AMC: Tuesday, August 30, 2011

[JaneAusten]

the walking cane! He looks like a cranky old man. Again, why is he back?

Maybe LB is finally writing him as the audience has seen him for years. A sexist disgusting controlling sanctimonious douchebag. Actually thats my payoff because now everyone is seeing that suffocating ass for who he has always been.

[R Sinclair]

Okay. *shrug*

Honestly. All these excuses? "It's the baaaaaad writing." Then... "It's the lack of rehearsal time." Then... "It's ABC hates Black people!"

How many excuses can we give to people who are HIRED to do a job, yet do so HORRIBLY at it? Debbi had just as much rehearsal time as anyone else when it comes to her scenes -- yet, she digs deep and pulls out all she can. Is it over the top? Sure. But is it one hundred percent from the gut? Absolutely. When Debbi's called to play, she NEVER phones it in. This bullsht about "Oh, so and so knows the material is horrid, just like I do which is why they're PHONING IT IN" is just that -- bullsit!

If Debbi, David Canary and Susan Lucci can bring their "A" game no matter how horrid the material is, then no one should be "excused" for not bringing theirs. Debbi Morgan is a LEAD -- Darnell Williams is SUPPORTING. That's where the problem resides with these two. Darnell supports Debbi who drives the sucker home.

[Skin]

Have you seen Debbie on Charmed? That role is pure camp and brings the lawls in how bad it all is. Yes there are some performers who can truly make gold out of pure crap, however there are just as many cases where the material is so bad that the actor can only be laughed at. There were quite a few scenes where David Canary's Adam just looked like a joke when he was married to both Krystal and Annie, and David could do nothing about it but soldier on through it all. I don't think that makes him less of an actor, it just makes him a victim of poor writing. I would not at any point in time call his work good during most of his time with those characters/actresses. Material does effect performance quality, the two are not separate entities. As does being over worked.

I'm not touching that black people debate with a ten foot pole.

[JaneAusten]

I don't think there is an excuse for any actor not bringing their A game and IA Debbi definitely a lead and Darnell is not but I do think there is something to be said for the pace in daytime. I remember Ari Zucker from DAys talking about taking acting classes when she was fired. She said the pace in daytime was so fast and getting faster, she needed to improve her technique to be able to better maximize her skills to her work environment. And she was mediocre her first run but her acting improved 10 fold when she came back. Some actors are naturals and long term pros like Debbi and David Canary but many IMO are lazy and I don't think do anything take classes and such to improve themselves. Thats how you end up with people like Michael Easton or Steve Burton who put practically nothing into what they do on screen anymore.

As for David Canary I guess I will have to take your word for it Skin because I have never ever seen him underdeliver on screen and he had more than enough excuses IMO - Pratts entire tenure for Adam was one big justification.

[DeeeDee]

Yes there are some performers who can truly make gold out of pure crap, however there are just as many cases where the material is so bad that the actor can only be laughed at. There were quite a few scenes where David Canary's Adam just looked like a joke when he was married to both Krystal and Annie, and David could do nothing about it but soldier on through it all. I don't think that makes him less of an actor, it just makes him a victim of poor writing. I would not at any point in time call his work good during most of his time with those characters/actresses. Material does effect performance quality, the two are not separate entities. As does being over worked.

Exactly!

[Adam]

I may have given credence to Khan's offering of less rehearsal time playing into it, but I still think Darnell has serious problems notwithstanding that. I really think its an excuse as others have pointed out GREAT actors seem to be able to get it done regardless of the extenuating circumstances. I never thought of the supporting vs. lead angle, that makes total sense too. To me it just all boils down to Debbi is so powerful Darnell's short-comings are all the more exposed since that's who he shares scenes with the most. The scenes of his that have been lauded the most of late (i.e. when he buried the baby) he was by himself.

[Khan]

Honestly. All these excuses? "It's the baaaaaad writing." Then... "It's the lack of rehearsal time." Then... "It's ABC hates Black people!"

I never said that.

This bullshit about "Oh, so and so knows the material is horrid, just like I do which is why they're PHONING IT IN" is just that -- bullshit!

I never said that either.

I only suggested that performances from actors on soaps were more polished and more consistent when they had more time to block and rehearse with directors, who were there to separate the strong(er) acting choices from the weak. I said it; you disagreed. No big deal (hence the shrug).

[Adam]

As for David Canary I guess I will have to take your word for it Skin because I have never ever seen him underdeliver on screen and he had more than enough excuses IMO - Pratts entire tenure for Adam was one big justification.

Yeah, I never once thought that either. I think the two situations are entirely different. David Canary was given more or less sh*t to play the last few big stories he had (except the briefg reboot with Erica in the summer/fall of 08), and he always seemed to shine on through and maintained his presence.

[Skin]

As for David Canary I guess I will have to take your word for it Skin because I have never ever seen him underdeliver on screen and he had more than enough excuses IMO - Pratts entire tenure for Adam was one big justification.

Most of the time when he was paired with Eakes he just stuttered, rung his hands and mumbled under his breath while Eakes' Krystal just ran around the Chandler mansion with her conga line. I wouldn't exactly call that a brilliant delivery. That quality of his performances was tampered and hindered due to the work he was receiving. His entire run with Annie was a pure joke. When he got stronger material (when Adam found out Krystal cheated on him and her baby wasn't his, Staurt's Death, His pairing with Brooke, etc.) he got infinitely better and was the very definition of watchable. But when it was bad...it was bad. Material matters.

I may have given credence to Khan's offering of less rehearsal time playing into it, but I still think Darnell has serious problems notwithstanding that. I really think its an excuse as others have pointed out GREAT actors seem to be able to get it done regardless of the extenuating circumstances. I never thought of the supporting vs. lead angle, that makes total sense too. To me it just all boils down to Debbi is so powerful Darnell's short-comings are all the more exposed since that's who he shares scenes with the most. The scenes of his that have been lauded the most of late (i.e. when he buried the baby) he was by himself.

I actually find Darnell's technique to be passable most of the time. I feel his motivations and his choices are in the right vein of his work. He usual ends up overacting though and he does a 9 when he should be doing a 6 and it throws the entire scene out of context. If I didn't know better I would have thought he had a background in theater. He seems very much to be a theater actor in the way he performs his material. That being said of course he is outperformed by Debbie. Debbie is likely the best actress on this show.

[DeeeDee]

Some actors are naturals and long term pros like Debbi and David Canary but many IMO are lazy and I don't think do anything take classes and such to improve themselves.

Laziness/Inconsistency isn't the same as not being a Lead actor.

MEK is very inconsistent but out acts most of the cast when motivated yet he's still a Lead..

I may have given credence to Khan's offering of less rehearsal time playing into it, but I still think Darnell has serious problems notwithstanding that. I really think its an excuse as others have pointed out GREAT actors seem to be able to get it done regardless of the extenuating circumstances. I never thought of the supporting vs. lead angle, that makes total sense too. To me it just all boils down to Debbi is so powerful Darnell's short-comings are all the more exposed since that's who he shares scenes with the most. The scenes of his that have been lauded the most of late (i.e. when he buried the baby) he was by himself.

Darnell was fine until the Jesse has two families.debacle.

A story that literally made NO sense, got almost no airtime & would be difficult for even the "best" actors in Daytime.

And it's been downhill (with progressively worse writing) ever since.

[Khan]

There's a tremendous amount of mediocre acting these days on AMC -- and not just from Darnell and MEK either. But you know what I blame more than even lack of rehearsal time? I blame Julie Hanan Carruthers. Whenever morale on a set is not as high as it should be, it's up to the EP to bolster everyone's confidence. When you do that, good performances are almost guaranteed to follow. However, I don't see JHC possessing that kind of leadership. I think she is focused on the bottom line and little else...and I think it shows.

[Skin]

AMC's talent pool has been bleeding for awhile now though. When Y&R sucks up pretty much all of your former clientele and takes all of your up and comers that's saying something.

[Adam]

AMC's talent pool has been bleeding for awhile now though. When Y&R sucks up pretty much all of your former clientele and takes all of your up and comers that's saying something.

You say that as if Y&R is the gold standard. You're still stuck in 2005 I think. It still says something, but I don't think it says as much as you are suggesting, not anymore.

[JaneAusten]

AMC's talent pool has been bleeding for awhile now though. When Y&R sucks up pretty much all of your former clientele and takes all of your up and comers that's saying something.

Didn't AMC fire Billy Miller. Liz Hendrickson well I did like her Maggie over any of Bianca's other love interests. Eden Reigel I love her as Bianca but she treated AMC as her own personal money pit. She seemed to want to come and leave as she pleased. Notice AMC did not recast Bianca until Eden landed the role on Y&R.

[DRW50]

AMC's talent pool has been bleeding for awhile now though. When Y&R sucks up pretty much all of your former clientele and takes all of your up and comers that's saying something.

Oddly enough that kind of shows that AMC still had potential, given that they have all been shockingly bad on Y&R.