DC #611: Dishing The Soaps With TV Guide's Michael Logan
On today’s Daytime Confidential podcast TV Guide's Michael Logan joins Jamey Giddens, Luke Kerr, Jillian Bowe, Regan Cellura and Melodie Aikels to discuss all the latest soap opera hot topics and news, including:
Soap Opera Digest reported that Bob Guza could be on his way out, before the story was later discounted by ABC. If Guza had left General Hospital, would it have been a good thing or bad thing for the show? Logan weighs in on GH’s decision to kill off baby Jake and teases the fallout from the storyline.
Jamey asks Logan to provide insight into One Life to Live’s continued red herrings about Roger Howarth’s version of Todd Manning. Could Howarth still return to Llanview? ABC continues to develop talk shows, but will one of them replace an ABC soap? (Editor's Note: This podcast was recorded prior to Deadline.com's story about the possible cancellation of All My Children on March 21, 2011) Find out if Logan thinks All My Children should keep their current head writers.
Jamey is dreaming of DAYS with Deidre Hall and Drake Hogestyn back in Salem where they belong, thanks to a Soap Opera Digest article. Get Logan’s take on whether or not they might return. Meanwhile, Jamey is warming up to Daniel and Jennifer (Shawn Christian and Melissa Reeves), but what where does that leave his love for Jack (Matt Ashford)? Logan ponders what the brass at All My Children thought when they learned Tamara Braun was interested in returning to soaps and had signed on to DAYS. Jillian is digging Natalia Livingston as Taylor.
The last time Logan dropped by the Daytime Confidential podcast no one was very happy with The Young and the Restless. Does the veteran soap journo think things have improved in Genoa City?
It appears Stephanie and Brooke’s (Susan Flannery and Katherine Kelly Lang) truce is over on The Bold and the Beautiful, thanks to Thomas (Adam Gregory) tonguing his stepmommy down in Paris. Jamey wants to see Thomas and Brooke get it on more now than ever. Logan discusses his recent interview with Brad Bell and whether or not Thomas could still end up being gay.
The Daytime and Pop Confidential gang love Showtime’s Shameless and it turns out the Logan does too! Also learn what he thinks about this season of Celebrity Apprentice, featuring former daytime divas Star Jones and Lisa Rinna, and so much more!
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Be sure to leave your comments on all the latest goings on in the world of soaps by calling the Daytime Confidential comment line by calling 917-677-9757.
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Comments
29 December 2008
15 weeks 5 days
I hate Guza the Luza i will never like him or his writing it has been going downhill for a long time now i just can't watch Guzavision any longer . I love the podcast as always
16 April 2010
9 weeks 3 hours
Really? I mean Really, I just listened to this podcast. If TPTB think the way you all spoke, including Michael Logan, they might as well cancel the all the shows. Everything Bob Guza has done to this show has brought it to a level of crap. Seriously? are you telling me this is the best ABC can do for General Hospital, if this is true just get it over with and cancel the show.
1 July 2009
23 hours 11 min
As always great podcast, guys!!!!
Great to hear from Michael Logan, his columns are fantastic!!!
14 June 2009
10 hours 13 sec
Jamie, Marly told me Lumina returned her to her natural state and that it was really Vicki that shrunk. I much prefered the show when Cynthia Watros subbed for Jensen Buchanan.
12 January 2010
11 hours 37 min
I always felt that Guza was a talented writer, I just never liked his vision for GH. However, Jake's death has me watching again regularly for the first time in at least 10 years. Great acting by all, the hospital is front and center and the young characters are all descendent's of core families. I would have loved to see Audrey and Lesley at the hospital but I guess I can't have it all. I may just be hooked again.
I would also like to say that I think All My Children is the best it has been in years. Not perfect but enjoyable and recognizable. As someone who has been watching off and on since 1983 I have seen the good (Wisner Washam), the bad (Margaret DePriest) and the ugly (MacTavish part 3)! I think DK and DS are doing very well as head writers.
7 July 2009
16 weeks 19 hours
With all due respect to Michael Logan, if you can't go back 15 years then why has Guza ripped off Claire Labine's BJ/Maxie beautufully written story, among others?
30 August 2009
3 weeks 1 day
i almost fell on the floor when they said that the DH's were at NBC for free hair cuts lol...and then the best line...maybe Deidre Hall was borrowing some Purple Paint love it i thought i was the only one that noticed....glad to hear they might be coming back...will help the show in my opinion. and please i dont want to hear how much you hate them now lol..
21 December 2010
2 years 8 weeks
I got my Another World mention. And you guys actually mentioned the twins THREE TIMES.....Loved it!!!!!!!!!!!!
marknsprmo, those are fighting words.
22 January 2008
23 min 26 sec
I readily admit, I grade soaps on a curve @Tom. I have to to keep doing this. Does GH compare to itself when I started watching in the early 90's? Absolutely not. Does it have the best acting and dialogue of the six remaining soaps on daytime? For me, yep, so I weigh that into my analysis. None of them are what they once were, or could be, but GH has at least gone away from doppelgangers and people telling, not showing in every single scene. Even OLTL, which I love, still "sounds" like a soap, with all the "Oh My GAWD, Dorian Lord!" moments and I think they do that intentionally, to kind of spoof old school soaps, but even a bad GH story these last few years tends to be much better than a good DAYS story.
12 February 2008
13 hours 29 min
Michael Logan is totally full of crap. He seemed to be playing nice about GH so he can keep getting exclusives from the show. This is why I respect bloggers over magazine journalists. They'll say whatever they need to not to burn any bridges instead of telling the truth...
I also don't like how AMC is always talked about like it's a big joke, while GH is forever put up on a pedestal, even when it's horrible. AMC had made HUGE mistakes over the years, but so has all the other soaps.
16 April 2010
9 weeks 3 hours
@Jamie, I understand your position but unfortunitly if we keep saying that we accept mediocrity because we are afraid of the soaps or our jobs going away that doesnt seem to be working. If you look at what has taken place since the 80's and 90's to where we are today, the people behind the scenes at the soaps have taken the profits of daytime and reinvested it into other areas of the networks rather than reinvesting it back into daytime. At one time GH was the number one money making show for ABC in daytime and nighttime. I think someone has to take a stand, and call these bozo's on the carpet for their lazy storytelling. Yes while GH doesnt do the doppleganger storylines like Y & R their ratings still drop week to week. At least The Young and The Restless values their vets and involves all the generations of core families into a story. While the acting on GH was good over the past couple days, it lacked the full emotional impact it could have had since there were not one person with any historical value to the show present. We can thank Bob Guza for that, he has systematically destroyed the entire backstory of GH over the past ten years, making the impact of Jake dying usless to me.
Someone has to stand up and let these people know that because of their job performance soaps are in the danger of cancellation for the first time in decades. Now is not the time to accept what is being given to us, now is the time to demand excellence of the soaps and show the audience they need to come back.
12 January 2010
2 weeks 7 hours
I wonder how much Guza paid Michael Logan for the opinions Logan gave today. Did he sell his soul for the answer to who killed Jake? Sorry, I'm wasn't impressed.
5 July 2008
1 hour 4 min
Yeah Im Sorry But As Much AS I Respect michael Logan, That was A Lot Of Ass Kissing
As said in another post. The Maxie BJ story was Better cause Maxie had been ill for months and it looked like she would DIE. The BJ Death and Donation Of Heart came out of left field and has had far reaching repacutions for the last 17 years.
Also Tony Jones Offered BJ's Heart to save MAXIE. Carly went to Jason and asked his premission and he has no legal right to make that call. Lucky who has raised Jake and is Carly's Kin was not consulted. Carly just acted like a shrew IMHO
I also dont buy that we shouldnt want writers to leave cause we may get worse ones. Sorry But How do u know that? Claire Labine is in her early 70's at the most and is still interested in daytime. She even said so to damon Jacobs at WLS. I Think If we got CL back GH would be awesome again. Claire always writes Character driven story and thats whats lacking in Daytime
So AMC If Stays On needs new writers and EP. what about chris Whitsell? He's Great. Wendy Riche Could EP or Lisa Cozette. Maybe Lisa and Chris at AMC and Wendy and Claire back at GH
B&B IMHO Sucks. Im Not interested in them telling the same story over and over again with different players. I dont want Thomas with Brooke and This Liam Baby thing. Please Scott Clifton did this same story at ONE LIFE and ONE LIFE Did It 100x Better.
14 June 2009
10 hours 13 sec
LOL Sorry Vicky Love Hudson! I love Vicky and Marly but I do have preferences as to who played them. Anne was my fav Vicky and Ellen was my fav Marly. As the twins, my vote always goes to Ellen. She created those special characters and they were so astonishingly different. While Jensen brought Vicky to maturity and polish, her Marly was simply not very interesting. Anne had alot of trouble with Marly for a long time. Then something clicked. But then Anne was alot like Vicky in real life lol. Whoever was playing the roles, I wish they still were!
18 August 2009
2 min 54 sec
Michael Logan couldn't have kisssed any more ass if Aretha Franklin was sitting on his face. To him, GH does no wrong, and all the other soaps suck, save B&B.
TO ME, GH is okay. DAYS is the worst, AMC is next, then GH, B&B, OLTL, and the best to ME is Y&R. I think people are SOOO hard on Y&R because it's the #1 soap...it's kinda like the popular girl in high school. She can't come to school with a bad outfit on for ONE day because she'll never live it down. I think it's unfortunate because this show TO ME is still the best in daytime. Yet, people like Michael Logan whose voice just made my skin crawl after a while, praise Guza for doing a pointless story of killing off a kid...and a ripoff nonetheless of a better story that was done before.
Anyway, on a lighter note...I don't like Malcolm, but I admit I like Sophia A LOT. Get her away from Malcolm...and to be honest, I don't mind Malcolm as much as I mind the actor. He's not a bad actor, I just don't like him personally. So yeah, there are my two cents.
18 November 2009
6 weeks 7 hours
Can someone remind me of McTavish storylines when she was at General Hospital? Jillian seemed pretty passionate that we didn't want her back. I wouldn't let her work for free after the un-abortion on AMC but I don't clearly recall her reign of terror on GH.
5 February 2009
2 days 44 min
Stoney, you are most definitely right. Y&R is the best soap!!!!
20 November 2007
3 hours 34 min
Stoney and akbad806, I agree with you, Y&R is the best.
For a long time GH was my favorite in the 90th I remember how funny and interesting it was. And yes I even liked the dog story it was korky and funny.
I tried to watch it because Brenda came back and frankly it is a hot mess. Even Guza botch her return.
Guza passed burned and went directly to fried. when you redo your own stories and you do them badly it's time to retired!
As for the discussion about Guza and GH; I was badly surprised as many of you were. I will say it the emperor has no clothing.
15 May 2008
1 hour 36 min
Tamcin, McTavish brought Stavros back from the dead. According to her, she was FROZEN in the GH basements from the time he "died" all those years ago. Tony Jones was blackmailed into "thawing" him out. Stavros and Helena planned to release a bio-toxin that would terrorize the world into their submission. Stavros wanted his family back (Nik and Laura)while Helena wanted payback. They did all this in GH's basement without ANYONE knowing. She brought on that dreadful Angel who lived in the woods who was Joseph Sorel's daughter who also happened to be Sonny's enemy. THAT is just the highlights. You would need to search the rest of her nonsense, she only held GH hostage for a year.
5 July 2008
1 hour 4 min
Stavros Dying Is why Leslie was Kidnapped and "Killed". That Rewrite Made No sense
Then we Had Roy/Bobbie/Melissa and she brought Sarah webber Back For Lucky. That actress Blew chunks worse than the original and thats no prize
4 May 2009
1 day 1 hour
The recurring theme of the discussion about headwriters seemed to be "the devil you know", meaning what you get may be worse than what you already have. I can't believe there are no talented writers out there other than the six that are in place right now.
21 December 2010
2 years 8 weeks
You're absolutely correct, marknsprmo. The very first episode of AW I ever saw featured Vicky and Jake in Lassiter and Marly in Baycity. Ellen Wheeler was fantastic as both. I was hooked!!!!!!
I adored Jensen Buchacan as Vicky, but her Marly was barely there and was completely lifeless when she was. So was Anne Heche's. Anne's Vicky is actually the one I found most compelling. She always seemed to be on the edge of a precipice, much like Anne herself.
24 May 2010
2 years 8 weeks
marknsprmo and VLH, you two had to go there, didn't you?
My vote is for Anne, even though she was a horrible daughter-in-law.
Lord, I miss that show!
12 February 2010
2 days 21 hours
Yet, STRANGELY enough, Megan McTragedy ended up winning an EMMY for her work on GH in 2003. Go figure..........
The devil seems to always be busy. And I do mean ALWAYS.
5 July 2008
1 hour 4 min
All The Vickys were good well except Rhonda Lewin But anne Was The Best At both. Anne Made Each Sister Radically Different
Heres One Vid Of Rhonda As Vicky Talking to Bridget
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8aI3rLjFlaY
These Next Three Are From Xmas Eve 1986 where Vicky throws a party
Starting At 5:45
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uim9Kkhs2wg
Starting At 7:28
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m09OYPRlbD0
Starting at 1:19
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dIhW5xvLv_8
5 July 2008
1 hour 4 min
The devil seems to always be busy. And I do mean ALWAYS.
The eligibilty Period was January 2002-Dec 2002 and shee Was HW til May 2002 So She was Part Of The Team so she got one But I doubt they even submitted a story she wrote for consideration
12 February 2010
2 days 21 hours
Appleridge--
I guess we will never know. Not to get off topic, but I have enjoyed much of Megan McTragedy's work over the years on AMC. She's not all bad. I loved her work on AMC from 1993-95 (what little I did get to see of it, since I was very young and my grandmother didn't let us grandkids watch "the stories"). She created Maria, Julia, Kendall and many now legendary characters. She also created RYAN LAVERY, who many people now hate, but I have never thought was all that bad.
She simply only has two settings: great and horrible.
And she tells WAY too many damn baby stories. If she comes back to AMC, Randi, Madison, GreenMe, Marissa and Cara will all be pregnant, stealing sperm and switching babies with each other faster than you can say "UNABORTION."
22 January 2008
23 min 26 sec
I believe their are droves of talented head writers still around, but finding one who can satisfy viewers AND Brian Frons is like finding the kid who can pull the sword from the stone.
24 May 2010
2 years 8 weeks
Thank you, appleridge....Those clips are precious!!!!
The chief from Gray's Anatomy was on Another World.
I did not remember that. He was HOT!
18 November 2009
6 weeks 7 hours
Oh God! In addition to peeing all over a landmark storyline (Erica's abortion), McTavish did Stavros "Popsickle" Cassadine, and killed the reunion of Bobbie and Roy????? That God awful Sarah Weber debacle????
How can you make a joke of Robert Kelker Kelly? How can you no write a viable story for A. Martinez? She must have been trying really hard to fail!
Mc-No Way for McTavish!