The Big Kish-Off

Unless you’re living under a rock, you’re aware of yummy-licious Brett Claywell and Scott Evans (Kyle Lewis and Oliver Fish) being let go from One Life to Live and the outrage it’s provoked from fans. I’ve been hanging back, observing how Kish-gate is unfolding. So far I don’t know what to make of this PR mess: Is this part of a homophobic agenda? Is this a result of the actors behaving unprofessionally? Are focus groups to blame? Are these firings just par for the course, no different than the other recent firings/contract changes at OLTL (Crystal Hunt, Scott Clifton, Daphnee Duplaix, Austin Williams, plus the rumors of more firings to come)? Well…I have no clue. But when has not having a clue stopped me from voicing my opinion, lol?

Clearly OLTL is cleaning house. Whether this bloodbath is due to an ultimatum from TPTB to make some changes or else, or they’re cutting expenses to accommodate big names like Gina Tognoni (Kelly) (and possibly Thorsten??) is unclear. Revamping the show (creatively and/or budget-wise) by getting rid of a sh*tload of characters isn’t surprising. What is surprising is their decision to cut two popular characters, who happen to make up one of the most popular couples currently on the show. Getting new characters to click with viewers and developing a large fan base for a couple is a difficult feat. Kish has captured the hearts of soap fans (gay and hetero) and has garnered the show loads of positive press from the soap and mainstream media. This is the kind of response TPTB kill for, and OLTL is just throwing it away? It’s insane! When a show is consistently last place in the ratings, is it smart to get rid of one of the few things that actually works? Couples that develop a following with the audience are not a dime a dozen. OLTL has hit gold with Kish, so for goodness sakes, keep them!

Frankly the Kish-Off just confirms what I’ve felt for a long time: TPTB at ABC are simply not interested in making a long-term commitment to gay and lesbian characters. They’ll introduce these characters/stories, gladly receive accolades from the press and fans, pat themselves on the back, and before we know it the characters are out the door. It seems the gay renaissance of soaps (Otalia, Nuke, Kish, Rianca-or whatever they called that hot mess over at AMC) was just a “fad” or an experiment (for a terrific round-up analysis of gay stories on soaps, I recommend We Love Soaps' article Gays in Daytime.) As far as I can see, soaps have always been, and will continue to be, dominated by white, thin, heterosexual characters. Apparently TPTB seem to think this is playing it safe, but I think it’s insulting, boring and a sign of how behind the times and out of touch with the audience they really are.

As for OLTL…Full disclosure: I stopped watching it on a regular basis last year and it had nothing to do with Kish. While Ron Carlivati is a talented writer, I found the show uneven at best. At worst, it was a campy mess, misogynistic and more gross than entertaining. My friends and I have joked that the show should be renamed One Life to Rape. Welcome to Rapeview: a town populated by rapists/psychos and their victims. Gee, who wouldn’t want to watch that? One positive thing that’s come from Kish-gate has been people’s willingness to call OLTL out on their offensive stories and point out that that might in fact be the reason for their pathetic ratings. (The great Marlena De Lacroix wrote a terrific piece recently called Sadism for Thrills, where she critiqued OLTL and GH’s treatment of female characters.)

Look, I’m just a soap fan, but my own humble opinion is that maybe TPTB should get rid of what doesn’t work, instead of what does. How about giving us characters that we’ll love and root for, instead of making a violent pig your romantic lead (*cough* Todd *cough*)? And what about telling stories that will entertain and move us, instead of ones that trigger our gag reflex (*cough* Mitch *cough*)? But what do I know?

**EDIT: if you're interested in joining the various Save Kish campaigns, I suggest doing a #Kish search on twitter. Tons of stuff will come up :)

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As always, thanks so much for reading. I'd love to hear what you think of Kish-gate!

-Melanie/SoapOperaBabble/daisyclover1938