Ratings for the week October 18-22, 2010

None of the soaps have anything to really write home about this week, as all soaps are down over their ratings last year.

With that said, Days Of Our Lives is the only soap that can be proud of it self for gaining viewers over last week as all the other shows lost viewers.

Total Viewers

1. Y&R 4,862,000 (-169,000/-192,000)
2. B&B 3,187,000 (-28,000/-54,000)
3. DAYS 2,531,000 (+118,000/-471,000)
4. GH 2,380,000 (-144,000/-185,000)
5. OLTL 2,354,000 (-97,000/-138,000)
6. AMC 2,309,000 (-101,000/-361,000)

HH
1. Y&R 3.4/12 (-.1/-.3) <- ties low rating (Last time: July 26-30, 2010)
2. B&B 2.3/8 (same/-.1)
3. DAYS 1.9/6 (+.1/-.3)
4. GH 1.8/6 (-.1/-.1)
5. AMC 1.7/6 (-.1/-.3) <- ties low rating (Last time: September 20-24, 2010)
5. OLTL 1.7/6 (-.1/-.2)

Women 18-49 Viewers
1. Y&R 1,011,000 (-42,000/-129,000)
2. GH 742,000 (-89,000/-101,000)
3. DAYS 652,000 (-31,000/-215,000)
4. B&B 632,000 (-18,000/-75,000)
5. OLTL 625,000 (-61,000/-85,000)
6. AMC 551,000 (-66,000/-184,000)

Women 18-49 Rating
1. Y&R 1.5/10 (-.1/-.2) <- ties low rating (Last time: October 4-8, 2010)
2. GH 1.1/7 (-.2/-.2) <- ties low rating (Last time: June 28 – July 2, 2010)
3. DAYS 1.0/7 (same/-.3)
3. B&B 1.0/6 (same/-.1)
5. OLTL 0.9/6 (-.1/-.2) <- ties low rating (Last time: July 12-16, 2010)
6. AMC 0.8/6 (-.1/-.3) <- ties low rating (Last time: June 21-25, 2010)

All ratings are Live+Same Day DVR viewing.

Source: Soap Opera Network

How To Save Neighbours

As promised here is my how to save Neighbours post, so sit back becasue this one is going to go on for a bit.

We all know that Neighbours is in a bad shape ratings wise, but still quality wise the show is leaps and bounds over some of the soaps competition such as All My Children and Days of our Lives. But hey no one ever said ratings made sense, so what would I do to save Neighbours?

(Please take into note that I am keeping the current comings and goings in mind while I am writing this, that is why you will not see axings for characters that have already left, or long stories that would be amazing for those that have already said "SEEYA!")

Well first thing first I would get back to basics. It is time to let the axe fall and say good-bye to some local residence. The first people that I would axe are the poor unfortunate Williams family. This is not a slam directly upon them. I don't mind either actor as much as the Queen of Denial Island (Brooke), but I don't really see the need for the characters at this moment unless I really sit down and create a long story that would in someway salvage the storyline and make me care about what is going to happen next.

Next on the chopping block is 50% of the recurring cast- this includes- Kyle Canning
Melissa Evans , Doug Harris, Nick Nixon, and Mark Brennan.

*sigh* Okay I know all of these characters have had their little plot points that have made the little town of Erinsborough seem real...but it's time to hit the road. Kyle has no real connection to the show, nor does he need one. Melissa bless her little heart was a plot device to give Zeke a job and that's about it so see-ya. Dr. Doug was good-ol Susan B's breakout plan to hook Libby up with a gigantic plot device to make the fallout from Steph's secret hurt just 'that' much more.... but he served his purpose, and is no longer needed. I am sorry yes Neighbours needs diversity, but how about we get it with some better characters. Then we have Nick whose purpose will be served by the end of the year and he can vanish off into the sunset, and lastly Mark.... I have to admit he is the only one who I could see keeping around if I took Neighbours in a more 2007-2009 Home and Away direction, but that is not the case, thus it is time for Mark to go away as well.

So with that said there is now room for some casting upgrades and movement, who's going to be moved around? Well first Chris Pappas is given a contract. He will play a vital part in my 2011 storyline. Some additional casting includes a new male for Kate, a new girl who will play a vital role in the rebuilding of the Kennedy's as well as Andrew/Summer's storyline, and a new boy-toy for Chris..

Unfortunately the boy-toy is a plot-device, but he will be a well fleshed out plotdevice!

Now that's out of the way let's talk storylines-

Chris - To the brink of death-

It is the time of Chris's life, he has just found his first boyfriend, he is friends once again with Andrew and Summer, and people have finally began to accept him for the guy that he is. That is until he and his boyfriend (Max) are caught kissing by one of Chris's schoolmates. From that point on his entire life starts to spiral out of control. His parents who thought they were 'okay' with their son's sexuality cannot stand to see their boy with another guy ( Chris can initially overhear a conversation and then later confront them both which is when their 'true' feelings come out), and then the classmate that took the photo will plaster it all over the campus with some homophobic slur written all across it. As a result homophones will start to pick on him, way past the point of it being 'alright'. That is when Chris finally decides to end it all. But before he could do it he writes a letter explaining everything to his friends, and most importantly Max, only Summer comes in and saves the day. It is at that point that everything changes, and we see Chris get the help he needs to overcome the bullying.

The storyline would be socially relevant, controversial, and most of all talk worthy.

Rebuilding The Kennedy's -

As the Williams family exits, the local school board goes berserk, they simply cannot keep anyone in as Principle, and they do not feel that Libby is up for that type of responsibility / role. So who do they turn to? Former school Principle Susan Kennedy. The school board explains that it is only a temporary move until they can find someone more permanent, so Susan takes the job.

While acting as school principle Susan meets Carly, a wise cracking teenager whom everyone thinks is bad news...everyone except Susan that is. When Carly gets in serious trouble Susan sticks her neck out on the line to protect her, it is then that she finds out that Carly is homeless, and has been living on the streets for the past few months. Having an empty house at home Susan impulsively ask Carly to move in.

Karl initially is furious, but later comes around when Carly shows her good side. However, when her dark streak comes out Karl attempts to throw her out of the house. "After EVERYTHING we have done for you, you do this to us?". It is Susan however that reminds Karl that they took in Carly for the good and the bad, and they cannot let the girl go now, not after all the hard work they have done so far. So Carly eventually makes her way back to the Kennedy's household.

But due to all of the stress as returning school principle and the Carly struggle Susan's MS flares up, temporarily crippling her. Susan then is forced to resign as acting principle, right after having been handed a two year contract.

It is then that Libby seriously goes after the job, and is finally given it.

The Ramsey's / The Robinson's -

After weeks of deliberating, Kate finally agree's to move in with Paul, and allow him to help raise Sophie and be a part of her life. Andrew instinctively is against it, "Why take in these strays so they can take away part of my inheritance?" but he nevertheless gets over it and moves on.

Kate eventually meets Joshua, a teen father who is attending EU with her. The two find they have a lot in common and begin to date. Now depending on a few variables the story can go in a few different directions, but the one I love the most is taking it towards domestic abuse-

After falling madly in love and having an instant wedding, Kate finds out that Joshua has a dark side as she finds a huge bruise on Mandy's back. When she questions Mandy about it she says "daddy did it to me". Shocked Kate confronts him, he says he will handle his daughter how he sees fit. Kate says this is wrong, this isn't how he should treat another human benign, so Joshua slaps her across the face. This starts a long domestic abuse plotline that will play out for a long period of time.

Now there are obviously other things that can be done such as rebuilding the Scully's, repairing the Ramsey's, and Robinsons, and creating a new family to come and take the place of the Williams and Napier's, but these are the initial changes that I would make to revamp and save Neighbours.

So what do you think? Do you like my ideas? Or do you disagree? Let's hear what you would do to save this struggling show in the comments below.

Neighbours hits all time ratings low

It is a day that will go down in the history books, as the Friday October 29th edition of the Australian soap Neighbours pulled in a all time record low rating of only 386,000 viewers.

So with all time record low ratings already resulting in the show being moved to Eleven in 2011, how much longer will executive producer Susan Bowler be allowed to continue on her reign of terror before the network axes her? Will the show give one more EP a chance or is it time to say good-bye to everyone's favorite Neighbours?

Look for a "How to save Neighbours" post coming soon.

Why I Love Hollyoaks

In honor of Hollyoaks 15th anniversary, and because I am currently working my way back in to the series, as it starts heating up with it's latest storylines. I thought I would take a minute to talk about what exactly it was that got me hooked on this show in the first place.

To be honest the very first thing that got me involved in Hollyoaks was the pub fire that was used to clean house in 2006. But we will get to that later because what I want to talk about first is the REVEAL! Yes those of you that watched Hollyoaks know EXACTLY what I am talking about. The climax to the John Paul/Craig/Sarah triangle.

First a little background. So in 2006 John Paul (James Sutton) 'came out', this caused Hannah Ashworth (his ex, portrayed by Emma Rigby) to think she had turned him gay and stop eating, we will get to her in a bit. Meanwhile John Paul had a crush on his best mate Craig Dean (Guy Burnet), who was currently seeing his other best mate Sarah Barnes (Loui Batley). Well after telling Craig how he felt and coming out of the closet Craig kinda shunned him...that was until John Paul found himself a boyfriend in the form of Spike (Tom Vaughan)! Craig got jealous and that is when he and John Paul first hooked up. This began the never ending cycle of John Paul hooking up with Craig only to have Craig utter those three evil words after the fact... "I'm not gay!" .......................UGH So meanwhile Craig and Sarah became serious and eventually Craig got down on one knee and tried to make it official. Well a big engagement party was thrown in their honor, only John Paul had enough of the lies, so he got Craig to come up to the bedroom with him, where he stole Craig's cell phone and texted Sarah to come up and be with him....only when she got there she saw John Paul and Craig going at it. Now fastforward about 15 minutes later and we get this AMAZING confrontation between the two star crossed lovers.

"At last... at last he understands!" "Im sorry everyone knows, I am sorry that everyone can see you for the two timing lying little toe rag you really are, I am sorry I ruined your selfish little plans, Im sorry that I forced you to face up to the fact that you get off on undressing boys as well as girls, but I am not sorry for any of that! you caused that, no one else you! You had everything you own way hadn't you?, telling her you loved her, telling me you loved me, I mean playing these games with us, well now you have to deal with the consequences"

BRILLIANT, I mean just totally and utterly brilliant.

But now onto the Fire at the dog.

So a bit of background. This was the culmination of MONTHS of storytelling and plotting. It was also Bryan Kirkwood's (Ex-Hollyoaks Executive producer, now EastEnders executive producer) first massive storyline.

Sam Owen (Louis Tamone) was sent away for rape, but after attempting suicide in jail he is sent to hospital where he escapes! He begins to plot his revenge on the ones who sent him away, and what better way then manipulating his younger sister? Anyways a long story short everyone is gathered at the local pub (The dog) to have a drink, they get ready to leave when Sophie (Connie Powney) gets a call from whom she believes to be Sam's brother (Russ), but it is SAM! Well watch the video to see what happens.

Now as a result of this storyline Sam dies, but not before taking the lives of Melanie Burton (Cassie Powney), Joe Spencer (Matt Milburn), Olivia Johnson (Rochelle Gadd) and Mel's twin, Sophie.

Lastly I am just going to briefly touch upon Hannah's Story. This touching, moving, and award winning storyline was just all together epic. Beginning with a slow build, Hannah Ashworth developed an eating disorder. With her best friend becoming a model Hannah started feeling 'fat' and inept in comparison. Things only got worse when Hannah became friends with Sarah's co-worker Melissa (Carla Chases). After months of building, and struggles, Melissa and Hannah finally decide to leave the village together so they can escape the pesky parents who keep sticking their nose where it doesn't belong. Unfortunately things do not go well, as Melissa is gravely ill, and Hannah is not far behind as the two have been attempting to fit into a size 0, and have finally made it.

Unfortunately the video is not embedable. But you can head on over to youtube and check it out here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cZJ5sKtSS5I

So what are some of your favorite Hollyoaks moments?

Memorable Soap Deaths 3

Hey All! Way back in March, fellow Denial Island resident SoapWikiJohn posted some of his Memorable Soap Deaths. I loved his post, and I followed it with Memorable Soap Deaths 2, where I posted some of my personal favorites.

Well...we're baaaaaaack! Here are some of our readers' picks!

1. Death By Plaster: Jeremy Hunter, Loving (formerly of All My Children)

Erica's Evil Twin cited the death of Jeremy Hunter (Jean LeClerc) as one of the most memorable, and silliest, soap deaths. In 1995, Loving was cancelled (spinned off as the ill-fated The City) and the final storyline featured a serial killer bumping off a good chunk of the cast (geez, I'm thankful the GL and ATWT finales were better than that!) One of the victims was former Pine Valley/AMC resident Jeremy Hunter, suffering a truly weird and surreal death! Campy and Hilarious or Just Plain Stupid? You be the judge!

(skip to 7:32 for Jeremy's death in all its slo-mo glory and make sure to watch until the end so you don't miss his 'body' being discovered!)




2. Too Young To Die: Cassie Newman, The Young and the Restless

Inbal, Imgoodbackup and Pam all cited the 2005 death of Cassie Newman (Camryn Grimes) on Y&R as a memorable soap death. I have to agree! Not only was this incredibly sad, but it was shocking! She was a Newman heir (though not biologically), a popular character played by a popular actress who we watched grow up onscreen, and she was soooo young! I still feel that killing her off was a mistake, but the emotional impact of her death is undeniable. I cried hysterically when this first aired, and it still hits me hard when I watch it now! Brilliantly acted, written and edited...get your tissues out:




3. Shot and Dropped From a Cliff, Roger Meets His Maker: Roger Thorpe, Guiding Light

Pam picked Roger's 1980 "death" in Santo Domingo as her most memorable soap death. I never saw it originally, but had a blast watching it on YouTube! Roger is dragging poor Holly through the jungle as Ed and Mike (who??) chase after them. One thing leads to another, and the dastardly Roger finally gets what's coming to him...or so viewers thought. I love the sparks between Maureen Garrett and Michael Zaslow - whether Holly and Roger were hating each other or loving each other - Maureen and Michael were always magic!
(RIP Michael Zaslow - one of the greats, he'll never be forgotten)




Any other Memorable Soap Deaths that broke your heart, shocked you, or just made you giggle? Let us know!

-Melanie/SoapOperaBabble/daisyclover1938

He Said/She Said: As the World Turns

Almost two weeks ago (yikes!), our SoapWikiJohn blogged about the final week of ATWT in the latest installment of our He Said/She Said: ATWT Finale series. He loved Jack and Carly’s wedding, Parker’s decision to become a cop and Katie getting a happy ending with Chris. He was also highly critical of the final week, his major complaints being: No enough returns, useless recasts of Liberty and Hope, lack of Martha Byrne, no happy ending for Luke or Nuke and too much Janet. Judging from what I read on the blogosphere, twitter and in the mainstream soap press, J’s thoughts mirrored what many fans felt about the finale. For the most part, I agree with a lot of what’s been said, though I do seem to hold some unpopular opinions (be prepared for a defense of Janet!) It’s been awhile since the final week of ATWT aired, so forgive me if some of the things I mentioned were aired before the final week. So here’s my roundup, Good/Bad/Ugly Remix style!

He Said/ She Said - As The World Turns Final Week - Part 1

There is no denying that there was a lot of good within As The World Turns final week, but even so there were a lot of issues that could have easily been rectified. So grab your hat, and get ready because we are about to dive right back in to Denial Island's "He said / She said debate!"

To read my thoughts on the final episode click here, and to read Melanie*SoapOperaBabble*daisyclover1938 (.... She could not possibly pick a longer username could she?) click here.

Let's tackle the good first shall we?

Jack and Carly Got Married!

So within the final days of world turns, the fan favorite coupling of Jack and Carly reunited and got married one final time. The wedding was nice, simple, and brought closure to the CarJack coupling's story.

The wedding also brought the character of Parker full circle as he announced (with the help of Margo) that he was going to join the academy and follow in his father / stepfathers footsteps.

Another good storyline for the week was Katie and Chris's relationship, it was nice to see the two of them happy and for Katie to get her happily ever after that she has always deserved.

See Mel, I can do nice! I can, really! But um now let's get onto the bad.

No returns!

Okay let's see, we have a 54 year old show, with hundreds of people going through the doors to Oakdale, and you are telling me we cannot have ANY returns within the final week? Not even for CarJack's wedding? I mean even at the end of Guiding Light they recast Payton and brought her on, but we cannot get a recast J.J?

There were so many little characters and little moments that could have brought up so much history and tied things together so much nicer. Why didn’t Daniel return and have the past between Emily and Tom winked at while Emily is getting ready to marry Paul. Or we could have had a recast Liza, or seen Johnny, or any of the little kids in Oakdale for that matter.

Oh but we did see the kids you say, we saw Recast Hope and Recast Liberty….And that brings me to my next point. WHY DID WE NEED THEM? I am sorry, I know that they didn’t really want to kill off the character of Liberty after having just killed off her father. But the death would have been so much more memorable and made so much more sense then recasting the character with someone we didn’t care about so to have a plot device and suck up more airtime that could have been devoted to other things. Then we have Nu-Hope……again what was the point? The character lusted after her cousin and made a fool out of herself while she was busy worrying about reuniting mom and dad….then at the end of the day she made no real contribution to the story what-so-ever.

But hey, at least we got to have Martha Byrne back for…oh wait we didn’t, we got to see Holden and Lily reunite a little but no real closure whatso ever. And that is just bull crap. I am sorry it is, they could have easily brought Rose either back from the dead, or as a ghost and helped wrap up the storylines while giving the fans one last good-bye to an actress that they loved.

There was NO HAPPY ending for 'Nuke'?

Okay are you serious P&G? Out of all the characters you gave unbelievable endings to, the only one you decided to happily forget is the one who happens to be a homosexual? Wow there is no horrible discrimination here at all is there? I didn’t need to see an ‘instant’ relationship, but why couldn’t Noah have called Luke and invited him to come down to LA for a bit, and their last scene been a reuniting kiss?

To Big of a focus on Janet -

I love Janet, I love the actress and all of her hard work, but I did not need for the entire final week of World turns to be about her and her baby! There was other things we could have focuses on had we simply wrapped up that storyline on Monday and moved on with things. But that was not going to happen, we instead got Janet and Dusty EVERY SINGLE DAY. While I understand that the storyline was a part of ATWT's history and needed to be wrapped up nicely, you could tell that the writers were trying to force the storyline, and that is why for me at least it fell flat.

Anyways that's my take on the final week, look for Mel's posting soon as we continue to discuss the ending to a fantastic show.

This is Coronation Street: The 1st 5 Episodes

For anyone out there who, like me, loves classic soaps and is curious about non-US shows, here's a tip for you: Netflix has a series of Coronation Street DVDs available to rent, including This is Coronation Street: First 5 episodes & The Anniversary Special, Coronation Street: Farewell to Mike, and Coronation Street Family Albums. I can't wait to watch these dvds and figured I'd blog my thoughts here for fellow Denial Islanders who might be interested in checking them out.

First up: This is Coronation Street: The First 5 Episodes

First, a warning: I am almost a complete newbie to Coronation Street. Besides watching this dvd, the Farewell to Mike dvd awhile ago and a couple of random eps on YouTube, I'm pretty clueless about the show. So please forgive the lack of knowledge I'll be displaying here, lol.

Here's what I do know: the show premiered on December 9, 1960, in B&W, airing two evenings a week. From what I could tell in the first 5 episodes, the show is set in a working class town and deals with the lives of the various people who live on Coronation Street. A nice surprise at the end of two episodes is the camera panning down the street, listing the actors credits in front of their characters' homes - a fun way of letting the audience know where the characters live in relation to one another.

I enjoyed these episodes tremendously and found myself disappointed that I could never watch the rest of the show. Within just a few episodes I began caring about these characters and wanting to know what ended up happening to them - though the dvd features 'Character Profiles' which answered some of my questions (it includes character bios, years they appeared on the show, and their various addresses during their time on the show.)

A special shout-out to my favorite character on the show: Ena Sharples (played by Violet Carson)

Separated at Birth?

Corrie's Violet Carson (Ena)

and

Character Actress Anne Ramsey

At first, I thought Ena would be a character I loved to hate, but I have to admit, I just loved her. A churchgoing, bar-dwelling, tough, judgmental, busybody who seems to always be getting into fights with people - this character is hardly original. Yet, Ms. Carson played her with such gusto, dignity and genuine pathos - I found myself caring for the curmudgeon in spite of myself. I just can't let this character go! I'll have to try and find some clips of her on YouTube.

As most of you may know, there is only one actor who has stayed with the show through its entire run: William Roache (as Ken Barlow). 50 years of playing the same character is not unheard of (Don Hastings was Dr. Bob Hughes continuously for 50 years on ATWT), but it's impressive nonetheless. From what I've read on wiki, the character is considered a bore, but I was intrigued by him. What I liked about these first 5 episodes is that it dealt with realistic problems: difficulty in marriages, a mother dealing with a son just out of prison, romantic woes, and most intriguing, University student Ken's conflicting feelings regarding his working class roots. While being close to his family, and not wanting to be ashamed of where he comes from, you can tell there's a desire to break free and pursue a more intellectual and prosperous life. How ironic then that out of everyone, it would be Ken who remained on Coronation Street for his entire life.


Thanks for reading my Coronation Street babbling! I highly recommend this dvd to Soapies with an interest in soap history. I'll be watching the other dvds as well. Next up will be This is Coronation Street: The Anniversary Special. (FYI: The Anniversary Special and The First 5 Episodes are actually part of a 2 disc collection under the name This is Coronation Street, however, Netflix has them listed separately.)
-Melanie/SoapOperaBabble/daisyclover1938

Emmerdale Thoughts + Tram Crash Promo!

*Takes a deep breath* Oh lord in the morning, it looks like Emmerdale (ED) is stealing a page out of the As The World Turns playbook and is going to run over the poor little gay boy with a train... -.- But let's just hope he gets a nice road to recovery shall we? (This is nothing confirmed or spoiler, simply my thoughts).

But even with that beyond stupd plot point, I mean SERIOUSLY!, I am loving Emmerdale, even more so then Coronation Street and even Home and Away!!!!! Yes I said it, I am loving the rural soap more then my all time favorite Australian sudser! But that is only because Home and Away doesn’t even know where it is at the moment.

So what is it about ED that keeps me coming back for more? Well I have already listed most of it before in my Am I really enjoing Emmerdale? Post, but I have to admit I am really getting sucked into Aaron (Danny Miller) and Jackson’s (Marc Silcock) story! It is what One Life To Live’s Kish should have been, it is well acted, well portrayed, and lacks most of the outragous plot points that found its way into the Kish storyline…I said most…

Anyways Emmerdale has quickly become appointment TV and I know I will be glued to my screen to see who they run over in the explosive game changing episode.

Are you going to be tuning in? Are you enjoing Emmerdale? Let me know in the comments below.

EastEnders Janine Going to be Nastier Than Ever Before!

Stacy Branning better watch her scrutched up little self as our Mel likes to say, because Janine is on the warpath, and she's not going to hold back.

In the recent What's on TV interview Charlie Brookes, who portrays the newly deemed, Janine Malloy, has come out saying that -

"She will turn into the nastiest bitch you can ever imagine. She does some really awful things."

Janine recently found out that her new hubby Ryan (Neil McDermott) is Stacy's (Lacey Turner) baby daddy, and she is not taking it well to say the least.

I have been LOVING this story, and it is just so classic Janine to finally become happy to only have some scutchy nose little twit come and wreck everything.

What are your thoughts on Janine and her current storyline? Are you enjoying it or do you wish she would tone things down a bit? Let me know in the comments bellow.