Let me first take the opportunity to congratulate AMC for taking the shots outdoors while not making us all seasick! All it took was a tripod, imagine that!

So let me get this straight. Ryan gets his memory back and now he’s in love with Greenlee. Just a couple of months ago he was in desperate love with Kendall because he remembered that…then his memory comes back and he’s desperately in love with Greenlee. Oh and he doesn’t feel he’s ever loved Annie. Um it was Ryan who pursued Annie not the other way around. And it was Ryan who proposed to Annie and had sex in the barn that his brother killed Edmund in and burned down. But he never loved Annie…please! Now Kendall who has tried to make up for sleeping with Aidan finds the need to jump into the Ryan/Annie/Greenlee business. All this is necessary of course for s/l movement but seriously there are other ways that would have better moved the s/l than having Kendall pleading with Ryan to tell Greenlee the truth.

I get it poor Melissa Claire Egan is probably on her way out. The character was written from one corner to another and now is lost in this Richie mess not to mention being mired in the Ryan amnesia fiasco. It’s too bad because I’ve liked MCE. She’s a talented actress who was given less than nothing to work with. If she had been a bit more seasoned (like Cady McClain) I feel she would have been able to work with the garbage being written for her but being a novice in the medium brought us a dull version of the character. I really feel too that MCE was bringing Annie some spark. Remember when we all were like…hey “Annie got a spine, cool.” It was almost like someone told her to change the character back to a mousy girl. Too Bad though because I actually like the character/Actress.

Today’s Ryan and Tad at the pool scenes were boring and kind of lame. It was almost like a replacement for the music montage they used to run every other episode.

Here Endth My Rant!

A show of hands who saw the Greenlee being saved by Ryan promo only for him to get his memory back. First I want to say that I thought Kendall was all he remembered…so now it’s Greenlee and will it be Annie again? Second thing I want to say is didn’t Maria go from amnesiac Maureen Gorman to Dr. Maria Santos Grey from her water trauma with Maddie? Are you sure McT isn’t still writing this show?

Greenlee seems to be the sun and them men of Pine Valley just gravitate toward her. Is this because at first Rebecca and Aiden had no chemistry? But now they have some chemistry…go figure! Is it that Rebecca just can’t jump into an on screen romance with just anyone it has to be someone she knows?

Anyway…Ryan and Greenlee had their chance as far as I’m concerned. What this really is, is the lack of direction for the characters of Ryan and Greenlee. Greenlee mostly because she was billed as the second coming of Christ. What you don’t remember the endless “The REAL Greenlee is back”?! Ryan’s character is on s/l burn out. Kendall and Zach have managed to skirt this issue because 1) they have amazing chemistry 2) Zach (Thorsten’s portrayal) understands the whys of Kendall and her insanities 3) They have a pool of people to bring them storylines.

Now let us examine Ryan and Greenlee. Ryan’s family is almost all but gone. Other than Emma and Spike everyone is dead. So you say, well the same thing goes for Zach? True but the difference is during Ryan’s self righteous phase all the bridges were burned. And the people he was most connected to (The Grey/Marick’s) are dead or gone. Zach is tied to the Kane’s and his “adoptive” mother Myrtle. His niece Miranda is related to him by his brother and his wife. His children with Kendall link him to not only the Kane’s but the Martin’s (Josh). I say Zach’s children because he’s way better at it than Ryan who is written to be absorbed with himself instead of those around him.

Part of this is acting style. Cam’s acting style is over the top a bit. Thorsten’s style is to make Zach the brooding loner type. It works for the character. I’m not trying to dump on Cam but he needs to take Ryan’s reactions down a notch because sometimes in the scene a sublte reaction is better than an over the top one.  Aiden’s depiction of, well, Aidan is also quiet and steadfast.  I will never forget his crying over Greenlee who had flat lined.  Aiden Turner should so get an Emmy Nomination next year!

So in short I’m looking for Greenlee and Aidan to hook back up now that they have some chemistry and Ryan…well he needs a whole makeover. Maybe with the new character Taylor coming on board (Beth Elhers) something fresh might come out of it.

I’m bummed because I see so many positive changes on the show with the writing, story content not to mention the actors and basically the ratings are flat from years of abusing the viewers.  To bad because it’s really worth watching these days.

Here Endth My Rant!

Why I care that someone killed Richie Novak????

So TPTB have decided to give us a less than riveting murder mystery. I guess my problem is that Richie wasn’t given enough screen time for me to care who killed him. Billy Miller had the talent to make this character so evil we were routing for his downfall. Instead while the writers, old or new have been looking for a direction to take the show and the opportunity was missed. My money is on Annie as the killer. Sorry but there you have it. I would be severely shocked if the killer turned out to be anyone else. Well other than Dre (remember he hit something with Colby’s car). But I think that will just be the soap version of “I Know What You Did Last Summer”.

Annie’s character has been lost in the Ryan’s got amnesia but now I’m cured and in love with Greenlee again because that wasn’t done to death…much! Annie would have been better suited having had a storyline with her brother Richie. Plus Annie’s character has no ties in Pine Valley once her life is severed from the albatross that is Ryan Lavery. Sure there’s cute as a button Emma but it’s not enough to save this character from being sacrificed by the new Head Writer.

I really don’t feel that Richie was evil enough for the towns people to be so outraged they’d commit a crime. I’ve used Michael Cambias in a previous post about a true evil character. Once Michael was outed as a bad guy the character was developed to go down a really dark path leaving a wake of destruction. And his reasons for being this evil rapist made sense. He could never live up to his father’s love of Alex, Jr. He was never quite good enough. Over his lifetime after Alex “died” his father’s disappointment made him into the lunatic and evil do-er we saw on screen. It’s a simple back story that could be added to whenever needed. Unlike that fiasco last year of Alexander Cambias’ rising from the dead to kill the women of Fusion. That was just plain stupid!!!! There aren’t enough words to explain just how stupid the whole plot was.

In the end Richie was a shell of his once scary self. Zach beat him with a baseball and JR scared him with a hypodermic needle. So he kidnapped Babe…just as he became menacing the amazing Kenlee duo swooped in to save the girl and thus ended any ability for me to be emotionally invested in this character being brought to some kind of justice.

It’s like getting a gift all wrapped up and when the person hands it to you they tell you what’s inside.  What was the point of the wrapping.  Yes…I’m all about analogies.

Anyway….Here Endth My Rant!

One of the town folks hasn’t bought BJ’s and is running it?  It makes the most sense to use a set like this because of the mileage they can milk out of it without having the expense of using so many different sets.

Say it’s across the street from the hospital or down the block from Fusion/Confusion.  It’s a family place but there’s a bar.  I get the Comeback and what it represents (these people are hung up on “New Beginnings”) but it’s a bar.  I do not feel comfortable watching Tad hanging out with his baby at the bar.  Nothing says criminal or moral infraction than seeing Jenny’s baby seat sitting on the bar while bar patrons oogle her.  There wouldn’t be any of this with BJ’s.

Why can’t someone like Opal own it?  Or how about Myrtle?  Zach could by it for her.  Carmen could be the hostess for Myrtle as a favor for Erica.  Think about it?

Here Endth My Rant!

When last we left our super heroines Kenlee they were using all 1-1/2 % of the single brain they share in an effort to help the blonde bimbo Babe Carey! Think, think, think…I’ve got it, says Kendall…see this picture it was taken when Richie was uber happy with Babe. Um…Babe hated Richie as Richie but liked him as Wes but still she’s got photos lying about from a one day in the life of series…sure okay…it totally makes sense!

Our super heroines have decided to stop being victims by putting themselves in the position to be, well, victims. They rush to the cabin in the woods in pursuit of our sociopath! Good for you girls. Wait to be imbecilic morons!! Kudos to you dos! It too comical to be taken as serious drama. Zach, Aidan and JR are going to use…well Zach’s brain to find Richie. Of course this is the point in our drama that everyone utters those words…”I wish I had killed Richie when I had the chance” or “When I find him I’m going to end this once and for all!”. Tough words but words that will stoke a ridiculous murder mystery for sure.

I do not read spoilers anymore but my guess is this is heading to the demise of Richie Novak with of course the obligatory list of suspects. If this happens my money is on Annie. The character is trapped in limbo with this ridiculous story of getting pregnant with Ryan’s child…even though she has Ryan’s child…Hello Emma???? Where is that kid?

Unless Richie rapes Babe I do not see one reason he “deserves” to be murdered. Zach and Greenlee survived. If they had been killed maybe I’d feel differently. So he stole JR’s bone marrow…no one died. And seriously, I give unemployed Richie credit for craftiness. How in the heck does one pull off such an advanced procedure with no money? Still nothing that warrants the rampage of the town folks (well other than Zach). Michael Cambias raped Bianca who was considered the innocence of the town and the folks all rallied to the cause. It was an evil action that caused a reaction. Richie just doesn’t ignited the least bit of interest, let alone interest in who would do him harm…you know if that’s the case. I’m just guessing.

Here Endth My Rant!

This has been the continual mantra of Greenlee Smythe. She’s more Erica than any of Erica’s daughters. Greenlee feels betrayed by Aidan so her first reaction is to Kiss Zach for revenge. Once Zach explained he still loved Kendall despite her betrayal she moved on to Ryan. She’s been leading Aidan around by the nose and now she’s invited her ex-lover Jake Martin to live with her.

This is truly in the vein of the character but my frustration comes from the fact that the characters on AMC never seem to grow up or evolve. Well with the exception of Kendall, well sort of. Greenlee did this same maneuver back in 2001 when Leo and she broke up and then he married Laura (whom he thought was about to die). When Leo admitted to himself that he didn’t love Laura, he got a divorce and headed back to Greenleeville. Greenlee had hooked on to Jake on several occasions but never giving up her love for Leo. Thus Jake was always the second fiddle to Greenlee’s true hearts desire.

When does Greenlee get to be in control of her life. Kendall’s semi there. They had the character repeat her track record with sleeping with Aidan (which made no sense with Kendall’s deep love for Zach). But regardless Kendall was devoted to saving her marriage and her friendship with Greenlee.

Erica is another person who hasn’t really evolved. Just for fun I’d like to hear Spike blurt out “Hi Nana”! Yeah that will never happen. If I were writing Erica’s involvement with her grandkids I’d have them call her Erica. It’s not that strange. My cousin’s grandkids call him Bob instead of Grandpa. It’s Grandmom and Bob. It works on many levels.

I wrote in my Emmy post that I didn’t think it was fair that Tony Geary wins all the time and now I’ll tell you why.

Tony is off the canvas for 26 weeks a year. That means that unlike the rest of the cast the storyline is written exclusively tailored to Luke’s exits and entrances. Translation he gets the best writing and doesn’t get mired in crappy writing/storylines. See how this isn’t fair. At least this is how I see it from my recliner.

Here Endth My Rant!

Well what can I say but wow was that one of the worst Emmys I’ve ever seen. The one shining moment was Sherri Sheperd. That girl is so funny and she put some life in that dull show.

I was happy to see that OLTL was at least acknowledged for their Writing but they should have won best show. Please…GH winning, are you kidding me. So let me get this straight for next years Emmys…if it blows up, gets shot or is other wise violent that show will get the Emmy. Not to mention that GH pretty much is just a daytime version of the Sopranos anymore. Boo Hiss on the Academy!

The tables set up this year was a clossal mistake! It took Regis a map to find the stage when he was awarded a life time achievement award. Not to mention people were otherwise occupied so the applause and the audience were completely subdued. The only plus for me is the behind the scenes coverage from the mini video cameras that were placed on each table. That was a good idea for the fans.

Even the “Red Carpet” part of the night shown on Soapnet was solidly lacking something. Oh yeah…I know what it was Laura Wright and Linda Dano!!! No offense to RPG, Rebecca Budig or Finola Hughes but Linda knows how to get the most info in the least amount of time. Just as the interviewee had something to say it was back to you…which became annoying after awhile. I guess not every Emmys can be outstanding but back in 2006 it was right on the mark with clips of the nominees. I thought it was well done. In other years their have been interviews and more time with the stars. They also use to do fun little video segments to keep things interesting, like “Dancing on the Soaps” or Sexy Men. I get also this year they decided to trim the show to 2 hours but it seemed like they took out the fun stuff for the “Business at hand”. The fact that the nominees where all over the place and that in the end Tony Geary took home his 6th Emmy and Jennifer Landon her 3rd I just felt like the Emmys were boring. Well at least I got the laundry done while I watched.

I’m going to post more about the Tony Geary, aka Luke Spencer (GH) later. The post will be about how it is unfair that he put his name in every year and why I feel that way!

In 1988, David Canary gave one of the most moving and best speeches in the history of the Daytime Emmys. I loved Gene Francis (Laura Spencer, GH) and Maura West’s (Carly Snyder, ATWT) speeches in 2007 and Cady McClain (Dixie Cooney, AMC) in 1991. Another moving speech was Ellen Wheeler (Now EP at GL) from 1988, she and David were playing the Cindy/AIDS Storyline. It was an incredible time in Daytime and these two so deserved the Emmys. In 1991 Rick Hearst (GL, Alan-Michael Spaulding) was a hoot with his Emmy Speech (The Promos on CBS tag line was “Who got the gold…Who Got The Gold.”) and Susan Haskell’s (Marty Saybrooke, OLTL) 1994 speech was cool, collected and elegant.

One of my most favorite clips from any Daytime Emmy Show was 2006 and the tribute to Broadway. It was entertaining and gave us a glimpse of just how talented the actors on Daytime are by showing what some of them do on the side besides the soaps. We rarely get to see the stars like this unless you go to Super Soap Weekend in Disney World.

Here Endth My Rant!

Greenlee and Jack are talking about Greenlee forgiving Kendall.  Wow this character has a selective memory! “I forgave Kendall when she had Ryan’s Baby…blah, blah, blah”.  Hey Greenlee…remember when Kendall forgave you for condemning her to death row?  Hey Greenlee…remember when Kendall save your drugged up psychotic butt when you were swinging like a butterfly from the Fusion Rooftop.  Hey Greenlee remember when Kendall got pregnant for you?  Hey Greenlee remember when Kendall forgave you for stealing her child and having a car accident that left her child needing surgery and caused her to go into premature labor…yeah remember that? Hey Greenlee…your a selfish icky-poo poo who like to see things in a certain way.

Frankie…oh sorry….Franklin you are like 30 years old and a doctor…how about you move out of Mom and Dad’s house.  And Jesse…when did you become so whipped? I think I missed something…did Jesse explain when he had time while on the run to complete not only high school but college?

Annie’s time in Pine Valley is looking less and less with the newer crazier version of Ms. Annie Lavery.  And I’m not so sure I get the obsession over having Ryan’s baby.  Uh…doesn’t she like already have a child by Ryan?  I’m just chalking it all up to the whole Ryan’s Amnesia story sucks or RASS.  And we have been having tons of Rylee togetherness moments.  No More Rylee…the moment has past lets leave it there!

Jake and Ryan being friends is freaking me out!!!

Here Endth My Rant!

Wow are they wrapping up all of these dangling s/l’s or what?  I’m glad of it though.  But what I’m not seeing a lot of is the building of the new.  We have the characters on the scene but not much going on with them.  Like this Rhandi character…Why am I supposed to care she’s abuse (okay other than the fact abuse is bad).  Maybe I’m not explaining my thoughts to well here.

Do you all remember when we first saw Noah Keefer?  He was looting and Julia needed help and although he was a “bad guy” he stopped to help this strange uptown girl.  He lied to those looking for her because she asked him too and all the while he was this burly man with a quick temper.  He reminded Julia over and over how he could just be rid of her if he wanted but we could see him for who he was.  Keith Hamilton Cobb is an extraordinary actor and he pulled off this character perfectly from the first minute he was on screen. Now fast forward to today and I get none of that from newbie Rhandi.

I want to see Amanda and Josh not a slew of newbie’s who have to have their s/l’s built up over the next six months.  And with all of this wrapping up what’s happening in PV?  Nothing really.  Angie and Jesse are fighting about him becoming Police Chief.  That woman needs a xanax badly!  And the only other piece of “new” s/l is Erica trying to get Carmen sprung from jail.  Since Erica’s time at the big house is almost over I’m glad that Carmen will be coming back to PV with her.  That woman is a hoot!  I’d like to see her hook up with Jackson Montyummy.  I’m wondering if Rhandi and Carmen are related?  If they aren’t going to have this a part of a s/l TPTB might want to consider it.

A show of hands of those of you who are  tired Greenlee stomping her feet because she’s betrayed?  Yeah me too :)  Here is another character that is completely adrift right now.  I’m wondering if RB only signed a 1 year contract?  Who knows but I do know that Greenlee needs something fresh now.  Now that they’ve detonated Gaiden and all.  And you all know how I feel about Rylee Version 6.0.  I’m dead set against Greenlee and Josh because I want Josh and Amanda together.  So where does that leave Greenlee?  Personally I like Greenlee and Frankie together.  They have a past when he was dating Simone.  They have a past when they were sick together.  The only thing I’ve liked about Greens s/l lately is the friendship between Greenlee/Zach.  I will say that if they have these two hook up I’d be upset.  I like their dynamic as is.  Kendall’s insecurties have always plagued her relationships and Greenlee and Zach’s closeness is a wonderful catalyst for Zendall hardships.  As long as Greenlee and Zach stay best buds I’m on board.

Last on my list to Rant about is this new Colby…sorry folks I’m just not on board (not that she’s had a s/l).  I miss Ambyr and as far as I’m concerned the character of Colby is right back where she started from when she first reappeared in 2006…annoying!

Here Endth My Rant!