After seeing how good the show can be when it focuses on family (with the return of the sorely missed Grant Aleksander), I only have one thing to say to the powers-that-be:
DON'T TURN OFF THE LIGHT!!!
Yes, the writers have a ways to go in proving that they respect the show's history and can keep this pace up indefinitely. Oh man, are they off to a GREAT start.
GL has bordered on fantastic this week. I cant really complain about a single thing except the fact that Marj Dusay has been absent thus far. Besides that every note has been true. GAs return has been seamless.
Fiona Hutchison and Justin Deas still have that spark. I so wish they would find a way to bring her back permanently. Even the insipid Mandy Bruno has been good this week. There has been a good balance of stories.
Ok the scenes of Coop in the hospital before Buzz found him were weird but I can overlook that.
It really has been a standout week I just hope they can keep it up, if they can then yes I am all about saving GL!
I agree, GL was rocking all cylinders this week and it continues to impress. I, too, wish Marj Dusay's Alex was around but I am hoping we see her soon. It's a shame we are losing Coop but it should make for some powerful story and performances. And as much as I love Justin Deas' Buzz he can be a bit over the top at times....which I think is part of his character. Overall, though, a solid B+ from me.....May the light keep shining for a long, long time....
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To a certain extent I do agree with the above posts. Is this the GL we all fell in love with years ago? No, not by a long shot. But is this better than anything that any real GL fan sat through in pain and torture, day in and day out, for the last 18 months...HELL YEAH!
To be clear, I'm not accepting mediocrity here; there are still many things that could make GL a far better hour of television. But, what over the last few weeks, what is on screen now is a minor miracle. Could it all change and go right back to the drivel we GL fans have been exposed to for months? Of Course. But as Harvey Milk said..."You gotta give them hope." And it looks like Ellen Wheeler, at this point, is trying to do that on her shoestring budget.
What I like MOST about GL right now is that it's all about Human Behavior in all its Messy Glory. GL always did best when it was sincere and honest, and signs of that are starting to shine through again.
With Philips return, the doors that have been opened and layers than need peeled away are endless. The discovery that someone in your life is not as clearly defined as you once believed can be an illuminating, unnerving or disorienting experience. Devastating, of course, if the someone is a mate in the case of Beth. And Yes, the Grant Alexander/Beth Chamberlin chemistry is there in spades!
So while others may still be quick to tear down what means so much to GL fans across the world (and they are one of the most vocal fan bases still around); I do recognize and support GL when it's at least attempting to do the right thing. It's not a free pass, but an olive branch if you will to a friend who you haven't seen eye to eye with in a long time.
I am again excited to see the revelation of new layers and unsuspected motives in the people on my screen everyday when GL is on. It is a distinctly pleasurable sensation that no other medium gives. What might appall us in reality — the unearthing of duplicity or betrayal — can delight in daytime drama. It is not just a matter of simple surprise, titillating though a well-turned revelation can be. After all, Ellen Wheeler and Company think they've been surprising us for months and somebody finally woke them up with showing them the exit sign.
We all know the primary aim of a good soap is to hold the proverbial mirror up to nature, and natural man is a vexingly complicated being: a mixture of virtues and foibles, healthy impulses and irreducible neuroses, petty desires and solid ideals. Virtually nobody in life is a simple villain or a plain-vanilla saint. When TPTB have a firm understanding with writers who get this is when GL (or any soap) shines brightest.
The best drama holds fast to the messy truth about human motivation, and there is no denying that GL is trying once again to be a soap that holds firm in that belief. How long will it last? Like those sands through the hourglass...only time will tell.
Posts: 1337 | Location: New York | Registered: April 29, 2003
I use to watch GL in the late 90's (Buzz, Jenna, Nadine, Bridget, etc.) I started watching again recently. I have a questions - what happened to Phillip? Everyone keeps referring to him as this evil guy, but I don't remember him this way. He was a decent guy back then. (Although I have never understood the appeal of Grant Alexander. I find him pretty unattractive and a boring actor.) Did he have a mental breakdown? Why did Alan shoot him?
I don't want GL to be canceled, but if this is supposed to be a dramatic improvement, I don't have a lot of hope. The usually fantastic Justin Deas is giving uncharacteristically inconsistent performances. Alan remains one of daytime's most one-note leading characters. And all I could think about when Coop was in his accident was how ridiculous it was that he was laying in the hospital for like an hour while doctors and nurses milled about and nobody noticed he was gravely injured. When his family finally got to the hospital, they found him before any of the doctors who actually work there. Talk about a lawsuit waiting to happen.
As for Philip, I'm holding out hope, because Grant Aleksander is one of daytime's best actors, but so far I'm not impressed.
"A movie is not good because it arrives at conclusions you share, or bad because it does not. A movie is not about what it is about. It is about how it is about it: about the way it considers its subject matter, and about how its real subject may be quite different from the one it seems to provide." - Roger Ebert, from the introduction to "Awake in the Dark" (2006)
Especially the part about extending the olive branch to an old friend that you disagree with. Thats exactly how I've felt about GL. Even with the things that still need fixing its MILES better than it was even just a month ago and after months on end of complaining its nice to be able to give them credit for anything.
Originally posted by drama king: I use to watch GL in the late 90's (Buzz, Jenna, Nadine, Bridget, etc.) I started watching again recently. I have a questions - what happened to Phillip? Everyone keeps referring to him as this evil guy, but I don't remember him this way. He was a decent guy back then. (Although I have never understood the appeal of Grant Alexander. I find him pretty unattractive and a boring actor.) Did he have a mental breakdown? Why did Alan shoot him?
I feel the EXACT same way about Grant Alexander. I thought he was good in 2004, but IMO that was a lot to do with the writing. -Ya I know most of it was character destruction, but it still kept me entertained.
I wish I could comment on GL's current state, but honestly I'm too lazy to take on another soap.
Originally posted by jbrr1212: Very Well Said glfan!!
Especially the part about extending the olive branch to an old friend that you disagree with. Thats exactly how I've felt about GL. Even with the things that still need fixing its MILES better than it was even just a month ago and after months on end of complaining its nice to be able to give them credit for anything.
Thanks for the kind words jbrr1212. I was extremely critical of GL for the last 2 yrs or so, but if they are honestly trying, I passionately feel like thanking them. We'll see how this all turns out. FINGERS CROSSED!
Posts: 1337 | Location: New York | Registered: April 29, 2003
I'm critical of how Coop's death and the fallout from it will boost the ratings of the show. Last week was the best week in a while, with GA's return, and all of the drama with the people central to Phillip's "death" a few years back.
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Posts: 9728 | Location: Television Land | Registered: April 02, 2003
I think Justin Deas is one of daytime's best actors, which is why I found it so surprising that he overacted so many of his scenes in this storyline. I winced at much of his screaming and wild gesticulations. Took me right out of his scenes. I think Tom Pelphrey Syndrome must have spread to the entire cast.
"A movie is not good because it arrives at conclusions you share, or bad because it does not. A movie is not about what it is about. It is about how it is about it: about the way it considers its subject matter, and about how its real subject may be quite different from the one it seems to provide." - Roger Ebert, from the introduction to "Awake in the Dark" (2006)
Deas has been a bit sporadic for me. He has turned in some great scenes but sprinkled throughout have been the weird over the top scenes. I think overall its the best work hes done since the non wedding to Olivia but its no where close to his career best. His scenes with Raines today (Tues) were spot on. Mandy Bruno has done some nice work in this s/l and thats hard for me to say because I'm not a fan at all. Rylan and Chamberlain have stolen this s/l as far as I'm concerned. Both have been flawless throughout.
GL hasnt lost the momentum it gained last week which is good. I am enjoying it very much right now even with the imperfections. Its nice to see glimpses of the real GL in there, something fans havent seen for a long time.
Originally posted by 742: I think Justin Deas is one of daytime's best actors, which is why I found it so surprising that he overacted so many of his scenes in this storyline. I winced at much of his screaming and wild gesticulations. Took me right out of his scenes. I think Tom Pelphrey Syndrome must have spread to the entire cast.
I disagree with the overacting aspect and sporadic, as jbrr1212 stated. Have you ever seen someone when they are upset and angry and sad? Someone who has a lot of mixed emotions going on? We, as humans, get how we get when emotions set in. For the most part, when we are feeling the emotions his character was feeling, we aren't thinking about how we look so much or how animated or nonanimated we are. We are too busy feeling. Good grief, Justin had what looked like snot coming out of his nose. He was really feeling or it was the weather...or both. I don't think he overacted or was sporadic at all. Surely, if we were in a situation as he was in, would we deem it overacting? We act how we act when our emotions run amuk.
I think he just wrapped up the Emmy race with him holding Coop in his arms and singing "Downtown" to him as he died. The only question is will he go for Lead or Supporting actor. I agree that Justin Deas is the best working actor in Daytime. His work as Keith Timmons on Santa Barbara was so good, it's probably my all time favorite daytime performance/characters.
Originally posted by 742: I think Justin Deas is one of daytime's best actors, which is why I found it so surprising that he overacted so many of his scenes in this storyline. I winced at much of his screaming and wild gesticulations. Took me right out of his scenes. I think Tom Pelphrey Syndrome must have spread to the entire cast.
I disagree with the overacting aspect and sporadic, as jbrr1212 stated. Have you ever seen someone when they are upset and angry and sad? Someone who has a lot of mixed emotions going on? We, as humans, get how we get when emotions set in. For the most part, when we are feeling the emotions his character was feeling, we aren't thinking about how we look so much or how animated or nonanimated we are. We are too busy feeling. Good grief, Justin had what looked like snot coming out of his nose. He was really feeling or it was the weather...or both. I don't think he overacted or was sporadic at all. Surely, if we were in a situation as he was in, would we deem it overacting? We act how we act when our emotions run amuk.
I'm sorry, but I refuse to give an actor a pass for overacting because the "feelings" are so intense. The problem with overacting is that it doesn't look or feel like real emotion. It looks and feels like acting. Deas looks like he's acting very, very hard to try to manufacture the feeling, as if swinging his arms, convulsing, and screaming at the top of his lungs will convey his character's anguish, but the reason overacting doesn't work is that it always looks like Deas acting and not Buzz feeling.
I've seen people in states of extreme emotion -- grief included. They never look or sound the way Deas did in his worst scenes, because unlike Deas, they weren't acting.
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"A movie is not good because it arrives at conclusions you share, or bad because it does not. A movie is not about what it is about. It is about how it is about it: about the way it considers its subject matter, and about how its real subject may be quite different from the one it seems to provide." - Roger Ebert, from the introduction to "Awake in the Dark" (2006)
I also have seen people in terrible grief and extreme situations and I agree with 742 that in his worst scenes Deas was overacting. I can tell you having to make the decision to "pull the plug" on a loved one I never reacted that way at all nor has anyone else I've known. I stand by my "sporadic" assessment.
I will say JD was great yesterday (2/17) as he dialed it back a notch. The re-creation flashbacks were a nice touch. I especially loved his scenes with Jenna (I was always a fan). He still had one or two over the top bits but as a whole it was very good. Overacted or not I think if he submits he will get a nom and quite possibly a win.
Just a side note....did anyone else get a weird feeling when they used the flatline audio over the GL title at the beginning. If the irony wasnt so funny it would be sad.
Justin Deas was overall good in the 2/17 episode. I love the flashbacks and the quieter scenes he played and the ending was amazing. This is Lead Actor work right here and hopefully we'll be seeing Deas in this category next yr.
Posts: 5344 | Location: New York/California | Registered: September 30, 2006
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