Nelson Branco's SOAP OPERA UNCENSORED: Issue 56 Page 3

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  Okay, @UFFDA, this is my final post on this topic. I HAVE done the work. I CAN prove the point. I CAN imagine the type of gay man you describe. Because I HAVE ALREADY WRITTEN HIM. More than once, in fact. I have written masculine gay men, gay cops, gay med students, gay activists, lesbian activists, and now a gay male nurse who, yes, sells makeup to make extra money. If that makes me a hack, then fine, I'm a hack. Now go away and leave me alone. Oh, and watch General Hospital. It's a really good show.

  Meanwhile, another gay website, BACKTOSTONEWALL.COM, is encouraging viewers to write into ABC over Lipstickgate.

  Clearly, I’m on Team Carlivati and I applaud his decision to introduce a stereotypical gay character. Stereotypical minorities deserve every right to be represented on the screen (as long as there is a cross-section of representation, which Carlivati has done over the years). Many of my friends are drag queens and I can assure you that despite putting on a wig, lipstick and high heels, the drag community remains one of the strongest, masculine people I know given the bullshit they face every single day in order to express themselves.

  Staunch GH fan, Spinsvixenella, agrees, and brilliantly defended Carlivati on WELOVESOAPS.NET, writing:

  I have to say I was flabbergasted at all the instant criticism heaped upon the character of Felix, much of it coming from the Gay community. Felix was only on screen for a few moments, not really enough time for me to even formulate an opinion of him, other than he seemed like a nice, pleasant guy & a good friend to Sabrina.

  I honestly made no assumptions about Felix having a tube of lipstick. For years my poor husband has toted my lipstick in his jacket pockets along with all sorts of other girly accoutrements that didn't fit in a small evening bag. Of all my Gay male friends, I only have one who wore lipstick from time to time, and he was the best player on my bowling team.

  I also don't think "male nurse" is a Gay stereotype. I know many straight and gay male nurses. If soaps and life have taught me anything, it is not to judge a book by its cover and not to jump to conclusions. I don't know much about Felix yet, but I am going to watch GH to find out more before I decide whether I like him or not, and I won't make that judgment on his sexuality or a couple random scenes.

  Ron Carlivati is responsible for some of the most diverse characters in the history of soaps, and I trust him. If anything, the firestorm surrounding the character of Felix tells me once again soaps have hit a societal nerve that needs to be explored, and soaps are uniquely suited to do just that. I am along for the ride.

  Yesterday, TOWERLOAD.COM’s author, Andy Towle, posted a follow-up to his original message, saying, "There's no question in my mind that Mr. Carlivati should be allowed the chance to develop his character more fully before judgment is passed and I regret if my commentary suggested that it should."

  If the GH audience is justified in being upset with Carlivati over any character, it should be how he’s been penning Connie/Kate’s mental illness.

  • As previously reported, this Friday, Emmy winner Meredith Vieira will reprise her GH role, Bree Flanders, a former owner of an upscale call-girl business who tried to hire one of Luke Spencer's ladyloves. This time around, Vieira finds Bree as Lucy Coe’s marketing VP of CoeCoe Cosmetics.

  In an interview with TV GUIDE MAGAZINE, Vieira was shocked to learn that Bree used to work for ONE LIFE’s Renee Devine!

  She said, “ Really? Yeah, before Bree became a madam in her own right she used to work for a madam named Renee at a whorehouse in Reno, Nevada, but nobody told me Renee was a character the audience would know! That's so cool! They probably didn't want to load me down with too much information. They were probably thinking, ‘Let's hope the poor thing can get through this!’ These soaps move so fast, you know. So much faster than 10 years ago!”

  • Chemistry Alert: I’m liking what I see between Nancy Lee Grahn and Tristan Rogers! Grahn is very Jess Walton-esque so a romance between Robert and Alexis could equal box office success for GH!

  • Memo to Musical Director Paul Glass and exec producer Frank Valentini: Your closing GH music is depressing.

  • Cartini actually prove how easy it was to solve a problem called ABC Daytime. Give the viewers what they want. Every month, a big star has returned featuring big stories. Something happens ever month. How novel!

  • Money, money, money: GH is releasing a new book, LOVE IN MAINE, based on the reel-life happenings in Port Chuck. Molly’s book, stolen by Connie, will be available for purchase. LOVE IN MAINE is an unfortunate and boring title. Why wasn’t it at least titled LOVE IN PORT CHARLES to further help promote the series?

  THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS, GLOBAL/CBS — Did Shictor Have Sex?

  • One of daytime TV’s best actresses, Sharon Case, answered UNCENSORED’s burning question: Did Shictor actually have sex during their marriage? The Emmy winner says, “It was barely alluded to that Shictor had sex. We never had a love scene or bedroom scene.” Because if they had, that would explain Sharon’s mental breakdown! It’s unclear whether or not Y&R will address the couple’s murky sex life in the future. You know if Maria Arena Bell were still in charge, Sharon would have found out by now she was carrying Victor’s child!

  • Jhoanna Marissa has joined the cast of THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS, according to a tweet by Y&R's Robert Adamson (Noah).

  • In story 411, next week Chelsea exposes Sharon!

  • Are Michael Muhney and Eric Braeden getting along behind-the-scenes of Y&R? Yes. In an interview with soap fan blogger, Y&R Critic, Muhney answers the question:

  We quite enjoy one another. He and I have a few good chuckles on set. He’s actually very amusing. And he often collaborates with me on our scene choices. I think the character of Victor would lose the most important parts of himself if he didn’t have Adam. And vice-versa. Adam’s character would lose so much motivation and depth without Victor.

  For the rest of the interview, click here: https://yrcritic.com/exclusive-interview-with-michael-muhney-12-10-12/

  • Graz is out. The worst-kept secret in soaps has been confirmed by DIGEST (it was first reported by DAYTIME CONFIDENTIAL and SOAP OPERA UNCENSORED earlier this year). According to the magazine, on November 30, the cast gathered for a good-bye party on set, with Michelle Stafford, Joshua Morrow and Peter Bergman offering parting words. "Another scene with my Grazzzzz # reallycrying," tweeted Stafford that day. The actor first joined the cast in 2004.

  • Hell has frozen over: Today, the cast of Y&R will gather to take a rare group photo to mark the serial’s ruby anniversary! Awesome!

  • Whoohoo: Marcy Rylan has been rehired as Abby in a recurring capacity! Rylan was unfairly let go this past summer as the scene-stealing Newman. Good thing, too, because Y&R is in desperate need of some levity.

  • Soap vet Mark Pinter has been cast in yet another ruthless role: Marcus Wheeler, which TV GUIDE describes as "a powerful and sophisticated congressman involved with Victor and Jack , who will go to any lengths to protect his image and career." 

  Pinter starts shooting Y&R on Dec. 6. He hits the air Jan. 10 and will be seen at least through Feb. sweeps. 

  • Eric Braeden doesn’t look happy! Click here to find out why: https://insidetv.ew.com/2012/12/03/young-and-the-restless-victor-newman/

  Victor and Nikki’s penthouse looks more like something Adam would purchase. Is the Newman ranch being rebuilt? No one knows for sure!

  • Ted Shackelford is reprising the role that made him a mainstream name on DALLAS: Season Two beginning on January 28 on TNT/CTV2. According to a fan website, Gary will be thrown into the battle for the drilling rights beneath Southfork.

  As previously reported, Shackleford will be joined by DALLAS and KNOTS LANDING — and Y&R alum — leading lady Joan Van Ark later in the season. 

  • Avery doing dishes and cooking is fascinating stuff. Not! It was cute at first but if I wanted to watch THE CHEW, I would. Enough — we know she’s a sexier and prettier version of Martha Stewar
t.

  Tribute

  THE GREATEST EXECUTIVE PRODUCER OF ‘EM ALL — THE PAUL RAUCH INTERVIEWS

  Soap Opera Space Odyssey: Paul Rauch is not only the best executive producer in ONE LIFE’s history, but also the best in soap opera history!

  Rauch took daytime into the future by transforming daytime timeslots, sets, location shoots and helped conceptualize modern storylines by infusing plot with sci-fi elements, long before the fantasy world would become mainstream in prime time, cable and film. His tenure as executive producer form 1984-91 was my favourite, of course, because I began watching Llanview during his reign.

  His demeanour is that of an old-time movie studio head, smelly cigar included. I’m honoured to call Rauch a friend (which is still surreal). We first met when I moved to New York City to work on SOAP OPERA UPDATE. He was helming the show I covered at the time, GUIDING LIGHT, and I was blessed to work with him so closely even back in 1997. Heck, I even wrote a story bible for him, but P&G legal wouldn’t allow him to read it without me sending it via an agent. Even though, suspiciously, a major storyline I conjured up ended up on the GL canvas a couple of years later (Reva/San Cristobel). Luckily, I had sent the bible to Kim Zimmer, so she can attest at how similar the stories were (mine was better). But I digress.

  Throughout the years, and because of his appointment as co-executive producer on Y&R, Rauch and I cemented our friendship and we bonded over how much we dearly loved ONE LIFE (but ANOTHER WORLD is still number-one in his heart, which is understandable).

  What many people may not know is that Rauch may have become a Llanview citizen much earlier than 1984. In the late 60s, Agnes Nixon asked Rauch to help her with the development of ONE LIFE. “I had worked with her on GL in the early to middle ‘60s when she was writing that show,” he explained to DIGEST recently. “And we had known each other extremely well. For many reasons, it didn’t work out, but I knew who the basic characters were and I knew what Agnes was going to do with the show. It was very innovative when she introduced it.”

  Indeed. If Nixon innovated daytime storytelling via ONE LIFE’s narrative, Rauch innovated the look and feel of LLanview with the same groundbreaking results years later.

  He says his first mandate at ONE LIFE was to “See if you can get anything out of the writers and make the show better,” he continued. “It didn’t get better until I brought in a new writer Mike Schnessel.”

  Their first order of business was to get back to the root of Llanview. Rauch recalls, “The strength of the show were the characters and Agnes’s initial concept of those characters. I wanted to get them back in the right configuration.”

  Unfortunately, Rauch had his share of challenges. He had to deal with “personalities” because there was plenty behind-the-scenes drama, something ONE LIFE has historically been cursed with.

  “There was all this energy steaming in one place and there were people had issues with a lot of things,” he says. But, “basically, everybody delivered. With a couple of exceptions, I liked everybody there.”

  Summing up his ONE LIFE journey, Rauch says, “It was a great adventure. We had fun and pushed the envelope. We experimented, but we stayed true to the characters.”

  Below are two of my interviews with Paul Rauch, who looked back at his iconic career, soap opera’s enduring legacy, and whether or not there will be happily ending for the industry he helped mold and loves so much.

  PAUL RAUCH: SOAP ODYSSEY (2009)

  The kid may not have stayed in the picture — but the wannabe actor found his niche by crafting the image.

  That kid is Paul Rauch — inarguably the most prolific and talented executive producer in soap opera history.

  It’s no wonder his favourite film producer is Stanley Kubrick.

  From turning ANOTHER WORLD into a major ratings winner with his partner-in-crime, Harding Lemay; to bringing ONE LIFE TO LIVE into the future with his uncompromised post-modern production skills; saving SANTA BARBARA creatively during its final days; restoring THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS to its former glory, Rauch’s inspiring legacy is still a work in progress.

  Born to Harry (a former VP at Rubicam Advertising) and Ruth Rauch (a homemaker) in Jersey City, Rauch had no idea he would be responsible for shaping the daytime-TV landscape. Growing up, Rauch originally wanted to be an actor, but fate had a different journey for him to embark on.

  And the rest is, as they, say history.

  How many Emmys do we have by now? I know you haven’t won a lot.

  I won the Emmy in 1975 for ANOTHER WORLD. I have produced many shows I have been very proud of, but have never won again for a soap opera. I did win another Emmy for producing a TV-Movie, RUN THE WILD FIELDS, for Showtime. At ONE LIFE, we produced some fantastic years but we never won best drama or writing. Actually, we never won anything during those years — and we were number two in the ratings. We even hit number one week during the Old West/1888 storyline.

  TVG: That remains one of my favourite all-time storylines. Your ONE LIFE reign is responsible for making me fall in love with genre. So everyone can blame you! Recently, during one sleepless night, I watched Eterna, 1888, Viki Visits Heaven, Argentina and the trials and tribulations of Tina Lord on You Tube.

  PR: And those shows still hold up, right?

  TVG: Yes, they do.

  PR: When I arrived at ONE LIFE, all the couples were in the wrong alignment. The first thing I did was hook up Viki and Clint, then segue into Viki’s dual personality, Nikki, and then climax it all with Viki going to heaven to revisit her past loves ones. She had to argue the heavenly court to prove that she deserved to live and return to earth. That story brought us from eighth place to second in record time. Of course, the Old West story maintained our no. 2 position for a long, long time. Thomas Schlamme, who went on to work as a director for THE WEST WING, and even directed the live ER episode, helmed all those beautiful, epic shoots we did.

  TVG: You single-handedly brought daytime, from a production standpoint, into the future. Even GENERAL HOSPITAL’s shoots during the Luke and Laura phenomenon weren’t as sophisticated or as nearly adventurous yours. Does ONE LIFE remain the happiest time in your career? Or is it ANOTHER WORLD?

  PR: By far, ANOTHER WORLD was the happiest time in my career. I loved ONE LIFE, but ANOTHER WORLD started it all for me. AW is another great example of a show that struggled in the ratings, but thanks to good, old-fashion storytelling skyrocketed to the top of the ratings. We held on to that spot until GH hit no. 1 in the 1980s. What made AW work is what Maria Arena Bell is doing now — putting your most popular characters/actors on the front burner. Characters like Nick, Sharon, Phyllis, Victor, and Ashley need to be involved in conflict using love as the backdrop. That’s what we did with Iris, Mac and Rachel. Those three characters carried story for essentially three years. It was through those characters and stories that took ANOTHER WORLD to the top of the ratings. The set-up was a classic equation of the older man, the bitter daughter, and the younger woman.

  TVG: And the subtext was delicious. Bill Bell tried that with Ashley/Victor/Victoria. I still maintain that soap fans love to watch for those small moments between characters when they peel back the layers of their character and/or reference the past, not stunt or plot-driven stories.

  PR: I agree. What’s great about soap opera is that there is always real intensity. You don’t have to manufacture it. It’s there in the writing. Or, should be in the writing. If it’s not, that’s when a good actor can save a bad writer’s behind by playing up the history and intensity, but it should be in the writing at all times. You can have a scene between Nick and Sharon just discussing who they are presently versus who they were in the past and it turns out to be magical. Or you could analyze what his responsibilities are to the two women he loves. There is so much going on between Nick and Sharon that, as writers, you don’t have to spell everything out. It’s there historically, and that’s where subtext comes in.

  TVG: Most soaps spell everything out for its view
ers, which takes the fun out of playing armchair psychologist. Although AW never really directly addressed it, we were all wondering — does Iris have sexual feelings for her father? That’s why the story was so riveting and addictive. When I lived New York City, I spent my weekends at the Paley Center watching that story, and it will forever remain a classic. Speaking of history, were you a soap fan growing up?

  PR: No. I had watched a few when I worked at CBS around the time James Lipton acted on GL. As a result of that, I was hired by P&G. I worked for them for nine years as a supervising producer in Cincinnati for a few of their soaps — AS THE WORLD TURNS, GL, SEARCH FOR TOMORROW, and EDGE OF NIGHT. I was the de facto producer for P&G. From there, I was promoted to vice-president of CBS, where I oversaw nine of our soaps.

  TVG: Nine. Wow. Growing up you wanted to be an actor…

  PR: Yes.

  TVG: That’s interesting because many soap impresarios, Harding Lemay and Douglas Marland for example, wanted to be actors, too. Why did you quit acting?

  PR: I couldn’t make any money at it, that’s why! [Laughs]

  TVG: Did you move out to Hollywood to pursue your acting dream?

  PR: No, I only moved out to LA to produce SANTA BARBARA. I had been in LA once before when I was producing a soap opera for CBS called GROSS POINT, which was supposed to replace CAPITOL. But then one day, Bill Bell said to CBS, “Hey, I have a show idea,” and that was the end of my show!

  TVG: And now you producing his show, Y&R! Ironic…

  PR: It’s totally ironic. But CBS did the right thing by picking B&B.

  TVG: Are you surprised at how long you’ve worked in this industry? You look, sound, and act like one of those old Hollywood movie studio heads. Cigar, to boot!

  PR: We can have cigar later… I have them in the car. But to answer your question — I love soap opera. Pure and simple. I love the process, the storytelling from a producer’s perspective, and I love the actors. Having worked as an actor, I know how to talk to them, inspire them, and help them get through difficult scenes. I speak their language. Good acting is good acting. Good writing is good writing. A good show is a good show. With my experience, I know what a good show is.

  TVG: There is less and less rehearsal in daytime these days, but I hear Y&R is still rehearsing and blocking.

  PR: Yes. You need to take the time before you film the scene and iron out the kinks. Most importantly, you have to ensure that the moment the writer wants to convey to the audience is communicated effectively. Whether you are a producer, actor, or director, you have to find the essence and the emotional nuisance of a scene. I am on the set and in the control room from the beginning right until the end. It’s intense. Averagely, from 9 am to 8 PM, I’m there. I’m there for the actors. I oversee every scene we tape. I know what the writers’ intent is, so my job is to deliver their vision. If you don’t execute a script on the screen properly, your show will fail.

  TVG: Where do you get your energy?

  PR: The material. I’m excited about the medium. If you love your job, the energy comes.

  TVG: The industry was surprised you returned to soaps.

  PR: Somebody said I was retired, but that never came out of my mouth. I was called by Y&R during the writers’ strike and asked if I could consult on the show, which I did. I made some recommendations before heading back to New York City. Almost immediately, I was offered a job as co-executive producer. It was an easy decision because I love Y&R and everyone who works here. I would not want to work in certain other situations…

  TVG: That’s an interesting way to put it. What’s interesting to note is that Y&R is the highest rated soap you’ve produced. All your other soap assignments were either at the bottom of the ratings or on the brink of cancellation, but Y&R is number-one. Must be nice, huh?

  PR: Yes! Even when I joined GL ten years ago, they were indeed on the brink of cancellation at that time. We saved that show by creating the Annie/Josh/Reva storyline. It was a phenomenal storyline.

  TVG: Irna Phillips created GL, which will leave the airwaves on Sept 18 after 72 years on air. You are one of the few people still alive and working who knew and worked with her — what was she really like?

  PR: Enigmatic. As the head of CBS, I started to work with her on WORLD TURNS in the 1960s when Bill Bell was writing for her. She was always very specific about what she wanted to write and which characters she wanted to be on the front burner at a particular time. Jeff and Penny were favourites. And of course, Lisa and Bob were a huge success for her. Irna did not tolerate any interference in story. She dictated story to her assistant. Back then, there were no breakdowns. Irna would play all the parts out loud and her assistant wrote it all down.

  TVG: She was sort of an insane genius.

  PR: Once, Irna invited me to her Chicago home to see her process. I sat there watching her lay out a month’s worth of story, and in each day’s box, she’d write one thread of story in the A, B, and C plots for the entire month. From those boxes, she’d write the scripts. Occasionally, she’d write a whole storyline, but it would be a very brief one with a middle, beginning, and end. She talked out the stories. In many ways, she lived her stories out loud. I was lucky to witness her process very intimately for months. Agnes Nixon basically helped her with GL, and Bill Bell lent his talents to WORLD TURNS, while she oversaw all her soaps. As you know, she trained Bill and Agnes.

  I resigned from CBS because, at that point, I didn’t like the bureaucracy. Having worked with P&G for nine years prior, I went directly to ANOTHER WORLD as executive producer, even though I had never produced before. Having been a P&G/CBS vet, it was a perfect melding. At that point, P&G was a friend. There was no interference on their part. And CBS was a friend. The only interference we encountered was from Irna, who came on to help train Harding Lemay. However, that didn’t work out so well and P&G fired her. Our relationship was very successful but it was also very fraught mostly because of outside pressure. As for Harding, I thought he was one of the best writers I have ever met in my career.

  TVG: So Harding didn’t experience any interference from P&G or CBS?

  PR: None. They both loved Harding and his fresh perspective on soap storytelling. P&G’s Bob Short was a wonderful man. Bob is one of the sole reasons that franchise was so successful because he let writers write.. Bob was a very enlightened executive. Of course, a writer still had to write within the parameters of decency considering our TV viewing audience at the time. Bob was like a father to me.

  TVG: In 8 YEARS IN ANOTHER WORLD, Harding implies there were some creative differences but nothing major. His issues were more with Irna because of her black-and-white view of the world. In her mind, characters were either saints or sinners. There were no shades of grey in her characterizations, until Lemay came in. In your opinion, what was Irna’s psychology?

  PR: Irna’s belief was the love stories make the world work. On WORLD TURNS during the 60s, it was love, love, and love!

  TVG: Ironic since she never experienced or found the love she wrote about, huh?

  PR: No, she didn’t. She adopted two children, but she never had a romantic life to my knowledge. Irna was a schoolteacher. The difficulty between Irna and Pete was that Irna wanted him to tell the stories her way, and Pete wanted to build a new temple.

  TVG: I’ve always wondered if she was a closeted lesbian. It’s interesting because soaps are still experiencing that very same artistic battle today.

  PR: That’s why I knew Pete and Irna’s working relationship wouldn’t work. Irna liked working alone and she definitely didn’t like to compromise.

  TVG: Ultimately, Harding’s postmodern vision propelled the show to the top of the ratings. But then again, she was writing a handful of soaps at one point. And today, a head writing Team is in the double digits, and yet, they can’t seem to manage to write anything engaging.

  PR: They were shorter soaps, but I see your point. For example, SEARCH FOR TOMORROW was 15 minutes at the time. Irna really just created AN
OTHER WORLD, and left it to Agnes. Irna’s baby was WORLD TURNS at the time and her prime-time spin-off, A WORLD A