A new My Network TV show.

I can't think of anywhere else for the thread but here!

Here's the trailer.

Looks like we will be blessed with this gem come March.

I'm not too into this trailer, but then I didn't care for the 2 minute ads for either WWG or WOM and both turned out pretty good. Hopefully the :30 spots will be sharper.

Edited for spelling

Just from the trailers, it looks like ALW (ex-Courtney, GH) hasn't improved in the acting department. I may still give it a try, though.

Wasn't Elizabeth Wakefield a Sweet Valley High twin?

Yes! I think she was the "good" twin.

My first reaction, too! I was wondering where Jessica was.



The character seems pretty similiar, too. I never minded ALW much though, it was Courtney who drove me up the fucking wall.

GH watcher here. I may check this show out but I swear, if I see ALW touch her forehead or roll her eyes just once in the first episode...I'm done!!

ALW touching her forehead/rolling her eyes in the first eppy will make it an instant camp classic...and give me a reason to totally hate (not necessarily in a good way) on this soap.

Bring it, ex-Whortney. Bring it.

I'm not 100% certain, but I think I saw Michael from Fashion House in the trailer.

If the person that posted the trailer to YouTube is right, and offhand the timing seems about right, it looks like the premiere date is Wednesday, March 7.

That was indeed Robert Buckley in the preview.

Actually, this show`ll debut on March 13 since My's going to a new schedule format on Thurs., March 8 & it won`t just be about novelas anymore. http://www.mediaweek.com/mw/news/recent_di...t_id=1003540867 Heiress & Sanits & Sinners will air in 2-hour blocks on Tuesdays & Wednesdays respectively, no Saturday recaps.

Interesting. Assuming they're still going with the 65-episode (or thereabouts) format, this allows MNTV to push both upcoming novelas out through most of the year. And it might actually be easier to deal with on a weekly basis (though damn--this means my DVRs are going to get worn the frack out between these, The Unit and Criminal Minds).

ETA: this probably means that the global recap episodes (the ones that air during the weeknightly run) will be a little more important...

I am looking forward to seeing John Aprea in this.

Yep. That's him. Cute and dim! Earnest face, and acting-wise has NO idea what to do with the rest of his body.

It basically looks like the SweetValley character gets sent to Craphole Island from the trailer....which is AWESOME considering someone was just discussing that about BSB on WWG the other day.

Only did one day on this soap so I have no real gossip except that the chick who plays the trainwreck younger sister is going to make Broke (WWG) look like a Rhodes scholar. She's a paris hilton-esque wannabe lollipophead.

I really don't know what MNTV is going to do about this new format. It occured to me that if they trimmed off the crazy long "previously on....." stuff at the top of the hour, they'd gain back 20-30 minutes a week. Plus with some editing of the repetitive end of one/beginning of another episode stuff, maybe they will cut down the # of episodes. As far as I knew from the few days I worked on S&S and the one day on this one (did way more on WOM, WWG, FH) it seemed to be business as usual like the first 4. Will be interesting to see if they air for 30-ish weeks or trim the epis instead.

Theresa Russell (Black Widow) is in this! Can't her husband, Nic Roeg, cast her in something slightly more prestigious?

At least crashing on an island gives ALW something to do with her alarmingly overdeveloped arms and shoulders. Her acting doesn't seem to have improved since her GH days.

I picture her looking bored and kicking the crumbled steel cabin off the male pilot.

I caught the preview last night while flipping channels and was intrigued. I'm tuning in for her and Michael from Fashion House.
Also, to snicker at ALW.

Well, actually, that was a reference to Lost, where the characters with the most screen time would have a hard time beating TheHo and Broke's in a stupidity contest. I'd so love to see Blythe show up on Lost and wreck chaos on the dumbass castaways and the dumbass Others.

I can't even begin to imagine the havoc BSB would wreak. She'd either become the undisputed leader and figure out how to get everyone off the island pronto or she'd be strangled in her sleep after her first night. She's so all or nothing.

Yea, Lord of the Flies but screechier and blond.
Damn, this sounds like a good concept. . .reminds me of a book from the eighties called Savages.

Must not have been clear in my previous post--I was also referring to Lost--hence craphole island. ;)

Yeah, it'd either be all or nothing with her. Either kindapped early on to run tests (a la walt)on her revenge superstore abilities or she'd be tree-slammed upside yo' head like Mr. Eko.


But to follow up on the previous discussion re: format and programming hours.....I had lunch w/ a friend of mine who works for Segall. Apparently within the last couple weeks on The Heiress they abruptly cut ONE HUNDRED PAGES of script. So it will be very interesting--knowing what we do about how they do all one location, then another--to cover those holes in editing. But I guess they are going to be cutting way back on hours. The actors were not happy. To say nothing of the crew, of course.

WWG and WOM seem to have shorter "hours" than FH and Desire did, so I'm not surprised to hear that AH is getting the same treatment. It doesn't make me want to watch AH (though of course I will, at least for a bit)—I'm really tired of seeing the MyNetwork promos go on for what feels like hours. And those silly TV Guide Hollywood 411 bits that rehash the show are endlessly boring too.

MyNetwork seems to be losing the courage of its convictions. The Saturday movie lineup is pretty bad—do they really bring in more viewers than a weekly recap?

Well, a WSJ article recently claimed MNT is losing $2 million a week. These theatrical films are pretty old, so they could cost less than the labor editing together a recap show.

Still, I think MNT should've changed the recap shows for the third novela cycle into a comedy recap show, with a few talking head comedians commenting on what happened in the week... Best Telenovela Week Ever, basically. Make it a recap show that's entertaining enough to watch even if you caught M-F.

It's too bad that the shows are being shortened, I have a bad feeling they won't make so much sense... I'm not feeling too optimistic about further novela cycles, either, unless fighting bombs as badly and MNT decides to see if they can get the telenovela audience that shows up in the summer.

That's a great idea--kind of a MST3000/TWOP spin (more or less what we're doing here!!) for the mntv fare. It's really a shame the current 2 novellas had zero promotion.

Oh, God! Whoretney lives! NOOOO!!!

I am so curious, does anyone know who is the actor in the promo that they show with that furry hat with the flaps on the side? Kind of like a hunting hat? The guy with the cute abs. He asks the other guy 'do you want a drink?" or something.

Glad to see familiar posters from WWG. I was hoping to see if anyone knew the names of the familiar faces I saw in the promos. Thanks for the info. Trust me, I could do without Russell and Whortney--unless they make me laugh like Broke and NTM and TheHO, etc.

EVIL ROD SERLING!!!

I actually like Alicia Leigh Willis. I hate the GH writers.
Anyways, "American Heiress" is reeeeally bad. I tried to give it a shot and its just soooo bad.
I doubt it'll get any better for me, but I guess you never know.

Well, MNTV's definitely amped up the cheese/schlock factor. That's not what stuck in my head, though.

Okay, Marshall %(#*(%&*!! Teague (veteran of a shitload of B-movies) being in this show really stuck in there, but apart from that.

Annalynne McCord (Loren, the Paris wannabe) looks exactly like a cross between Anna Nicole Smith and Pamela Anderson. Race Owen (Evil Rod Serling) looks exactly like Rob Estes circa Silk Stalkings. And half the actors in the cast have names right out of some soap opera playbook. Wow. This looks to be shaping up to be one hell of a trainwreck...

Darn! I taped the wrong channel!
Anybody willing to provide a summary?
Did Robert Buckley's character make an appearance in the first block?

That dead pilot sure didn't faze them. . . Elizabitch acted more upset about carrying her luggage. I know we're supposed to feel sexual tensions and screwball banter between the romantic leads but I don't know they guy well enough to care and I just can't stand ALW/Elizabitch.
I don't understand if she's the "beautiful, smart, sweet daughter." Then why is she so snotty? And look like a dude? Just askin.'
The shorty evil brother looks like Quagmire "Giggety-giggety." If he acts like Quagmire things will get interesting.
It occurs to me there's no resident diva, just a snobby girl and a triflin slut. Darn.
Regardless I'm sticking it out. I lurved Desire and Fashion House. Maybe this one will get better?

God help me, I'm thinking of doing a weekly MNTV thing for the site I do my Y&R column on. (Partially so I can blast MNTV for not advertising this shit.)

Basically, tonight's episode(s) set up the dysfunctional family dynamics of the Wakefield clan in addition to the major background stories. You got Lionel Wakefield, the patriarch; Elizabeth Wakefield, the spoiled favorite daughter; Damien Wakefield, the power-hungry SOB who just wants to be loved; Loren Wakefield, the alt.Paris; and Matthew Wakefield (Robert Buckley's character), the nice guy. In addition, there's a CIA agent who lost her lover somewhere in South America while apparently investigating the Wakefield family company, Global something Services, shipping weapons to rebels (which is all Damien's thing).

So, let's see...Damien, being the big bad, had the family plane sabotaged in an attempt to kill Dad and Elizabeth so he can take over the company. Elizabeth went down on the plane along with the pilot, J.D. Bruce, somewhere in Guatemala; Dad stayed behind after being confronted by the CIA chick, only to suffer a heart attack during an argument with Damien. This is roughly where I let the DVR take the rest of it for later review while I caught up on news...

Thanks, Bill C!
I used to lurk over at WWG and enjoyed your commentary there.

Hello people.

So one telenovela dies that a new one may be born. See some of you at Saints and Sinners tomorrow. Teresa Russel vs Maria-The -Conch Alonzo. Ooh boy.

So I'm the only one who saw a little of the skinny chic (Elizabeth Burkely?) from Showgirls?

How can you not love a villain named after the Spawn of Satan in the Omen? He's no BSB, at least not yet, but he's new. He might grow on me.

Count me in on feeling a little disappointed that the "good" daughter isn't so good. However, I thought the pilot was a bit of a pig because while he SHOULD stick to the weight allowance for luggage(Hell not doing that is what got that Black female singer killed) (a) I can't believe that the weight allowance for what was supposed to be two people would be 5 pieces of luggage if it is a charter and nobody else is going to be on it. How tiny could the plane be? and (b) since she WAS the only customer, waiting a little bit to sift through some stuff didn't seem too much to ask. So while I get they are going for a screwball comedy and or a romance with some comedy moments, ala African Queen, I'm not feeling it because niether of them is all that charismatic or likeable. Hepburn and Bogart they ain't.

ITA that the two "romantic leads" aren't too likeable right now. I'm not really feeling the chemistry the way I immediately did with WWG's Jemma and Jack/Foolia. My aversion also may have something to do with the actress and her previous stint. I'm just waiting for Jasborg to save the day.

The other sister may want to lay off the electric rollers. Her pouffed and moussed coif reminded me of something out of Dynasty. Listening to her vapid argument with her daddy, I was immediately reminded of Dynasty's Blake and Fallon. So this gal is a nymphomaniac? Strange ... I just thought she was a triflin garden tool, plain and simple. And what was up with the weaved sidekick whose sole function is to enable her BFF's whoredom? Is that the perquisite for these telenovelas now?

The villian of this piece is, indeed, the son of Satan!

I may stick around for this one a little longer.

I'm stayin' around, but it was awful!!!!

I watched about 10 minutes and had to change the channel. ALW's acting hasn't improved at all since her GH days, and the rest of the cast was so OOT (and not in the good BSB way) that it's a miracle I lasted even 10 minutes. It looks like all the creative energy went into Wicked Wicked Games, which is starting to look like a masterpiece.

If the premiere's any indication, it's cheesy, alright-like limberger. The writing's bad and most of the acting's worse, especially ALW's "Pwincess Copkilla." She may have been right about Cap'n Bruce's attitude, but she was so annoying herself that his rudeness to her didn't bother me. As for "Low Rent," she almost makes WWG's Broke look classy-almost. Even at Broke's skanky, self-absorbed worst, she never shagged one of Theo's business partners. About Damien, or "Demon," I want to feel sorry for him, but since he's possibly responsible for at least half the trouble Pa Wakefield's in, especially his heart attack, that's not an option. Nevertheless, I'll keep watching to see if it gets better, which it probably won't, anyway.

I'm glad some of us are going to jump on the grenade and watch for snarks sake.
It's a stinker and not being on 5 nights a week it can't really draw a loyal following or commitment like the others.
(And I am regreting missing WWG, it was clearly superior. Are you guys on board for Saint's and Sinners?)

I found this telenovella totally unwatchable. It didn't hold my interest and the acting was horrible. I am giving Saints and Sinners a try and it is a vast improvement over AH.

I stopped watching after about 15 mins too....Looks cheaper than wwg or wom. I think saints and sinners at least has a better budget....and better actors, though Im not too keen on getting involved in any new show. The 'babboy' Damien is so cliche, he can't hold a candle to Tatum O'Neal's villainy nor seem to have much depth to his acting, that I can see...Quagmire indeed!.....

This week's installment was something of an improvement, but it's trying waaaay to hard to be snarky. Lightning doesn't strike twice, so stop trying. AH will never be WWG.

Damien—the brother with the permanent bitch face—is rather amusing, in very small doses. But he tries too hard as well.

Oooo, evil jungle rebels with dollar signs dancing in their eyes. I foresee Elizabeth and the pilot falling in love while trying to survive on the run from the greedy guerillas. You'd never know it from how they're acting, though would you?

Subtlety isn't exactly a hallmark of this show, is it?

ETA: Unnamed higher power love ya, Bill C, for watching this with an eye to actually writing about it in any sort of critical manner.

Not that either WWG or FH were all that subtle, but yeah...American Heiress is thus far subtle like a brick to the head, or a really sledgehammery episode of Passions. You nailed it, milady dubbel--the show is very literally trying too damn hard. And Evil Ferris Bueller isn't strong enough to carry the load...which is going to probably be my very first remark about tonight's episode in The MNTV Cheese Log (I decided to go ahead and chronicle the final cycle of these novelas, God help me, for the site I write for) when it goes up later this week.

I never watched the other telenovelas, but that was because the stories didn't really appeal to me. This one kind of does. The idea behind it is good - even though the setup within the show is slow. I've enjoyed last Tuesday and last night, and plan on continuing to watch. Whoever came up with Elizabitch was spot on! She gets on my last nerve when she whines, and the writing for her isn't that great, but I love the character JD, and believe it or not I'm enjoying Damien's scenes as well. I wish they would focus more on what's happening on the island though, but I'll take what I can get.

I tried; I really,really, truly, truly sincerely tried to sit through Elizabeth and the pilot's scenes last night. The actress only reminds me of why I despised GH's Courtney and this character isn't much of an improvement. I could write the cheesy dialogue in my sleep, it's so predictable. Right now, they are strictly fast-forward material for me.

I'm kind of getting into Damien's evil right now, but not quite. The mother showing up at the hospital in sillouette and wearing a hat to die for was straight out of Dynasty. I wish they had someone more bitchily fabulous like Alexis to play the mother from hell in this piece. The actress tried with the one-liners about her whoredom, but I wasn't quite feeling it. You knew that Alexis was loose in the booty, but she didn't go around proudly announcing it. Plus she would have had that little boy toy for lunch!

I finished watching last night's episode a few hours ago, and to be quite frank nothing in it compelled me to watch again. Elizabeth is right: JD is a pig. JD is right: Elizabeth is spoiled and bratty. The second hour's attempt to establish a rapport between the two characters seemed forced and completely out of the blue. That may be the result of editing to condense the 65 episodes. Robert Buckley, who I enjoyed as Michael in Fashion House, is doing nothing for me here. Nevertheless, I'll keep watching, because the AH spots they do during the commercials entertain me.

I must admit that I found it funny that JD kept removing his shirt for no reason: "What? She seems to be drowning?! Let me pull off my shirt while she flails away and before jumping into the lake/pond/river that we use as our bathtub!" "Wait. I'm sitting around? Let me do it shirtless."

Okay, I know it's just a telenovela, and it's supposed to be drawn out, and it's supposed to be quick, crappy writing, but really? Last night was just plain bad. They've got a cute story, but they've messed it up big time. I know I shouldn't expect an award winning production, but this? Really?

Is it just me or does every jerk in the MNTV universe automatically get a vapid skank to sex him up with his membership card or something? I mean, sheesh. FH's Lance had SH!Gloria. WWG's Edward had JHo. And now, Damien has... ChocolateGloria? (sorry, missed her name.)

And is it a rule that everyone's mom, for better or worse, is underhanded?

Actually, Alex and Louis's mom in Desire was a really nice lady. Ditto Gloria's mom in FH. But apart from that...well...

As for the vapid skank thing...hmmm...

Desire: Kristoff and whatsherface, George and the other whatsherface
Fashion House: Lance and Gloria, Luke and Tania (circumstantial?)
Wicked Wicked Games: Edward and Jennifer, Theo (sort of) and Carmen
Watch Over Me: Steve and Caitlin, Michael and Caitlin and Sasha and the elevator girls and...
American Heiress: Loren (doesn't matter who she's with), whatsherface
Saints & Sinners: Sloane and Santos (in this case Santos was the skank)

Yikes, I missed the 9-10 episode (stupid, ancient VCR!)
Can anyone provide me with a summary?