I just started watching GH online and within one second I saw this image

This is the most popular diner in town, on the busy commercial waterfront. There are no customers, no one works behind the counter, nothing when it comes to ambient sounds or maybe a waitress to make sure we know this is a popular greasy spoon. Nothing. It is a diner set in a ghost town.

Has anyone noticed declining production values on their soap?

I don't mind a lack of extras, but I miss the lack of a sense of community in terms of heavy character interaction. That just doesn't happen now.

The barren state of Kelly's makes me sad

Please tell me another character didn't come in and say, "Wow, this place looks crowded, I hope I can get a seat?".

Bobbie did.

JK!

It seems like it's been that way for a while. Back when Liz used to work there, there might be one person, if that, and then Tammy or Mike would tell her to take the day off.

budget took my beloved guiding light and atwt away!! on a more laughable note yeah it's funny when you see the same three people crossing the screen in a public park scene after scene after scene..... it's almost like is there anyone else visiting this place. i was watching dool a few weeks back and noticed two girls kept walking back and forth the new horton town square lol. it must be embarrassing to general hospital for their fans to notice this. my, how the once mighty has fallen!!!

With budgets as bad as they are, perhaps the remaining shows (and OLTL 2.0) should just eliminate public places and confine the drama from now on to people's living rooms, kitchens and bedrooms?

It was canceled.

budget took my beloved guiding light and atwt away!! on a more laughable note yeah it's funny when you see the same three people crossing the screen in a public park scene after scene after scene..... it's almost like is there anyone else visiting this place. i was watching dool a few weeks back and noticed two girls kept walking back and forth the new horton town square lol. it must be embarrassing to general hospital for their fans to notice this. my, how the once mighty has fallen!!!

I think bad writing is what killed GL and ATWT. Budget didn't help, but both shows started out with miniscule budgets. At the end, one of the best ATWT episodes in years - Bob and Kim getting married again - was filmed in one or two rooms, at most.

The only budget thing I hated was the idea of everyone living in the same hotel. I'd rather they just show cheap sets and say they're different homes.

Complaint Ive had for years is lack of bedroom sets in home. I get so tired of so many people having sex on their couch. Really like that is such a common thing especially when there are other family members living in the home. I also hate lack of a proper dining room set and again the living room tends to double for that as well. I remember on AMC, there was a scene were they had the Martin family gathered around Tad's couches and eating dinner off the coffee table. That stuff should have happened on a table in the dining room. This stuff seems to be more in recent years bc back in the days there was more use of dining and bedroom sets

Edited November 12, 201114 yr by Cheap21

I totally agree with ALL of that Cheap!

I don't mind a lack of extras,

I think extras are crucial for helping to create the fictional world. Same for ambient sounds.

Here is the same diner 30 years ago

Just those two guys in the background add so much. We know they are in a place that is busy, there are things going on around them. That means there are people outside that window too going about their business. It's a sense of place and space and time. The first pic from today, there is no one inside, so therefore no reason to think this place exists anywhere. It just floats alone in some nebulous location no one enters. It is not part of any world at all. You gotta have extras!

I guess I don't mind a lack of extras if the writing and acting are strong enough.

Complaint Ive had for years is lack of bedroom sets in home. I get so tired of so many people having sex on their couch. Really like that is such a common thing especially when there are other family members living in the home.

OTOH, it's amusing to see a child play with her coloring books on the same living room couch where her mother and "uncle" had conceived her. ;P

I think bad writing is what killed GL and ATWT.

Yep!

The only budget thing I hated was the idea of everyone living in the same hotel. I'd rather they just show cheap sets and say they're different homes.

Actually, Carl, the more I think about the "Beacon era" of GUIDING LIGHT, the more I think I could've lived with most characters living in the same hotel. I mean, it had possibilities for all kinds of stories. It's just tragic Ellen Wheeler and her team didn't exploit it more.