Primetime Soaps

[j swift]

I recall discussing the idea that this Joan Fontaine soap pilot was Grant Aleksander's first post-GL role during our re-read of 1986 SOD news.  I just read the NY Times review and it looks like it had the unfortunate timing to be developed just after Dynasty's Moldavian Massacre, at a time when ABC placed its bet that The Colby's would be a hit, but in reality the primetime soap crest had peaked and audiences wanted more sitcoms and dramadies that fall.

https://www.nytimes.com/1986/08/22/arts/tv-weekend-abc-s-dark-mansions-a-gothic-family-saga.html

It is amusing that Melissa Sue Anderson was becoming type cast as the lovely blind girl (maybe it was her mysterious eyes?). 

The point about Joan Fontaine is interesting because it had been forty years since Jane Eyre, much like it has been 36 years since Dark Mansions and although 1943 felt prehistoric in 1986, now 1986 feels as if it was just a short time ago to me.

The whole thing is on YouTube, so I am going to watch it tonight.  Let me know if have any memories of the movie/pilot/proposed series.

Edited October 3, 2022 by j swift

[Paul Raven]

There has been discussions of Dark Mansions previously in this thread.

Yes the timing seems wrong but according to reviews  at the time the pilot was not well received. The fact that ABC ran it on a Saturday during Summer speaks volumes.

Loretta Young was the original star but pulled out.

I think the supernatural theme was a good point of difference but obviously the execution was lacking.

[DRW50]

Not sure if this pilot has been available before, but if not, I decided to put it here. It's Gilded Lilys, a Shonda Rhimes pilot featuring, among others, Blythe Danner, John Barrowman, Madeline Zima, and Matt Lauria. 

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2240641/Gilded-Lilys-How-US-Downton-Abbey-ended-disaster.html

[Joseph]

Gotta The Courage????

That's Part Of Why I so loved And admire Joan Fontaine she had an Academy Award but wasn't pretentious to run from a soap I believe she was in a couple of other ones

[Joseph]

 

[dc11786]

After "Flamingo Road," I've been trying to make my way through "Emerald Point, N.A.S." I want to like it more than I actually like it. Some of the setup is clearly a retread of "Dynasty."

Susan Dey's Celia is a a combination of Steven and Fallon Carrington. Of the three Mallory daughters, Celia is the most intriguing, but Susan Dey isn't bringing the edge to the character that is written and it falls flat. In her defense, some of the sequences are beyond bizarre, a drunken Celia playing hide and seek between cars with Richard Dean Anderson's very unamused Simon Adams is a sight to see. Though, I do find Anderson and Dey have passable enough chemistry that makes them rootable, and Celia's main central conflict, that the Navy has been a dominating force that has controlled every aspect of her life, gives us the foundation of an intriguing triangle between Celia and Simon (a test pilot instructor) and her husband, Jack Warren (a JAG attorney). In the pilot, Celia is frustrated as she is unexpectedly pregnant and refuses to bare another generation of Mallory naval officers. She threatens to abort the baby if Jack doesn't leave the Navy. Jack initially considers work from Harlan Adams, Simon's industrialist father who's company has many government contracts and has a significant airplane manufacturing division, however, a court case leaves him staying in the Navy. 

Celia is an alcoholic. She ends up having a miscarriage leaving Jack with lingering doubts what role Celia's drinking played in the loss of their child. Celia is done. She and Jack's marriage deteriorates further and further and Celia decides to break free and start with Simon. Just as she is doing so, Jack decides he will leave the Navy, which may, or may not, have Celia back in his arms. 

The central older set is strong, at first. Maud Adams' character Maggie Farrell is a civilian with an MIA POW husband who she is convinced is still out there. This prevents her from getting to romantically inclined with the widowed Thomas Mallory. Dennis Weaver doesn't bring the sense of domineering stoicism that John Forsythe seems to better embody in Blake Carrington, but both men are built from the same mold.

I'm trying to enjoy Deanna played by Jill St. John (who looks like Brenda Vaccaro's more glamorous sister to me. Julia Blake would definitely be calling up Deanna if they were related). Deanna initially seems to have a bit of thing for Blake and seems to be the Alexis of the group accept she pops up in episode four rather than waiting a full season. Deanna as a former Navy wife doesn't really work for me, but I am assuming they wanted her to have a familiarity with the whole system. I think I would have gone another route and had Deanna's son be a Naval officer who had been killed in the line of duty. Possibly in a drill like the one that Simon Adams criticized in the pilot (an element of Simon's character that I found intriguing but seems to have been squashed). Deanna trying to worm her way into the Adams family with Patrick O'Neil as Harlan was fun. I'm only an episode into Robert Vaughn and Harlan already feels less larger than life and more like a poor man's version of Cecil Colby. 

The Russian plotline is very cringey, but I am sure fit the culture of the time. Michael Carven slips in and out of the accent in a scene with Simon. I am never sure what the point of the Simon - Alexi rivalry is. Is Simon suppose to also care for Leslie Mallory? Is this just an embodiment of the American-Russian conflict? Or is Simon just jealous that Leslie is monopolizing Alexi's time and wants his own Russian invasion? Who knows at this point, and most of the time I don't really care. I can't even remember what is the purpose of Thomas Mallory entertaining Robert Loggia's character. The latest twist involving Deanna in the Russian plot is preposterous, which is a shame because Deanna was making interesting gains in the Adams household when she bought Hilary's blackmail tape. 

Sela Ward's Hilary is fun. The decision to have most of her scenes with Richard Dean Anderson's Simon, her half-brother, in her bedroom is an odd choice that definitely places an odd level of sexuality between the siblings. Besides the possible incest, Hilary is the most engaging of the younger female characters even though she remains one of the flattest in the early episodes. The way she manipulates her bestie Kay Mallory is the most interesting Kay has been in those early episodes. Hilary going after Glenn after he marries Kay while in the Caribbean bar dancing with other men to "Sweet Dreams" is a fun sequence. Almost as fun as Celia flirting with John Bennett Perry (does Dinah Caswell know what Michael is up to?) to The Police's "Every Breath You Take." 

I have little nice to say about Kay or Leslie. Leslie as the female naval member is intriguing but she is too deep into the Russian story. Kay the school teacher is too saccharine for my taste. The hinted at dynamic between the sisters is intriguing but they can't seem to stick the landing on what that dynamic is actually going to be. 

I almost wish this got a second season because I see the foundation of a really interesting show.

[slick jones]

I always enjoy reading your take on things @dc11786. Thank you for highlighting the stories from EPNAS and a very Happy Birthday as well! 

 

[Forever8]

@dc11786I don't know if you know this or not, but Sela Ward and Richard Dean Anderson were together for years that's why it's probably the feel of incest between the characters. 

Someone uploaded the pilot episode of the short-lived Cane that aired on CBS in 2007 starring Jimmy Smits, Nestor Carbonell, Hector Elizondo and Rita Moreno. 

 

[Soaplovers]

My mom used to tell me that Emerald Point N.A.S is when she first noticed Sela Ward.. and became a fan of her in everything she did.  She said the show was boring except for her.

[dc11786]

@slick jonesThanks!

@Forever8I was unaware that Richard Dean Anderson and Sela Ward were once involved. It's just an odd choice to constantly feature Hilary's bedroom as a central meeting place for story. Hilary and Simon are great. When Patrick O'Neal was playing Harlan, they were a great family unit. I even like Jill St. John as Deanna trying to squirm her way in as the next Mrs. Harlan Adams. I feel almost nothing for Robert Vaughn's Harlan. 

@SoaploversI have to agree with your mom for the most part. There is setup for something interesting, but it's never truly achieved. I'm rounding the bend to the final stretch of seven episodes and seems like things are slowly changing for the better. The espionage stuff is mostly now set in Adams Industries and the Navy is being downplayed, which I think it smart. Alexi's attempts at defection give Alexi and Leslie something very tangible to play with some very real ramifications. The 180 degree turn of Andrew Stevens' Glenn Matthews from sap to low level powerplay is very right field, but it sorta works (or I sorta want it to work?). David Marquette is around trying to romance Maggie and that seems to give Thomas a real challenge that wasn't being provided by Harlan. 

The one thing I do struggle with is the relationships between characters are not as well developed as it should be nor the individual characterization. I love Deanna and Celia, but it would be interesting to see Deanna with the other girls or even more with Thomas. So much of Deanna seems underplayed. Her season long divorce has played entirely offscreen and why she had to be a Naval wife I'm still not sure. Harlan and Tom's relationship seems to be friendly adversaries, but I wish that piece was played more. I also don't know what makes Kay Mallory tick and was pretty shocked when she announced at some point she was a teacher around episode 7 or so (maybe it was mentioned earlier and I missed the reference). 

I've paused on "Emerald Point" for a bit to watch some of "Central Park West."

[Forever8]

Can't wait to read your summaries on Central Park West. 

[Forever8]

Garcelle Beauvais talks with Laverne Cox on her series about how she got the role on Models Inc. 

 

[j swift]

What's funny about that story to me is that 5757 Wilshire Blvd is actually the Screen Actor's Guild Building, Spelling Entertainment is across the street at 5700.  I lived in that neighborhood for years, so the detail stuck out like a sore thumb to me.  Unless, Garcelle left her photo with the receptionist at SAG and magically she sent it across the street?

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SAG-AFTRA

5757 Wilshire Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90036

[DRW50]

 

[Chris B]

I’ve been rewatching Party of Five and the first four seasons were some of the best television I’ve ever seen. I know they won a Golden Globe, but I feel this cast should’ve been Emmy darlings for these seasons as well. 
 

Imagine my shock when I start season five and the show has fallen off a cliff. I can’t recall such a jarring drop in quality. At first I thought it was me, but this is awful. The show has instantly become so disconnected. Claudia is at boarding school, Julia is at college, Bailey is running the restaurant. You have the love interests on contract, but Sarah, Griffin and Kirsten’s appearances now feel shoehorned in.

I have some vague memories of season six from its original airing. Im hoping there is a turnaround in quality before it ends. It’s a shame to see such a good show decline like this.  Season five doesn’t have one good story and I’m halfway through.