OWN picks up Jamey Giddens scripted show!

[EricMontreal22]

Well I mean JG was enamoured with the Ford Bros on OLTL so I can't really take his criticism of any young male actors seriously

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[Faulkner]

I listened to the DC podcast maybe a year ago, and the audio quality was still so bad. It’s the late 2010s, and it sounded like an AM radio station with a fading signal. And he was still banging on about Ron on DAYS and praising the “Black Lives Matter” story like it was a groundbreaking achievement.

 

The cynical part of me always thought Jamey was using the positive DC coverage to land himself a writing gig on one of his preferred shows. 

Edited November 24, 2018 by Costello

[j swift]

The DC podcast has repeatedly criticized producers for not listening to the feedback of the soap fans.  So, it was always odd to me that the hosts of the podcast seemed to be aware of the comments of their listeners and yet never seemed to respond in kind.  

[Vee]

I often don't agree with Jamey's online behavior or biases (especially since he capes so hard for Ron's now very inconsistent and weak work when he hadn't really bothered to seriously watch OLTL before Ron took over). His treatment of the PP soaps was the worst kind of cliquish, starfucker behavior from fans who get too high on a relationship with talent, and I've never forgotten that. But he does love soaps and has a wealth of past history with them same as we all do. His taste is just very different. Do he and I always value the same things? No way; I think he's way too enamored of '80s glamcamp (or the illusion thereof) at the expense of other things, and I think a big swing is more likely to impress him vs. any substance and details. But he hit the nail on the head about Genie Francis being consistently undervalued and shat on by GH vs. Geary a few years ago, and I always appreciated that because it was very uncomfortably like we were sharing the same brain. These days I often (with some embarrassment) agree with maybe half or a third of what he says at best, and can't stand the rest. But I've never doubted he loves soap opera and has a lot of passion for it - his rants about classic AW, GL, etc. are legendary. He's also started embarrassing himself online a lot less in the last year or two, so that's growth.

 

We don't write in the same genre or do the same things in the industry but if this works out for him I wish him the best with it. It'll be interesting to see how his show comes out as he works with pros.

 

 

Yes. That was all of it. Which was hilarious since very few of them seemed to give a shît about OLTL before Frank and Ron, and yet they acted like OLTL was Frank and Ron's property by birthright. As a longtime fan - and someone who had supported Ron's early years at OLTL, and even his later very flawed ones when they worked - I was pretty pissed.

 

The truth though is most film press are the same way; I saw it firsthand coming up (I am not press). They get cliquish and form social relationships with certain artists and not others and that drives content and opinion on social media. The only difference is there is basically no soap press to speak of today. By comparison to, say, a lot of film press geeks trying to pave over the Alamo Drafthouse sexual harassment scandals because they love the owner and going to Fantastic Fest, DC's amateur fanzine behavior with RC and OLTL is pretty small potatoes. It happens and hopefully people grow out of it. 

 

 

Please don't remind me of J. Bernard Jones, the guy who apparently thought he was the only one of us to go to college. I've never seen someone so desperate to make something so bad into art because of a longstanding emotional attachment.

Edited November 24, 2018 by Vee

[NothinButAttitude]

Congrats to Jamey! Much like others, I did not care for his raging hard-on for all things RC, but I do think that like many of us, he does love the genre a lot. I hope that Michele Val Jean & Susan Dansby (writers on his show), keep his behind reigned in and not focusing on the flashiness of this genre. 

 

News like this does reassure writers like myself that your dreams coming to fruition can still occur. 

[Chris B]

I’m super excited for this. I like that a soap blogger with a Dream was able to get a show. I also love that he brought two important soap writers with him. Michele has tweeted how much this means to her. It’s nice after years in daytime to get some recognition in prime time. I hope it ends up being good and hopefully we get something me soap Stars in guest spots. Lord knows there are tons of ignored black  that would fit in on OWN. 

[xtr]

Here is a link for the preview for this new show and also when it will premiere on OWN:

 

https://www.soapoperanews.net/2019/05/own-announces-premiere-date-and-unveils.html

 

 

[BetterForgotten]

The awful pancake makeup on Robin Givens in that trailer is almost as bad as her acting in it...

[te.]

It looks so awfully trashy, but it's summer and why not? I'll watch it.

[London]

I am literally weak. I'm not a huge fan of Ms. Givens except her work back in the day... a la Boomerang. So I'm curious to see if I'll have a love to hate her type of vibe while watching this show.

[Chris B]

I'm very excited for this. For Jamey to go from a soap blogger to a show on OWN that could easily run a few years is a pretty big achievement. I also love that he remembered his soap roots and gave Susan Dansby and Michele Val Jean writing/producing slots on the show. They've both done great work for years on soaps, but for obvious reasons never got the chance to really take the reigns of a show, so it's nice that they got a surprise primetime gig this late in their careers. In fact the writers room looked VERY diverse with lots of women and ages represented. I hope that this show is good and a runaway hit. 

 

The only thing I'm not excited about is the casting, particularly Robin Givens as the lead. There's nobody that really jumped at me, but soaps have a habit of taking someone who isn't the hottest star and they work really well in this format (think Larry Hagman, Donna Mills, Joan Collins).

[ChitHappens]

Robin Givens needs to bring it down a bit.  No subtly at all!  

[BetterForgotten]

What's funny is Robin Givens was apparently lampooned and criticized for years within the black community after her marriage to Mike Tyson. They're clearly going after an African American female audience with this first (much like the the other shows on OWN), so it's really puzzling they wanted Robin friggin' Givens to be the face of it...

[xtr]

 

I agree. I want to see Jamey do well, and I am glad to see that some people in the soap community are showing support for him (including Ron Carlivati and Eileen Davidson.) I wonder how this show will end up faring. Robin Givens character does seem OTT, but maybe Essence Atkins character as her ex-best friend/rival can provide some balance to that. From what I saw in that preview Essence's character doesn't seem OTT and seems like she may be a bit more grounded, so maybe that will help.

[BetterForgotten]

It's hard for me to cheer on Jamey when I feel he's done as much disservice to the soap community with his biases than anyone else has.

 

That, and jugging by this trailer, this looks like pretty generic trash that would make the waning years of Dynasty looks like masterpiece theater. I guess it's a perfect compliment to the Tyler Perry crap on OWN though.