What We're Watching

Will all the TV shows, mini-series, and movies available, we are watching Dark Shadows. It's funny to admit that. I started a Dark Shadows rewatch about two-and-a-half years ago, watching in spurts. When we got to the Leviathan storyline, Jeff started to watch every episode with me. 

We didn't particularly like the Leviathan story, but were determined to get through it because the Parallel Time storyline was coming up. Years ago, Jeff and I watched a few episodes of Parallel Time, but the show suddenly stopped. Apparently, the provider didn't have rights to the following seasons. 

Recently, we've watched Parallel Time 1970 and The Destruction of Collinwood 1995. We're almost through 1840. After this, there's only one more storyline: Parallel Time 1841.

At this point, I guess we're just want to finish the series. I've been watching along with this website.by Danny Horn. Danny does a commentary on each episode beginning with Episode 210, when Barnabas Collins first appears. He lists the blunders of each episode, facts about the actors, and inspirations behind the storylines. Occasionally, he'll discuss other pop culture topics such as Dark Shadows films and comic books, Dr. Who, and comic books. 

More on Dark Shadows

In the month since I discovered the early episodes of Dark Shadows on Prime, I've watched the Laura Collins Phoenix storyline. I skipped some episodes, but realized I missed Sam's hands catching on fire. After that, I went back and pretty much watched each episode. 

I had only watched the end of this storyline back in 1966. It was not subtle; Laura told the Phoenix rising from the ashes story in her first or second scene with Maggie at the Collinsport Hotel. But it was definitely cool to see how she could just stare into the fire to vanquish her foes. 

I mentioned to Jeff that you could see why I was so into this show as an 11-year-old. Hey, I'm still into it.

Yes, there is a lot of repetition--it was 1960's soap opera pacing, after all. Yes, there are inconsistencies. If the whole Laura Murdock deaths by fire took place every hundred years on a specific date, why did Laura also die in a fire in Phoenix? And just when did the bodies disappear anyway? The Phoenix death didn't quite line up with the Collinsport deaths. 

I liked that after the finale, there are two episodes to sum things up. But in that second episode, Jason McGuire makes his first appearance. Jason will blackmail Elizabeth Collins Stoddard and make her life hell for about four months.

The appearance of Jason means Barnabas is not too far behind.  

Revisiting Dark Shadows

As I've written before, I was a big fan of Dark Shadows and proud to be an early adopter (watching pre-Barnabas.)  The Barnabas vampire story made the show a hit. When videos and DVDs became available, it was hard to find the earliest episodes. I remember a video that condensed some storylines to a few narrated scenes and stills.

Recently Jeff and I were exploring some of the new TV channels we got when we upgraded our cellphones. Jeff found a Dark Shadows channel on Pluto, and we watched the episode when Victoria Winters is found guilty of witchcraft in 1795. (We couldn't select what episodes to watch. )

Yesterday, I couldn't find the Dark Shadows channel on Pluto, so I searched for Dark Shadows and found a listing of Dark Shadows episodes and films through Prime and Tubi. We watched the storyline about Vicki being held prisoner by Matthew Morgan (associated with the Burke Devlin revenge and the murder of Bill Malloy--right hand man at Collins Cannery--storylines.) That leads into the Laura Collins Phoenix storyline. When I started watching Dark Shadows in the 60s, it was at the tail end of this story. For the record, we skipped some episodes. 

Wikipedia helpfully lists the major storylines and the episodes covering each story. That will help me watch future episodes.

Unlikable Protagonists

I've seen some stories--more leaks and gossip items than stories actually--about the new Sex and the City reboot.

Jeff and I watched all six seasons of the show (first on Netflix, later seasons on HBO) and both movies. At some point I realized that I didn't like any of the four main characters. Carrie was self-centered, selfish, and obnoxious. Her friends? I liked Samantha the best; she would be fun to hang out with. Television Without Pity nailed it when it named them, Slutty, Prissy, and Bossy. Each was primarily a stereotype. Yet I kept watching. 

Maybe I got used to watching and enjoying unlikable characters by watching soap operas. You need characters such as Erica Kane and Palmer Cortlandt from All My Children, and Dorian Lord and Asa Buchanan from One Life to Live. They add spice and much of the action that drives the story. Actually I found all of these characters likable, at least at times. They were core characters who grew over the years. Truly evil characters such as Ray Gardner on All My Children and Mitch Lawrence on One Life to Live work in shorter story arcs. 

I have a similar reaction to some Reality TV personalities. I can enjoy watching their antics even though I couldn't stand most of these people in real life.

Unlikable protagonists are harder to overcome in dramas. Sometimes I get angry with Claire on Outlander and yell at the TV. But I still like Claire. That's not true about June from The Handmaid's Tale. I loved the first season, enjoyed the second. I'm not sure when I decided that I hate June. At the end of Season Three, she was carried off by the other handmaids after she was shot aiding the escape of many children to Canada. At first, I thought she was dead, and the angels were carrying her to heaven, and I was glad. I still watched Season Four, but find it harder to stomach her. 

The only show I stopped watching because I couldn't stand the protagonists is Lost. In this case, it was Kate and Jack. I'm not sure why this is the only show I abandoned, maybe because I had only seen a few episodes, and wasn't invested yet. From what I've heard, people were disappointed with the ending. Maybe it's good I didn't stick with it. 

As for Season Five of The Handmaid's Tale, I just have to wait and see. 

Another (Fictional) Music Memory

One of the things I like about shopping at Shop Rite is the music it plays--many songs of the sixties and seventies. Yesterday I heard "We've Gotta Get You a Woman" by Todd Rundgren. Okay, I hate the line, "they may be stupid but they sure are fun" but otherwise I like the song.

As I was walking out the door, I heard the beginning of "Boogie, Oogie, Oogie" and immediately thought of this scene from the soap One Life to Live. I forgot some of the bad dancing (Rex in the gold hat) but remembered Antonio and Jessica dancing while Nash glared--after all he was in love with Jess's alternate personality Tess. I woke up thinking about the scene.

It's bad enough to have a music memory about iconic fictional characters, it's another to have such strong memories of a random scene. My memory needs to rethink its priorities.

The Story of Soaps

This was a special on ABC the other night; I didn't hear about it until after it aired. Luckily, it was available on demand. Now I'm writing my first post in seven years about soap operas.

The show was pretty good. For me, the biggest takeaway was Genie Francis discussing how General Hospital finally addressed the horrible rape story of Luke and Laura. She said something like she didn't have to defend it anymore. Francis had once called it date rape, and I criticized her.

I enjoyed interview segments with Susan Lucci, Erika Slezak, and Bryan Cranston especially. I enjoyed hearing some of the historic social issues that soaps covered: antiwar protests, abortion, gay rights, eating disorders.

I didn't like the last half hour focusing on the decline of soaps. It had to be addressed: the number of soaps has dropped from 13 to 4. Many said the OJ Simpson trial was the death knell of soaps. Yes, his trial interrupted the daily shows, but so did the Watergate trial.

I guess OJ was sexier than Nixon. I thought Andy Cohen had too much screen time. The Real Housewives are not a good substitute for soaps. (Full disclosure: I've watch both.)

I wonder if soaps would be better if there were more of them that aired for less than one hour a day.

***

I want to gripe a bit.

What ruined All My Children for me were the characters of Babe and Krystal Carey. They started as grifters but somehow became heroines. One character, the unaborted abortion Josh (yes, that is ridiculous) called Babe a walking miracle after they had sex in a kiddy pool.

Krystal (with a K) ended up married to the classy Adam Chandler and had a child with Tad (I don't remember the details, but she was married to Adam at the time) and the show made her a victim.

Fuck the Careys.

Back to unaborted Josh. Erica Kane had one of the first legal abortions on TV. I didn't watch then, but it was a historic moment. But the show decided she really didn't have an abortion. The doctor somehow rescued the fetus who came to Pine Valley.

Let's move on to One Life to Live. When All My Children went south for me, One Life to Live  became my new fave. But OLTL had its share of problems. I hated how Rex ended up as a Buchanan. (So many people ended up as Buchanans--it was ridiculous.) Rex started out as a fairly interesting, kind of shady, minor character.  Then there was Ford, another character the show attempted to rehabilitate from a sleazeball to a hero.

Writing this, I see a trend. It's not that I only like one-dimensional characters or that I don't like when characters grow and change. But the changes have to be earned. And the shows need some bad guys.

Retconning of stories, such as Josh, became a real problem on soaps, especially all the characters returning from the dead. Death had no meaning on soaps.

Why did I watch?

I've written about my feelings before.

Real life is strange, sometimes stranger than the soaps.

There's an immediacy about soaps. You never to have to wait for a new season.

There's a familiarity about soaps: if you spend five hours a week with people, you feel like you know them. Just in this post, I cursed out fictional characters.

Sometimes I think about tuning in General Hospital or The Young and the Restless. I watched both at one time. But I don't think it will be the same. I miss the golden age of soaps. 

One Life to Live Online: Season One

First, I want to say how nice it is to be able to see One Life to Live again.  I wrote about my first impressions here.

I'm still not used to watching shows on my laptop. It makes it harder to do other things while watching, especially on the laptop itself. The other problem I've had is the scheduling. First, it was four new shows each day (Monday through Thursday) with More Life to Live on Friday. More showed highlights, previews, cast interviews and  miscellaneous things such as fashion shows. Next, two new episodes appeared each Monday. There were occasional gaps in filming, and I would forget the schedule. I'd end up watching One Life marathons.

The show seemed slow to get started: setting up the new club setting Shelter, establishing new actors playing Matthew and Destiny and a new character Jeffrey. Natalie didn't do much, but according to TWoP, it was because of problems involving General Hospital actors on contract. (I say good riddance to John McBain; I always hated that character.) I missed Dorian, but apparently Robin Strasser was ill; she's back now.

As the first season ended, we learned more about the mysterious organization that targeted Todd, Victor and the rest of the Lords/Mannings. We saw a memorable gala with most of the characters attending in gowns and tuxes (old school soap event) with a shocking/embarrassing moment.

The final scene of Season One was a real cliffhanger. How long before the second season begins?

A Second Life: The Resurrection of One Life to Live

I wrote an earlier post about the end of One Life to Live. ABC dumped it and All My Children, but there was a plan to migrate both shows to the Internet after their broadcasts ended.

I don't know why the original plan failed (and don't care enough to research it.) But ultimately, both shows began their Internet runs on Monday.

Each week consists of four 30-minute programs (including commercials.) A fifth episode is is a beyond-the-scenes look at the show.

I've watched most of all five OLTL episodes. I'm not sure what to make of it yet. It has my favorite characters: Blair, Dorian and Natalie. It also has my second tier of favorite characters: David, Bo, Nora, Clint and Viki. The first episode focuses on the opening of a new club, Shelter that Blair owns, and Dani overdosing at the club. Dani (and her mother Tea) are among my least favorite characters. New actors portray Matthew (the previous actor was one of the best teen actors) and Destiny (a short, chubby girl is now tall and willowy.) It's a little disconcerting, but I'll keep watching.

As for All My Children, I only watched the first episode. It's set five years after the last broadcast episode, so there's a lot of exposition required to catch viewers up and account for the sorased children/teenagers. It was hard for me to figure out all the characters and their relationships: I had given up on AMC long before it ended. I may watch more episodes because one of my favorite characters, Dr. David Hayward, is featured (upon his release from prison.)

Now,  I'm more optimistic about OLTL's future.

Music Memory

Generally, smell is the sense most connected with memory.

But music, a part of the sense of hearing, triggers many memories.

The other day while riding to Ridgefield, I was listening to the True Oldies Channel on the radio when I heard the Herb Alpert song, "Rise." Immediately I was back to the summer of 1980 of General Hospital when Luke raped Laura.

The weird thing was that I wasn't even watching General Hospital at the time. But my roommate Pam was watching and we started watching each other's soaps.

Another weird thing was that my favorite character on GH was Luke, the rapist. Maybe because I didn't actually see the rape scene. Probably, it was because Anthony Geary as Luke was compelling.

We didn't realize at the time that we were witnessing the dawn of a cultural phenomenon that culminated in Luke and Laura's wedding in November 1981. Although many discussions of Luke and Laura focus on that event, it would have just been another soap wedding had it not been for the 1980 summer storyline. Love on the run: trying to decipher the little black book, uncovering the mystery of the left-handed boy, evading Hutch the hit man (who later grew a heart of gold), dancing in the fantasy department store sequence, posing as newlyweds Lloyd and Lucy, erecting their own version of the walls of Jericho each night.

Yes, the falling in love with your rapist storyline was grossly offensive. Yes, some of Luke and Laura's adventures were outlandish. But they were intensely watchable; Geary and Francis had chemistry.

That summer Pam and I were studying for the New York bar exam, staying on in our dorm room at NYU. I took the morning bar review course; Pam took the evening course. In between classes, we found it relaxing to spend our afternoons watching the ABC soaps: All My Children, One Life to Live,  General Hospital and The Edge of Night. The  stress of studying for the bar paled next to being on the run from the mob, amnesia and the like. We must have done something right because we both passed and I can remember that summer fondly. 

Tim Burton's Dark Shadows

IMDB has the first trailer: http://www.imdb.com/list/RDuccS_NvmY/#play-all

I'm not sure what to think--is it a comedy?

Dark Shadows was my first soap opera. While I thought Barnabas adjusted beautifully and unrealistically to the 20th century, that was a minor point. I fan wanked that Willie covered some things off screen.  I watched Dark Shadows to be scared--at least as scared as I could be with bad special effects in the late afternoon.

I hope Burton kept some some scares and thrills.

Requim for One Life to Live

The last show of One Life to Live was broadcast two months ago today. I don't miss it as much as I thought I would. But I miss what it was at its best.

Now that OLTL is gone, no daytime soaps are filmed in New York. For years, a group of actors balanced work in soaps, Broadway shows and other TV shows filmed in NYC (such as Law &  Order.) No more. That is a shame.

I've written about soaps before as a guilty pleasure.

To borrow a cliche, truth is stranger than fiction. I can think of many bizarre things that really happened to people I know that rival some soap stories. I think the problem with soaps is that these bizarre things happen to the same people. (Robert Woods joked about this in a Soapnet promo--he said something like things happen to the same 15 people while everyone in the background stands around eating pound cake.) Almost all of the main characters have had secret children. For example, Viki--the main character on OLTL--has given birth to not one, but two daughters she knew nothing about. One forgotten daughter was attributed to Viki's dissociative identity disorder (DID.) I didn't watch in the Viki's DID heyday, but apparently Erika Slezak was incredible. Unfortunately, when I watched later iterations of her alter Niki, they were over-the-top caricatures.

And that is another problem with daytime soaps. Most soaps run for one hour daily, five days a week with very few reruns. It's hard to fill up so much time, so writers repeat stories. That problem is exacerbated because of the soap industry habit of exchanging failed writers.

Imagine a writer who could avoid the temptation of another who's the daddy story. In the olden days before DNA testing, there would be some obscure genetic anomaly to prove fatherhood. If I remember correctly--the Bombay phenotype determined that Alan and not Rick was the father of Monica's baby on General Hospital. Today's DNA testing would seem to determine paternity, but somehow those damn DNA labs have no security; everyone and his brother can alter paternity results.

Other problems:

Hiring actors, especially young actors on their looks--ignoring acting ability. I have seen incredible acting on soaps and some actors can grow on the job, but at a bare minimum, don't drop limited actors in the middle of an intense story.

SORASing--Soap Opera Rapidly Aging Syndrome: Too many soap fans accept this as a necessity. Most soap children exist to be babies of uncertain parentage or victims of obscure diseases or kidnapping. I know there are employment issues with young actors. But SORASing makes the writers look lazy. It creates a problem when the children are too old to match with their parents. The most egregious example is Duke on OLTL.

Death--In recent years, death has lost all meaning on soaps because anybody could return from the dead. (In the final days of the other canceled ABC soap, All My Children, almost everyone did.)

Despite my litany of soap opera problems why did I watch?

Incredible acting--My OLTL favorite was Kassie DePaiva with Robin Strasser a close second; they were brilliant. Eddie Alderson started off slow but grew into the best teen actor on the show.

Familiarity--Spending five hours a week with these characters have made them a part of my life. Sometimes I spent more time with OLTL characters than my own family.

Time to tell a story--Five hours a week provided time to delve into stories. In most one hour TV shows, all kinds of traumas are resolved in approximately 42 minutes.

By listing that last strength of soaps, I think I found one of the major reasons for their downfall. Soaps had the time to tell long-term stories but chose to try the wham-bam-thank-you-ma'am style of storytelling.  Another OLTL example: Matthew's story of being crippled in a car accident and suing for emancipation when his parents would not consent to a risky surgery, could have led to a long term story of estrangement from his parents. Instead the drama potential was lost by having Matthew quickly forgive them when the surgery was successful.

In the ideal OLTL, Dorian would be back in town; Todd would be cleared of killing his brother Victor and would be back with Blair, raising Sam and straightening out Jack. Kyle and Oliver would return, married and raising Sierra with Roxy as main babysitter. Jessie would discover that her son Ryder was Brody's son and they would reunite. All the characters played by bad actors would have left town. We would never have a who's the daddy story or rape-is-love storyline again.

If only. Then soaps would be better.

Guilty Pleasures: Soap Operas

I've had a love/hate relationship with soaps for over 40 years.

Like many, I started watching the soaps that my mother watched. I remember coming home from school and going down to the basement to say hello. That's where my mother set up her sewing machine and a small black and white TV. I watched Days of Our Lives and General Hospital with her.

My mother. however, wasn't much of a soap fan. She watched soaps because they were the only option in those days--at least until late afternoon when talk shows with Merv Griffin and Mike Douglas aired. We'd laugh about the bizarre coincidences and outlandish plots of soaps.

But then I came back from a family vacation to learn that a friend had discovered that the man who had raised her was not her biological father. Her mother had altered her birth certificate by adding her stepfather's name. My friend only found the truth when her biological father came to claim her after her mother's death.

At that point, I figured that maybe soaps weren't that outlandish after all.