Unpopular opinions: cancelled soaps edition

[Mitch]

Agreed..it all went down hill after those two years...and if I heard one more person say, "The key to any relationship is honesty..its what I value the most.."

Here's one..I LOVED Toby Poser's Amanda! Kathleen Cullen was as dull as dishwater ..Poser was fun and campy in all the right ways! I hated the dumb retro writing of her being Brandon's daughter but though the Malibu Madame was kind of good (and why was it everyone jumped on Amanda for being a madame but that boring self righteous Matt got a pass for being a Man-Ho??)

[Liberty City]

• Susan Lucci was over-rated AF. She just played herself.
• One Life to Live was boring and uninspiring
• Victor Newman should've remained off-canvas when Eric Braeden, who is also over-rated, left in 2009.
• Despite horrible writing, Maura West was perfectly cast as Diane Jenkins.
• Mal Young was entertaining as both executive producer and head writer, but should not have held both positions at the same time.
• Cruz & Eden were probably the worst coupling on Santa Barbara.
• Nikki & Victor do not belong together. Nikki belongs with Jack.
• Never sold on Robin Wright as Kelly Capwell.

Just to name a few right now.

[FrenchBug82]

I almost wrote a similar comment yesterday that included people like Kim Zimmer in the mix as well. While there are tons of amazing actors on soaps, a LOT of the "legendary" headliners are not great actors per se, simply people whose character is just a version of them. And, hey, being a good fit for your character goes a long way so I am not mad at it.
But I tend to think of Braeden being in that category too. I believe that's why I like Slezak as Viki and cringe when she plays the alters. Etc.
 

[Frank2803]

I thought Dave Kriezman was decent his first couple of years on Guiding Light 

He breathed new life into a stale institution, but no matter how great the head writer is you can't get past the hurdles of backstage politics and a limited budget 

[Planet Soap]

The explanation for why Irene Manning and the CIA did what they did was convoluted and confusing but the storyline was exciting. OLTL may have went downhill after the mid 90s and especially after 2002 but it was never boring. It was like GH junior, a lot of crime and action, and decent attempts at addressing social issues. I agree with the person who said OLTL was better than AMC. However I'm now getting an appreciation for All My Children because I started watching it growing up in the mid-2000s when the show was on its last leg.

I like Viki, and I like the concept of multiple personalities despite the numerous confusing rewrites, but some of her scenes as the other alters were cringe. 'Nikki' in 2001 onwards especially! Some of her moments as 'Princess' as well. 

UNPOPULAR OPINION:

1. Jack is better husband to Nikki on Y&R 

2.Billy Warlock was a good AJ on GH. 

3 Overall, ABC soaps were greater than CBS Soaps

4. (maybe not that controversial) GH is the greatest daytime soap of all time. 

5. OLTL  was better than AMC

Edited September 27, 2021 by ironlion

[mango]

ATWT: I loved Hunt Block in the role of Craig. Sure, he was hammy, but I really bought his overprotected routine with Lucy, and I thought his scenes after losing Bryant were heartbreaking. He seemed to have chemistry with all of his leading ladies, and if Mary Beth Evans wasn't reoccurring, I think they could've hit another round of Craig and Sierra out of the park.

[Soaplovers]

Strasser I've seen give subtle performances (i.e. in a miniseries called Baby M)...and her Dorian when she came back in 1993 was loads more low key.

Jess Walton was more subdued as Kelly on Capital.  But she did make Jill more OTT the longer she played her.

And I did see Lucci play more subdued in a few of her tv movies (double edge and Bride in Black).

I wonder if playing the same role for so long, the actresses play them more broad to keep from being bored?

[Planet Soap]

I too actually didn't mind Maura as Diane. She had the look and the villain factor, perhaps it was just the writing. Donnelly and Walters however were were the superior actresses with Donnelly being the best.

Yes, Jack always treated Nikki better and they looked good together. As much as I enjoy Victor and Nikki's drama it's played out now. Victor is a terrible husband and Nikki needed a life outside of walking around the ranch and raising kids. It was a great move making her involved in business from 2000 onwards.  I liked how independent MAB made Nikki around 2009 except for the part where she left Paul because she still had feeling for Victor.

I like having Victor around, I just hate how cruel and crusty they've made him. He used to be an anti hero but now he's just an all out nasty villain. 

Edited September 27, 2021 by ironlion

[Frank2803]

Going back to OLTL vs AMC debate 

I thought the erratic recasting and constant rotation of EPs and head writers ultimately deterred the quality of OLTL 

AMC was pretty much consistent from a quality point of view 

With that being said OLTL was able to take more chances with their storytelling because of that lack of consistency 

Some of the storylines were entertaining and some were a dud

I thought Hunt Block was fine, but like Susan Lucci he is better at the comedic material than the drama 

[j swift]

Fans who don't accept new families for fear that they will "take over the show" helped kill many of the soaps creatively and allowed old men with single process dye jobs to play romantic heroes when they were far past their prime.  A rigid adherence to history is not good for politics or imagination, and it turns away a new audience.

Business storylines are usually only good when a female character is in charge and gets an awesome speech to show up her rivals (see GL's Alex at the country club scene).  Male business rivals are often too aggressive and both become a-holes in the process (see GL's Billy & Kyle, or YR's Jack & Victor).

Mystery storylines only work in the context of a romantic couple trying to solve the crime.  The best mysteries are written to allow the fans to know the killer ahead of time, and anticipate their fall to justice, rather than alienating the audience by not allowing enough clues to play along with the solution (see any prior Ron C mystery).

Ryan's Hope was totally overrated in its early years.  The movie ripoffs of Jaws and King Kong coupled with long musical montages of Mary and Jack in Ireland gave it an inconsistent tone.  And (much like Santa Barbara), it really didn't hit its creative peak until the creators were fired and new talent attempted to liven things up.

 

Edited September 27, 2021 by j swift

[Bill Bauer]

I'm full of unpopular opinions because I'm usually quick to notice when the emperor has no clothes. However, one opinion I've really developed in my current rewatching of ATWT is that Scott Defreitas is a horrible actor. I think he's just a sentimental favorite because he grew up on the show and played the character so long. He had "moments" of good acting but, for the most part, he was very stiff and in some scenes his acting is downright laughable. 

[Mitch]

And unfortunately, that sentiment kept the part from being recast.

[Bill Bauer]

Although I don't feel qualified to have this opinion since I never really watched AMC, I agree with the above posts about Erica Kane/Susan Lucci. From what little I saw, both Erica and Susan seemed overhyped and overrated. Both the character and the actress seemed like one-trick ponies. 

[Frank2803]

As much as JFP is loathed by soap opera fans she still brought fresh and out of the box ideas to soaps.

All the things that made Santa Barbara iconic were attributed to her

Guiding Light was becoming stale until she shook things up starting with the blackout episodes 

[Nicholas Blair]

The first Viki, Gillian Spencer, did an outstanding job as Niki, who was not OTT, but a good-time blue-collar gal who fell for Vinnie Wolek (Antony Ponzini). Gillian made both upper-class Viki and lower-class Niki believable, and had chemistry with both Lee Patterson and Antony Ponzini. After Gillian left, and Joanne Dorian wasn't up to the job, I immediately liked Erika Slezak, but in her first years on the show I would always think, "But she couldn't play Niki the way Gillian Spencer did." Little did I know that playing alters is what Erika would be doing for quite a long time!

Unpopular opinions:

I also liked Manny on GL and thought Joy Lenz was one of the best young actresses I'd ever seen. I also liked Paul Anthony Stewart, an actor who rose above his material on both GL and Loving.

The Harding Lemay era on AW was much overrated.

Worst of all, I actually like Amelia Heinle on Y&R, but then I saw almost nothing of the other Victorias.