Ellen Wheeler Speaks About Production Changes
Updating last night's story, the New York Post has quotes today from GL Executive Producer Ellen Wheeler about the changes.
"It's not going to look anything like what it looks like now," Wheeler says of the show. Wheeler says the idea of the show came from the fans...and a study commissioned by Proctor & Gamble. I wonder which had more weight?
"[The fans] said . . . the show didn't feel real," says Wheeler. "I wanted to make these very real stories and very real characters feel as much like it was really happening as I possibly could.
"When I watch 'The Hills,' 'ER,' 'Grey's Anatomy' or even 'Desperate Housewives,' those shows feel real to me."
Oy, where to start?
Do I start with Wheeler using the word "real" more often in two paragraphs than R. Kelly does in the entire length of "Real Talk?"
When the fans say that the show didn't feel real, were they really just talking about the production values or the entire show? If they could choose one aspect of the show to make more real, which would they choose, I wonder?
Some fans have been comparing this move to the way British soaps film--on backlots with real outdoor sets, and sometimes, in real houses. I would not be against that. But hearing Wheeler bring up The Hills, ER, and Desperate Housewives as examples just tells me that they don't have a clue beyond "make it like primetime!" which is a mantra that has been hurting the soaps anyway.
This is not a necessary storytelling move. It could, if done well, enhance the shows. If this were under different circumstances--say, being done by a soap that had healthy ratings and genuinely wanted to experiment with the form--I would be less apprehensive. But it's being mentioned in the same breath as cost-cutting and cancellation talk. And Wheeler's "let's just name some prime-time shows" approach reeks of desperation.
It doesn't help that every time soaps have switched out of the traditional camera mode--The City, the first few months of Sunset Beach, All My Children, ATWT's recent location shoots--the results have been unimpressive, and not the slightest bit real feeling. For that sense of immediacy, I don't know that it gets any more real than good old videotape.
Wheeler ends the article by saying:
"If I see someone planting flowers, I want to know what kind of flowers they are, if [someone] is driving a car, I want to know what kind. It will allow for a deeper understanding of who these people are."
Yes, I've often wondered about this. When Olivia hits people with her car, I want to know what she was driving. When Billy gets stinkin drunk, I want to know what he's having. And when Noah's father on ATWT breaks out his gun, I want to know who made it. Perhaps there'll be further opportunities for product placement to add to that sense of reality. It worked for My Network TV.
Could someone PLEASE make Ellen Wheeler watch Ryan's Hope reruns on
Soapnet? Those cheap sets looked so fragile and their cityscape backdrops
were positively hilarious. BUT the show still feels more real 30 years
later than anything out there now. Why? It's the writing, stupid !!
So, let me get this straight: we're taking a 70-year-old institution and
making it compatible with a flash-in-the-pan, so-called reality show from
MTV, because it feels more real? WHAT!? That's it. I'm done. Done with
this stinking show, done with this stinking network, done with the whole
stinking business. Daytime can go to hell for all I care. Just cancel the
godforsaken shows, put on cheapo talk- and judge shows, and leave us all
the hell alone. (Snark, in case I haven't made myself clear enough, this
is the last time you'll be hearing fro me. Not b/c of you, of course, I
just need to get away from anything and everything that has to do w/ soap
opera.)
Why, Rashad... I can't believe your stance on this!! I can't believe you
would turn your back on...
I found this on TV Squad blog: