You're Soaking in it

12 hours ago, amybrickwallace said:

Thank you for the thoughtful answer! I just wish I had been old enough to watch it the first time around. 

 

Why didn't things work out between Maggie and Dave? Didn't he marry one of Maeve and Johnny's granddaughters as soon as their divorce was final?

 

I recently wrote to Geoffrey and Cali (Timmins) Pierson (Frank #4 and Maggie), and they both kindly autographed the pictures I sent. What a classy couple. 

Maggie's insecurities starting getting the best of her. She wanted to get pregnant to hang on to Dave (Scott Holmes), eventually sleeping with a fellow model just to improve her chances. I'm not sure if Dave ever found out about that, but I do remember that Maggie's behaviors put more and more distance between them.

And you're right: Dave did fall for the Ryan's grand daughter, Katie Thompson (Julia Campbell). After he divorced Maggie, he & Katie left town together...  he to Oakdale, and she to Santa Barbara.  

8 hours ago, LeClerc said:

I have a feeling (and believe I read at one point) that McTavish was sort of living vicariously through Felicity LaFortune's Laurel, with Jack and Trevor fighting over her, etc. There was a strong physical resemblance...

I can't believe that has never occurred to me before!

So would it make even more sense that Laurel was then shot and killed on live TV after Lorraine Broderick returned as head writer? 

49 minutes ago, amybrickwallace said:

What about "Ireland" in 1995? Where did they tape the outdoor Marty/Patrick scenes?

Those remotes - the snowy woods - were shot somewhere in New Jersey IIRC.  There were a few, shorter-term remotes in that era of OLTL - like Alex trying to drown Cassie in the lake, the memorable AIDS Quilt episodes, and Tina's escapade to New York (where she went to get a SO-not-needed-"makeover"-because-let's-face-it-she's-fricken-Karen-Witter).

The 80's were full of location shoots - about one annually starting in 1984: 

Venice, Italy (1984)

Vienna, Austria (1985) - that one featured Jenny, David, Clint & Viki, et al.

Jamaica (1986) - Tina & Cord

Buenos Aries, Argentina (1987) - Tina, Cord, Kate, Maria, Max, Gabrielle

Arizona (1988) - The Old West "Time Travel" story

Austria (1989) - this time doubling as Mendorra

6 hours ago, SFK said:

That's where my great memories of Melody Anderson lie, she and Shari Belafonte burning down the road in their high tech Ferrari.  As said, a lovely actress, just not Natalie.  She could have been a great Laurel.

Interesting that you mentioned Laurel. Kristen Jensen, the first Laurel that came before Felicity LaFortune took over, originally read for Natalie's recast.

3 hours ago, SFK said:

I think the actress (lightskinned, braids) who replaced her as Simone did a lovely job with the part, she's actually the Simone I saw and remember the most from watching in high school.  Then again, I'm guessing she was given stronger material, the divorce, dealing with young Tommy.

Felicia Bell. And yes, she was very good. Her Simone was basically a more evolved version of Laura Carrington's. She had a confidence and a warmth that had been missing in Williams' version. Actually, same goes for Williams as OLTL's Sheila: there was an insecurity and defensive vibe that hadn't been there when Valarie Pettiford played her.

I also liked SQ on HWMrC... It actually seemed really natural for her. Maybe being allowed to create her own character gave her more freedom to show what she can really do as an actress. 

2 hours ago, Soaplovers said:

Some roles shouldn't be recast... Angie was one as we saw with the brief recast after Debbi Morgan quit.. and then Natalie in 1992 after Kate Collins left and she was replaced by Melody Anderson.. who was sweet, warm and gentle... traits I wouldn't have used to describe Natalie.

Melody was a good actress and competent performer. I remember really enjoying her "Cape Fear" scenes with John Wesley Shipp's Carter. 

BUT... you're 100% right, she was just not Natalie.

Yes, Stephanie E. Williams...  recast for both Valarie Pettiford as OLTL's Dr. Sheila Price, and Laura Carrington as GH's Dr. Simone Hardy.  In both of those cases, I think she was better than Quarterman was for AMC's Angie. But just like with Quarterman & AMC, I also think Williams' interpretation over-simplified both characters. There was hardly a difference between her Simone and her Sheila. Her predecessors each brought things special and unique to their characters. Quarterman did the same thing for Angie: water her down... but even more so. Not bad acting... just not Angela (nor Simone, nor Sheila).

9 hours ago, adrnyc said:

 

I'm absolutely loving Nancy Addison in this show. She's one of my very favorites. Jill, too. I had some issues with her during the KGJ affair but Nancy always finds a way to pull me back on to Jill's side. It's my understanding that she was a very well respected actress here in NYC. Her death was mourned by many in the NYC theater community. She only did one broadway show that I know of, but she must've done Off-Broadway or something because when I bring up her name, she is fondly remembered.

She took leadership on a lot of advocacy and charitable causes, garnering support from the NY acting community. (Go ahead & just google it for the details.) She was just an extraordinary person all around.

5 hours ago, Khan said:

Not to hate on Saundra Quarterman, because I'm sure she gave her all to Angie and to the show, but she is a textbook example of what happens when you have a casting director who thinks "any n***a will do."  Just because she was Black and a female, that didn't mean she was right for Dr. Angie Baxter Hubbard.

And there was almost nothing, story-wise, gained from recasting the role. Sharla had a crush on Derek, who was dating Angie. That was about the most dramatic things got.

Some related trivia: Tonya Pinkins, who would show up as Livia Frye not long after Quarterman left, tested against Debi Morgan for Angie back when the role was created.

6 minutes ago, amybrickwallace said:

Thanks for clarifying, but if I was feeling

Francesca I would completely wash my hands of that plot. One of my teachers in high school was a big AMC fan and she HATED that story - hated it!! I think that was in 1997.

Polarizing, to say the least. I give her credit for taking ownership. She described her own guiding of AMC as wanting to take characters and stories to their very edge. There were things I loved, and things I didn't. The whole tone of AMC became very dark under FJ.

I really disliked the Maria / Dimitri "grief sex." It just didn't ring true, and I thought even kind of gross. You had this very powerful scene of Edmund not letting Maria abscond with Sammy, and taking him from her arms to return him to Kelsey... Then the next episode, you see have Dimitri under the sheets with Maria, who kind of looked grossed-out herself. To me, it threw an unnecessary cliche over an otherwise well told story point.

I realized later, of course, that it was a means to an end: to have Maria miraculously be pregnant, and worry that the baby was Dimitri's. That was another means to an end - PPD-afflicted Erica, just having miscarried, takes the baby and makes it appear to Maria that she died. And in spite of my hating the actions, it was somehow riveting. The scenes of Erica confessing and returning the baby to Maria were amazingly well written & acted.

6 minutes ago, amybrickwallace said:

I know that Francesca James directed, produced and acted (not to mention sang) on AMC. Did she ever write for the show?

She was never on the writing team - but as EP, she largely took credit for the ideas of Maria sleeping with Dimitri and the subsequent Erica's kidnapping Maria's baby. (Broderick was HW at the time.)

25 minutes ago, Khan said:

IIRC, Agnes was "Executive Head Writer," a position that I dare anyone to explain.

It's like being the Queen of England, but on a soap opera. McTavish was like Margaret Thatcher, except not nearly as deep and way more reckless.

41 minutes ago, DRW50 said:

 

The ratings weren't all that fantastic at this time, I believe, which is one of the reasons that FMB was let go early in 1996. 

 

Kelsey was a part of that group. 

 

Later in 1996 or in 1997, Soap Opera Weekly had some article which had someone at ABC Daytime saying the teens weren't really that popular and that viewers felt they had been forced into the show (which they were). 

The network wanted a teen set in 1995, as part of correcting the crash course of infinite evil twins / bombings / and general pull-a-plot-device-out-of-a-bag that Megan McTavish was driving on. That's what developed. I thought it was well done, and - along with other storylines - more tonally true to AMC. 

The ratings were not as good as they were, like every other soap, pre-OJ-trial. Disney's acquisition of ABC was a major catalyst for letting Felicia Behr go... and her dismissal was in fact pretty shocking. At the time, AMC's only two Outstanding Drama Series Emmys to date were won under Behr... and currently AMC had Emmy noms across all major show categories. The Emmys were held a month after FMB's exit, and AMC took home their first Writing Team - Lorraine Broderick as HW - award since, well,  7 years ago when Broderick was Head Writer. To me, things were positive, and the changes that started happening after the Disney takeover were reactionary and not well thought out. 

So Francesca James was brought in as EP - and she described her vision as more experimental in production style, as well as more boundary-pushing in terms of story direction. I mean, I guess she was those things, though I tend to think about half of what she pushed out didn't resonate. At times I felt the show was imbalanced, and sometimes just too damn sad. And then there were times it was pretty fantastic. That teen set stayed mostly through FJ's time on the show.

By then, McTavish was back, and 1998 was a total poop-storm.

1 minute ago, DRW50 said:

 

No one cares where he is now.

Good point.

21 minutes ago, Soapsuds said:

He looks dirty. He needs a shower and he is looking rough/older than his age.

I saw this comment on the home page... and I thought, "this has to be about Jason Lewis!"  

2 hours ago, Pine Charles said:

''Good Catholic'' Tom goes postal on Erica for taking birth control pills, but it's alright to cheat on your pregnant wife with your wife's main rival.  I hope he went to confession the next day.  As for Erica, she didn't give a crap.  LOL

Yeah, it seemed out of left field, considering that Erica was in love with Mike and about to marry Adam. But they were both drunk, and this was a beat in Tom's own battle with alcoholism.

On 2/17/2018 at 1:45 AM, danfling said:

I am sure that Skye originally sang at the Goal Post - not Panache.  Antoinette Byron played the role.   There seemed to be an attraction between Skye and Tom from the beginning, although I do not remember how long it was before they got together.

Tom had been beaten up by Adam's henchmen right before Adam's wedding to Erica (because Erica and Tom had a one-night stand on the eve of the wedding).

The Goal Post was a casual bar & restaurant, without a stage for anyone to perform on. Panache was a venue that didn't last long in PV, and there's limited info on it - it almost like a temporary recast for the burned-out-of-commission Chateau. But I even remember the moment Adam laid eyes on Skye Patterson when she was singing on a stage, he sitting, looking forward and up toward him... and we'd soon find out she was "Antoinette Chandler." 

There's a few AMC videos on YouTube with Antoinette Byron playing her - not too many scenes outside of ones with Tad. The way I remember it is that Tom needed a nightclub singer for Panache's debut, and that's how Skye was introduced (cue shock-moment with Adam in the audience and she singing TO him). At this point, Skye was not written as alcoholic.

After her failed attempt at landing Tad, then her losing Mitch to Hillary (now recast with Robin Christopher), then the storyline introducing Cindy, Skye had established a pattern of alcoholism - which reconnected her with recovered alcoholic Tom, first as constructive support, and then into romance.

As for Tom's one-nighter with Erica, that was about two years prior to Skye arriving in PV. He was married to Brooke, who was pregnant with Laura at that time.

On 2/9/2018 at 12:34 PM, danfling said:

 

 

When Tom Cudahy came to town (and rescued Little Phil from some kidnappers), he had left professional football and later decided to open the less formal Goal Post.

Erica later opened Erica's Disco in the rear of the Goal Post.  Skye was first introduced as a popular singer (Skye Patterson) who was hired to sing at the Goal Post.   She and Tom quickly fell in love.

......

 

Panache was later opened.   I think that the owners were Hailey and Matteo.

 

 

Panache was a night club opened by Tom. That's where Skye came into the picture. However, she and Tom didn't get together until over a year later. She first had an affair with Tad, then was involved with Donna's brother, Mitch Beck (who she lost to Hillary).

Haley and Matteo owned Holidays, a coffee house. Lee Hawkins blew it up in 1998, one of the most bizarre years of writing on AMC... courtesy of McTavish, of course.

On 1/5/2018 at 1:39 AM, robbwolff said:

I thought it was widely rumored that Farren Phelps was the uncredited head writer during a good chunk of ‘99.

1999 was a hazy year for writing teams. ABC initially tried to keep it discrete that McTavish had been removed (again) as head writer of All My Children. Word started leaking, and ABC confirmed the rumors only after a distinct tonal change started being noticed in AMC's on-air scenes... ABC's official response at that point was that McTavish had been moved to a consultant role for ABC Daytime, and that Agnes Nixon was back leading the AMC team, along with Elizabeth Page and Jean Passanante. 

Rumor was that McTavish had been out AMC's door as early as March, and that she at some point after that began co-writing OLTL with Phelps, to see if it was going to be a good fit. In their eventual announcement of McTavish becoming OLTL's HW, ABC said she had been "consulting" on the show.

23 hours ago, cassadine1991 said:

All I think is how awkward it was since Chrishell and Lindsay worked together 

And how life imitates art: This is figuratively the second time Lindsay's "husband" moved on from her to Chrishell  (Cara / Jake / Amanda).

7 hours ago, Nomada said:

I know about Terry Lester, but Lane Davies is also gay? Haven't read anything about that

For the record... Davies does not identify as gay, has been married to a woman - and I believe is in a longterm relationship with a woman presently. 

But when it's the 80's, and you're spending almost a year touring other parts of the world, just you & your hunky co-star together... sometimes on a boat.... and it's the 80's... 

On 9/1/2017 at 6:39 PM, GSGfan2017 said:

 

Here is the appropriate link to the article:

 

http://santabarbara-online.com/articleRWright-DWitherspoon2.htm

I've read that "article" before. It's just so preposterous. I'm guessing that this writer is French? The "quotes" are painfully fictional or at minimum, wildly misinterpreted... 

1 hour ago, GSGfan2017 said:

Gordon Thomson, who was seen as Mason Capwell from 1990 to 1993, has come out of the closet.

Well, duh!  ;-)

I would just add the word "officially," to that...  And unofficially, this means that all 3 Mason Capwells enjoyed the company of men - allegedly.

Btw, love Gordon Thompson, and agree with his assessment of the culturally-vacant Dynasty 2.0...

P.S. - Just finished reading the entire article... what a wonderful, enlightening interview!

5 hours ago, DRW50 said:

 

Thanks. I'd wondered as I saw him in a bit of a May 1990 episode, with Dane. 

That whole Dane Hammond / covert operation was right when Paul started, though Louie had been mentioning him to Kate shortly before then (lamenting his "mob lifestyle"). Peluso was already back as Ava when they met, and of course she initially disliked him & objected to him being around her family home due to his shady past...  ;-)

3 hours ago, DRW50 said:

Thanks for the info as always. So do you think they dumped Matt for Casey? 

 

Somebody else already put this on years ago but the brazenness of having a broke and homeless Gwyn wandering the streets to "Another Day in Paradise" still gets to me. And the big scene of her breaking down after she realizes how grateful she now is to be breaking into a restaurant (what was that place?) and eating snacks and drinking pilfered wine. I think Chrisine Tudor would have acted the hell out of this but I also can't really see her Gwyn being in that situation, if you know what I mean? 

 

I guess Trisha and Clay must have cast her out at this time. 

 

It starts around 7 minutes.

 

 

Is there anything around of Roya's Ava interacting with Paul in her temp return? If so I hope I see it someday...

Paul wasn't yet introduced at this point. (I know the clip says 1991 - that's probably true for when it aired in Italy, but it's actually from 1990). Alex & Egypt were in Ava's orbit at this time... though recast Robert Dubac wasn't exactly sizzling the screen with them. He was good enough to wrap up Alex's story, and leave town with Egypt. Paul comes in right about then.

19 hours ago, GSGfan2017 said:

No offense, but did Carrington Garland really look that much like Marcy Walker?

That's not offensive at all. 

Garland certainly looked enough like Walker to play her sister, and resembled Robin Wright enough to visually fit in as Kelly. (Actually, when you look closely, she's kind of like a cross between the two.) But I think what's most important is that she had the right energy & personality, as well as great chemistry with her co-stars, to succeed in the role. MacArthur was a stop-gap recast - just not memorable, feeling more like a place-holder......

And Eileen Davidson was like an experiment gone wrong - an attempt to reinvent the role. It wasn't necessary, and it was a shame to expend Garland, who had already accomplished winning over viewers... a tough thing to do, considering who originated the part.