In praise of...Empire

Terrence Howard is one of those people that's inspired me to embrace the concept of holding multiple opinions about the same thing. He is undeniably a talented, charismatic actor, and when he's on screen you can't help but stare. He's also just as undeniably an abusive bastard, and some of the statements he's made not only about his own history of domestic violence but others are horrifying, full-stop.

With that in mind, I resolved not to watch Empire and successfully avoided it for about a month before I accidentally found myself watching it. Within ten minutes, I was hooked. Believe me, I spend every episode reminding myself that Howard is an awful person- but I still love the show.

The conceit of the first season was that Howard's Lucious Lyon was an updated King Lear who knew he was degrading and had to decide which of his sons- all of whom were somewhat unworthy in his eyes- would be his lucky heir. The added twist: this Lear has a queen (Cookie Lyon as played by the amazing Taraji P. Henson) who spent seventeen years in banishment, also known as a stint in federal prison for drugs. Now she's back, and she's as hungry for power as her ex-husband, with the added fury that Lucious did a less than perfect job raising their three sons: Andre aka Dre, Jamal and Hakeem.

Television's best dysfunctional couple

You've all heard by now about the larger-than-life personalities and plots, the hairpin turns and the talented supporting cast (I would watch Gabourey Sidibe's Becky and Ta'Rhonda Jones' Porsha on their own show), but every week this show brings me to tears. Strip away all of the corporate maneuvering, violence, money and music, and it's a story about how no one can hurt you more than the people you love. 

Lucious has manipulated and lied to everyone on the show, but the flashbacks we've started to see this season from his childhood with a mentally ill mother Leah (Kelly Rowland) are heartbreaking. It's hard not to root for that little boy to survive, but was it necessary to ruin so many other lives in the process?

Cookie's childhood seems to have been only a little more functional, as evidenced by her sister Carol and cousin Bunkie's involvement in the drug world. (That her sister Candace (Vivica A. Fox) is making such a show of respectability seems almost more disturbing.) Still, Cookie's a fighter, and anyone who could survive seventeen years in prison separated from her three young children and then come back ready to fight for her share of the company she founded is someone you want on your team. If I had to put my money on Lucious or Cookie in a fight, Cookie would get all of it. And Lucious and Cookie fight a lot...when they're not protecting each other from treacherous lovers and business partners or taking a trip down memory lane in the bedroom. 

Of everyone on the canvas, it's Dre (Trai Byers) that breaks my heart pretty much every episode. The oldest son, Dre was diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder as a young adult, but he's been sketchy at best about treating it, in large part because his father is reluctant to acknowledge it. His wife Rhonda (Kaitlin Doubleday) has done her turns as a manipulative Lady Macbeth, but she's proven that her marriage to Dre is more important than taking control of Empire. Dre, who's not musically talented like his younger brothers, burns that he's most likely to be passed over in spite of his MBA. He's also ingrained covering for his father into his DNA, not only for Bunkie's murder, but going as far back as hiding guns for his father in his toys as a little boy. Dre feels the sting of his father's capricious rejections more keenly than his brothers, but he has no idea that Lucious sees his mother when he sees his son. 

The new Macbeths?

Jamal (Jussie Smollett), the middle child, is easily the "Cordelia" of the children. In some ways he combines the best qualities of both of his parents and his musical talent is obvious. The only keeping him from getting his father's unqualified stamp of approval is that he's gay. Lucious went so far as to marry him off to a young singer (Raven-Symone), then slept with her himself when she was miserable in the marriage. By the time Jamal was older, Lucious demanded that Jamal keep his sexuality under wraps if he wanted to succeed him. Jamal refused and sought his mother's guidance, eventually winning his father's grudging respect.

Standing up to Lucious was one thing. Will Jamal be able to make sure he doesn't turn into him?

Hakeem (Bryshere Y. Gray), the youngest son, understandably had the greatest "mommy issues" as Cookie was sent away when he was a toddler. If Jamal's style is smooth and soulful, Hakeem's is edgy and angry. In spite of his outbursts against his family, deep down he's tenderhearted, and genuinely in love with the older Camilla (Naomi Campbell). Lucious' efforts to separate the two have come back to bite him hard, as Camilla and her wife (!) Mimi (Marisa Tomei) engineered a hostile takeover of Empire- and then turned it over to Hakeem.

For Hakeem, the line between proving himself to his father and destroying him is surprisingly thin

So what makes me choke up most? When these three come together to support each other, no matter how much they've hurt each other.

All they've ever had

This is just scratching the surface; I don't have space to go into Lucious' vengeful ex-fiancee Anika (Grace Gealey), the murder of Lucious' long-time advisor Vernon by Rhonda, Lucious' stint in prison or Cookie's new venture, Dynasty. And how awesome is the exploration of Latina singers this season? I clapped my hands and squealed when Laura (Jamila Vasquez) debuted with Linda Ronstadt's "Lago Azul".

The real reason I started watching Empire? It felt like I was coming home as I watched a show in which the cast wasn't predominantly white. I'm not African American, and it's true that there haven't been a lot of Asian American characters on this show, but I'm not the only person I know who's hungry to see a show that reflects the reality many Americans live in. While I don't live in the world of music production and it's clear that these characters are bigger than life, there's something refreshing about seeing a big deal soap opera (and that's what it is) with a diverse cast. 

May the backstabbing and heartbreak continue.

An end to a very good month

First I wanted to thank the awesome bloggers who participated in the Soaps Blog Hop. I loved all of the posts, and we spiked some conversation about some of our favorite shows, past and present.

And...even though I already shared this on my social networks, just wanted everyone to know that two days ago I finished the first draft of the fifth installment in The New Pioneers, tentatively titled The Golden Boy Returns. When I wrote the first four manuscripts of the series, I did it over an intense three month period, something only possible because all four of my children were in school. Since then, I made the decision to homeschool. While I don't regret that, I was worried about being able to get another book done when I had my children underfoot.

The Joy of Being a Tortoise

Well, I did, and the key to doing so was a really unromantic requirement to write a minimum of one thousand words per day, first thing in the morning. Once I buckled down to that, it took me about three months.

I still have some editing to finalize for Let's Move On and I need a little reading break, so it's probably going to be another three weeks before I get into the reeds with TGBR, but considering that it took six years to get to that point with the first two books I wrote, I think I can handle that.

Onward to June!

What I Learned From...The Ones That Didn't Make It (Soaps Blog Hop)

I'm not one of those writers that suffers from Writer's Block. My philosophy is that it's better to write something that you have to change later than to stare at a blank page. But here's the catch: you have to change it. Your first draft might have the beginnings of a fascinating story, but you have to develop it. If not, well...read on.

Passions

While many soaps included supernatural elements in their stories on occasion, Passions went all the way from the beginning, including a witch who brought a doll to life and a family with magical powers. It also included an obsessive teenager who mooned over a local celebrity and a number of deep, dark secrets.

Theresa Lopez-Fitzgerald and Ethan Crane, just one of the early reasons to tune in to the show

For a while, this worked, in no small part due to the chemistry between rich girl Sheridan Crane and hard working Luis Lopez-Fitzgerald (similarities to Eden and Cruz of Santa Barbara are not coincidental) and Luis' sister Theresa and Sherida's nephew Ethan. The campiness and humor also kept a number of fans glued to the screen. But Passions was that rare daytime show that went too far: mocking the elderly and disabled, making a joke of the murderous and, bizarrely, a father who unwittingly impregnated his hermaphroditic child (that is not a typo). Mean-spirited racist characters were just one more element that could have used some relief. By the time it was canceled, many were wondering what had taken the networks so long.

The lesson: don't push the envelope so far it falls off the table.

Loving

The pilot of this show started off with great promise: Lloyd Bridges played patriarch Johnny Forbes who shared a dark past with a madam played by Geraldine Page. By the end of the show, both characters were dead, but married Roger Forbes had just fallen in love with journalist Merrill Vochek. The tension between the two carried over when the show began in earnest the next day, and as we got to know his wife Ann Alden and their children Jack and Lorna, plus Merrill's fiance Doug Donovan, we knew it was only a matter of time before they would begin an affair that would ruin many lives.

Before Malcolm in the Middle and Breaking Bad, Bryan Cranston was the nice guy who took years to finally find the right woman

It was all great drama- but within two years Roger Forbes had died in a plane crash and Merrill had moved onto greener pastures. The show shifted focus to other members of the Alden family and added new characters, none of which were as well-fleshed out or tethered to existing characters as well as they could have been.

The show changed storylines so quickly that it, with a few exceptions, it was difficult to get a hold of who was a character worth investing in and who wasn't. The skill of the actors became essential in drawing that distinction, but the talent of the cast was wildly uneven.

The show morphed from Loving to The City after the majority of the cast was killed off by a character who had a psychotic break. However, The City had the same trouble maintaining a consistent narrative and the show was canceled within three years.

The lesson: every story needs to be about something.

What I Learned From Days of Our Lives and Santa Barbara (Soaps Blog Hop)

I grew up in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and by the mid-Eighties these were the only two soaps on our NBC affiliate. (When the CBS and NBCs stations swapped in the Nineties I finally got to see what Another World was all about, but that's another story). In the Eighties, the good money was on Santa Barbara even if their ratings were worse than Days of Our Lives'. And yet...

Days of Our Lives

When I started watching this in the Eighties, this was a tough show to get into. The writing was very quick paced and while the show focused on the dramatic love lives of certain couples, the direction seemed to be changing constantly. Most of the time I couldn't tell who to root for and I only watched sporadically.

That all changed in the Nineties when longtime Executive Producer hired writer James E. Reilly. He's remembered by many for his controversial possession story, but he also invigorated existing families by fleshing out new generations (particularly the conniving and tormented Sami Brady) and brought in new
families by establishing ties to others in the show. He also doubled down on his villains, particularly the ruthless DiMera clan.

Alison Sweeney as Samantha "Sami" Brady, one of the most complicated characters on daytime television

While they've had their share of super couples (Bo and Hope, Jack and Jennifer and Marlena and John) and sell romance like no other show on television, they are arguably just as well known for their rivalries, whether it's families or romantic adversaries. The prize, however, should probably go to Sami Brady and the grandmother of her children, Kate Roberts.

The lesson: strong family ties and intense relationships will keep an audience glued even when they have to suspend disbelief.

Santa Barbara

This show lasted less than fifteen years, but it had a loyal fan following. It started out focusing on four families, but by the end of the second year the action was firmly focused on the patrician Capwells, with some attention on the fallen Lockridges. The show opened with the question "who killed Channing Capwell?" years before, but the resolution of that mystery gave birth to more characters and more story lines, most famously the continuing romantic adventures of Eden Capwell and Cruz Castillo.

Almost every character was compelling (and casting Dame Judith Anderson as matriarch Minx Lockridge didn't hurt), but the story revolved around the Capwells: controlling patriarch CC, ne'er do well Mason, adventurous Eden, sweet and vulnerable Kelly and trusting Ted. The large family and the challenging dynamics were rich enough to ground the show, but even from the beginning it had trouble reining in all of its ideas. At times it seemed to suffer from an embarrassment of riches, both in cast and storylines.

Lionel and Augusta Lockridge: best dysfunctional couple ever

What kept them from achieving the ratings they deserved was a constant change at the helm, which finally affected some of the characterizations. Still, the way many fans mourn the loss of this show, that might not have been fatal if the choice had been left to them.

The lesson: taking chances on storylines can work- but only if it's seen all the way through.

What I Learned From The Bell Soaps (Soap Opera Blog Hop)

The late Bill Bell and his wife  Lee Phillip Bell created two of the most successful soaps in the world (literally), The Young and The Restless and The Bold and The Beautiful. They wrote and produced both shows, which today is almost unheard of. By 1995 their son Bradley Bell had taken over those duties for The Bold and The Beautiful.

Those soaps may be known for their glamour and, at times, camp, but Bill Bell cut his teeth on decidedly more realistic fare such as The Guiding Light, As The World Turns, Days of Our Lives and Another World.

But...let's get this out of the way now: this show used to be derided by industry insiders as, er, something that rhymes with "young" and The Useless. One of the requirements for any actor or actress on the show seems to be "gorgeous" (David Hasselhoff, Eva Longoria, Shemar Moore, Tom Selleck and Paul Walker are just some of the stars that got their start on Y&R)- but Emmy-worthy acting doesn't. None of that, though, has stopped The Young and The Restless from being the top-rated soap for over two decades. Why do people tune in? Because of the consistency of the writing. Bell's vision of where each story needed to go was unyielding, and he knew that a story was better when all of its aspects were played, not when it was simplified. Audiences were mesmerized by suspense and slow builds, knowing that the longer a story waited, the better the payoff was going to be.

Eric Braeden as Y&R's ruthless Victor Newman, a character you root for in spite of yourself

If the ratings have slipped (they are still the number one show), it's due in large part to the death of Bill Bell and the constant changing of the writers' guard. However, the legacy established by Bell earned the show enough good will that the audience has faith the show will improve.

The lesson: sticking to your guns is usually a good idea.

The Bold and The Beautiful is The Young and The Restless on steroids: everyone really is beautiful, and the build can be even slower than on The Young and The Restless. However, this show is half the length of The Young and The Restless.

Shorter episodes, or shows that run on a compressed schedule, have almost universally found that they eat not less story but more, and many find themselves running at breakneck speed and verging into storylines that can quickly run out of steam. B&B, as the show is known to its fans, has bucked that trend for the most part. They put themselves on the map by focusing on the (questionable and dysfunctional) romance between Ridge Forrester, the scion of a well-to-do fashion dynasty and Brooke Logan, the ambitious and brilliant woman from "the valley" who had to fight for every advantage since her father walked out when she was a little girl. But that one story has included plenty of material, including Brooke's marriage to Ridge's father Eric (!) who had had a college romance with her mother Beth (!!), her longtime rivalry with Ridge's powerhouse mother Stephanie and Ridge's vacillation between Brooke and the cool but needy Taylor Hayes. All characters have their fans and detractors, but the commitment to the story is what kept fans coming back for more.

Brooke/Ridge/Taylor: the little love triangle that could

The loss of two of the original actors forced Brad Bell to shift focus away from the Forresters and onto the Logans and to expand the Spencers, a family that had fallen off the canvas after the show's first decade. It also increased the need to shift more of the drama to the next generation, particularly the rivalry between Brooke's daughter Hope and Ridge and Taylor's daughter Steffy for the love of well-meaning but callow Liam Spencer. Bell's biggest risk? Giving Brooke another love interest in the form of Bill Spencer, her sister Katie's husband. Can Bill be a genuine rival for Ridge the way Taylor was for Brooke? And how long can Ridge sustain a romance with Katie before Brooke works her magic on him again? And…

The lesson: repetition can work if history is used and not ignored.

Murder and Emotional Anguish- What's Not To Love? (Soap Opera Blog Hop)

Readers of this blog know that I love Caroline Fardig, author of the hilarious chick lit mystery It's Just A Little Crush. Given what happens to her characters, perhaps it's not a surprise that the lessons she took from the soaps were the importance of a good murder and, even when you keep your characters alive, putting them through some serious emotional anguish.

You know what I love most about this post? She calls out Game of Thrones for being a soap. Take that, tv snobs!

Sheridan Crane of Passions- just one of the many times she was kidnapped