| "Reflections by Jill" - A Weekly Commentary on OLTL | |
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REFLECTIONS BY JILL….
The time has come – I am so sick and tired of hearing about these “focus groups” and how they are responsible for what we seen and don’t see on OLTL. Everywhere I look I see comments about focus groups not liking this about the show and not liking that about the show. WHO ARE THE PEOPLE WHO MAKE UP THESE FOCUS GROUPS AND IS GARY TOMLIN REALLY LISTENING TO THEM OR IS IT JUST A COVER FOR WHO HE’S REALLY LISTENING TO????? I speak from experience when I say that I can’t imagine why the executives in charge of storyline plots would make such major decisions based on what a focus group has to say.
*Cast your ballot in our online Voting Booth to determine if focus groups should be used or not?
Here’s my experience….
A few years ago, when I was a huge fan of NBC soaps, I was contacted by a young marketing person at NBC who somehow got hold of my name from a magazine subscription mailing list or one of the other countless ways people can get your name and bother you. This person, who may or may not have even been a soap opera fan, asked me if I watched NBC soaps, particularly Days Of Our Lives. I said that I did watch that show and was a major fan. (Note: The devotion I have to being a Mark Derwin fan is in its baby stages compared to the 15-year devotion I had to Drake Hogestyn…hey Mark, look at all the years ahead we have to share….LOL!) Anyway, I digress. This young woman, the marketing person, asked me if I’d be willing to participate in a focus group for a few hours one morning and I thought it sounded like fun – so I did it – and it was indeed fun. I think at the time they offered $25.00 for participating – not bad for a morning’s diversion and half a day off from work (don’t tell my old boss). Hey, I needed a change of scenery and hadn’t seen Rockefeller Center in a while – so off I went to “30 Rock”, the NBC Building. I was sent, along with the other participants who gathered in the lobby, up to the floor where they now tape Saturday Night Live and The Rosie O’Donnell Show. That was actually exciting enough to make my day because we weren’t allowed to go anywhere without a security guard, which gave me the hope of seeing someone famous. My dream, at the time, would have been to meet Phil Donahue – boy, have times changed!
They ushered us to a small conference room. There were about 10 of us…all women…no men…and the first thing I noticed, along with everyone else, was that one entire wall was a two-way mirror. Of course, my first impression, having a strange sense of humor and being a New Yorker was….POLICE LINE-UP! Too many cop shows for me. Everyone kept looking in the mirror, which I found hysterical. I personally found the mirror a bit unnerving…which brings me to my first criticism on taking focus groups seriously. Do you say what you really think not knowing who’s watching?
In a few minutes we were joined by the young woman who had contact us on the phone and I had to be the one to ask who was on the other side of the mirror watching us. She said that we couldn’t know that, but it could be network executives, writers, or even actors sitting in to hear what the fans have to say. Well, I quickly deduced that Drake Hogestyn and Diedre Hall DID NOT fly across the country to hear what I had to say, so I kept wondering who would care to listen. The moderator told us to ignore the mirror…yeah right…and to just speak honestly. To tell you the truth, I think most of the people in the group were more impressed with the lovely breakfast they served, rather than what their comments would count for…LOL. The group was made up of women of all ages and all races and with all of us having a common interest, the conversation flowed among us immediately.
Here is where I have to have a huge laugh at Mr. Tomlin. He professes to have a strong dislike for the Internet fans’ opinions, but looking back on that focus group (and the few I participated in after that) I think of one thing…..A group of people with a like interest, sitting around over bagels and muffins talking for a couple of hours about a subject they all have in common.….GARY, CAN YOU SAY CHAT ROOM ???????? Wake up GT…these focus groups are nothing more than face-to-face versions of what you claim to dislike so much – INTERNET CHATTING! Focus groups are nothing more than strangers getting together to discuss similar interests. DUHHH GT! The only difference is that they can see each other’s faces and aren’t talking with their fingers. Oh well, there is one other difference for me…these days I have to try and forego the bagels and muffins and usually keep a good supply of Diet Coke and salt-free pretzels by my computer.
In the focus group, we were given questionnaires to fill out, which asked our ages, likes and dislikes, television viewing habits, etc. The moderator asked all those difficult questions like, “Who is your favorite character”, “What would you like to see happen and what or who would you do away with on the show?” I can tell you this…of all the things that were discussed (and in a civilized, non-biting way), there were differing opinions and in some cases we all felt the same way about a storyline or a character…but even upon the things we all agreed …no future changes on the show reflected our opinions…as if I thought they would! And try as we might, no one was able to avoid staring into that mirror, wondering who was on the other side.
So, we tossed around some conversation about the show…the moderator took some notes, nodding her head as if she cared about the show…and then in the last hour they showed us that day’s episode of the show. What was that for? Personally, I like watching my favorite show by myself…on tape so I can stop and rewind 50 times if I like something before I continue watching the rest of the show. Don’t tell me you don’t do the same thing…LOL…oh, except for my good friend who watches in her car on a 1” screen. LOL…to me that’s like being in the desert for a week and someone giving me one drop of water. Dear friend, I admire your ability to do that and be satisfied…at least until you can get home and watch again on the big screen.
Here’s my question…..How many focus groups…how many fans…how many bagels and muffins did GT go through until he was able to decide…….
that Ben shouldn’t call Viki “Blondie” any more
that once people get married on OLTL their storyline and romance are over
that people really want a storyline for Max and Gabrielle
that Todd should go as far as he goes with his antics
that we need Troy getting between Nora and Sam
that we care about every old character that was ever on the show
that Lindsay should keep getting away with murder
that Cris and Jen have the kind of chemistry that we want to see all the time
that characters like John Sykes, Sophia Pellegrino, and Kevin and Joey Buchanan, all of whom enhanced my enjoyment of OLTL, were unnecessary
A very astute Internet friend of mine commented that she doesn’t even believe that Gary Tomlin relies on focus groups for their opinions. She believes that he is definitely listening to the Internet fans, however, the ones he’s listening to are the ones who are the loudest and brashest in their opinions…opinions which come from the fact that they don’t get what or who they want on the show, so they bad-mouth what they do get, even if there’s no basis for their dislike. This friend feels, and I so totally agree with her, that GT uses the focus groups as an excuse, trying to make us believe that these little groups are forcing his hand in making certain decisions. Bull! He’s just listening to a bunch of dark opinions…sad for him…and in turn, for us. I’m going to have to send him a list of diverse web sites so he can get a decent cross-section of real opinions by intelligent people. Does anyone find it just a bit silly that a group of fans is celebrating on a certain Web site because Ben doesn’t call Viki “Blondie” any more? Give me a break and get a life. If they dislike Ben and Viki so much, I would like to direct them to the fast forward button…then they wouldn’t care if Ben calls Viki “Blondie”, or “Marie Antoinette”, or “Bozo the Clown.” I sure wouldn’t watch something I hated so much. The joke is that they don’t like Ben and Viki any better since he’s stopped calling her “Blondie”, so GT….what was accomplished when you made that huge and very important decision? You are well on your way to destroying the best love story OLTL has created in a long time.
And it’s not just Ben and Viki…there’s Todd and Blair. Someone wrote the other day that they felt bad for the Todd and Blair fans because after all that they’ve been through waiting for that wedding, they didn’t even get a wedding reception. It wasn’t even a Todd and Blair fan that wrote this, but someone who generally believes, as I do, that the majority of the fans are not being heard by TPTB, no matter who their favorites are. The Todd and Blair fans deserved a bigger payoff for all their years of waiting, and it doesn’t have to be at the expense of other storylines. I’ll bet GT any amount of money that there isn’t a focus group alive that would have condoned Todd letting Blair think their baby was dead. Did he bother to ask any focus groups what they’d think of that brilliant idea? I think not.
GT…the fans think you haven’t got a clue about what romance is…or about how exciting married peoples’ lives can be on soaps. The fans think you are determined to bring back “the old” at any cost, even if they don’t care about a lot of it. I’d think you’d want to do something to prove all of us wrong? How about it?
Maybe there are people out there who think focus groups are important when it comes to the decision making on soap operas…personally, I don’t. I think they’re fun to participate in….it’s great to meet people who share your interests with whom you can share ideas and opinions…but when a group of people which is tiny in comparison to the total viewing public, says they hate something (and I don’t believe that any majority hates any one thing)…is it wise to jump on that and change the direction of a show? What about the millions of people sitting at home who haven’t been asked to participate in focus groups? Are you listening to them, Mr. Tomlin? Are you reading their letters and counting THEIR opinions? I’d be more than happy to come down there and read the fan mail…tally up the opinions…and then sit down with you and compare them with the opinions of the so-called “focus groups.” I’m betting that you check out the Internet a lot more than you’d admit to…you just don’t know where to go to find the opinions of the fair and intelligent fans, of which your show has tons. If you ever feel like hearing what people really want, you’ll get a broader scope of opinions than you’re currently getting.
*Don't forget to cast your ballot in our online Voting Booth to tell us what you think about soap opera focus groups.
See ya next week......
Jill
FAN FEEDBACK AND
QUESTIONS
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The following letter came to me from a fan who did not want her name published and I totally respect that, however, I feel the need to share this with all of you, since it proves how intelligent and compassionate fans of opposing views can be when they love their show and respect the feelings of others, even if they don’t share the same likes or dislikes.
She writes: “Jill, just read your latest column and wanted to thank you for your kind words about T&B's wedding. I've been waiting for a reunion for seven years and I finally got it last Friday. After countless disappointments, T&Bers finally got a well-deserved payoff. Haven't been happy with their storyline but wouldn't give up that wedding for anything, Being that your favorite couple B&V hasn't gotten any airtime since GT took over it was gracious of you to be pleased for the T&B fans. To be honest I've resented some of the V&B fans for being upset that T&B have been front and center for the last couple of months. Seven years is a long, long time to wait for your couple to finally be given a payoff. I understand the frustration of V&B fans and hope that they do get a storyline together soon. So, again thank you for the generous words about T&B.”
Dear “you know who you are”: I thank you so much for your kind words and
believe me, I know what it’s like to wait forever for your favorite couple to
get together. As I stated in my article above, I was a huge Days Of Our Lives
fan and I waited 15 years for John and Marlena to get together and finally get
married. Talk about a long, long, time…I can surely sympathize. Here’s to Todd
and Blair as well as Ben and Viki being two couples with great on-screen
romances in the future. I’d have no trouble enjoying both.
_______________
Sue writes: “All of your points about the
current (and future) storylines are right
on target except for one thing: if the writing doesn't improve – and soon! -
there won't be anyone around to watch. Just this week alone, we've seen Sam
refuse to have some romance with Nora (something he's wanted for over a year!)
just because she was with Troy. He never let her explain or anything, just
walked out! How stupid is that? Then there's Todd. Can they make this guy act
any more stupid? Running around the airport shouting stupid things because his
baby is crying? And then Blair and Todd just missing each other at the airport,
and the nanny Todd forgot he hired! How this man runs a newspaper I can't
imagine. Probably the fact that he's never there makes it run pretty smoothly!
How did Seth find out where Jessica was to save her? And why are they hanging
out together now? And isn't there some kind of security at the photo shoot?
Keith just shows up and claims to be a modeling extra? Who hired him? I
thought the writing under Megan McTavish was bad. At least I did before this
last group showed up! I barely recognize the show anymore and even with Ben and
Viki (my absolute favorites!) I'm losing interest fast! I might hang on if I
got to see this great couple together once in awhile, but they barely get five
seconds, while we're forced to watch Jenn's vacant stare for hour after hour!
Dear Sue: I think I see the problem here…LOL. You’re making that age-old
mistake we all tend to make…we wonder why our soap doesn’t make sense like some
things do in real life. Nothing makes sense on soaps like it does in real
life. You can’t be a soap watcher who still has hair left on your head without
suspending your disbelief and realizing that….yes, people fake their deaths
every day…that New York is 2 feet wide and 3 feet long and that’s how Seth found
Jessica so easily…that lunatics like Todd run newspapers
successfully…etc…etc…and let’s not forget that everyone has beautiful homes but
never works to pay for them.
_______________
Robert writes: “In your last column you noted that the ratings are down and that you didn't know exactly why. May I tell you? How many lost, abandoned, switched children stories are we supposed to swallow all at once? We have all been dragged through the Todd/Blair baby hell for months. The storyline never made any sense to begin with and yet on and on it goes. Then there is the Jessica/Natalie story, which to tell you the truth, is the only thing these days that I don't fast forward past. The scenes between Jess and Viki are breathtaking to behold. These two actresses are at the top of their game and it is a pleasure to watch. BUT...now they come along and throw Keri at us. I want to tell you, Jill, the minute I understood where they were going with this my TV almost went out the window. I have no respect for writers who are so dim that they would really believe that loyal viewers would want more of the same story with different people.”
Dear Robert: I definitely agree that we have too many “you’re my real parent” storylines. I do have to say though, that I am intrigued by the RJ/Keri father daughter storyline. I think with Antonio’s desire to put RJ away, which is stronger than ever after what he did to Cris, this storyline has great possibilities. I couldn’t agree more about Jessie and Viki. They are the best scenes on the show…every time. They shine and when they share a scene, I am riveted to my seat. I sure hope the writers wise up, too. What do you think are the chances of that?
