EricMontreal22

Ha! I\m trying to find a file I have saved from Babbin about being an openly gay woman in the industry, she pulls no punches!

Depending on her prose quality, sounds potentially fun. I never got why she was replaced at AMC--did she leave on her own?

Yep they absolutely did. Usually I think they looked different enough, but... I never knew why he was dropped--or did the character leave? I liked his interactions with Wanda Thanks so much for these! A month or so into the Gottlieb/Malone era... I didn't start watching till whenever the gay story started in 1992, and haven't seen much from this time (I did see on FB some of the short term spousal abuse story with Craig Wasson

Was Jacqueline Babbin *writing? She was the EP--I remember one article that I seem to have lost about her hiring where she talks about all the changes she'll make but unfortunately she was only given a year (I love her time at AMC--Wisner Washam said it was she who insisted on a gay storyline with the short lived lesbian story since she was a lesbian). She could have suggested a mystery to the writer of course... Yeah the late 80s were a hard time for ABC--all their soap ratings were dropping so they did a lot of surgery--with AMC/OLTL/GH it (at least till the mid 90s) seems to have worked, though.

Thanks! He was kinda adorable. Do you just watch these things randomly and come across soap actors?

A lot of people (and mostly fairly) complained about that hospital scene and the fact that some people barely seemed to register that Victor Jr was alive, etc. I think you're right that OLTL 2.0 coulda done a better job establishing character relationships and history for new, or long time gone, viewers. AMC did a much better job with this, but then again they also had the time jump, many more new characters (cast), etc, and so had to--the only story really that was directly picked up was who was shot at the finale, and even that was easily dealt with (let's face it, it would be pretty hard to handle in well written dialogue recap the whole Victor Jr/Todd thing). Interesting both shows made use of a coffee house setting. It does seem like a good locale for them to have for group stuff. --traditionally soaps always use restaurants but who actually goes to restaurants so often, even casual places. (Re Ron's GH don't forget he also managed to tie in Ryan's Hope and even Loving to the show when he wrote it--though Loving had a cross over with GH, it is not owned by ABC but was kept by Agnes Nixon's company throughout it and City's run, so I'm not sure if he had any right to do that, but probably no one on either side really cared).

Yeah, at least Nixon went out with a bang. I liked other things I suspect were Nixon and not Passanante like some sense of a smaller community (poor Marian trying hard to join and fit in with Enid's group, etc) I thougth Greenlee was tolerable back then but I liked Leo and Leo and Bianca's friendship a lot, etc.

Yeah, I admit that it's much better in hindsight than I thought at the time--I was surprised (better the devil you know?) although, as you know, I really liked 99-2000 out of the Agnes co-HW time before it completely fell apart. It still feels like AMC on some level at any rate.

Just posted this week, an episode right smack dab in the middle of the beloved second McTavish run!

I will say this thread has made me revisit clips, etc, of the online OLTL. For a variety of reasons the AMC reboot has stuck with me more, and I think overall (despite the issues it had with having less of the ABC cast) I think it was the more successful, but it's reminded how much I enjoyed an awful lot of OLTL 2.0 I think there was a chunk in the middle or maybe early on and in the middle where it felt directionless and it lost the initial momentum, but by the end it really was revving up into something potentially great--and frankly something I enjoyed more than the final years of Ron's run (despite all the whiners about the reboots online--who were particularly bitter about Ron not continuing with the reboot). It kept some of the convoluted crime stuff OLTL often did what with the secret organization but I was intrigued--even hackneyed soap stories like Jack sleeping (almost?) with his teacher were relatively freshly handled I thought. As Vee has said several time it also really helped to be back to back with AMC and emphasize the sorta ying/yang thing the two shows, at their best, always had (even, in their old 1970 way, back when they started judging by the 1969 OLTL ep online and the five AMC 1970s eps out there)--AMC being more homey, a bit more "small town", etc, compared to OLTL's more urban and action oriented edge (even with AMC having stories like the sex trafficking one I think this was true). Hell the two online shows even emphasized that--online AMC seemed to mostly take place in the day, and OLTL mostly at night. And now I'm sad once again that the reboots didn't work out. Oh well, better to go out as (mostly) a creative success than to have been the utter embarrassments they could have been.

Ugh and I forgot all of that too. Of course John McBain had the vampire PC crossover story and then also had to be written off even though he didn't go to OLTL 2.0

Certainly pre-Dale Arden from Flash, Natalie (ugh one of the worst recasts in a show that has had some doozies...)

Also this: No matter what the intentions of the writing staff of General Hospital were at the time, the thread of Cole (and possibly Hope) being alive will not be picked up by the new online reboot of One Life to Live. Executive producer Jennifer Pepperman had the following to say when discussing the opportunity to bring back the characters: "I was really shocked as a viewer when Cole and Hope were killed and I know on soap operas people say you can bring people back from the dead, but that is something that I feel strongly, and Prospect Park feels strongly about, and that is not bringing people back from the dead. That is one of the things that never really feels right, but I am afraid that ABC killed Cole and Hope, and also Victor Jr. III (Tea and Victor Jr. son) and those are real losses for the show." And the Tea saga of her time on GH between the OLTL finale and the reboot (I totally forgot they were gonna have a connection between Tomas and GH's Alcazar.) So I think Todd just followed her back to Llanview--but I don't remember on GH if anyone asked why Kiki and nuFranco looked like Starr and Todd. WHAT A MESS. n May 2012, a heavily pregnant Téa arrives in Port Charles, the setting of General Hospital, to provide legal counsel to Starr, who had held mobster Sonny Corinthos at gun point. Téa quickly discloses that she was hired by Blair. On June 1, she collapses in the parking garage and is found by Todd, and goes into labor. Todd crashes their car off the road during a rainstorm and delivers Téa's baby, a boy, in the rain. When the baby is born, he is not crying and Todd takes the baby and goes for help. Todd runs into Heather Webber, who in turn says the baby is unable to be saved. As Todd goes to tell Téa the unfortunate news, he discovers Sam Morgan lying unconscious with her own healthy newborn son nearby. As Todd attempts to return Sam's baby to her, Téa arrives and falsely assumes the baby is hers. Heather leaves Téa's stillborn son in place of Sam's. Todd later returns Téa to Llanview with Sam's baby. Heather Webber arrives in Llanview in September 2012 at Téa's house, introducing herself as "Susan Moore." She offers to be a nanny for the baby. Téa is thankful and hires her. John later arrives in Llanview, and secretly takes a DNA sample from the baby after Sam's husband, Jason, begins to suspect that Sam's baby was switched with Téa's. The DNA results are a match, and John goes to Llanview to tell Téa the truth. However, before he can tell her, Téa realizes that the baby and her nanny are gone. When John tells her that "Susan" is really Heather, a mental patient who escaped from Ferncliff, Téa is shocked. When Téa finds out that Heather is in Port Charles, she heads to Todd's house. Todd pretends to get a phone call from his P.I. telling him where Heather is, and he and Téa leave to go find her. When they get there, however, they find John there with Port Charles Commissioner Anna Devane. Téa listens as John and Anna punch holes in Todd's story, but is too worried about "her baby". Anna gets a phone call that Heather is at General Hospital, holding the baby hostage on the roof. John, Anna, Todd, and Téa all head to General Hospital. Téa wants to go be with "her son", but John stops her. Todd stays with Téa, while John and Anna confer about the situation. Téa overhears them saying Sam and Jason are on the roof with Heather, and wonders why they are on the roof with Heather and "her son". Téa tries to go to the roof, but Todd stops her. Téa watches in horror as Heather jumps from the roof with the baby in her arms. However, Jason manages to save the baby. Téa is relieved, and anxious to see her son, but is confused when Todd and Anna keep stopping her. Eventually, she runs inside, and Todd chases after her. She gets out of the elevator, and sees John with Jason, Sam, and the baby. When she goes to get him, John and Sam hold her back, and she becomes even more confused. When Sam and Jason walk away with the baby, Téa is furious and demands an explanation. John and Todd explains to her that her baby died and the child with Sam and Jason is Sam's son. At first, Téa is in disbelief, thinking they're lying to her, but when John shows the DNA test that was run and tells her that the baby who died had hemophilia, a condition that's in Téa's family, Téa finally realizes her baby is dead. She goes to baby "Victor's" room, and tells Jason and Sam she will not take the baby away – she just wants to say goodbye. Sam agrees, and Téa says a heartfelt goodbye to "Victor". Afterwards, she leaves the room, and the hospital, in tears. Téa comes to the police station after Todd is arrested in connection to the baby switch. Téa asks him flat out if he had anything to do with the switch. Todd denies it, but Téa warns him that if he did do this, he has hurt her more than he could ever have. She goes back to Llanview, but not before telling Starr about the suspicion surrounding Todd. Téa is shown in Llanview again with Blair, when Todd arrives with Carly Corinthos and Skye Quartermaine. Carly and Skye claim that Tomás is actually an international arms dealer named Lorenzo Alcazar. Blair calls Tomás to come home, but a CIA agent shows up, saying Tomás has left for another mission. Téa leaves with Blair and Skye to find Tomás.

OK This is all so fuzzy--especially as I only sorta paid attention to GH, but... The characters killed off were killed off--Starr was driving to Port Charles (I think?) and was in a car crash that killed Cole and Starr. Hughes (2nd Cole) returned briefly with Starr--they had to stop in Port Charles due to a storm on the way to Llanview (why they were going there is beyond me since Cole was in hiding). There was a dumb part where Cole told Starr all about the history of Luke and Laura, the Cassadines and other famous Port Charles people (and so I guess filling in new viewers?) which he knew about because it turned out (unless we knew this already) that Ian Thornhart on the soap Port Charles was his uncle being Patrick's brother. The crash was involved I believe because they were in the middle of a shooting planned by Sonny, or so it seems (of course). I can't even find details on how Todd exited, but here's Starr's storyline from her year on GH (so many oh so typical Ron Carlivati plot points here): Upon Cole and Hope's deaths in Port Charles, New York, the setting of General Hospital, Starr is rescued by Michael Corinthos. Blair soon arrives to tell Starr that her family is gone. The main suspect in their deaths is Sonny Corinthos, Michael's father. Michael lets Starr stay at his apartment during the trial. When Sonny is acquitted, a distraught Starr takes him hostage at gunpoint; Michael is able to talk her out of it but later has her arrested. However, Todd later blackmails Sonny and Michael into dropping the charges. Johnny Zacchara blackmails Rick Powers into letting Starr out of her contract and she signs another deal with him. Starr and Michael soon begin dating and he disapproves of her new roommate, Trey Mitchell. Starr initially clashes with Michael's sister, and Trey's girlfriend, Kristina Davis. Starr and Michael follow Trey and Kristina to Las Vegas and are shocked to find Kristina and Trey have eloped as a publicity stunt for their reality show. It is later revealed that Kate Howard's alternate personality, Connie, was the shooter the night of Starr's accident. Starr severs all ties with Johnny when it is revealed that he secretly married Connie to keep her from being committed and helped cover up her involvement in the shooting. Todd soon confides in Starr about his involvement in the switching of Téa's stillborn son with Sam Morgan's living child. Starr and Michael nearly make love for the first time on Halloween when he is confronted by his presumed dead biological father, A. J. Quartermaine. She begins sleeping on Michael's couch when she and Trey get evicted from the apartment. As she offers supports to Michael, Starr blackmails Todd into helping Sam's sister, Molly Lansing get her book published. Starr and Michael make love for the first time on Christmas Eve. In January 2013, Johnny finally admits that he was behind Hope and Cole's accident. When Johnny is sent to prison, he gives Starr his half of the Haunted Star making her partners with Michael's cousin and sister-in-law, Lulu Spencer-Falconeri. Starr is seen grieving on the anniversary of Cole and Hope's death, as well as lamenting the day she met Michael and starting a relationship. As they leave the gravesite, an unknown figure walks forward and gazes sadly at Cole and Hope's gravestones. It is heavily suggested that it is Cole and he survived the accident; however, it remains unknown. On March 20, 2013, Starr receives an emergency call from Langston, telling her to return to Los Angeles immediately. She leaves Michael and tells him she will be back soon. A few days later, Starr calls Michael and tells him she is not returning to Port Charles, and breaks up with him without an explanation. It is implied that Hope and Cole turned up alive in Los Angeles and Starr went into hiding with them.

Agreed. In hindsight I think maybe focusing so much on the Todd/Victor Jr stuff hampered them, but I get why they felt they had to deal with that story.

DEFINITELY Natalie. I think Susan Lucci even mentioned Brooke and Natalie being *the two*. (Barbara is a good third choice, though... But really, it would be easier to make a list of female friends Erica *had*)

I see your point but I'm not sure I agree. It felt natural for me the way Brooke grew up and matured--I believed it. (I also fully believed that Erica... didn't. OK she did, but not nearly to the same extent.) As for being outside of Jamie's orbit, well that was largely due to when they really used Jamie Brooke was already gone, IIRC.

Yeah it's bizarre how relatively professional and good they looked even compared to network soaps nowadays. Here was the taping schedule. Obviously they never did do another batch after this: "She reveals that All My Children will film episodes at Stamford, Connecticut from late February. The former ABC daytime soap will film for two weeks before taking a break during which One Life to Live will film episodes at the studios. After five weeks OLTL will take a break and AMC will resume filming. A source told Soaps in Depth “They’ll be alternating back and forth until each show has completed 17 weeks of taping. Everyone is looking forward to seeing each other again.” It is unknown what will happen production wise once each soap has completed 17 weeks of taping; whether they will both go on hiatus or move to new studios." Actors did mention that the hours were significantly longer (also, because of limited space for sets, Erika S mentioned that she had to stay the full day, though saying she didn't mind as it made the cast closer--I guess she had had a deal where they would shoot ALL of her material in the morning of the days she came in and then she could go home) however, they also got those five week breaks to pursue other projects. Actually I believe a 30 minute soap now in the *daytime* (which has even more commercial time than primetime) comes to 19 minutes of programming--I know hour soaps clock in just around 38. So yeah, as some mentioned at the time, you don't really get all that much less per episode. I def think they were ahead of their time. I know they were ultimately done in by PP's poor business stuff, but i really think if they had happened even just a year later they may have lasted longer--and someone like Netflix might have been more keen to pick them up.

Yep. But you know, she was old. Didn't fit Frons' Sex and the City vibe for AMC I think a number of other vets did go on recurring around then.

I think from the premier I woulda largely agreed with you on all fronts. I can't say more because some of those thoughts about what worked and didn't vastly changed over the 40 episodes (well this is maybe a small spoiler but for example I forgot Rama was even in it...)

Oh absolutely agreed about the southern gothic element--although I do think from the four novels I've read that he also has that urban bent.

She stopped appearing--though I think they did make some acknowledgement of her traveling (maybe visiting Laura in China or wherever...)? Frons didn't renew her contract but offered her recurring--she (quite rightly) decided without a contract she wouldn't bother and quit. She was prob my fave female character, so I was really infuriated (I remember--this is embarrassing--having dreams where she would return to the show!) so I was thrilled when she came back for the final months and then the reboot. And yes she was absolutely one of the key players in the 80s and 90s.

Really? I think his mix of styles--when kept in check like the first run, is an *ideal* match for OLTL which should be more urban, etc.

I don't remember that--who did Claude Akins play?

I haven't read her book in ages, but I do remember enjoying it (she also had bits of a Ryan's Hope script I think?) What a great interview--her enthusiasm is contagious.