to... watchable. over the course of weeks it went from that to interesting to good. Then again, its all only a matter of opinion. (But for me, this is the best this show has been since the late 90's. And no, that isnt compared to other shows, its compared to itself).

For the record, the biggest turn around, as far as im aware, is Days. No, not last year. But way back in the 60's. Bill Bell.

[R Sinclair]

The only thing I agree with:

"...remember they’ll still be working under executive producer Julie Carruthers, who’s been a yes person to Mr. Frons all along."

Other than that, another crappy column. Oops, was that slander?

[dragonflies]

Annie has depth and understanding? Annie has all the depth of a mud puddle, tis why Adam's getting sick of her

I think so too

[Darn]

No...it's still pretty horrible.

[bellcurve]

How dare you?! I'd sue.

[Khan]

Why stop at Brigadoon? Why not make the ultimate Broadway reference go all the way and compare AMC right now to Camelot?

[MichaelGL]

Well looking at the past, Broderick has always done favors for Liza's character, she obviously adores the character. This time around is no exception. The real Liza Colby is back, it sucks that it took us a year or so.

I do feel we have been given a bit more depth with Annie under Broderick compared to Pratt. The scenes where she described how much she feared losing a grip on reality with Greenlee being back to Scott were magnificent, and finally added layers to Annie's character.

I do sense, however that Lorraine is simply keeping things in a holding pattern until the new team arrives, which sucks.

[marceline]

I understand Marlena's enthusiasm - I share a lot of it - but, like Eric, I feel she's jumping the gun. This is what I've been afraid of ever since AMC has started to improve. While I DO want to see AMC get credit for its improvement, I DON'T want to see it fall victim to the same premature, overheated praise that surrounded OLTL.

I'm reminded of Eddie Murphy's joke about marriage. If you eat saltines every day for years, then a Ritz tastes like heaven. Improvement is a process and AMC has just begun that process. They still have a long way to go. For the all the good stuff like Annie getting some layers, Erica psychoanalyzing David and the sheer joy of Shannon Kane's Natalia, we're getting stuff like Tad newest kid, Brooke's spending more time nursing Adam than WORKING (I'm hopeful they just haven't built the Tempo set yet) and of course, Olympic level Ryan-propping on all levels.

Maybe it's my Battered Viewer Syndrome but I'm just not ready to declare AMC the best turnaround. I don't even want to call it a turnaround at all. It's a shift, a good one, but not one I can trust as long as Frons is calling the shots.