ranting ahoy

[erilyn]

Can anyone hook me up with a fandom that won't break my heart? Cause if bandom lately hadn't been bad enough, my recent happy place of One Life to Live just stomped all over my battered heart >:(

OLTL has axed Kyle and Oliver, the best gay couple on daytime soaps, and one of the best on tv. I'm trying to decide which is worse - that they're blaming ratings issues on the storyline, or that Scott Evans who plays Oliver found out about this FROM THE MEDIA REPORTS.

And the former isn't even true - it was never one of the primary plots on the show, and it's biggest point (the Big Gay Wedding) was more about Dorian, and that finished at the beginning of November sweeps. They've never really been a front-burner pairing, on 4-5 days a week (sadly, but since they were both supporting recurring characters before being paired up, and not related to core families, this wasn't surprising, even if it wasn't a gay couple). The show has plenty of other stuff to blame their ratings woes on (like the worst leading men I've seen on a soap, and I've watched Bold and the Beautiful).

Their relationship has been praised amongst both GLBT and soap opera media, and the actors have great chemistry not only with each other, but with pretty much everyone else they interact with. There was still so much they could do with the characters - Brett Claywell (Kyle) never got enough material, given how good he is. Let alone that they're about to become parents, thanks to Oliver's last night o' faux-heterosexuality.

A fairly reputable source is saying that the OLTL exec producer made the call to axe them, but I still see the dread hand of Brian Frons (ABC Daytime exec) behind this. Combined with the sacking of two other actors in intersecting storylines and same age bracket, and some other movements going on (people being dropped from contract to recurring), and either their budget has been cut again, or they're trying to save money to bring back some big names. I don't want to blame the EP, cause both he and the headwriter are out, and I thought fairly committed to telling this story (and apparently Ron the HW fought to keep them, so I'm very curious as to what did happen and why). I wonder how long til the actors who play Brody and Layla are sacked.

They're not even gonna write Kyle and Oliver leaving town, they're still be living in Llanview, just raising the baby while never interacting with friends and colleagues apparently. Is Gigi even gonna talk about seeing her niece at times? I'M JUST SO DISAPPOINTED.

I know it's a perilous time for the daytime soaps. Guiding Light is gone, As the World Turns only has a few months left to go, and from the sound of it, it'll be a surprise if any of the six surviving soaps is around in 5 years. As someone who grew up watching soaps, this makes me sad. At least Kish got to make out on-screen and have a sex scene, unlike the poor lesbians on Guiding Light, who never did more than touch each other's hands meaningfully.

I was even consoling myself that if OLTL got axed soon, they might just go for broke and give Kish some even meatier airtime, but I guess this is not to be (not that it worked for poor sexless Otalia on GL). And this from the soap that apparently had one of the best early gay characters on daytime - Ryan Phillipe's Billy Douglas back in the 90s.

All this on the day when I got a pretty Kyle and Oliver icon from hnix. I thought the post I was going to use it on was me bitching about Oliver's (in)actions at the moment, and Kyle enabling him.

Comments

[renne.livejournal.com]

I have a plan. What you need, clearly, is a new fandom in an already finished show that you have been spoiled for already, which means there will be NO DISAPPOINTMENTS WHATSOEVER.

Okay, so it's not a GOOD plan.

[erilyn.livejournal.com]

Where are my Professionals dvds? TO THE VAULTS!

Did you deliberately use an icon from a show that killed off my fave characters? ;)

[renne.livejournal.com]

Um. Considering I'm only like, halfway through S2, I don't know?

[erilyn.livejournal.com]

oh, sorry! though, hmmm...they might have killed my faves off by then, I can't remember when I stopped watching. I won't tell you who he/she/they were.

[alasen.livejournal.com]

DUDE WATCH THE REST OF WHITE COLLAR YOU WON'T REGRET IT

[erilyn.livejournal.com]

my sister and I were talking about White Collar just this evening. do you think my parents will enjoy it? They like Bones and NCIS, for example.

[alasen.livejournal.com]

Hmm, maybe? It's mystery based after all - but it's more like a caper show than a whodunnit. I think the characters are engaging enough even if you're not interested in the OT3. One thing I love about it is that they aren't stupid, and I don't find myself yelling at the episode telling them what's about to happen or who the murderer is.

[renne.livejournal.com]

THIS. Silly things happen, but you can just be all "Aww, Neal's sculpting with no shirt on."

[erilyn.livejournal.com]

They do get very frustrated by stupid characters, so that's a plus!

They have more time than more for tv lately, so it's useful if any show I pick up appeals to them too :)

[hnix.livejournal.com]

But it might still end terribly! That finale was super gay, though.

[erilyn.livejournal.com]

Yes, an inactive show might be safer...

[hnix.livejournal.com]

Aww, I jinxed it!

[erilyn.livejournal.com]

Unless you're head of daytime tv at ABC, you are safe from my wrath.

[marythefan.livejournal.com]

Yeah, fuck that. I wish I knew who I could write to tell them that they're giving me back an hour of my day, because I won't be watching their show after Kyle and Fish are gone. Apparently they're saying that they've "done what they set out to do" with the storyline, or some such bs? Great to know we can have Kyle and Oliver on tv as long as they're BEING gay, but there's nothing else for them to do, like, oh, be a cop and a med student, or fathers, or friends of any the other characters they interact with. TPTB don't care about doing any of that stuff with the characters.

And seriously? They're just going to drop the whole Sierra Rose storyline into a hole and bury it?

And this:

or that Scott Evans who plays Oliver found out about this FROM THE MEDIA REPORTS

WHAT.

That's classy, right there. And not long after there were rumors that he might up for a part in another show, and he reassured fans that he wasn't planning on going anywhere. tbh, I'm probably just as distressed about Scott and Brett, at this point, as I am about losing Kyle and Oliver. I just hope they don't have any trouble finding new work, and fast.

Combined with the sacking of two other actors in intersecting storylines and same age bracket

I've heard about one of these, but I'm wondering who the other is. Or does this count Stacy?

[ariadne83]

The actors who play Rachel and Schuyler are both being given the boot.

They seem to think going back to the couples they had years ago will magically return their ratings to what they once were, which means getting rid of pretty much all the new-ish characters. Except (for reasons that escape me) Rex and Gigi.

[erilyn.livejournal.com]

Plus, Amanda Setton (Kim) declined a contract and is leaving the show.

There was so much still to do with them. Oliver and Kyle being parents is fertile fodder for both comedy and some angst. I wanted to see Oliver's parents reactions to their granddaughter. I wanted to see them be friends to Cris and Layla through this Teen!Jessica stuff, and Oliver could bring Brody into the group too, cause dude needs a hug or three. I was wondering if maybe Oliver + Sierra (and maybe Kyle) would move into the gatehouse with Gigi and Shane, so Gigi could help look after Sierra. They had had good interaction (especially Oliver) with Dorian, Viki (he helped save Jessica from Mitch!), McBain and Rex - most of the leads apart from Todd, which is lucky cause I choose to pretend he doesn't exist.

I wanted Brett Claywell to get some awesome stories, so they could really utilise him, as I think overall Scott got more stuff with all the coming out drama.

I want to hear Oliver sing to Sierra (apparently Scott is a pretty good singer). WHY WON'T SOMEONE GIVE THEM A SPINOFF? They could take all the other characters I like too, and have Tuc Watkins pop in for guest appearances like he does on OLTL.

[ariadne83]

I am still really upset about this, just so you know >:-(

[erilyn.livejournal.com]

I was already planning a Get Together presentation: Soaps are Totally Gay >:(

[ariadne83]

*sigh* I'd still love to see that presentation, even if it made me despair for What Might Have Been.

[erilyn.livejournal.com]

Do you watch ATWT? I've never gotten into Luke and Noah in a big way, but I watched the scenes from the last few days with Dr Reid, and he cracks me up so much! Fuck, I don't need to get sucked into something else (though it wouldn't be for long, I guess).

If I make it to G_T, I will think about putting together a Kish reel, to share the goodness-that-was.

[ariadne83]

Not really; I haven't watched Luke/Noah since the early days with the coming out drama. I've heard Dr. Reid is good fun, though.