TV Guide Magazine is reporting that ONE LIFE TO LIVE is writing out Brett Claywell's Kyle and Scott Evans' Fish in April.
“We are concluding the story that we set out to tell with Kyle and Fish,” says executive producer Frank Valentini. “We are very proud to have broken new ground with a same-sex couple on daytime.”
Word is, the decision to drop the duo didn’t come easily. Kish has been a big success with the media and the show’s gay fans, and gay-advocacy groups have showered OLTL with awards for creating the trail-blazing couple. But sources at the network say the duo failed to resonate with the mainstream audience.
A show rep says the characters will not actually leave Llanview and, because Fish is a cop, he may pop up in a crime-related capacity down the line—but no promises are being made.
Scott Evans responded on Twitter: "Anyone who thought my tweets were foreshadowing, that is not the case. Tweets were for something completely different. This is news to me."
Blaming the gays for bad ratings? How about blaming the recyled Mitch Laurence storyline that we've seen play out over and over for the past few decades? What a lame cop out and letdown from the show many critics named the best of 2009.
With the end of AS THE WORLD TURNS and the Luke and Noah love story, daytime will be pretty much gay-free again come September. Is it any wonder young fans can't relate to many of the daytime plots anymore? To ONE LIFE's credit, the show has been the most diverse soap in recent years, but this is a big step backwards.
Meanwhile, ONE LIFE TO LIVE is considered a favorite at Saturday's GLAAD Media Awards. What a horrible time to announce this move.
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- Scott Evans on WE LOVE SOAPS TV
I'm just bummed and saddened by this! I just don't understand Frank Valenti's comment about taking their story as far as they wanted. A comment like that makes me feel like Kish was nothing more than a novelty for the show. I thought what made Kish special was that they were being treated like any other couple on the show. The fact that there was already an end planned for these two, tells me that they were never going to be woven into the fabric of this show for the long haul!
ReplyDeleteWow! Scott Evans just tweeted that this is all news to him. I can't believe the show didn't have the decency to tell him about this before the article got published. I'm not feeling the love from OLTL and I'm sure Scott and Brett aren't either!
ReplyDeleteKyle and Fish are the best part of the show. I agree about Mitch Laurence. How 1980s.
ReplyDeleteKish were awesome and refreshing. If this is due to low ratings then how about getting rod of Rx and Gigi? The show has centered around those two albatrosses for the last year and the ratings has sunk to new depths.
ReplyDeleteSomething's amiss in Michael Logan's article. The big gay wedding concluded on November 2, 2009, which I think was timed on purpose so as to avoid November Sweeps, and the remainder of Sweeps focused on the return of Mitch Laurence, Jared's death, Rex/Gigi/Schuyler and only a handful of appearances of Oliver and Kyle as well as Layla and Christian. Why do Oliver and Kyle now bear the brunt of the ratings decline and are being made scapegoats when they weren't even featured heavily during November Sweeps? I don't buy Logan's theory. And if you look at the daily ratings, more often than not, OLTL did better when Oliver and Kyle were on...
ReplyDeleteThis is just shitty news - pardon my language, but it really pisses me off. And my worst fears about Kish have sadly been realized: last August I said in a review of One Life to Live that "the show could easily kick their gay characters to the curb, since neither Kyle nor Fish have any connection to a core family" and that "Kish could leave town tomorrow and no one would even remember them a few months from now. As much as I admire OLTL for featuring a gay couple, I think they missed a great opportunity for a better storyline by not connecting either guy to a core family." And now look where we are at. Another show should snap up both actors ASAP and continue their onscreen romance.
ReplyDeleteJesus effing Christ this is ridiculous. Didn't resonate with the mainstream audience? Seriously? Like people in between NY and LA can't wrap their heads around a successful gay supercouple but are all on board with Mitch TORTURING Jessica? Bullshit. (pardon my french, but after Otalia, and the now slim possibility of Bianca returning to AMC, and this on top of it, I'm pretty upset)
ReplyDeleteDeep Dish, you hit the nail right on the head! The fact that neither Fish or Kyle had any family connections in Llanview is further proof that TPTB never had any long term plans for these wonderful characters.
ReplyDeleteThe only thing I wish to add to the eloquent comments above is that this is precisely the reason why I am now favoring the Indie web series that We Love Soaps honored back in February. Many of these shows are committed to telling realistic and complicated stories about gays/lesbians who are integrated into the fabric of the story. We don't get that on network TV, and after today, I doubt we ever will.
ReplyDeleteThey should move to Pine Valley! AMC needs a gay male character or two. It's been a while.
ReplyDeleteThis is yet another cluck-cluck, chicken-butt, conservative TV network decision! Yuck, Yuck!
ReplyDeleteDavid - No way! With the current writing team at AMC, Kish would be ruined. Most likely, one of them suddenly become interested in women.
ReplyDeleteThe only thing we Kish fans can hope for is that the outcry is so strong that those idiots at ABC change their minds. It worked for Michael & Marcie, didn't it?
This is all just so depressing, from end to end. I will say, though, I don't think connecting them to a family would have helped anything (since when has being part of a core family REALLY helped any character they decided to get rid of?), and I really wouldn't have had them written any other way than they have been. I do think OLTL should be proud; they just could be even prouder if they continued.
ReplyDeleteSo from what I'm gathering from the stories - the characters won't even get a good-bye, they'll just disappear to raise the baby. Because a gay couple raising a baby wouldn't have any drama?
ReplyDeleteI started watching OLTL again due to the Kish storyline, and really other than Gina Tognoni, there's nothing for me to stay once they fade away into the nursery. Because, ABC, the rest of the boring Llanviewites don't resonate with ME!
Brett's last day will be mine as well...
ReplyDeleteI am done with ABC Daytime - for good!
Tragic. Just tired of investing my time into abc soaps when they do bone head things like this. Why don't they just put a bullet into the heads of their soaps and be done with the torture? replace it all with ridiculous game and talk shows. I'd rather it just be done with and not have to watch my characters just fade away because of budget cuts. It's typical corporate b.s. - when they can't get rid of a department they hate so they make it miserable until everyone leaves. Everyone here who has ever worked for a company knows exactly what I'm talking about.
ReplyDeleteI'd at least respect the abc brass more if they just opened up and said "yes, you're right, we hate daytime and we're trying to kill it but dammit it just won't die!"
I'm going to have to start looking into the indie soaps.. I watched one that I didn't like very much but I'm willing to try another....
I am extremely pissed off. What the hell is wrong with ABC and OLTL? No way is Kish responsible for the decline in ratings. I can't believe TIIC at ABC really believe that.
ReplyDeleteIs OLTL actually canceled, and the firings of the good young actors (the ones playing Fish, Kyle, Schuyler, and Rachel) the beginning of the end? They want to make sure we don't miss it when it finally goes? Regardless, I'm now an ex-viewer. I've watched OLTL for 20 years, but this has done it for me.
Hmmm.... lets face it they had no family ties on the show, they were meant to be short term. And i have read lots of negative comments on other boards about this coupling, so I am not surprised that they are being written off.
ReplyDeleteAlso the ratings have been down, despite the show being quite good. Maybe the gay coupling was turning people off, despite what is being said on this website.
However that they were one of the best parts of the show. Lets face after the Stacey, the Mitch, the Todd the rapist/romantic hero and the Jessica in school storylines, they were at least interesting, fun and romantic.
The core family connection being a savior to characters is false. OLTL just fired Daphne Duplaix who played Rachael Gannon. Rachael is a legacy character.
ReplyDeleteABC saddled her with uninspired writing. They did nothing with her except involve her in a paint by numbers romance.
In the past, OLTL fired core characters like the actors who played Kevin Buchanan, Sarah Roberts, etc. Being related to core characters does not give a character a free pass.
Will,
ReplyDeleteThe fact that ABC fired these people says that it wants to keep OLTL on the air. If ABC felt the characters were contributing, they would have kept them.
I disagree with the firing but they don't indicate wanting to tank the show anymore than does the firing of Crystal Hunt, Scott Clifton, or others.
What can I say that hasn't been said?
ReplyDeleteIt's extremely rare for a soap opera to send a message that's truly important, and for that, OLTL should be proud. The story of Oliver Fish is one that (unfortunately) mirrored my own experience in coming out, and for Scott to imbue this conflicted character with such sincerity is a real credit to his talent. And Brett no doubt has grown as an actor and as a person during this time. With both guys, the sky's the limit. I wish them the best.
I had hoped that Oliver/Kyle/Cris/Layla would become the new youth dynamic at OLTL, but it seems like the show is going to focus on more-established characters and cut corners where they can. Years ago, it would be important to invest time and energy into your 20-somethings and develop them as characters as they were the long-term future of the show. Now, who knows if there is a future? I would like to think OLTL will be on the air for years to come, but the plots they've been pushing lately are a real disappointment and not something that's going to win much interest IMHO.
To blame Kish for the ratings decline is pretty stupid. In these times of uncertainty for the major network daytime soaps, showrunners are going to rely on stock characters and plotlines---the tried-and-true methods---that will appeal to a broader base. That a gay couple has become the victim (scapegoat?) for this process is a shame.
The only thing corporate hates more than daytime are gay people. It's sad.
ReplyDeleteI posted a column about this news at http://www.welovesoaps.net/2010/03/gays-in-daytime-we-have-long-way-to-go.html. Please check it out and let me know what you think.
ReplyDeleteThe blame lies with the bad writing, OLTL’s political agenda and Scott Evans’s acting. Evans is a major factor in Kish not working bec he plays Fish. For gay chars, the acting is all the more crucial since they’re a harder sell. That’s how it is, they have to overcome the audience being potentially uninterested or against them. So casting the right, talented actors is all the more impt. I guess even in Daytime cute can only go so far.
ReplyDeleteEvans’s acting was so cheesey when Fish delivered his preachy monlogues against the homophobes at the wedding. And Evans’s was so cringeworthy when Fish confronted that cop at the popo headquarters who he thought was a homophobe.
OLTL clearly tried to capitalize on Evans by casting his mother (talk about nepotism), using his out status (courtesy of his famous brother) and his famous last name to garner press for Kish. Evans made the rounds solo (instinct, welovesoaps, out, advocate) and with Claywell (michael fairman soaps). OLTL probably thought Evans would generate more interest, and thus more ratings, based on his background. It’s interesting that Bierdz (ex-Philip, Y&R) and Evans are 2 out actors who ironically can’t bring any authenticity to gay male roles. The soaps should cast talent over out status when casting for actors to play lgbtq roles.
Carlivati’s writing: Where to begin? Kish never seemed to come from an organic place. They seemed to be thrown together and a frat backstory was created (probably Carlivati’s fantasy, LOL). The political issues like mass same sex unions is just not kosher, and to have it on a frothy soap, it doesn’t work. But the mass wedding and Dorian’s scheme were integral for Fish to come out, for Kish to declare their love, and to be topical (Prop 8, homophobia) while being a first on Daytime to have mass same sex unions. Kish was too tied to these political issues. It also didn’t help that Kish isn’t from a core family, like ATWT’s Luke, or related to the leading lady character of the soap, like AMC’s Bianca.
I don’t think Carlivati and Valentini will be blamed by the soap press for Kish since they’re never blamed for anything that doesn’t work on OLTL. They seem pretty much untouchable, especially Carlivati. I don’t think TVG’s Michael Logan, Nelson Branco, Michael Fairman, or even the gays that run this website would criticize Carlivati, the only out gay headwriter, for the way he wrote Kish. Carlivati's to blame for the political overtones of Kish. TVG’s Logan’s “gay overkill” comment is probably the closest thing to indirectly calling out Carlivati’s bad writing for Kish, but now everyone’s screaming off w/ Brian Frons’s head and ABC’s homophobic. If that were true, there’d be no Bianca on AMC or no Kish to begin with on OLTL.
How can people say Kish is being used as “scapegoats” when Crystal Hunt was fired first? Stacy was written out before Kish. They’re getting rid of storylines and characters that don’t work, so Kish isn’t being made to be the scapegoats and Kish isn’t being “victimized” by the network and by homophobes. They and Stacy were given storylines, those storylines didn’t translate to ratings, so they’re out.
I'm also incredibly bummed and saddened by this decision. Kyle and Fish were two of the most interesting characters on OLTL, and they had a great love story, particularly with all the possiblities of Fish being Sierra Rose's dad. I was looking forward to seeing two gay men strggle with a new relationship and raising a child. I don't particularly care about Jessica thinking she's 18, or the whole Mitch Laurence storyline which sucked up so much time and energy on this show. This couple went a long way to making up for the disaster that was the Bianca/Reese relationship on AMC. I think OLTL is making a bad decision.
ReplyDeleteSo I see Rex and Stacy are now the scapegoats? And I thought the only ones who qualified for that title were those evil, horrible, toxic, noxious right-wing bible-thumping hicks from flyover country who can accept rapists, pedophiles, cads, sluts, hos and abusers on soaps but not loving, caring, idyllic, angelic gay couples. This is about RATINGS. They tried Kishie and it didn't work. But I believe the writing was on the wall during the marriage fiasco back in late October/early November of last year. I paid attention to the writing and yes, it was politically-charged and heavy-handed. At this time I would've written something like "there are people who want to see soaps for escapism", but that is no longer the case because the big question here is: Who cares anymore about soaps, and OLTL in particular? When your show is averaging a 1.8-2.1 rating week-by-week, and it's NOT because of the lack of affiliates carrying the show, that is not good. Is Kishie the reason for this? Hardly. I thought I could get back into watching OLTL not too long ago, but turned it off when I realized there was no point in having to sit through twelve scenes in a single segment. Scenes last thirty seconds...you're lucky if you see one that's two minutes (but that's reserved for when Snoop Dogg comes on to perform). It's factors like this that make OLTL the most likely soap next on the cancellation chopping block. And no gay storyline is going to boost its ratings despite all the buttering up on websites and other media outlets.
ReplyDeleteThe unfortunate truth is that soaps reflect out present-day society, and if you really thought you would see Kishie as a loving couple you would have to turn the clocks back to the '80s, when it was "Love In The Afternoon" and you actually saw romance on soaps. Not so anymore. I didn't expect to see Kishie in bed together with long scenes of sweet talk, did you?