Oh No! One Life to Live Character Will Die Off Screen

[King]

Jay, unless you work on the show, you can't be sure of anything.

This is a bad move. Bad, bad move.

[Dr. Jay S.W.]

[sungrey]

This is the type of move that kills soaps. I don't think ABC will snuff OLTL, but you get a lot of honked-off viewers and this show could be in big, big trouble. Look at GH until people found out Stuart Damon was sticking around in a "ghostly" fashion; they were ready to mutiny against ABC.

Of course, I never thought Y&R would kill off John Abbott and get away with it in the ratings, but that's just me.

[Port Oak Valley]

Maybe something good will come out of this and Tina (played by Andrea Evans) will return for Asa's funeral.

[dm.]

Bad idea, bad idea, bad idea... but Carey definitely wouldn't ever return, so I don't see the point of keeping him in Llanview anymore. It's time to get some others vets to return or something... or at least give the current vets better stories.

[Marc]

Aside from hating to see this long time character dying, I'm not all that bothered by this.

The show had worked with and around Carey numerous times before. They wanted to put him on recurring status back in 2004, but he raised hell about it, they caved and gave him a new contract. This time, however, they stood to their ground and I don't blame them. Phil Carey had been on the show for nearly 30 years, which is a long time to have *ANY* job...much less one in television. The man is now over 80 now. He simply can't play the Asa character like he used to. His performances over the past few years have gradually become unsteady, and with his health issues, they can't depend on his always being available to work, as this last year detailed. The whole Spencer Truman storyline had to be completely rewritten from what was originally intended because of PC's extended leave of absence. When he is able to work, the dialogue has to be lightly written and carefully directed, because of PC's age and health. I wouldn't be surprised if it took more downtime for him to prepare, and a number of takes to complete the scenes.

His being offered recurring status, IMO, was a fair compromise on the parts of TPTB, considering. But he said no, which was his right. It was their right to not budge either. I don't know too many places that allow you to keep your job for sentimental reasons, despite your not being able to do it as well as you used to...for whatever reasons.

I'll be sad to see Asa die, and now that I think about it, I would have liked to see a much better send off...but I don't fault the show for being pratical enough to realize that Asa's potential had been reached, and to not want to waste of time and money keeping Carey on contract at this point, when his ability to do his job is in decline.

[ZaraB]

Stuart Damon had been let go, and the ghost story was a way of keeping SD around for those angry fans. I'd say the recovery was done fairly well given the circumstances. GH at least seems to sometimes listen to fans -- only sometimes.

[juniorz1]

Umm, try telling that to Kristina Wagner, Marcy Walker, Genie Francis, Julia Barr, Jill Larson, Jennifer Bassey i.e. 85% of ABC vets offerred recurring status in the past 5 years.

OLTL basically said......Um, will you show up for the Christmas & Thanksgiving episodes and Bo's wedding (ceremony, not the reception- soaps don't 'do' receptions anymore)? We'll pay you what you'd get paid per episode anyway. And he told them to shove it.

Phil Carey & Patricia Elliot were two of OLTL's gems and they've been completely discarded, all in the name of recurring status. The show is worse off without them.

As for the business aspect of it- as a business and an entity, they've failed- OLTL's numbers and demos have dropped steadily over the past 5 years and will continue to do so until ABC Daytime gets a grip and remembers who their audience is.

This is SHOW business baby, what I expect in that business is for the behind the scenes staff and the onscreen cast to all be putting forth their best effort to ENTERTAIN me. Essentially, by demoting Phil Carey, you're telling me that I and others don't tune in to OLTL for Asa Buchanan. Seriously. If you don't think that Asa flipping Buchanan (!) is VITAL to 'One Life to Live', then you have no business running 'One Life To Live." Period.

Exactly. Your negativity is well-placed here. It's worse than a bad move. It's a dumb move.

[Dr. Jay S.W.]

Phil Carey has not been on steadliy in years. I will say it again. Phil Carey was not forced out of OLTL. He was simply offered recurring and that was according to Dena's and Frank's plan. He raised hell, and tore his drawyers, so to say, and now they are killing him. I know this for a fact, and I do not work on the show. Actors come and actors go. No matter if they have been on the show for 2 years or 15 years. I'll tell you this. Phil Carey would not have been able to work a full schedule, worthy of a contract. OLTL should not have gave him a contract just to give him one, no matter who the hell he is. Recurring was best and I repeat, he was going to be making the same money. With a contract, you have to have a certain number of appearences to fulfill that contract, appearences Phil would not have been able to make. That is basically the main difference between contract and recurring. Disrespectful, maybe, but dumb or stupid-no.

[Jess]

It had become difficult for me to watch PC on the show. His health was very bad, and I don't believe he could handle a daily workload any longer. I do wish OLTL would try to find some way to provide contracts for characters like PC and like Anna Lee on GH so that they could at least show respect to veteran and respected performers. It could be a guarantee of four days a month or something. That wouldn't break the bank. I can see why Phil wanted to keep his dignity and not work without a contract.

However, the days of him being a viable regular contributor to this show are over. His role would be to be seen and that is all. His last months on the show, it was charming to see him, however, it was obvious he was having trouble with his lines.

Now that he is off the show, I think it is fitting and proper that Asa die and that he be given a funeral and a sendoff. I'm not at all offended and think it is the proper way to handle a character of his magnitude leaving the show. Stuart Damon is a totally different argument. He was still able to function regularly on the show. He's not 80 years old and sick. Actually I enjoy Alan haunting his sister. I think it is very funny. Unfortunately, it can't last forever.

[Ryan]

So is Francis Reid (Alice, DAYS) not worthy of a contract? She doesn't work a full schedule, yet they keep her on contract. OLTL should have showed that same respect to Phil.

ABC needs to be sued for ageism. They did the same thing to Anna Lee (who worked her ASS off for that show).

This is just another reason for me to not watch this show. They've lost a 18 year fan of the show.

[juniorz1]

No he wasn't. In a contract, you're guaranteed to be paid for a certain amount of episodes and I would think that his guarantee was higher than the 4 measley recurring episodes he may or may not have gotten to put in.

And It IS Dumb. As far as heavy-hitters go, this is what OLTL's list looks like, using actors who have appeared for the last 2 years:

Erika Slezak

Robin Strasser

Hilary B. Smith...........Hilary B Smith

Catherine Hickland......Catherine Hickland

Heather Tom

Dan Gauthier

Robert Woods

Kassie DePaiva

Phil Carey

Pat Elliot

Tuc Watkins

Bree Williamson

Kathy Brier

Ilene Kristen

Timothy Stickney

That's a HORRIBLE track record for your MVPs, specifically because we barely see Slezak, Smith, Hickland, Woods, Brier, and Kristen anyway. What the [!@#$%^&*] is OLTL about anymore? Who the hell are these people they've got running around Llanview? Lord knows.

When you compare the heavy-hitters at other shows to those at OLTL, most of the other shows (Passions & B&B being the arguable exceptions) have a lot more strength in their casts.

In 1999, OLTL had probably the best cast in daytime. What the hell happened?

[Soapsuds]

You have watched since you were 2? Awww...Ryan at 2 years old. Cute!

[Dr. Jay S.W.]

If you really want to bring up Frances Reid, please consider that she was really close to Betty Corday, and Ken Corday is most likely keeping her on out of loyalty. He grew up with her close to him. That is an example of not seperating business and personal. In a way Corday is favoring Frances because he knows her. I guarentee you, that is the only reason she has a contract. If Valentini was Agnes Nixon's son, and he grew up around Phil, then hell yea he would have a contract. And to answer your question, I am not one to say if she deserves a contract or not. I know that she suffers from Dimensia. I know that PC has Lung Cancer. Both are unable to perform full time. Do they derserve contracts based on their hard work- hell yes, but do they deserve them based on business and what contracts are about, unfortunetly- no.

[Dr. Jay S.W.]

First off. Who the hell are Dan G. and Heather tom but some recast? Yes, Heather is an Emmy winner but she nor Dan are any royalty to OLTL Powers that be. Kathy Brier, is not worthy of being up there. Ilene Kristen is not a legend to OLTL. She has no major ties to anyone on the show and Roxy is not a heavy hitter. Bob Woods is probably one of the most used Vets. He may not have had a story in name, but he is used. As a matter of fact, the only people on your list who I cannot defend ABC for are , Slezak, and Strasser. Everyone else, is pretty good, besides those that I mentioned. Slezak and Strasser have said that the problem was Higley. Believe them. If The two actresses say it was Higley, why blame Valentini, you feel me?