Brian Damage
12-29-2009, 07:34 PM
This was a year of staggering loss in which CBS killed its hallmark serials As the World Turn and Guiding Light. Adding insult to injury: Exec producer Ellen Wheeler and CBS Daytime chief Barbara Bloom were squarely to blame for GL’s demise when their “revolutionary” makeover (which they thought would save the soap genre) sent hundreds of thousands of fans fleeing, yet neither woman would accept any responsibility at all. Instead, they made it seem like we were the ones too stupid to get it.
And the Loser is… Us. The producers of the Daytime Emmys gave viewers a dopey dance routine with Vanessa Williams and Gilles Marini and a soap-star fashion show but didn’t allow anyone from Guiding Light to say a word during the show’s farewell tribute. They then ran out of time and ended the telecast before the folks at The Bold and the Beautiful could accept their trophy for best soap. Now these same clueless yahoos want to produce the 2010 awards. Somebody stop ’em!
The Blind Side Out of nowhere, General Hospital fans were slapped with the news that Luke (Tony Geary) had a baby with Holly (Emma Samms) back in the ’80s—meaning his famously happy marriage to Laura (Genie Francis) was a sham.
Low Blow Buddhist-bashing One Life to Live reached the Himalayas of bad taste when Dorian (Robin Strasser) tried to get the attention of a meditating monk by dipping down under his sacred robe and giving him oral sex. Okay, so the monk was her ex-flame David (Tuc Watkins), but still. If a soap blasphemed Christianity like that, there’d be hell to pay!
Dru Who? When Victoria Rowell quit as The Young and the Restless’ Drucilla in 2007 she went all bat-doodoo and blasted the cast for being racist and not giving her Emmy support. She then spent 2009 desperately campaigning to get her old job back. No surprise here: Rowell’s still waiting for the phone to ring.
So Much For Making History Daytime’s first legal gay marriage ended after just one day when All My Children’s Bianca (Eden Riegel) learned that her bride Reese (Tamara Braun) kissed someone at the rehearsal dinner. Worse yet: That someone has a penis. Worse yet: Head writer Chuck Pratt (since fired) had the nerve to blame this sad, aborted mess on Riegel’s busy schedule.
Happy Trails There was something so poignant about the deaths—just days apart—of good friends and OLTL cowboys Clint Ritchie (Clint) and Phil Carey (Asa). Their funny, brawny, unapologetic machismo was a rare thing in soaps and is sorely missed.
Worst Plot Ever Y&R revealed that Phillip (Thom Bierdz) faked his death in a car crash 20 years ago and is still alive. What made him cause his family so much grief and torment? He didn’t want to admit he likes boys. Runner up: Y&R’s Case of the Bank-robbing Chipmunk. How did the soap we picked as the best of 2008 become the lamest of ’09?
End of an Era This was also the year the accountants sent a message to our daytime superstars: You don’t matter anymore. We nearly lost Y&R’s Eric Braeden (Victor) and Melody Thomas Scott (Nikki) due to budget cuts. Ditto OLTL’s Strasser. And we did painfully bid adieu to Days of Our Lives greats Deidre Hall (Marlena), Drake Hogestyn (John), Thaao Penghlis (Tony), Mary Beth Evans (Kayla) and Stephen Nichols (Patch). Memo to the bean counters: There’s a reason these people are pricey—they’re solid gold.
http://www.tvguidemagazine.com/soaps/the-worst-in-soaps-2009-3614.html
And the Loser is… Us. The producers of the Daytime Emmys gave viewers a dopey dance routine with Vanessa Williams and Gilles Marini and a soap-star fashion show but didn’t allow anyone from Guiding Light to say a word during the show’s farewell tribute. They then ran out of time and ended the telecast before the folks at The Bold and the Beautiful could accept their trophy for best soap. Now these same clueless yahoos want to produce the 2010 awards. Somebody stop ’em!
The Blind Side Out of nowhere, General Hospital fans were slapped with the news that Luke (Tony Geary) had a baby with Holly (Emma Samms) back in the ’80s—meaning his famously happy marriage to Laura (Genie Francis) was a sham.
Low Blow Buddhist-bashing One Life to Live reached the Himalayas of bad taste when Dorian (Robin Strasser) tried to get the attention of a meditating monk by dipping down under his sacred robe and giving him oral sex. Okay, so the monk was her ex-flame David (Tuc Watkins), but still. If a soap blasphemed Christianity like that, there’d be hell to pay!
Dru Who? When Victoria Rowell quit as The Young and the Restless’ Drucilla in 2007 she went all bat-doodoo and blasted the cast for being racist and not giving her Emmy support. She then spent 2009 desperately campaigning to get her old job back. No surprise here: Rowell’s still waiting for the phone to ring.
So Much For Making History Daytime’s first legal gay marriage ended after just one day when All My Children’s Bianca (Eden Riegel) learned that her bride Reese (Tamara Braun) kissed someone at the rehearsal dinner. Worse yet: That someone has a penis. Worse yet: Head writer Chuck Pratt (since fired) had the nerve to blame this sad, aborted mess on Riegel’s busy schedule.
Happy Trails There was something so poignant about the deaths—just days apart—of good friends and OLTL cowboys Clint Ritchie (Clint) and Phil Carey (Asa). Their funny, brawny, unapologetic machismo was a rare thing in soaps and is sorely missed.
Worst Plot Ever Y&R revealed that Phillip (Thom Bierdz) faked his death in a car crash 20 years ago and is still alive. What made him cause his family so much grief and torment? He didn’t want to admit he likes boys. Runner up: Y&R’s Case of the Bank-robbing Chipmunk. How did the soap we picked as the best of 2008 become the lamest of ’09?
End of an Era This was also the year the accountants sent a message to our daytime superstars: You don’t matter anymore. We nearly lost Y&R’s Eric Braeden (Victor) and Melody Thomas Scott (Nikki) due to budget cuts. Ditto OLTL’s Strasser. And we did painfully bid adieu to Days of Our Lives greats Deidre Hall (Marlena), Drake Hogestyn (John), Thaao Penghlis (Tony), Mary Beth Evans (Kayla) and Stephen Nichols (Patch). Memo to the bean counters: There’s a reason these people are pricey—they’re solid gold.
http://www.tvguidemagazine.com/soaps/the-worst-in-soaps-2009-3614.html