November 14, 2007
Oh, what a mess! Part 1; All My Children
I’ve been on the loveliest autumn vacation! I went to a place that is deep in the country, by a clear babbling, spring fed river, where the air was fresh and crisp and the sky was the most amazing azure color during the day and dotted with more stars than I have ever seen in the sky anywhere else before. There were no children or grandchildren, no phones, no hubby, no responsibilities but walking the spectacularly colored autumn forest trails, watching the pristine river run: and watching November sweeps on ABC. Thank goodness for satellite television!
Let me tell you, it was a great way to spend the major part of any daytime sweeps period. It was like clearing my palate between sips of wine at a wine tasting. I was able to clear out the bad taste from one long, rank, almost putrid summer of stories I really couldn’t care less about and really try to focus in on what’s happening RIGHT NOW on the shows. I’m really beginning to think that disassociating the sweeps periods from the “real” stories may be the only way to enjoy the soaps these days; as disturbing as that is!
Anyway, I’m going to break out with a bit of a different format this week and cover each of the shows in their own column. My goal is to have the One Life to Live column and the GH column posted by the end of the week, but I’ll give myself some leeway and ask you to look for them between now and this time next week. As always you can listen to “The Daytime Diva’s View from the Recliner’s Edge” on The ABC Edition of the TV Fan Online Daytime Confidential Podcast, the first and only podcast of its kind, where this week we are joined by Karen, The Wub Queen to dish sweeps, and of course, Wub’s specialty: SPOILERS!
First off, it’s great to hear from readers who are still excited about All My Children and care enough to support their favorite characters. I want to thank Melanie for taking the time and trouble to send me her feelings. Melanie writes: “I am sorry but I strongly disagree with your assessment that Kendall is a bad mom and needs to leave the show. Kendall/Alicia is the only reason I even still watch the crap known as AMC. She leaves my screen I leave with her. I am sick and tired of explaining why I feel Kendall is a good mom so I will just say this Kendall may very well be a lot of things but IMO a bad mom is certainly not one of them. She has been the only parent with Spike for over a month now. Ryan has been too busy hanging people, kidnapping people and having his 50th honeymoon to give a crap about either one of his children. But yet Kendall wants answers and justice, for/about what happened the night her life as well as her 17 month old child’s life forever changed and she is a bad mom. Sorry but I wholeheartedly disagree. This woman nearly died to give birth to Spike for God sakes, bad mom she is not. GreenMe as well as the horrible actress that plays GreenMe are the ones who should leave my screen ASAP. You are absolutely entitled to your opinion as is BinkyMimo88, but I just wanted to share a different point of view with you. NICA”
Sincerely Melanie, thank you for writing! For me I have to say that Kendall annoys me more than anything else because she ignores Baby Ian in favor of deaf Spike. I understand that deaf Spike is older and that Kendall has to obsess on him in order to fulfill her own revenge plans on former BFF Greenlee and that All My Children may expect us to believe that she is lavishing attention on baby Ian in the mysterious nether regions known as “off screen”. But, you may or may not realize that I am in the unique position of having a grandson who was born at 21 weeks, who spent 6 months in neo-natal Intensive Care Unit where I spent 24/7. I know how important for those babies survival their parents being there with them are. It irks me that Kendall is not there and it irks me even worse that this show would expect us to pretend that she is lavishing her infant with this attention off of our screens—if that is even what their intention is? The kind of real life drama that affects millions of people and drives The March of Dimes charity organization is not dramatic enough for All My Children, I guess. That’s my gripe!
Now that perfect princess Kendall has framed evil, delusional, horribly recast Greenlee for kidnapping and attempted murder (or whatever it is) NOW she feels bad and wants to try to “fix” it? I respect the long time viewers’ right to love Kendall and to adore Zack and Kendall but I have to tell you from the recliner’s edge she doesn’t look much better than that Smythe woman. I’m sure that it isn’t going to win me any new reading fans to take an unpopular stance but I can’t do anything but call it as I see it. As written right now and without the benefit of years of show history to guide me; Kendall just does not come out any better smelling than Greenlee.
So, this is it then? THIS is what passes for November sweeps on All My Children? I find it rather pathetic and strangely tasteless. (Tasteless meaning bland, not tasteless meaning without class) There is Ryan (who comes off to me like a big braying jackass) and his wife (who was marginally likeable three months ago and then suddenly lost all flavor, as if she went from someone I might have been able to understand to some one from another planet entirely) who are trying to kill or at least one up some extraordinarily charismatic, charming and hot relative of hers. I’m sorry, but as soon as Richard aired and they saw that he was not only the better looking but apparently the character is better liked by the fans and the man can flat OUT steal a scene out from under perennial PTB favorite Ryan; they should have re written this unfortunate segment entirely. It’s not like they haven’t changed that particular horse right in the middle of that particular stream before!
What I am enjoying really won’t be a shock to my readers. Adam’s trying to woo his ex-wife back, but she has made a platonic commitment to co-parent with Tad who is also being sought after by a very desirable albeit somewhat shady woman and is fighting the attraction for the same reason Krystal (with a K, y’all) is trying to fight off her attraction to Adam. It’s like an O’Henry story; isn’t it? I don’t see any platonic co-parenting agreement being able to stand up to so much unbridled passion though. It’s probably a foregone conclusion that the happy little family home Tad and Krystal (with a K, y’all) envisioned is not going to make it past the first test of dueling libidos. I could be wrong. It might be fun to watch if they don’t ditch out on it too soon. It’s just been my experience that they “cop out” on the stories with the veterans in them that I am actually interested in and just WILL NOT end the dull assed stories with all the historically unattached newbie characters I couldn’t care less about.
Speaking of which, JR is drinking? Oh, my not good. He is also trying to get his wife back and has at least hit the sheets with her again. According to what Amanda thinks, anyway. I think I blinked and missed something though; wasn’t he trying to scandalously snatch Ava away from Fusion and possibly away from Jonathan? What happened to that? Correct me if I’m wrong but he was trying to get Greenlee out of town by using Ryan’s frozen sperm in a con ran by Zack as a tandem team revenge-o-rama against Greenlee, wasn’t he? Did she actually step up and NOT take that bait?
Okay, I’ll admit it I was freakishly touched by AARP Queen Erica holding baby Ian for the first time. (Sniffle) Wasn’t it a great and rare treat to see Opal? Thanks for the sweeps token vet cameo, TPTB! How big of them to trot one of the really colorful characters out for a few words, huh?
Final word though: isn’t it an odd choice not to feature any of their precious teen demographics during this sweeps? Truthfully, All My Children has to have the worse teen storylines these days. I’ve barely seen enough of Colby and her crew since I began watching in April to know who they are by sight. It just strikes me as particularly odd that they are left completely out. I don’t know why it surprises me. I hear that there are some historically connected teens, ‘tweens and young adults that COULD be on the show who have been unceremoniously written off screen while they have brought on completely unconnected characters and tried to build story around them. For the love of all that is holy, when are TPTB going to BUY A CLUE to how to re-engage the fans in the stories?
In closing, let me remind you that if you want to affect change on the ABC soaps, the best way to get your favorite actors on your TV screen in more storylines is to WRITE in to the ACTOR snail mail at the studios. This carries more weight with the network than petitions, gifts, gag mailing to the producers, writers and executives and even phone calls. Let’s stop sniveling to each other and make sure our voices are heard loud and clear in the way that the studios appreciate the MOST. Write your favorite star SNAIL MAIL at:
Star’s name c/o:
All My Children
Click here for the OLTL Column
See ya!
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