Thursday, April 12, 2007
Billy Dee Williams joins GH
Billy Dee Williams is joining the cast of General Hospital: Night Shift. Yes the man who played Lando Calrissian in the Star Wars movies,Dynasty and the Colt 45 Commercials. See and you didn't think GH was going to hire any actor over 40.
Sunday, April 1, 2007
Finally, a soap star that speaks their mind!!!!
Erika Slezak recently gave an interview which is very candided and honest. She talks about how the scenes with Starr and Cole were too much and how Dena Hagley can't write. To read the interview http://erikaslezak.com/
Friday, March 30, 2007
Phil Carey leaves OLTL
Phil Carey leaves One Life to Live after 28 years on the show after his contract expries next month. He refused to take the recurring contract. Well this has been a hell of a year so far.
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
I won, I finally won Do you take Visa, MasterCard, American Express?
In a really tacky and belt tightening measure, the Daytime Emmies are now starting to give out one free Emmy. The ones who win multiple (writing, costume, etc.) will have to cough up $350 for it. More on it at the TV Guide website.http://community.tvguide.com/thread.jspa?threadID=800011467
Saturday, March 24, 2007
Is Brian Frons smoking the crack pipe?
A recent interview with Brian Frons about ABC daytime. http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6425815.html
Anne Becker: Did anything surprise you about the nominations?
If I had a disappointment it would be that General Hospital did not get a nod for best show and it’s interesting because the writing was nominated, Tony Geary, Genie Francis and Julie Berman were featured in the November episode the show submitted for best show and were all recognized and so was the director somehow the show wasn’t. It’s just one of those things were it’s a headscratcher, but you can’t get too upset about these things.
I’m very pleased particularly for One Life to Live and The View. It’s One Life to Live’s first Best Show nomination since Frank Valentini took over in early 2003. And I’m glad the Academy recognized that. Rosie has added an enormous bolt of energy and creativity to The View and I’m glad to see that was appreciated. I’m hoping the tenth time is the charm.
-Frons is surprised that General Hospital wasn't nominated for best show? Gees I wonder why that is? First there is the mob violence that makes the sopranos look like the boy scouts, second there are centered around the same characters that are not even likable. The episodes in which Genie Francis briefly came back were one of the best shows General Hospital had all year. That doesn't mean the show should be nominated for Best show, It should be for a whole year of good shows not just for sweeps.
Anne Becker: Why did you have such a good sweeps?
The ratings speak for themselves. We had four of top five shows in the sweep. The View grew because of Rosie’s arrival to the program. General Hospital took a very unique creative approach and the audience recognized that. They showed a standoff between police and a band of criminals who had taken over the Metro Court Hotel. They showed the front of the hotel blowing out and then flashed back 16 hours over 16 episodes to show how that happened and how the characters had gotten to that point and followed the aftermath and the audience went, ‘wow, we have never seen that before.’ GH led in every major female demographic from teens, 18-34, 18-49 and 25-54 women. Since the start of people meters, that’s the first time General Hospital has ever done that and the second time I think it’s ever been done that at all. So, it’s nice to see that when somebody takes a chance, the audience rewards them for it.
-"A very unique creative approach and the audience recognized that." If that unique creative approach pertains to hostages, criminals, explosions and coping "24" then GH is unique indeed! Look at the message boards from any soap website and see the majority of the fans are not happy about the way General Hospital is going. Does Frons really think that explosions and criminals taking hostages makes good TV? Don't forget the sadistic way that Alan Quartermine(Straut Damon) suffers a heart attack for a week before dying. That's not a unique creative approach, its just disgraceful.
Anne Becker: All My Children’s head writer was recently fired reportedly because of crazy stunts she wrote – did the show go too far?
Children took a lot of risks in the last couple of years. At a time when the country was debating whether gays should be married, we were telling story of a lesbian whose child had been kidnapped and the whole country was rooting for her to get her child back and be a mom. She was relatable and warm and the character has become a beloved character. There’s a case of risk-taking that really was embraced by the audience. Conversely, there were a couple of stories where if had chance to go back and redo them, I’m not sure we’d do them. Somewhere in middle is Zoey/Zarf transgender story we’re telling right now. Part of the audience is passionately approving what we’re doing and there’s a portion that aren’t embracing it with the same excitement. That story was conceived with a finite ending. We wanted to introduce the character and explore the issue and create a relationship with Zoey and Bianca and we’ve had a chance to do that. The storyline will be over by end of April. Megan was somebody who took great risks and was innovative yet at the same time very true to the heart and soul of All My Children. Turning out 250 hours of television a year was a grind and she had been doing it for a while. I’ve actually told her that after she takes a little time off, I would be more than happy to hire her as a story consultant.
-I think Frons is overestimating the popularity of All My Children at the time of the baby switch story. Megan Mctavish taking great risks and was innovative. No she wasn't, I admit she had her good moments but all that she did was write gimmicky storylines and dumb down characters. The Zoe/Zarf storyline was launched at the same time that the horrible serial killer storyline and I think that it killed any chance of Zoe/Zarf to be embraced fully because many people saw it as a way of AMC to get mainstream press to help there sagging ratings. Frons announced that the storyline will be over by the end of April, which means that it didn't work and are cutting their losses, which is sad because I had hope that the storyline would help people understand transgendered issues.
Anne Becker: Did anything surprise you about the nominations?
If I had a disappointment it would be that General Hospital did not get a nod for best show and it’s interesting because the writing was nominated, Tony Geary, Genie Francis and Julie Berman were featured in the November episode the show submitted for best show and were all recognized and so was the director somehow the show wasn’t. It’s just one of those things were it’s a headscratcher, but you can’t get too upset about these things.
I’m very pleased particularly for One Life to Live and The View. It’s One Life to Live’s first Best Show nomination since Frank Valentini took over in early 2003. And I’m glad the Academy recognized that. Rosie has added an enormous bolt of energy and creativity to The View and I’m glad to see that was appreciated. I’m hoping the tenth time is the charm.
-Frons is surprised that General Hospital wasn't nominated for best show? Gees I wonder why that is? First there is the mob violence that makes the sopranos look like the boy scouts, second there are centered around the same characters that are not even likable. The episodes in which Genie Francis briefly came back were one of the best shows General Hospital had all year. That doesn't mean the show should be nominated for Best show, It should be for a whole year of good shows not just for sweeps.
Anne Becker: Why did you have such a good sweeps?
The ratings speak for themselves. We had four of top five shows in the sweep. The View grew because of Rosie’s arrival to the program. General Hospital took a very unique creative approach and the audience recognized that. They showed a standoff between police and a band of criminals who had taken over the Metro Court Hotel. They showed the front of the hotel blowing out and then flashed back 16 hours over 16 episodes to show how that happened and how the characters had gotten to that point and followed the aftermath and the audience went, ‘wow, we have never seen that before.’ GH led in every major female demographic from teens, 18-34, 18-49 and 25-54 women. Since the start of people meters, that’s the first time General Hospital has ever done that and the second time I think it’s ever been done that at all. So, it’s nice to see that when somebody takes a chance, the audience rewards them for it.
-"A very unique creative approach and the audience recognized that." If that unique creative approach pertains to hostages, criminals, explosions and coping "24" then GH is unique indeed! Look at the message boards from any soap website and see the majority of the fans are not happy about the way General Hospital is going. Does Frons really think that explosions and criminals taking hostages makes good TV? Don't forget the sadistic way that Alan Quartermine(Straut Damon) suffers a heart attack for a week before dying. That's not a unique creative approach, its just disgraceful.
Anne Becker: All My Children’s head writer was recently fired reportedly because of crazy stunts she wrote – did the show go too far?
Children took a lot of risks in the last couple of years. At a time when the country was debating whether gays should be married, we were telling story of a lesbian whose child had been kidnapped and the whole country was rooting for her to get her child back and be a mom. She was relatable and warm and the character has become a beloved character. There’s a case of risk-taking that really was embraced by the audience. Conversely, there were a couple of stories where if had chance to go back and redo them, I’m not sure we’d do them. Somewhere in middle is Zoey/Zarf transgender story we’re telling right now. Part of the audience is passionately approving what we’re doing and there’s a portion that aren’t embracing it with the same excitement. That story was conceived with a finite ending. We wanted to introduce the character and explore the issue and create a relationship with Zoey and Bianca and we’ve had a chance to do that. The storyline will be over by end of April. Megan was somebody who took great risks and was innovative yet at the same time very true to the heart and soul of All My Children. Turning out 250 hours of television a year was a grind and she had been doing it for a while. I’ve actually told her that after she takes a little time off, I would be more than happy to hire her as a story consultant.
-I think Frons is overestimating the popularity of All My Children at the time of the baby switch story. Megan Mctavish taking great risks and was innovative. No she wasn't, I admit she had her good moments but all that she did was write gimmicky storylines and dumb down characters. The Zoe/Zarf storyline was launched at the same time that the horrible serial killer storyline and I think that it killed any chance of Zoe/Zarf to be embraced fully because many people saw it as a way of AMC to get mainstream press to help there sagging ratings. Frons announced that the storyline will be over by the end of April, which means that it didn't work and are cutting their losses, which is sad because I had hope that the storyline would help people understand transgendered issues.
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