OLTL: Week Of July 1, 2013 Discussion

[greens_dupres]

Thank you- you brought it all flooding back with circus school. Say no more. The parrot was a fun enough idea at first but he started to get more scenes than key characters. And Ian & the Men of 21 story just got worse. Ugh.

I agree that things started getting out of whack before JFP. But I agree with Vee- sure she used the vets yes but on the whole, I don't look back on that era with any fondness. Just my opinion- she destroyed Bo/Nora, I hated Ben/Viki, hated Blair/Max/Skye, she got rid of Cassie. I liked early Todd & Tea & Jessica's accident was a good event that impacted a lot of the canvas. I'm sure I could think of more positives if I really sat and looked at each year but on the whole, OLTL definitely needs some excitement but I'm not calling JFP yet...or probably ever- but again just me

[cassadine1991]

yeah Malone and Griffith were awesome as a duo and they are as great with a viable EP, (Linda Gottlieb and even Susie Bedsow Horgan), their 2003-2003 stint was a bomb though they did have SOME good story but having most of the most cast involved in the storylines like Mitch's s/l that involved a lot of people

[EricMontreal22]

I wonder if any of it has to do with Susie leaving? But I agree--I can't say I've been bored watching *any* of the episodes.

[cassadine1991]

I don't see Malone or Gottlieb being called either

but aren't they transitioning regimes from Racina/Horgan to Klein/Gazzaniga

[Vee]

I will be charitable and say there have been a couple episodes where I've been a little more engaged than others.

I think Pepperman was pretty candid in her recent interview where she said the original HWs were a little too slow-paced. That likely works for a 5-day or 4-day show, at 30 or 45 minutes, but we're at 2 days a week now and the show has been suffering for that pace. I just hope Jessica Klein isn't as poor a writer as I remember from the later years of 90210 - she has a mixed rep. I've liked her scripts, though.

I will also say that the board loves to demonize Ron and Frank, and I have a lot of vitriol for them these days myself, but when they're good they can be very good, and I thought their overall tenure on OLTL - the good, the bad, the ugly and the what the !@#$%^&*] are you doing - was vastly superior to Griffith and Malone in 2003-2004, which was an absolute trainwreck for at least 80-90% of the time.

[EricMontreal22]

Klein is now in the credits, right? As a third HW? I wonder if she stepped in earlier when Susie left--before Thom was fired I mean (as I assume we won't see the new material till the next bit of filming)

[cher1989]

This is pretty much how I feel about OLTL. My comments relate to ways that I think the show can be improved but I still enjoy the show overall.

[Vee]

I believe she is. And she was doing scripts and I think breakdowns before that. I do remember some saying she seemed in charge of the writers' room during the More OLTL look at the crew a week or two before the HW change.

[cassadine1991]

I think Susie is still being credited because these are still the storylines she worked on.. don't know about Thom, but I think July/August we are going to see the transition b/w regimes

[Vee]

I suspect the writing handover has been sped up due to the schedule change - I can't recall the dates so I may be mistaken, but I was also under the impression we saw both Bandini and Kate Lane earlier than we were originally told to expect them, so I wonder when we'll be seeing

[greens_dupres]

I completely agree with this- we had Dani staring sadly at Matthew last ep- the story is not dropped. I do think it was really wise to give KM something else to do with the drug/Arturo stuff- she's wayyyy too talented to just drink and look forlornly while Matthew figures out if he wants her or Michelle or maybe Destiny. Matthew will likely not be onboard with her/Arturo so that beat can be weaved in and she can give side eye to Michelle so it won't be jarring if they then push forward on her and Matthew.

And I so adore that they aren't go full steam ahead two months in (not even really since the ep order was cut after filming) that it must be Des/Jeffrey and Dani/Matthew in the end and only write with that in mind. The ABC soaps were ruined for years by that mentality. There's no reason for it- Matthew/Destiny have chem and history and I'm glad they're playing it and there's no reason not to mix them up and see what clicks. Out of everything on OLTL, its been paced the best (yes the first 2 weeks with the peanut butter and constant scenes in the apt with little family interaction got to be a little much)--- but on the whole, this group is well done in my opinion.

I like Bo/Nora as tentpoles but I guess they've never been my couple so I could see how it could be a little frustrating to their more ardent fans.

[greens_dupres]

Yeah I've stopped trying to figure it out based on the credits. The new characters definitely seemed to arrive earlier than planned. I liked Jen Pepperman kind of implying that the new writers are out because they were still writing for a more traditional soap pace but also saying that Marin is best at character development. Hopefully it will be a good blend and we'll all be excited with their work late summer/early fall.

[Vee]

I am a huge Bo and Nora fan going back to the '90s, but I think they're on track with what they need to be doing right now.

[EricMontreal22]

I've learned that a writer can be great at one show and not at another (even the same format of show) so I'm not concerned---yet. Then again we did have Chuck Pratt writing AMC like he wrote Melrose, so....

[marceline]

IIRC, the Labines also gave Dorian Mel Hayes, (who I still think to this day was Dorian's perfect match). They gave RJ Club Indigo and Jacara Principal (IMO his perfect match until Lindsay) and they also brought back Michael Zaslow as David Renaldi.

I liked the Labines tenure a lot. I especially remember thinking how much I enjoyed the dialog during their time.