Serial Drama

Our Latest Soap Opera Digest Column

My Take
By Becca Thomas

Every year, I make the same new year’s resolutions.  And 98% of the time, I don’t keep them.  But I continue to make them.  Why?  Tradition, I suppose.  For probably the same reason, at this time of year I map out changes I’d like to see on my soaps.  I’ve given up on the really crazy ones (like that GENERAL HOSPITAL should be less violent and mob-centric, or that DAYS OF OUR LIVES should have consistent quality for more than three months), but I still have some smaller-scale hopes for 2010.

On GH, while I have given up hope that Port Charles will stop revolving around the mob, I do hope that there are at least some consequences for the mobsters this year.  The only reasons I’m remotely optimistic are:  1) the reveal of Dante (whom I adore, by the way) as Sonny’s son would be hard, even in the hands of a writing team that clearly worships Sonny’s homicidal self, to conclude with anything other than some anti-Mafia reflections and happenings, and 2) I don’t learn lessons very well and have forgotten the 738 other opportunities for such consequences that have already passed by.

More realistically, I hope 2010 sees more of the episodes centered around karaoke nights at Jake’s, or similar setups.  Those were easily the best of GH in 2009, and that kind of cast interaction and escapism is exactly what GH needs.  More of Robin and Patrick as something other than back-burnered medical Nancy Drews would be nice, as would an actual storyline for Patrick’s brother Matt.  More screen time for Diane and Alexis’s almost uniformly delightful and entertaining friendship, and an actual romance for Alexis with someone who isn’t a sociopath, would be great too.

Our Column In the 1/28 Issue of Soap Opera Digest

In our latest My Take/My Take Too column, we reveal our hopes for soaps in 2010.  ("Hopes for Soaps" sounds like an anti-Brian Frons group waiting to happen, BTW.)  Join us as we try on optimism for size, set aside reality and all recent history, plus do really crazy stuff like ask that our shows feature more of our favorite over-45 actresses.  It's truly amazing that we manage to keep our gig while spouting such lunacy.

Our Latest Soap Opera Digest Column

For our column in the December 29th issue of Soap Opera Digest asked us for our thoughts on the Best and Worst of 2009 in soaps. And we had...well, we had many thoughts, which we compiled for this month's Our Take.  (It's our first ever jointly authored one, for those keeping track -- which we assume is roughly zero). You've seen some of these choices before in the Serial Drama Best and Worst of 2009 entry (along with those containing profanity, as well as thoughts on One Life to Live), but we are both slightly OCD and bring you the column below anyway, because incomplete archives would drive us crazy and/or to drink. Plus watching soaps has taught us that redundancy is not only a good thing, it earns you the most prestigious awards in your field.  And we're totally shooting for that.

As two practically semi-professional list-makers, we look forward to Best and Worst lists at this time of year like little kids do to holiday gifts.  In truth, we look forward to holiday gifts with similar zeal, but it seems shallow to admit that, so…on with the year-end soapy analysis!

2009 brought a regrettably large number of stories that can be aptly summarized with a groan and an eyeroll, but standing out as the Worst Story is the murder of Stuart Chandler on AMC. It’s troublesome that the show’s powers-that-be listened to the storyline we can only assume was pitched as “The three times a year that Stuart is onscreen being cheerful and sweet is just too much, so for our big sweeps story, he gets murdered. And then it turns out that ADAM killed him. What’s more exciting than a twin killing a twin? Nothing! And then Kendall confesses to the murder that she didn’t commit because…well, the ‘because’ part isn’t important” and not only didn’t run away screaming from the story’s inherent badness but agreed to film and televise it. The debacle’s lone saving grace is David Canary, who proved again that he is daytime’s Best Actor by rising above the material and giving amazing performances in a story that does not deserve it.

Our Column in the 12/29 Issue of Soap Opera Digest

For our latest My Take/My Take, Too column, we took a look back at the highlights and lowlights of 2009 in soaps and share our thoughts on the Best and Worst of the year*. It appears in the December 29th issue of Soap Opera Digest, on newsstands today. We are kind of freaked out that it is already the end of December.

*Obviously, our thoughts about the year that was could fill up way more than two pages. Make sure to check back here next week for the rest of our Best and Worst of 2009 (um, not to kill the suspense or anything, but it's mostly worsts), as well as looks at the past year for all of our soaps.

Our Not Exactly Latest Soap Opera Digest Column

This actually WAS our latest Soap Opera Digest column once upon a time, but then things went haywire with issues going missing and scrambling to find the issue on newsstands and then getting distracted by who knows what. But we are both completists and eventually tracked the issue down and bring you the post below, and apologize for being tardy.

My Take
By Mallory Harlen

"Do you even know what a soap opera is supposed to be?"

I feel like I ask myself that question after every episode of ALL MY CHILDREN and GENERAL HOSPITAL, with a heavy sigh and an eyeroll. And I've finally gotten my answer: ABC Daytime DOES know what a soap opera is supposed to be. Shocking twists! Unexpected exits! Boatloads of drama! I'm excited about upcoming episodes for the first time in a long time! There's just one small issue: All of these exciting fireworks are taking place completely behind the scenes.

The news that AMC would be relocating to Los Angeles led many (and by "many", I mean "me") to winder about the fate of beloved characters. The eternal pessimist in me thought we'd be in for a Pine Valley with no Adam, no Erica, no Jesse or Angie, all replaced by vapid newbies. Thankfully, the majority of the cast is sticking around, with a few notable exceptions. Beth Ehlers (Taylor), and Aiden Turner (Aidan) have both been let go after being wasted in recent months. Ehlers joining AMC brought the show a ton of publicity and that seems to be the extend of the effort AMC was willing to put into her character. They half-heartedly gave her a romance with Brot, and a flirtation with Tad that went nowhere. She did fare better than Turner, though, who...was he even on the show in 2009?

Our Latest Soap Opera Digest Column

My Take
By Becca Thomas

Sometimes I issue little challenges to myself. Recent successful examples include: "Go a month without chocolate," "Repair shoes instead of throwing them out as an excuse to buy new ones," and "Try not to be completely negative about soaps." It was almost an across-the-board failure (on reflection the chocolate one, in particular, seems insane), but then DAYS OF OUR LIVES had the gall to get quite good, so I stumbled onto a one-for-three record. In hopes they can build on my modest success, I thought I would extend some challenges to my soaps.

DAYS is truly much improved of late. The pacing is much better than it was even just a few months ag, there are gorgeous men at every turn (why did nobody ever tell me PASSIONS had such a plethora of hotties?), returning favorites like Wally Kurth and Crystal Chappell make me smile even if I'm not sure how well they're ultimately going to be integrated into the canvas, and Victor and Stefano have rightly returned to their positions as chief villains.

But there are still improvements to be made in Salem. I challenge DAYS to make Nicole fun again. Understandably she had to become serious for the whole baby switch storyline, but for me, Nicole is really only entertaining when she's plotting something stupid and wearing lots of metallic clothing. We need more of that. On a somewhat related note, I challenge the show to do something unexpected with the EJ/Sami/Rafe triangle that I assume is coming now that EJ and Sami know that Sydney is theirs. There is the potential for months of soapiness in that if the writing team can restrain themselves from rushing it.

Our Column in the 11/3 Issue of Soap Opera Digest

The newest issue of Soap Opera Digest is on newsstands now, and in it is our latest My Take/ My Take, Too column. This month, Mallory continues to be all atwitter about the crazy casting news hitting the soap world: Thorsten Kaye, Beth Ehlers, Aiden Turner and Greg Vaughan are out, while Jonathan Jackson and James Franco are in, and she is seriously embarrassed to think about how long it must have taken for our editor to get rid of the approximately eight thousand exclamation points she had in her original draft. Meanwhile, Becca tries optimism on for size, and thinks of how great Jonathan Jackson's return to GH could be, especially if it coincides with Greg Vaughan landing a gig on the increasingly good Days of Our Lives.

Our Latest Soap Opera Digest Column

My Take
By Becca Thomas

Another Daytime Emmys ceremony has come and gone, and I'm thrilled, confused, and irritated all at once. Thrilled because there was some seriously, seriously bad fashion on display, and it was oodles of fun to mock. And confused or irritated by...well, by virtually everything else.

First, the things that irritated me least. DAYS's Ava was written almost incomprehensibly (still irritating these many months later), but Tamara Braun worked wonders with what she was given, so I was happy for her Supporting Actress win (and she looked absolutely gorgeous--bonus!). Also on the DAYS front, I am always happy to see someone from my two shows win something, particularly if the show is DAYS, which, let's face it, rarely gets nominated, much less wins anything. So congrats to Darin Brooks (Max) on his Younger Actor win, though I remain a bit puzzled by his nomination. (And by his suit at the ceremony, but that is a discussion for a different day.)

GH's Julie Marie Berman should have won the Outstanding Younger Actress award last year, so while I didn't think she had the same level of material or performances this year, I'm happy for her make-up win. Perhaps the same logic will bring Kirsten Storms the award next year. She didn't even get a nomination last year when by all rights she should have won for her performance as Maxie mourning Georgie, but at least we're moving in the right direction.

Our Column in the 10/6 Issue of Soap Opera Digest

For our latest My Take/My Take, Too column, our editors asked us to share our thoughts about the Daytime Emmys. You may remember that we had thoughts--lots of them. After a substantial amount of time turning sentiments like "RAAAAAAGE" and "What is she weari--OH MY GOD, MY EYES" into actual sentences, excising curses and cutting our marathon list of complaints down to 500 words, our latest columns appear in the October 6th issue of Soap Opera Digest, on newsstands today.

Our Latest Soap Opera Digest Column

My Take
By Mallory Harlen

In crafting their latest front-burner romances, both AMC and GH have decided to think outside the box. Since their "inside the box" thinking misses far more often than it hits, it's unsurprising that their attempts at telling unconventional love stories leave a lot to be desired. Namely, entertainment and couples worth rooting for.

David Canary (Adam) and Melissa Claire Egan (Annie) are two of my very favorite performers on AMC and in all of soapdom, so I understand the show's impulse to put them in a story together. After all, if you add their levels of talent together, you get a sum of awesomeness so great that it quite nearly distracts you from how bizarre their pairing really is. When Annie saved Adam, and Adam decided that he could honor Stuart's memory by taking care of Annie, I got excited for a potential platonic relationship, equal parts sweet and hilarious. The AMC in my head is far better than the one on-screen because we were immediately treated to passionate kissing. And while their age difference is, um, noticeable, to say the least, it doesn't rank in the top five reasons why this story makes me uncomfortable (it's definitely the sixth reason, though). Is Annie playing him or not? That's a completely rhetorical question, by the way, and one I'm not sure even the writers have the answer for. If she IS playing him, that's disappointing, as Adam Chandler should not get played by anyone, except for possibly Erica Kane (Let's all take a moment to mourn what looked to be a fantastic, promising Erica/Adam romance. Oh, what could have been!), and he should certainly not get played by a woman who became psychotic because Ryan Lavery dumped her. Adam is many things, but he's not that sort of chump.