Here is the year's worst, offered up in the Jan. 5, 2009 edition of TV Guide, by Soaps columnist Michael Logan.…
THE WORST OF SOAPS 2008
Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On' Trying to be fresh and hip, Guiding Light switched from a classic, studio-bound soap to one shot on location in drab, charmless Peapack, New Jersey, with jumpy, nausea-inducing minicams, tinny sound and harsh, unflattering lighting. (Kim Zimmer, call your lawyer!) CBS defended the makeover as "a work in progress," and since then much of this artsy-fartsy, indie-flick stuff has been dropped, but why should we be patient while a show gets its act together? The message—that viewers are that unimportant—just seemed so rude. Foolish, too. Ratings have dropped 21 percent since the "progress" began.
Suicide Is Painful Watching Days of Our Lives owner Ken Corday systematically destroy his soap—by sticking with his dreadful head writer Dena Higley, axing his dynamic show-runner Ed Scott and dumping his two most popular stars, Deidre Hall and Drake Hogestyn—has been unbearably sad. And, clearly, NBC is too mired in its own problems to care.
Mad Men Head writer Ron Carlivati and exec producer Frank Valentini beautifully resurrected the flailing One Life to Live [in 2007], then trashed it by sending Bo and Rex time-traveling to 1968 and rehashing a 20-year-old story line about crown jewels of Mendorra. The latter—with criminally bad acting by Andrea Evans (Tina) and Kevin Spirtas (Jonas)—was the dumbest, most exasperating plot of the year.
Flack Attack Procter & Gamble's PR department publicly blasted SOAPnet.com for posting a Perez Hilton item that outed a top As the World Turns star. Then P&G took out ads promoting ATWT on Perez's Web site.
And the Winner Is… Apparently nobody. CBS and ABC have refused to broadcast the Daytime Emmys in 2009 and, at press time, there were no other takers. Not even SOAPnet wants the damn thing. Now how pathetic is that?
It was a year of staggering loss for the soap community. • The death of Beverlee McKinsey (Another World's Iris, GL's Alexandra) was keenly felt, as she was widely regarded as the best actress ever to work in daytime drama.… • We also bid adieu to Larry Haines, who spent 35 years—and won three Emmys—as Search for Tomorrow's Stu (Ed. note: Haines won Emmys for 1976's best actor and 1981's best supporting actor; I'm not sure if Logan was mistaken—or whether I missed out on a fact.) … • Irene Dailey who starred for 18 years as AW's bodaciously nosy Aunt Liz … • And Eileen Herlie who had a 32-year run as All My Children's Myrtle, a surrogate mom to so many in Pine Valley.…
These stars were the bedrock of the genre, and reminders of a time when serials focused on family and relationships and, by doing so, were able to rivet the nation.…
The biggest shock was the sudden death of Passions creator James E. Reilly, who never met an envelope he couldn't push. And Passions itself bit the dust. Not everyone's cup o' tea, it nevertheless dazzled a large young audience for nine years and left those of us who dug Reilly's special brand of crazy brilliance with many wonderful—and wonderfully demented—memories. Long live Harmony!
Man Logan hit the nail on the head....the demise and painful decline of Guiding Light and Days of Our Lives....we will be lucky if Guiding Light survives past 2009. Also, the passing of Dailey, Haines, Herlie is perhaps symbolic of a dying genre. These were sublime actors who infused such warmth in their characters. For me though, the passing of Beverlee McKinsey is the hardest to take. Even though she wasn't on soaps in over 15 years, she left such an indelible mark. What a great actress and class act. May all these soap legends rest in peace and know they are truly missed.
Haines did win a 3rd Emmy- a Lifetime Achievement Award in 1985, also presented that year to his "Search for Tomorrow" co-star Mary Stuart, and to "Guiding Light" matriarch Charita Bauer.
Posts: 284 | Location: on the road to Manderly | Registered: June 25, 2001
If Ed Scott wanted to be a writer he should have changed jobs!
WILLIAM PETERSEN: Well, this is a shock. The only explanation for this is that somehow in the last year, every one of you tried to act with rubber gloves and tweezers.
Posts: 5975 | Location: NY | Registered: December 01, 2002
I thought the outed person was Van Hansis. Perezhilton or soapnet.com wrote about his relationship with Tyler Haines. Nelson wrote about this so he may be able to provide more information.
Interesting but not surprising that Logan takes OLTL to ask for Mendorra and the time Travelling, but not the rapemance. Logan has always defended violence against women in soaps.
Originally posted by MARKPGH: Hansis i knew about...i was thinking about another ATWT actor!
I thought the Soapnet/PH outing was Van Hansis, but there have been so many outings and blind items that I've lost track. Wasn't there something about a gay actor on ATWT who's married with kids?
