AMC: Frons Courting McTavish?

[EricMontreal22]

Passanante--her era (solo) at AMC was IMHO the all time worst. Which says something.

Hahah see maybe that's why I don't find it so bad--I know most of these commercials and think they're being handled alright...

[EricMontreal22]

Well that's partly cuz 2003-2004 in hindsight were pretty good lol. Try saying that for the last two years of her show (wasn't that when it was kinda revealed she was working from the soap bible fo a soap she was working on called Purgatory or something?)

I actually think AMC character wise is still pretty recognizable--I mean someone returning to OLTL from ten years back would have at least the same problem, wouldn't they?

[Vee]

I think when we have to strategize in advance and build a timeline of exactly how long within a 6-9 month span it will take a known writer to go completely to [!@#$%^&*] and rape or otherwise molest a central character to drive story, then perhaps it's time to simply not hire the writer again and look elsewhere.

Megan McTavish knows AMC inside and out but this has never, ever stopped her from absolutely wrecking it several times over, which is how she went from being Agnes Nixon's protege to, allegedly, not one of Agnes' favorite people. She is simply not good, and this has been proven repeatedly at other shows as well as during less network-hands-on ABC regimes than that of Brian Frons. The only worse choices I can think of are Jean Passanante and Chuck Pratt, and also one more time, Jean Passanante.

Let's stop shining up the reputation of a woman whose excesses and horrible lapses in talent were only mitigated in the early-mid '90s by the presence of many other more competent, tasteful and talented women, who then left the show and allowed Megan to give us the Camille Hawkins Affair, among other stories.

Megan opened her last stint on the show by having David attempt to poison and murder the entire Martin family at a Fourth of July picnic. Then she raped Bianca, which made me quit watching for years. Then she did the un-abortion. Then she killed Dixie, in a seemingly final way, out of spite for how Cady McClain critiqued the storyline. Any love she has for this show, and I do believe she has some, any sense of its history, any rudimentary talent the woman has is so tainted and compromised by her utter lack of taste, common sense and good judgment for character and story that all else is nullified.

If you want to know who Megan McTavish the writer is, don't look at her rep as #1 AMC Fangirl - look at her work on shows she has not worked on half her life with her hand held. Look at what she did at GL, OLTL and especially GH. Then look again at Dixie and company.

[DRW50]

I agree with you, but I did really really like a few of her stories in her later run (Stuart/Marian, Opal and Adrian). I didn't "like" the stuff she did to Bianca but in terms of story it was powerful, and while it was horribly offensive and degrading, at least it did not make the rapist a sympathetic character, which is what today's soaps give us, and it was told from the point of view of a woman and the other women in her life.

I would love to see a different writer on AMC, and honestly I don't even think she *will* be back, I think this is all just speculation, but I think that with help then some of her work, at least in the short term, might be enough, and then if she starts to go off again then if anyone at ABC has any sense (which they may, considering they got rid of Pratt), she will be replaced.

I also can't help feeling that a talented writer alone might not be able to work with Frons or whoever in figuring out where to go with AMC, as both Lorraine Broderick (who is generally a better writer than McTavish) and Swajeski/Kriezman and B&E (who have had their moments, especially Swajeski at AW) didn't seem to be able to do much for ratings.

[Vee]

I don't think AMC has the time left to play trial and error with Megan McTavish.

There are talented people they could hire to turn it around but won't due to Frons's control issues. Rumor has it absolutely no one wants the job due to that and the fact that the program now has the stink of death on it. And while I don't think that much of them or the show at present, I do think Kreizman and Swajeski are fairly hamstrung as well. This is never more evident than in the Ryan/Greenlee/Madison/David stuff. Rebecca Budig wanted David/Greenlee; instead, she has this. Greenlee is being portrayed as a heavy again opposite Madison, but inevitably the Frons push will kick in again and somehow Madison will be vilified to prop the "supercouple." The reality is that couple is ruining both characters and I have absolutely no idea what else Ryan could do on this show, or why characters like Marissa still exist, among other issues.

And yes, it must again be said that the recurring misuse of up and coming black actors - specifically, Cornelius Smith, Yaya DaCosta (who played Angie and Jacob's daughter Cassandra) and Shannon Kane - is criminal. These people have all turned out to be incredibly talented, but no way could AMC buy Yaya back after dumping her unceremoniously for a tired-ass Jesse The Deadbeat Bigamist storyline straight out of a 3-part episode of Good Times, now that she is getting movie roles and notice in stuff like The Kids Are Alright, where despite appearing buck naked getting porked by Mark Ruffalo she still had more screen presence and charisma than half of AMC's current youth cast or that excitable tranny playing Colby. And we've seen what happened to Shannon Kane. And the only reason, the only reason Cornelius Smith is not a leading man on this show is because he is black. It's ridiculous. Meanwhile, Denise Vasi continues to waste a character who could have been huge given her story background. Why has she not been recast? But now I'm just rambling.

[EricMontreal22]

I agree with lots of that, although I think it should be pointed out that very few people online liked Yaya much at all--all she really did was whine. Yeah she's shown a lot more talent since then, but...

[DRW50]

Speaking creatively, I agree that they shouldn't hire someone who will be out of control. Unfortunately it seems like when they try to have someone who isn't out of control, the ratings sink. I think that AMC sort of is in the position where they may almost have to play trial and error. They did with Pratt - I thought he gutted the show, and I was very disgusted by his work, but he got ratings up - and they might not be able to stay around without that type of shock value. I think it's because when you don't have shock value and trashy, degrading writing, the hollowness of much of the canvas is all you can focus on. That's one of the reasons it's such a huge loss that AMC decided to move away from fun and strange characters, because these types of characters helped brighten up AMC and draw viewers to it who didn't care about young angst-ridden love.

I think Greenlee has always been an entitled, unpleasant and incredibly vacuous character through many writing regimes, and pre-Frons, so I can't say she's being ruined, but people did seem to enjoy her more with David. To me you can't really do anything with Greenlee, Ryan, or, in recent years, Kendall, as a leading character, and I don't know what can fix that. The show hasn't built of much of anyone to take over any slack.

[quartermainefan]

Ohhh, she is the one who killed Dixie with pancakes? Ok, I don't think any further analysis of this woman is needed. She has no business writing the show. I guess that was her "Frankie Frame" moment.

[Vee]

I think you can still do plenty with Greenlee and Kendall. The problem is Frons and ABC only want very specific things for them, especially Greenlee who he will apparently only consider with Ryan. Greens shines as the bitch on wheels, this recent material proves that, yet she is forced into a heroine role. The David/Greenlee pairing could've terrorized the town for ages, and still could. Kendall can always find a new love interest so long as it's not forced.

And now, more rambling. The show is so fixed on Greenlee, Ryan, etc. that it has built no next generation. As bad as the teen and youth scene on OLTL is with its overexposure and it is terrible, it's an actual, identifiable group made up of either duds or genuinely talented, long-running young people, as opposed to AMC's constantly ephemeral youth set. The only consistent character who's constantly around is Colby who is completely inconsistent, constantly recast with no personality, simply there because ABC thinks she needs to be there. Petey was apparently not good enough to keep around. Asher is too new, Damon was wasted. Jamie is gone, as are Sam and Maddie. What else? If Budig, Minshew and even Mathison quit tomorrow this show would be lost without a focus that ABC would find acceptable, and while Morgan, Lucci, etc. are all wonderful and underutilized they are not the next generation.

[quartermainefan]

If they had a more likable actor, Jake Martin would be a candidate. That guy they got now is a total blah I find.

[DRW50]

I think Greenlee could work in that role, but generally they have always shied away from that with her because she's supposed to be poor little girl lost and so on. This started back around 2000 and always seems to be there.

RPG is awful in this role, and so slovenly and hammy - the epitome of bad ABC leading men. I thought Budig and J. Eddie Peck worked very well together.

[Vee]

I actually think RPG works as Jake, in theory. It's most of his stories that have been terrible, right from the start with Pratt. It's crap after crap as thy try to sell him as a Fronsian leading man with angst and a lot of macho crap, which Jake just isn't. Irreverent, perhaps, somewhat straightforward and cut and dried, as J. Eddie Peck's Jake was before he became intolerable, but when they try to make him into a John or Zach type, threatening David, it's just hilarious to watch and sheer camp. I can easily see RPG's Jake with Greenlee, or continuing with Amanda or with whoever else, but the stories have been wretched since he began.

I also think they should finally bring Tim Dillon back, something which has been attempted and aborted multiple times. That would shore up the Dillons and offset whatever is going on with Chrishell Stause, and I would echo some other people in giving Amanda and Tim a storyline dealing with their mother in a serious way - what happened to Janet, as opposed to just using Kate Collins for slapstick.

I do think that if they are going to insist on the insane premise of playing a Chandler vs. Cortlandt storyline in which Caleb fulfills his age-old vendetta against Adam without Adam being around, then both Canary and Barr and especially Julia Barr need to be appearing on a recurring basis to shore that up. Brooke can act as Adam's emissary. Doing this also allows them to bring back Laura, who I still think is a viable love interest for Bianca going forward. I don't have a problem with Caleb or Asher or the Cortlandt revival as an idea, but it is too much to hang on two newbies however talented. You also need Petey, maybe Nina on recurring, maybe the other son of hers or Bobby returning as a ne'er-do-well again. And of course, the show needs Dixie to shore up the Martins.

I think Lindsey Hartley, shockingly, shows a lot of promise. If they use her right I think her character could help build up more viable leads other than Greenlee and Kendall, similar to how unconnected women swooped into DAYS and GH in the '70s and '80s and dominated the show - I'm thinking of Susan Flannery or Denise Alexander or Deidre Hall, playing professional women. I also think Jamie Luner could do a lot more despite terrible beginnings. They're also going to have to really commit to Annie instead of screwing with her to prop other people, and recast Colby once again with a known, viable female lead.

[xtr]

I wish that the writers would do more with Frankie. I think that CSJ is a talented actor and deserves good storylines and decent airtime. I originally didn't mind the idea of him and Randi, but I don't think she's a strong actor or that they really have chemistry, I thought him and Randi should have ended. But it looks like the writers might end up keeping him with Randi indefinitely. If so I'm not sure if he will ever really have much of a storyline.

I could think of a way where even if he stayed with Randi for like a while longer, they could give him (and also Randi) more a storyline. It would involve them giving Randi some family. We don't know a whole lot about her family, I think there is room there to create a storyline using one/some of them.

They could give her a younger sister. It could be someone who also grew up in foster care, but who ended up having a better life than Randi did, one reason because she had good foster parents. They could make her a few years younger than Randi (like 22 or 23), and could have her be a college graduate who comes to town to pursue her Master's Degree at PVU. She could be trying to get an MBA and plans to end up working at some place like Chandler Enterprises or Courtland. This sister (hopefully played by a decent actress), could end up meeting Frankie one day at Confusion. Maybe he could see her trying to unwind/looking tired from school work/her part time job and they start to talk.

He could joke with her about knowing how it is to be tired from school/work and offer her some advice. They could strike up a conversation and she could end up being very attracted to him. They get each other's names, but she doesn't find out that he's married yet. She could bump into him some more times around town, and talk/connect with him some more. She still doesn't find out that he's married, and Frankie is just being friendly, because he's impressed by the ambitious young lady.

Randi's sister could tell a friend of hers about how she's met a man that she likes, but she doesn't really know if he's taken or not. She plans to try and ask Frankie out if she sees him again. She does see him again,but finds out that he's married. She ends up finding out that he's married to her sister, someone she knew about but never really knew, because they were separated when they were very little.

Frankie could be happy that Randi has found her sister, and the women could attempt to get to know each other better. But Randi's sister is still very much attracted to Frankie and her feelings for him could interfere in her building a relationship with her sister. Plus it could end up evoking jealously in Randi, especially as she sees how Frankie and her sister connect with each other including on an intellectual level.

She could also be jealous that her sister had a better childhood than her. And then the writers could go from there. We could see if they have her sister decide to just flat out go after Frankie or if she might really struggle with her feelings and actions. And maybe end up choosing her relationship with her sister, over her attraction/maybe eventual love for Frankie.

Or the writers could just do a story where they give Randi a family member that is just flat out bad that Frankie helps her deal with.

[Pine Charles]

Well, Cady McClain will never come back if they rehire McT. We all know that. Ha

And Lorraine Broderick would probably leave because I've heard she can't stand Megan (and vice versa).

[Adam]

Even though she doesn't have any power over storyline direction, it still gives me a bit of comfort knowing Lorraine is an AHW.... if her name were to disappear from the credits whether McTavish returns or not, I would feel alot more uneasy.

I don't think Cady will return period. I can't see her doing another Ghost storyline and I can't see TPTB admitting their mistakes and retconing her death.