Changing of the Guard

This week Sabine Singh and Rebecca Budig switched places in the role of Greenlee Smythe (as if you didn't get that message from the 5 gazillion ads ABC ran). By the way, what is AMC's deal with not leaving more time in between recasts? Soap fans frequently practice suspension of belief, why not help them out a little?

Alright, so where do I start? Well, I guess I can appreciate that the powers-that-be tried to soothe disapointed Ailee fans (version 1) with a love scene. I could say it's the thought that counts but good Lord was that awkward or what? "You had me at hello?" "It's called reiki...It's a Japanese term for 'universal energy' that promotes healing on -- on every level?" I mean what is that? And was anyone else completely thrown by this:

Greenlee: And what I said before about another woman, I --
Aidan: Hey, I'm sorry.
Greenlee: No.
Aidan: I overreacted.

Did they cut a scene? If so, couldn't we have saved this discussion for another day? What about a nice little conversation full of double meanings? Something along the lines of "I can't believe how wonderful the last few months have been...I can't imagine leaving you..." blah blah blah. Sometihng that's bittersweet because the actress is leaving and she could probably use that emotion to knock her final scenes out of the park. Sadly, this adieu just fell flat for me, but then again, considering what allegedly went on behind the scenes, I'd have a little trouble selling happy too.

One last note on Greenlee 2.0, I think Sabine Singh has done a good job with the role, especially considering the story she was given to work with:

Girl returns to hometown, tries to take back her ex; considers stealing her best friends child; wrecks car (that contains herself and said child) while correcting an earlier mistake; blamed for child's deafness; becomes town pariah who is set up by former best friend, best friend's mother and husband; goes to jail for a crime she didn't commit; falls into a bomb shelter with a man she hates while making a run for the Canadian border; suffers hunger, thirst, cold, falls, snake bite and claustrophobia while trapped in said shelter for a month; rescued by her boyfriend (who she doesn't know has slept with former best friend); learns she isn't the source of a child's deafness; is forgiven and forgives (too quickly for my taste) her attackers; relives one of her worst nightmares watching a woman fall off a cliff and it now looks like she's about to get sick again.

Yeah, I'm not sure 10 Emmy-winning actresses could spin that into gold.

So the verdict on the new...or old...depending on how you look at it...Greenlee is.........I'm not really sure yet. I wasn't overly impressed with her comeback, but to be fair, as of now, she hasn't been given any meaty material. Also, I'm so annoyed by the overexposure that I don't think I could give her a fair critique at the moment. I need a Greenlee detox. Do they have a rehab for that? I'm down for that as long it doesn't involve an impromptu visit from Dr. Phil...


**On a completely unrelated note, Kendall and Zach as Greek chorus at Tad and Krystal's party was totally amusing. Thank God for small favors I guess.**

Reaching An All-Time Low

Congratulations ABC. You've reached levels of classlessness that I previously thought unobtainable.

First there was the online announcement that the "real Greenlee" was returning, then there was an interview, a banner and an official countdown on the daytime homepage, then the commercials hit the airwaves followed by a countdown ad (because only having it online wasn't enough), followed by the announcement of a Soapnet special and now this:

Yes, that is an ad for the original Greenlee's return WHILE the current Greenlee is still on the screen. I'd look pretty pissed too. I mean, what were they thinking?

Yeah, I don't know either.

Oh, but it doesn't stop there. That obnoxious ad ran during General Hospital:

Talk about overkill.

I think it's safe to say that Operation: Make Sabine Singh Feel Like S^*! was a success. I don't even know her and I'm offended.

All I can say is I sincerely hope that saying "what goes around comes around" is true.

AMC is L-A-M-E Lame

All My Children has done a lot of strange things this week (Greenlee defending Erica and Hannah hooking up with Sean after literally bumping into him at the park come to mind), but was it really necessary for Ryan to dance? The man was shot in the head and he suddenly has the urge to dance? A Viennese waltz makes you pretty dizzy (don't ask how I know) without the added effect of a head injury. With that bullet wound, the scene should have ended with Ryan's head in a bucket.

This was a completely over-the-top way to get Cameron Mathison to dance (didn't he already dance with Annie on NYE anyway?). I mean, if that's what the powers-that-be really wanted, couldn't they have found a more subtle way to do it? Why did his dance partner have to be someone too short to reach his shoulders? Why couldn't he have worn a hospital gown so I could have laughed at him attempting to keep the back shut? Perhaps the better question is, does he really need to dance at all?

I would understand if this was a ploy to promote Dancing With the Stars, but the show's been over for a while now and really, I think he's that last guy who needs more exposure. Cameron Mathison is probably THE most over exposed actor in daytime.

Case in point: I knew who he was before I ever started watching AMC.

Dear writers (temporary or not), the next time you think about creating such an awkward and obviously forced scene, stop and put all of that energy toward making the show better. Yes, it really could use an improvement and no, a dancing hospital patient is not a step in that direction.

BFFs or Frenemies?

Today Greenlee and Kendall made up (kind of) on All My Children. I realize that I'm new to the AMC scene, but for the life of me, I can't understand why Greenlee would want to be friends with Kendall.

Since I've started watching, Kendall's yelled at Greenlee repeatedly over Spike, planted false evidence on her computer and in her car, set her up for kidnapping and assault charges and slept with her boyfriend. I thought this was all just recent revenge because of the whole Spike thing, but then I caught the beginning of the retro AMC episode on Christmas. The two women were in wedding gowns, fighting over Ryan. Apparently Kendall had locked Greenlee up or some such soapy goodness to keep her from making it to the altar.

And this is the great friendship I keep hearing about?

Wow. With friends like these who needs enemies?

Bureacratic BS

What the bloody hell is this???

They fired Sabine Singh so the original Greenlee can come back? Are you kidding me??!! I am so upset because I have really enjoyed the chemistry between Singh and Aiden Turner. Like I've said before, I only started watching AMC because of this couple.

I tried to cool down after hearing the news, but the more digging I did to find out the whys and hows, the more pissed I became. For example have you seen this letter that's circling the Internet? (Scroll down to see the original posting by Superposter of the Year).

The post starts like this:

ITS TRUE.

hi. im new to the board but have been reading it for months now as ss is one of my oldest dearest friends from home. I also hope she does not get angry at me for writing today and speaking HER TRUTH. She is DEVASTATED but is doing everything she can to hide it and continue to honor and respect the show, the fans, and her friends at amc. She was given the news this week and basically, i kid you not, given less than a week to "quietly get out".

And it only gets worse from there.

It's hard to say if this is a legit letter or if a disgruntled fan posted it, but either way, I have a feeling it's pretty close to the truth. Just check out ABC Daytime's Website:

The "Real" Greenlee?

Wow.

If that isn't a huge slap in the face to Sabine, I don't know what is.

I don't know the behind-the-scenes nitty gritty because I wasn't there, but it looks to me like the AMC execs are looking for a quick fix to plummeting ratings and they think bringing back the original actress is going to fix that. By the way, it isn't. What you need is better writing, but that's a post for another day.

One of the things that bothers me is the timing. Isn't Sabine in the middle of a contract? It seems like they kicked her out as soon as the original actress decided to come back. From what I understand, Rebecca left to pursue other opportunities and has turned down the chance to return to AMC different times. My guess is those "other opportunities" didn't happen and she misses a steady paycheck, which is understandable, I just hate that it's at the expense of Sabine.

Now I don't know Rebecca, but I'm not sure I can root for her either. In a Q&A, here's what she had say about her recent roles:

Well, I just did a CSI. That was pretty cool--I played a stripper!

Um, yeah............

She was excited about playing a stripper.

Nope. I'm not feeling that.

So while I realize I'm probably in the minority here because generally speaking, viewers prefer the original actor on any soap, I still think this sucks and it's wrong. Minority or not, I think Sabine has developed quite a few fans so how about a compromise. How about bring her back as a different character? Kind of like GH is with Sarah Brown.

I just cited GH as an example of a good idea. That's how big of a mess AMC is right now.

Because I know I probaby won't get my way, I had resigned myself to the fact that I could at least enjoy the last month of scenes between Sabine and Aiden because you know their characters will be reunited by Christmas, but then I saw AMC's promo for the week.

Are you freaking kidding me?

Aidan and Kendall sleep together because of GRIEF??!!

You effin' (expletives)!!!

I have one month left to enjoy scenes with these actors and you're going to ruin it with this contrived crap?

Not only that, but now we find out that Greenlee isn't responsible for Spike's deafness. So what your saying is after months of having to play scenes where everybody hates her, Sabine has to leave, before she receives the reward of having scenes of acceptance??!!

@@#$%&*($@!!!!

God I hate this show!

Investigating 101

Kendall's new plan to frame Greenlee was definitely an upgrade from her dumbass plan to secretly write fake journal entires on Greenlee's computer. It was about as ridiculous Amelia's you-killed-my-father-so-now-I'm-going-to-make-you-famous revenge plot on GH.

While it was an improvement, this revenge plot is as full of holes as a slice of swiss cheese so it's bothersome that the police department couldn't see right through it. Example: The first discrepency between the two stories was whether or not Kendall called Greenlee. Would it really have been that hard to snatch both of their phones and check the call log? It's not rocket science. Geez!

One thing the Pine Valley PD did do right was stick Aidan in a cell next to Greenlee. He assaulted an officer so he could keep her company. Awwwww....I heart him.

Calm Looks Good on You

Greenlee and Ryan's little talk Wednesday definitely surprised me, mostly because it consisted of an apology, a rare act on soaps and from what I've seen so far, I'm guessing it's a rarity for Ryan as well. Something tells me Ryan's the type of guy that gets what he wants when he wants it and doesn't feel the need to apologize.

Overacting has been an issue for me with All My Children so that's probably why these calm, subtle scenes were so enjoyable to me.

This:

Was a nice change from this:The former is less distracting, wouldn't you say?

Confessional Booth

Forgive me, Father, for I have sinned. I have broken my cardinal rule to never watch All My Children and it's all Aiden Devane's fault.

I grew up watching Days of Our Lives during naptime and that was my only soap until the writing became so crappy that I jumped ship. I stumbled upon General Hospital and have used it in recent years to feed my soap addiction. I was biased on principle against other soaps and while I never watched All My Children, I just knew that it was the lowest of the low - that's the rep I knew of and I knew it had to be true because of promos I had seen. Ironically, those ads that kept me away are the very things that sucked me in.

A while back I saw a commercial for Aiden and Greenlee's drunken night of sex and thought, "Hm, I'm bored. He's hot. Why not?" and THIS is what I found.

Um, if that's the therapy I get for a busted rib, I'd let him crack my ribs anyday.

So now I find myself fastforwarding through everything except Aiden and Greenlee scenes and feeling slightly dirty when I realize I'm actually watching AMC. My interest in this couple does NOT mean I suddenly believe AMC is God's gift. I still think the writing is lacking (but shows potential) and the actors don't always make the best choices.

I should have known that I was going to fall for this guy because he's related to Robin Scorpio (and I pretty much like all of her relatives) and he has a hot accent. I think these things are going to hold my attention for the foreseeable future, so for now, I'm going to sit back and enjoy the pretty. I'm sure the people in charge will find a way to ruin this for me sooner or later and I'm guessing sooner rather than later now that the baby crazy disease has migrated over from General Hospital and injected itself directly into Greenlee's system.

I really don't want to watch, but I'm a sucker for couples with a love/hate relationship and sexy, shirtless guys.

Damn you British accent!