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All My Children Discussion Group
Can they please make these characters just go away.....
Erica - she bugs me like no other character on daytime. She is so obnoxious and so unlikeable IMO and her "romance" with Ryan is just absurd
Ryan- His holier than thou attitude has bugged me for years now. I root for Annie every time she is up against Ryan just out of spite. LOL
Zach - a character that ceased to be interesting because he is portrayed by an actor who checked out emotionally a long time ago.
Kendall - The character has run her course IMO.
Petey Cortland - I feel bad for the actor who plays him because this character is the biggest idiot I've seen on AMC. His attempts to be funny are painful to watch.
Colby - She is a total bore. A cardboard character if ever there was one.
AMC has really started to lose me. This show rocked at one time but sadly is showing it's age.
Erica - She doesn't bother me. She's ok. Although, I hate her relationship with Ryan.
Ryan- I haven't liked him for years. Don't care for the actor and the character is a big bore.
Zach - Don't get the appeal of this character. Not likeable at all.
Kendall - She's ok, but she seems stuck in a boring story. No chemistry with Ryan, Aiden or Zach.
Petey Cortland - I like him. But, I agree, writing for him is dull.
Colby - Has potential, but a bit boring.
I love the character of Erica (and Susan Lucci). Of all soap characters I've ever watched, Erica Kane has been the most interesting.
I like Ryan and can't understand why (on this particular board) there are so many who dislike him. Thank goodness the majority of fans out there like Ryan, as I would hate to see him leave the show.
Zach used to be one of my favorite characters, but it seems he is just going through the motions right now. It's painful to watch..
Kendall - I have never cared for this self involved character; have always been a big (RB) Greenlee fan instead.
Petey - How can anyone dislike this guy. : -)
Colby - don't care for the way the current actress portrays the character.
I would celebrate if they would get rid of Annie, Scot and Jake. The character of Annie is an embaressment to AMC. She is the worlds worst mother, and by keeping her on with the current storyline the writers are glorifying child abuse (because Annie IS definitely mentally abusive to her daughter). As to Scot and Jake - they are simply boring. Jake says the same thing to or about Amanda over and over and over. And Scot, well... I hate to say it, but the actor portraying him is just annoying.
So... my opinions are different than yours, but to each his own... If we all thought and felt the same, it would be a boring world.
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I wanted to separately comment on your saying that AMC is showing its age.
I don't believe AMC is showing age.
The WRITERS and PRODUCERS and all that..TPTB...are killing it. There are millions of stories yet to be told as we follow the people of a somewhat small town. The CREATIVE people who do the storylines and write the scripts...they're killing it. AGE has nothing to do with it. GL went on for 72 years. AMC is just turning 40...it's not even middle aged yet.
Age doesn't mean it's not always good...the creative people make it no good. I don't know the age of the writers and producers of AMC...but whatever the case they've lost a sense of the grand history and style of AMC.
Maybe they've fiddled with it TOO much in trying to keep it relevant in today's world. But you see it CAN still be relevant...certainly relevancy is not the problem.
The problem is repeatedly starting off in one direction on a storyline and then SUDDENDLY making a sharp turn in another direction! They started that thing of NOT showing us important scenes but instead having something take place offstage and then we hear the after discussion...how many times I've gone through transcripts to see if I MISSED an episode...because the one I've recorded starts off mid-conversation about something I never saw happen.
Then there's the concept of keeping to the integrity of the characters as they've been created. That was ALWAYS AMC's goldmine...you just came to know the characters and how they'd react..they could GROW and CHANGE but the audience was part of that..we SAW it happen..we KNEW why they character changed..for better or worse...we could AGREE with why something happened...we'd BUY it.
But today it's like they're always pressed for time and they have to HURRY the stories by cutting out things we should be seeing...and by not supporting sudden changes in how a character acts/reacts/lives his-her life. I'm not saying they do not draw out storyline wrapups for too long at times. I'm saying they seem to "gain time" by cutting out VERY IMPORTANT things...by not carefully crafting changes in characters...so that we can believe and accept those changes. Even an odious change to a character...someone you love takes a turn to the darkside...can be accepted if we, the audience, SEE why and can BELIEVE it...we understand the REASON behind it.
But they change the integrity of the character, as created, at the drop of a hat without giving us anything of substance to help us understand and accept. It's insulting particularly to long-time characters that long-time fans have a comfort level with--we know and understand them -- but now suddenly, the character becomes almost unrecognizable...but for what reason?? It's the same with these sudden, lurching turns in a storyline!
They don't GIVE us reasons for these sudden changes and turns by TELLING us something in a STORY..they do not CRAFT these things..they do not SUPPORT these things...and all we're left with is to say, "well I'll GUESS at filling in the blanks this leaves in my mind to see if I CAN accept this sudden change." I cannot tell you the number of times I've had to do that..and have discussed it on the board when others question the same things I've questioned. We just have to guess.
Well if I wanted to GUESS at why someone does something, or is the way he/she is, or has changed in a certain way...I WOULDN'T TAKE THE TIME TO WATCH A SOAP OPERA!! I'd just LIVE MY LIFE!...because that's how real life is quite often...dealing with the 'blanks' in relationships!
But when I watch a SOAP, I want to KNOW my characters...see what is going on behind the scenes of THEIR lives so I can put it all together and say, "Aha...this is why (for instance) Tad did something that appears to be really bad... and this is why his father Dr. Joe is upset about it...but I know Tad's reasons and the situation even though Dr. Joe doesn't.. so I don't reject him...I'll wait and see how this plays out."
I'm not saying I want to know the "end" of every storyline; I'm saying I have to have enough "information" about the plot and the characters so that when we GET to the end, I buy it. It's the climax and I'm satisfied.
So I sincerely believe that the failure continually to DEVELOP the characters and/or remain FAITHFUL to the integrity of the character within a given storyline as the character has been developed to date....THAT is what is killing AMC...not age.
To me, what has happened to AMC is like a slow acting disease finding its way into a 40-year old's body...the person wasn't OLD...the person was affected by a disease. The DISEASE of the creative people who handle AMC is what is killing it.
Y'know AMC used to be a half hour show..and they could do MORE to develop characters and storylines in a half hour than they now are doing in one hour. That's pitiful.
But please don't tell yourself it's too old a show...it's a show that's gotten an illness and nobody at AMC/ABC is trying to cure it. We'll see what LA brings..but I don't trust them...do you?
I feel so strong about saying this that I think I'll post it as a separate topic! I just gotta' vent!
Just commenting on the characters you have named...we have differing opinions:
YOU: Erica - she bugs me like no other character on daytime. She is so obnoxious and so unlikeable IMO and her "romance" with Ryan is just absurd
ME: Erica - I love the character...I've watched her for 31 years and she's one of the few characters who's been allowed to change (a lot) and grow...and yes Erica as she is today is WAY better than Erica many years back. I think she's been a good mother...considering her child of a rape she wiped out of her mind... and a child she thought she'd aborted... dropped back into her life when they were adults. When she was carrying and then had Bianca..that's when Erica really became a totally better character.
All of that said, I think it's totally tabu for her to be with her daughter's ex-lover who is also the father of Erica's grandson...if he did not have that connection to Erica's family, I'd think 'whateverrrrrrrrrr...if she digs the younger guy, whateverrrrrrrrrrrrr...." but because of his position in her family's life and his MOST RECENT sexual relationship with her daughter...it's so wrong on Erica's part. JUST WRONG. JUST SAY NO, ERICA..but she didn't. Very disappointing and of COURSE Kendall will think it's fine. BLEH. Please.
YOU: Ryan- His holier than thou attitude has bugged me for years now. I root for Annie every time she is up against Ryan just out of spite. LOL
ME: Ryan - I do not detest a lot...he does have a holier than thou attitude...but I do agree in his wanting to protect Emma as he has...don't forget, Ryan doesn't know or even suspect what we know and/or have suspected for quite some time. Annie has been all over the place..and she has killed...and tends to reach for the nearest weapon quite often...and Emma HAS been totally traumatized over seeing Stuart being killed...it was not right of Annie to ask that child to keep that secret...no matter how protective Annie is of Adam....and her original reasons were he was her ticket to freedom and ticket to the high life...even if her reasons now are more out of caring...she traded her daughter's innocence and emotional stability for her own originally selfish reasons...but even if they were the purest reasons from the start...doesn't matter...you don't sacrifice your child. Ever. No reason. Ever.
YOU: Zach - a character that ceased to be interesting because he is portrayed by an actor who checked out emotionally a long time ago.
ME: Zach - ITA. This is SUCH a dumb, unending, stretch it out til they move storyline...this sudden poet inside Zach...his ability to be a great typist...his typing that stuff that makes me want to vomit and I'm basically a romanticist....I said on the board the other day it probably nauseates him to have to say those lines. AWFUL. Sorry to see him go....had he stayed I think we'd have had less repulsive episodes these days...but...it's done. So...
YOU: Kendall - The character has run her course IMO.
ME: Kendall - Run her course? Come now...that's ALL you can say?!? I DETEST this character anymore! Always been a selfish PITA who turned a BIT of a bend when she decided to have Spike with Zach's support and ultimate love. But NOW...she's been a meddling (interfering in Aiden's and Greenlee's new marriage), SELFISH, WHINY, MOANING, COMPLAINING, SELFISH, ARGUMENTATIVE, SELFISH, RUDE, OBNOXIOUS, SELFISH...did I say SELFISH?....PITA...I DETEST HER AS MUCH AS I DETEST KWAK AND THAT'S SAYING A LOT!!!! Go away...I HOPE that AM has her baby and comes back to wrap it up after Zach presumably dies...I would like for them to have had the 2 of them leave PV when she started her maternity leave...they BOTH go out...into the sunset..in love..with the kids..forever...goodbye. I FEAR we will be stuck with her being the martyr-widow...I will not be able to take it!
Aiden ought to do her wrong the way she did him wrong...instead, I fear Aiden will die..rather than their having him go back to being a spy again for Her Royal Majesty! Let him live!! But they'll never bring Aiden back. That breaks my heart! They RUIN other characters to support the garbage ones. They should have KEPT Aiden! But that's another subject...sigh.
YOU: Petey Cortland - I feel bad for the actor who plays him because this character is the biggest idiot I've seen on AMC. His attempts to be funny are painful to watch.
ME: Petey - love the character...too bad they're not taking him to LA..the actor is great...I think Petey is an example of a young man, just about 18, who's intelligent and clever but socially inept with his peer group...and who loves a girl he sees as sweet and wonderful but she only sees him as a pal. But see, that's the point...that his attempts to be funny should cause us some pain...feeling his own angst as he tries to make his way. I would have loved for Petey to have moved on with his life...taken Colby at her word and moved on..and then as he goes on living his life, the good guy that he is, Colby would ultimately see how valuable a guy he really is.
YOU: Colby - She is a total bore. A cardboard character if ever there was one.
ME: Colby - I liked old Colby..she was the appropriate brat turned something better. I came to like NuColby who does look the rich girl part. The actress doesn't have a lot of range but I don't think she's cardboard. I like her well enough. She's nowhere near as bad as Randi...not that that's saying much. I think this Colby had potential...she just didn't get there.
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Erica- I have always loved Erica, we are the same age, I have watched since 1970, but she has gotten just too catty and mean lately, I know she loves her kids but she refuses to believe anyone else loves theirs, except for Ryan.
Adam- I will always love Adam, even when he is bad, he is good. I don't want him to leave. :(
Ryan- He is just awful, can't stand him anymore.
Zach- Zach is over the top now, he breaks the law and harasses people constantly all in the name of Kendall. Stop it.
Kendall- Kendall has lost all the brains she had, of course she has had numerous head traumas, two comas and a heart transplant so I guess that could explain her being an idiot.
Pete/Colby- I really love them both, they are like a breath of fresh air in the mess that is Pine Valley.
Jesse/Angie- Ruined, both of them, especially Jesse, he needs to be fired and sent back to just being a citizen then he can be a criminal with the rest of them without defacing his badge.
Aidan- I really hate to see him go, Aidan has always been a good guy even after all his heartbreak and betrayals. The women he has loved have taken their toil on him
Oh I SO agree with you!! Erica would be FIRST on the list for me....Petey second. The others all in one lump jump. oh...I guess maybe I can't let Zach go quite yet. I do sort of like him.
I agree with you almost completely. I do like Petey, but couldn't help wondering if he was wearing one of the costumes Blair or Todd wore on OLTL.
As for Erica, I have watched this show since 1971, and I've seen her outrageous many times. I think she has finally jumped the shark for me. The Erica I know just wouldn't treat Adam like that--she would find another way. The differences they have had over the years were lightened by their genuine affection for each other. Has that beady-eyed twit stolen her brain?
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I still like Erica, despite all her bad behavior. Since Day One (1970) Erica has been selfish, immature and needy, so in her case it's just character continuity. At least she has a few redeeming qualities, such as her love for family. And Kendall is her mother's daughter, so I actually take some pleasure in watching Kendall's antics, most of the time. I do object, though, to the recent dumbing down of Ms. Hart, who has always been perceptive and savvy. Kendall should not have confessed to the murder---she's too smart for that---and her affair with Ryan was a giant step backward for the character, as well as a BIG disappointment to us Zendall fans.
I agree with you that Colby, as currently written, is a disposable character. Petey, however, is a total delight. He reminds me of classic AMC, back when we used to have bigger-than-life comic characters like Billy Clyde Tuggle, Trevor, Opal, Phoebe and Langley, onstage all the time. Back when AMC used to be laugh-out-loud funny. And IMO, the actor playing Petey is doing a bang-up job in conveying the neuroses of an Opal/Palmer hybrid.
And Ryan Lavery? Ryan at least fits the canvas, though not always in a good way. He's arrogant, annoying and downright infuriating. Notwithstanding, removing him from AMC at this point would leave a big gap in the storyline. Ryan is like that mosquitoe that keeps buzzing around but you can't swat it because it's part of the local scenery. You just have to wait until either (a) the mosquitoe flies away, or (b) Charles Pratt finally sees the light and kills the pesky little critter...
And Zach? Zach's wonderful, IMO! Thorsten plays him in a very low-key, understated way, which is wholly appropriate for the character. Zach Slater is restrained, secretive and tormented by his own past demons, which is exactly what Thorsten conveys. And if Crazy Kendall can make someone like that FEEL a positive emotion---as she obviously does---then that's a good match. Losing Zach will be a major blow to AMC, especially if Alicia's Kendall decides to vacate her role, too. I just hope that Zendall depart together, rather than having us subjected to a horrible death scene!