Jump to content

OLTL: SoapNET Marathon On New Years Day


Recommended Posts

  • Members

Ugh Andy...

I admit part of my problem was, while I don't like the constant rapist/redemption stories, I hate that under RC (and he's far from the only soap writer to do this) the message in a way seems to be that no one can get past these things or be rehabilitated. Go to St Anne's, go to a prison for the criminally insane for year,s you migth come back decent for a couple of years but you'll always snap back...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 728
  • Created
  • Last Reply
  • Members

The back of Patrick's head is a great and permanent cure for insanity. Murder a doctor a day - back of the head will make it all go away.

That type of writing - that "oops, pretend we never did this" writing - is why I can never get into the hoopla and fawning over RC's genius, and how he is going to save GH if only ABC will let him!!! and so on. Not one plot that ever makes sense or is followed up on. Just pointless stunts.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

It's definitely my main issue with him--over the often lame camp. That's pretty much the definition of plot driven stuff for me, but he doesn't seem to realize that a TRUE, slow moving redemption story (maybe actually show us scenes of therapy sessions--and more than 2 minutes like with Shane) actually would be something a ton of viewers would enjoy watching. But really often it does seem that as soon as one story is suddenly done, the characters reset or something and the past is only mentioned when convenient.

And this is me being silly but I think it can send a negative message (not that I don't mind SOME negative messages in soaps--they're entertainment foremost-- and life can be very negative but there needs to be balance). We get things like "You could spend years surviving rape, trauma, cleaning yourself up, being a successful shrink yourself but then a small thing like losing a boyfriend and you'll just snap right back! You can spend 15 years in prison being trated for your mental issues, but... Too bad again, it won't stick!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

It does send a bad message. So do the rape-is-love stories he's repatedly sold, and the bullying stories that always seem to imply the person who is being bullied kind of deserves it, or that the bully is the true victim. It's one thing to focus on camp and craziness and wacky soapy goodness, but to repeatedly bring real world issues into it and then botch them in the most dangerous ways - it's just bad and deeply unsettling writing.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

Exactly. Having a former crazy person snap again is classic soap, and something I often enjoy, so I'm not against stories like that in all cases, but you still have to have some responsibility to how you do them (on the other hand the rape victim/love message, etc, is IMHO just bad storytelling with no excuse). Hate to bring Agnes Nixon up in an OLTL thread but I do wonder if she followed RC's OLTL closely at all and what she thought. Of course we'll never find out--the most negative thing she will say is something like with Pratt's AMC about how he was a writer whose style didn't fit their show lol, or like with the unabortion--nothing at all. Maybe in her twilight years she'll snap personalities and just start ranting on about everything on her never used blog on her website...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.



  • Recent Posts

    • I have nothing to add. Everything you said is on point, and I don't know whether to laugh hysterically at it or throw things at the television. I do know it's terrible soap opera.  
    • Characterization: - I realized I have PTSD from Ted #1’s constant swaying. The moment I saw NuTed, I actually caught myself thinking, “Why isn’t he rocking?” - Leslie makes very little sense from a storytelling perspective unless she’s completely psychotic. What was she hoping to achieve with all her dramatic reveals and aliases? Also… who wouldn’t put two and two together after Laura’s accident? - Anita and Dani come across as mean-spirited, and honestly, the Duprees should just be portrayed as full-on villains. Been saying this since day one—remember when Dani punched Haley and the whole Dupree clan just walked away from her with that “shame on you” look? Wrong on so many levels. Glad others are finally seeing it too. - Mona is sanctimonious and I can’t stand her. She’s the worst kind of person: lower-to-middle class but constantly making excuses for the rich. - Call me crazy, but I’m actually enjoying Ashley and Derek’s storyline. I’ll take this neurotic OCD queen over the sanctimonious, multi-talented nurse any day. Plus, soap couples are usually so plastic. They deal with insane drama but never go to the bathroom, never plan a weekend away. Look at Kat and Tomas—every scene is just them planning lunch or dinner…! - Btw by now André seems bored af by Ashley.   WTF Moments: - No young woman would be even remotely interested in going to a casino (looking at Eva). And it’s wild how the show is treating gambling like it’s some kind of therapeutic hobby—like retail therapy or something. - What are they doing with Smitty’s eyebrows… and more importantly, why?   Parallels with Other Soaps: - I like Nicole, but she reinforces my belief that soaps should never include psychiatrists. If they’re portrayed accurately, they ruin the fun by rationalizing everyone’s childish and selfish behavior. If they’re portrayed inaccurately (hi Taylor from B&B), it’s equally bad. - Anita’s story is giving major SSM vibes from 2017‘s Y&R, when Victor got Nikki to start playing the piano again.  - Karla played a model on B&B too…

      Please register in order to view this content

        Direction & Continuity: - Pascarelli is hands down the worst director this show has. - Wednesday’s episode started with a nighttime establishing shot of Orphey Gene’s… but all the scenes that followed were clearly set in daytime—until halfway through the episode, when it suddenly switched back to night. - The picture on the piano at the Duprees’ house shows two little girls and two little boys. Who are the boys? One could be Martin (or Tyrell?), but who’s the other kid? (And speaking of pictures… no one under 50 is walking around with a printed photo in their pocket. But I digress.) - I love catching the time on the phones when they pop up onscreen. Friday’s episode was supposedly set before lunch, but Vernon’s phone said 3:15 in one scene and 3:50 in the next. A few scenes later, Kat is playing Leslie’s audio for Jacob and her phone shows 10:40. Cool. 
    • I forget that throughout the 80’s the TV seasons were officially over in April. Not sure why that was the case but it wasn’t until the mid-90’s that May Sweeps became a real official thing.  Because my teenage self stayed home often on Saturday nights in the early 90’s I watched Empty Nest just about every night to the bitter end, I do actually always felt a bit sad whenever I see that GG ep knowing that Rita’s character will die with that last line “Good night!” For years I admit I had the Mandela effect that Mulligan was in the episode before I finally caught it again on Lifetime.    And yes lol I don’t care for David Leisure’s character in the episode but somehow was funnier than anything on Empty Nest. Same when Charley crossed over for Dorothy’s Jeopardy dream. 
    • Jon Lindstrom proved with Ryan Chamberlain on GH that he can play menacing and evil. He's not doing it here, and I think it's a combination of writing and performance.   To be fair, Longoria has modeled and has represented major companies like L'Oreal, but she was never a runway model. I don't have any problem with seeing Dani as a runway model. I think it's more than possible, and I don't understand anyone criticizing her look. I actually have a bigger problem with the whole "Anita is an EGOT" thing. I think it goes way too far. Give her a Grammy. Say she was nominated for a Tony, or even won. But an EGOT winner? No.   The fact that you're using DAYS to defend a BTG set is telling, since we all know DAYS is poverty level soapdom. I expect so much more and better from Gates.     I can't help it, but I'm LOL at the people defending that backroom bingo hall casino and making excuses for it. It's hilariously bad.  
    • If NBC could have for seen the ratings of Lovers & Friends (the replacement for Somerset).. they would have for sure kept Somerset on the air longer. https://jason47.com/days/ratings1976.html  (ratings for Somerset in the final year) https://jason47.com/days/ratings1977.html (ratings for Lovers & Friends short run...getting as low as a 2 rating).  
    • 35 years ago tonight was the series finale. Promo at 11:43

      Please register in order to view this content

       
    • I liked them, too, and was really disappointed it never went anywhere. The whole art theft story was ridiculous, but they had a nice chemistry. Certainly nicer than Alan with Christine. With her, he looked like the funny uncle. The worst thing they did to Bolger, IMO, was having Phillip write that DREADFUL novel and dramatizing it while he wrote it. GAG, that has to be in the running for one of their worst storylines that didn't involve wacky things like clones or time travel. Soaps rarely do school storylines, or don't do them for very long. Not the case so much in the early days of soaps, but after GH took off in the late 70s other soaps took their lead and would catapult teens/young adults into adult stories right away. That's one reason Phillip and Mindy ended up with so many ex-spouses--they started getting married really young. They shipped Dina and Cameron off really fast after high school and stuck Alan Michael in a marriage storyline with Harley. Did he EVER go to college? I don't think so. It may also partly explain why Quint and Annabelle had to go, beyond TPTB wanting to do a cast sweep. Teaching is not a profession that plays well on a soap. Quint definitely had to quit being Indiana Jones, because that wore thin really fast, but they didn't do him favors by making him a professor. If they wanted to keep him, they should have done what they did with Amanda (who was in another dead-end soap job, concert pianist)--have him work at Spaulding as one of the major stockholders.
    • Judith McConnell (Augusta) and Denise Alexander (Lesley) were great screen partners on GH.  They got into some stellar arguments in character in the medicine room.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy