Ten Questions with Tamilu

1. I've told people that if they want to know how bad the economy is then look at the fact that they canceled soaps. Especially the two that were canceled were such staples of CBS programming. I remember telling someone that Guiding Light was canceled and their response was..."They can cancel a soap?" What do you think the future holds for our soaps, will they go the way of the dinosaur?

I don't think serialized drama will ever go away completely, but I expect it will change shape. Maybe shorter episodes, maybe fewer days per week- maybe webisodes. Personally, I would pay a monthly subscription to watch GH online rather than see it canceled. People have a plethora of choices for entertainment now, so audiences demand and expect more. You can't give them substandard quality or storyline, because they can (and do) flip to 900 other channels 24 hours a day. The competition is stiffer, but that doesn't mean Daytime should throw in the towel. There is a hunger for well-written, romantic, socially meaningful drama and if the studios deliver that, people will watch it in one form or another.

2. How did you get into soaps and what keeps you watching?

When I was 12, my friend Sandy invited me to a slumber party one summer. When we woke up, her Mom was watching The Young and the Restless. All the girls came out in their jammies and watched it, too. That's it, I was hooked. I went to college in the 80's and actually took a class called "Pop Culture" and watched ALL the soaps and got college credit for doing a research paper on Daytime Drama. Ridiculous right? As to my column on Soap Central- I stumbled into it. I was trying to find spoilers for GH one week and went to the Soap Central website. The GH columnist had quit, and the editor, Dan J Kroll posted a contest for people to submit their sample columns to take over the spot. He let readers vote and my column won. (Yay me!) I've been writing the GH Two Scoops now for 7 years. I love it. What keeps me watching? The citizens of Port Charles feel like family. It's not Thanksgiving until the Quartermaine's have pizza. It's not Christmas until the Christmas story is read to the kids at the hospital. There are characters I'm invested in and I care about what happens to them. As long as they exist, I'll tune in tomorrow. ;)

3. Who are some of your favorite characters(all time)
I know it's cliche, but Luke and Laura. Back in the day, we didn't have the term "politically correct" and you could get away with a storyline where a woman falls hopelessly in love with her rapist. :) But their love was... romantic. They had adventures. They had challenges. They didn't fight *with* each other, they fought outside forces *together*. Also from the past -Robert Scorpio, Anna Devane, Holly Sutton, AJ Quartermaine, wow, most of the people they've done away with. Currently, (still) Luke, Lucky, Nikolas Lulu, Dante, Johnny, Maxie, Brenda, Alexis, Kristina - there are so many characters I connect with when the writers give them decent material to act out.

4. Why do you think people watch soaps?

Because we all love love. We all hunger for passion. We yearn for a connection that outlasts every obstacle and weathers every storm. We love to watch characters maneuver thought the crisis' of life and see how they come out on the other side. Monica Q had breast cancer the same time my Mom had it, and when Monica made it through, it helped me see Mom could, too, for instance. Also, it's an escape. Let's face it, most of us can't jet off to Paris in our private jet for breakfast like Jax or run to our private island/casino when we want to escape (or hide from the cops. :) It's fun to daydream sometimes.

5. These questions are going to be about General Hospital, we will cover Young and the Restless next time. What do you think of the way they handled Brenda's return?(GH
Botched. They hyped her return like mad, and then got her on the show to...do nothing for a month. I *love* the character of Brenda, but they're wasting her abilities. Vanessa Marcil does "passion" really well. and I want to see them write a nice juicy romance for her so I can live vicariously through the fictional account. :). I'm rooting for her to reconcile with Sonny, but if it's Jax or Jason or Dante - fine, just let the girl...smolder - she's good at it.

6. Geary or Benard?
Geary or Benard? Impossible choice, they're both gifted actors. But Luke or Sonny? Luke, hands down. Luke is witty, charming, and intelligent. He likes jazz and blues and drinking and gambling. He even owns a casino! (Sort of) He can dance, he can spin a story, and he has a great fondness for women. I like a guy who enjoys life and likes to have fun. Luke is positive, no matter how dire the situation he's in, he sees the bright side. I DIG that about him! Sonny on the other hand broods and skulks around his house depressed about the fact he kills people for a living. Pass!

7. Who do you think the Balkan is?

I was nearly certain it was Jerry Jax, but I have heard now it's someone related to Alcazar... But I still believe Jerry is still involved somehow. I am starting not to care though, the story is dragging on Way Too Long before the big reveal.

8. GH has completely obliterated the Cassidines and the Quartermanes clans. What are your thoughts.
I hate it. I have said in my column that when people ask why Y and R has higher ratings than GH - look at the cast. Y and R still has many characters and actors from it's early days while GH has slaughtered whole core families and replaced them with characters we aren't invested in. I am delighted that Luke is shacking up in the Q mansion right now simply because it means we get to acknowledge that the Q's are a family in Port Charles - a family who isn't even in the mob! As to the Cassadines - they are the best creepy soap villains, I miss them. I mean, Sonny might shoot you in cold blood (boring!) But Helena can erase your brain and make you forget your girlfriend or freeze you in her cryogenic lab in the secret lair she has under the hospital! (Crazy, but much more fun to watch.)

9. The criticism that I hear most about GH is the mob storyline. People seem to fall into one or two camps. Which one are you in? And what do you think of the violence on GH and the mob storylines?

I might have given you a different answer two days ago, but today, I am raw inside about this issue. I live in San Diego and this week a policeman was shot down in cold blood by some thugs. He was by all accounts, a great guy. About 4000 people came to my church for his funeral, many of them of them policemen, firemen, military guys. (I will e-mail you a photo of these guys lined down the street to salute their fallen brother.) Even though I love Sonny and Jason and Johnny as characters, I can't say it's okay to glorify mob violence. I can't cheer for Sonny and Jason when they get away with murder or cheer for them when they gun down an enemy. Enough with the blood already, give me romance.

10. What's your take on the Patrick/Robin/Lisa storyline.

I think all men should watch it before they cheat on their wives. "Hey men! That hot chick you wanna have a fling with? She's probably mentally unstable and will steal your baby and leave your wife in a well to die after you dump her." No, seriously- I have a hard time getting invested int he storyline because Robin has never really done it for me as a character. In fact, if I knew Robin, I would not want to be her friend. So, I'm not all that emotionally invested in this storyline. I kinda like Lisa more even though she's insane because she at least *pretends* to be nice while Robin is a witch to most everyone most all the time.

Tammy Waite has written her highly entertaining Two Scoops commentary for SoapCentral.com for the last seven years.

Arictle on the slain Police office Tamilu mentioned