DRW50

From the June 2, 1987 Digest. Network Publishing Co The Untold Story: How Capitol Should Have Ended By Stella Bednarz Sloane faced a firing squad; Kate got away with murder; Sam was forced to ask Myrna for a divorce. The final episode of CAPITOL posed more questions than it answered. What happened after the picture faded to black? Here is one writer's version of how the show's story lines might have been resolved: No one can understand why Sam wants to divorce Myrna, who refuses to move out and turns the mansion into a battleground. The kids and the servants take her side. Sam cracks under the pressure and has recurring chest pains. When the cardiologist warns he won't survive another attack, the patriarch calls a pow-wow. Sam boldly announces he was forced to give up Myrna. "Why?" the Cleggs demand in unison. "Kate was blackmailing me," he reveals. "She learned the truth - I am Scotty's real father!" For once, the entire family is speechless. Finally, Myrna manages to gasp, "Sam...and Kelly?" However, Mrs. Clegg quickly recovers, relieved that her days as grande dame/power maven aren't numbered. Trey Goes Over the Edge Out of control, Trey races to Kelly house where he finds her alone. They clash in a violent, sexually-charged encounter. Thomas breaks them up, but Trey suffers a nervous breakdown and is admitted to a sanitarium. When his mom, Laureen, hears the news, she vows revenge on Sam. To that end, the first Mrs. Clegg kidnaps the second Mrs. Clegg, holding her prisoner in a seedy motel room. Appalled at the tacky accommodations, Myrna escapes. Laureen and buddy Amos hit the road, but not before the ex-Mrs. Clegg shares a tearful reunion and rice pudding with her son. Thomas Loses, Again After Kim admits he was responsible for implanting the artificial heart, Thomas is reinstated at the hospital. Predictably, guilty Kelly feels responsible for Trey's pitiful state. At Scotty's urging (the boy still believes Trey is his dad), Ms. Harper frequently visits Clegg in the looney bin. Thomas realizes that he never really had Kelly's love, and leaves town. He marries a woman who has never heard of the Cleggs. Or so he thinks... On Other Clegg Fronts Sam turns Kate in to the police. She confesses to Leanne's murder, is convinced of involuntary manslaughter, and receives a short prison sentence. She also writes a best seller based on her experiences, becomes a media celebrity and stars in the TV movie based on the book. Wally and Brenda take off in search of a musical career. Jordy scores a major success with Carol as The Beautiful Girl. Carol's pragmatic but gentle nature helps curb Clegg's excessive tendencies, and the friendship deepens. Julie meets a still-amnesiac Zed at Aries. The encounter with Jenny's mirror image jolts Diamond, whose memory returns. Sympathetic and newly divorced, Julie and daughter Allison spend pleasant afternoons with Zed. Julie is worried about being a substitute for his wife, but since Jenny is dead, she doesn't push it. Meanwhile, Back in Baracq... Prince Marim's radio address disrupts Sloane's execution. In the confusion, a robed figure spirits her to a desert haven. Her rescuer is Al-Shim, Ali's mentor. Under the prince's leadership, the loyalists rally to crush Abdullah's revolt. Peace is restored, and Sloane is hailed as a heroine. However, though she is the Queen of Baracq, Marim is the rightful heir to the throne, and this causes a dilemma. Jeffrey proposes a solution: Sloane and Marim should marry. Both parties want what's best for the country and reluctantly give their consent. The evening before the nuptials, Sloane makes a solo pilgrimage to Amara Palace, where she and Ali wed. "Ali, why were you taken from me? You promised me we'd always be together," she cries. "And I always keep my promises - especially to my wife," a familiar voice replies. As Ali steps onto the moonlit balcony, Sloane faints in his arms. The king reveals that after Abdullah left him for dead, Al-Shim saved his life. Ali lay hurt and unconscious until only recently. But the king isn't the only one concealing something. His queen eagerly reveals that she is carrying his child. After an evening of romance, Sloane and Ali triumphantly return to Karistah. Paula takes up permanent residence at the palace, and this greatly pleases her ardent admirer, Jeffrey. He also admires her piano playing. Relieved to be off the hook, Matt/Marim becomes a playboy prince and divides his time between Baracq, Monte Carlo and Washington, D.C. This please Baxter and Clarissa. The reconciled McCandlesses settle into a quiet life. That is, until their long-forgotten daughter Gillian surfaces...

Looking at her credits, she was on Manchild, which was a comedy type of show. I only watched one episode or so before losing interest. It was about middle-aged men and their problems. I haven't watched this week's episodes yet so wanted to say thanks for your recaps. When is that Dot photo from? Early 90s? Here's a new interview with Lindsey; unfortunately Eammonn Holmes is involved. Let's see if he manages to avoid telling us that Corrie's Jack Duckworth (who is, you know, dying of cancer) proves how depressing Eastenders is... http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xfbo12_lindsey-coulson_people

Carol seems to feature on Harry Hill's TV Burp every week now. Not exactly hilarious sketches but it's nice to see her getting attention. They have someone who impersonates her, they never show the face though. It would be hilariously random if Lindsey showed up in one.

I think Beverlee could make anything work, I just mean would this have been true to her interpretation of the character. I don't think she ever commented on how Iris was written on the character's return under Carmen Duncan, but I think some of it might have made her pause.

I think Iris was involved in the Kirk Laverty corporate takeover story (although some of that was the temporary Iris replacement), but I don't know how much of that was about her business acumen.

With the way you describe it, I definitely would have loved seeing Beverlee in those scenes. I think in some ways the scenes were better with Carmen because the focus was more on Mac, but it would have been interesting seeing Bev and Doug Watson playing those layers. I also would have loved seeing Beverlee's Iris in scenes with characters like Paulina or Amanda. I thought Carmen did a great job in her rivalries with those characters, but I think that too often AW got away with just writing Iris as a family nuisance, and most producers might not have done with Bev there. I really am very interested in the Cory family of the early 90s, as they all come from such different backgrounds and it's also very dominated by females. It's one of the more unique core families ever on a soap. Too bad more couldn't have been done with this, more stories which brought them together as a family.

I never knew that Luke and Laura and Tangie were in competition. I know Marcy was a very popular star but it seems odd to me that they would hype her that way against people who had such history with GH, and who had been eagerly awaited for years (even if after a few years GH clearly had huge issues with, and contempt for, Genie Francis/Laura). I actually think, as great as Marcy is, that Genie Francis would have been a better fit for GL. I think GL made a big mistake by not spending more time regrouping in 1993, when the show had gone through so many changes. To focus so much time on characters like Buzz was a mistake. I'm not going to claim Justin Deas was some hindrance to GL but for me Buzz became emblematic of everything which was driving me away from the show at that time. The show had very little leg to stand on. It shows again the perils of killing off Maureen and destroying the Bauer family unit, because the Coopers weren't the same without Harley (and the diminishing of Nadine as Buzz's lovestruck flunky), the Spauldings had already been decimated with Beverlee's departure and then thanks to the dreadful writing and casting for Mindy, Jordan Clarke's personal problems and Larry Gates' illness, it wouldn't be that long before the Lewises were very, very badly diminished. GL went from being a show which had many rich and warm and fascinating families to a show which became very half-hearted and empty.

Yeah it must have taken courage to talk about what happened to her. Then to think she was in a hotel room after that, watching a soap. I was surprised when someone said that she basically went off and ran a bar somewhere after her GL run ended in 2005, but after reading this it makes sense. She likes to have some privacy. It was such a good interview, she is obviously so intelligent and so casually witty and amusing and incisive. I can't believe more soaps have not considered bringing her on. It's surprising sometimes to remember how sexy and in control she seemed when she was back on GL compared to her first GL run, or her work on Ryan's Hope. I love the comment she makes about how she used to only get letters from little old ladies, but now she gets it from young men, and she prefers the young men.

That's a shame. I hope they will at least keep up what they have for a while, as I think I have over a year of episodes left. I'm in the middle of August 91. The buildup to the Jake/Paulina wedding from hell has gotten pretty good, even if Jamie's self-righteous "protector/moral voice" mode annoys me. I really like Carl as a villain. Was it worth making him a good guy? I like how supportive Amanda is of Paulina. And the Sam/Jake friendship. The only interesting thing about Sam.

I hope so but I think it's just a matter of time, perhaps the end of the month, or sooner. Ideally they'd consider leaving them up until at least the end of the year. They aren't updating anymore, right?

From the September 24, 1985 Digest, interview with Robin Wright. Network Publishing Co

I don't think Eileen is ever going to get a story again. I guess it depends on who Collinson's favorites are. Since he, like so many before him, is fond of Sean and Michelle, it might be them.

Thanks for finding that. I always liked Joanna Cassidy. It's a shame it didn't work out. Actually I think Marcy would have been a great fit on a show like Murphy Brown. Every time I hear Bar Girls I think of that lesbian movie from the mid-90s, Bar Girls (with such great lyrics as "Bar girls, bar girls...reach for the stars, girls.")

From the October 6, 1987 Digest, a feature on the costume designer. Network Publishing Co

The Barlows being there would be fun. I can see Deirdre getting drunk a lot and having lock-ins with Eileen and some other friends.

From the 7/26/90 SOD. News America Publishing

From the July 26, 1990 SOD. News America Publishing. Did this pilot ever air? I guess it wasn't picked up as a series.

Speaking of Flame, this is a few months old but I thought some who haven't watched Youtube as much recently might not have seen it. It's a short clip of Flame, early in her run I guess?

You might remember Tameka/Kim from Beautiful Thing. I've never seen it, actually, but do remember her from the promo, as she dressed as Mama Cass and when someone asked why she didn't dress as Madonna she said Madonna was rubbish or something. New spoilers: http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=1372352

Marcy has put some blame on the writing changes -- Nancy Curlee, who had come up with the Tangie character and her backstory, left the show several months after Tangie arrived. The show was very uneven at this time and not that great. There had been a lot of new faces in the last few years and some important longtime characters had been written out or were being recast. I don't have a lot of strong memories of that time because I was tired of the show and I was busy, but I remember that I was happy to see her, because I remembered her as Eden, but I remember feeling that she was very low-energy, and her backstory confused me. When the pairing with Josh failed they seemed to start flailing around, and still didn't know what to do with her. I never understood the idea of putting her in a triangle with Alan and Alan-Michael. Nothing against Ron Raines, but he was one of the most asexual leading men ever on GL, and it was obvious the show still really wanted to do Alan-Michael/Lucy and were just biding their time. At the time some fans wrote in to SOD asking why the show couldn't pair Tangie with Det. Cutter, whom she'd dated casually, and JFP gave one of those "anything can happen" type of answers, I think. My guess is they never had any plans to go there because he wasn't a "big" character. They did at least share an easy chemistry. The last 4-5 months Marcy was on the show I thought she'd finally found a groove, working at the paper with Nick, Holly, and Fletcher, but by then Marcy was, understandably, leaving. I remember the contrast of how vibrant and alive she was at AMC when she first returned because she never got to be like that at GL.

Do you think the older fans would have believed that story with Beverlee? I thought Beverlee's Iris was less involved in corporate matters.

Do you think SB had a tough time with keeping or developing characters, or no more than any other soaps? What do you think SB did best, what were its strengths?

It's interesting how the show is, whether intentionally or not, sending a message to teens about how miserable sex is and why it might be better to wait. That weird stuff with the world's oldest 12 year old, Amber, and the O'Connor son, and then I guess at least that might mollify those who feel Hollyoaks teaches teens to be irresponsible.

Isn't India going too? I know you aren't doing this, but I've seen other people who are trying so hard to see "Stendan" or whatever they're called as some great love story. I think they're setting themselves up for a big disappointment. There are some promos for Later up on Youtube. You can kind of see how Nancy's scenes were originally for Michaela.