ATWT: June 2010 Discussion

[Khan]

You know a hairstyle isn't working for you when Lily's "chemo wig" on Y&R looks more attractive by comparison.

[Saving ATWT]

Brad Bell was quoted as saying TelNext could no longer make money and wanted out of the TV soap business. It is pretty clear that they were trying to kill there shows: ATWT dropped from third to seventh place in one season due to the firing/recasting of seven roles plus bad writing. ATWT earned the ax. As for the other shows with bad writing, they too have earned cancellation and, maybe, if there had been more turnover, the genre would be in so much trouble. I'm sure, with the proper effort, that ATWT could have worked it's way out of last place but no party would have made enough money off the deal. It is a shame ATWT could not have held on till green screen made its way to soaps which would have lowered costs and saved the show.

Honestly, the ATWT we all liked has been gone for a long time now. I think it died somewhere back in 1999 but, whatever the case, this isn't nearly the same show it used to be.

[Jay]

AFAICR, it was Minibear's decision to replace "Connor" with "Luna" (though obviously it could have been Mickey Against Daytime Drama's choice). I think each deserves a place on a very special rung in hell, but that's just me.

[Jay]

RIP (1956-1996).

[JackPeyton]

How does that make CBS equally responsible?

[P.J.]

It's worth repeating---Colleen Zenk Pinter RAWKS. I'm not sure the V/Henry/Babs story would be worth spit if not for watching Babs being heartbreakingly human again.

[juniorz1]

And here I am, with my weekly cameo appearance as ATWT cheerleader! But first.....some criticisms....

--Parker, Parker, Parker! I swear, Liberty isn't available to him for like 2 minutes, and it's an epic catastrophe! This obsession he has with her is beyond unhealthy & it cracks me up that nobody even notices it anymore, save NuFaith (who I actually really like). It is too bad, however, that ATWT is going bye bye because they could do some creepy stuff with them years from now, when the characters are older and re-cast. ATWT 2016: Parker Snyder is the new Doug Cummings!

--The new Liberty pretty much sucks. She plays the part as far too mature and without even a hint of fun or sense of adventure. Sometimes, you don't realize how much you like an actor in a role until somebody else steps in & takes over. Such is the case with Meredith Hagner. And, kind of off topic, but did anyone else find it odd that Hagner wasn't on the Emmy ballot this year? IIRC, Marnie Schulenberg was the only actress pre-nommed in the Younger Actress category- why the snub for Hagner, who carried lots of story in 2009? Methinks ATWT had a young diva on set- paging Nelson Branco!

--For the second week in a row, Chris & Katie HAVE NO CHEMISTRY!!! When will TPTB learn that the viewers will only accept Katie in couplings we can make up fun nicknames for? I mean, we've gone from Skatie to Matie to Bratie to......Chratie? Katris? Kastopher? Blech!

Ok, enough negativity, onto the good stuff, which there is much of...

--ITA with whoever said it was a brave choice on the writers' part to have Meg steal the methodone to set up Emily. But is Meg faking these episodes? Is she really hooked on methadone (which is kind of implausible, considering methadone is only useful to opiate addicts- it doesn't give you any sort of high)? Is she really mental but got the idea from Barbara to drug herself to make it look like it's the drugs causing it? For the first time in a long time, I have NO IDEA what the answers to any of these questions are, which is so refreshing as a soap fan. It's nice to just have to go along for the ride with the writers for once & not be able to figure out what is actually happening in a story months before it happens.

--SO HAPPY that Paul & Emily are a couple & that Meg is the spoiler. MUCH better than it would be the other way around. Finally, the writers got it right- Howarth & Menighan Hensley have TONS of chemistry, so they utilize it. What a novel concept!

--Lucinda is cracking my sh!t up. Watching her run around that police station was so much fun. Anyone else think she taped Craig threatening her on Tuesday? That's the impression I got.....but I could be wrong. ATWT is anything but predictable lately.

--I don't believe it, but Luke & Noah are actually in a storyline that isn't cringe-worthy! Who'd have thunk it? And as much as I like Reid, I thought it was great that Noah got to point out all the shady things he's been doing & then popped him one! And guess what? The weak acting link in this triangle......is Hansis! Sheffer Stevens is a find & IMO, Silbermann has finally come out of his shell & is NAILING it!

--Lily is completely self righteous and self absorbed, as she always has been. Here's hoping she ends up alone!

--Good for Carly for calling Jack on his willingness to cover up for Molly but not Parker. I'm sorry, but him going along with the "disappearance" of that disc is the equivalent of Carly breaking the angel. Actually, it's worse, because, let's face it- Molly committed cold blooded murder.....She shot a guy that was tied up because he called her a "whore." Parker simply punched a guy who helped steal his ENTIRE TRUSTFUND, having no idea that someone was going to torch the building he left Gabriel in. As much as I cringed when Carly said it, I think I'm with Dusty- she was absolutely right to say that to Jack about killing Brad. He did kill his own brother and he hasn't changed one bit!

That's it for now- will be back the next time I have computer access!

Oh, and PS- Colleen Zenk Pinter does ROCK! Thanks for sharing that PJ, makes me even more excited to watch today's episode, knowing that it prompted that statement out of you.

[Soapsuds]

-

Talk about coma inducing! They have zero chemistry. They are dull as dirt. Chris is just so boring! He doesn't even come off as Bob and Kim's son. He comes off as a brand new useless character.

Vee and Henry are boring as s h i t! Poor CZP stuck in this boring storyline. I prefer her in the Meg/Paul/Emiloon mess. Although that storyline stinks too. Why hasnt anyone looked at the survillance cameras to see who was in and out of the medicine room the day the drugs were stolen?? The Meg story is just insane and stupid. Meg has lost all her marbles. I hate what has become of Meg.. It's such a shame. Marland would have never done this to poor Meg.

[juniorz1]

Of all the actors I've seen play Chris, he's BY FAR the worst! Why couldn't they save some freaking money & bring back Dylan Bruce? I LOVED HIM- and no, not just that smokin body, but I actually thought he had some charisma & had they kept him, could have made Chris a viable character. For the first time!

I agree that Vienna/Henry are usually boring, but Barbara/Henry aren't, and they're the rooting couple IMO. I adore them together & CZP is giving the performance of a lifetime. I like her in the Meg story too, but I disagree with you there- I'm thoroughly entertained by that one. While I agree that I'm not too sure about what they've done to Meg, what's really going on here as yet to be revealed, so I'm taking a wait and see approach. She may not actually loon, but rather, NutMeg part deux. At least the character has layers & flaws again, like she did when she first came on. And like the storyline or not, Marie Wilson is easily one of the most entertaining performers on ATWT ever since the Damian story. That says A LOT, considering how boring they made her during her years with Paul.

[Soapsuds]

IMO..Allan White was the worst Chris but this one isnt far behind. I am so bored with the Katie and Chris scenes. How can Katie be in love again when Brad just died. It obvious Jean and Chris's pet is Katie. They keep writing for her even when there is no story there.

Henry and Babs give me an ick factor as a couple. I never expected her to end up with Henry at the end of the show. What a waste!! Henry is as gay as a picnic basket.

Under Marland ..Meg was never crazy. She was a coniving and a b i t ch!! But she was never crazy. There's a difference between the layers and flaws Marland gave her to this crap Goutman and Pissy wrote.

[P.J.]

Hey, juniorz1...good to see you post! At times I feel like a broken record praising Barbara/CZP to the skies, but after years of her being gutted by Sheffer and Pissy, Babs is finally coming back around to the character I remember loving. Bitch with a dash of nice. Today marked one of the nicest scene she and Roger Howarth have ever had as mother and son on the show.

I don't completely buy "NutMeg"---but at least it's not the same Meg-the-Doormat story.

While the Carjack story drives me nuts, I do have to defend Jack a bit. He truly doesn't know Holden and Molly lied to him and the police. Carly knows because Molly told her. Holden lied his azz off to Jack.

OY...nuLibby simply sucks. I'd always (I think) appreciated Meredith Hagner's take on Libby even if I grew exasperated with Libby's on-again/off-again feelings for Parker. But what's-her-face just has NO personality in the role whatsoever.

I love Danny Cosgrove so much---it's tough seeing him flounder in this ill-defined role. I think TIIC are trying too hard to make him "goofy" and "Brad-if-he'd-been-a-doctor". IA completely that Katie and Chris have NO chemistry---heck, they make Ali and Casey look like the shizz.

[Actor87]

I could NOT have said it better myself!!!

THANK YOU!! I was beginning to think I was the only one noticing it.

In the 90's, it would have been a "definite". In the 00's, it would've been a "maybe". Now? No, TPTB would never even consider something like that. (I thought the same thing about...."hmmm, I wonder if she has video surveillance in her office" the other day.)

Did anyone else notice how *ahem* "floppy" Vienna was on Wednesday's show?

Emily called Barbara out for having all the drugging history. "She drugged me...remember?" WOAH! Hold up! Is Emily referring to the hypnosis/drugging storyline from a few years back? Because I thought that storyline was dropped before anyone could figure out that both Rosanna and Barbara were using Emily as their own personal evildoing puppet..... Or am I wrong??

And for the record: Meg is not a very good hider. I can't count how many times Emily and/or Paul could've easily turned around and spotted her. And whil we're on the subject of Meg: I really think TPTB didn't know what to do with her character. When she was brought back, I think there were enough trouble-makers, so they paired her with Dusty and tried to make her the "reformed girl".... then, when her and Paul came together, they saw an opportunity to make her a little more colorful... and then it just went downhill from there. Which sucks. Because the character, and the actress, have so much potential.

Casey & Ali seem to have a lot more chemistry, this time around. Or am I the only loser than thinks that? (I still think Jessica Dunphy's "Alison" and Jesse Soffer's "Will" would've made a great romantic pairing....but alas, that ship has sailed.)

[dragonflies]

People can say it over and over that Henry is gay, doesn't make it any more true

Co-sign

[Ann_SS]

I got whiplash from today's Reid and Luke scenes. When did Reid and Luke decide to become a couple and make a go of it? They appear once a week. Yet Goutman and JP can't pay attention to their scenes so they make sense. Also, why write Bob so out of character to create conflict for Reid and Luke. Mona could have turned out to be a bigot forcing Bob and Reid to plot against her. And why is Bob trying the sell the hospital and not members of the board who actually own it like Lucinda? THIS is why I'm not crying for ATWT.

[P.J.]

Barbara was using Emily to gaslight Rosanna so that Will would be sent back to live with Hal (where Babs was living). James forced Rosanna to say she was drugging herself to get Barbara out of jail. But I guess I don't know if the truth was ever revealed or if it's one of those open secrets that everyone knows, but couldn't be proven legally (like Craig blackmailing Katie into that alibi by framing Brad.)

The mistake I caught was Barbara saying that Emily shot Paul in a jealous snit over Meg. That wasn't the case at all. Em shot Paul because Jennifer had talked him into not marrying her as penance for his role in the babyswitch. It was Meg tending Paul's wounds from the gunshot that started their relationship.

And no, Meg isn't a good hider. Every time someone enters her room, she simply hides it behind her back like a child, then shoves it behind her pillow. If ONLY Paul had been smart enough to have the bottle tested for fingerprints, he would have found out neither Emily's or Barbara's prints were on it.