OLTL: Week Of July 1, 2013 Discussion

[Winchester91]

This is where Jill Phelps's sense of storytelling would come in handy. She was always known for her high-profile deaths and big explosive stories. Getting Briana killed wasn't enough for me; I didn't get to know her well enough to care. It's the Labine era all over again, and I'm bored as hell.

[cassadine1991]

you want something like the Georgie Phillips murder storyline??

[greens_dupres]

If only we could contract her to consult on producing an isolated splashy event and then send her on her way until another one was needed.

I liked parts of her OLTL- I did. But the thought of her name in connection with OLTL still makes me kind of queasy. I forget the things I liked and immediately my mind goes to Rae Cummings, Matthew's paternity secret that went on for 500 years, and Tim Gibbs as Kevin and how I was driven to pretty much abandon OLTL which was always my most loved soap over for ATWT in 2000.

What exactly did the Labines do besides Todd & Tea? I'm trying to remember. Was that Ian Armitage/Maggie Carpenter time or were they right before the Labines? Did they do Kevin & Cassie? Its so funny to see their names thrown around as a low point for OLTL when the GH tenure that immediately preceded it gets them almost godlike writer status- I know EPs made a big difference but still.

[EricMontreal22]

The Labines gave Todd a parrot. They gave Maggie a circus school. The gave Carlotta erotic fantasies of Hank Gannon. I believe they started the kinda aborted and interesting story about Dorian's family? I remember their first month or few weeks were really strong after a period of the show being just one big boring muddle--because they had good character stuff (even if I found some of it too quirky for my tastes) but it lacked momentum. Of course C Labine in her interview a while back said it was a bad writing situation (and I believe then Jill PF came in and fired them quickly after.)

[Winchester91]

Yep. Also, they're suffering especially with the characters of Dani/Destiny/Bo/Nora. They've no clue what to do with them:

*They were setting up Dani to be paired with Matthew, but shied away from that. They set up Dani to be this out of control party girl, but shied away from that as well. Where's the story here?

*Destiny was supposed to be some high-priced hooker, but then became this put-upon single mother...and now, what? She needs some direction. Does she still love Matthew or not?

*There has been no story for Bo/Nora at all. This radio show has no point. With only an hour (less if you consider ads), this is a shameless waste of time.

Not to say I hate everything. I appreciate the Tattoo Mystery, the Pellegrino Fund s/l, and Kate.

[cassadine1991]

the Labines wrote from June 1997 — March 29, 1998, so they wrote whatever happened during that time

[Vee]

Uh, the show's only been airing through approximately two months, give or take the schedule shift. So no, they haven't dropped Dani and Matthew or the Destiny issue at all - it's called 'soap opera,' making people wait. Michelle is the spoiler to Matt and Dani, and Destiny is a wild card and being moved towards Jeffrey while she and Matthew still have feelings for each other. That's all waiting to kick off in time. Right now it looks like Dani will get the sugar daddy story, too, which frankly I'd prefer because I think it would be a huge showcase for KM. Dani's character throughline is clear and one of the best on the show, IMO - she wants to get better and do well, but she acts out when she's hurt or spurned. Being an addict or a party girl is not all she is, but she's torn between two sides of her nature.

I can complain about pacing on some parts of the show, but the slow build on Matt/Dani/Des/Jeffrey, etc. is not among them. I also think Bo and Nora are where they need to be - they have a cute story about Nora's radio career, which harkens back to OLTL of old, and then they are woven in and out of family stuff and cop shop stuff. Which is more than enough for me right now after the heavy sturm und drang they got in the last year and a half on ABC.

[Winchester91]

I credit Malone (Griffith is boring with no vision...look at today's Y&R) and Susie Horgan's departure for the spiral downwards. The interesting social issues storylines dried up as well as the huge umbrella stories that had ties to history and brought many new exciting revelations and possibilities.

Jill Phelps did use the vets, though. Nora/Lindsay were the Kendall/Greenlee of Llanview during those years. Viki had a great romance with Ben...and Sam filled a much-needed middle aged leading actor role the show badly needed at that time.

[Vee]

Jill Phelps destroyed OLTL, broke the show in ways it never fully recovered from, and HBS will be the first to say that in print. She's done it before, in fact, more than once.

She used vets - for her purposes. She twisted the entire show and broke it over her knee to reconfigure everything about it. Yes, she energized it after a low ebb, but she did it in all the wrong ways.

And everyone [!@#$%^&*] hated Sam, sorry. They hated Lindsay back then, too - it took Gary Tomlin to make her viable as a more comic character.

[Chris B]

Well that is not true for Destiny. They never even implied that on the show, it was a rumor based on the scenes they used to cast Destiny. Overall though, I do agree with what you're saying. These writers are GREAT when it comes to script writing and character development, but they don't seem to have a clue when it comes to stories. So many of the stories lack momentum and many characters don't really have a story. I need more integration and a few more cast members to be added so things start moving.

[cassadine1991]

I thought she used the vets to prop the Davidson/Rappaports?

[EricMontreal22]

ABsolutely agreed here--particularly about Bo&Nora--this is the perfect low key story for them right now IMHO.

[cassadine1991]

That's the same thing she did on GH.. Use the vets to prop her pets...

I also agree JFP did irreversible damage to OLTL, Gary Tomlin tried to fix it, but he couldn't, and don't get me started on what Frankie V did

[Vee]

I think a lot of what they've been doing at OLTL was hamstrung by the ongoing clusterfuck with GH, and the plans they had for some characters connected to that. But I do think there is a lot of raw material and several good stories. There are great days and slow days, but I don't find it to be mind-numbingly boring in the way some describe. I think it has pacing issues, but I don't think it's a bad soap or boring.

[EricMontreal22]

I still think Malone was best with Griffith, but he did do great stuff post--like the DID story (which apparently Horgan helped with a lot.) His last half year or so with all the Irish mob stuff was IMHO a mess--Susie said in that online interview that it was her fault for essentially becoming a coHW while being an EP. And then with Passanante co-HW, etc, it became a horrible mess.