Top Ten Things I Learned While Reading Branco

I'm all for praising quality work, but Branco is so over-the-top with his Carlivati love that it's almost turning me off to OLTL.

And that, I think, is the danger. I don't think readers mind when critics show praise or enthusaism or even engage in a bit of hyperbole. But they probably draw the line at stalker.

He clearly lacks objectivity. His initial assessment of Carlivati's OLTL was too much. In the first four minutes, he talked about as if it were the Citizen Kane of daytime. I agree the show is better with him Carlivati writing it, but the pedestal he is putting it on is skewed at best. Its a good show but its not Doug Marlands, As The World Turns or Claire Labines GH. He's made several comparisons. I just don't see it.

I don't think the key to attracting new viewers is to build something up so much that it produces the opposite reaction.

And if they don't draw the line here, they definitely will when Branco tells everyone how he surprised Ron in the shower.

Nelson Branco is a vile starf--ker. He's never heard a name he didn't want to drop.

His "personal" comments about Beverlee McKinsey were so tasteless I wanted to vomit. As per usual, he managed to make every moment All About Nelson.

But hey, he's the Guza of all the columnists. Who cares if what he writes is, y'know, GOOD, or if it has any value to it? He has people talking, so it must be a success.

"His "personal" comments about Beverlee McKinsey were so tasteless I wanted to vomit."

Hadn't read that until just now. WOW. That made Daniel Coleridge using Darlene Conley's death to sell his book look like the epitome of restraint. I am increasingly convinced that he does not exist, and is a parody of soap journalists being written by a team of comedy scribes.

I think that at this point, one of the selling points of Branco's column is his reverence for Carlivati. I am by no means defending the man, but his aim is to sell a column and this level of frightening hyperbole is almost impossible not to read and gawk at. To that extent I think it's successful.

That said, what bothers me most about his comments is that it makes me wonder if I should be embarrassed to be a fan of Carlivati's OLTL - and I am not. I do happen to like the show; I do think RC was doing a fine job before the strike derailed the show, and I do think it's already much better than it was two weeks ago; but I also think it's still finding its sea legs. Branco's blind devotion to the show does it no favors. Some evenhanded, constructive criticism, similar to that of Zara's on Soaps By Remote, is much more welcome, at least in my book.

Can you link to Maggie Cochran's, I mean, Nelson Branco's comments about Bev's passing, Snark?

http://tvguide.sympatico.msn.ca/The+Suds+Report+May+9+2008/Soaps/Suds/Artic les/080509_news_nelson.htm?isfa=1

Thanks, Snark -- oh, and next time I ask for a link to one of that vile man's columns, pretend I didn't. Okay?

Proceed with caution.....Nelson's readers already know from his prior column(s) that anyone who dares to contradict him, he'll completely and utterly trash you in print. (I'm still astonished at how hateful he was when he tore Marlena to shreds in print.) Professionalism be damned, as long he has the last word - or has people talking.

GuillermoIbarra,

Are you referring to the following .…?

earlier work was especially meaningful to me and my best friend, Alexander Chapman, who is a Genie-nominated actor (Canada’s Oscars) for his stellar work in "Lilies." We nicknamed each other after Iris Bancroft (me, natch) and Rachel Cory (him) for almost a decade. We took such glee and joy from playing out various scenes from "Another World’s" greatest feud in private and in public, with very hilarious results. Ironically, we acted out one of their epic battles the night before McKinsey died. Eerily, we hammed it up as only Iris and Rachel could, as they fought for “Daddy’s” love and attention without knowing the icon’s magic would leave this increasingly ugly world of ours. Despite her death, you can be assured it won’t be our last homage to some of the greatest acting to ever be filmed in TV history. I’ve sent NATAS a letter of request that requests a posthumous Emmy Award, along with a tribute to be awarded to McKinsey. This is akin to Bette Davis dying, and people are truly in mourning. Let’s see if they listen. I’m sure McKinsey is somewhere up in the heavens smirking down on all of his, martini in hand, knowing her death came just a few days after the worst Emmy nominations in its history were announced. Still fierce in death, gotta love Bev!

I actually thought the preceding paragraph was even worse. "Why, I couldn't believe that I was devastated by Beverlee McKinsey's death. Her death affected me as much as Heath Ledger's!" Apparently, all daytime deaths will now be measured on the Heath Ledger-Bette Davis scale.

If we're to cotton to some sort of celebrity death devastations—like a presumptious requirement these days that all politicians must acknowledge personally practicing a given religion—okay, Snark and company, here goes....

I'm devastated by Heath Ledger's death.… I'm devastated by Suzanne Pleshette's death.… I'm devastated by Brad Renfro's death.… I'm devastated by Lois Nettleton's death.… I'm devastated by Paul Davis's death.… And, now, I'm devastated by Beverlee McKinsey's death.

In all seriousness, I appreciate these performers—the daytime soaps lost three actresses in as many months (Shell Kepler in February, Nicolette Goulet in April)—and am sorry they're no longer alive. And, naturally, hopefully their surviving loved ones are coping as best as can be expected. But to take it as an opportunity to boast of what a "fan" I am/was, and to bellow how I'm so-ooo "devastated"—as if I was deeply affected "personally"—would be shallow and inappropriate.

DS0816, yes, that was exactly what I was talking about.

I don't want to diminish anyone's reaction to the death of someone we all loved - grief is a personal thing and it comes in many forms. But personally, I found several parts of that passage to be inappropriate.