14th January 2003; “Crossroads Hotel, how may I help you?”…
Yesterday the doors reopened of the famous motel come hotel. Two words sum up my thoughts: Oh dear.
Pride, power and passion fuel the day-to-day dramas in the refurbished hotel.
The tempestuous Max and Angel Samson have moved in and twelve months on have stamped their inimitable style on Crossroads.
They've given the hotel a glitzy facelift which now boasts a splendid Romanesque entrance lobby, a luxurious spa, swimming pool and health club, stylish cocktail bar and intimate restaurant.
But the glamorous facade cannot disguise the simmering undercurrents of power-struggles within the Samson family and towards the remaining Crossroads staff who have loyally stayed on.
The new producers had a great opportunity to bring back and reinvent ‘Crossroads’, yet in my opinion she has failed miserably (taking into consideration I have only seen one episode and it may take time to ‘settle in’), however from the opening credits onwards (which looks like they stole the template from Blind date – particularly the heart bursting through the ‘o’ in the logo - tacky). The music was soft and weak, not inspiring me or giving me excitement for the following ‘action’. It also led itself to a weak cliffhanger, which looked more like an awkward pause.
Jane Asher is now the new bitch boss, with her husband Max who just happens to have had a spell in prison from being a jewel theft. The episode opened with Jane Asher nude in the bath (enough to make anyone switch over).
The terrible script was not helped by the overall poor standard of acting, in a set which looks like it was done by someone on drugs. It was very disappointing that the storylines from the last series weren’t resolved- I still want to know if Phil went to prison etc. Five minutes into the storyline there has already been a murder (repeat of a storyline) and one twin has slept on a moving train in the toilets with the other twins wife (oh please).
I understand that this is suppose to be the all-new ‘Dallas’ with more class and sexy style there are more inventive ways of explaining relationship between new characters that have a person conveniently forgetting who’s mother is who. There is no need to have woodenly acted cliché lines such as “Since the Samsungs have taken over the hotel they have brought more class to the area” twice – and “This is more saucy – not like the old days!” explaining to the audience we are going to have a mandatory 3 sex scenes per episodes (instead of the 2 in the last series!). The ice on the cake was the introduction of the camp chef – oh please sweet Jesus.
The gossip is there will soon be another murder (and no doubt even more bed swapping), Linda Robson is soon to join the cast (of Birds of a Feather fame – who since have only managed to get jobs in pantomime and presenting a short daytime series on DIY; Three words – Scrapping the barrel.) The producers are even trying to get Graham Norton to make special cameo appearance in the soap – perhaps trying to relive the success of Larry Grayson in the mid 70s.
I don’t have high expectations for the series and I can’t believe Carlton have commissioned another 239 episodes of this dribble. I’m going to Carlton tonight it will be interesting to see what they say.
13th January 2003; Resurrection of the Journal...
Happy New Year to one and all. Yes, I'm back to brighten up your day - and entertain you with my fabulous wit.
A lots happened since i've last posted - I am now 18 years old and own a pair of nose hair clippers.
I have had an offer from Warwick Uni's theatre studies course. Yahoo!
I still haven't found the perfect match, well any match really.
Crossroads is back on-air this evening. Ow, can't wait...
