Dicuss 

The Two Todds storyline was the last great OLTL storyline 

1 hour ago, Liberty City said:

 I'm just not sold on the Ben & Meg storyline, and why it was the driving force for the soap.

Your entire post was super interesting for the record.

I wanted to nod vigorously in approval on that particular point.
It was fine that they imagined it to be the supercouple when they started but they should have quickly realized they weren't that compelling.
When we did the "Which actor dominated their show the most" conversation I was stunned that Clive Robertson was either the record-holder for all soaps or a close second. Good-looking as he was and not a horrible actor, he didn't have at all the shoulders to carry the show in that way.

36 minutes ago, FrenchBug82 said:

Your entire post was super interesting for the record.

Oh, thank you. I appreciate it!

36 minutes ago, FrenchBug82 said:

I wanted to nod vigorously in approval on that particular point.

It was fine that they imagined it to be the supercouple when they started but they should have quickly realized they weren't that compelling.
When we did the "Which actor dominated their show the most" conversation I was stunned that Clive Robertson was either the record-holder for all soaps or a close second. Good-looking as he was and not a horrible actor, he didn't have at all the shoulders to carry the show in that way.

The fact they wanted Ben & Meg as a supercouple, like you said, was fine. But the drag-on of the Dorothy-SB storyline was the killer of it all. Tease their closeness, yes, but to drag it out and constantly throw it in our faces was the death to it. I think, had Ben not been written the way he was, Clive Robertson really could've taken that role to the hills and back. But, again, Guza was not the person to be writing the soap.

i think Sunset Beach was a great show overall and the Terror Island Storyline will forever be one of my favorite storylines from the 90's.. 

 

Unpopular Opinion but i would rather watch Sunset Beach than Passions. Passions dragged way more than SB

On 9/25/2021 at 9:42 PM, Frank2803 said:

Dicuss 

The Two Todds storyline was the last great OLTL storyline 

I agree with you 💯%!  I still watch the videos on YouTube sometimes and get caught up in them all over again.  I had read that since they did keep the knowledge of who the real Todd was under wraps for so long and continued to slowly build up the suspense, the shows numbers climbed up.  Of course,  my opinion is that when Head Writer Ron Carlivati was able to write the stories he wanted as opposed to the dribble Frons dictated to him, he showed what a masterful and creative writer he is.  Had he been able to write what he wanted all along, perhaps we would have had Viki, Todd, Tea, Jessica and Clint a while longer 

On 10/28/2021 at 1:11 PM, Frank2803 said:

It was pointless making Ray Krebbs into the fourth Ewing son.

It added a little tension at the beginning of the storyline, but it made no impact overall on the show.

If they were going to do a fourth Ewing son at least make it a new character 

The reason that plot twist was concocted was due to Steven Kanaly becoming extremely bored with his part of the show ans threatened to leave.  Larry Hagman ☆ in order to keep his friend on the show -- approached TPTB with the suggestion to make Ray Jock's illegitimate child.  (Not sure if you knew that,  but was hoping to add a reason of WHY to your question)

8 hours ago, Jermsie said:

I agree with you 💯%!  I still watch the videos on YouTube sometimes and get caught up in them all over again.  I had read that since they did keep the knowledge of who the real Todd was under wraps for so long and continued to slowly build up the suspense, the shows numbers climbed up.  Of course,  my opinion is that when Head Writer Ron Carlivati was able to write the stories he wanted as opposed to the dribble Frons dictated to him, he showed what a masterful and creative writer he is.  Had he been able to write what he wanted all along, perhaps we would have had Viki, Todd, Tea, Jessica and Clint a while longer 

The reason that plot twist was concocted was due to Steven Kanaly becoming extremely bored with his part of the show ans threatened to leave.  Larry Hagman ☆ in order to keep his friend on the show -- approached TPTB with the suggestion to make Ray Jock's illegitimate child.  (Not sure if you knew that,  but was hoping to add a reason of WHY to your question)

Yea I kinda knew the backstory about Kanaly wanted a bigger role in the show.

Which is ironic because he role in the show didn't increase. It was about the same after that plot point was revealed.

I think a 4th Ewing son was a great idea for a storyline, but it should have been a new character 

8 hours ago, Jermsie said:

I agree with you 💯%!  I still watch the videos on YouTube sometimes and get caught up in them all over again.  I had read that since they did keep the knowledge of who the real Todd was under wraps for so long and continued to slowly build up the suspense, the shows numbers climbed up.  Of course,  my opinion is that when Head Writer Ron Carlivati was able to write the stories he wanted as opposed to the dribble Frons dictated to him, he showed what a masterful and creative writer he is.  Had he been able to write what he wanted all along, perhaps we would have had Viki, Todd, Tea, Jessica and Clint a while longer 

The reason that plot twist was concocted was due to Steven Kanaly becoming extremely bored with his part of the show ans threatened to leave.  Larry Hagman ☆ in order to keep his friend on the show -- approached TPTB with the suggestion to make Ray Jock's illegitimate child.  (Not sure if you knew that,  but was hoping to add a reason of WHY to your question)

Yea I kinda knew the backstory about Kanaly wanted a bigger role in the show.

Which is ironic because he role in the show didn't increase. It was about the same after that plot point was revealed.

I think a 4th Ewing son was a great idea for a storyline, but it should have been a new character 

Edited November 2, 20214 yr by Frank2803

3 hours ago, Jermsie said:

 

The reason that plot twist was concocted was due to Steven Kanaly becoming extremely bored with his part of the show ans threatened to leave.  Larry Hagman ☆ in order to keep his friend on the show -- approached TPTB with the suggestion to make Ray Jock's illegitimate child.  (Not sure if you knew that,  but was hoping to add a reason of WHY to your question)

Really? I had always heard the idea was from Jim Davis

On 10/31/2021 at 6:18 AM, Vee said:

A seasonal format is definitely necessary.

That's why I always said telenovela style would work best. I wonder how Spyder Games, the Mtv soap from 2001, would fair now. I personally loved it.

On 10/31/2021 at 12:33 PM, AMCOLTLLover said:

i think Sunset Beach was a great show overall and the Terror Island Storyline will forever be one of my favorite storylines from the 90's.. 

 

Unpopular Opinion but i would rather watch Sunset Beach than Passions. Passions dragged way more than SB

AGREED! I'm of the opinion that PASSIONS killed modern soaps as a whole.

People carping about music rights being the reason why soap production companies are not streaming these classic soaps are listening to whatever excuses they are being fed. Seeing B&B From The Beginning episodes using songs by Janet and Whitney proves that those that care about making their episodes available, will find a way to do so, it's simpler than most believe.

The rest who don't, simply don't care. That's it.

1 hour ago, SteelCity said:

AGREED! I'm of the opinion that PASSIONS killed modern soaps as a whole.

They were on the verge of recovering from the possession when Passions came out like a wet fart. As if late '90s Days weren't cheap and trashy enough.

13 minutes ago, koos said:

They were on the verge of recovering from the possession when Passions came out like a wet fart. As if late '90s Days weren't cheap and trashy enough.

I still feel that DAYS has yet to recover from that horrible Salem Stalker denouement.

47 minutes ago, SteelCity said:

I still feel that DAYS has yet to recover from that horrible Salem Stalker denouement.

I agree, it hasn't. That extreme level of cheap, campy trash has continued to persist in varying amounts over the years since then. It definitely ain't just Ron.

3 minutes ago, koos said:

I agree, it hasn't. That extreme level of cheap, campy trash has continued to persist in varying amounts over the years since then. It definitely ain't just Ron.

The sad thing is, Salem Stalker actually was really good until the Melaswen BS.

No, it wasn't. It was trashy, exploitative and very, very poorly written. Reilly wrote his entire return run like Passions, from dialogue to plotting. It slaughtered a slew of beloved characters and treated it all like a joke. Which is why it was overturned, despite a slew of fanboys insisting to me that Great God Reilly could never be forced to rewrite or change a story.

Edited November 2, 20214 yr by Vee

2 minutes ago, Vee said:

No, it wasn't. It was trashy, exploitative and very, very poorly written. It slaughtered a slew of beloved characters and wrote it all like a joke. Which is why it was overturned, despite a slew of fanboys insisting to me that Great God Reilly could never be forced to rewrite or change a story.

I'd say the only actual good parts were Suzanne Rogers' performances, after not being used for over a decade, and Kate's blood curdling scream in her wedding dress.

14 minutes ago, Bright Eyes said:

I'd say the only actual good parts were Suzanne Rogers' performances, after not being used for over a decade, and Kate's blood curdling scream in her wedding dress.

I'd agree. Some of the buildup to the kills was effective, or the occasional setpiece. It certainly got a lot of attention and buzz. But I've never forgotten a) how much it was played for laughs while being scripted to the absolute lowest common denominator, and b) how much certain folks who grew up watching Reilly DAYS insisted he could do no wrong and that this was all great soap opera. It was shít, and it was obvious at the time. You can create buzz and do a big, crazy storyline like that one - I love slasher movies! - without turning everything onscreen into a complete joke.

Melaswen being very stupid does not negate the stupidity and folly of the actual execution of the Stalker storyline before it. Sure, I watched quite a lot of it. But it made absolutely no sense before, during and after. And of course, once again, it was all the DiMeras' fault. Zzzz.

Edited November 2, 20214 yr by Vee