| "Reflections by Jill" - A Weekly Commentary on OLTL | |
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REFLECTIONS
BY JILL…..
Recently I’ve been thinking back to the “good old days”….you know, before the Internet – before there were dozens of entertainment and gossip shows on regular TV and on cable – and before we had so many magazines and newsletters to give us every bit of inside information about the soaps that we can digest.
I laugh because I wonder if the younger soap fans even know or can remember what life was like before we had the luxury of “knowing everything.” Now, I don’t consider myself that…um…..MATURE….but I can remember back to a time when we didn’t have most of the things that inundate us with information today. I’m getting this weird feeling that I’m sounding like my mother now, who tells me that back in her time, they didn’t even have canned tuna. Can you imagine that? I don’t think I would have been able to survive that…LOL…because much like Viki Davidson, I love tuna on rye. I must remember to ask mom if they even had rye bread. Something tells me it must have come to New York before the Statue of Liberty.
Now hold onto your hats, young soaps fans…Can you believe that my very first VCR, back in the early 1980’s was a top loader…WITHOUT…I repeat…WITHOUT A REMOTE CONTROL????? I know you don’t believe it, but I have the pictures of myself to prove it. I was thinner in those days…must have been all that getting off the couch every 2 minutes to rewind a wonderful love scene, which we don’t seem to get any more. I got lots of exercise while watching soaps back then. Boy, those were the days.
Let’s start by talking about the Internet – this monstrous fountain of information that we can no longer live without. I have to say that I never believed that I was addicted to it until a while ago when my monitor on my home computer died and I had to wait 3 days for a new one to be delivered. I felt completely out of touch and of course, the July 4th holiday just had to be stuck in the middle of that week, so I had to wait an extra business day for delivery. I was climbing the walls. Every time I passed the computer I was automatically going to sit down and crank it up. I was out of touch with friends – couldn’t connect to my weekly fix (the weekly OLTL chat) – and couldn’t get all the information about the show that I never truly believed I couldn’t live without. I never thought I was so addicted to soap gossip until I didn’t have it.
That’s what got me to thinking about how much we (ok, I’ll just speak for myself, although I know I speak for many) rely on all those spoilers and rumors to keep us going. Then I started to wonder just how good it is that I have all that information at my fingertips.
Somehow, knowing too much about what’s going to happen, who’s coming and going, etc., takes some of the fun out of soap viewing, or I should say, soap viewing as I knew it. I used to go crazy with those Friday cliffhangers in the “old days” when I really had no clue about what would happen on Monday. There was something fun and exciting about thinking all weekend about what was going to happen. That doesn’t happen any more. Now I usually know what’s going to happen on Monday and Tuesday and Wednesday…LOL…and some of the fascination is gone.
Another thing that bugs me about all the information we have available to us is that we learn a lot about actors’ contracts and negotiations…or at least we think we do. I have to say that it definitely does take something away from the storyline when I know months ahead of time that an actor is leaving the show…whether he or she decides not to renew their contract, or worse, if the actor is not being asked to renew. This is definitely true in murder mysteries where you know that there are usually only two choices of who the murderer is…it’s either an actor who is leaving the show, or it’s someone who is such a beloved character that they will somehow be able to avoid going to jail for life, or to the electric chair…LOL. Although the writers kept me in suspense for a long time about who Colin’s killer was, when it got close to the end and my main choice for the killer (Will) turned out to be the wrong choice, we all figured it had to be Nora because she was the only one who could “get away with murder.”
Whenever I hear that an actor is leaving the show so far in advance, it is a bit disheartening because instead of concentrating on the storyline they are currently involved in, I am wondering….What will the writers do with the character until they leave?….Will they be killed off?….What about the other actors involved in their storyline? Will the person they are romantically paired with get the axe as well? With all of this going through my mind, I have little time to even care about the storyline on a daily basis and where it’s going. I stop caring to some extent because I am no longer invested in that character. It doesn’t seem worth the investment. This happened many months ago when it was announced that Jason Shane Scott was leaving the show. I never really had that much love for Will in the first place, but once I knew he was leaving, all I thought about was whether or not he killed Colin – how they would break up his relationship with Jessica – whether or not he would blow his mother out of the water with what he knew about her dirty deeds (I would have loved that) – and when we’d finally see him leave. It took away from all of his relationships on the show with all the people I really like (well, except for Mommy Dearest, of course).
Now we read and hear that Darlene Vogel is leaving in September. This has been rumored for a long time and I know that I am in the very small minority of people who like Melanie…and Melanie with Bo…but wondering for all these months what would happen with her was annoying to say the least. Now that Melanie has found her backbone, I would love to see Darlene stay. I’m not even going to speculate about what’s going to happen with Bo now.
One thing I have to comment on is all the information we get, or I should say, the rumors that fly around about actors’ personal lives. I know some people may love knowing about this stuff, but when it comes to actors having their private lives and problems bared for all to see, it’s just not for me. This happened recently with a character that I loved dearly (and I’m not even going to mention his name since those who care will know of whom I’m speaking). This actor’s personal problems were fodder for gossip everywhere I turned on the Internet and I hated it. He is a good actor and I loved the way he portrayed his character. Everything else to do with his private life is of no concern to me aside from the fact that I hope he’s happy. We all have personal problems and should be afforded the right to our privacy…actors included.
OK…when it comes to too much information, I have to say that some of the biggest “poppycock” has to do with changes in executive producers and writing staffs. So many people were excited about the departure of Jill Farren Phelps and Megan McTavish and about the arrival of Gary Tomlin, Chris Whitesell and Lorraine Broderick. We had hopes for lighter storylines and more airtime for our favorite characters. We all bought into the promise of more romance – great, new storylines – more family interaction – and let’s not forget the biggest promise…NO MAJOR CHANGES! Well now, that’s something we should have just glanced over in all of those magazines and not paid attention to. Did we need to buy into all that hype when, before we could blink an eye, it was proven to be false? I would have much preferred to be told the truth from the beginning – that so many of my favorites players would be shown the door and that the word “family” meant people from the past whom some of us don’t really care about. We were given so much information and hype about the new regime at OLTL and none of it has panned out yet. I hold out great hope for the fall and I hope I’m not disappointed. Believe me, I have seen the work of these writers on other shows and they did write some beautiful romances. So what is going on? I’m ready to stop getting any information, rather than be given false hope.
When it comes to information, I like the truth, even if it’s not what I want to hear. I recently read an article in the newspaper about the current status and future of soaps. It stated that the median age of soap views has gone way up, meaning that they are having trouble roping in the young viewers and keeping them. It stated that there is so much out there on cable and on the Internet that young people are not willing to invest an hour every day, five days a week to follow a story. There were also various comments from editors of soap magazines, stating the opinion that Executive Producers and writers take it for granted that the viewers will stick around, even if they don’t get to see what they want. That’s pretty insulting and sad, not to mention untrue in most cases. I know so many loyal fans who fast forward through half the show these days…and that’s not a good sign for the future. I know that I have stopped watching 2 shows that I devoted over 20 years to because they stopped giving me what I wanted to see and continued to give me silly storylines and uninteresting characters. So many of my good friends write letters to TPTB all the time and I know that a lot of people believe it makes a difference, but I have strong doubts about that. I can honestly say that I have some friends that are very prolific writers and they get their letters published in the magazines all the time….it would be nice if we could know that someone was reading and listening, and willing to do something about the way people feel. There is a lot that I like about OLTL right now, and some of the storylines are improving, but I’d like to know that what we think makes a difference.
OK…here is the source of information and gossip that makes me the craziest and that is……SPOILERS!!!! Boy, do we get roped in by spoilers. You can literally spend all day long perusing all the soap websites reading lists and lists of spoilers. Personally, they make me laugh because so many times they are so overblown and what we get is nothing like what we expected. A perfect example of this is every time we get a spoiler that says, “Ben and Viki share a romantic evening.” BAHAHAHAHAHA….translated, this really means…they kiss a couple of times and head up the stairs, not to be seen until 2 weeks later when the back burner gets so cold their butts freeze. And how many times did we think that we were going to find out who killed Colin, when in reality, we didn’t find out for months? Some of the spoilers just never even materialize. We find ourselves saying, “Is that what that big scoop was all about?” I definitely think that Gary Tomlin reads all the scoops and spoilers and then changes direction on us…OR…he’s the one planting the ones that take us east when he’s going west. Are you playing with us Gary? If so, we’d like to set the rules of the game for a change. Care to talk?
I’ll just talk for a minute about soap magazines. I love them…but there are so many now. How many do we need? I remember when there used to be only one….the beloved Soap Opera Digest, which was the bible and maybe still is. I still wait for it to come every week in my mail. Where would I have been without the “VCR Alert” two years ago when I learned that finally, after 15 years of waiting, I was going to see John and Marlena get married on Days Of Our Lives? Had I not know when it would happen, I would not have been able to call two friends and my sister to set their VCR’s for me….you know…just in case my neighborhood blacked out, or a meteor fell on my master antenna…hey, we have to worry about these things! Relying on one VCR just doesn’t cut it sometimes. By the way, that wedding was worth the wait. And for those of you who believe my devotion to Ben is “over the top”, you should have known me when I was a DAYS fan. I could watch Drake Hogestyn tie his shoes for an hour a day, five days a week….UNTIL…the day I laid eyes on Mark Derwin. Let’s just say that Drake still holds a small place in my heart, but every time I see that dimpled grin of Derwin’s, Drake just gets knocked into a ventricle somewhere. But as usual, I digress. Hey, what good is having your own column if you can’t gush over the ones you hold most dear? Anyway, I do love the magazines and in reading them I keep around a bit of the old, in a world where technology rules.
To tie this all up, I am going to make a big admission here…as much as I complain about how the Internet has taken over my life…and as much as I complain and get mad when spoilers do nothing but spoil the show for me…I have to say that I AM HOOKED AND CAN’T LIVE WITHOUT ANY OF IT! I have been ruined by technology and can never go back. There are a few things in life that I cannot live without…and they are:
Canned Tuna
The microwave oven, which zaps my dinner when I’m too impatient to see the show and can’t waste time cooking
TV Remote Controls
Videotapes and the much beloved dual VCR’s owned by my good friends
Those good friends, some of whom I have never even seen face to face (scary, huh?)
The rewind button
The slow motion button (if you’ve never tried it, you don’t know what you’re missing)
-AND-
ABC, which is the kindest network, being the only one to give us coming attractions for the next day’s show.
I am a die-hard fan and I watch every minute of every show, so in these troubled soap times, I think I deserve a reward for that loyalty…LOL. I would like to have one week where I get a bunch of magazines, read 20 pages of spoilers, browse 100 soap websites on the Internet…and for once, they all tell me what I want to hear…and IT’S ALL TRUE!
See
ya next week……
Jill
FAN FEEDBACK
AND QUESTIONS ON LAST WEEK’S COLUMN
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Gloriamoonligt writes: Colin might not have been a really good old boring guy, but there is no way he was as slimy as Lindsay, and I agree with you about the fact that she should pay for her deeds. What I can't believe is that you seem to hate Colin. The only reason that I started watching OLTL was because Colin was on it, because his character was the most interesting one. Why do you hate him? I know that he did horrible things, but they only made OLTL worth watching.
Dear Gloriamoonligt: Me??? Hate Colin??? LOL…you must have me confused with
someone else. I don’t really hate the guy…you know, hate is a very strong
word…I don’t even think I ever used that word on Lindsay and if anyone deserves
it, she does. Here’s the thing….I have great disdain (notice, I didn’t say
hatred…LOL) for any character who has no redeeming qualities and in my humble
opinion, that describes Colin. Even when he was helping Nora recover, it was
for his own selfish reasons and he was keeping her from her family and worse,
from her little boy. I don’t mind a little mayhem from the bad guys once in a
while, but Colin just doesn’t do it for me. And hey, when you mentioned the
“good old boring guys”...did you have a particular one in mind? Maybe we need
to talk some more…LOL.
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NudsMom writes: “Jill...I loved your commentary today...I am a OLTL fan for 30 years...and you were right on the money with everything you spoke about...especially about Max...I wish he would go already...he is useless...Gave away his kids and thinks he is just IT to women...And I do miss Dorian and her spice!!! I personally hate Colin, and I hope he is not coming back in any way, shape or form...but you are probably right, and he will be coming out from under a rock somewhere.”
Dear NudsMom: Now be careful, Gloriamoonligt right above you doesn’t want us to
hate Colin. And hey, if you can get Max to go away, I’ll foot the bill for a
farewell party…that is, only if he takes Gabby with him. Isn’t there some new
reality-based prime time show that needs a female contortionist?
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Hazel writes: “Thanks Jill for today’s delivery. I believe in your ideas. All these soaps have the actors married to everybody on the show and all the children belong to everybody. You can't tell me you can't keep a family together. Let them stay together and work through their problems. I watched Days for 35 years and now I tune in a couple times a week. It is so repetitive I don't miss anything. Well, thanks for listening and keep up the good work.”
Dear Hazel: Ah, another disgruntled Days fan…I can relate. As far as the families, it seems like any time there is a lull in the family action, something is revealed that requires a paternity test. You’re right, it does get to be tiresome after a while, and the only thing I enjoyed about the Sam/Bo paternity question was that I really wanted Sam to be Matthew’s real father and for once, it turned out that a family wasn’t broken up over a child’s paternity. Will wonders never cease?
