EricMontreal22

I remember at one point they had a montage of him working out at the Chandler (?) gym (when he was working for the company but trying to seduce or turn on Gloria) and poor sheltered teenager me was so nervous someone might walk in and see me watching it... Yes, it was a part of the Carter Jones storyline I was kinda obsessed with and crossed over with Loving (which made me start watching that show which I had never even heard of before at that point. Melody Anderson (who 12 year old me already knew from Flash Gordon) was the recast and it was such a different take on the character--I guess they felt it made sense to make her more meek after the accident, but... Carter felt guilty (he wanted to harm Trevor) and then became obsessed with Natalie, posing as her nurse when she was blind and I guess falling in love with her. This included a Cape Fear inspired houseboat storyline (I think the Scorsese remake of that film had just come out.) Though my timeline is off and I can't remember if this was before or after or *during* the Loving crossover stuff (I think that was the climax of the Carter story so probably before.) Carter wanted revenge on Trevor I believe for Trevor representing Galen (remember her?) in her harrassment case against her ex Carter. And all I remember about her regaining her site was that she looked up at a Christmas angel on their tree and realized... She could see it! And yet after all that, within a year, she was dead (she had found out that Laurel was embezzling if I remember correctly from her charity--and her and Adam drove to confront her and got in a car accident and Natalie ended up braindead. I always find it in hindsight kinda amusing when a character goes through a health crises, is healed, and then a year later is killed off anyway. *Apologies to Khan who I see basically gave this outline more succinctly above, which I didn't read until I went on my rant down memory lane.* It was Agnes' return to AMC that hooked me on the show, and on soaps in general (I was a kid who thought they were the most awful thing ever--probably, not that I watched them and I didn't grow up in a family with a tradition of mothers/grandmothers watching) so I might hold that era of AMC in too high esteem, I'll admit. But I absolutely love it. Will be interested to hear your take.

It's hard to know. Hal Corley said the entire time he was there she was a regular participant of story meetings even when she wasn't credited (we do know that when McT became credited headwriter they created an "executive headwriter" position for Nixon though that was never on screen and I'm not sure how long it lasted.) Corley also said, though, that for the most part when Nixon wasn't credited HW she would be respectful of story decisions and only occasionally interfere in them and suggest her own.

Five or so years later when there's more custody stuff with Dixie, I remember how endlessly she sang You Are My Sunshine. And the endless Pierce recasts didn't help. Still, I guess I find Barr so appealing that her terrible stories didn't bother me as much as they might have. You're husband makes being addicted to soaps sound like a BAD thing I believe during this time Agnes Nixon was heavily involved with the writer's room and it does seem like one of her stories, but who knows. DePriest's stint is odd for so many reasons though I do get the sense that she was brought in as one of FMB's choices to shake the soap up from the ratings rut it was under--but I always wonder if it was always the plan to have Nixon return for the 20th anniversary?

Yeah, I was a teen when all this aired too and maybe now would feel differently, but I was completely on Janet's side for her redemption (as crazy as it sounds *now* when I read story recaps.) We also of course had her mother visiting and showing us just how abusive she had been. Well you're not alone--Eric as a circus clown I think made a number of magazine "worst story" lists... Brooke is one of my fave soap characters of all time. I remember after she left the show (when Frons wanted her demoted to recurring and Barr decided to just leave instead) I actually had dreams where she came back to AMC and I was so happy lol So I loved her involvement in the Hulu version--it was disappointing that David Canary wasn't able to act more, but we now know why that was.

Yeah sad--and still pretty young. I admit, I may have hated much of the writing for his character, but always kinda had a crush on him...

Ah I never got that far with my online relationship that he would suggest "donations" lol

I will--I didn't know about the cancer. I will say with Josh I thought it was ironic (but typical of AMC in that era) that Colin did some of his best work on the show only once the character was already being killed off. They gave him material with Susan Lucci where he finally addresses what a toll it was for Josh that she never accepted him, etc--stuff the show should have done years before. (I also liked when they had his character flirting with Greenlee which at that time showed way more potential than Greenlee and Ryan again, but of course they dropped that. And then to have his character steal from Zach (which seemed justified to me ) and eventually shot by him. Ugh. But I know that was Pratt and not McT.

Absolutely not. I mentioned that I brought them up to Hal Corley and quickly realized that was the stupidest thing to do (especially with him as he just won't say anything at all rather than say anything negative about anyone he worked with.) But he certainly wasn't aware of them, nor has anyone else in the biz I've hinted around about them with. You might almost think they're written by someone else as a parody--when they showed up in Nixon's archive it was just such a shock of "WTF??" that this thing even existed. I'll have to check out Colin on Insta

Thank you! I used to be in FB contact with the uploader but he disappeared from FB around the same time as he did from YT (I know because he used to beg me on FB to make comments and upvote his videos everytime he would post them lol)

I believe some things in her archive definitely were put there after Nixon passed away and weren't necessarily found in her papers but rather someone felt they should go there. BUT you're right, that usually how it works is someone would have found it in her papers and I can only imagine if she did read it. Wow. As for where McTavish is now isn't she still breeding big dogs or whatever? (I love dogs, but just can't imagine McTavish being a nice breeder lol)

Judging by the introduction, which she may have written last, it sounds like it was written after the AMC, OLTL cancellation announcement, but before they went off the air... So 2011? You know I think Del v.2 was also from that contest--or was it the other soap reality contest? But you're right... To me Colin was always one of the hottest soap guys physically, I mean I know it's subjective but--and I thought he was a decent actor actually, who stepped up to the plate for some of the dramatic stuff (I lost track of the actor after he initially was on the failed Melrose reboot) Of course he was also miles better than the originally cast Josh (who I remember came on the scene and immediately hooked up with Dani in a kinda creepy mode given she was still a teen? They kinda just forgot that. Ha nevermind (I should read all these posts before replying.) I remember him being handsome enough in a very bland way, but certainly not a good soap actor. Oddly it's in the archives where Agnes Nixon's papers are at Northwestern (Nixon's alma mater). Your guess how it ended up there (as well as some of her outlines though that makes more sense) is as good as mine--I can only assume McTavish sent it there herself, since she's still alive, but it's all beyond weird. Keep in mind in the intro she also says she's retired from the industry--so she probably doesn't care who she throws under the bus.

It always amazes me on TV when someone had just gotten passed out drunk and hours later seems fully functional (just a little tired lol) I mean obviously it makes sense for dramatic reasons to have them sober up, but... One other drunk behaviour annoyance--if Dani has been hitting the vodka bottle regularly for a while now--would she really have passed out drinking a bottle of wine the other day? From a relationship I had I know a bit about heavy drinkers and that wouldn't track at all (I guess she could already have been drunk when she showed up at the house which would make some sense...)

Oh wow, I totally forgot about all that... I think you're right that it reads as a proposal. And yes, soap bios probably aren't a big deal--unless you're Susan Lucci or Agnes Nixon (whose book I wish was a bit more dishy like this... A bit...)

It'd be well deserved. I won't deny that. My only issue with him being chosen for the show as part of America's Sexiest Man (well aside from that I found the whole reality angle gross) was that when he actually spoke on camera he... became less sexy. So not idea for someone who actually was meant to act on the show (maybe he was better on stage--some actors are.) I mean I guess at least they didn't choose this guy

Yes

I think the short term story arcs were actually Gottlieb's idea, from what I recall from the oral history. But it wasn't really until Josh Griffith came on as associate and then co-headwriter that Malone seemed to understand a traditional soap storytelling model.

LOL the only McTavish cage storyline I can think of is Hayley many many years in your future as part of McTavish's dismal second stint. He wasn't one of the actors who was nude, was he? (I can't remember the character names--I saw the revival.)

It's interesting--in that era the ABC soaps did use movie score tracks, maybe most memorably AMC having the Halloween theme when AMC had the helicopter prison escape (Erica trying to get Jeremy out I think?) The theme from Somewhere in Time also shows up on OLTL and AMC episodes from this time.

❤️

Oh wow--I know that play but had no idea he was ever on Broadway... Is this the same Maximillian? https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-cast-staff/maximillian-alejandro-116499 Speaking from experience? (I'm teasing to be clear...) https://www.soapoperadigest.com/content/maximillian-alexander-heartthrob-or-ladies-man-0/

He was part of the Sexiest Man reality competition they had (he's not in this video...) And yes, I think he was with Simone. Juan Pablo was his brother who was a better actor so basically seemed to replace him (still not the best story...) Yes But not a bad seed. I think both were killed off--though I admit I can't remember.

Oh boy... I forgot DePriest wrote that storyline. No spoilers except to say McTavish kinda retcons it in one of her biggest storylines... Exactly. I can't think of one good storyline from Higley.

Noooo. I still stand by how enjoyable a lot of McT's first stint at AMC was. And even when she came back in the 2000s for a brief time the show felt like Pine Valley again. I can't think of any good writing from Dena... I also have loved reading your posts. I have no idea who was being rude about them (either I can't see their posts or they've been removed) but I want to stress that it's not how most of us feel.

Yeah one of the stupidest things I have ever done was ask Hal if he had read this. I think he was a good soap writer and when I interviewed him he was so sharp in his insights about what made a good soap. He also was friends with FMB which I'm sure didn't help his relationship with McT

The movie theatre set looked exactly like something out of Saved By the Bell. You're forgetting Lysistrata the therapist who counselled Adam and Liza who I admit I found kinda funny, but then they tried to make her a thing and have her date Tad. There were so many bad casting calls but Carlos (whose actor inexplicably won the reality contest America's Sexiest Man) gets my vote for the worst casting ever on AMC. And Bianca's anorexia storyline was left over from Broderick's run...