Gays of our Lives (January 05, 2010)

Welcome to the first edition of Gays of Our Lives for 2010. Happy New Year! We’ve got a lot for you this week, starting with the results of our second annual Best and Worst Poll. While most of the results may seem obvious, what might surprise you are my thoughts, which I will share as part of my own analysis of soaps in the past year.

In GOOL THEATER, we’ve got those wonderful clips from One Life to Live of Kyle and Oliver’s historic love making for those who missed it and those who want to see it again – and again and again. Plus, EastEnders gears up for Syed and Amira’s wedding as Christian plans to stop the ceremony, Adam starts to spread word of Aaron being gay on Emmerdale and Lucas and Noud have a horrible experience on Good Times, Bad Times (Dutch).

In GOOL SCOOPS AND SPOILERS, now that Kyle and Oliver have made love, what does One Life have in store for them? A little romance … and a lot of danger. Plus, Noah is back on As the World Turns (again, but not for long) and he is not happy about what Luke has done (when is he ever?). And when Noah makes a shocking announcement, Luke begins to wonder if they even have a future. On the German side of things, Lucas fears the worst for Noud on Good Times, Bad Times and Roman plans what to do next with his life on All That Matters.

And in GOOL NEWSBEAT, we have got a ton of One Life to Live news, including reactions to the Kyle/Oliver love scenes, an update on an impending exit and news of another character in the Kyle/Oliver orbit who is leaving the show. Also, we’ve got word on the returns of Shameless, Raw, Big Love and Greek. And how long is it going to take for Emmerdale’s Aaron to admit that he’s gay? Danny Miller, who plays the troubled teen, has the answer.

All this – and more!

TABLE OF CONTENTS
FEATURE: BEST AND WORST IN SOAPS POLL RESULTS
GOOL THEATER
SCOOPS & SPOILERS
GOOL NEWSBEAT
SNAPSHOTS
SOAP STUD OF THE WEEK
QUESTION OF THE WEEK

Here it is! The results of the 2^nd Annual GOOL Best and Worst In Soaps poll, and along with them my own thoughts, picks and some analysis.

BEST SOAP (U.S.)

Is it really a surprise that OLTL is far and away the winner in this category? Smart writing, terrific acting and strong, solid storytelling is what this soap is all about, and the beautifully told and exquisitely acted Kyle/Oliver romance is an example of that. Clearly the romance was a labor of love by everyone involved.

And those who venture out of the romantic orbit of our gay couple (and they should) will discover a show that has mystery, intrigue, romance, social issues, camp and an amazing wit. Sure, there are stories that bore (Rachel/Greg) and characters I wish would go away (Todd), but OLTL has so much to offer that those stories and characters won’t be on screen long before something I want to see shows up.

As for As The World Turns, the cancellation news is the big cloud hanging over the show, which is sad as things were beginning to improve creatively. Except that is for Luke and Noah, who have the same bad stories they began the year with (Zac & Zoe/Mason) and lack of anything resembling a real and honest romantic coupling. Will that improve in the new year? I’m not hopeful.