I've extravagantly praised head writers Claire and Matt Labine here ever since they took over One Life To Live in March, Why? Well, as a lifetime fan, I take great joy in seeing my favorate characters written by a team (formerly of General Hospital) legendary for delivering character, texture, humor and intelligence to viewers on a daily basis. I've actually jumped up off my couch and shouted "hallelujah" during some of the following emblematic Labine scenes.

Bo assembline an ice cream sunday on Nora's stomach to cheer her up after a bad day. Mel and Bo running the bases at a local softball field, both to bond as friends and to celebrate the opening of baseball season. Carlotta's hot, hot, hot sexual fantasy about the men of Llanview. Jacara putting hank, (who, unbeknowist to her, is the DA) under citizens arrest for illegal parking.

I could rave on and on, but the problem is that OLTL is very much in the ratings doldrums. (The show currently stands at No. 8) The Labines have been on the show for only four months, and they have had to spend much of their time rebuilding characters that were seriously damaged by the show's previous writing regime (Leah "supercouples only" Laiman and Peggy Sloane) and filling out existing storylines. And perhaps. in furthering the storylines of front-burner couples they inherited, like Patrick and Marty, Andy and Antonio (YUCK), and even Todd and Blair, the Labines have overused an ellement- action- that isn't exactly their strong suit

Wasn't a vengful Todd setting up Patrick for bombing Sir Guy Armitage's yacht a big bomb (forgive me)? How about the May sweeps plot in which Linda's never-before-seen uncle held Carlotta hostage in the diner? So far, the only action plot that has fully worked for the Labines was the one in which a pregnant Blair lost her and Patrick's son in a car accident. It niftily enabled Kassie De Paiva (Blair) to take her real-life maternity leave, and provided some spectacularly emotional scenes for the character who caused the accident, Kelly.

Now I personally can forgive such plot missteps for the sheer joy of watching the Labines do what they do best: write stories rich in character, as they did on GH. The Laiman/Sloane regime, which wouldnt have known the element of character if they had fallen over it, had managed to reduce many of OLTL's most complex characters into glorified extras.

Take Wortham Krimmer's Andrew, a character who had been used to illustrate the courage and glory of the human sould under his creator, Michael Malone. (Remember the Bily Douglas/AIDS quilt/homophobia storyline?). For the past two years, Krimmer's Andrew was used as nothing but a religous gofer! The Labines took an existing cliched soap story, the adulterous romance of Andrew's wife Cassie, with that doofus, Kevin, to again show us the courage of Andrew's extraordinary soul. Did he fold when he learned his wife loved another? No way! He took custody of son River and stood tall! Instead of blubering over his misfortune, he's getting on wtih his life. It Was moi who cried when man-of-god Andrew privately admitted to Viki that the pain of his heartbreak nearly caused him to stop believing in God. Darlings, how many of us have been there?

The Labine's real strength as dramatists lies in how well they understand the depths of human nature. They have been revitalizing and reinterpreting other OLTL characters one by one. To those who hate Todd's parrot, may I suggest that he is a dramatic device used to let us, the audience, be party to Todd's interior ruminations? I find Todd interior monologues soooo fascinating; even the most normal of us are prisoners of the dialogues going on in our own minds. To be witness to a psychotic/neurotic mind at work, constantly battling all the voices within itself- wowsa! Now you know exactly why Roger Howarth's Todd has become Marlena's favorate soap character this summer! (Although, for now I'm taking a raincheck Todd and Tea's recent marriage of convenience.)

The fact is, I could write endlessly about how the Labines have spent the last few months delving into characeter's souls, from Kelly's to Patrick's to Viki's. And introducing a character who seems to be all character: the devine Mel. About how happy I am that Carlotta's fantasies have evolved into a fabulous affair with Hank (horray for middle-age sex!). About how they finally gave the perpetually underused R.J. a love interest, Jacara.

Yes, yes, yes. I could rave on and on, but poor ratings show that not every viewer is moi. To remain competitive with other soaps, OLTL must somehow do it all: Line up its characters and plots on a runway and take off! How are the Labines going to do it? I have no idea, but they'll have to do it soon. Stories intertwining the show's "supercouple," Robin Strasser's Dorian and Erika Slezak's Viki, have historically been the ticket to success for OLTL, and I'm hoping that the upcoming story the Labines have promised on Dorian's background and the curious codependance of the two will thrist the show aloft.

No matter what the ratings say, the Labines have succeeded in the in the difficult task of cleaning up the disgraceful shell of a show left by the previous writing regime. Now the only direction they have to go is up!!!!!