TVSquad

i tried watching each of the 4 telenovelas they've aired...all were equally horrible...bad scripting and dialogue across the board. dropping the concept would be a very smart move,

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I personally was hooked on Fashion House, and am currently in the same situation with Wicked Wicked Games. The network really botched the premiere, but they've been improving the marketing and the quality between the two rounds of the shows.

It's a system that will take time to develop, and I wouldn't mind if they went down to one telenovela, but where else can you hear someone state that "I'm shopping at the Revenge Superstore, and I'm buying in bulk." For a soap fan like myself, that's pure cheese nirvana.

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I imagine myself asking "My Network" folks the burning question: Who Is Your Audience? I don't imagine getting much in the way of an answer, because it's pretty obvious that these guy were clueless as to what to put on the air, so they read a few scripts, thought some name brand face actress would get some intial viewers and then learned what we all know to be true: You might as well show reruns of "Friends".

To spell it out for you My Network folks:
1)People watching TV at night do not have time to invest in watching a nightly show
2)You misused the name brand faces - you don't wrap a show around them in the fashion that you did. You create a very good lucking plucky underdog and your name brand face gets used as either a foil or villain who's not a villain. (In other words: Who's Story Is It?)
3)Why was every scene I viewed look like it was shot on a set after someone forgot to pay the light bill?

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Can't say I've seen any of these shows, and who knew they introduced another one? Never heard of Wicked....

That they're only showing telenovelas is limiting their potential audience. They could create ANYTHING else and improve ratings. They could show repeats from CW and improve ratings.

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When Desire and Fashion House debuted I checked them out and found them both underwhelming; however, Fashion House became an addictive TIVO-recorded show that I enjoyed watching just for the escapism. Bo Derek and Morgan Fairchild were quite hilarious in their roles.

The main problem with both shows is that they were done on the cheap; and it showed not only in the bad acting, but also in poorly written dialogue and lack of plot development. As Fashion House dragged into its final weeks you could tell the writers were struggling to come up with enough new material to last the full 13 weeks. The only way they were able to accomplish this was to insert flashback episodes that featured 5 minutes of new material with flashbacks to previous episodes filling out the rest of the time slot.

The telenovella idea is not horrible, but the average American audience is not going to stick with a series five days a week for 13 weeks -- there's just too much on that's better written and acted. If they reduced the series down to 4 to 6 weeks, they might draw an audience, especially during repeat times. The longer form series would be a better option in the summer when nothing else is on broadcast television. Also, they desperately need to get some better material and quit relying on has-been actors desperate for work to fill out their casts.

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I think the telenovelas are good terrible. I found myself enjoying them when I caught them. The problem was it was probably once every two weeks or so. Definitely not appointment TV. Just filler when nothing else is on.

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Fashion House was very obviously "Ugly Betty," but so much worse.

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I actually watch both Wicked Wicked Games and Watch Over Me. I was never really a fan of daytime soaps, but did watch 90210 (which never really drew me in as much as MP) and Melrose Place. Sometimes, these telenovelas are closer to the total cheese of Models Inc., that failed Melrose spinoff. I do think when you watch the show 5 days in a row, then you can actually get into the stories, and care about the characters. Both Tatum O' Neal (wicked) and Dayanara Torres (watchoverme) have said the shooting schedule, and the cost schedule get in the way of the shows' quality. Torres referring to continuity and emotional depth, of her character, as you can see some of the actors have limited experience. And the fact that the episodes are shot out of order gives the characters limited guidance. I just see it as light fun, entertainment, not a chance to reinvent the wheel but to be entertainment. Just a moment in time. Could do better in reruns , with the digital age and technology at the place it is, it would be so easy to download an episode from online and very cheap to make DVD of shows.

I do feel like maybe Watch Over Me does maybe move too slow, at times. Wicked is more melodramatic and thus good trashy fun, and WatchOverMe, somewhat more of a realistic, thriller type story. I think in some ways the actors with limited experience makes it less glossy than putting such well-knowns in the part. I know of Tatum O'Neal's work but have never really seen her in anything but this. It is the American thing, such as the MTV age, where some of the audience, americans themselves have little time or patience, get bored easily, and it shows in music, fashion trends and their taste in entertainment. Also the telenovelas represent merging of different cultural tastes. Sometimes to a good effect, sometimes bad.

The family aspect in WatchOverMe feels realistic with Jack's family. And the screen is shot in dolby, like at the movies. In some ways, it feels like I'm getting more entertainment value out of this, then waiting once a week to see a fave show. For someone who may not go out to rent movies or go out to the theatre, its fun entertainment for what it is.

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