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Writers @ soapcentral.com 
Right now, the networks have focus groups, groups of viewers that are asked how they feel about characters, couplings, and stories. The results of these "studies" often impact who and what you see on-screen. Who is in these focus groups? I have no idea. They are as mysterious to me as the Nielsen families that generated the ratings for everything on television. In this political season, I am sure that everyone has come to know that everyone has a poll, an opinion, and something to say. That doesn't make it right.
There's a delicate balance to maintain when developing story, especially now that ratings are at record low levels. Make that dangerously low levels. The writers seem afraid to shake things up too much, for fear that whatever fanbase is left watching the show will defect. You can't please all of the people all of the time, but sometimes the writers end up not pleasing any of the people.
A good example is the current "Nuke" love story on As the World Turns, which generated the most feedback of any storyline in my mailbox this week. As a quick aside, if you are going to use the power of the Internet to generate a mail-in fan campaign, please be sure that you post the right address for people to use. Nearly 75% of the mail sent about "Nuke" came from an invalid link that was given out on various Internet sites. Anyway, back to the column. If you don't watch ATWT, here's a quick briefing to let you know what I am talking about. Nuke is a combination of the names Luke and Noah. Yes, the characters are two men. With that explanation, you can probably imagine why some As the World Turns viewers are unhappy. Many fans who have written to me "do not want to see two men kissing" on television - daytime, primetime, or otherwise. The problem on the other side of the fence is that the couple seldom does more than hold hands in the darkest recesses of their homes. A full year ago, I wrote a commentary column about the very first kiss between Noah and Luke. It took the better part of the next twelve months before the couple had their second kiss. Meanwhile, two underage kids have been in and out of bed. Fans that had originally applauded the Nuke tale were now furious that the show was "caving to the conservative viewers who have threatened to boycott Procter & Gamble products." Procter & Gamble owns the production company that produces As the World Turns and Guiding Light.
Now fans opposed to a same-sex couple and fans who don't want to see the story are both tuning out. Sometimes you just can't win. But hey, I think I know someone that could write a much better storyline for half the price…
I am a 43 year old wife and mother of a three year old boy- I am a fan of AMC since I was 12... especially of Tad and Dixie. When the writers killed Dixie off, I stopped watching. I was very frustrated that the writers would allow this beloved character to have such an unfortunate ending. Fast forward a few years.... I was at a restaurant that had AMC on and OMG!! That looks like Dixie!! Could it be??!! I called my Mom to find out for sure.. and she said "YES!! Dixie is back....As a ghost" Huh???? Why couldn't the writers give The Fans what they REALLY wanted?? Dixie back in PV not as a ghost or an angel, but as the real deal? Michael E. Knight and Cady McClain are just pure magic together. They are both very talented, and what 30-40 something HASN'T had a crush on Michael E. Knight?? I LOVE his hair...the touch of grey makes him look even MORE handsome, I didn't know that was possible! Watching their scenes today brought some fond memories back and left me wanting more! PLEASE PLEASE AMC do the right thing and bring Dixie back - find a way for Tad to have the love of his life back for good!!
On Saturday we are going down to La Crosse, WI to go to Myrick Zoo. Myrick Zoo is one of the biggest things that La Crosse is known for. It has all kinds of exotic animals from around the world. Unfortunately, on November 15th the zoo is closing for good. They are taking all the exotic animals out and making the zoo a zoo with only native animals. Ummm, if the people in La Crosse wanna see native animals, they can just look out their windows! I know none of you are affected by this, but don't you think this is a STUPID idea??? Myrick was such a cool zoo. My mom grew up in La Crosse and the zoo was a big part of her childhood. I know she's devastated by this. What do you guys think?
Can you believe Christmas is just about 6 or 7 weeks away??? Holy crap! Seems like just yesterday we were preparing for last Christmas! There is a Minneapolis radio station, Kool 108, which plays music from the 60s, 70s, and 80s, but during the holidays, they play Christmas music, which I love. So they'll be starting that in a couple weeks. I hope their selection is good this year... last year it was repetitive. They played the same songs over and over again. Very annoying!
The day after Thanksgiving, we're going to La Crosse again to look at what's called the Rotery Lights. The Rotery Lights is a huge display of Christmas lights at Riverside Park (La Crosse is right on the Mississippi). Very beautiful! I remember my grandpa would take us to see those, which brings me to my next subject...my mom's family. My mom still has a lot of family down in La Crosse...my three uncles are there, several of my mom's cousins are there, several great-aunts and great-uncles of mine are there, and my grandma's there. My mom has a really nice family, but there's one problem...my grandmother. My family has always had issues with her and 6 years ago, after my beloved grandfather died of emphyzema, we stopped speaking to her completely. That woman has caused us so much pain and I could tell lots of stories...the final straw we had with her was after my grandpa died, she was upset because we didn't see her as often anymore (before he died, he was pretty much the only reason we ever visited them), my grandma called my aunt Sue, started crying, and then said terrible things about my mom. I don't know what exactly she said, but my mom won't say because the things Grandma said were so reprehensible that it makes my mom wanna cry even thinking about it. So the Christmas after that, my grandma sent my brother Grant and I a check...at least I assume that's what it was because on the envelope it said my grandparents' name (Mr. & Mrs. Ervin Crogan), but my grandma crossed out the "Mr." and the "Ervin" part. My mom got really furious, started to cry, and ripped up the envelope and threw it in the trash. WHY did Grandma cross out his name??? That was Grandpa, and we loved him, and to see his name crossed out was just awful! So then a few weeks later Grandma called wondering why she didn't get a thank you note from Grant and I, calling us the "rudest little boys in the world". My mom slammed the phone down and we never spoke to her again. So that's it...I don't hate my grandma and I don't wish her any bad luck. I just don't want her in my life anymore. But I really miss the other members of my family that either we just drifted away from or those that my grandma may have turned against us, but if there's one thing life teaches us is that certain situations in life can separate people, even close family members.
Amd I suppose you all have heard about the big writer's strike. Ain't that the pits? I wonder how long we're gonna be without the ladies of Wisteria Lane! 
This SL has got me so angry, and I have posted about it many times, and I stopped commenting on the message board as much for a few reasons, but I wanted to put my lengthy thoughts here.
This SL was written so poorly and has so many flaws and that is what is partly to blame for the uproar by many people like me. Fans have watched, and dare and I say even enjoyed, temporary SL's where Jeva were apart, in part because there was never too much damage and we could count on a reunion, so we could tolerate and even enjoy a Jeva break SL. But this time, it's disgustingly horrible what TIIC are doing. Even worse, IMO, is what I believe their real agenda is.
To start with, they didn't write the beginning of this break to make any sense at all. They continued to make big mistakes in direction and had many missed opportunities to write this is a more acceptable way. I believe they didn't care as much for the writing of the story as they did in making their point with their agenda, and that's why we are being subjected to such an atrocity.
I believe their agenda all along was to have a way to keep their favorite couple together for a longer period of time by writing it this way rather than taking the risk of writing a story with the necessary parts that could possibly work, knowing it probably wouldn't, and thus the SL would end quicker than they wanted it to. I believe they wanted their favorite couple, or more accurately, their favorite female actress (NF) in this SL, and writing it this horrible way that drags it out keeps them together longer, because they know if they really tried to sell fans the idea of this couple, they wouldn't last as long. they get a longer run out of them by doing it this way. They must know it can't work out for thius couple long term, so they found a way to make them as long term as possible.
But even worse, I beleive by them dragging this out, and by how they have written this, I think it was inteneded to put the screws to Kim Zimmer for her decision to re-sign a contract after saying she was considering not signing. I think they wanted her gone (I could speculate a few reasons but I won't, but think about salary and influence, but could have been some personality issues at play, who knows). I think they started to write a SL that didn't include her, and when she signed a new contract, they in effect said "ok, you're staying, but this is what we're going to do to the character.", and proceeded to write her and Josh apart, gave her less air time, and made her look bad when she was on. I think this is backlash for Kim.
Before I begin my rant, let me say that all of this is how the writers wrote it, and I understand that - that's actually my point. I think if they really wanted to sell us the idea of Jeva being apart, they possibly could have done it, if they would have written this SL carefully. That's why I think in the end, they won't keep J&C together - I don't think that was their intention, mostly because they know it won't go over at all with the tons of Jeva fans. It's just that "the end" of this crappy SL will drag out, in part as a way to keep them together in the longest way they could, and in part as backlash to Kim, IMO.
To start with, the idea that "Reva pushed Josh and cassie together". This phrase is one of the ways that makes Reva look bad. And the fact that recently they have had her say this at an increasing rate makes my blood boil. But Kim is such a wonderful poerson, actress, and professional that she says it because, IMO, she has to, and I think her fans understand that. (More on Kim in another blog - I adore her!!!)
Reva asking her sister to help out a while and expecting her husband to trust her and for him to work with her sister a little more than usual is NOT the same thing as pushing them together. If Josh and Cassie did what they did under such a minor change in working conditions, they were wrong! Reva only wanted this after they were already together AND she thought she was dying. Once she miraculously lived, that should have voided the deal. The deal was conditional, and Reva didn't die! The deal should have been off, and Josh and Cassie should have acted in right ways at that point.
Mostly, it was Cassie: yes, at first she resisted half-heartedly, IMO. She had no right to continue to put herself in a close position if she felt the way she did, and by her not keeping a distance and her feeling how she did, that makes her the one who initiated things. She was even more wrong to tell what her feelings were to Josh. Josh, at that time, was angry and confused but I think mostly hurt and felt rejected, even though Reva was sending him messages saying she loves him and she would be back soon. I think Cassie knew that Josh felt rejected and took advantage of that. No decent sister does that. She became very unlikable to me at that point.
I blame Josh for being weak while in a vulnerable state of mind, but with the history of his life with Reva, that’s an understandable mistake I can forgive. I can categorize that as one of the ups and downs they have had in their marriage. What was happening was between Reva and Josh inside of their marriage and it was their issue to deal with, and Cassie’s role was to either support them and help them or stay away.
Cassie’s history, on the other hand, didn’t give us any good reason why we could think her betraying her sister would ok with us. And it’s not ok with many of us. (yes, Reva and cassie have had their moments that were not so good, but we never saw any of those as being an ongoing issue that bothered cassie or affected their relationship, so those past issues cannot be suddenly used now to justify cassie’s actions.)
And the fact that since then, Cassie doesn’t seem to even have an ounce of remorse of what she did to her sister, not even in hindsight, she can’t even see why this should be a problem. For her, it’s “I win, you lose, haha” and she seems to be ok with doing that to her sister, for no good reason to justify why she might betray her, and after knowing what was really going on with Reva, why she was absent, it didn’t matter to her. She continued because she now loved Josh? Love means making the tough choices but doing the right thing. Too bad that she allowed herself to love him when she shouldn’t have done that in the first place. So if it hurts her later, it was something she brought on herself from the beginning – the possibility that she could get hurt later. And later came, and it bit her in the backside, and she should take that hit, accept it, and leave as the consequences for her actions. It makes her an even bigger b*tch for not doing that. (TIIC wrote Cassie this way and expect us to like her, and to accept her with Josh?)
Reva did make some tough choices out of love. When she saw J&C together, she made a tough choice to encourage them to be together so that they would have each other to help them get through their loss after she died. Because she loved Josh, she wanted to be sure he would be with a good woman like Cassie (although for life of me I don’t think she could say cassie was a good woman after what she did), rather than someone like Olivia. Reva, even though she still loved Josh, made that tough choice to let him go. It was hard for her to love Josh and see him with her sister as she thought she was dying! But even under those conditions, she acted out love for him and told him it would be ok with her that he and cassie were together. She acted out of love for her sister, and her mother's request to take care of Cassie. That’s how love acts – it acts in the best interest of others, not self. If cassie loved Josh, and if she loved Reva, she would have done the same thing - she would have let Josh go and see what happens next. But they already wrote Cassie to insert herself where she shouldn't, so of course she won't act the right way now. (BTW, they complewtely change Cassie's character; she was never portrayed like this before, but they changed her character's character. One of many history re-writes).
When Josh found out about Reva's cancer, they should have written him struggling with what to do next. They didn't - they had him stand firm in his love for cassie, even before Reva told them she wanted them to be together because she was dying. There should have been at least a time period of Josh struggling with this issue, torn between his love for Reva and how he currently felt about cassie. When they didn't write him to struggle with this, it was the same as trying to make fans believe that Josh never loved Reva at all, and certainly not a few weeks before this, before she left and they tore up divorce papers. because if he really loved Reva (and we know he did), then he would have struggled over what to do. This was a slap in the face to Jeva fans, to make Josh appear as cold to Reva as he did. It is also one of the ways I think they treated Kim badly, by re-writing the fact that Josh never loved her to be able to act in this way now. He should have taken time to process all of what happened, and we should have seen an internal struggle with Josh. We should have seen Josh and Reva in private discussions about what was happening, seeing them as a couple address this issue in their marriage. And if TIIC wanted us to really believe Jeva would be never be together, they would have written this - this happened in October, 2006. They didn't write it this way, IMO, because it would be writing an ending to Jeva and they would feel the immediate wrath from fans at that time. By writing it the way they did, they got more milage out of their favorite couple and had more opportunity to give KIM more backlash. I think this is a terribel way to treat fans as well.
If TIIC were going to write a real story, they would have had Josh discover that what he felt for Cassie wasn’t really love, because now that Reva was back and he knew the truth, he knows what love is, and that what he felt for Cassie was something else – caring, and that he translated it to something more when he felt rejected. This is what they would have written if they were true to the characters and the backstory up to this point. However, if they wanted to sell us the idea that Josh didn't want reva and now wanted cassie, we still should have seen him struggle and come to that conclusion. If they would have shown him dealing with this, and he and Reva discussing this more, and if he chose cassie after that, it might have been perceived differently. I think they didn't do this because at that point, fans would have known it was a done deal and would have written letters and stopped watching at that point (late fall, 2006), and I think TIIC know this, and that is why they have strung us along for so long – they know if they wrote a SL with it’s conclusion like this, fans would have gone a long time ago. The only way to keep J&C together for a long period of time was write conflict around them. Otherwise, fans would have reacted in stronger ways sooner and things would have changed by now – they would have had to. They drug it out for a long time to keep their favorite couple together longer than if they would written this another way. In doing this, it also lets them puts the screws to Kim Z. for a longer time for decision to stay after she said she may not re-sign and they wrote a show without her.
And all the while, TIIC keep trying things to make us like her and accept J&C, despite how THEY set up this SL in a way where that can’t happen. When they do this, it's highly insulting to fans.
One final thought for now (it's a bhit briefer, but I may start a new entry with this later.)
This is one huge reason I am insulted by the phrase "Reva pushed them together."
What do you think would have happened if Reva never encouraged them to be together after she died? If she never felt that way, if she wasn't thinking about trying to help them cope with the loss, if she wasn't as generous in that way? What if Josh and cassie discovered her near to death and they knew everything about what happened, and they knew reva never stopped loving Josh, and she never encouraged them to be together? What do you think Josh and Cassie would have done then? By the way they were written, I think they would have done exactly what they are doing now - staying together. Cassie's first reaction was fear that now "this changes everything" and she would lose Josh. But Josh was saying no, it didn't chasnge anything, and they spent that very night together despite everything that became known to them. I think they would have chosen to stay together whether they had Reva's stamp of approval or not, because of how they have behaved before then, and since then. Reva's words didn't change a thing, so I don't anything would have changed. In that case, they need to stop saying Reva pushed them together! This was their choice. They wouldn't be together if they didn't want to, and Reva's approval wouldn't change that. They are only together because that's what they want, noit because of Reva's idea. But this makes Reva look like a bad person, as if she gave him up (which she did not) and now wants him back. The fact is her selfless act of love was conditional on her dying. What her words really said was "I want to be here to love you, Joshua, but I'm dying, but I want you to be happy and I promised mama I'd look after cassie, and if I can't love you, I want you to be ok and to be loved so if it can't be me, let it be cassie.", which also means, "but this is only if I die. If I live, of course I want to be with you. I told you that when I tore up divorce papers, and I sent messages that I love you and that I would be coming back to you soon."
Why is it that the true meaning of Reva's message got lost? To try to justify why J&C are together, to try to say it's not J&C's fault, it's Reva's. To make Reva look like the bad guy, and to keep their couple together longer. To hurt Kim Z. For their agenda.
In the process of this crap going on longer, TIIC are risking a lot. I love the GL that I knew for more than 30 yrs, so I hope TIIC make changes before it's too late. Before too long, people will not suppot this, and I want to see GL stay on the air. At the rate they are going, they will kill the show, and I don't want that.
PS: Feel free to use my thoughts on the message board, but have the coutrtesy to give credit where credit is due. If something you read here prompts you to post something on the board, credit the author. While you may have had the same thoughts, if something you read inspires you, courtesy says you should give the credit to the author. Thank you.