Y&R's Doug Davidson v. Nelson Branco?!!

[Cat]

 

omg those Soap Opera Spirit awards

 

 

Let's give everyone a medal for participating! Ron Carlivati wins Best HW 5 years in a row!

[Roman]

the comment of the month.

[j swift]

I was listening to the podcast You Must Remember This series on old school gossip columnists Louella Parsons and Hedda Hopper and it reminds me of Nelson Bronco, Carolyn Hinsey, and their generation of soap "journalism."  Much like Louella and Hedda, they maintained an old school reverence for the genre, never peered too deeply into the private lives of celebrities who actively worked with them to provide quotes, and rarely cited multiple sources.  And just like those old queens of gossip they were titillated by anyone who teased, but too horrified by actual sex.  They would never dare tell the real stories of "me too" situations, salary disparities, or other humiliations that working actors faced in daytime in order to maintain the fantasy that soaps were filled with hopeful newcomers greatful for adoration.

 

Sadly, their tales directly from the mouths of angry actors have become soap opera lore.  They never gave context to their stories, choosing to favor those who made them feel worthy by answering their phone calls.  They were like the sad kids in high school who were blindly loyal to the popular crowd as long as they threw them some crumbs of attention.  I remember Hinsey's poorly edited book where she mostly republished old columns and continued to use unnamed sources years after the events no longer mattered.  She had obviously witnessed many juicy backstage stories, but even after the cancellation of half of the shows in daytime she spent pages on how soaps could better use product integration to lure more advertising, as if her readers actually cared about her ideas of how to improve ratings.

 

Even this tweet is still about the audacity of a disrespectful actor, as opposed to having any perspective about a man with a disease who was unable to control his impulses in front of his co-workers.  As if we should be giddy with anticipation about the revelation of this secret, versus having learned some compassion about what it must be like to age in a genre that only awards youth.

 

I am hopeful that actual fan discussions on this board allow for more complexity.  I have read respectful and insightful reviews from fans of old and new soaps.  I am glad that the discourse of soap fandom has moved beyond reductive blaming of single producers or network executives to be able to write about what we liked as viewers rather than playing "pretend producer."  Of course, there are still some content providers who write reviews using gender or sexual stereotypes.  But, there are also people everyday to fight back against bashing people in the industry who happen to be female or gay, and being grateful for the representation of women and LGBTQIA members in status positions of soap operas, because we recognize that no other part of the entertainment industry is as diverse as daytime.

Edited June 23, 2021 by j swift

[DramatistDreamer]

 

Wait, what??

Was this an actual award?!

[DRW50]

 

Yes, by the man himself (for several years), which makes the constant plugging of them in his columns even more hilarious.

 

https://michaelfairmantv.com/oltls-takes-most-nods-in-soap-opera-spirit-award-nominations/2008/12/23/

[DramatistDreamer]

 

This sounds sad.

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I have heard of the Independent Spirit Awards but not this. Thankfully.

How many years did this go on, ?

[DRW50]

 

I think 3 or so - maybe until he left TV Guide Canada. I mostly remember it because any time he would mention an actor in a column, if they had gotten one he would throw it in. 

[KMan101]

 

It sure is. I would love to never see Doug Davidson or Nellie's thirsty asses again.

[Chris B]

My big question is, why is he bringing this up now? He’s been talking about soaps more and more. I wonder if he’s going to start up a column again. 

[Forever8]

I was through with him when he was talking about he liked Donny Boaz and we should essentially ignore his politics. 

[Efulton]

This might have something to do with the timing.

 

 

[Pine Charles]

Who is Nelson Blanco??

 

I’m being sincere - I never heard of him before this.

Edited June 25, 2021 by Pine Charles

[Chris B]

Years ago he had a gossip blog that started with TV Guide Canada. He'd do interviews and seemed to be very well connected, but the fame went to his head and he got messy. While he did provide lots of good gossip and broke news stories and did great interviews, he'd also fight with soap stars all the time. It was a mess by the time he was finished.

[DramatistDreamer]

It might not have been so bad if the industry had mix of good journalism right along beside the gossipy fare but there was never a good journalistic sector (and there were issues worthy of investigation and exploration), so the trash floated to the top and that flotsam  was the only thing people could see. It's no wonder soaps ended up getting so little regard.

[Roman]

dude. don't make me LOL like that. LOL!!! but you are so right. Doug has been whining about this for years now. here's a thought....HE CAN'T ACT!!!