Worst Executive Producer...

[Mitch]

Good lord how the mighty have fallen..wasnt she such a big star that P& G sent a helicopter to get her to work everyday? Oh honey, I hope you saved your money...

 

Seriously, hope she has beat the demon drink. As for Zimmer, I would have volunteered to be her designated driver, in between bars and stops for burriots and tacos...(You just know Kimmer likes to eat when she has a few..) I would throw out names and listen to her bitch about them..."UH, Kimmer... Ehlers.." Kimmer "You already did that one,"  Me. "Yea, but I love it when you call her a ho!..) After that we would prank call Wheeler...."Im the ghost of GL...you KILLLED me Ellen, you KILLED me.."  and "Uh, Mrs. Wheeler, this is the Peapack Tourism Dept..the police want those parking tickets paid and we are suing you for making our beautiful town look like [!@#$%^&*] to the 3 viewers GL had left!"

[DramatistDreamer]

 

Although I wasn't watching the show much at that point, I do remember seeing one or two of those and you're right, that seems more suitable for being shown on an online platform. 

It's unfortunate that none of the P&G soaps got onto social media (YouTube specifically) in time.  YouTube, Facebook and Twitter were all around years before GL and ATWT got cancelled but sadly, they were still underutilized mediums by most, at least until about 2008-2009.

[Contessa Donatella]

 

P&G sent a helicopter for her, yep. And, they let her work 4 day work weeks, not 5! The mighty have indeed fallen.

 

 

I didn't know that!

[Khan]

 

At the very least, David Kreizman could have written a short-term arc about the "scourge of homelessness in Springfield" that would have dovetailed into the show's real-life work with (I think) Habitat for Humanity.  As it was, though, switching from episodes with ongoing dramas to those featuring real-life humanitarianism with no appropriate correlation was jarring and, frankly, silly.

[Dan]

I think sadly that Peapack could have really been good had they not approached it as a budget cutting measure designed to stave off cancelation. Keeping the control room and being able to control lighting and blocking would have done wonders. Not to mention keeping the music department intact instead of that elevator muzak bs. Shame we couldn't have better writing at the time too, come to think of it. 

[robbwolff]

 

As a Jersey resident, I have to say that Peapack is a nice town but did not fit the image of what we had of Springfield. I still remember the absurd scene between Cyrus and Cassie when they left Towers and went to Cassie's car on a country road. It made no sense, especially since it was established that Towers had a parking garage. If Wheeler wanted to go this route, it would have made better sense to shoot in a town like New Brunswick with its various neighborhoods, towers, and a university (Rutgers, where I work). Taping in New Brunfus would have opened up story opportunities as well, such as re-establishing Springfield University as a locale.

[Contessa Donatella]

 

I think that's so bizarre.

[Contessa Donatella]

 

It would have been very popular with fans if they had!

[Contessa Donatella]

 

Now the music was another element that I loved.

 

Yes, that could have been written.

[Mitch]

 

I thought it would have been great to film in a nice charming college town and to develop a relationship with the university to have internships for their students , both in production and writing. Maybe the college would defray some expenses and allow students and staff in the shots (so Springfield would not look like a ghost town..) and give the show some vibrancy and energy.  Doubling a real college with Springfield University would be great.. I have no idea what the union and contract regulations would be but..

THAT would have been good but so much over Krazy Kreizman's head..Alex could remember when she was homeless after Brandon kicked her out..(bringing the character back to her roots and establishing a sympathy and humanity over Dusay's shriecking caricature...) and Dinah can remember what it was like to be on the run and hungry...relating real stuff to character's history without retro writing crap. Alex and Dinah would have their own unusual ways to get things done..."Yes Mr. Bixby you will sell move the permits through or I will show Mrs. Bixby this incriminating photo of you feeling up Dinah!"

 

People JUMPED on my on the Facebook GL thing when I said the whole thing was stupid..they just didnt get that it made no sense, I wasnt interested in watching the actors do anything but act as their characters, and it was a waste of time and energy when we were on the chopping block!

[Contessa Donatella]

 

Zimmer didn't want to do it for that reason: because she didn't want to break the fourth wall & be Zimmer instead of Reva. That's why they did it as webisodes rather than regular episodes.

[Khan]

 

You know, it's not as if TPTB had decided on a Monday to start taping episodes in Peapack that Tuesday.  GL had ample "lead time" to figure out a smoother transition. 

 

For instance, they could have staged a (modest) tornado just before the switch that 1) would have generated more interest in The Great Peapack Experiment and 2) would have explained the relative sparseness of their new locales.  ("Devastated by a tornado no one was prepared for, the citizens of Springfield face an uncertain future as they must rebuild their homes -- and their lives.")

 

There were a number of ways to handle the transition, and IMO, Ellen Wheeler and her team fucked up by choosing none of 'em.

[Contessa Donatella]

I don't think they had any time at all. For example, they had to  learn OTJ (on the job) how to use the handheld digital cameras & lavalier mics. That's why the transition was so difficult. And, then, after Step 1, the cams &  mics, getting ready to work outside the next part was learning how to write for the new structure. Which they very well did, but it took some time & part of that time was wasted having ConWest in place!

[Mitch]

That would be good, though maybe it would have to be one of the incessant fires starting at 5th street as didnt they change in the winter?

 

A tornado would be good as it could (in addition to explaining how the rusted junk got in Harley's back yard.) explain the sets and taken out a couple of characters...("Oh my God I saw Buzz flying past my window...still flapping those damn arms!" ) and perhaps the nado clips the Spaulding mansion...knocking down the "east wing," where Alan was keeping Phillip. and as a metaphor for the show you see a hand come out of the rubble and its GA as Phillip...

[Fevuh]

I liked John Conboy - there was a very brief period while he was EP, and Millee Taggart was headwriting and the show looked great and had a brief turnaround.  Millee didn't last long and it was a shame because it felt like GL again.  And they had some outdoor scenes I remember that looked real, and looked great, and well Produced.  Unlike the handheld cameras in Peapack.