Melroser

I forgot to add that I would have it turn out that it was Amanda that had set the fire as she has always had her issues with Carl and after her mother wouldn't listen to her pleas of not marrying the man she wanted to stop the wedding. With the deaths of Joe and Sergi, the injuries to Cass and others, this would put Amanda on the outs with her family, Felicia, Cass as they all turn on her. I'd love to have seen Amanda become a total vixen type character while Cameron stood by her side. It would be a way to mix things up. Just thinking about these characters again makes me so sad. I wish this show was still playing out so badly!

Probably the only realistic natural disaster for Michigan would be a blizzard so I like the idea of a major fire instead. I'd set it a little different though: I'd have Rachel gather her whole family at the Cory Mansion for a surprise event. Everyone would be there: Amanda and Cameron, Matthew, Paulina and Joe, invite Vicky and Jake because of Steven, as well as Felicia and Sergi, Cass and Lila (because of Matthew's son). After they've all arrived and are anticipating what the surprise could be Rachel makes an announcement that she is remarrying/renewing her vows to Carl and out walks Carl. The family is divided on whether to support this or not so there is bickering among each other for a bit. Those gathered separate into other parts of the mansion i.e. Rachel goes upstairs with Amanda, Paulina, Felicia to change into a wedding dress and get ready. Carl and Jake can be arguing about something in another room. Vicky could be in the library or something with Cass and Lila and so on. Then the camera shows someone intentionally setting a fire in the mansion with the intention of stopping the wedding only it gets out of control before anyone realizes there even is a fire. Different groups of people are separated around the mansion and Amanda could be with Joe and have flashbacks of being at Grant's when she was in that fire. Paulina could have flashbacks of the fire she had while passed out on pills and alcohol causing both of them to panic. Jake would be worried about both Vicky and Paulina somewhere else in the house as Rachel worries about Carl, Cass worries about Felicia. They could add in a flashback here and there to show their love/friendships for each other. As word spreads around town through the media others talk about the Cory family and hope everyone is alright. I'd probably kill off Joe doing something heroic to protect Amanda leaving her to feel guilty and cause strife between her and Paulina. I'd have Cass injured in the hospital for a while where they aren't sure if he will make it or not (which he would) but Lila and Vicky would be constantly checking in on him as they had been trapped together. This would cause a mini-truce for the two women for a bit (but not long) .I never liked Sergi either so he could be another casualty which Felicia could feel guilty about bringing him, along with Cass' injury, causes her to relapse and drink again. This could be spread out for an entire sweeps month if done right by the time the fire is stopped, people are pulled from the rubble, and we find out if everyone survives at the hospital.

I wish AW had gone a natural disaster route near the end instead of that dumb "Lumina" plot and Lila's baby being found up in a tree, etc... My opinion, but I think because that storyline was so different than what AW usually did it probably turned people off and the show couldn't have afforded to turn off anymore. A large umbrella story with characters people loved in jeopardy and maybe some odd situations where characters that didn't normally like each other had to band together could have been great! I think it would have at least given AW a fighting chance.

I'm just getting around to watching this and what a great ep! Cecile (Nancy Frangione) was always my fave character. Her in her disguise is so funny and so typical Cecile. Donna and Cecile friendly was fun too as I mostly remember them as hating each other. Wasn't '83 when Donna, Felicia, and Cass really started. Also faves of mine. Papa Pope sighting scared me!! (Sandy's doctor). Wasn't expecting that!

Maybe that's why I have a real problem trusting people....those hearings are probably regressed in my memory while I was in the crib next to the tv! haha

I've often said I was addicted to this show since the womb because my mom was an avid viewer. I was born April '73. If this show was pre-empted a lot that summer no wonder I was such a cranky child!!! Now I know

I don't remember much about Ben McKinnon other than he was an early pairing with Marley, correct? I think a Ben/Marley/Jake/Vicky quad could have been interesting for a while. I always found Vince to be annoying and Mary was only tolerable because of Denise Alexander. The initial story of Marissa being Mary was alright and then her character fell flat. Cheryl was another bland character. Other than Jake and Kathleen, I found MJ to be the only interesting one in the family but the show ruined it when they made her a former prostitute. I was a big Adam/MJ fan but I hated that story with Chad. I no longer cared after that.

I liked Laura Moss as Amanda better than Tucci as well. Although Laura's story of Amanda pretending to be Hadley to go after Carl I didn't really enjoy. I remember being disappointed that she was replaced but Sandi Ferguson was always the true Amanda to me. I wonder if Moss had stayed if we would have had that lame Lumina story at the end....and Amanda still would have been Jordan Stark's "love". I did not like Brian Krause as Matt either. Jeff Phillips did okay and I wished that he had stayed longer. He was a better match with Lisa Peluso than Krause....for sure.

Thank you!

I got dizzy just reading that.... As a huge Cecile fan I wish some of the storyline with her and Alma terrorizing Blaine was on Youtube. I know that Alma dressed up as a doll, didn't she? I'd love to watch that as I think I missed it as a kid. Of course, it was probably best that I didn't see an adult dressed as a doll running around terrorizing someone. haha

Thanks. Yeah I had to look it up (because obviously I'm bored) but I was curious. IMbd shows Stephen Borgadus (I didn't even know his name) played Sandy in 1993 and Carmen Duncan left in '94. So they would have been on together. Sad that I don't remember them interacting...of course, maybe they didn't that much which is also sad as they would have had an interesting history as characters.

Oh I enjoyed Judi Evans and she became a fave of mine. Her chemistry with Tom Eplin was also good but I never felt that Paulina was the same character with Judi. It always felt to me like she came on as a different role. I just prefered Cali's Paulina as a match for Jake as well as a rival for Iris. I wish the Iris/Paulina rivalry could have kept going since Iris had always been jealous of her father. I'm sure she resented the fact that he had another daughter. Did the show ever really address Iris and Sandy as brother and sister? I know that Sandy came back at one point with a different actor around the time that Cecile wanted to pass off Maggie as Cass' daughter (at least I think it was that time). Was Carmen Duncan still on then? I can't remember.

Thanks for that cover. I think that this was AW's best ever "WhoDunIt?" story and one of my favorite storylines for the show of all time. Cali Timmins was by far a better Paulina and her chemistry with Tom Eplin sizzled at times. I was big Jake/Paulina fan when she played the part but it fell through once Judi Evans took over. (I NEVER understood Paulina getting involved with Joe.) The build up to this story I thought was well done and the complicated relationships Jake had with each of these women, as well as their relationships among themselves, was fun to watch and figure out. Plus, Anne Heche rocked this material!

I think Dean and Jenna worked nicely for AW. They seemed to have a good following as well. I remember liking the whole D&M music company story that involved them, Matthew, Lorna, and even Jake. It showed people actually working and the struggles of trying to start a business. It was a great way to mix up the characters. Morgan was just okay for me. The only story I really think he had was the rape/non-rape of Lorna. It was too bad that Alicia Coppola left shortly after that and the fallout ended up played by someone else. It just wasn't the same tension between Lorna/Morgan at that point. I personally couldn't stand Kelsey and thought she was a poorly developed/written story. She had potential as being related to Ryan/Grant but it never worked for me. Her pairings with Jamie and then John I thought were beyond boring. I do think that Jamie should have been around until the end but after Marley left I'm not sure they knew what to do with him. He should have made appearances at the end, especially with Marley (then Ellen Wheeler) back and going off the rails. They should have "called in" Jamie to try and help her. just my opinions....AW was my show. Miss it every day. Still.

It's hard to picture Marcus Smythe's Peter as a sounding board for Marley or mixed with Felicia/Rachel but with the right amount of break for the character and a good recast this probably would have worked. The writing for Peter with Marcus Smythe wasn't the best for him, that's for sure. I think he was a good enough actor that had to do the best he could with what he had to work with. I think what they did to Nicole's character-making her Jason's killer then turn psycho- was a travesty. I would have liked to have seen Nicole get out of prison somehow right after the death of Frankie. It would have been interesting to see Cass' reaction having lost the love of his life yet Nicole is a free woman roaming around...especially after terrorizing Frankie. They could have played out the beats of Felicia's reaction as well (since she was initially arrested for it and sat in jail without Nicole coming forward). They could have redeemed Nicole in a way as she struggled to overcome the stigma of a "murderer" even from her own family.

With Donna and Vicky around until the end (and even Marley back before the end) I think that there was definitely a spot for Peter to be around. The way he treated Brittany was cruel and I think went too far. I can see him being strict with her and hating the fact she was carrying another man's child but with that said...why would he care so much if it were another man's child. Ditch her and move on. Peter could have interacted with Sharlene, Iris, or even with Cecile during her returns as they had history. Peter should have been around during Marley's rape and should have been a support for her as she grew up thinking he was her older brother. She no longer really trusted her mom or Vicky because of Jake so it would have made sense for her to turn to someone else. There could have been a lot of potential story for him. I always hated that neither Peter nor Nicole were around for Donna's family.

Even though I was young (12 in '85) I was a fan of Sally/Catlin with MPK. I was even excited when Sharon Gabet was coming onto my show. Though I never watched her on Edge, I was aware how popular she was and was glad for AW. Gabet and Thomas Ian Griffith had good chemistry and it was an intriguing story at first but then went off the rails. I hated the darker turn that Peter took and the fact that Brittany was made to be his victim. I wish the show would have kept Peter more in character with the previous actors and written it as Donna looking her nose down at the "lesser" choice of a woman that her brother made. Watching Gabet play the underdog of sorts against the Love family snottiness could have been great...especially some scenes between Stuart and Gabet. They should have played up the wrong side of the tracks angle instead of making the character of Brittany such a victim. I always thought AW used to be good showing the different classes with its characters. I was aware of Taylor Miller's popularity as well before coming to AW but I don't think she ever fit. As a popular character from a main family on the show she should not have been killed off. A brief rest and then bring in someone new may have worked. But I'm not sure who would have been available back then.

I think Lucas should have been Felicia's endgame, especially with Lorna around but they killed him off too soon! Trying to bring his look-a-like Nikolas on was lame. They should have just kept Lucas. I thought Dano and Aprea had very good chemistry and maybe the show realized their mistake and that's why we had Nikolas but it was too late. I could not stand Stacey and Michael. I was never a big fan of Michael's to begin with but when he and Stacey got together I hated him even more. I thought Stacey (with Hilary Edson) was a complete waste on AW. Her pairings with Derek and then Michael were boring and seemed pointless. The only time I enjoyed Stacey was around Jamie's orbit when she had rivalry scenes with Vicky.

I wonder why the show never really revisited Amanda/Billy after Alison left. I know Billy and Alison were no longer together long before she left but as I believe Alison to be Billy's true love, I could see him not wanting to be around Amanda in front of Alison. I guess by then it was all Amanda/Peter with Kyle/Taylor mixed in.

i agree about Mac and Rachel. Those two were superb. It's too bad that shows don't stick with couples long-term anymore. It's like characters are married for a year or two, divorce, marry someone else and then never remember the others they were married too. It was great watching Mac and Rachel go through their problems and even other relationships but still find their ways back to each other. Mac and Rachel were always the end game and that's why it worked with the audience. It's too bad that they never found the proper pairing for Linda Dano that they could have had an end game with! Felicia always had decent relationships: Zane, Mitch, Lucas, but there was never anyone that was long-term enough to make him "it" for Felicia. Her long-term "relationship" was Cass.

I thought Jeff Phillips seemed out of place as Matthew. I was a fan of his on GL but he just didn't seem to fit for me on AW. Brian Krause was okay. I think the recasts for Amanda and Matthew hurt the show. Was never a big fan of Russell Todd as Jamie either but maybe because I thought the show kind of made Jamie seem like a wimp at that time involved with Marley. I initially liked the Amanda/Sam/Olivia triangle. It could have worked better though. I was always liked Sam and Amanda in the beginning but thought that Amanda's pregnancy came way too quickly. I thought saddling them with a baby hurt them as a couple. They could have played out the tension of Mitch's brother with Rachel's daughter for a longer time without a child.

Anna Stuart did play Donna on ATWT. Donna was always one of my fave characters, mainly because of Anna Stuart's portrayal. I wish Donna could have kept the snotty edge she had in the beginning where she acted better than everyone else because of her status. I think they made her too weak once Reginald came on. I always hated how Donna was so frightened of her father when she was a grown woman! They could have shown her intimidated by Reginald without making her seem like such a weak little girl and then her breakdown. It's too bad that she would have left if AW had stayed on the air. I thought the show was starting to come around (except for the stupid Lumina story with Jordan Stark). I really liked Amanda/Cameron, Lila/Cass and then Alice Barrett coming back. It would have been a blow for Donna to leave even though she hadn't been used that well.

Yeah I'm pretty sure Robyn Griggs was dating John Bobbit or spending a lot of time with him. Didn't AW think it was too much bad press or something so they didn't want her on the show. I remember being annoyed that they let her go for that because AW needed all of the press they could have gotten at the time. Not that I liked Robyn's Maggie...but ....

Cecile is probably a top three fave character of mine but I could never stand Maggie. I hated the story of trying to make Cass think that she was his daughter. The character was poorly written all around. Tho Robyn Griggs probably looked the most like Cecile and Sandy (NF and CR) I found Lisa Brenner (sp?) to be best in the role. I wish they could have used her better to tie in Cecile. She should have been the snotty Cecile type that was always trying to out-do Rachel and Donna's kids. Tying Maggie in with Sharlene/Tomas never made sense to me. I could never picture a daughter of Cecile's in with that crowd. I was never a fan of the whole Nick/Sofia/Tomas/Maggie quad either. I guess the show was trying to go for the "younger crowd" with this quad but I found them all boring.

Was it Jensen? Sorry. I guess I was thinking he was on earlier but yeah, that makes sense. Nick was with Sofia and that was much later. Getting old I guess...memory is going. Kevin was actually better.....but not much...