ellabelle

Yep, Tom was better with Brooke than with Erica.

I think that Tom Cudahy was the love of Erica's life.

I disagree. I think Tom was the sort of person who could have been really good for Erica - Susan Lucci has said as much as well - but they wanted different things and were thus doomed to fail as a couple. He wanted a family and a stable life, and Erica wanted fame and fortune and to be unhampered by the responsibilities of parenthood. Maybe if they hadn't married back in the 70s they could have been a decent couple after Erica grew up a bit and was ready and willing to be a mother. Erica circa early 1990s liked and respected Tom a great deal, but by that point, Tom knew better than to get involved with her again.

I think the love of Erica's life was ultimately Erica herself. She was obviously motivated later in the show to protect her children, but her primary motivation has always been her own self-interest. She's a deeply wounded, vulnerable, selfish person who wants all-encompassing love, but on her own terms. She is willing to try to change for someone, but that's never going to last, so she has to be with someone who not only understands her but realizes that he can't change her or make her into something she's not. She's not going to be happy staying at home and baking cookies with her children or grandchildren all the time, no matter how much she may enjoy the occasional bout of domesticity. Mike Roy, Dimitri Marick, and David Hayward all understood that. The relationship with Mike was doomed by his 'death' and unfortunately, by Nick Surovy's unwillingness to sign a long-term contract with AMC. If he'd been willing to stay on longer than 6 months in 1998, I think Erica could have chosen Mike. The relationship with Dimitri was ultimately doomed by circumstance - Kendall, Richard Fields, Erica's poor mental state, the trial, Anton, Erica's fall and the resulting drug addiction, Jonathan Kinder, Dimitri's one night stand with Maria, the loss of Erica's baby was all just too much for them to get past. I still believe they had a lot of unfinished business as a couple and that they would have eventually reconciled had ABC not fired Michael Nader for his drug problems. The relationship with David was brief in comparison to Dimitri or Jack, but he saw her in a way that a lot of other men didn't and still found her beautiful even when her face was scarred. He didn't really try to change her either, but I think they were both too hurt by life by that point to be willing to give in enough to make a relationship work long-term.

Amy, I assume your comment was directed at Khan, but I'm going to reply anyway. I thought Erica had great chemistry with both brothers, so it wasn't that I necessarily thought one was drastically better than the other. I believe that for the writers, Travis was a means to an end, which was giving Erica a child born onscreen. If you go back and watch the crazy dream/comatose vision/whatever Erica had right before Bianca was born, out of all the men in her life, Erica is most firmly connected to Mike Roy, even making love to him in her dream (and oddly enough, then all the other men in her life and appear again and I guess watched or something ), and the only real appearance Travis makes in that entire two episode trippy dream is when he's on a bicycle built for two with Barbara, ignoring Erica. Erica's baby is what matters most to her in the dream. If the subconscious speaks the truth, then perhaps Erica knew even then that Travis still had a close connection to Barbara.

I would have liked to see Erica and Travis' first marriage go in a different direction than it ultimately did. I'm not sure the writers really knew what to do with Travis after Erica had Bianca, but I do think he and Barbara were good together and played off each other very well. Their relationship was complex and interesting, and when Barbara came back on the show in 2007 or so, it was obvious that their marriage in Seattle had been pretty rocky and complicated, and I would have liked to have seen more of that. I still think killing off Travis was a really, really bad idea.

Ultimately, I don't think either Montgomery brother was really the right man for Erica, but I sure enjoyed the story. I just got tired of the endless together/apart cycle of Erica and Jack by the time it was all over.

I've been watching some late 80s AMC, and I have to ask yet again why the writers had to get rid of Travis and Barbara. There was so much there with them, and I absolutely adore watching Erica and Barbara snark at each other. Okay fine, move them off to Seattle for a while, but God, I wish they'd been brought back on a more permanent basis at some point.

Damn ella, that made my day. Brilliant.

Glad you liked it! A dear friend sent it to me, and I laughed until I cried. I still can't decide what my favorite part is, but the kitten meat line ranks pretty high up there.

It's silly, I know, but I'm in love with this video.

^ Yeah, I saw that the other day. I've seen many photos of the house from various magazine articles about SL, and I had a picture in my head of what the rest of the house looked like based on those select photos, so it was interesting to see the real estate listing and get a better feel for the whole house. It's a little bit dated in places, but it's still a gorgeous home.

I do wonder why they're selling now. She's always waxed poetic about how much she loved the house and the location, so I have to wonder if they're upgrading or buying another beach house elsewhere in the Hamptons, or if this is a hedge your bets thing about long-term finances since she's no longer really selling anything on HSN or QVC, AMC is done, and there's been no announcement about another season of Devious Maids yet.

^ What was the event, do we know? I like hearing that Agnes and Susan still spend time together.

Also, I never knew what McKay's was until now. I also didn't realize that establishment from that 1970 episode went on for so long. Can someone show me a video of McKay's from later on? When did it dissapear/leave?? Also, when was BJ's introduced?

McKay's was shown in the late 90s - Del helped Kendall get a job there circa 1994 or so. Some of that is on YouTube. I'm not sure when BJ's was first introduced, but it's featured a lot in 1999 and 2000 - I have some clips on my channel that have various characters meeting at BJs.

What were your own personal favorite hangouts in Pine Valley?

I loved seeing clips of characters interacting at the Chateau and the Glamorama in the 80s. I also loved the various Enchantment sets and the Valley Inn.

I think the Valley Inn became prominent in the early 1990's after the demise of the Chateau.

The Valley Inn was definitely around in the late 80s because Jack both lived there and somehow ran a law office out of his hotel suite as well. I'm not sure when the hotel or its restaurant and terrace were first used as sets though.

Christina Bennett Lind (ex-Bianca, AMC) has booked a recurring role on the coming season of House of Cards

I really like House of Cards, and I'm definitely looking forward to seeing what sort of role she plays on the show. I wasn't opposed to a recast of Bianca, but her Bianca was too sweet for my taste. I hope this new character has a bit of an edge to her. It would be nice to see her play something different.

^ Eh, I didn't care for the gay storyline in the 90s because it centered around new characters we barely knew. The Bianca coming out story was far more powerful, IMHO, because it was a legacy character, the daughter of the most famous soap opera character ever, coming out as gay, and staying on as a major character without being a victim of a hate crime or losing her job or being discriminated against for being gay. Yes, the mid-90s gay story did break some ground in daytime, and it opened the door for the Bianca story, but it wasn't really must-see TV for me. It's similar to the Zarf/Zoe story for me in that it was the new outsider who was "different" from everyone else, as opposed to characters I already knew and liked.

English Tea - partially, yes. There are three of us collecting episodes and clipping them.

I asked a few pages back, but I guess you missed it - is the AMCThroughTheYears channel yours? It's very Brooke-centered, and I know you're a big fan of the character. If it is and you are looking for anything from 1999-2000, let me know because there's a good change I have it, and I'd be interested in trading for other 90s Erica clips.

It truly is. I guess you and I have a "special" birthday coming up, if you haven't had yours already. Oy!

Okay, so "same age" was not meant as an exact term in my post, but then again, I think one can be a bit loose with age after, say, 25. I'm 35, but it does not feel like high school - and early to mid 90s AMC - was all that long ago!

Yes, because the 20th anniversary of my grandmother's passing was in February and I'll always remember thinking about my grandmother when FH passed away. I was a freshman in high school. My my my...

We must be the same age then, SFK. Mona's death was so sad. It's hard to believe it's been 20 years.

These were just uploaded to YouTube: how Liza found out in 1999 that Adam was really Colby's father, not Jake.

The backstory to set up these scenes: Colby's cord blood cells had been saved (improbable considering that she was delivered in a cabin by David, and not at a hospital, but whatever), and Liza and Jake agreed to donate them for an experimental therapy for Dimitri. Adam was afraid testing on the cells would confirm he was the father, so he switched Colby's sample with another sample, and Liza finally figured that out. She was furious and was prepared to confront Adam over it. David had reached the end of his patience with Adam, and after months of threatening to go public with the news that Adam was really Colby's father, David swore that the next person who walked into the room would hear the truth - and that person happened to be Gillian.

Ooooh... thanks for sharing, DRW50!

ET, is this your youtube account?

Ellabelle, I am in love with your website!!!!

Thanks! It's a work in progress - we have a collection of magazines from the 70s and 80s, and we are in the process of scanning those to include share on the site, and there's another related AMC history project we hope to do as well. Some friends and I had talked about doing a site for Erica and AMC for a long time, and I wish we'd done it years ago, but oh well.

^ Oh how fun! I love seeing behind the scenes/candid footage of the actors. Thank you for posting that!

Erica driving the race car still tends to make me laugh/roll my eyes at the same time. I guess this was close to the end of the 100% fun camp Erica.

1990s Erica was so much more serious in comparison. I mean, she did get to do some fun things (the marriage to Adam, the faux kidnapping with Edmund and the faux amnesia story with Dimitri, and the whole Mike Roy story in 1998 come to mind), but most of the 90s was such a drag for her: losing custody of Bianca, Mona's death, the revelation of the rape, Dimitri's stabbing, Kendall, her drug addiction, Bianca's anorexia, her miscarriage, going to jail for kidnapping Maddie, and then nearly dying in a car accident and having her face mangled. I didn't start watching until the end of 1990, so seeing a really light-hearted and selfish and campy 1980s Erica is a really interesting change.

One more just for fun, for this actual 2000-2001 Crystal Ball Photo...

Row 4 (L to R): J. Eddie Peck as the very handsome and beadable Dr. Joseph "call me Jake" Martin; Cameron Mathison as the not yet the plague of Pine Valley John Ryan Aloysius Curry Lavery; the underrated and frankly stunning Esta TerBlanche as spoiled princess with no castle Gillian Eugenia Maria Andrassy Lavery; Walt Willey as playing a day player with no romantic interest or storyline at the time Jackson Montgomery; Marj Dusay in the deliciously malicious role of Vanessa Bennett Cortlandt; John Callahan as former heart-throb Edmund Gresham Grey (seriously, Eva should have told the once speciman of a man had to do was hit the gym from time to time); and Josh Duhamel in his all-to-short of a run as conman in leather Leo duPres

Row 3 (L to R): Abigail Spencer in the unmemorable role of Pigeon Hallow's Becca Tyree, Vincent Irizararry as the charming and oh-so-bad Dr. David Hawyard, Jill Larson as the always enjoyable Opal Cortlandt, Marcy Walker as the wasted potential at every turn Liza Colby, Michael Nader as high-as-a-kite in this photo Dimitiri Marick, the Count Andrassy; Finola Hughes as counting the days until I get written out Dr. Alexandra Devane Marick, Rebecca Budig as claws-in Greenlee Smythe soon to be duPres, and Sara Hugh as Tina "what's her face" Harding

Row 2 (L to R): Cady McClain as poodle-haired Dixie Cooney Martin, Michael E. Knight as still the man of every woman's dream Thaddeus James Gardner Martin, David Canary as the always perfect Adam Chandler, Kelly Ripa as feisty and always drunk Hayley Vaughan Santos, and Mark Consuelos as happy to no longer be an exotic dancer Mateo Santos.

Row 1 (L to R): Now legal eagle Zachary Kady (I saw him at the Georgetown Law Center all the time) as one-time cutie James "Jamie" Edward Martin, Julia Barr as the thank goodness she returned Brooke English, James Mitchell as the always handsome Palmer Cortlandt, Ruth Warrick in an all too rare 2000's appearence as Phoebe English Wallingford, the exquisite Susan Lucci as the even more perfect Erica Kane, Eileen Herlie as town sage Myrtle Lum Fargate, Ray MacDonnell as the only man who still makes house calls Dr. Joseph "Joe" Martin, Sr.; and Eden Riegel as the Bianca Christine Montgomery, Pine Valley's every woman

Not sure why it's labeled 1999 since that is actually the 2000-2001 Crystal Ball photo, as you pointed out. I love your descriptions of everyone, but Greenlee's claws were most definitely out at the Crystal Ball that year! She outed Bianca to Donald Steele. It's sad that Dixie's poodle 'do was actually one of her better looks. 2001 was such an awkward year. I know they had some writing changes, and it felt like they just weren't sure what to do with everyone.

Awesome! Thank you for finding that!

Help me out here, AMC historians! Does anyone know what year this cast photo was taken? I am guessing early to mid-70s as that looks like the recast Phil Brent.

David delivers Colby Chandler (then Colby Martin)!

I love that David just happens to have a CD-rom in his laptop about how to deliver breech babies. Hard to believe that just 14 years after this scene, this was David and Colby: