DRW50

It's probably the "yoof" gang from earlier this year.

I wasn't watching very often when he was on. I started back because I heard good things about the show again and I wanted to tune back in (which I did, although unfortunately by the time I did Karen Harris was gone and the telenovela stuff was on the way). I saw a little of him. I thought he was OK, although I preferred Michael Dietz. I never understood why they recast. Edgy doesn't automatically = better. Then there was the last Joe recast, who was OK, but somehow became Latino?

THE LITTLE ENGINEER WHO COULD When PC's David Gail decided to change his life and be an actor, he just kept telling himself, 'I think I can, I think I can...' By Travis Kinsey Photography by John Paschal Many folks spend years trapped in jobs they're not happy with. David Gail (Joe Scanlon, Port Charles) easily could have become one of them. With two stints in relatively bland 9-to-5 jobs, Gail was fast on his way to becoming a cog in the corporate machine. However, thanks to a self-awareness that propelled him forward, he's now doing what he wants. When the time first came to think about a career, Gail, who was born and raised in Tampa, Fla., enrolled in engineering school at the University of South Florida. He ultimately discovered that engineering wasn't the thing for him, nor was what followed. "I spent a couple of years battling engineering, running uphill," he says. "It was interesting, but time-consuming. Then I made some changes and ended up in business for a few years. I was a marketing manager for a worldwide company that had an office in Tampa. And then I decided I wanted to try acting as a real career. I was 23." Just like that? "I had been doing some auditions off and on up to that point," he says. "In the summers, when I was not going to school, I'd go to Miami and have fun, basically. Try to get a little [acting] gig and get some money and hang out on the beach. I decided that business was not where I wanted to go. Even though I respected it, I wanted to get creative and find out what I was about." Gail's go-get-'em attitude led him to just "grab a local newspaper and look in the classifieds. I found me the lead role. I was on stage for two hours every night, and that was the first thing I did." It was most definitely a trial by fire. "The first night, my family was there. I was onstage with the lead actress, and I had paragraphs upon paragraphs of stuff. It was amazing, but I skipped two pages. I just went into this whole other thing. It was such an incredibly paralyzing feeling. The only thing that really saved me was that you could break the fourth wall; you could talk to the audience. So I just turned to the audience, and we got back on track. That was my opening night." From there, Gail continued to immerse himself in theatre. "I did some regional theater - about four plays - helped build some sets, worked with an artistic director from England who was living in Clearwater running a theater group. She was the first one who really took the time to give me some private voice training. We did A Streetcar Named Desire, Moonstar and some others. I would help her husband build sets, and she would give me voice lessons." Gail shunned the corporate world in favor of a career as an actor because he realized that "there was a runaway side to my personality that was getting out of control. There wasn't enough at that job to hold me in line. It wasn't focused enough for me. It wasn't enough of my signature on the work. I need a strong motivation to stay in line. I had a job with this company, and it was fun and I had some money, but I could do whatever I wanted. I needed something that didn't allow me to do that. And with acting, my ass is on the line." The "out-of-control" period in Gail's life wasn't steeped in anything illegal, mind you. "In the middle of the night I'd be with my friend, and we'd say, 'Let's go surfing on the other coast,' and we'd load up the surf boards and go across the state of Florida at 3 in the morning. It was a trip. It's all relative. If you have very regimented, orthodox people standing there saying you're wild, you're probably in a good place. There were a lot of things about that that I loved. I had this excitement about life." As for what really spurred him to get his career in gear: "I remember I went to a little movie theater, and I was watching a movie where they were talking about pipe dreams, and I remember thinking: That's exactly what I"m going to do. I'm going to waste my whole life just sitting here dreaming about being an actor. It scared the hell out of me that I would actually do that to my life. "I was afraid of stagnating in Tampa," Gail adds. "I was restless. I wanted to get on with it. I wanted to experience some things. I was doing theater, I was doing the fundamentals, but I don't think it really captured me until a few productions down the line. I was making it hard on myself at first, but once you get through some stuff, you can go after what's really exciting to you. And within a month, I was outta there." And on to Los Angeles. "I didn't know anybody here. I met people here that I knew from when I would take the little excursions to Miami. I had a close friend in Tampa who had some friends I didn't know. They had a house that they were moving out of and getting another one, and I said, 'Well, why don't they just get a four-bedroom instead of a three-bedroom?' and they said OK, so I drove out. And I rented this house and we all became friends. Gail's first job after arriving in California was a guest-starring role on Growing Pains. Since then, he has amassed a steady string of credits. His two most prominent roles prior to joining PC earlier this year - a job he enthusiastically says is getting "better and better" - were several episodes as Stuart Carlson on Beverly Hills, 90210 and the role of Dean Collins on Savannah, a part he played for that show's entire brief run. Gail also co-starred in the TV-movie Two Came Back, and had roles on two other short-lived series, Robin's Hoods and The Round Table. Gail's mother was a great source of inspiration for him. "My mother's amazing. She was in a Catholic orphanage at 16, ran away, came to Florida and met my dad. She was working as a waitress, had us, and then ended up going back to school at 46. Before that, she was in the Army. My mother raised us on her own. (Gail has one sister; their parents divorced when eh was 5). She was not passionate about working at a welding supply company with a bunch of sweaty men, but she had to do it, and I respect her for that. She got strength from that." And from acting, Gail has gained new perspective, both about acting itself and about life in general. "I got to a place at 23 where I made a decision for myself - not for my schooling or my parents or my society - about a dream I had. That was probably the most freeing thing I've done in my entire life, because that meant I was afraid that I could be hung out there in the world that didn't have a salary, pension plans and IRAs. It was like, 'It's great that you've got that, but I'm going to Miami, I'm going to go kick it in the bungalow on the beach and do an HBO spot." And I was OK with that. I remember thinking: I can't believe you're giving yourself this freedom. That was my greatest victory, to get to that place."

On the one hand this will just be more fodder for people who say Carol is miserable and awful and why did she come back, but at least it should be strong material for Lindsey Coulson, which is what she deserves. I do wish they could have woven Derek into this story. I think the revised history says Max was one of the brothers who ran David Wicks off, but I can't remember.

From the March 7, 2000 Weekly. Primedia. An interview with David Gail, who was brought in to make Joe more edgy and then very abruptly written our for reasons I've never known.

The show got over 9 million last night.

From the July 4, 2000 Soap Opera Weekly. Primedia. Introducing Jamal and Alison (look, no stuttering vagrants!). I will type up the part which was cut off. Kiko's interview ends in "they are." Then - Travis Kinsey. Erin's interview ends in "on the weekends. I'm not really a busy gal." - TK

The Simpsons started on the show in May 1996 (sorry for saying 1998) and the next month viewers learned the adult children, Nat and Georgia, were lovers. The mother had also been with a younger man and gotten sued for sexual harassment, or something. The family fell apart and then they went into therapy. The father, Ollie, was devastated to learn that Georgia had gotten pregnant with Nat's child and had an abortion. Georgia got a job transfer and Nat went with her. Ollie and his wife split up and their preteen son stayed with him.

From the 12/31/96 SPW. HIDDEN HEROES by Jonathan Reiner Frank South and Charles Pratt Jr. make sure Melrose is the Place to be You only need to talk to Frank South and Charles Pratt Jr. for a few minutes before you get some idea why Melrose Place is so quippy, witty, and wacky. South, an executive producer on the show, and Pratt, Melrose's head writer and co-executive producer, spend almost as much time goofing around as they do crafting the show's intricate relationships. The two first met in the summer of 1992, when Melrose was sinking fast after an impressive debut. "We had done the first 10 scripts, and Fox didn't like the direction of the show. They were upset with everything and they fired a lot of people," says Pratt, who has been with the show since its debut. "Darren (Star, Melrose's creator and then-executive producer) sat us down and told us, 'Well, there are going to be some new people coming on board, and we're all just going to have to get along." Frank was one of those people. They instantly realized they had similar working styles and sense of humor. Pratt explains, "You can spot the workaholics, because they're still at the office at 7 p.m. and not out at the Bel-Air Bar meeting friends." The two are both television veterans, but had not crossed paths before this gig: South was a story editor on Fame and Cagney & Lacey, a producer on Almost Grown and Equal Justice, and a co-creator of Going to Extremes. Pratt, meanwhile, has written or produced for Dynasty, General Hospital, and Santa Barbara, among others. More recently, he co-created Sunset Beach, and serves as its executive story consultant. However, ego had no place at Melrose. Along with Star, the two got down to business and addressed the issue at hand: saving the show. "One of the first things we talked about was bringing on Jo," South says. Pratt adds: "The two biggest things we did were delaying the Billy/Allison romance and making that a triangle, and bringing Kimberly back from the dead with that big, ugly scar on her head." These days the guys are trying to weave more down-to-earth stories, and have even buckled down somewhat at work. "We come in, do phone interviews and then yell for coffee," Pratt explains. "Seriously, we usually start around 9 or 10 in the morning, but individually we start earlier," South says. "There's always a lot of reading to do, and when you're writing, you sometimes start that at 4 or 5 in the morning." As a group, "We gather with Carol (Mendlesohn, a co-executive producer), James (Kahn, a co-producer) and the other writers, and we have various tasks to be done. There are always notes to be given on an outline, and then we break down the next few shows," Pratt continues. "Sometimes we do arcing, which is a whole week's worth of meetings where we do nothing but sit around and talk about the direction in which the characters are going over the next six to 10 episodes." "There's also casting, production meetings with Chip (Hayes, co-executive producer), who handles the set. And there are meetings with the directors about the tone of the show," says South, who decides which directors and writers will work on specific episodes, "much to Chuck's chagrin!" "I would like to direct them all," Pratt jokes, "but we've found it's pretty hard for both of us to direct and do all our duties. We have trouble giving up a lot of our duties." Remember, though, that they still report to Aaron Spelling. "He has a lot of influence, and both of us have learned an enormous amount from him," South says. "He reads the outlines and scripts, and we pitch the arcs to him. He sees the screenings and tells us when we're off." "Also," Pratt adds, "if we pitch a story that he really likes, he doesn't forget it. Network executives usually forget what you pitch as soon as you pitch it, so you can change it and go in a different direction. We love it when Aaron asks, 'Now, which Frank and Chuck am I talking to? The ones I spoke to last month said they were doing a touching love story, and now somebody's on a rooftop with a gun! What happened?'" The lines of communication are open throughout the Melrose hierarchy. South says he and Pratt are "completely accessible to the actors, especially if they're going through a complicated arc. Sometimes actors will call if they feel they're drifting a little bit, or sometimes they'll call because they're curious or sometimes just to chat." "The funny thing is," Pratt adds, "that a lot of the actors, even though the door is open, for some reason are very nervous about calling us. They're stars and they're in demand everywhere they go, but when it comes to calling up and discussing something like a storyline change [they don't do it]. They feel like they are the great protector of their character, but we're as much a part of the character as they are." Storyline changes have been fast and furious this season, primarily due to the influx of new characters. "We're dealing with a lot of storylines this year, trying to wrap up old ones and launch new ones," South explains. "It's not so much a new style (which has been suggested by some critics) as it is more of a tweaking, or a slight adjustment of your television set. This is exciting for us, because it sometimes feels like a new show. But whenever we feel that we've gone a little astray, we always go back to what's going on with the characters, and that has saved us." "From the second season on, our philosophy has been to tell the stories from inside the characters, not about things happening to them," South explains. "As long as the stories come out of the characters' psyches, they tend to be good stories. And that includes when new characters come on and interact with our core group." The interaction that personifies the show extends offscreen, as Pratt and South have become close buddies over the past five years. "Early on, we both had kids the same age who were similar types," Pratt explains. "So we got our kids together a couple of weekends and did that outdoors sort of thing. We also felt the need to get away from our families and our jobs, so we took a couple of weekend junkets to various places. Plus, we share a love for skiing. That's why all the characters were into skiing during the show's first few seasons." However, they have the most fun coming up with "Melrose moments," which they say are the secret to the show's success. "Sometimes it's a funny scene or just a line of dialogue," Pratt explains, "or maybe it's a slap, push, or a pull. Without them the show would be flat. Those moments are key to the show, and they're what people talk about the next day."

Jackson's father has been cast. It's Michael J. Jackson, who was on Brookside as the father of the family who had a very controversial incest storyline. http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/soaps/s12/emmerdale/news/a280687/jacksons-dad-cast-in-emmerdale.html

I think the rumor was Brooke was fired because she didn't know her lines. I was going to ask any of you who have a lot of knowledge about the show's history about a story I read in a December 91 SOD, where Lisa Brown and Doug Marland denied a report, I think from the New York Post, claiming that they went out to dinner, he told her she was being let go and Iva was going to be killed in a car crash, and Lisa spent hours crying and drinking wine. They also said that a casting call had been out for a woman around the same age as Iva, named Donna. Brown said she was in tears because she was divorcing her husband, and she did not drink alcohol, and Marland also said it wasn't true and that he was probably not going back to that restaurant. He said the call for Donna had nothing to do with Iva and had been called off anyway. Did you ever hear anything about any of this? I wonder who "Donna" would have been involved in a story with.

#47 is in. Liz McDonald. I often feel like I missed the best days of this character -- her sanctimoniousness while acting like the town whore puts me off, although Callard is a good actress.

I thought they said Stacey would have a happy ending, but then on EE, that could mean she's leaving alive.

I wonder if The View also came into their mind -- didn't they use some of the show's sets for The View? I think The City needed an overhaul (I would have kept Carla, Tracy, Lorraine, Angie, Jacob, and seriously considered writing many others out), but it was in decent shape and had potential for more. They replaced it with PC, which was always too unstable to ever find footing, in spite of 6 years on the air. I remember at the time they said they were bringing PC in because GH was such a success. They didn't realize what happens when the successful mother show gets a time-consuming spinoff -- ask AW/Texas.

I think I remember the one with the delivery guy. I wish those were available. Back when you were excited to get to see what would happen on a soap...

And everything was so grainy.

I wouldn't be surprised. She had to pair Vicky up with RKK. And look how that worked out. Ryan is the type of male character JFP hates.

Back when Ryan had more of an edge, and before he started with the "I'm balding, OK?" haircuts. It's so tough for a soap to create good leading men. It's a shame JFP so happily threw PMV away.

Kathleen seems like a real person, whereas Frankie just seems very artificial to me. I think what bothers me most is that we are constantly having people talk about how wonderful she is. It's obvious the show at this time was heavily invested in this idea of her as a main heroine. This started with the trashing they did of Nicole Love. I actually do like Frankie, but only when she is not written as this long-suffering victim of Cass. At least they haven't also made Kathleen go nuts. I also think that Cass as a personality was not suited to her. It's a shame that Margaret DePriest, who also felt this way, decided to murder her instead of simply have them break up. Yes, Brian Krause later played Matt, for about six months. I actually really like Matt Crane, he has the whole baby of the family vibe, yet he also has a certain edge to him. It helps that he's so good looking.

I thought Timmons was very unique, she played tender and vulnerable yet also fragile, scheming, self-loathing. Yes, Allison Hossack looked a lot like Anne Heche. For a long time I thought that was AH in the pool scene in the opening credits. I'm in mid-June now, and they had a scene where Matt comforted Paulina after her breakup with Grant. They had a lot of chemistry. I wonder if the show was ever thinking of pairing them up. For some reason the more I see of Dean the more he gets on my nerves. I liked him at first, but not so much since I've started trying to finish up more episodes. I especially did not love the "Song for Jenna", as Jenna tries to look pleased (she kind of looks embarrassed instead). Yeah, PMV and Heche had such incredible chemistry. That scene where she unbuttoned his shirt and undid his tie and then abruptly left the room, to get him back for his helping Frankie instead of being with her -- yowza. Frankie/Cass are just too manufactured for me. It's always telling and not showing. They are believable friends but I don't believe all the stuff about how she makes him a good man and they are soulmates. I think all that is forced. Cass/Kathleen have a much more natural connection. Frankie is better with her family and with Ryan.

I didn't tune into GH a lot during his run but I guess he was one of many who paid a price for not being Jason or Sonny. I think he was TW until late into the 90s. He was also TW when he was on the very short lived Timecop. Danny was a poorly written character but TW/Ted had a lot of charisma.

The ratings for the show are continuing to be consistent and more than consistent; they're up to 7.3 for yesterday's episode. I do wish I could get back into the show. I haven't been that interested in recent weeks. That's sort of the way I've felt about Blyth's stories more often than not; I can admire his efforts but find it hard to engage (although I don't really admire anything about how the Aaron story fell apart).

If anyone else is narrating that means they're done with Moltke every episode. She will still narrate but only sporadically.