Members Vee Posted February 23, 2011 Members Share Posted February 23, 2011 Oh, come off it. I don't think Frank Valentini is a saint - his blind, aggressive defense of OLTL 2005 and 2006 in print put me off him for years, and I still remember him wasting money on an actual plane for the John/Todd fugitive follies. I also think the repeated passive-aggressive treatment of people they're about to fire grates. But the guy has been around since the mid-80s and the entire cast and crew seem to love him. If this was some sort of creepy Gay Mafia caricature lurking about, I think we'd know by now. And frankly no matter what show it was, I'd be offended by the false equation of "gay EP + shirtless men on a soap opera = gay creeper abusing power." Do we really think hunks on soaps have not been auditioning in various states of undress for years? Need I break out the clips of Carrie Fisher from Soapdish? That is the industry and has been for a very long time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members marceline Posted February 23, 2011 Members Share Posted February 23, 2011 I remember that because Lawson nonchalantly mentioned that he didn't normally wear underwear so he had to buy a few pair. I saw some reactions to that on the boards that stunned me. People were shocked. Shocked I tell you! The pearl clutching was hysterical. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members All My Shadows Posted February 23, 2011 Members Share Posted February 23, 2011 Since when is this reserved just for gay PTB? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members LoyaltoAMC Posted February 23, 2011 Members Share Posted February 23, 2011 Yeah, I don't think FV invented the casting couch LOL. Casting good looking guys in soaps has almost always been the rule. The only things that have changed are the criteria. Now, it's all about chiseled abs and impossibly pretty male faces. Back in the day, before weight-lifting and working out came into fashion, it was the Robert Redford types--the good looking boy next door types with average physiques. Personally, I love my male eye candy and definitely enriches my soap viewing experience. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Y&RWorldTurner Posted February 23, 2011 Members Share Posted February 23, 2011 No one claimed he invented the casting couch. It just seems like OLTL has taken the crown Passions once had by casting male talent based on looks alone. The domination by the Ford brothers and constant need to showcase male eye candy on the show seems to be as much his fault as Carlivati's. Valentini is very involved with the audition process, and we clearly saw what he favoured in the OLTL season of "I Wanna Be a Soap Star." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members quartermainefan Posted February 23, 2011 Members Share Posted February 23, 2011 Sounds perfectly legitimate to me, and if I were casting soaps that would be my main criteria too when casting hunks and heartthrobs. People can get better as actors, people can't be transformed into an Adonis. You look at someone like Austin Peck, he is the quintessential soap hunk I guess. Did it matter all these years that he wasn't Daniel Day Lewis? Days currently has Galen Gering on cast, someone who is a classic example of looks being why he got into soaps. Years have gone by, a decade even, and lo and behold the guy manages to hold up his end of the scripts. And if it turns out they can't even do that, like a Charity Rahmer, you replace them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members marceline Posted February 23, 2011 Members Share Posted February 23, 2011 Hey I'm all for eye candy. See my signature? My problem with Valentini is that he thinks everybody wants to "eat" the same candy he does. It's all candy corn. Mix it up. Give us some Hershey's kisses, some Now & Laters, a few Jelly Bellys (no pun intended) and a Snickers or two. At least AMC has a mix of guys, if FV takes over, it'll become all waxed chests and shriveled testicles. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Y&RWorldTurner Posted February 23, 2011 Members Share Posted February 23, 2011 Looks can only get you so far, a little eye candy is nice, but it won't keep me interested if the actor sucks and is given frontburner story after story. Some actors have charisma, which can disguise their lack of talent, while others survive based on their looks alone. If the actor sucks, has little charisma (which seems to be the case on most soaps these days) and has only his looks to go by, no wonder soaps appear to be in trouble these days. Not that this is the only problem they face. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members All My Shadows Posted February 23, 2011 Members Share Posted February 23, 2011 My problem with OLTL's gratuitous shirtlessness is that it's such a transparent attempt at head-turning. "OMG LOL OLTL is the gayest soap on the air LOL They care about us! They give us shirtless guys!! LOL!!!" I love me some Mark "No Drawson" Lawson, but less is more. Less is a LOT more. And you know what I mean. I miss Brandon Buddy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members SFK Posted February 23, 2011 Members Share Posted February 23, 2011 I've been on plenty of auditions where I had to take my shirt off, seen others where nudity was not required for the initial audition but for the callback, and yet I still at Y&RWorldTurner's post re: Lawson. There's just something creepy about it when it's spelled out like that. And whether it was a gay man or a straight woman heading the show, they'd both get a good ribbing from fans for the male flesh parade. There's no denying that the folks at OLTL have a thing for this. They also seem to be the most youth driven of the three ABC soaps which reminds me of the AW/SuBe thing that's been brought up. Wasn't another reason why they went with SuBe was that they felt it was a younger show that had a brighter future? I mean "brighter" is questionable, but OLTL for all of its faults does have a younger, flashier thing going on in its favor in comparison to AMC which to a crop of newer, younger fans (if such creatures really exist) may make it the bigger draw. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DeeeDee Posted February 23, 2011 Members Share Posted February 23, 2011 Or pretty much what Y&R's become. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DeeeDee Posted February 23, 2011 Members Share Posted February 23, 2011 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Y&RWorldTurner Posted February 23, 2011 Members Share Posted February 23, 2011 Kim Zimmer had her way with him? I kid, I kid.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members LoyaltoAMC Posted February 23, 2011 Members Share Posted February 23, 2011 I read something a few years back by an actor who said that women in daytime are hired for talent and looks, while the men are hired primarily for looks. I know I read this quote around the time Minshew joined AMC, because I remember thinking that that can't be true...here's this terrible and amateurish actress that AMC just hired, there's no way she was hired for any discernible talent. I still think she sucks. If they were going to hire an actress to play Erica f-ing Kane's daughter that was previously played by a talented Emmy winner, with the plan of keeping her front burner for years to come, they should've hired a much stronger actress. She is generally weak. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Marco Dane Posted February 23, 2011 Members Share Posted February 23, 2011 I think they should had recasted him instead of throwing him in jail. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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