LoyaltoAMC

Some from AMC: Dimitri Marick was originally supposed to be named Brice Cannon. Ceara Connor was originally Allison Connor, but the name was changed after Agnes Nixon's real-life niece, Ceara. Hayley was also originally Allison. Then they changed it to Hayley Welles, and finally to Hayley Vaughan. Brian Fitzpatrick, who played Mitch Beck, was hired to play a character named Trip Marshall, but they changed the name after they decided to make him Donna's brother. Cindy was credited as Cindy Anderson in the credits for a few weeks before they decided to change her surname to Parker for some reason. A few years before Opal showed up, she was referred to as Bertha.

I don't recall that. The only thing I recall about Hillary during the strike was she and Mitch leaving town together without any goodbye scenes with their families. I don't remember Stan Albers who played Josh being on the show until after the strike, but I could be wrong about that. The Laura death story was their first big post-strike story, and I don't recall him appearing much before that kicked into gear.

I think Erica the waitress storyline was Broderick. That started after the writers' strike ended. The active storylines during the strike I remember were Travis's fake kidnapping, Tom/Barbara/Skye, with Skye faking her coma, Palmer emotionally blackmailing Natalie over her murder of Silver, introduction of Will and Dixie, Julie/Nico/Charlie triangle, and Cecily having a crush on Cliff. They sent Adam/Stuart/Cindy/Brooke to Paris the full summer, either to facilitate David Canary's vacation or because they wanted to put the brakes on the AIDS storyline till after the strike, or both.

From what I recall, Agnes wrote the incest story with Genie in mind. She even named the character, Ceara, after her own niece. I think she was originally supposed to be named Allison.

I'm glad Sharon mentioned their 3 co-stars who were confirmed to have died of AIDS-related illnesses, Joel Crothers, Dennis Parker, and Irving Allen Lee. I think Edge lost more actors to AIDS than any other soap. It was a really good interview, though I wished they had shared memories of Ann Flood and Forrest Compton, who IMO were the heart of the show.

Not seeing this posted elsewhere, but wanted to report that two AMC alumni passed away over the past two weeks, Dena Dietrich (Wilma Marlowe #3) and Peg Murray (Olga Svenson). Both were in their 90s. Murray was also on Love of Life and and briefly subbed for Connie Ford as Ada on Another World. Stage and Screen Actor Dena Dietrich Dies at 91 (broadwayworld.com) Tony Winner Peg Murray Passes Away at 96 Years Old (broadwayworld.com)

In his We Love Soaps interview a few years back, Wisner Washam mentioned that he was working with Fox to develop a prime time soap centering on the residents of an apartment building on the Upper West Side of New York City. He said that it was a precursor to "Friends," so it sounds like it was probably in development sometime after he left AMC for good in 1991/1992, but before "Friends" premiered in 1994.

By early 1973, the show is still compelling and there are still some nice character touches in the individual scenes, but I miss the character-based storytelling of Lakin and Edelstein. It seems as though the Pollacks can't tell one story without the villain being a mustache twirling psychopath (Dan Allison, Cathy Ryker, John Morrison), and it's getting a bit over the top and repetitive. I've also noticed a very subtle marginalization of Althea. I know Allen Potter will be gone by the summer of '73, and I'm wondering how that will impact the series.

I'm currently up to the January 1973 episodes on youtube, and I'm finding the Pollocks' writing incredibly uneven, and at times just downright bizarre. It's still miles better than any of the current soaps, but the plotting and storytelling are all over the map, with so many missed beats. The whole Toni/Vito/Barbara thing was just a total clusterf***. I noticed that James Lipton just started appearing in the writing credits. I wonder if he was part of the problem, or brought in as a solution to tidy up some of the writing issues. Also, does anyone know why Nancy Barrett left the role of Cathy Ryker? Was she fired, or did she leave of her own accord? I thought she and Gerald Gordon had great chemistry. Holly Peters, her replacement, is good, but Nancy was able to transcend the writing and made her feel like a flesh-and-blood character. Peters' Cathy just comes off as a transparent plot device. Please, no spoilers.

One other AW/Somerset-Three's Company connection, albeit minor. Georgeann Johnson, who played Ellen Grant on Somerset, played Jack's mother in an episode or two of Three's Company.

This was pretty common back in the 1980s too, I think. AMC and GH both used background music from Terms of Endearment. AMC also used heavily from St. Elmo's Fire and the Untouchables film.

If they were smart, they wouldn't tried to snag Robin Mattson back as Hope after she became a superstar on GH and SB.

Frons or someone apparently told Susan Lucci separately about the cancellation, in an office a few minutes before everyone else found out. BTW, there's a picture of Richard Shoberg upthread a few pages back in Lucci's twitter post. Susan has said that when she first met him, she thought he was the most beautiful man she'd ever seen. Looking at that great pic of him, I'd kind of have to agree. He was gorgeous!

I think the show had a lot of problems in its later years, even before Slesar departed, with the shifting emphasis on the dull young characters and more bizarre/adventure-type stories in order to make it more compatible with GH.

Bringing on Lisa Sloan as Nicole's double sounds very interesting. Considering that Joel Crothers passed away the year after Edge's cancellation, you have to wonder if the story would've been quickly aborted had the show gone on. Out of respect to Crothers' memory, I highly doubt they would've recast Miles.