AMCHistory

Is anyone following the latest Teresa/ Joe pizza gate drama? The pizza oven are for sale, with the Skinny Italian branding, and the Gorga girls on the packaging. I guess Louis will recoup his investment.

That was a slip up on my part. The actors looked like twins, and you’re correct Tom is Sean’s older brother.

I love the Olivia/Summer comparison. I hope this is the direction that they take her. Refined (she is a Newman after all) and strong. Maybe Lauren can start planning to retire from Fenmore’s, and Summer can be groomed to succeed her. Summer deserves to be a boss lady.

I wonder if it’s a defence mechanism. Kelly went from being a model where you were seen and not heard, into a real Editor role at a mainstream magazine. The content she curated is what made them money. Maybe the airhead personality was her way of having a way to cop-out if an article/editorial/issue did not go well. It carried on to her show/ her life.

Good to see Alan on the mend. He and Dick Shoberg’s casting as the Cudahy twins must go down in history as one of its best. Not only were both great actors, their familiar resemblance was as if they were brothers in real life.

You hit on the head! FV and the cast are taking the performances too seriously. The classic Nurses Ball performance were not about perfect/ precise/ dramatic numbers, they were full of CAMP! For every Mary Mae, Ned, and Dara professional and tear jerking performance, we also had Felicia as Bo Peep, Edward in an all male burlesque, and Emily in the Wizard of Oz. There were as many comedic skits as there were musicals. GH should embrace the CAMP again. In the opening number, if the nurses can’t sing, they don’t all have to perform! If the act can only sing off tune, lean into it and make it ironic! Just make sure we get a couple of real belting moments ala Dara to close the thing out. The show will get far if they embrace the imperfections, versus trying to fix everything through auto tune and distracting backup dancers.

Victoria under Heather Tom. She held her own with her foes, her friends, and even her Father. Like Summer, she was not one to be messed with, but also showed her emotions. …and before Victoria, it was Nina. She was the underdog in every relationship: Phillip III, Jill…and look who came out on top!

I think so much of Kelly is an act for the cameras. I’ve been in a few meetings/press events with her and she is sharp as a tack. She is a strong negotiator. She is cool under pressure. She has a strong creative eye. It is not the Kelly you see on TV. Her daughters are very smart and well spoken too. Her only vice is her tardiness. She is NEVER ontime. Her whole team will arrive hours before her. This is a case of the person being very different than the persona.

These Nurses Ball episodes should have a way for viewers to donate to HIV\AIDS research, so something good comes out of this fictional event. Maybe the Magic Wands can do a pin-up calendar and ABC can sell those? I can see them making good money from this, with all the female and gay men that watch the show. Heck, it would be a newsmaking/press moment too.

“She means every damn word, Kyle. This is me being honest for the first time, in a long time.” Great writing and performance by Alison. Of course it helps that she was performing opposite Susan Walters who can elevate any scene partner’s performance. Her delivery was raw, natural, and nuanced. Clearly this girl has had some acting lessons. I think her deeper voice also helped to mature Summer from Hunter’s valley girl performance. This Summer feels like she could have lived in Europe. That she was more than a ditzy heiress. Here is to hoping this begins to crack Kyle and Summer’s marriage apart. I think that these characters are better served as single players. Never has a young marriage on a soap been more sanitised and boring. Elena is another high potential character. Wow, Brytni has grown since her time at GH and her early days on Y&R. She is very refined, almost “Olivia-esque.” I would love to see more interactions opposite Victoria. “What was it like loosing Neil?” Graz is making me love Christen again. Daniel/Lily was the pairing I did not know I needed. It’s working for me more-so this go around, without the ghost of Davetta close in the rear view mirror. Daniel’s anger and sadness was so natural. I also noticed Daniel has adopted some of Phyllis’ mannerisms. The laughing to himself, the self deprecation, those nuances are great acting choices on Graz’s part. “Grief is love, with nowhere to go.” When soap writers write well, they really knock it out of the park.

Right? She brings a maturity and subtlety to the role. I don’t love her with Kyle, I think Alison has the potential to make Summer the show’s next leading lady. Let’s keep her free from a kid for at least the next three years. Let her run wild, ala early Phyllis.

The greatest sin in soaps is when a writer, “tells, and doesn’t show.” This is a visual medium. We needed to see the crash. We needed to see family rushing to the scene. Alas, budgets…

It looks like Miguel from Young and Restless!

Greg Wrangler is still handsome as ever. What are folks feelings on Steve? I admit, I do not remember much from their initial romance, only his blink and you miss them cameo. He was a strong actor on AMC. I mean I would give Greg Wrangler my number any day...

On AMC we had a some memorable Scott Chandlers. Shane McDermott played the geeky son of Stuart Chandler to "T." He was gawky, awkward around girls, and so handsome. He would have grown up into a leading hunk if they gave him a chance. AMC was really focused on the "hunk factor" in the late 90's and we got Daniel Cosgrove. I remember all the ads they did with he, Michael Lowry, Tanner, and Pierce playing-up the hot guys of Pine Valley. Daniel was great in the role, if not unmemorable. I wish they let Daniel show his comedic side, which none of us knew he had. Forbes March played Scott as the classic [!@#$%^&*] boy. The very handsome son of a wealthy family. Forbes was quintessential model turned actor. I may not remember him being particularly memorable, but I definitely remember dreaming about his chiseled face and body.

For Leanna's recent Y&R cameos, I would have used her as the town narrator at the gala. I would have paired her with a town newbie, like Audra. And every time someone has a visceral reaction to her (e.g., Ashley, Nikki, Jack), Leanna can whisper to Audra their conflict and other town gossip about the person leading to a short flashback montage. This would have been a good balance of history, while solidifying Audra as the new town pot-stirrer.

Not that every character needs a romance to be happy, but I am of the camp that wants to see Traci Abbott happily married again. She deserves to be loved and to be spoiled by a good man. In her few scenes with Danny, the chemistry is still there. Who do you dream Y&R pies Traci with?

Well, I appreciate the reasoning behind writing JT so out of character. Of course, the more interesting part of the story would have been watching him recover and come to terms with his sins, but that would require some character-driven storytelling… How much do you want to bet that when they find JT he will be shirtless somewhere. Maybe out in a cabin chopping wood? Or swearing after a heavy workout. This shows never needed an excuse to feature Thad Luckinbill naked.

I think something as easy at reintroducing the Y&R extreme closeup will help with making this show look less cheap and generic. The less of the cheap sets and bad costuming we see, the better… JT has a tumour? Is this their attempt to wash away his sins?

I really hope we get more vets a the ball. Felicia and Mac need to represent the Scorpio family - they were a huge part of the ball since it’s inception because of Robin. Olivia and Ned need to represent the Q’s, they are the financial backers of the hospital after all!

Ashley and Tucker actually work this go around. I can’t wait to see the fallout from Tucker’s scheming. There is a real “will they/ won’t they” this go around. Who ever thought I could care about Tucker McCall?! Danny really needs to make his cameos more frequent. I don’t think he needs to live in Genoa City. His father/son chemistry with Graz is so good. He is a sane foil to Phyllis. Especially with Diane in the picture, it would be nice to have Danny around to keep Phyllis grounded. He can be her “Lynn” while smouldering in his unrequited love for Cricket. Abby/ Devon - yawn! Good pairing on paper, bad in execution just because of their lack of chemistry. I think Abby needs a break with romantic pairings. Let her be a single mum and find a purpose in life away from another man. Maybe she can work at Crimson Lights and give her sister in law a break!

No new opening is a missed opportunity. They need not overhaul it, just be smarter about how they use the photos and stop initiating so many seizures. I do like how all the women are wearing shimmery/shiny dresses. It’s a fun play on the theme. Ava looked stunning in evergreen, it is a blond’s colour. It was nice to see Portia and Jordan not in work clothes. This red carpet portion can be 1/2 an episode, it’s not that funny. If it were a regular character like Maxie or Lucy hosting it, I can see it having the “Leanna Love” gossip factor ala Y&R. As is, it’s a cameo by a guest star no one cares about.

Like anything, I do not think that there are hard and fast rules about using history. There are just good examples and bad examples. A bad example, a long lost child created from an impossible timeline. For example, on AMC Adam had a son with the maid and Tad has a son with Hillary, all during times when we saw the characters on canvas? It was even more insulting because both characters were so inconsequential. A good example, when a shared history brings two unrelated characters together. On GH, it was Laura who helped Liz through her rape…decades after her own ordeal. A bad example, a cameo by a vet for cameo’s sake. On DAYS, Mike Horton’s return did nothing for the story. B&B used to role out Jake just to look pretty. (And he does look pretty) A good example, is a cameo that drives a story forward and has a lasting impact on the canvas. AMC did this so smartly with Mark. He came back for Travis/Erica’s second wedding and met the father that had abandoned him. He came back for Mona’s funeral and for New Years, leading to one of the most honestly performance moments from Susan Lucci (Erica crying into Dimitri’s arms after Mark shared his memories of Mona in a series of flashbacks. Susan was clearly crying in real life and hid her face is Michael Nader’s arms). Erica’s intervention, where his acceptance of Kendall mirrored the turning tides in the Kane family. A bad example is when characters forget their relationships. On AMC it broken my heart when a grow up JR called Joe by his first name or Dr. Martin. He was ALWAYS grandpa Joe, from when JR first learned to talk. Maxie doesn’t call Bobbie Aunt Bobbie anymore, despite the fact she grew up in her home with Bobbie as a second mother figure. These seem minor, but they are indicators to the audience about characters shared histories, and the nuances of an interaction. ….and when the writers forget characters have met and should recognise each other. AMC was so guilty of this in their later years. Opal did not recognise Bobby Warner, despite living in the same home! Joe did not not recognise Frankie Hubbard, despite growing up and working together!

I’m happy to hear this! They seemed like a happy couple and have a family. We could all be so lucky for life to work out through its many trials and tribulations.

It’s a bummer that Phyllis will still be “dead” when Malcom returns. I would have loved to see a reunion of these two friends.