| "Reflections by Jill" - A Weekly Commentary on One Life to Live | |
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REFLECTIONS BY JILL….I guess it never ends. One week we’re upset about the loss of Roxy due to the fact that Ilene Kristen’s contract is not being renewed…and the next week we have to put up with yet another new character coming to Llanview…or should I say his return. I was shocked to hear the rumor that they were looking to recast the role of Governor Harrison Brooks. I figured we were well rid of that guy since he had nowhere to go after he was exposed as a crooked politician and Viki told him never to call her or set foot in her line of vision again…but here we are and it’s true. They have recast the role of the governor and I nearly choked on my lunch when I heard the news. The role of Governor Brooks will now be played by a familiar soap actor to some…he certainly is to me. Andrew Masset will be the new Governor Brooks. For those of you who are not familiar with him, he played the sleazy, slimy, no-good-for-nothing Larry Welch on Days Of Our Lives back in the 1980’s and revisited that role about a year ago when everyone thought he was dead. (See, I still don’t get it…everyone comes back to life except my Ben…Jeez!!!) Being a former die-hard Days fan, I remember him well. He’s great at playing a sleazy villain, so that might mean he’ll last longer than Kevin Dobson did…and if and when they try to get him back in Viki’s good graces you will be able to see the steam coming out of my ears across the entire country. Anyway, someone said that Kevin might be considering getting back into politics, which would make sense since Kevin’s current personality would gel perfectly with the governor’s. I don’t know if this is true and now that Tico has an offer to make to Kevin that he can’t refuse, who knows what kind of low-life storyline we’re going to get. I can just see creepy Governor Brooks crawling his way securely and tightly in Tico Santi’s pocket.
And speaking of Tico…how did I ever think I was going to like this guy? Just give me a slap the next time I jump to conclusions, will you please? Are you getting as sick of seeing those Santis invading everyone’s space as I am? Will there be anyone’s life in Llanview that isn’t tainted by these bullying mobsters? I sure wish someone would wipe that smarmy look off Tico’s face…and while they’re at it they can put some sunglasses on Sonia. I’m truly sick of seeing her with her shifty eyes playing coy in every scene.
Did it make you just a bit sick to see Jessica dancing with Tico? I had all these horrible memories of Mitch Laurence. I am convinced that there is a part Jessica’s brain that just shuts off when the other 75% of it seems to be on the ball. I would love to be pleasantly surprised and see her blow Tico out of the water, but I don’t see it happening.
It really annoyed me that Tico made sure that River was accepted at Julliard. It’s not that I care one way or the other about River, but it’s just one more way in which Tico is insinuating himself into everyone’s lives. And how convenient that a guy who was born in Puerto Rico and raised in Spain just happens to have a connection to the Julliard School of Music in New York. Can you say…stretch???
On to Bo and Nora. I thought the quarantine was silly…I thought Bo’s Superman feat was laughable when he got them out of that stuck elevator…but that freezer dilemma was just too ridiculous. Why was Nora freezing and Bo didn’t even look like he had a chill? And I died laughing when Bo started tapping out a message on the pipes in Morse code to the guy next door. Then I wasn’t surprised when John showed up five minutes later because I already figured that the writers would not take advantage of having Bo and Nora in a freezer. When are they going to move this relationship ahead….when their biggest dilemma is how Bo is going to get them cheeseburgers when they’re in a nursing home? Unbelievable! I could have moved this storyline along just fine…big brainstorm…why not just keep them in the freezer long enough to use the only method of survival that would work…BODY HEAT? Oh no, instead they warmed their hands on an imaginary barbecue grille…give me a break! So many chances to really do something interesting…and such a waste of airtime. Daniel and Nora can make out in the middle of the police station but Bo can’t find a way to warm her up in a meat locker.
Oh, and by the way, did you notice that the meat locker was the same “chiller” that Dr. Long locked Marcie in when she was hot on his trail? All of a sudden the room that housed human organs was a haven for big, thick, juicy steaks. You know, they don’t even try to change the look of the sets when they change their use. I guess we’re supposed to be dumb and blind.
I really like John and Evangeline more and more. I’ll bet just when their relationship starts going strong, Natalie will be forced to see Paul for the slime he is and she and John will be drawn to each other again. This could be very interesting. It certainly might help Natalie if she opened her eyes and realized what a loser her brother Rex is, too.
Raise your hands in the air if you loved, loved, loved Mark decking Nick. I was shocked that Nick even admitted that he was clocked by a gay guy. I’m waiting for Marcie to take a swing at him, too. That would more than make my day!
Kelly sure is sinking lower and lower into her own little world. I can’t wait for Evangeline to find out that Dorian and her whole family have been holding back the truth from her about where Ace came from. And I noticed something very weird about Kelly. Maybe it’s just a habit of Heather Tom’s, but did you notice that every time Kelly takes a pill she drinks water first, then swallows the pill and doesn’t drink the water to wash it down? At first I thought I was crazy, but don’t you pop the pill and then drink the water? She does it every time. Is it just me, or is this weird? Could be that I am sometimes just bored enough with the storyline to notice these things.
And maybe Antonio needs some of Kelly’s happy pills. What nerve he had losing his temper and yelling at Jessica the way he did. I don’t care that he was worried about Carlotta. Maybe it’s time for some refresher classes in anger management.
I did laugh at Todd and Blair trying to gaslight Asa. I wonder how he’s going to react when they try to take his mansion away from him. We know he won’t go down without a fight. I’ll bet he winds up standing at the door in his cowboy hat with a rifle slung across his chest daring anyone to try and remove him from the premises. Now that will be funny!
At least the casting people got an actor to stand in as Paul who is not too bad at making Paul as obnoxious as ever. He had some nerve going to Kevin to ask for money. It would be nice to see him pay for taking everyone for stupid, wouldn’t it?
In closing, I’d like to ask one questions. Why couldn’t we get to see more of Roxy trying to teach those Love Shack boys how to dance for their striptease show? Boy, we never get to see enough of the fun stuff and I sure could have used some laughs last week after enduring Tico and Sonia almost every day. I’ve heard that in general, the fans are not at all impressed with the Santi family storyline and I couldn’t be happier. Let’s get it shortened, or ended, or something…and fast. It’s not only boring to watch yet another crime family on soaps, but it’s obnoxious to see them spread through Llanview faster than a brush fire.
See ya next week...
Jill Berry
FAN
FEEDBACK AND QUESTIONS
Edward writes: “I have been an on and sometimes off viewer of OLTL for some time. I started watching OLTL back before the Buchanan's thought of coming to Llanview. I am writing in support of the new storyline involving Mark Solomon! OLTL has always brought new ideas to the viewers and I applaud them for it. I am hoping that they keep the Mark Solomon character on and actually give him a storyline. I like the way the actor portrays Mark's character as gay without being too flamboyant. I would just like to see Mark become a regular on the show with a continuing storyline revolving around him. Plus he is damn cute!”
Dear Edward: I totally agree with you about Mark’s character on the show. I don’t see why we can’t have a character such as Mark have a good storyline that encompasses many facets of his life, including but not limited to the fact that he’s gay. There is no need to forever have the storyline dwelling on idiots like Nick who only bring out one very distasteful aspect of Mark’s life that he has to deal with.
Karolyn writes: “I so totally agree with you about Bo and Nora. If they took a look at what they're not saying with all their arguing, they would get somewhere. While I think that Robert S. Woods and Hillary Smith are terrific in anything given to them -- and I'm grateful that they are sharing screen time again -- I do wish they would move the story along. The gimmicks and 'trappings' have served their purpose and it's time to move on to the meaty stuff in their story. There is a rich history to be explored, let's see it!”
Dear Karolyn: I don’t think I’d mind the gimmicks so much if they would give them some more time to really turn into some kind of realization for Bo and Nora. Seeing them in an elevator for an episode and then miraculously get out was not nearly the fun it could have been. The same goes for the meat locker and the quarantining they went through. It would be lovely to finally get down to seeing if these two have what it takes to make it work again like they did years ago. I’m ready to sit back, watch them go at it and hope for the best.
Jordan writes: “I was wondering if you know anything at Matthew Twining (River Carpenter) being released from contract? I first heard about it on my OLTL discussion list a while back and then on Matt Twining Online. I know this news will probably bring a smile to your face but I for one liked the character (although its a tragedy they didn't bother showing River and Andrew living at home together). There was a lot of potential. By the way, someone asked about where Eve is. A while ago John was talking to Bo and he mentioned that Eve took a job on a cruise ship.”
Dear Jordan: Yes, Matthew Twining was released
from his contract and so far I haven’t heard anything about them recasting the
role of River. I didn’t really have a lot of feelings one way or the other
about River and I think that is because his character wasn’t well developed or
properly written. I didn’t find that there was a lot of physical chemistry
between River and Adriana and certainly none between River and Shannon. River
is too much of a moping, introverted character and had he been written
differently, I think we could have really enjoyed having him on the canvas. I
think they made a mistake not involving his father, Andrew. Thank you for
reminding me about Eve McBain taking a job on a cruise ship. I think somewhere
along the line I completely missed or forgot that fact.
Carol writes: “I like that Marcie stands up for what she believes
and supports her brother, and I like that OLTL sometimes deals with real issues,
but I hope they don't get as one-sided and preachy again as they did with the
whole anti-war/freedom of speech story, especially on complicated issues on
which a lot of good people have a wide range of opinions. By the way, did you
catch Mark Derwin on Lifetime's Wild Card last night, playing a gay dress
designer? Hilarious!”
Dear Carol: Although I got some flack for my negative comments about the freedom of speech storyline, I agree with you and I, too, hope we don’t have to hear Marcie getting too preachy. Although I totally side with her opinion, I think she needs to temper it a bit. It may be just too important to her to allow her to able to compromise and allow for Michael’s opinion, but I suppose that remains to be seen. She has a major conflict because in many other important ways Michael loves and is devoted to her. I’m looking forward to seeing how she resolves her conflict. Oh, and did I catch Mark Derwin on Wild Card? Does a bear poop in the woods? Of course I saw him. He was a riot…although I will admit to having a hard time reconciling my Ben as a gay dress designer. He did do a fine job of making us laugh though, didn’t he?
REGARDING ROXY: It came as no surprise to me that so many people wrote in last week voicing their anger over the show’s failure to renew Ilene Kristin’s contract. Many people asked for information on where to write to speak their minds. I have been told by many people that the best way to be heard is to write letters and e-mails to TPTB (that’s The Powers That Be for those who asked about the abbreviation) and to the soap magazines. I’m told that regular mail works best. So, here are some addresses you can use, as well as phone numbers where you can leave messages with your thoughts.
Anne Sweeney - President, ABC Television
Network, 500 South Buena Vista, Burbank, CA 91521-4778….
anne.sweeney@abc.com
Brian Frons - President of ABC Daytime, 500 S.
Buena Vista St., Burbank, CA 91521-4551…
brian.frons@abc.com
Felicia Minei Behr -
Senior Vice President, ABC
Daytime, ABC - TV 77 W. 66th St., New York, NY 10023
The following address can be used to send comments to anyone at the show...such as Frank Valentini, Josh Griffith and Michael Malone - c/o One Life to Live ABC Daytime, Capital Cities, ABC, Inc., 77 West 66th Street, New York, NY 10023…and
e-mail them at:
Frank Valentini - Executive Producer -
frank.valentini@abc.com
Michael Malone - Headwriter -
michael.malone@abc.com
ABC PRODUCERS – (212) 456-1000
ABC COMMENT LINE
1-323-671-4583
OLTL VIEWER COMMENT LINE 1-212-456-3338
ABC DAYTIME FEEDBACK LINE (212) 456-7777
Soap
Opera Digest,
Sound Off, 261 Madison
Avenue, New York, NY 10016
Soap Opera Weekly Public Opinion, 261 Madison
Avenue, New York, NY 10016
Soaps In Depth, Speak Out!, 270 Sylvan Avenue,
Englewood Cliffs, NJ 07632
abcspeakout@soapsindepth.com
(SID)
abcmail@soapsindepth.com (SID)
© Copyright by Katherine Thurston, 2004
