For this week's poll, there's simply no way around it: OLTL wins hands down.
It's not entirely perfect--not only would I like to see Fish and Kyle more often, and see them encountering each other a bit more--but what we do see is pretty darn good, and miles above what ATWT and (frustratingly) Y&R are offering.
The writing is top-notch (taking aside Cristian's seeming cluelessness), particularly in providing a realistic and genuinely moving backstory for the characters (plus, the dialogue on OLTL is truly aces); and the acting, as you say, is stellar: Scott Evans has demonstrated in the past an adorkably charming comic ability but lately has been giving a deeply moving portrait of a man enduring a great deal of internal conflict, while Brett Claywell has found the perfect balance between a charming cad and the love-lorn ex.
It's a joy to watch this story unfold and can't wait to see what happens next.
Anthony is so right about The Young and the Restless blowing great potentials. NuAdam is totally hot and deliciously bad but I am seeing him somehow get involved with Chance. Philip sucks - I just don't buy it, though I was hoping. Rafe is nowhere to be seen so I can't figure how they will incorporate a gay s/l in all this.
OLTL - despite the totally "Passions" latest episode has been doing a great job with Kish - but -give me a break - once a week? Please go a little faster - preferably before Stacy gives birth to the "childe from Hell".
Pity we can't have a "crossover" between Y&R and OLTL. Think of the complications with Kish and Chance and Adam and , ugh - Philip. Plus what would happen if MJ and Stacey ever met up - Global Warming?
He had no interest in Rafe. To be honest I haven't seen this recast have chemistry with anyone. What annoys me the most is they totally wasted the potentially great story of a Newman child coming out. It was just half-assed. Now if a Newman ever does come out it will be blemished because of this joke story. And they didn't even try to loop this into the Chancellors learning Phillip is gay.
Y&R has been plot-driven and empty for too long now.
She is the one who "buried" Adam with Saint Gwen. And I always thought that that triggered a quasi-psychotic episode in Adam. Never bought that he suddenly turned "evil".
Maybe she will screw up Noah and Mason's new romance.
She was great during the first part of Nuke storyline. And i really thought that Luke and Noah need to interact with the other young characters in the show, they only have stories with Luke's family and now with mason, but their friends only appear from time to time
Christian is a perpetually attention-seeking, lonely, self-loathing man. When he finds another man, it always involves closet cases, men who dump him for being too old, or men who beat him up. He has no life beyond misery and fag hags who couldn't care less about him. This story is so rigidly stereotyped and poorly paced and poorly written, and like all EE stories now, has absolutely no heart.
The Scott story on River City -- I liked the story where he helped his friend win a local election. I think the actor is very good, even though this upcoming story sounds very predictable/depressing.
Leon on Corrie is so hot. The scenes of him and Jason in sweatpants, bulges on display, were some of the best on there in ages.
Is the Rafe/Adam storyline really over? If so that sucks--so much potential wasted, not to mention so much controversy over a couple of hugs. I'm hoping that now that Victor thinks Adam is gay and has accepted it, he's going to try and use that somehow and will have to try and get Rafe back, and that Heather will find out.
OLTL-Kyle was heartbreaking in that scene, and I'm assuming Fish is the reason he went over to the darkside, so even more potential to this story. Can't wait for it to play out. People are typically very stupid on soaps until they overhear or see something, so Christian and Layla don't bother me so much. I feel bad for Layla though because she's going to be doubly hurt after she asked Fish and he lied to her.
...why in the world Chris Engen left the show when the gay aspects of the Adam/Rafe story have barely been played onscreen. Not that I'm complaining, because Michael Muhney is fantastic as the new Adam. I'm just disappointed that Rafe, the baby faced uber experienced lawyer, was written as an utter nitwit who naively fell for Adam ("Adam, are you breaking up with me?") in almost lightspeed fashion while seemingly throwing Tia Estella under the bus just so he could get his rocks off with a sociopathic blind guy.
I have no idea what will happen with the Phillips of Y&R: the elder, Phillip III, I thought, would get a love storyline. But with whom? Rafe? The only other gay in Genoa City? Yet Phillip III and Rafe have yet to share the screen together. Chance, or Phillip IV, just announced to the annoyingly trashy Chloe that he's a virgin but he's kissed "many people" (not sure whether the writers deliberately kept this gender neutral) in the past but didn't feel like going beyond first base. Despite his initial assertion to Chloe that he's all about the girls, will Chance eventually come out just like his father? Chances are that Y&R does not have the guts to tell the story of a gay father and gay son. Perhaps Chance is asexual but more likely than not, Chloe, his uncle's baby mama and the mother of Chance's cousin, will be the pairing the show will push for. It's just so sad that these stories that were highly touted in the beginning of summer with the announcement of Thom Bierdz's return have completely gone off the rails. I hope that Maria Arena Bell and co. can somehow change course and fix things while they still can and before the ratings fall any further.
Otherwise, with respect to U.S. soaps, the only one that shows any promise is the budding pairing of Oliver Fish and Kyle Lewis on OLTL. Both performers can act, and now with the couple's upcoming first onscreen kiss, I'm eager to see how the two characters/actors fare in the romantic chemistry department. I'm glad that so many beats of the admittedly tired coming out storyline for Fish are being played out, none of which was clearly evident in Noah's coming out on ATWT, never mind the real and faux gay stories of Y&R. It's just a shame that the persons of color characters -- Layla and Cristian -- have to be portrayed as completely clueless nincompoops. Oh well. Win some, lose some.
Thank God for Germany. Chrolli/Ollian never disappoint me and now, it looks like it's time to give Roman and Deniz another chance. Methinks enough time has passed since that Vanessa fiasco that a DeRo redux could very well be viable.
Chloe is Chance's aunt by marriage. Don't forget that Billy is also Colleen's uncle and that Abby (Victor's and Ashley's daughter) is Noah's (Nick and Sharon's son) aunt even though they are practically the same age. Colleen and Abby are both sisters (via adoption) and cousins (by blood).
Chance is annoying me simply by being interested in that Chloe. Her constant complaining about the man she married put her further in the dog house. She stalked Billy in NYC and "accidently" bumped into him to start their quasi relationship over a year ago. She knew who she was marrying and he made no promises as far as the romantic thing was concerned. So why feel sorry for someone who willingly walked into that situatin?
Once upon a time I died. And like my namesake I got better.
Anthony Langford said: "But even harder to buy is Victor’s response to learning Adam is gay. Victor Newman is an extremely conservative man who expects his children to toe the line, get married and have families. It stretches believability for him to be so accepting of a gay son."
Anthony Langford needs to get a clue. He doesn't know what he's talking about!
I've been a Y&R fan for years now, and even though Victor Newman has often shown that he can be vicious to those that cross him, his family or his business, I've always also thought of him as a generally open minded and tolerant person when it comes to wider social, humanitarian and political issues. Certainly Victor is a very flawed human being but he has often shown that he can also be a basically good and well meaning man as well. So even though I wasn't absolutely certain exactly how Victor would react when Nikki told him she saw Adam and Rafe kissing, I really was not surprised at all that he has accepted his son as a gay man.
Well as written and played out onscreen, both Nikki and Victoria didn't believe that Victor would take the news well were Adam gay. Nikki said something to the effect that Victor is all about diversity except when it comes to his own family, with which Victoria agreed, so Anthony's statement reflects the recently aired episodes prior to Nikki "outing" Adam to Victor. So if his own family believes that Victor is liberal publicly but privately conservative, Anthony's description is far from being inaccurate.
..... I'm just finding it amusing that the words 'good and well meaning' are being used to describe Victor Newman. Victor is one of the most seflish and self-absorbed characters on this soap or any other. And I'm sorry, but I think that Nikki and Victoria's belief that Victor being okay with someone being gay as long as it's not his kid is accurate. The writers, yet again, are refusing to play the beat of a story. An man who, in business, constantly shows preference treatment over his idiot son even though his daughter has been shown to be bright and intelligent and better at business is not my idea of an open minded and tolerate person. Victor has always been written as very 'old school' when it comes to concepts of family and business so the belief that he wouldn't be down with having a gay son isn't exactly beyond the realm of believablity. But that fact that he would be okay with it is.
I honestly think the problem with this storyline is that everyone is so hesitant to separate Phillip from Thom Bierdz. Everyone loves Thom and wants to be sensitive and supportive to him, but Thom is not Phillip.
That kind of lineblurring is costing this storyline, big time.
Victor can show moments of deep caring and tenderness with his family. But at the same moment can be totally callous and vicious towards them. He tossed Adam to the side when he retruned from being thought dead. He had totally had cut off Nick and Victoria (due to their not getting on board with his relationship w/Sabrina) in favor of Adam before that. As funny as I thought the scene played out between Adam and Victor it just did not ring true to his character I thought. No one is saying he had to throw out all these slurs or what have you - he just should have had a stronger, more non-accepting attitude then they gave him.
Once upon a time I died. And like my namesake I got better.
I just want to talk about this Colombian soap again.
The gay storyline picked up last week, and I think it has potential. So far it's been mostly Diego flirting with Santiago, but Santiago is warming up to Diego now too. They even had a "dinner date" last episode, too bad it got interrupted. Santiago forgot that he had a date with a girl (yeah, he's in the closet). And Diego's mother came home after she'd been abroad for a long time, without Diego's father, who got together with an old flame in Paris.
I'm hoping there's more of Santiago and Diego this week, cause they have only had limited screen time thus far.
They are not only bad but ruined all the posibilities of futures storylines. Right now it's imposible to root for Phyllip or Rafe, not only as a pair, just as single individuals. Neither of them have any interest, and as an (odd) couple is even worse.
On the other side OLTL is doing a great job, they upgrade two minor characters, making them different and interesting, and open the potential storylines, because when they get together will start the difficult part (making a couple interesting is harder than all the previous) but it seems that all is well planned.
On ATWT, the story have potential, but i read spoilers and they seem to want to make the Noah's (possible) cheating beliable making Luke being focused in a lot of family problems. The main problem is that if Noah cheats on Luke, when he needs Noah most, i think people will never forgive Noah. And yes Van, has an amazing chemistry with everyone, if Luke wasn't gay, he'll be the only posibility for Ally to have a couple with good chemistry
Wait....They are just casting Kurt`s love interest NOW? Hmm, which means the character won`t show up in the series until almost towards the end of season 1, since the shooting of episode 10 wrapped up quite a few weeks ago, and we are only suppose to get 13 episodes this season.
Anthony your column is just a great highlight of the week online! Keep up the good and comprehensive work! How you keep all the storylines straight I can't imagine! As the gay stories have progressed I must whole heartedly agree that the best quality so far is OLTL's.
I don't like how Kish is basically 2 times of week if that, but it keeps me watching a soap that is always keeping you interested and not boring you mostly. The whole scenes with a silly discussion between Cris and Brodie which ended with Brodie bedding his girlfriend were a little overdone but the great acting by Brett Claywell saved everything. His tenderness with his two scenes with Cris and especially Roxie were great! Roxie reminds me of the great Chloe Webb as the original and best Mona Ramsey in Tales of the City. She is such a delight.
The Layla and Oliver scenes were marred by Layla's bad acting or at least the naivete of the script she was given. However, Evans is proving more an actor than the soap acting of Cris and the William Shatner School of Acting style that Rex is showing off.
The idea of Evans' mom coming in and using some past history with her own son to work out his character's coming out will be interesting. Hopefully she can act!
I was so glad to see this post. As another Kish fan I'm very excited so far with oltl and it's accuracy of this storyline. Poor Kyle, he seems like he really cared for Oliver. Maybe Roxy will be his bud and help him out. August cannot get here fast enough! Once all three gay characters are on the scene hopefully the story will pick up. Once or twice a week just isn't cutting it.
When I first heard about the Kyle-Fish storyline, I was excited for a lot of reasons, chief among them being that One Life to Live is, in my opinion, the best written show on daytime. With the exception Marasco Fiasco, the show's been hitting on all cylinders for a while and the steps they're taking with Kish are just more proof of that. I can't wait to see what happens next.
As for Y&R...sigh...the wheels just came right off that one, didn't it?
[blockquote=Anthony D. Langford]I’m not getting Chance’s reaction either. Why hasn’t he had one conversation with his mother about his father’s return? Why isn’t he demanding an explanation from his father?[/blockquote]
I was a little apprehensive about the reaction in the beginning, but once Chance talked to Chloe, his reaction had a bit more context. It's an interesting way to play it--indifference, rather than loving or hating his father--and I've come to appreciate the nuance.
Otherwise, though, I've come to hate everything about this storyline. Yesterday's episode--when Katherine (who had, until now, been the voice of reason) embraced Cane--was the straw that broke the camel's back.
[blockquote=Anthony D. Langford]But even harder to buy is Victor’s response to learning Adam is gay. Victor Newman is an extremely conservative man who expects his children to toe the line, get married and have families. It stretches believability for him to be so accepting of a gay son.[/blockquote]
Stretches believability is the understatement of the year...My big fear with Y&R now is that the writers will opt out of future gay storylines because their ratings have slid. People are giving up on this show because of the bad writing, not because of the gay characters.
I'll admit to being annoyed with the way they've written the Rafe character in his involvement with Adam (not to mention the fact that all they showed on-screen to portray an intimate relationship was two men standing fairly close to each other), but I have to say that I don't get why everyone is flipping out over the Phillip storyline.
Fudging the story to bring back a character that was killed in a car crash twenty years ago can only be done with some seriously off-the-wall acrobatics. Bierdz' performance has been shaky as he gets back into the swing of things, but I personally think his detached and aloof portrayal is entirely appropriate for someone who had convinced himself so thoroughly that his family could never truly love him for who he was that he faked his own death to get away from them.
People really don't like the character just because he's callous and self-absorbed? I, for one, am glad not to get yet another whitewashed gay that's stalwart and true and a paragon of virtue and decency that rescues kittens from trees whilst curing cancer. Mary Sue gays bore me to tears. (Yes. I am looking at you, Brothers & Sisters.)
What's really lacking in gay representation are characters with flaws and foibles just like all their straight counterparts.
Of course, I prefer when the flaws given to my gay characters aren't quite so pathetic as the ones given to Rafe, but I'm interested enough to see where the story goes.
I'm surprised anyone would think Brothers & Sisters has "Mary Sue" gays. Kevin is as far from Mary Sue as you can get.
The main difference between that show and Y&R is that Y&R doesn't have gay characters period. Rafe is a plot device. Not a character. He has no motivations. He has no purpose. He is nothing.
Phillip is bitter and mopey and that's about it. This story was mainly about wrapping up the loose ends about Cane's true identity and about bringing Chance onto the show. Phillip is irrelevant. I doubt he will still be around in 6 months.
"
What's really lacking in gay representation are characters with flaws and foibles just like all their straight counterparts."
What's missing are gay characters. The few who are around are utterly meaningless, used only to advance stories of other characters. But I sure wish I saw all these flawless, utterly perfect gays. With the exception of Scotty on B&S, they aren't on any TV show I have seen in years. All I usually see are losers, bad jokes, and serial killers. Or, like Ianto, dead.
I just don't know how faking a death for 20 years and running away because you thought your family couldn't accept you were gay is something that can really be forgiven in all honesty. Plus Phillip's unapologetic indifference to the havoc he caused doesn't really make him all that likeable as a character. He's incredibly self-absorbed. Propped up to that smug, saintly Cane, Phillip doesn't measure up at all.
I agree the writers are not playing out the beats that need to played as Anthony said. I especially am a bit perturbed that Nina seems uncharacteristically supportive of Phillip which I didn't expect. I would expect Jill to be open to his return though lately (as it has been for the past two years or so) she seems to be all about Cane in spite of the two bio kids she does have.
I'll watch Y&R regardless because I've been watching for 18 years. I am disappointed that the controversy over this same sex kiss amounted to nothing and that the initial shock of Phillip's return has all but fizzled. This show can turn on a dime, so perhaps something can be salvaged from all this. I definitely expected better because the show was in such a good place a few short months ago.
Once upon a time I died. And like my namesake I got better.
I keep reading about an interview with Scott Evans and Brett Claywell that is/was supposed to be on out.com but every time I check on the supposed dates (I've read different dates on different sites) I can't find it. On one of the dates I read about there was an article about a band named Kish and I wondered if that was the intended article and OLTL fans saw "Kish" and jumped to conclusions. Does anyone know if this interview happened and if it has been posted or will be posted? It has been "promoted" as the first interview the two men have done together, but I've been getting my unofficial info from spoiler sites and I don't know how accurate they are. I can't remember if Anthony has ever mentionned it here (which I would trust as being accurate). Thanks!
The interview was originally scheduled to be posted last week, then Monday and now supposedly tomorrow. Nelson Branco has been updating folks as to its progress on his Facebook page. So hopefully it'll appear sometime soon.
Thanks for the info, Anthony. I appreciate it. While I'm here I'd like to say thanks for the great column as well. I actually stay up later on Monday nights to read it (so I also have you to thank for my sleep deprived Tuesday mornings!). I'm now enjoying the German soaps which I never would have known about and I started watching OLTL because of your column (and now, as you can tell from my question above, spend an inappropriately large (for an adult) amount of time reading about Kyle and Fish and the actors who play them).
Nelson also has an interview with Farah Fath (Gigi), who has some wonderfully positive comments about the Kish relationship (and gay storylines in general):
Thanks for that link. I actually found her interview more interesting than the Evans/Claywell one. But it makes me sad to be in an even smaller Stacey-liking circle than I'd realized.
I may be reading into it a little much, but normally when someone rags on a storyline as much as she does on Stacey's, you'd expect a token "No offence to Crystal Hunt, who does a great job with what she's given" comment. Maybe some friction there? She talks a great deal about how much all of the actors from that storyline get along, and Crystal's name is conspicuously absent.
But while Farah came off very well, Nelson himself didn't, so much. Between referring to Farah as being in a "carnal" relationship with JPL, and referring to him as "John Paul Branco" in an interview with JPL's girlfriend, he just came off as creepy and inappropriate.
I know he's always been a bit of a polarizing figure, but come on! Show some class!
Nelson is who he is. I love him, I love his bluntness and his honesty. But I admit I could never say some of the things he does.... I get in enough trouble with the comments I do make.
I loved Brett in the Out.com interview. His candor and thoughtfulness was a joy to read. And his introspection and deep soul comes across in his acting and his character.
I loved Farah's bluntness and honesty regarding the storyline in her interview. I understand their frustration, but I didn't hate the story nearly as much as a lot of folks did. Still, it's nice when the actors speak their minds when given to play garbage. I often wish certain CBS actors would or could do that, especially when I look at next week's spoilers.
But I can feel Farah's excitement over the Oliver/Kyle storyline. She's right in that they are all very, very excited about the storyline over at OLTL. And to plug next week's column, we'll have a tiny bit of scoop about Oliver and Kyle in the next GOOL.
Just finished reading the Farah interview. I have to say although the storyline about the bag of blood/stem cells (whatever!) was really dumb, Crystal Hunt played a great villain! If you get everyone to hate you isn't that the point? I mean she got some great campy soap stuff in the last few weeks where she got to beat up a car in Victoria's Secret lingerie and a mink coat for goodness sake! I realize this story will soon peter out but OLTL is known for rehabilitating its villains (e.g., Todd Manning) so I hope they keep Stacey around, although I am getting a feeling that she isn't going to be. But I MUST say that John-Paul (aka Rex) is just God awful! His overacting is from the William Shatner School but so is the guy playing Schyuler. The Gigi eye-roll though is hysterical. Maybe Farah didn't mention Crystal because she is on her way out?
But it was interesting to hear how the buzz about Kish is rising, makes you wonder how the role out of this is planned.
I think that in a lot of times he borders unprofesionalism (like in the Q&A of the soap cruise) and he takes some remarks on a personal level, and he change his oppinion a lot, but one thing is for sure, he really loves what he does, and he know how to catch your attention
From this week's the studs reports, SOAP OPERA MYSTERY HOUR: This week’s hottest blind items: Which gay soap star recently had sex with his straight co-star? And now his straight co-star is demanding more?
The information is not very accurate, because if the gay soap star is having sex with a female co-star, he is more bi than gay, and if he is having sex with a male co-star, the male co-star is more bi than straight, but as rumour is far better than most of perez hilton ones
I read this last night and was really pleased! The "top or bottom" question should have not happened but the answers the actors gave kept it professional and they were beyond just promotion. You expect Scott to be open but Brett really showed how he is getting his morivation and even exposed how he had to "come out" to his own family in a way even though he is straight in his personal life. This made me more excited about the Kish!
One Life's story of the love between a cop and a criminal with a heart of gold has been told so many times, Im sick of it. It also must be hard for an openly gay may to play such a closeted character who lies about his sexuality. On the other hand, the two year relationship between Luke and Noah has been refreshing, exciting, heartbreaking and romantic. They are clearly daytime's best couple....gay or straight. While I don't want to see Mason break them up, I am interested in where this new storyline will take them. As for Victor's reaction to Adam's alleged gayness,Victor has a lot on his plate. His wife is going crazy, his son is going blind, his grandchild has brain damage, and the woman he brought to town is a total nut case and no one knows where she is. Adam's being gay is the least of his problems.
Yes, the love story of a cop and a crook with the heart of gold has been told a thousand times, but I can't think of many times it's been done with gay characters and OLTL's version is certainly refreshing. I can't imagine that it's any harder for Scott Evans to play this beat of the story than when he was playing Oliver Fish as straight. Or maybe it's not hard because he's an actor and this is what actors do, play roles that are not necessarily them or how they would live their lives.
It's an interesting variation on the trope (especially combined with the backstory of their previous relationship.)
OTOH, out gay boy falls in love with a straight guy who turns out to not only be gay, but into the gay guy as well, IS a tired story I'd be happy to see again. Kish fall into the sphere of this as well, but again, that backstory pulls them above the pack.
Of all the questions about their history, the one that's currently most intriguing to me is what drove Fish back into the closet. Now that we know they were serious, not just a closeted fling, it makes me wonder if there weren't some sort of precipitating incident, instead of Fish just not willing to commit to being open.
I have to say that OLTL storyline works well right now.
It's true that we'll see a thousand times a straight version of the story, but this is the advantage of gay characters, that the same seems new. For me the most interesting character is Kyle, he has a lot to develop, Fish is interesting too, but for me it's like if Noah didn't meet Luke, and we find him some years later.
I think the attraction, and the flirting, the doubts, and the fears, is the easy part of the story. You only need two actors with chemistry (and for the few scenes together, they have good chemistry), and the story just works. A different think it'll be when they will be a couple. But right now they are doing a good job. And i really think they could reach a similar status to Nuke, because i'm pretty sure that the level of commitment of the actors with their characters (at least in the case of Scott) will be as high as Van and Jake.
The Y&R storyline is a total disapointment, not only because the story (both storys) are bad, but because right now the gay characters will be killed off, and nobody really cares.
In this case the expectations were so high the the disapointment was even higher, and people like Nelson Branco, who praise a lot Y&R in anticipation, change his mind.
What i don't like is that people use the new gay storylines in soaps to bash ATWT. Without Nuke success, we probably don't have any other gay storyline. And yes, ATWT make a lot of mistakes, but they take the risk, and the other storylines are just at the begining, so it's very difficult to predict how good they'll be (in the case of OLTL is promising, in Y&R not so much)
I have to say that OLTL storyline works well right now.
It's true that we'll see a thousand times a straight version of the story, but this is the advantage of gay characters, that the same seems new. For me the most interesting character is Kyle, he has a lot to develop, Fish is interesting too, but for me it's like if Noah didn't meet Luke, and we find him some years later.
I think the attraction, and the flirting, the doubts, and the fears, is the easy part of the story. You only need two actors with chemistry (and for the few scenes together, they have good chemistry), and the story just works. A different think it'll be when they will be a couple. But right now they are doing a good job. And i really think they could reach a similar status to Nuke, because i'm pretty sure that the level of commitment of the actors with their characters (at least in the case of Scott) will be as high as Van and Jake.
The Y&R storyline is a total disapointment, not only because the story (both storys) are bad, but because right now the gay characters will be killed off, and nobody really cares.
In this case the expectations were so high the the disapointment was even higher, and people like Nelson Branco, who praise a lot Y&R in anticipation, change his mind.
What i don't like is that people use the new gay storylines in soaps to bash ATWT. Without Nuke success, we probably don't have any other gay storyline. And yes, ATWT make a lot of mistakes, but they take the risk, and the other storylines are just at the begining, so it's very difficult to predict how good they'll be (in the case of OLTL is promising, in Y&R not so much)
I really liked the conversation between Phillip and Nina, and the flirting with the cute waiter was awesome as well.
I hope they try and make Phillip more likable, because most are HATING him right now.
They may have dropped the ball with Rafe, but it's not too late with Phillip, and maybe the waiter ;)
I gotta tell you, I can't wait for Deniz and Roman to hit the ice - together!!! I squee'd like a schoolgirl to be honest. I love Roman and I think this new storyline is looking really good. I don't know if I want Deniz and Roman to get back together as a couple though... I think the Axel storyline looks more interesting. Both Deniz and Axel are completely different from Roman, but I think Axel might be a more challenging (not to mention amusing) love interest.
As much as the thought of watching Coronation Street grates against my very soul, I could almost start to feel sorry for the Sean character given the coverage on here; mainly because the whole 'way out of his league' thing is horribly, horribly shallow to me.
(and the rest of AE) for continuing to include articles and interviews on Forbidden Love. I get a thrill every time I see something new to read. As a Chrolli/Ollian fan, I really appreciate it. Thank you!
Anthony...thank you so much for the interview with the beautiful Jo Weil of Forbidden Love.
The Friday night Vlog is a wonderful gift from Jo, Thore and the VL crew to their international fans. With the Vlog, Twitter and up front on VL's new head banner, we know that Christian and Olli are important characters to VL, so i'm sure increased focus is on the way.
This past month the little mini storylines have been so very good and the acting from Jo and Thore continue to be top notch. Glad to hear Jo say Olli and Christian are going to have to fight for their love. Hopefully this is an indication of a larger storyline in the making.
I was saving this question for the next Y&R-themed liveblog or Daytime Drive By, but since that will be sometime next week and I have a short attention span, I'm sticking it onto this older comment thread.
I see that Eileen Davidson (Ashley on Young and the Restless) writes a series of mystery novels set in a daytime soap. Has anyone read these, and can you recommend (or recommend avoiding) them? As a lifelong if casual fan of the whodunnit, and a more recent convert to soaps, these sound intriguing, but I have a low tolerance for crappy stuff shoved out with a celebrity name, so I'd like to know they're at least reasonably entertaining before plunking my time down on them.
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OLTL for the win
For this week's poll, there's simply no way around it: OLTL wins hands down.
It's not entirely perfect--not only would I like to see Fish and Kyle more often, and see them encountering each other a bit more--but what we do see is pretty darn good, and miles above what ATWT and (frustratingly) Y&R are offering.
The writing is top-notch (taking aside Cristian's seeming cluelessness), particularly in providing a realistic and genuinely moving backstory for the characters (plus, the dialogue on OLTL is truly aces); and the acting, as you say, is stellar: Scott Evans has demonstrated in the past an adorkably charming comic ability but lately has been giving a deeply moving portrait of a man enduring a great deal of internal conflict, while Brett Claywell has found the perfect balance between a charming cad and the love-lorn ex.
It's a joy to watch this story unfold and can't wait to see what happens next.
Total win
Anthony is so right about The Young and the Restless blowing great potentials. NuAdam is totally hot and deliciously bad but I am seeing him somehow get involved with Chance. Philip sucks - I just don't buy it, though I was hoping. Rafe is nowhere to be seen so I can't figure how they will incorporate a gay s/l in all this.
OLTL - despite the totally "Passions" latest episode has been doing a great job with Kish - but -give me a break - once a week? Please go a little faster - preferably before Stacy gives birth to the "childe from Hell".
Pity we can't have a "crossover" between Y&R and OLTL. Think of the complications with Kish and Chance and Adam and , ugh - Philip. Plus what would happen if MJ and Stacey ever met up - Global Warming?
I think this is it for Adam and men
He had no interest in Rafe. To be honest I haven't seen this recast have chemistry with anyone. What annoys me the most is they totally wasted the potentially great story of a Newman child coming out. It was just half-assed. Now if a Newman ever does come out it will be blemished because of this joke story. And they didn't even try to loop this into the Chancellors learning Phillip is gay.
Y&R has been plot-driven and empty for too long now.
Alexandra Chando returns to ATWT as Maddie
According to Nelson Branco in the Soapgeist for July 27/09
"Alexandra Chando (ex-Maddie) is back on World Turns for several weeks to help flesh out Lynn Herring’s (Audrey) storyline."
As per Daytime Confidential
http://www.daytimeconfidential.com/2009/07/27/world-turns-again-for-alexandra-chando
Somehow
I don't really care.
She is the one who "buried" Adam with Saint Gwen. And I always thought that that triggered a quasi-psychotic episode in Adam. Never bought that he suddenly turned "evil".
Maybe she will screw up Noah and Mason's new romance.
I really like Alex
She was great during the first part of Nuke storyline. And i really thought that Luke and Noah need to interact with the other young characters in the show, they only have stories with Luke's family and now with mason, but their friends only appear from time to time
So what year is EE set in now?
Christian is a perpetually attention-seeking, lonely, self-loathing man. When he finds another man, it always involves closet cases, men who dump him for being too old, or men who beat him up. He has no life beyond misery and fag hags who couldn't care less about him. This story is so rigidly stereotyped and poorly paced and poorly written, and like all EE stories now, has absolutely no heart.
The Scott story on River City -- I liked the story where he helped his friend win a local election. I think the actor is very good, even though this upcoming story sounds very predictable/depressing.
Leon on Corrie is so hot. The scenes of him and Jason in sweatpants, bulges on display, were some of the best on there in ages.
Wow!
Is the Rafe/Adam storyline really over? If so that sucks--so much potential wasted, not to mention so much controversy over a couple of hugs. I'm hoping that now that Victor thinks Adam is gay and has accepted it, he's going to try and use that somehow and will have to try and get Rafe back, and that Heather will find out.
OLTL-Kyle was heartbreaking in that scene, and I'm assuming Fish is the reason he went over to the darkside, so even more potential to this story. Can't wait for it to play out. People are typically very stupid on soaps until they overhear or see something, so Christian and Layla don't bother me so much. I feel bad for Layla though because she's going to be doubly hurt after she asked Fish and he lied to her.
Makes You Wonder...
...why in the world Chris Engen left the show when the gay aspects of the Adam/Rafe story have barely been played onscreen. Not that I'm complaining, because Michael Muhney is fantastic as the new Adam. I'm just disappointed that Rafe, the baby faced uber experienced lawyer, was written as an utter nitwit who naively fell for Adam ("Adam, are you breaking up with me?") in almost lightspeed fashion while seemingly throwing Tia Estella under the bus just so he could get his rocks off with a sociopathic blind guy.
I have no idea what will happen with the Phillips of Y&R: the elder, Phillip III, I thought, would get a love storyline. But with whom? Rafe? The only other gay in Genoa City? Yet Phillip III and Rafe have yet to share the screen together. Chance, or Phillip IV, just announced to the annoyingly trashy Chloe that he's a virgin but he's kissed "many people" (not sure whether the writers deliberately kept this gender neutral) in the past but didn't feel like going beyond first base. Despite his initial assertion to Chloe that he's all about the girls, will Chance eventually come out just like his father? Chances are that Y&R does not have the guts to tell the story of a gay father and gay son. Perhaps Chance is asexual but more likely than not, Chloe, his uncle's baby mama and the mother of Chance's cousin, will be the pairing the show will push for. It's just so sad that these stories that were highly touted in the beginning of summer with the announcement of Thom Bierdz's return have completely gone off the rails. I hope that Maria Arena Bell and co. can somehow change course and fix things while they still can and before the ratings fall any further.
Otherwise, with respect to U.S. soaps, the only one that shows any promise is the budding pairing of Oliver Fish and Kyle Lewis on OLTL. Both performers can act, and now with the couple's upcoming first onscreen kiss, I'm eager to see how the two characters/actors fare in the romantic chemistry department. I'm glad that so many beats of the admittedly tired coming out storyline for Fish are being played out, none of which was clearly evident in Noah's coming out on ATWT, never mind the real and faux gay stories of Y&R. It's just a shame that the persons of color characters -- Layla and Cristian -- have to be portrayed as completely clueless nincompoops. Oh well. Win some, lose some.
Thank God for Germany. Chrolli/Ollian never disappoint me and now, it looks like it's time to give Roman and Deniz another chance. Methinks enough time has passed since that Vanessa fiasco that a DeRo redux could very well be viable.
Chloe and Chance
If Billy is Philip's brother and Chloe is Billy's wife, wouldn't that mean that Chance is Chloe's nephew?
Granted they are all very young but it doesn't change the fact that they are related by marriage.
Billy and Chloe are still married (even though Billy is having it on with Mac) and Chloe is supposed to be madly in love with Billy.
Did I missing something?
Nope
Chloe is Chance's aunt by marriage. Don't forget that Billy is also Colleen's uncle and that Abby (Victor's and Ashley's daughter) is Noah's (Nick and Sharon's son) aunt even though they are practically the same age. Colleen and Abby are both sisters (via adoption) and cousins (by blood).
Chance is annoying me simply by being interested in that Chloe. Her constant complaining about the man she married put her further in the dog house. She stalked Billy in NYC and "accidently" bumped into him to start their quasi relationship over a year ago. She knew who she was marrying and he made no promises as far as the romantic thing was concerned. So why feel sorry for someone who willingly walked into that situatin?
Once upon a time I died. And like my namesake I got better.
Victor Newman: "an extremely conservative man"?
Anthony Langford said: "But even harder to buy is Victor’s response to learning Adam is gay. Victor Newman is an extremely conservative man who expects his children to toe the line, get married and have families. It stretches believability for him to be so accepting of a gay son."
Anthony Langford needs to get a clue. He doesn't know what he's talking about!
I've been a Y&R fan for years now, and even though Victor Newman has often shown that he can be vicious to those that cross him, his family or his business, I've always also thought of him as a generally open minded and tolerant person when it comes to wider social, humanitarian and political issues. Certainly Victor is a very flawed human being but he has often shown that he can also be a basically good and well meaning man as well. So even though I wasn't absolutely certain exactly how Victor would react when Nikki told him she saw Adam and Rafe kissing, I really was not surprised at all that he has accepted his son as a gay man.
Well as written and played
A Chuckle...
I honestly think the
I honestly think the problem with this storyline is that everyone is so hesitant to separate Phillip from Thom Bierdz. Everyone loves Thom and wants to be sensitive and supportive to him, but Thom is not Phillip.
That kind of lineblurring is costing this storyline, big time.
Exactly!
Victor can show moments of deep caring and tenderness with his family. But at the same moment can be totally callous and vicious towards them. He tossed Adam to the side when he retruned from being thought dead. He had totally had cut off Nick and Victoria (due to their not getting on board with his relationship w/Sabrina) in favor of Adam before that. As funny as I thought the scene played out between Adam and Victor it just did not ring true to his character I thought. No one is saying he had to throw out all these slurs or what have you - he just should have had a stronger, more non-accepting attitude then they gave him.
Once upon a time I died. And like my namesake I got better.
Niños Ricos Pobres Padres
I just want to talk about this Colombian soap again.
The gay storyline picked up last week, and I think it has potential. So far it's been mostly Diego flirting with Santiago, but Santiago is warming up to Diego now too. They even had a "dinner date" last episode, too bad it got interrupted. Santiago forgot that he had a date with a girl (yeah, he's in the closet). And Diego's mother came home after she'd been abroad for a long time, without Diego's father, who got together with an old flame in Paris.
I'm hoping there's more of Santiago and Diego this week, cause they have only had limited screen time thus far.
Here's Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IDJUx19GSMA
Or you can see the whole playlist here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IDJUx19GSMA&feature=PlayList&p=96364356197ECFA3&index=0&playnext=1
The clips are not subbed, but they do have an English description/summary now. I hope they will get subbed eventually.
Harvey Milk: You gotta give 'em hope.
Y&R storylines are a completly disaster.
They are not only bad but ruined all the posibilities of futures storylines. Right now it's imposible to root for Phyllip or Rafe, not only as a pair, just as single individuals. Neither of them have any interest, and as an (odd) couple is even worse.
On the other side OLTL is doing a great job, they upgrade two minor characters, making them different and interesting, and open the potential storylines, because when they get together will start the difficult part (making a couple interesting is harder than all the previous) but it seems that all is well planned.
On ATWT, the story have potential, but i read spoilers and they seem to want to make the Noah's (possible) cheating beliable making Luke being focused in a lot of family problems. The main problem is that if Noah cheats on Luke, when he needs Noah most, i think people will never forgive Noah. And yes Van, has an amazing chemistry with everyone, if Luke wasn't gay, he'll be the only posibility for Ally to have a couple with good chemistry
Glee
Long Live The Kish!
Anthony your column is just a great highlight of the week online! Keep up the good and comprehensive work! How you keep all the storylines straight I can't imagine! As the gay stories have progressed I must whole heartedly agree that the best quality so far is OLTL's.
I don't like how Kish is basically 2 times of week if that, but it keeps me watching a soap that is always keeping you interested and not boring you mostly. The whole scenes with a silly discussion between Cris and Brodie which ended with Brodie bedding his girlfriend were a little overdone but the great acting by Brett Claywell saved everything. His tenderness with his two scenes with Cris and especially Roxie were great! Roxie reminds me of the great Chloe Webb as the original and best Mona Ramsey in Tales of the City. She is such a delight.
The Layla and Oliver scenes were marred by Layla's bad acting or at least the naivete of the script she was given. However, Evans is proving more an actor than the soap acting of Cris and the William Shatner School of Acting style that Rex is showing off.
The idea of Evans' mom coming in and using some past history with her own son to work out his character's coming out will be interesting. Hopefully she can act!
How singularly innocent I look this morning.
Just signed up
I was so glad to see this post. As another Kish fan I'm very excited so far with oltl and it's accuracy of this storyline. Poor Kyle, he seems like he really cared for Oliver. Maybe Roxy will be his bud and help him out. August cannot get here fast enough! Once all three gay characters are on the scene hopefully the story will pick up. Once or twice a week just isn't cutting it.
I'm so happy to find this forum.
Thoughts
When I first heard about the Kyle-Fish storyline, I was excited for a lot of reasons, chief among them being that One Life to Live is, in my opinion, the best written show on daytime. With the exception Marasco Fiasco, the show's been hitting on all cylinders for a while and the steps they're taking with Kish are just more proof of that. I can't wait to see what happens next.
As for Y&R...sigh...the wheels just came right off that one, didn't it?
[blockquote=Anthony D. Langford]I’m not getting Chance’s reaction either. Why hasn’t he had one conversation with his mother about his father’s return? Why isn’t he demanding an explanation from his father?[/blockquote]
I was a little apprehensive about the reaction in the beginning, but once Chance talked to Chloe, his reaction had a bit more context. It's an interesting way to play it--indifference, rather than loving or hating his father--and I've come to appreciate the nuance.
Otherwise, though, I've come to hate everything about this storyline. Yesterday's episode--when Katherine (who had, until now, been the voice of reason) embraced Cane--was the straw that broke the camel's back.
[blockquote=Anthony D. Langford]But even harder to buy is Victor’s response to learning Adam is gay. Victor Newman is an extremely conservative man who expects his children to toe the line, get married and have families. It stretches believability for him to be so accepting of a gay son.[/blockquote]
Stretches believability is the understatement of the year...My big fear with Y&R now is that the writers will opt out of future gay storylines because their ratings have slid. People are giving up on this show because of the bad writing, not because of the gay characters.
Y&R Hate?
I'll admit to being annoyed with the way they've written the Rafe character in his involvement with Adam (not to mention the fact that all they showed on-screen to portray an intimate relationship was two men standing fairly close to each other), but I have to say that I don't get why everyone is flipping out over the Phillip storyline.
Fudging the story to bring back a character that was killed in a car crash twenty years ago can only be done with some seriously off-the-wall acrobatics. Bierdz' performance has been shaky as he gets back into the swing of things, but I personally think his detached and aloof portrayal is entirely appropriate for someone who had convinced himself so thoroughly that his family could never truly love him for who he was that he faked his own death to get away from them.
People really don't like the character just because he's callous and self-absorbed? I, for one, am glad not to get yet another whitewashed gay that's stalwart and true and a paragon of virtue and decency that rescues kittens from trees whilst curing cancer. Mary Sue gays bore me to tears. (Yes. I am looking at you, Brothers & Sisters.)
What's really lacking in gay representation are characters with flaws and foibles just like all their straight counterparts. Of course, I prefer when the flaws given to my gay characters aren't quite so pathetic as the ones given to Rafe, but I'm interested enough to see where the story goes.
What's missing are gay characters
I'm surprised anyone would think Brothers & Sisters has "Mary Sue" gays. Kevin is as far from Mary Sue as you can get.
The main difference between that show and Y&R is that Y&R doesn't have gay characters period. Rafe is a plot device. Not a character. He has no motivations. He has no purpose. He is nothing.
Phillip is bitter and mopey and that's about it. This story was mainly about wrapping up the loose ends about Cane's true identity and about bringing Chance onto the show. Phillip is irrelevant. I doubt he will still be around in 6 months.
" What's really lacking in gay representation are characters with flaws and foibles just like all their straight counterparts."
What's missing are gay characters. The few who are around are utterly meaningless, used only to advance stories of other characters. But I sure wish I saw all these flawless, utterly perfect gays. With the exception of Scotty on B&S, they aren't on any TV show I have seen in years. All I usually see are losers, bad jokes, and serial killers. Or, like Ianto, dead.
Phillip
I just don't know how faking a death for 20 years and running away because you thought your family couldn't accept you were gay is something that can really be forgiven in all honesty. Plus Phillip's unapologetic indifference to the havoc he caused doesn't really make him all that likeable as a character. He's incredibly self-absorbed. Propped up to that smug, saintly Cane, Phillip doesn't measure up at all.
I agree the writers are not playing out the beats that need to played as Anthony said. I especially am a bit perturbed that Nina seems uncharacteristically supportive of Phillip which I didn't expect. I would expect Jill to be open to his return though lately (as it has been for the past two years or so) she seems to be all about Cane in spite of the two bio kids she does have.
I'll watch Y&R regardless because I've been watching for 18 years. I am disappointed that the controversy over this same sex kiss amounted to nothing and that the initial shock of Phillip's return has all but fizzled. This show can turn on a dime, so perhaps something can be salvaged from all this. I definitely expected better because the show was in such a good place a few short months ago.
Once upon a time I died. And like my namesake I got better.
Does anyone know???
AFAIK....
The interview was originally scheduled to be posted last week, then Monday and now supposedly tomorrow. Nelson Branco has been updating folks as to its progress on his Facebook page. So hopefully it'll appear sometime soon.
Thanks, Anthony!
Scott & Brett interview at Out.com
Here's Nelson's interview with Scott & Brett at Out.com:
http://www.out.com/detail.asp?page=1&id=25665
Nelson also has an interview with Farah Fath (Gigi), who has some wonderfully positive comments about the Kish relationship (and gay storylines in general):
http://tvguide.sympatico.msn.ca/Soaps/Features/Articles/090729_farah_fath_NB.htm
Farah Fath Interview
Thanks for that link. I actually found her interview more interesting than the Evans/Claywell one. But it makes me sad to be in an even smaller Stacey-liking circle than I'd realized.
I may be reading into it a little much, but normally when someone rags on a storyline as much as she does on Stacey's, you'd expect a token "No offence to Crystal Hunt, who does a great job with what she's given" comment. Maybe some friction there? She talks a great deal about how much all of the actors from that storyline get along, and Crystal's name is conspicuously absent.
But while Farah came off very well, Nelson himself didn't, so much. Between referring to Farah as being in a "carnal" relationship with JPL, and referring to him as "John Paul Branco" in an interview with JPL's girlfriend, he just came off as creepy and inappropriate.
I know he's always been a bit of a polarizing figure, but come on! Show some class!
Nelson....
Nelson is who he is. I love him, I love his bluntness and his honesty. But I admit I could never say some of the things he does.... I get in enough trouble with the comments I do make.
I loved Brett in the Out.com interview. His candor and thoughtfulness was a joy to read. And his introspection and deep soul comes across in his acting and his character.
I loved Farah's bluntness and honesty regarding the storyline in her interview. I understand their frustration, but I didn't hate the story nearly as much as a lot of folks did. Still, it's nice when the actors speak their minds when given to play garbage. I often wish certain CBS actors would or could do that, especially when I look at next week's spoilers.
But I can feel Farah's excitement over the Oliver/Kyle storyline. She's right in that they are all very, very excited about the storyline over at OLTL. And to plug next week's column, we'll have a tiny bit of scoop about Oliver and Kyle in the next GOOL.
Farah Interview
Just finished reading the Farah interview. I have to say although the storyline about the bag of blood/stem cells (whatever!) was really dumb, Crystal Hunt played a great villain! If you get everyone to hate you isn't that the point? I mean she got some great campy soap stuff in the last few weeks where she got to beat up a car in Victoria's Secret lingerie and a mink coat for goodness sake! I realize this story will soon peter out but OLTL is known for rehabilitating its villains (e.g., Todd Manning) so I hope they keep Stacey around, although I am getting a feeling that she isn't going to be. But I MUST say that John-Paul (aka Rex) is just God awful! His overacting is from the William Shatner School but so is the guy playing Schyuler. The Gigi eye-roll though is hysterical. Maybe Farah didn't mention Crystal because she is on her way out?
But it was interesting to hear how the buzz about Kish is rising, makes you wonder how the role out of this is planned.
How singularly innocent I look this morning.
Nelson Branco knows how to catch the attention of his readers
I think that in a lot of times he borders unprofesionalism (like in the Q&A of the soap cruise) and he takes some remarks on a personal level, and he change his oppinion a lot, but one thing is for sure, he really loves what he does, and he know how to catch your attention
From this week's the studs reports, SOAP OPERA MYSTERY HOUR: This week’s hottest blind items: Which gay soap star recently had sex with his straight co-star? And now his straight co-star is demanding more?
The information is not very accurate, because if the gay soap star is having sex with a female co-star, he is more bi than gay, and if he is having sex with a male co-star, the male co-star is more bi than straight, but as rumour is far better than most of perez hilton ones
Kish love!
I read this last night and was really pleased! The "top or bottom" question should have not happened but the answers the actors gave kept it professional and they were beyond just promotion. You expect Scott to be open but Brett really showed how he is getting his morivation and even exposed how he had to "come out" to his own family in a way even though he is straight in his personal life. This made me more excited about the Kish!
How singularly innocent I look this morning.
Luke and Noah
I Disagree....
Yes, the love story of a cop and a crook with the heart of gold has been told a thousand times, but I can't think of many times it's been done with gay characters and OLTL's version is certainly refreshing. I can't imagine that it's any harder for Scott Evans to play this beat of the story than when he was playing Oliver Fish as straight. Or maybe it's not hard because he's an actor and this is what actors do, play roles that are not necessarily them or how they would live their lives.
I Agree With Anthony
It's an interesting variation on the trope (especially combined with the backstory of their previous relationship.)
OTOH, out gay boy falls in love with a straight guy who turns out to not only be gay, but into the gay guy as well, IS a tired story I'd be happy to see again. Kish fall into the sphere of this as well, but again, that backstory pulls them above the pack.
Of all the questions about their history, the one that's currently most intriguing to me is what drove Fish back into the closet. Now that we know they were serious, not just a closeted fling, it makes me wonder if there weren't some sort of precipitating incident, instead of Fish just not willing to commit to being open.
Even you are right at some points
I have to say that OLTL storyline works well right now.
It's true that we'll see a thousand times a straight version of the story, but this is the advantage of gay characters, that the same seems new. For me the most interesting character is Kyle, he has a lot to develop, Fish is interesting too, but for me it's like if Noah didn't meet Luke, and we find him some years later.
I think the attraction, and the flirting, the doubts, and the fears, is the easy part of the story. You only need two actors with chemistry (and for the few scenes together, they have good chemistry), and the story just works. A different think it'll be when they will be a couple. But right now they are doing a good job. And i really think they could reach a similar status to Nuke, because i'm pretty sure that the level of commitment of the actors with their characters (at least in the case of Scott) will be as high as Van and Jake.
The Y&R storyline is a total disapointment, not only because the story (both storys) are bad, but because right now the gay characters will be killed off, and nobody really cares.
In this case the expectations were so high the the disapointment was even higher, and people like Nelson Branco, who praise a lot Y&R in anticipation, change his mind.
What i don't like is that people use the new gay storylines in soaps to bash ATWT. Without Nuke success, we probably don't have any other gay storyline. And yes, ATWT make a lot of mistakes, but they take the risk, and the other storylines are just at the begining, so it's very difficult to predict how good they'll be (in the case of OLTL is promising, in Y&R not so much)
Even you are right at some points
I have to say that OLTL storyline works well right now.
It's true that we'll see a thousand times a straight version of the story, but this is the advantage of gay characters, that the same seems new. For me the most interesting character is Kyle, he has a lot to develop, Fish is interesting too, but for me it's like if Noah didn't meet Luke, and we find him some years later.
I think the attraction, and the flirting, the doubts, and the fears, is the easy part of the story. You only need two actors with chemistry (and for the few scenes together, they have good chemistry), and the story just works. A different think it'll be when they will be a couple. But right now they are doing a good job. And i really think they could reach a similar status to Nuke, because i'm pretty sure that the level of commitment of the actors with their characters (at least in the case of Scott) will be as high as Van and Jake.
The Y&R storyline is a total disapointment, not only because the story (both storys) are bad, but because right now the gay characters will be killed off, and nobody really cares.
In this case the expectations were so high the the disapointment was even higher, and people like Nelson Branco, who praise a lot Y&R in anticipation, change his mind.
What i don't like is that people use the new gay storylines in soaps to bash ATWT. Without Nuke success, we probably don't have any other gay storyline. And yes, ATWT make a lot of mistakes, but they take the risk, and the other storylines are just at the begining, so it's very difficult to predict how good they'll be (in the case of OLTL is promising, in Y&R not so much)
I was impressed with Thom Bierdz
on Monday's episode of Y&R.
I really liked the conversation between Phillip and Nina, and the flirting with the cute waiter was awesome as well. I hope they try and make Phillip more likable, because most are HATING him right now.
They may have dropped the ball with Rafe, but it's not too late with Phillip, and maybe the waiter ;)
I gotta tell you, I can't
As much as the thought of
Thank you Anthony
Anthony...thank you so much
Anthony...thank you so much for the interview with the beautiful Jo Weil of Forbidden Love.
The Friday night Vlog is a wonderful gift from Jo, Thore and the VL crew to their international fans. With the Vlog, Twitter and up front on VL's new head banner, we know that Christian and Olli are important characters to VL, so i'm sure increased focus is on the way.
This past month the little mini storylines have been so very good and the acting from Jo and Thore continue to be top notch. Glad to hear Jo say Olli and Christian are going to have to fight for their love. Hopefully this is an indication of a larger storyline in the making.
Eileen Davidson's Novels
I was saving this question for the next Y&R-themed liveblog or Daytime Drive By, but since that will be sometime next week and I have a short attention span, I'm sticking it onto this older comment thread.
I see that Eileen Davidson (Ashley on Young and the Restless) writes a series of mystery novels set in a daytime soap. Has anyone read these, and can you recommend (or recommend avoiding) them? As a lifelong if casual fan of the whodunnit, and a more recent convert to soaps, these sound intriguing, but I have a low tolerance for crappy stuff shoved out with a celebrity name, so I'd like to know they're at least reasonably entertaining before plunking my time down on them.