Vee

I know she was into him, and they were promoted as a youth triangle with Jen. But I think that was just Malone being clueless. They really thought people would go along with the cousins being teased romantically, IMO - it had been done before on the show, going back to the 70s and 80s with Richard Abbott and Tina, or the Woleks. And they never dated, but she was temporarily infatuated with Reverend Joe. Once they got heat for it, they had Flash throw out the awkward line that was something like 'I thought because we were just cousins that it would be okay!' It's also not the last time soaps have tried to pair first cousins since then, IIRC.

I don't know of any legitimate stuff that would confirm Flash was intended to be Leslie Holden on OLTL. That sounds like an old fan theory. There were lots of theories at the time about many stories, but it was clear pretty quickly that she was supposed to be Sarah. I was active at the time at the Datalounge - I haven't been back there in close to a decade, but back then we had legit insiders during the Malone II run, and nothing was ever said about Leslie. I'm pretty sure she was always intended to be Sarah but they'd simply been very stupid about thinking the audience would go along with a triangle with her, Joey and Jen. Paul and C.J. were supposed to have been lovers, and that was supposed to be part of a supposed storyline using Tina. But everyone on the board knows all about that by now. It got junked by the network and next to none of it made to the screen, besides Paul and Flash/Sarah's initial fixation on finding C.J.

Or you could read the thread, and not just your own posts?

I think Stringfield's just always been very willful and keen to do her own thing. She bucked NYPD Blue in its first season despite having a initially very plum role (I began watching that recently during the pandemic - a fascinating time capsule, doing stuff stylistically they still don't necessarily do much today on network; a lot of similar shows are much more glossy) and it was the hottest show on TV. She just doesn't care. I always felt it was a mistake to abandon Boulet's relationship with Benton outright. I loved Jeanie but her stories were too often just about quiet misery. I think she even came back in the final season and we'd learned half her family was dead or struggling. Like, why?

I'm a huge cynic about Days and Corday in general, but that video is very sweet, especially watching Susan Seaforth Hayes. That woman really has seen it all. The NBC exec at the end is likely just giving them happy talk til the next crackdown from above her, but she is right: The show was family for people who couldn't see theirs. That is the essence of the genre in hard times and it's something it's mostly lost sight of when it comes to output and quality. I just wish the audience that was so loyal to these surrogate families, and the actors who have seen it all, were better served by the product.

Renewed: I am mildly hooked to this despite myself, much to my shame. Danielle Moné Truitt is great with Meloni, as is Tamara Taylor.

I thought Drew Sr. died in a random holdup on his wedding day to Becky Lee, while buying flowers.

Emma has been fighting long COVID. I hope she's mostly recovered. I remember that weird cameo they did trying to make it look like a surveillance camera, filmed from her home.

@DRW50

Got my second today. Buckling up.

That's very strange, as is the whole Asa grooming her as his successor plotline someone mentioned. The little I've seen of '70s/early '80s Tina was her as a standard teen ingenue, nothing like what she became when she returned.

Andy was no great shakes on her own, but I loved her with Antonio. It was such an odd pairing of types but I adored them as a kid and was heartbroken when he returned single. I haven't watched much of their story in aeons, so I couldn't speak to the quality of it longterm.

You thought she was going to be Serena. And rest assured, I wasn't only talking about you or this forum.

I don't know how anyone seriously thought they were going to give her a major contract role. That is delusional. Kimberly Brown is a lovely and attractive woman but she is not the generic physical type the tacky soaps hire as leads these days. She was always going to have some bit part. Some of y'all are consistently born yesterday.

Yang is a mirage. Wiley all the way, as a once and possibly future-NYer. Meanwhile:

Obviously they should've stuck with Kevin, but yeah, I preferred Whitfield to Peter Parros by far.

I'm somewhat surprised Kelli Maroney didn't click - she went on to a long and storied career as a camp bimbette in 80s horror, and there were definite Tina Lord vibes. Of course, her stint was prior to the second run that made Andrea a star.

I may be alone, but I saw scenes near the end of Ellen Bethea's contract run as Rachel with her and the first Ben Price - not the eternally boring Peter Parros, but Charles Malik Whitfield. I'd had no memory of him whatsoever from the old days, but to me Whitfield had serious sparks with Bethea. Not sure what happened there. I have no idea if she still acts; again, last I saw of her, she was a very vocal Obama booster in 2008-2009 on Facebook before vanishing into the digital ether. I'd like to think Andrea could and would play a more nuanced Tina. When you see her off-camera using her normal, deeper voice in rare interviews she is clearly not the same person she often plays up for TV. I loved Karen Witter in the role, but I think Andrea could have done it. She did have chemistry with Witter's '90s love interest (Cain) when she returned to the show - but I seem to recall them deliberately keeping her from sharing scenes with Tuc Watkins as a gag, since she had the little dog. I don't remember if she ever had any scenes with David after all. I don't think so. I know exactly what I'd do with the Mia Korf situation if OLTL ever returned as a streamer. People would absolutely be talking about the Blair switch in this day and age, you could never have gotten away with that in this century. Obviously you can't undo it and Kassie is beloved in the role, but I would address it in a roundabout way that isn't a racebending joke, and give Korf a recurring role that ties her to the Blair character. That's a decent way to handle it, especially since she was talented. But the best response is to add more key Asian and Asian-American characters to any show's canvas.

The great Laura Innes (Weaver) was so good on the show. She directs a lot now.

I'll take a guess that Kirsten auditioned for the pointless Claudia Reston at OLTL. Claudia didn't appear til very early '06 but was mentioned regularly in '05. Or it could've been Sarah after all. Plans are often fluid.

HBS always said Daphnee Duplaix was the only other Rachel that embodied the integrity Bethea had, and she was right.