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TheBacklot interview with Greg Meng
Topic Started: Nov 5 2013, 06:23 PM (5,907 Views)
T-Love74
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JarlenaLante
Nov 5 2013, 07:36 PM
"We've got great stories...Let's tell it faster." Faster? Beyond sweeps things move at a snail's pace around here.
What is your definition of a "snail's pace"? If this show, right now, were under JER,
Kristen would go through damn near 1000 near misses and it would be another year
and a half before Brady/Eric found out the truth.
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Graceland
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My son is not a homersexual.

Can someone explain to me Chandler's current absence? What is the point of bringing him back next month? When a character goes on a short journey, isn't this the perfect and typical opportunity for them to come back recast? Instead, they're going to switch the actors from one day to the next in January. I don't get it. What's the point of this Berkeley story? Will a writer??! That was strange to begin with. I guess Chandler wasn't working for a few week's awhile back. Maybe they cut him for budget reasons? I'm confused.
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michr544125


Graceland
Nov 6 2013, 02:43 PM
Can someone explain to me Chandler's current absence? What is the point of bringing him back next month? When a character goes on a short journey, isn't this the perfect and typical opportunity for them to come back recast? Instead, they're going to switch the actors from one day to the next in January. I don't get it. What's the point of this Berkeley story? Will a writer??! That was strange to begin with. I guess Chandler wasn't working for a few week's awhile back. Maybe they cut him for budget reasons? I'm confused.
I'm just guessing that maybe they had originally planned to not have Will come home for a while or after he went away have him come back and then tell Sonny he's permanently going to California. That would all be to buy them time to decide if they were recasting. Maybe they quickly decided they were recasting or found a replacement and changed story fast. Beyond that it makes no sense to make an issue out of Will leaving for all of a week.
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OliveAnn


First of all, I must say that it saddens me to see "returning friends and family for Christmas" being made synonymous with "just Doug and Julie and nobody else". I long for the days (no pun intended) when the show would actually bother to bring former characters for special occasions, holidays included. If the show were like in the olden days, Sarah Horton would be back for Christmas and giving Daniel a side-eye. Caroline's grandchildren would be back with their parents and they'd all have a Christmas feast in the pub. I'm sure some of the portrayers of all these characters are available and would be willing to come back. But, yeah, the show can't afford them. Yet, somehow, Corday's daughter is affordable.

As fasr as Chandler's exit goes... the whole this is blown waaay out of proportion. I honestly do not find it worthy of an interview where it needs to be clarified what exactly happened. The way I see it, nobody wins. Guy doesn't win because rather than looking forward to his first air date, he has to dread it because of the attacks on him that you know will happen. Chandler doesn't win, either, due to some fans who are quite frankly making him out to be a much bigger deal than he honestly is. To me, this is very reminiscent of the Drew Garrett situation on GH. Everyone was obsessing with Drew, saying he was the best young actor to appear on daytime in ages (sound familiar?). Then, when he was fired and Chad Duell replaced him, fans were up in arms over the recast. How dare anyone replace the great and magnificent Drew (again, sound familiar?)? Everyone was sure Chad would fail and the producers of GH would be begging Drew to come back. Well, that didn't quite happen. Chad successfully took over the role of Michael and is the best known portrayer in the role so far. Meanwhile, when was the last time you heard of Drew Garrett? I'm mentioning this story because being loved by the daytime fans and critics and having one or multiple Emmys doesn't guarantee success in primetime or movies. If you think Chandler is the only talented blonde, blue-eyed actor with a face to die for out there, then Zach Roerig and Hunter Parrish invite you to google their names. It takes a lot of work and even luck to make it out there. I wish Chandler all the best and I hope he is able to go onto bigger and better. But, be aware of the fact that he might not succeed and might turn out to be overrated, no matter how amazing and brilliant he is considered to be now.
Edited by OliveAnn, Nov 6 2013, 06:05 PM.
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LuvingLumi
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Come on Ron, We are counting on YOU !!

T-Love74
Nov 6 2013, 01:24 PM
JarlenaLante
Nov 5 2013, 07:36 PM
"We've got great stories...Let's tell it faster." Faster? Beyond sweeps things move at a snail's pace around here.
What is your definition of a "snail's pace"? If this show, right now, were under JER,
Kristen would go through damn near 1000 near misses and it would be another year
and a half before Brady/Eric found out the truth.
but I can guarantee that at least the camp would be there and we'd be entertained....a well written build up isn't as bad as a bad written build up that leads to a bad reveal....we might get a good reveal but the build up hasn't been that satisfying IMHO.
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JarlenaLante
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T-Love74
Nov 6 2013, 01:24 PM
JarlenaLante
Nov 5 2013, 07:36 PM
"We've got great stories...Let's tell it faster." Faster? Beyond sweeps things move at a snail's pace around here.
What is your definition of a "snail's pace"? If this show, right now, were under JER,
Kristen would go through damn near 1000 near misses and it would be another year
and a half before Brady/Eric found out the truth.
Oh, I agree about how slow the show was under JER, but I don't honestly think anyone could move stories slower than him. Weren't there some wild stories about a day lasting about 6 months on Passions?
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Graceland
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My son is not a homersexual.

michr544125
Nov 6 2013, 03:04 PM
Graceland
Nov 6 2013, 02:43 PM
Can someone explain to me Chandler's current absence? What is the point of bringing him back next month? When a character goes on a short journey, isn't this the perfect and typical opportunity for them to come back recast? Instead, they're going to switch the actors from one day to the next in January. I don't get it. What's the point of this Berkeley story? Will a writer??! That was strange to begin with. I guess Chandler wasn't working for a few week's awhile back. Maybe they cut him for budget reasons? I'm confused.
I'm just guessing that maybe they had originally planned to not have Will come home for a while or after he went away have him come back and then tell Sonny he's permanently going to California. That would all be to buy them time to decide if they were recasting. Maybe they quickly decided they were recasting or found a replacement and changed story fast. Beyond that it makes no sense to make an issue out of Will leaving for all of a week.
That makes sense and I've been considering that for a couple of the storylines like Gabi and Cameron being together which was the original intention (per SOD), but then Nathan Owens decided to leave. The writers need a three week notice of an actor choosing to leave (or something like that)?
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tylerbo20


jam6242
Nov 5 2013, 06:59 PM
Based on his other comments, I guess I shouldn't get too excited that he recognizes that Doug and Julie are iconic and loved by the fans.
and you guys wonder why im negative about the show I loved....

iconic to tptb means backburn tear apart and keep them off the show...so watch out.
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JarlenaLante
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Matt
Nov 6 2013, 12:13 PM
*sigh*

I beg the board's indulgence. I feel a case of Fantasy Headwriting coming on...

IMO, it would be very easy to fix a lot of this Maggie Kiriakis problem while also addressing Egg Baby and bringing on a new family that's mostly unrelated to mix with the existing characters while utilizing story elements/characters who already exist.

I would branch all of this on Jordan Ridgeway's mysterious past. First, I would bring back Sarah Horton (late 30s) who takes an immediate dislike to Daniel which would then build to I-hate-you-but-I'm-forbiddenly-attracted-to-you storyline. Being bio-half siblings, it would be a definite forbidden attraction that would eventually be masked by Sarah's hate of Daniel & her desire to see that Jennifer stays away from him "For Jennifer's own good." Meanwhile, Liam is revealed as Jordan's ex-husband who's also from a VERY prominent and dangerous family. Despite her feelings for Liam, she faked her death & went underground to escape his family once she learned the truth about the shady business dealings of his father (who then comes to town to mix with the mature set). It turns out that the father is an old friend/business partner of Victor's. His arrival makes Victor VERY uncomfortable and he does his best to get him, Liam, & Jordan out of Salem ASAP. The father's younger son (late 30s) then arrives in Salem and takes a shine to Abby. The younger son is VERY shady and dangerous and almost makes the father look like a pussycat.

Long story short, it turns out the younger son is really Maggie's eggbaby and Victor falsefied all of the paperwork and test results to prove than Daniel was really her child in order to stop her search & protect her from the villainous father. Maggie, furious with Victor's lies, leaves him. Enter Don Craig who's investigating the villainous father (and has been for many, many years). It turns out the villainous father is the bio-father of the younger son while Maggie is the bio-mother. The younger son is the villainous father's only bio-son because it turns out that Liam was the product of an affair his now dead mother had with --- Don Craig.

Well, you see how this works. :)
Matt, this is way too convoluted for the current regime to execute, but would be awesome for the following 2 reasons:

1. This show is in dire need of a new family and/or characters not part of Salem's core families.

2. This show is also in dire need of some old school villains who wreak all kinds of havoc on Salem. Good examples of this can be found by the current crop of baddies on GH right now. We need some card carrying members of the Legion of Doom.
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KAM


OliveAnn
Nov 6 2013, 04:37 PM

As fasr as Chandler's exit goes... the whole this is blown waaay out of proportion. I honestly do not find it worthy of an interview where it needs to be clarified what exactly happened. The way I see it, nobody wins. Guy doesn't win because rather than looking forward to his first air date, he has to dread it because of the attacks on him that you know will happen.
Per comments to the article, Guy Wilson was already dealing with Twitter haters for replacing Chandler Massey. I don't follow his Twitter, so I don't know how true or big a deal that is. The article may been intended in part to quell some fan unrest. IDK. But if so, I agree that Meng did no one any favors with his responses.
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SadieEsperanto


Graceland
Nov 6 2013, 02:43 PM
Can someone explain to me Chandler's current absence? What is the point of bringing him back next month? When a character goes on a short journey, isn't this the perfect and typical opportunity for them to come back recast? Instead, they're going to switch the actors from one day to the next in January. I don't get it. What's the point of this Berkeley story? Will a writer??! That was strange to begin with. I guess Chandler wasn't working for a few week's awhile back. Maybe they cut him for budget reasons? I'm confused.
Chandler asked (in advance) for an extra week's vacation, tacked on to the show's post-Emmy dark period, to go on a family trip to Peru. TPTB agreed to block tape him in combination w/ sending Will out of town for a few days to cover his absence. It wasn't storyline-related and had nothing to do with the recast, although now it's serving to confuse that issue because of the (unintentional) close timing.
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Daysfanatic79
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JoeBucs32
Nov 6 2013, 09:00 AM
I love Maggie as well -- but she needs some restoring to the "true" Maggie, not the Maggie of the last few years.

And how dare Meng talk about Doug and Julie being fan favorites and then NEVER use them in storylines?!

Ugh!
First About Will and Sonny: This gives me little to no hope that this pairing will get any story time of substance in the near future. We need an interloper or a challenge they can face together. What we have been seeing with them going around town doing people favors just doesn't ring true, and constitutes no real story. AND, tune me out if it has to do with Gabby. I am over her.

Doug and Julie: While I like Suzanne Rogers, Maggie is no longer even a Horton. The banner couple of the Horton family is Doug and Julie, and I am glad he recognizes that. The thing about Meng is, he realizes what is really right sometimes, but then goes and does the opposite. When he came on, he did bring back some vets, but he also allowed MarDar to go off into neverland and did not help the show gain some focus. So, when he praises Doug and Julie, I get excited that someone up top knows we want a core couple for everyone to turn to and believe in. We are lacking that rock of stability, and a couple everyone younger can aspire to be. The answer is Doug and Julie. Sure, give Maggie some airtime, but not at the expense of Hope, Marlena, and I could go on. I like Maggie Simmons (her maiden name), but I don't adore her.

Greg Meng: "Dream Team Writers"? He has been in this industry long enough to know they are no dream team, but saying that means very little folks. I have seen high scale execs sing the praises of writers one minute, and fire them the next. Does he really think they are a "dream team"? God only knows for sure, but I think he knows that's a full of shit statement! Things can turn on a dime in daytime. Who knows, even Meng himself could one day be on ice. One thing is certain in the soap world: Change.
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michr544125


SadieEsperanto
Nov 6 2013, 11:07 PM
Graceland
Nov 6 2013, 02:43 PM
Can someone explain to me Chandler's current absence? What is the point of bringing him back next month? When a character goes on a short journey, isn't this the perfect and typical opportunity for them to come back recast? Instead, they're going to switch the actors from one day to the next in January. I don't get it. What's the point of this Berkeley story? Will a writer??! That was strange to begin with. I guess Chandler wasn't working for a few week's awhile back. Maybe they cut him for budget reasons? I'm confused.
Chandler asked (in advance) for an extra week's vacation, tacked on to the show's post-Emmy dark period, to go on a family trip to Peru. TPTB agreed to block tape him in combination w/ sending Will out of town for a few days to cover his absence. It wasn't storyline-related and had nothing to do with the recast, although now it's serving to confuse that issue because of the (unintentional) close timing.
Yes, I understand Chandler asked for vacation during this time. However, the time of the scheduled vacation was also right after Chandler announced that he wasn't re-signing and many could argue the show was not happy how he announced it. So to me it seems like the show maybe took advantage of this timing to make this more story dictated than anything and were maybe going to make this exit longer or have him come back only to send him off again after this initial seed was planted. They could have made some last minute changes. There is no reason IMO to make such a fuss over a character leaving for all of 2 weeks on screen when the character has barely been on any way.
Edited by michr544125, Nov 7 2013, 07:03 AM.
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T-Love74
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JarlenaLante
Nov 6 2013, 05:21 PM
T-Love74
Nov 6 2013, 01:24 PM
JarlenaLante
Nov 5 2013, 07:36 PM
"We've got great stories...Let's tell it faster." Faster? Beyond sweeps things move at a snail's pace around here.
What is your definition of a "snail's pace"? If this show, right now, were under JER,
Kristen would go through damn near 1000 near misses and it would be another year
and a half before Brady/Eric found out the truth.
Oh, I agree about how slow the show was under JER, but I don't honestly think anyone could move stories slower than him. Weren't there some wild stories about a day lasting about 6 months on Passions?
I think it was around the "Passions Disaster" that a whole "day" lasted a whole month, lol.
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SadieEsperanto


michr544125
Nov 7 2013, 06:57 AM
SadieEsperanto
Nov 6 2013, 11:07 PM
Graceland
Nov 6 2013, 02:43 PM
Can someone explain to me Chandler's current absence? What is the point of bringing him back next month? When a character goes on a short journey, isn't this the perfect and typical opportunity for them to come back recast? Instead, they're going to switch the actors from one day to the next in January. I don't get it. What's the point of this Berkeley story? Will a writer??! That was strange to begin with. I guess Chandler wasn't working for a few week's awhile back. Maybe they cut him for budget reasons? I'm confused.
Chandler asked (in advance) for an extra week's vacation, tacked on to the show's post-Emmy dark period, to go on a family trip to Peru. TPTB agreed to block tape him in combination w/ sending Will out of town for a few days to cover his absence. It wasn't storyline-related and had nothing to do with the recast, although now it's serving to confuse that issue because of the (unintentional) close timing.
Yes, I understand Chandler asked for vacation during this time. However, the time of the scheduled vacation was also right after Chandler announced that he wasn't re-signing and many could argue the show was not happy how he announced it. So to me it seems like the show maybe took advantage of this timing to make this more story dictated than anything and were maybe going to make this exit longer or have him come back only to send him off again after this initial seed was planted. They could have made some last minute changes. There is no reason IMO to make such a fuss over a character leaving for all of 2 weeks on screen when the character has barely been on any way.
What I was trying to clarify was that the scenes regarding Will's absence were taped before Chandler's Emmy announcement. You can't retaliate against something that hasn't happened yet.
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crookedhalo


I don't mind the change in the roll of Will

"crookedhalo ducks in case of flying debris"

I didn't buy him as a gay man, he always looks uncomfortable, IMO, in the romantic scenes. Though as Sami & Lucas' son, he blows me away.
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Aliaron
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crookedhalo
Nov 7 2013, 04:16 PM
I don't mind the change in the roll of Will

"crookedhalo ducks in case of flying debris"

I didn't buy him as a gay man, he always looks uncomfortable, IMO, in the romantic scenes. Though as Sami & Lucas' son, he blows me away.
I thought he was horrible as Lucas and Sami son. He didn't seem to be comfortable as a schemer either. He is just to weak and passive.
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somuchwhatever
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Brotherly Love

Aliaron
Nov 7 2013, 06:31 PM
crookedhalo
Nov 7 2013, 04:16 PM
I don't mind the change in the roll of Will

"crookedhalo ducks in case of flying debris"

I didn't buy him as a gay man, he always looks uncomfortable, IMO, in the romantic scenes. Though as Sami & Lucas' son, he blows me away.
I thought he was horrible as Lucas and Sami son. He didn't seem to be comfortable as a schemer either. He is just to weak and passive.
But he was quite awesome in scenes with Deidra Hall. I loved the Marlena/Will interaction, especially when he was first working through the whole coming out arc.
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Casey
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OliveAnn
Nov 6 2013, 04:37 PM
Everyone was obsessing with Drew, saying he was the best young actor to appear on daytime in ages (sound familiar?). Then, when he was fired and Chad Duell replaced him, fans were up in arms over the recast. How dare anyone replace the great and magnificent Drew (again, sound familiar?)? Everyone was sure Chad would fail and the producers of GH would be begging Drew to come back. Well, that didn't quite happen. Chad successfully took over the role of Michael and is the best known portrayer in the role so far. Meanwhile, when was the last time you heard of Drew Garrett? I'm mentioning this story because being loved by the daytime fans and critics and having one or multiple Emmys doesn't guarantee success in primetime or movies. If you think Chandler is the only talented blonde, blue-eyed actor with a face to die for out there, then Zach Roerig and Hunter Parrish invite you to google their names. It takes a lot of work and even luck to make it out there. I wish Chandler all the best and I hope he is able to go onto bigger and better. But, be aware of the fact that he might not succeed and might turn out to be overrated, no matter how amazing and brilliant he is considered to be now.
I have to agree with this. All of these younger actors keep jumping out of the nest when their contracts are up, but I have yet to see one of them on anything else after leaving Days. Rachel Melvin, Shelley Hennig, Molly Burnett, etc. I do think Massey has talent, but it's not going to surprise me if I don't end up seeing him on another program or in films.
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KAM


Casey
Nov 7 2013, 09:36 PM
OliveAnn
Nov 6 2013, 04:37 PM
Everyone was obsessing with Drew, saying he was the best young actor to appear on daytime in ages (sound familiar?). Then, when he was fired and Chad Duell replaced him, fans were up in arms over the recast. How dare anyone replace the great and magnificent Drew (again, sound familiar?)? Everyone was sure Chad would fail and the producers of GH would be begging Drew to come back. Well, that didn't quite happen. Chad successfully took over the role of Michael and is the best known portrayer in the role so far. Meanwhile, when was the last time you heard of Drew Garrett? I'm mentioning this story because being loved by the daytime fans and critics and having one or multiple Emmys doesn't guarantee success in primetime or movies. If you think Chandler is the only talented blonde, blue-eyed actor with a face to die for out there, then Zach Roerig and Hunter Parrish invite you to google their names. It takes a lot of work and even luck to make it out there. I wish Chandler all the best and I hope he is able to go onto bigger and better. But, be aware of the fact that he might not succeed and might turn out to be overrated, no matter how amazing and brilliant he is considered to be now.
I have to agree with this. All of these younger actors keep jumping out of the nest when their contracts are up, but I have yet to see one of them on anything else after leaving Days. Rachel Melvin, Shelley Hennig, Molly Burnett, etc. I do think Massey has talent, but it's not going to surprise me if I don't end up seeing him on another program or in films.
Well, none of the recent DOOL young alums have made it big yet in mainstream TV/movies.

However, Shelley Hennig was one of the stars of a CW show that lasted two seasons. And the young actress of that group who seems to have been most consistently employed is Ashley Benson, the last Abby, who is one of the four girl stars of Pretty Little Liars, now in its fourth season on ABC Family Entertainment. She also had a good role on ABC's network show Eastwick, which only lasted a season, plus some roles in forgettable films. Benson tried to negotiate an arrangement with DOOL to retain her role and also do a movie, but they wouldn't do it. So she moved on, and it has been pretty good for her

Probably the most successful DOOL young alum has been the first Eric Brady, Jensen Ackles. Since his DOOL departure in 2000 , Ackles has had good roles in several WB and CW TV series, including Dark Angel, Dawson's Creek, Smallville, and he is currently starring in Supernatural, now in its ninth season.

So the young soap actors see that it can happen and they feel compelled to give it a shot. But as OliveAnn noted, for many of them it will not happen, for whatever reason. So just wish them well.
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