Nick At Nite Orders 80-Episode Telenovela with JFP and Josh Griffith

[Ryan Chamberlain]

Dusty was only a semi-douche. He had his nice moments.

[Wales2004]

That review just about summed it up for me as well. I watched the other episodes online and skimmed through the fourth which I downloaded from iTunes but it doesn't get much better. It's just a simple show which works if you want to watch TV and not have to think at all. The dialogue is very basic which includes the very cliche' "went to the store....never came back." The music isn't catchy and Eddie isn't coming across as "all that." Nickelodeon has all those other shows with catchy pop tunes and their "Rags" movie is full of infectious music so they should have done better in that area. Disney seems to bleed pop music.

They might have been better off making Eddie 19 or 20 instead of ambiguously over 21. Since we're supposed to want the 18 year old high school student to end up with the rock star, it might help to make him not far removed from high school. If he's meeting old friends for drinks then he should not want a teeny bopper with a major crush. I don't think they thought about who their target audience is nor do I think they gave enough thought to their main couple. Apparently the fantasy of a high school student meeting her super rock star objection of her affection is story enough.

[EricMontreal22]

Yeah, with all of the people pumping up exceedingly catchy teen pop, I expected more--at least for the first song. I agree that something feels really off about who this is targeted towards. Don't get me wrong, I love the idea of a multigenerational soap that would catch different age ranges--but that's not what this feels like.The mix of parents--for some reason I can't quite put my finger on--at this point feels *odd* as has most of their material (partly due to acting, which is odd as most of them are played by more experienced actors).

I'll give it a full week or so--if this was airing on Canadian TV I could see myself turning it on if I was home at the time--though it would be mainly on in the background, but if I have to try to find and download it, it's gonna have to do a lot more to make it worthwhile.

[Wales2004]

If I do end up watching it on TV, it won't be until next Friday since I've seen enough of the shows airing M-F. Each episode airs at 6 and 9 p.m. where I live. I just don't see myself watching this sort of show everyday. The characters are too one dimensional and I don't think that will change much. They might as well be wearing t-shirts that say "Good" and "Bad" on them. Eddie is good and blindly in love with Chloe who is bad and that is as deep as those two get.

There is potential for friction in Eddie's relationship with his father but that would probably only be over Chloe and short lived. It's useless to have Grayson McCouch's character and the daughter both be bad characters who don't get along. There's no one to root for or care about in that household. Loren and her mother have the healthy mother-daughter relationship so there's nothing going on there. Lisa and Melissa's poor relationship makes no sense and the potential for Lisa and Phil to be at odds is wasted on her senseless mistrust of Melissa. They even had the father point out that Phil is the one who merits the suspicion but that probably won't go anywhere until Phil actually gets caught doing something which could take awhile. Also, Phil is 19 and in the same class as his 18 year old sister and apparently skips classes regularly. It would be good if they shed some light on why and how he got into crime since they seem to have plenty of time to develop characters with some layers.

I think it's funny that in one episode they had no problem showing the Sony VAIIO logo on all the laptops and in another, they covered two of them with stickers.

Maybe the oddity with the parents has to do with it seeming that they only exist for their children. Outside of the flashbacks of his wife, Eddie's father has only been about worrying over Eddie. Melissa and Phil's parents have only either interacted with their children or discussed their children. Loren's mother and Grayson McCouch's character have the workplace but their interaction has been brief and work-related or about parenting. Of course, he has other intentions but that is mainly to manufacture friction and make him look like more of a heel since he seemingly wants to be with every woman he can and getting invlolved with womeh who work for him jeopardizes his business. The two non-parents are full blown friction waiting to happen. You can see everything coming for miles and no depth.

[EricMontreal22]

That makes sense about the parents. It feels like they want the parents to have more of a storyline than they do in shows aimed squarely at young teens--I've read being on Nick at Nite they hope to catch at least some young adults anyway--yet, as you say, they seem even more one dimensional (Eddie's father maybe slightly less cuz of his "sad past" but only slightly) than the kids. Which is saying a lot.

[Soapsuds]

How have the ratings been for the show?? Has it premiered yet or is it next week?? The show sounds like a total failure....I doubt I will tune in even though some of daytime is on....

[DRW50]

My mother watched and she liked enough to want to see the next one. The worst is the dialogue, which is SHOCKINGLY bad. The characters are one-note but some of the actors are likeable. I think they did a bad job casting the guy singer (too bland), but the others aren't quite as bad as I thought they might be.

[EricMontreal22]

Carl, I can`t remember if you`ve said--does your mom have a soap watching background?

You're right about the dialogue being the real low point--just none of it sounds the way people talk.

[DRW50]

A lot of it is very "cute" and just fake beyond belief. I think the worst, although there was a lot, was when Langston's BFF used some "MILF" type acronym for Langston's mother (changing it to "shop with"). Just weird. I also rolled my eyes a little at the scene where her BFF's parents had to painstakingly tell us they had become their parents.

My mother and most of her family watched the CBS soaps. They were more loyal than CBS has been, sadly. Now she just watches GH sometimes, to see the OLTL characters.

[KMan101]

I saw the first episode. Not sure on it yet. Somewhat generic and basic. Not horrible but not really great, either.

[Bright Eyes]

How is Cody Longo on this show? He did really well on DAYS as Nicholas Alamain during Carly's exit story last summer.

[Wales2004]

As I've said before this show is simple. There's nothing going on at all. It's almost like reading a children's book with simple sentences and little illustrations to show you what you're reading. The bad characters are all wearing signs that say "I am a bad guy" and the good ones have the "good as gold" signs. There does not seem to be any in between or layers. The plot is one big map with straight roads and no curves so there is no way that you can be confused about the direction and the destination is right there. Eddie is good. Loren is good. Chloe is bad. Tyler is bad. Good Eddie and good Loren will meet and ooze theri goodness all over each other and Eddie will sulk because Loren will be a bigger star than he is.

Cody Longo is the perfect good guy but he is miscast as a rock star. He's perfectly sappy but not remotely dynamic and having everyone say how popular he is ad nauseum does not matter when it's not coming across on the screen. They should have either made Eddie an actor or model which would be more believable than his being a magnetic rock star. Better music might have helped a whole and I guess they have plenty of time to fix that.

What's lacking is any sense of drama. All the characters broadcast exactly how you're supposed to see them: good, bad, conniving, mean, insensitive, insecure, etc. Nothing is left up to the imagination unless you're imagining better.

The dialogue is elementary, cliche' and I find it unusual that an 18 year old would refer to herself as a teenager with a crush.

I also don't get why all the high school seniors are 18 except for 19 year old Phil. Okay I do. I guess it's so that they are all legally adults but being in high school places them all under parental control since the only reason their parents exist is to be parental. Even though Eddie is apparently over 21, apart from flashbacks of Edddie's mother, his dad's main purpose is parenting in the form of looking out for Eddie and showing concern that Chloe isn't by Eddie's side. They should have just made Eddie under 21 but then again, I am only assuming that he's over 21 because he met Tyler for drinks in a restaurant. Meeting for drinks sounds like the sort of thing grown ups do but I am thinking really older ones do that at not twenty somethings who might go out drinking but not specifically plan to meet for drinks.

I'm giessing that unless people find the cast members cute/attractive or generally think that everything they see on TV is good, or just turn on the TV to have it on, there will be no compelling reason to watch this show because it's like a nice picture on the wall. You might stop and stare at it briefly but otherwise could walk by it several times a day wthout noticing it. There's no drama, passion, mystery, intensity, or suspense. The editing is not all that great either because certain scenes just seem to end. Actually the fire that should exist between Chloe and Tyler is oveshadowed by the big sign they're wearing that says we're blatantly screwing good Eddie over because we're terribly selfish dishonest people, now how's that for ruining some perfectly good tension.

[dc11786]

Eddie's age isn't ambiguous; he mentions he's 21 during one of the episodes. I think the age difference will be used as a reason the parents will want to keep them apart and potentially lead to some story development involving a scandal about the singer and an underage fan. Also, I suspect the show is hoping to play on the forbidden love aspect by having Loren be on the edge of eighteen. I'm sure Loren's birthday will end up being a rahter big event. Because of the background with Chloe / Tyler / Eddie, the characters needed to be older in order for the backstory to be plausible.

On the other hand, I agree Loren and Eddie's worlds are too different from them to be together. Loren's world is very juvenile. The scenes outside the theatre, Adriana and her friends at the coffee shop, and best pals Melissa and Adam all play like elements from a rejected pilot from the Disney Channel. It's hard to believe Loren will be involved with Eddie, who is talking about marriage, dealing with the tragic death of his mother, and pursuing a rather involved music career.

I think Ordway is genuinely trying to sell the idea that Chloe is conflict over her relationship with boy of the young men. She wants the comfort of a relationship with Eddie, and I believe she has some feelings for him, but she cannot help herself from being with Tyler. While Chloe complains about Tyler's lack of ambition, it's that lack of ambition that allows him the time to devote himself to Chloe, who is often left alone because of Eddie's busy career. The Eddie / Chloe / Tyler plot is the only one that really has my interest. I'm curious to see what happens when Chloe / Tyler are revealled.

In terms of Eddie as good, the problem at the moment is Eddie is a bit of a non-entity. He's there, but he doesn't have much story. I would like to see what happens as Max starts to have more issues with his wife's death.

I think Max and Eddie's relationship will be tested by more than Chloe. Eventually, they'll introduce a love interest for Max, which will probably result in Eddie telling Max it is too soon to move on after his mother's death. I also wonder if there is going to be more to Katy's death.

I like the dynamics in the Sanders home. Lisa makes it clear that her concern about her daughter is from something from he own past, which her daughter is unaware of. When Melissa tells Lisa she feels her mother hates her, Lisa seems genuine in her response that she loves her daughter. Lisa is overbearing and possessive, but it comes from a deep love for her daughter. Melissa doesn't understand that so conflict ensues. The issue with Phil should only propel the fractured relationship between mother and daughter. The dad seems like a non-entity at the moment.

Your point about Phil's criminal activities is well noted.

Watching the office scenes, I sense the show is aiming to attract the "Grey's Anatomy" crowd; McCouch even looks a little like a Eric Dane knock off. The relationship with Ellie / Nora is nice, but it will clearly become complicated based on the trailer shown at the end of the first episode. The Don / Nora story will obviously lead to more tension between Adriana / Loren, but I appreciate that they are at least including the parents in the story. I'm hoping the adult set will be given more to do as the season progresses.

Lisa's life doesn't seem to exist outside her two chidren. I'm assuming she is a stay-at-home mom so her world would revolve around her children, but I think her secret will give her and her husband some more screen time.

I think I read the Monday preview was watched by 500,000 viewers. I'm not sure how that is rates for cable.

The problem I have with it all is that it seems so disjointed. The Eddie / Tyler / Chloe stuff clashes with the Disney channel antics of Loren and the high school crowd and the adults are so underdeveloped that their connections to both stories are too weak to act as the glue to hold it all together. It's a lot of hodgepodge being thrown together. With that said, I'll keep watching as I want to see what happens as they stray from the source material, which I think contributes to the black and white element of the show.

With that said, I like the look of the sets. To me, the show seems modern even if some of the props seem like they were purchased at the decor section of the local retail outlet. I think the characters are dressed appropriately, which has often bothered me on the soaps. It's nice seeing background players like the hairstylist who has befriended Chloe and the video director who was working with Eddie to conceptualize the latest video.

I want it to succeed, but it has a long way to go.

[Ryan Chamberlain]

Watching second episode now. Still boring.

[Soapsuds]

That's pretty pitiful....compared to the almost 7 million that saw Dallas. I am not suprised after all the bad reviews and talk about it here. I think I will skip this one all together.