An Open Letter to Christopher Goutman
Let's get to the heart of it. The semi-episodic/three-day-two-day storytelling model has failed beyond question. Your rationale for taking the show in this direction seems sound on face value. According to what you (and others) have said, today's viewer is too busy and distracted by work, iPods, texting, Twittering, cable news and all manner of business to fully invest in five days per week of storytelling. So you implemented this semi-episodic model that more or less focuses on your A stories three days a week, your B stories about two days a week and everything is shoehorned where they can fit in. It might even save you some money here and there by limiting the number of characters and sets needed for any given show.
There are two massive problems with both your reasoning and the implementation of same. The first is that of the ever dwindling soap opera audience that is left, plenty of viewers still find time to invest in five day a week storytelling, as the ratings of at least four daytime dramas that regularly best As the World Turns unquestionably prove. The number one daytime drama, The Young and the Restless, even with it's own ratings challenges, has double or more the number of viewers of ATWT. I'm willing to take bets that it is not solely because everyone is taking their lunch at 12:30 Eastern time either.
More problematic, though, is the fact that your model for ATWT has had the opposite effect than you intended. Stories move at lightning speed; whole arcs are over within two weeks; and sometimes within a single 38 minute episode. Characters lose four-month-old unborn babies after having been pregnant on screen for six weeks; affairs end before they begin; characters hatch plots which are immediately discovered; feuds begin and end within the space of a commercial break. You know what the result of all this is Mr. Goutman? All those iPod listening, working away from home, Twittering, Facebooking soap masses tune in and discover little reason to invest in a choppy, thematically incohesive show which they cannot get a handle on from week to week, much less day to day. The upshot is that you still produce really good individual episodes and performances like today's May 22 show but as a whole the show just doesn't hang together.
Of course, the other albatross around your neck is your head writer Jean Passanante. She has the capacity to tell great stories, but hasn't been doing so for a very long time. I have publicly (on this blog's podcast) called for her firing, but that might have been somewhat unfair. Who knows what might be hampering her from telling the best stories possible? Could it be the limitations and restrictions of your format change? Could it be burnout? Or could it be she has no more stories to tell for this set of characters in this particular setting? She repeats many of the same beats, character-types and story dynamics over and over as the few stories she (and you, when you are not changing story direction on a dime) does focus on go around and around in circles until many of us get dizzy...and sometimes sick. One particular couple has not been christened "The Vortex of Suck" for nothing.
Additionally, I cannot forget about how certain members of your cast, as talented as they are, are played far too heavily all the time while so many others are absolutely wasting away on the sidelines. This is not the usual rant about not utilizing your insanely popular veteran cast members because promising new actors, characters and relationships with potential are inconsistently written or all but ignored, as well. While I am at it, may I ask whose idea it was to install a revolving door in the casting department? I suspect part of this state of affairs is due to your aforementioned format as well as a lack of vision for how to utilize the broad scope of your (mostly) talented cast without breaking the bank.
I assume that even if you do not listen to the fans, you've heard these issues and complaints before in some form or another. So what is the point of this open letter other than another exercise in stating what is seems obvious to many of us watching from day to day? The answer lies in the fact that it is specifically and respectfully addressed to you, Mr. Goutman.
I remember when I first saw you as an actor, as desperate thug Matt Sharkey on my favorite daytime drama of all time, The Edge of Night. You had a certain magnetism and energy onscreen that lent depth to what could have easily been a one-note, stereotypical role. As one of the few people who watched Texas when it originally aired, I was delighted to see you turn up as George St. John during the short run of that serial. When you moved to directing, a smile crossed my face through the years as I saw your name pop up in the credits of many of the soaps I watched. Though I missed most your short tenure on Another World — a show that was already on its last legs when you took over — you made an attempt to resuscitate that failing enterprise as best you could, despite a number of missteps along the way.
Then, Mr. Goutman, you came to As the World Turns and began reinvigorating the show's visual look, direction and style that truly brought Oakdale into the 21st century. Though Hogan Sheffer gets the lion's share of praise for making ATWT must-see during his time there, you deserve as much credit for producing a show that complemented Sheffer's writing with dynamism and vigor. You helped create a true post-Douglas Marland renaissance, which had eluded the show some 10+ years after Marland's death. There were a lot of stumbles, but not for lack of verve. There was a little more money to do all those things then, but it seemed to this viewer that there was also imagination at play on your part that preceded Mr. Sheffer's arrival and which surfaces every now and again when your show does its special holiday themed episodes. You, sir, had vision.
Lately, it seems your vision has been clouded. As the World Turns is beset by listlessness and narrative stagnation. The show looks and feels fragmented and its stories are more "islands" unto themselves than ever. Your actors are increasingly burdened with lifting the writing instead of the other way around. Most detrimental of all, I suspect that while you still have a certain level of passion for the show, you're going through the motions now.
It has been rumored that ATWT may not be renewed after its contract runs out past 2010. I hope this is not true. If the rumors are true, you only have a few months left to get your show's proverbial shit together; this insitution would deserve to go out with a bang, not a whimper. If these rumors are not true, then it is incumbent upon you to do all you can reverse this disastrous course that the show finds itself on as ratings continue to fall and the goodwill of its remaining fans are tested.
Mr. Goutman, I believe you have it in you to revive Oakdale as you did once before, to overcome as many budget deficiencies as is reasonably possible to return As the World Turns to being a true daytime serial as opposed to a weekly psuedo-telenovela. I cannot tell you how to make a good soap opera. I can only ask you to stop producing a bad one.
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Comments
1 July 2008
5 hours 12 min
J. Bernard,
What a heartfelt and beautifully constructed letter. We can only hope that it, in some way, reaches its intended targeted. As you stated, SOMEONE, with whom Mr. Goutman is familiar, reads Daytime Confidential and will, hopefully, forward it to him.
NOW is the time to save ATWT. NOT when the notice comes down from CBS.
8 February 2009
3 years 6 weeks
J Bernard, that was a spot on, eloquent, well thought out account on why ATWT is a ship sinking faster than the Titanic. If anyone has CG's e-mail address, please send this to him ASAP. He, himself, acts like an island no one can touch. He's going to do what his "gut" tells him, critics, fans, whomever be damned. This show is now unwatchable for me. This past week of Eliza's third kidnapping in less than six months, Dusty and Damian throwing themselves off a cliff to help Meg, the propping of Meg (even Nuke, yes Nuke is going to be propping her next week), Vienna losing the baby (thank you Jean "the baby killer" Passanante), and Carly boozing it up (only saved by the acting of MW), has done it for me. If they want to save this show with CG at the helm, he needs to do a complete turn around, and I mean ask himself what he thinks is working and then do the complete opposite. They need better writing, more overarching storylines involving more character interaction, use of the vets and people of color, character driven stories instead of villians of the week, and at least three month story arcs as opposed to four weeks or less. I cannot get invested in the storylines or characters when they're played out in less time than it takes to get a package in the mail. What happened to romance, too? Oh yeah, CG has been quoted as saying he doesn't believe in candles and romance and all that romance business. Ugh, this is a soap Chris--love in the afternoon? Forget about the Friday cliffhanger--it doesn't exist either in CG's contained episode theory of storytelling.
And for the love of God, stop the Paul and Meg hamster wheel. RH looks like he is sleep walking half the time, as is Grayson McCouch. Meg is the most loathed character on the show. For God sake, get her on the backburner if nothing else. Also, they need to stop with hem-hawing around with Nuke. They need to do a real love scene in a bed and a real, organic triangle and pimp the hell out of it. The first all male gay love triangle would certainly be something different for daytime. I'm afraid it may be too late for this show with CG and JP not going anywhere. Babs Bloom needs to run, not walk, and beg Sri Rao to save this show.
3 May 2009
3 years 41 weeks
excellent analysis
what always made atwt great was its focus on the multi-generational family
even in recent yrs,this set atwt apart
yet, lately it has not been so, rendering the show w/o emotional depth
its virtually inconceivable that in a family with the historical focus of the hughes, for example, that the
problems with casey hughes would not have generated more contacts with tom and margo and bob and kim and lisa and nancy ( outside the police station) with eg comparisons to problems bob,nancy and lisa had with a young tom,... nancy and lisa comforting margo,etc......emma talking with parker and liberty......better use has been made of the lucinda/lilly and holden/luke and noah families
soon we will not have access to these rich scenes as the performers age
lets not miss the boat
28 November 2008
3 weeks 14 hours
So very true. This is a letter that could also go to a couple other executive producers. I cannot imagine the amount of pressure these producers and writers get from the guys and gals in the suits, but I still expect a quality soap! I think the key is to get a head writer who has a clear vision for a show that embraces the history of the soap. Once you find a headwriter with this vision, the executive producer needs to dig his or her "heels" into the ground and fight to tell the stories the writer wants to tell! The actors of this genre love what they do, but can only do so much with so-so writing. "If you write it well, they (viewers) will come"
9 October 2007
3 weeks 1 min
I was thinking the exact same thing while I was watching Casey and Alison. Their relationship is meaningless out of the context of the Hughes-Stewart dynamic that has driven this show for so long. Something was missing and it occurred to me that when Tom and Margo were a young couple, they were firmly ensconced in BOTH families.
22 September 2008
2 years 19 weeks
I have often disagreed with DC with viewpoints concerning ATWT, but I wholeheartedly agree to this letter to Goutman. ATWT has NOTHING for it now, and not even a great cast can salvage it with craptastic storytelling. What is the point of having your faves muck thru garbage? No ratings + no hype + downtrodden storytelling over they years = is this why Goutman is so unenthusiastic these days? When I saw that "promo" ATWT did for the People's Choice Awards that didn't even promote the dang show, I could tell even ATWT itself couldn't figure out what to promote to get folks to watch.
8 May 2008
6 weeks 5 days
I wish James come back to push Meg and Paul over a cliff for real to never to be seen or heard for ever again.
25 February 2009
4 hours 40 min
i tried to watch the show recently ..after not seeing it in a while...It is a mess. Sad
15 October 2008
3 weeks 6 days
Hopefully someone will read this and help Goutman catch a clue!
Again a wonderful written blog J.
10 December 2008
29 weeks 4 days
Outstanding letter J. Bernard! I do hope Mr. Goutman sees this as well as it being sent to TeleNext. You said what so many of us are thinking. The show has truly lost it's focus. I tend to think with all the budgetary constraints etc. they lost sight of the forest amongst all the tress and it's time to get back to the fundamentals of what makes a good soap.
I still think ATWT can be turned around but somebody has to wake up. I thought the cancellation of GL would be a wakeup call and while we wouldn't be seeing the changes yet, I thought for sure by now we would be hearing behind the scenes rumblings of changes. Don't these people realize that in a year they will most likely all be out of work if nothing changes? They need to focus on getting back the fans that left and with good story telling that would happen. Tell compelling stories and people will find the time to watch! Continuing the way it's going now will only cause more people to keep tuning out.
15 December 2008
10 hours 23 min
Very well written letter. I have only one issue with it; Douglas Marland died in 1993. You said, "You helped create a true post-Douglas Marland renaissance (circa 2000 when Goutman took over ATWT's EP duties and Hogan Sheffer came on board as HW), which had eluded the show some 20+ years after Marland's death. The math's wrong. Marland died in 1993, Goutman and Sheffer came to the show in 2000, and "20+ years after Marland's death" is 2013 and beyond.
Still, the other points you made in your open letter were well thought out. I sincerely hope that Goutman reads it, thinks about it, and decides to act upon it to save ATWT. The show has become it's own little "Vortex of Suck" in the last five or six years. If they could pull a major turn around a la "Young and The Restless," I might return to watching it full-time. As it is now, it's unwatchable and I'm not regretting my abandoning it.
9 September 2008
4 hours 26 min
It was a simple typo. It has been corrected.