Saturday, December 19, 2009

End of Week Commentary

Sorry I haven't been around for so long---soaps have been boring me lately, and I've had alot and nothing to say at the same time. But I've got a couple minutes to kill, so let's go.

Am I wrong for not liking OLTL's Danielle? I find her to be a snobby, entitled brat and I can't stand her. I've got problems with that entire storyline for so many reasons its unreal. Firstly, all of the adults involved--Blair, Todd, Tea and Ross--were out for their own gain and not thinking about Danielle at all. Ross is now dead, Blair and Tea are playing the blame game in Tea's hotel and Todd's skipping around the truth with Starr; for what reason I don't know, she's gonna find out soon enough anyway then he's just gonna have another child mad at him for the fact that he knew Danielle was his and didn't tell Starr when he had the chance. Secondly, they need to be thinking about how to make this better for Danielle. Secondly, Danielle shouldn't be over 10 years old, yet here she is standing toe-to-toe with Destiny about how this is all her fault. Some of the fault lies with Destiny too, her childish jealousy got the best of her and she ratted Dani out to have Matthew to herself.

Seems like poor Nora traded one angry brother for another. For so long, Bo was angry at her for cheating on him long ago or whatever it was she did, I wasn't a viewer at the time. So she fell in love with Clint, then her and Bo rekindled their relationship and he finally forgave her. However, those feelings soon got back to Clint, who is now angry at her and thinks her trash. So while she was with Clint, Bo was angry but now she wants to be back with Bo and Clint wants nothing to do with her. Tsk tsk. I guess you just can't win em all.

Kudos of the day goes to Blair though for not letting Tea push her out when she came to apologize. Despite the dislike bordering on hatred constantly bubbling between the two of them, Blair came through for Tea today and offered her a shoulder to cry on, although it definitely wasn't Tea's shoulder of choice. The irony of this whole thing is that they are both in love with the man who's responsible for ruining both of their lives on several occasions. According to Tea, he doesn't want her, and Blair knows he doesn't want her either. And their entire rivalry is based on their mutual love for Todd and their petty need to get a 'win' over each other, with the main 'prize' being Todd and the loser's consolation being memories of their nights together. I know I shouldn't be on Todd's side here since this is his fault, but I'd love for him to find another woman and take both Tea and Blair off his radar. That would be a riot of hilarity. And quite fun to watch.

I'm not sure when it happened, but Langston and Markko are starting to get on my nerves. I still like them together and all, but it's like they lost their edge. When they came together a couple of years ago, they were misunderstood outcasts. Now Langston's like the town saint and Markko's the good ol' boy who can't afford much of anything so he has to work all the time yet has time to attend a concert and sit around for hours in the back of the Buenos Dias talking to Langston. That's why I'm glad they're bringing that hunky piece of meat Ford back to the picture. I don't know how long he'll be around, but he sizzles with Langston and after that whole Lola fiasco earlier this year (was it really less than a year ago?) that Langston had to watch in disgust then had to watch Markko's parents disown him and call her a tramp because they had sex, I think it's time to make good ol Markko squirm for a change. So let's see what happens there.

Kimmy's trying to sharpen her claws on Clint's post as he tosses Nora out on her ass.........though judging how today's episode ended, he and Nigel may be tossing her and Bo in the Buchanan mausoleum (btw who has a mausoleum on their home property? Creepers) out back instead. It is out back, right? lol I felt rotten for Clint and Jerry verDorn did a damn good job playing Clint as being destroyed by finding out Nora's infidelity. Using Kim for revenge worked beautifully, as Nora flipped out when she thought they were really having an affair. Which made me wonder why she cared and tried to flip it around on Clint, about why he never told her. I thought this marriage was a mistake for at least 3 reasons from the very beginning but I still held out a little hope that Clint and Nora would make it. It was foolish to think they would; I knew that from the beginning as well. But a girl can dream, right? Kim, the opportunistic pole-grinder that she is, is already designing her engagement ring, as she thinks this is going to be her chance to slither in and marry Clint, vulnerable as he is right now. Sad to say, but I think she's going to be at least slightly successful, but what I hope is that somewhere along the way, she ends up, against her will, falling in love with Clint. He deserves happiness, and I don't want another twit coming in to take advantage of him. And it would be too funny to watch Kim having to do all that work and end up failing not because Clint won't buy it, but because she falls in love with him and can't go through with it.

The same won't be said for Stacy, whose plan is about to blow up in her face. It relieves me immensely to know that her time in Llanview is coming to an end. I'm familiar with Crystal Hunt's work from Guiding Light as a younger Lizzie I believe, and she turns in good work even though Stacy is a disgusting character. She does a damn good job of making me despise Stacy. And I'm finally glad to know that she's on her way out, she can take her belly padding and her skanky makeup with her. Nothing more to say about that.

The soap world is mourning its second cancellation in a year, which puts the others on high alert---soaps are rapidly declining and may be in their twilight years. This week we were hit with the blow that sometime next year, another CBS soap, As The World Turns, will be having its final curtain call. I grew up watching this show too, as I did with Guiding Light. The Snyders, the Montgomerys and the irreplacable Lucinda Walsh were as much a part of my childhood as the Spauldings and the Coopers. This is not a hit to just ATWT fans, this is a hit to all soap fans in general but in particular CBS soap fans and puts ABC soap fans on alert---within the past year, CBS has erased half of its daytime lineup. The remaining soaps are Young and the Restless and Bold and the Beautiful, which isn't even an hour long. ABC still has a full day of soaps but for how long? With One Life to Live and All My Children both dodging cancellation rumors several times within the year and AMC's much-discouraged move to LA in January, how long will it be before ABC jumps on the bandwagon and decides to put something else on in those time slots instead? As painful as it is to admit, times are changing. You don't wake up anymore to Bob Barker on Price is Right or eat lunch with Sally Spectra and the B&B crew, and you aren't watching Alan and Philip duke it out on Guiding Light anymore when the kids get in from school. Reality tv and remakes have taken over tv and soaps are slowly but surely being phased out. It's impossible to ignore and unavoidable for the rest of the soaps still clinging on. I'd love to say that soaps will always be around, it never occurred to me 10 years ago that two of the soaps I grew up on would never be here, but here we are and I'm gonna be honest here--more cancellations are definitely on the way. I can see that on the horizon with my eyes closed and my ears stuffed with cotton. Gone are the days where generations bonded over their favorite soaps. Gone are the days where daughters ran home from school to catch the last bit of their soap opera, and gone are the days where you could hear it on radio and see it plastered all over the grocery store newsstands. Thing is, soaps are a thing of yesterday now. I hate it because my soaps are a major part of my television viewing today----tv today kind of disgusts me in a way. So these soaps, these neverending tales of love and betrayal and respect and life and death, steamy love scenes and heartbreaking losses, have a huge place in my heart. They're around for so long, you feel like they're part of your family. They're in your living room every day, growing up with you, making mistakes just like you and then bam! they're gone. It really is like losing a relative or friend and never seeing them again. It hurts deeply to know we're losing another good soap to make way for more bad game show remakes, stupid reality television and other useless programming. You can't replace the classics, guys. Stop trying. As The World Turns has been around for another history-making amount of time, 54 years. The stories, the people and the town of Oakdale are permanent staples in my mind as I think of daytime soaps. We'll miss you ATWT. p.s.------SoapNet, now would be the perfect time for you to get rid of that other stupid programming you've got goin on (all the reality shows--just keep Being Erica lol) and put some reruns of GL and ATWT on as well. Hey, wouldn't it be cool to have our own soap radio and start replaying episodes on there too? Just a thought. See ya!
Read More »