TimWil

I'd love that, DRW50.

Thanks, Vee. Yes, you probably did read my Clark/Shipp/Marland story via good ol' DL!

I forgot to include another brush I had with a GL performer: for a brief period of time I found myself doing background work with Elvera Roussel. This must have been around 2007 or so. I really liked her a lot, she had a great sense of humor and seemed really sensitive and smart. I think we may have worked on 5 or 6 projects together like Law & Order and the usual stuff shooting in NY at the time. I guess she was doing background work to get her health insurance via the union. I don't think I actually talked to her much about GL. I do remember talking to her about Geraldine Court-she was extremely fond of her. And, oh yeah, she did confirm to me that Marsha Clark and John Wesley Shipp were Marland's "spies"!

Hi, everybody. Since joining SON a few months ago it's been fantastic going through posts dating back to 2008. I started with the EastEnders thread, then sifted through ATWT's and then this one. GL might actually be my favorite overall US soap. I started watching it when my friend, the lovely Geraldine Court, was brought on by her friend Doug Marland to play Jennifer Richards. I've had a few brushes with it (well, more specifically, with some of its actors) over the years. Here are a few bits I can remember off the top of my head-

In June/July 1972 the very first play I did as a child actor was Life With Father at the Walnut Street Theater in Philadelphia. In the cast, playing Maggie the maid, was a very young actress named Maureen Garrett. She was recruited from Temple University in that area and since she was in only one scene and we'd rehearsed for 3 weeks in NYC already she was something of an outsider but fit in with the company immediately. She was very sweet and shy and I remember liking her a lot. I've got a very hazy memory of sobbing uncontrollably backstage over something I might have said which had been misinterpreted and she was involved somehow! I do have a vivid memory of looking up at her in a scene at a breakfast table and thinking she was really cute. I might have had a teensy crush on her. I never saw her again after that and wasn't aware she'd been on GL until my friend Geri joined the cast. I think she left the show very shortly before Geri arrived, actually.

Geri didn't like talking too much about the show. We had done a play together in 1977 and when we'd meet up (we went to plays and to the movies a lot) she mostly wanted to talk about world issues and writing. She wrote a wonderful play called Every Precious Thing which unfortunately didn't move beyond the staged reading phase. Anyway, I remember her mentioning only a few things about her time on GL. She told me that Don Stewart wasn't a very pleasant person to be around and he resisted a Mike/Jennifer pairing due to his desire for Mike to get together with someone younger. It was pointed out to him that Mike would seem hypcocritical to do that because he had so steadfastly protested the age difference between Hope and Alan. He never got his way, did he? She was fond of a lot of the other people on it like Jerry ver Dorn, Kathleen Cullen and Maeve Kinkaid. She was worried about Kristen Vigard, who played Morgan. She'd say from time to time how "troubled" she was and that it didn't surprise her when she was fired. This happened just when Morgan and Kelly got married. Geri said that the cast got a fit of the giggles during the taping of the wedding ceremony when Marsha Clark cracked "The groom has bigger tits than the bride!" And when Jennifer ??? suddenly replaced Vigard in scenes with Morgan and Kelly enjoying a honeymoon in the tropics Marsha said "Well, they found a girl who can give her husband a run for his money, tits-wise." Geri was very good friends with Doug Marland going back to The Doctors. She told me he'd tried to get her on GH as Tracy Quartermaine but Gloria Monty wanted Jane Eliot. He had no trouble bringing her on GL. She said his style was frustrating sometimes because each day would involve so many characters talking about each other. She said her favorite director there was Jill Mitwell who she dubbed "Cecil B DeMitwell" because she was particularly good directing the big events like weddings and party scenes. She was friendly with Marsha Clark and John Wesley Shipp but was wary of them because it seemed to be common knowledge on the set that they were Marland's "spies." They would go up to Marland's estate up in Connecticut on weekends and report on what was going on at the studio. Geri never felt threatened by this but she said a few others in the cast were. She didn't tell me which ones in particular. She wasn't ever really happy with her soap acting work in general but she was proud of what she did when Jennifer broke down on the witness stand during her trial as well as when Jennifer found out about Amanda's affair with Mark. She even let a few friends try to drum up support for her for an Emmy campaign but she knew the show wouldn't because she'd been let go. Her work in those final two episodes really was special. Jennifer's deep pain over her daughter's "betrayal" was palpable. Geri was an extremely funny, thoughtful, intelligent soulful woman. We unfortunately lost touch and I wasn't aware she'd died until a few months afterwards. I still think of her a lot. She was very special.

I was in a relationship with an actor who worked a few episodes in 1983 as an "antiquities expert." He was in scenes with Michael Tylo, Lisa Brown and Benjamin Hendrickson. Quint, Nola, Silas and his character were furiously searching for something on a dig in Tanquir. I pointed out to him that Tanquir had been the fictional name for a Middle Eastern country on Texas, too. He said they referred to it in rehearsals as "Tanqueer." Heh heh. He said one time he and Chris Bernau were standing on set chatting and Grant Aleksander walked by. He put his hand on Bernau's shoulder and said "I just pulled an all-nighter in The Glory Hole. I am SO beat. I'll be in my dressing room having a nap, wake me up when they need me, will ya?" And he walked off. Hah. This was most certainly a joke on Aleksander's part, he and Bernau apparently had a very effectionate, jokey relationship and it was obvious Aleksander knew that Bernau (as well as my bf) was gay.

I did background acting work on the show only once, in November 1983. It was a location shoot at the Belvedere Castle in Central Park. It was a scene where Beth and Philip were on the run from Bradley and Beth was done up like a mime or clown, I can't remember which. I remember being really pissed off because there was a little girl there doing background work and she was freezing. I guess her mother thought doing this was a good thing. Judi Evans noticed this, too, and kept asking her if she was OK.

I did a play in 1984 with a great guy named Ivar Brogger who ended up on GL a few years later in flashbacks depicting Solita's acting days in Venezuela. He played a British director and got to say this great line "Oh, Solita, you may very well have been the best English-speaking actress in Venezuela. Before all the men and the cigarettes, that is." Is that on YT somewhere? God, I'd love to see that again.

In the ATWT thread I mentioned that I was a panelist for the Daytime Emmy Awards between 1992 and 2001. I remember one year I judged the game show category and Kim Zimmer was there, along with Robert Newman. We watched Jeopardy and The Price Is Right and shouted out answers. Zimmer was vivacious, to say the least. And a lot of fun to be around. One of the years I was on the Best Actress panel was also when Zimmer played Dolly the clone. Some of the other panelists, who obviously didn't watch the shows at home, were VERY confused by what they were seeing. That was funny. I had to whisper to them "She's a CLONE!" I took my responsibility on those Emmy judging panel days seriously. I wasn't happy one time, during the judging for Outstanding Younger Actor, when I noticed that one of the voters happened to be the real life wife of the actor who was currently playing one of the nominee's character's father. I pointed this out to the lady who ran the judging, but she didn't seem at all interested in looking into it. When Kevin Mambo ended up actually winning the award I had to wonder if that particular vote had tipped it over in his favor. I remember placing him fourth out of five nominees.

Well, I think that's it. I look forward to reading your further comments and adding my own from time to time!

I definitely agree that Shirley having a family built around her was a big mistake. I do think that it's early days for Linda, though, and she's here for some time to come. A surprise twist might be that it will be her, and not Mick, who ends up being involved in an affair first.

I suspect Matt Di Angelo has only signed a contract for 6 months and Dean wil be a strictly hit and run character, bent on doing as much damage to the Carters as he can by New Year's. Maybe by having an affair with "Aunty Linda," for starters?

Oh, P.J., I thought her rendition of "I Can't Make You Love Me" was definitive!

Anyone remember exactly what Marcy said in reference to one of Emma's homemade treats? I thought it was something like "If I see another one of Emma's cheese puffs I'll puke!"

I'm not certain it was a coincidence, DRW50!

I always thought it was ludicrous for Lyla to be a nurse/chanteuse. And then to end up being an off-screen Mama Rose schlepping Katie to child beauty pageants? Bizarre.

I think Kellie Bright will win over the skeptics. I don't love her already like some others seem to. I suspect that Linda will be the one to stray first in the marriage, not Mick. That would be a dangerous road to go down, though, because it's possible a lot of viewers would turn on her.

I wonder if they're casting Linda's pub manageress mother. I'm pretty sure she'll arrive by Christmas.

I agree about Carly. Kellie Shirley was really bad casting. She was downright obnoxious and not attractive in any way.

I also agree about Shirley. I simply don't think she should have had a family built around her-she's much more interesting as a lone wolf.

I'm no fan of Tina's but I like the other Carters. Linda strutting out of Walford East tube station in an episode this week made me realize that she is very much like who Peggy Mitchell was at her age, down to her socially conservative values. Something tells me Peggy would have had a very hard time dealing with either of her boys ending up being gay.

I had a bit of a shock in the 90s when a friend of mine was working in a Broadway play and "Pops" manning the stage door was none other than Rose Alaio! She was quite a character. I wonder if she's still doing the job.

It was funny hearing Lee Bryant as Lila saying that line about making a "strong pot of coffee." In the movie Airplane she had that funny bit when her character said to herself "Funny. Jim (?) never has a second cup of coffee at home!"

As played by Josh Taylor or Wayne Northrop, Bright Eyes? Heh. I wonder if Perry Fenwick still has a hot little bod. I remember being pleasantly surprised by him when Billy did a mock strip routine with Gus and Alfie (I think) and he was in really good shape.

I don't remember any stylized opening/closing segments on EE, BetterForgotten, what were they like?

Hugely enjoyed Alex Ferns' brief appearance on last night's 24: Live Another Day as a sadistic interrogator. Ferns got to use his natural Scots accent and it was fun seeing what Trevor Morgan would have been like if he'd fallen in with a bunch of psycho arms dealers.

Ah, yes. Probably McCutcheon.

But, Better Forgotten, it wasn't really a matter of McCutcheon and Collins' getting on Mal Young and Matthew Robinson's bad side that got their characters killed off. It was the fact that both had quit to "do other things." It was actually the BBC's way of saying "You're daring to leave us? Well, screw you, then" to them both by killing off Tiffany and Cindy because, unlike in American soaps, once you're dead in a UK soap you tend to stay dead! And the exact same thing happened to Martin Kemp. He was extremely well liked and always said he'd love to return to EE someday but when he signed that "Golden Handcuffs" contract with ITV the BBC gave his character Steve a particularly gruesome death-he blowed up real good! Tamzin Outhwaite was staying with the BBC on other projects so that's why Mel escaped the Grim Reaper or they both could have blowed up real good.

I agree, Janine deserved better.

I just finished reading Michelle Collins' autobiography This Is Me. I must confess something of a bias because I've spent a bit of time with her over the years beginning with the night she appeared at a WLIW fundraiser and I got the DJ at Fiddlesticks to play "The Bitch Is Back" when she arrived!

Her descriptions of her time on EastEnders is largely favorable. She mentions her working relationship with Michael French as having its "ups and downs." She does mention that in her final stint on the show that one of the younger actresses went out of her way to invite everybody to her birthday party but Collins. I wonder who that could be? Any guesses?

Bright Eyes, I'm pretty sure French originally was supposed to leave at the end of last year (perhaps with Janine but it got messed up by her arrest?) but he signed an extension.

In all those EastEnders Revealed documentaries I've seen over the years Ashdown always comes off as deeply shallow in his general attitude toward the show-almost like a shill on one of those UK morning shows. The platitudes he'd spout as well as overuse of the word "iconic" would really work my last nerve.

I agree, Khan. I forgot when the Keemo story aired on Y&R. For some reason that was deemed a bust. Maybe Marland backed off or CBS/P&G nixed the idea?

Just watched a clip of Ming-Na when (heh) she played Lien. I remember being very disappointed with her being cast because Lien was Amerasian. Ming-Na's features were completely Asian (she's of Chinese descent) and I felt that blunted the impact of Lien's arrival in Oakdale. Her undoubtedly diffcuit childhood in Vietnam as an Amerasian could have been extremely poignant backstory and might have brought out a few prejudices in some of the residents in Oakdale, too. Lindsay Price would have been ideal physically but I'm not sure she was in the business when the role was first cast. Her first role was a few years later as An Li #2 on AMC, right?

He's a good looking kid but I can't understand a word he says!

I'm now thinking that David won't be killed off. But how would they write him off?

I actually would prefer Billy leave with Little Mo. I don't think he's going anytime soon, though. I agree that Billy's storyline usefulness has run its course.

I wonder how the upcoming World Cup will figure in the show. I would hope they'll send Dexter off to Brazil and he never returns.

Honey's departure with Janet is actually one of the main reasons writer Tony Jordan left the show after many years. He was extremely angry that the BBC decided not to show a child with Downs Syndrome growing up on the Square. I know this because he told me so himself.

Which one, EASTMA2? Everything I've written on here has been the truth. Using a hashtag doesn't exactly back up your claim, does it?

This thread is for discussing ATWT. I'm not interested in defending what I've shared here.

BetterForgotten, where did the term "Stacey Slater, ice skater" derive from? Was it a reference to her skating on thin ice?

I adore Sarah Phelps. She's hilarious on FB.

I agree, BetterForgotten. They are even pigging out from the retcon buffet on occasion.

I'm sure you'll be correcting me from time to time, Vee!

I just don't understand why the likes of ATWT, AMC and GL didn't hire someone to folllow continuity. The British soaps seem to keep track of all of their characters' birthdays which they can use for storyline purposes.

I stand corrected, Vee. Yes, Margo Husin worked continuity on OLTL but I believe it wasn't her only function on the show. I know on EastEnders the continuity consultant works primarily on continuity and also on product placement. I interviewed one of them once. Here's a fun example of what he/she has to do re: product placement-since the BBC is a public funded channel and not a commercial one then certain products can't be seen too much on the local shop's shelves. There has to be a balance of the same kind of products. For instance, if there are two cans of Coke which are easily spotted then there have to be two cans of Pepsi of equal prominence!

The Ian-Max dust-up at Lucy's funeral service in the church was wince-inducing. I did enjoy Tamwar's "Only in Walford" retort, though. Only in Walford, indeed.

All good points, Ben. I remember Jack Ryder (Jamie) giving an unfortunate interview in a Sunday paper where he said "If you're not a Slater, see you later." The same could very well apply to the Carters-"If you're not a Carter, gettin' camera time will be harder."

I actually like the Carters. I agree about Nancy being an underdeveloped character but ironically the sole British Soap Award for EastEnders last night was for Hill as Best Newcomer. I find her very intriguing. She reminds me both of Jemima Kirke (the Brit in Girls) and Minnie Driver!