DVDizzy Forum

Any 'All My Children' fans here?!

I'm an on-and-off fan, depending on the storyline. Been watching since 1999 and I think my most devoted years to the series was 2002 to 2004. Since then, I can only catch it if I know something *big* is happening.

Heard they killed off David, and to be honest, while I'm upset (he was one of my favorite characters), I'm not surprised. They never seem to know what to do with him and villains hardly have a long shelf-life on soap operas. The best villains are those that come and go at various intervals (e.g. Mitch Laurence on "One Life to Live" or James Stenbeck on "As the World Turns"). When you tame them, however, they can surprise you and stick around for a long time, whilst still having that "edge" about them (e.g. Todd Manning on "One Life to Live", Adam Chandler on "All My Children"). They seemed to just run out of dastardly deeds for David to do. Maybe if they kept Anna around to watch over him...

I hope the show will do well, especially since they moved to California this year (and as a result, we lost Ray McDonnell, David Canary, Julia Barr, Thorsten Kaye, etc.). The new writing team seems to be doing well so far. Donna Swajeski had one of the best writing periods on "Another World", so I'm told (I've only been able to catch episodes online from her 1988-1992 tenure). David Kriezman may be a bit shaky - especially during his "Guiding Light" tenure - but as someone new to the series, he can see characters the way veteran writers likely can't. Were it up to me, I'd have kept Lorraine Broderick as headwriter (she agreed to only do interim until Swajeski/Kriezman could join), as her material was really good. Maybe even a three-person headwriting team of Broderick/Swajeski/Kriezman. You get a writer familiar with the series (Broderick), a writer who's known for good stories (Swajeski), and a writer who's never been with the show before, and can bring a fresh perspective (Kriezman).

The problem with AMC is that they get lousy headwriters over the past five years, which is ironic since it was known to be one of the best written soaps in its heydey. I absolutely loved McTavish's work when she came back in 2003 (she replaced the dreadful Rayfield & Cascio), but a couple years in it just got worse and worse, and every replacement since has gotten worse (seriously, Esensten & Brown? Chuck Pratt?!?). As I said earlier, Swajeski/Kriezman seem to be doing well so far. I really loved their Palmer tribute episode, as well as the introduction of Caleb. And while most viewers don't seem to care about the Colby/Damon stuff, I like it. It gives Tad and Liza a chance to be more grown up, especially as it's their children.

albert

Erica Kane (Susan Lucci) has been off for a few weeks and is scheduled to return in October with Jackson Montgomery.

I am still wondering when the writers will let her be her age (64) and quit pairing her up with all the young studs on the show. Even Jackson is younger than her, but I can deal with that. She needs to be moved to be the dastardly matron of the show and Erica Slezak on One Life to Live has shown that it can be done and work.

There are rumors going around that David isn't really dead.