Jump to content

Sunset Beach Discussion Thread


dm.

Recommended Posts

  • Members

In retrospect, one of my main problems with Sunset Beach was the lack of integration of characters.  When a soap is named after the town in which the characters live, that town should play a central role in the interactions of the characters.  However, in Sunset Beach there were a wide swath of people who seemed to never meet each other.  The soap became known for its large set devices like the earthquake and the sinking boat but, even within those plots there were characters that never shared dialogue. 

 

Some of the examples that come to mind are Cole and the other male characters his age.  Cole seemed to exist on a island all of his own and mostly shared scenes with his wife and mother-in-law.  Cole never spoke to Mark, Casey, or Michael.  I have no memory of what his relationship was like with Ben and I barely recall any scenes between Cole and Annie.  Similarly, Meg, (who was arguably the lead character), seemed to have no defined relationship with Caitlin, (the secondary lead).  I think they were both on the boat that sank, but I don't remember if they liked each other or if Meg judged Caitlin for her baby switch.

 

It seemed like a bad structure for a new soap that the writers never explored the various relationships around town, or even had people comment on the other plots going on around them.  There were days when it felt as if you were tuning into a totally different show because nobody was mentioning what was happening in the news to the other people who lived in this small beach town.  If you read about early Pine Valley or Bay City, there were always connections between the families in town.  Even though there were strict socioeconomic divisions in Landview, you got the sense that Viki knew what going on around her.  The characters in Sunset Beach might as well have lived in different countries because their actions rarely affected the lives of others in their community, and for me, that is heart and soul of a soap town.    

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 468
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

Top Posters In This Topic

Posted Images

  • Members

 

True. I think that could've been solved to have more of them live on that beach front walk where Ben and Annie (/Bette) lived and have locations such as Elaine's pancake house closer in proximity. Ultimately, there didn't seem to be a central "hub" where the characters could naturally intersect with each other like the square in Peyton Place as an example; it never seemed very natural for let's say the Richards to head to the Elaine's pancake hut and of course older characters hanging out in Ben's club wouldn't have been very natural either.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

 

I didn't mind the lack of interaction because it's realistic.  Some soaps (like ATWT in the Marland era) had too much interaction.  On the one hand, when characters did end up interacting..it was a welcome surprise and would led to new stories. 

 

I was pleasantly surprised when Annie and Caitlin started interacting...and it led to some good storylines with Annie/Gregory/Olivia.  And Sean Kanan's character came on in the last few months..and was tested with Sara, Caitlin, and Annie..and had scenes with Casey/Cole.  So it seemed like the show was starting to correct it.

 

On the other hand, I do wish Virginia had been allowed to mix it up with other characters.  She had some interaction with Gabi and Casey..but she was islanded off by herself unless it was with Michael and Vanessa.

 

And I think bringing Maria back helped with bridging the gap since she was friends with Annie, married to Ben, was related to Ricardo/Antonio, knew the Richards, etc.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members


They shared loads of scenes - after all, they did live in the same house.

 


Meg was promoted as the lead female, but I think Annie was the lead character. She interacted with the majority of the cast, and had the most storylines. I think that meant Meg was the secondary lead, not Caitlin. Caitlin was on par with Gabi. 
 

Meg and Caitlin weren’t on the sinking ship together. But I have a vague recollection of Meg giving her condolences after Gregory “died”. They were acquaintances at best.
 


Cole shared scenes with Olivia, Caitlin, Gregory, Annie, Bette, AJ, Francesca, Sean, Ricardo, Antonio, Elaine...

 

A few scenes with Bernie, Hilary, Philip, Gabi, Paula, Tyus, Michael, Casey, Amy, Brad...
 

I do agree with your overall point. In some way it felt believable that not all of the characters would interact given they came from different socioeconomic backgrounds. The Richards were rich and unlikely to want to hang with the Surf Central gang, so it made sense that Cole and Caitlin rarely interacted with Casey, et al. But I don’t think they made the most of the big set pieces, like the earthquake/tsunami, in mixing up the interactions for those moments. 
 

The Richards (who are the equivalent to OLTL’s Viki) were too self absorbed to care about what was going on in the town. No way would Gregory and Olivia give a damn about Vanessa losing her baby, or Casey and Sara getting stranded on an island, or Derek abducting Meg. They only cared about what affected their children or the business/property that Gregory owned. I have a vague reference of Caitlin passing comment on Vanessa and Michael’s break up, mostly in relation to her own life. 
 


Yeah, Virginia had some interaction with the Surf Central gang (Casey, Gabi, Meg, Antonio, Mark...), but the majority of the time it was always with Michael, Vanessa, and Tyus. It would have been great to see her mix it up more regularly with the others, but in what capacity I’m not sure.

 


I really disliked that pairing. Jude and Sara had no chemistry and felt so mismatched. 
 

Speaking of Sara: she really should have had more crossover with Annie given what she did to Meg, and Sara was a feisty, confrontational character, so it would have been believable.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

 

I think there were ways to "force" more interactions with certain characters - like Caitlin could've gone to school with some of the characters in her age group, certainly one of the Surf Central gang at least.  Vanessa could've been more of a scandal/tabloid reporter, giving her a reason to interact with the wealthy Richards', certainly cover stuff like the Derek saga, she could've written a story about Maria giving her an in to interact more with Meg / the Torres family etc etc. Granted, maybe some of this stuff did happen - I only have the broadest sense of what happened on the show as I haven't really watched it since it aired except for an episode here and there.

 

Either way, more could've been done with the interactions I think, but I also think it was missing that central hub where all characters from all backgrounds could bump into each other.

Edited by te.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

Well in the beginning of the show, I think they tried to intermingle the cast more. Vanessa, Gabi and Meg were shown as friends. I remember them even singing "Stop in the name of love" together at the bar, like karaoke fun night together.

 

And yes, I believe there was a cyber cafe.. Java cafe? 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 4 months later...
  • Members

Here’s a Q&A with one of Sunset Beach’s scriptwriters (Lisa Seidman) that I have found. The interview was conducted by the fans at the forum an-eternal-sunset.heavenforum.org (all credit to them).

 

1. How do writers work?
That depends on the writer and the show the writer is working on.  If you mean specifically a show like Sunset Beach there were five writers who wrote outlines and five writers who wrote scripts. The outline writers worked with the head writers.  They came into the office/studio once or twice a week.  The script editors wrote at home.

 

2. Were there groups of writers assigned to specific characters/storylines?
No.  All the writers had to be able to write all the characters and all the storylines.

 

3. Was there a showrunner of some sorts who gave a global direction to the show?
Yes.  In daytime soaps the showrunner is called the head writer.  We had several head writers, starting with Bob Guza/Meg Bennett, then Chris Whitesell/Meg, then finally Chris/Maggie de Priest.

 

4. What was the pace of work? How much time did you have before sending scripts to the actors?
We had to write five or six episodes every week.  The outline writers had about two and a half days to write their outlines and the scriptwriters had seven days to write the scripts.  Then the scripts went to the script editor who took a week to edit five scripts (sometimes less).  The actors didn’t get the scripts until close to taping: Usually a month after the scripts were turned in.  

 

5. Did you have much freedom? How much did the execs meddle in with your writing?
The outline writers had freedom to pitch ideas when they met with the head writers to discuss the week of stories.  The head writers had the power to use the ideas or not.  
The scriptwriters had the freedom to create dialogue.  For instance, when I was a scriptwriter, I received an outline.  There was a scene that read, “Casey learns his mother has come for a visit.”  That was it.  As the scriptwriter I invented the scene, giving it substance: Casey sees suitcases by the stairs when he comes home, a woman comes downstairs, they talk and at the end of the scene I reveal that it’s Casey’s mother.  
The executives meddled A LOT with the outlines.  It was very frustrating.  Some weeks they’d throw out an entire week of outlines and the head writers would have to create new stories for that week.  The executives also gave notes on each outline, so the outline writers would then have to rewrite their outlines according to the executives’ notes.  

 

6. Were there specific ideas that got rejected by the execs? Can you give us some examples?
There were specific ideas that were rejected but, unfortunately, I can’t give you specifics because I don’t remember what was rejected.  

 

7.  Which characters did you enjoy working on the most?
Annie.

 

8. Did the actors know in advance what would happen to their character of did they just find out as they got the scripts?
They just found out as they got the scripts. 

 

9. Were the actors able to give ideas about the future of their characters ? Did some of them influence the storylines? Some examples?
The actors were not allowed to give ideas, they were not allowed to influence their storylines.  

 

10. Did you have a specific idea of where each storyline would go from the beginning of the show ?
Not from the beginning of the show, no.  Bob Guza, the original head writer really didn’t know where the stories were going.  When Chris Whitesell took over, he had to write long story so we would know where the stories were going.  I was hired to write long story as well.  (Mine was about the gun stuffed into the Thanksgiving turkey by Bette and Olivia.) 

 

11. How long in advance were the storylines planned before shooting and airing ?
It differs from show to show.  On Sunset Beach, we had three to four months I think.

 

12. What storylines ideas got rejected or dropped ?
That I don’t remember.  I only remember the stories that were approved.

 

13. Were you able to do everything as planned ?
Not always–not if the network or the executive producer didn’t like something.

 

14. What were your favourite storylines ?
The gun getting stuffed in the Thanksgiving turkey, obviously, since I came up with that idea!  And anything having to do with Annie.  Oh, I also loved Gabriella (I think that was her name) falling in love with Father Antonio, and he with her.  And their getting trapped and making love, thinking they were going to die.  But they were rescued.  That was fun. 

 

15. As a writer, did you get censored by yourself or the execs at some point because of the conservative viewers of the show ? What ideas got dropped because of that ? 
I was never censored and if the head writer [was] he never shared that with the writing team.

 

16. Was the writing process and the storylines influenced by the public’s reactions ? Which ones ?
The writing process/storylines were NOT influenced by the public, mainly because Twitter, the Internet, blogs, social media did not exist the way they do now.  So we really didn’t know what the public wanted or didn’t want.

 

17. Why wasn’t the Kansas Dream the final scene after all?
Aaron Spelling didn’t understand it, so the head writer came up with the final version.  Everyone liked the new version, saw it as a twist on The Wizard of Oz.

 

18. Is it true that Virginia’s « Operation Insemination » almost got the show cancelled?
No, that’s not true at all.

 

19. Did the cancellation of the show ruin some storylines plans? What would you have liked to happen?
Actually, the headwriter was very burned out by then and really didn’t have any more story ideas so the cancellation didn’t ruin future storyline plans.

 

20. What were the last-minute changes made due to the cancellation of the show?
There were no last minute changes made due to the cancellation because we were given enough notice about it and were able to simply wrap up the stories.

 

21. Why did Elaine and Paula disappear from the show so abruptuly? Especially right after the rape trial climax?
Elaine and Paula disappeared so abruptly because the executive producer was very disappointed about how they acted (or rather didn’t act) during Gabi’s rape trial climax.

 

22. Why was the story about Virginia’s secret regarding her husband’s death (late season 1) dropped?
The story about Virginia’s secret regarding her husband’s death was dropped because the executive producer thought we had a story about two nice women in a relationship with a nice man.  Gary thought the story needed to be edgier, that Virginia should be evil instead of nice.  Which meant her secret didn’t make sense anymore.

 

23. What about Cole’s hair sample storyline? Who was supposed to be behind this and why? Why was this just left aside after a while?
The head writer doesn’t remember that Cole’s hair sample story line was set aside.  He thought (as did I) that we had played it for as far as it could go.

 

24. What was planned for the Antonio/Gabi/Ricardo triangle if the show hadn’t been cancelled ?
If the show hadn’t been cancelled, Ricardo would have found out about Gabi and Antonio’s love affair and would have turned evil.  Antonio was going to either leave the priesthood or join a monastery where Ricardo would have disguised himself as a monk and tried to kill him.  

 

25. Is it true you wanted to bring back Lisa Guerrero ? What were the plans for her ?
There was some discussion about bring back Lisa Guerrero but the show was cancelled because anything definite could be set up.

 

26. What was the original storyline plan for Tess and Benjy ? We know that Benjy was actually supposed to be Maria’s son originally and that a lot of changes happened, mainly due to the cancellation. Can you please shed some light on this ?
There wasn’t an original story plan for Tess and Benjy.  We were making it up as we went along and there were no changes due to the cancellation.  

 

27. Wasn’t Jude really supposed to be Ajay’s son originally ? What was the storyline you had planned about this?
Jude was never supposed to be Ajay’s son and there was  no story line planned for this.

 

28. Is it true that the idea of a romance between Annie and Francesca emerged at some point but got dropped ? Can you tell us about some other dropped couple ideas (gay or not) ?
There was no idea of romance planned between Annie and Francesca.  And there were no dropped couple ideas (gay or straight).

 

29. Don’t you think there was too much focus on Meg and her entourage as the show progressed ?
Yes, we do think there was too much focus on Meg and her entourage as the show progressed.  

 

30. Was Tobias planned from the beginning of the “whodunit” storyline about Francesca’s murder, or was it some sort of a last-minute thing ? How was this supposed to end before you knew the show was cancelled ?
It was not planned from the beginning that Tobias would be involved in Francesca’s murder.  It was a last minute thing.  We didn’t have anything planned for the future.  Chris, the head writer, admitted that he was burnt out and that he had no future stories for most of the characters when we got news that the show was being canceled.

 

31. Why did it never happen again between Cole and Olivia ? Was it considered at some point ?
Cole and Olivia didn’t get together again because their first and only time was a plot point, not a relationship that the head writer wanted to develop further.

 

32. Who was playing the faceless Maria that appears in several flashbacks during season 1 ?
No one famous played the faceless Maria in the flashbacks.  It was just an actress/extra that casting hired.

 

33. Why is Maria so different from the Annie-like mischiever depicted in season 1 and the sweet and nurturing woman shown in seasons 2 and 3 ?
The headwriter saw Maria as a free spirit–not like Annie at all.  When Ben said he hated her it was because he hated her for dying–not because she was a bad person.

 

34. What about Sara and Meg’s brother, mentioned twice in season 1? Was he just forgotten ?
There was no time to bring Sara and Meg’s brother to the show.

 

35. Ben mentions an older brother called Ted in the grotto in season 1, who never gets mentioned again. Forgotten as well ?
The older brother Ben mentions in the grotto–Ted–eventually became his twin brother Derek.

 

36. When was the idea of Derek actually fledged out ? At the early writing stages of the show, was the whole Ben/Maria past supposed to be different than what we were shown later ? Was Ben actually supposed to be the psycho himself at some point ?
The idea of Derek came up only a few weeks before you actually see him on air.  Ben/Maria was also developed a few weeks before we introduced Maria.  We were making things up as we went along.  Ben was never supposed to be Derek, or psycho.  The headwriter saw him as Laurence Olivier in Rebecca and Heathcliff in Wuthering Heights.

 

37. Why does Amy’s name changes between her Terror Island appearance (Amy Dreyer) and her Shockwave come-back (Amy Nielsen) ?
Amy’s last name changed because we decided to make her the daughter of the ship’s captain, which was Nielsen.

 

38. During season 3, an old friend of Olivia’s, Barbie, shows up for a couple of scenes on the phone. They seemed to go as way back as Olivia and Bette, so why wasn’t this colourful lady brought back to shake things up a bit ?
Barbie was merely a story device because Olivia needed someone to talk to.  She was never going to be a major character because we already had too many characters on the show.

 

39. Why was Bette sort of left aside in seasons 2 and 3 ? She never had any real storyline and that’s really a shame given the potential of the character and how great Kathleen was in the role.
Bette’s role was diminished because the executive producer grew very annoyed with the actress who always came to his office to ask for a bigger story.  He decided to do the opposite.  I agree it’s a shame because Kathleen is a friend of mine and I think she’s terrific.

 

40. Jack Wagner guest-starred as a former partner-in-crime of Cole’s in late season 1. Weren’t these two supposed to have shared a bit more than friendship, swindles and thefts?
Jack Wagner was never supposed to share anything more with Cole than just a partner in crime.   

 

41. Did you plan on keeping Spike along for the whole show or did you just find him cute ?
Haha. We all found Spike cute but he never listened to direction.

 

42. Do you remember what were the general plans for season 4 of the show, character-wise and storyline-wise ?
There was no plan for Season 4.  The headwriter was tired and didn’t think any further than Season 3.

 

43. Were there plans to reunite Gregory and Olivia after his prison time ? 
Same answer as above.  The head writer wasn’t thinking that far in advance.

 

44. Did you plan to make Antonio leave the Chruch ?
Antonio would have left the church but not for a while.

 

45. Is it true that Annie’s mother was supposed to show up ? What were the ideas for other new characters ?
Annie’s mother was not supposed to show up.  There were no ideas for other new characters.

 

46. Is it true that an episode was shot and aired live ? What happened in this episode ?
While we discussed doing a live episode it never happened.

 

47. Would you have like Sunset Beach to be less tame, more edgy ?
The headwriter (Chris Whitesell) thinks the tone for the show was about right.

 

48. You worked too on “the young and the restless” and we wonder if you work in the same way for “Sunset Beach” and for “The young and the restless”? and if the atmosphere was the same?
The atmosphere at “Young & the Restless” was toxic. I hated working on that show and was very happy when I was fired. “Days of our Lives” is more pleasant and similar to the atmosphere on “Sunset Beach.” Most of the writers are old friends of mine; in fact, I visited three of them when I was in New York. Or maybe you meant the working atmosphere. That was different from Sunset Beach. On Sunset Beach all the writers met at the studio and helped the headwriters with ideas and story each week. On Days and Y&R the headwriters work without the outline writers help–we don’t even go into the studio on Days. The headwriters email us our assignments, we speak on the phone the next day with out questions and then have three days to write our shows.

 

————

 

Something I would like to know from peeps in the know: Is it common practice for soaps to not plan in advance and work on the fly like this? This element really surprised me.

 

I don’t know how they could have worked without knowing where storylines were going in 6 months time.

Edited by Ben
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members


No. It is emphatically not the way soaps are usually written and the fact SB was is extremely unsurprising if you watched the show and explains why the writing wasn't ... good.

I find a lot of her answer disingenuous (she doesn't remember anything that was rejected? Gimme a break) and stilted and sometimes unkind

but there are some tidbits in there I found interesting so thanks for sharing.

 

Is she saying this as a criticism of the actresses or of the writing? As in they didn't "act" (have any reaction) or the characters were written to be doing nothing and they realized they were superfluous?

 


I agree. Annie was by far the most interesting central character of the show. And one reason SB failed IMO that the character they SO wanted us to root for and like and who was intended to be the lead just wasn't liked or interesting (Meg). I give them credit that they realized Annie was gold and used her in every storyline they could.
That said, if we are talking lead vs supporting, Annie, Meg and Caitlin were definitely leads. I would also put Olivia in there and I actually think Olivia was more of a lead than Caitlin but that may be because I thought her character was more interesting.
Gabi started as supporting but moved to lead later on.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

 

 

LOL I was reading that and almost spit out my tea I'm sipping on when I saw that about Elaine and Paula. I am wondering what that means as well about the "acting" part as I liked Elaine and Paula and both Laura Harring and Leigh Taylor-Young are both competent successful actresses so I wonder what the exact issue was unless they just completely ran out of story for the two that fast. Especially since I felt Elaine was so vital to the Sunset Beach canvas it was odd not to even bring her back with AJ came to town, that would have been interesting. 

 

 

1. That Ricardo vs. Antonio story sounds like total overkill even for Beach. Sure a massive fight between the two but for Ricardo to become evil and try to murder Antonio? Glad it never played out. 

 

2. Lisa Guerrero returning? Would have been a complete disaster as if her first go around wasn't bad enough. 

 

3. I agree, having no story projections or thought method is pretty bad storytelling for soaps which is I think Beach suffered a lot during its final year. Unless DePriest & Whitesell had finally run out of soap clichés and recycled ideas to use lol. I suppose Meg Bennett is also responsible, disappointing for someone who was once a Bell protégé if she didn't plan out storylines either.  

 

4. There was too much Meg. I would have to say Annie was the most interesting leading female character on the show as well. 

 

5. Didn't anyone actually like(or watch) the Amy/Sean/Emily/Brad stuff at all? I barely remember any of it aside from them just hanging out at the beach and getting into surf competitions, it was all FF material to me. 

 

6. Tomlin must have been off his rocker when it came to diminishing Kathleen Noone at the time. They ended up having to work together on Passions when Tomlin served as Director. Which reminds me Tomlin also had to work with Leigh Taylor-Young as well.

 

7. Just hilarious about Seidman's remarks about Y&R

Please register in order to view this content

 If I recall right Seidman worked on GL & ATWT after Beach ended. She reunited with Tomlin & Whitesell for their 2008-11 Days run which probably explains her fond memories for writing there. Later she followed Josh Griffith around from Hollywood Heights, to Y&R, and Days again before Sussman brought her back. Her scripts were fair to mediocre at best, so I'm guessing she's talking about her Y&R exit when she left out after Sussman was dismissed and not when she first followed Griffith out. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

It is ironic that she would say that about the two actresses that, outside of Eddie Cibrian for other reasons, probably had the best career outside of Sunset Beach so that's why I was wondering. 
But it is also true that Harring always looked a little lost to me on the show. But if this had been a better soap that doesn't silo its stories as someone said earlier, she could have been chemistry-tested with other actors and thrown into a different more interesting direction than the third wheel of the Gabi story.

 


1. I mean we saw that Ricardo was indeed angry enough to turn somewhat vengeful but it would have gone against so much of what the character was supposed to be to turn him into a villain. Typical SB plot-driven writing. They couldn't possibly imagine that the triangle story would be more interesting if everyone in it had rooting value: they simply saw Gabi/Antonio as popular so the easy way was to simply turn Ricardo into a villain all of a sudden.


2. It may be because I adore her as a journalist now and she sounds like a great person but I actually liked LG. Granted, Francesca as a character... meh. But I love LG

 

3. Except for the baby switch that had to involve some long-term planning, I think the lack of story planning was pretty obvious all throughout the show. I guess it takes skills to manage to keep that many balls in the air by bluffing for so long but it still showed.

 

5. I think there was a part of the audience that liked Amy and Brad as comic relief. I just couldn't buy Sean as a center of female attention at all, Richards money or not, so this all was lost on me.


6. I am going to defend Tomlin here and simply say that we often underestimate how much BTS shenanigans explain on-screen plot changes we find at first sight crazy. Drawing a line that actors cannot come lobbying the producer for story was probably the right move in terms of cast discipline overall even if it deprived the show of some of what Noone had to offer. I won't name names but other shows should have done the same a long time ago.

 

7. In very related news, Y&R is indeed known for having the most toxic behind-the-scenes. And the point I make in 6. is one of the ways in which things must be complicated for writers over there. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Unfortunately, your content contains terms that we do not allow. Please edit your content to remove the highlighted words below.
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.



  • Recent Posts

    • They didn't need to have some slutty gay dude as their representation. Just a 'normal' guy getting involved with another guy or two (or three). Just like the straight characters. Thinking about it, they missed the boat by not having a few other single charcters at the beginning. Maybe Naomi or Ashley could be shown meeting Derek/Jacob and  we could follow their romance. Too many characters were coupled up at the start. As a tattoo hater I was surprised to see Tomas so inked. Don't find it attractive or sexy. I'm surprised an actor would do that as it's definitely a statement and may not be appropriate for some roles. Suppose they can cover if necessary. I didn't buy Kat being all girly and then paying off Darius to get into Eva's room. Way too cliche. She should have just come along when the housekeeping was leaving and breezed in saying it was her room. And her smug looks in the hotel room and 'Now I've got you!!' talks to herself at Orphey Gene's...no.  
    • Omg I was so annoyed. Like girl calm down. Coming on way too strong. Omg I forgot about this

      Please register in order to view this content

    • I thought it got stale before Jocks death lol. His death picked things back up for me.
    • 1976 Pt 5 Tony is summoned to the reading of the will in the Llanfair library,as he’s a principal in the will. He tells Joe there’s not a chance of coming to terms with Dorian, as he is sure she brought about Victor’s death by torturing him emotionally when he was her helpless prisoner after his stroke. Ironically, Chapin hand delivers to Viki a letter her father wrote before his stroke, praising Dorian and asking Viki to befriend and support his widow when he was no longer there. Viki feels a responsibility to her father’s wishes and vows to try with Dorian. Victor’s will leaves the expected amounts to members of his family and staff, with the lion’s share of his stock and property going to Dorian. Victor’s will explains that his son Tony expressed the desire that he not be “bought from the grave,” and, in keeping with his son’s wishes, the only bequest to him is the knowledge of his father’s love and respect. Tony is deeply moved. Dorian’s first attempt to use her new power is the recommendation of Peter as head of the Merideth Lord Wolek hospital wing, claiming that naming Larry would be virtual nepotism. Peter, who has devoted considerable time and effort to helping Jenny get over Tim’s death with gentle, affectionate support, is happy at this suggestion, but Jenny points out Dorian is merely using him to hurt Larry. Viki disregards Dorian’s ingenuous assurances that she’s not trying to wield her new power but is merely putting Peter up for consideration for a future opportunity, if not this one, and tells her she won’t be able to fulfill her father’s desire that they be friends unless Dorian stops interfering. Larry, fully understanding Dorian’s personal motives, warns her he’s going to fight for the appointment no matter what. Realizing that she has made a tactical error, Dorian announces that she won’t even attend the board meeting but will give her proxy to Jim. She admits to Matt McAllister, still her confidant, that this was humiliating, but it was a necessary protective tactic. Dorian manages to win her next round at Joe’s office when, after he praises her decision to yield on appointing Peter, she expresses concern for Viki “at a time like this.” Joe, of course, jumps on her words, and Dorian, pretending great distress at having mentioned something she shouldn’t have, is “forced” to explain that she knew about the congenital heart condition Megan had and that any child of Joe’s is likely to inherit it. She overheard the doctors discussing it at the time of the accident, she continues, and naturally assumed that Joe already knew.  Joe arranges a meeting at home with Viki and asks her how she could live a lie like this; how she could go through their lives as if everything were fine while every moment was a lie. He is further upset when, in trying to explain that it was out of her love for him that she kept the truth from him, she mentions that Jim and Larry also know but Cathy still hasn’t been told. Viki tells Joe that Dorian deliberately told him this way to hurt their marriage, and she is very upset when he starts toward the door, pleading that they have always talked things out in the past. Joe coolly points out that she didn’t do that when she learned about Megan and continues out the door.  A tearful Viki is shaken and when Joe later returns, having spent several hours in a bar drinking only soft drinks,she breaks down, crying that she was convinced he’d left her. Joe assures her they can get through this despite everything, because their relation is based on love and mutual respect. 
    • If you think about it, DALLAS and DYNASTY grew stale right about the same time, even if the ratings were slow to reflect that.  FC and KL, on the other hand, tried to stay fresh, but KL was way more successful at it, I think, than FC.  (That [!@#$%^&*] with The Thirteen does not hold up well, lol).
    • GH 1976 Pt 8 Heather takes advantage of the situation by asking Jeff to come and look at Tommy. She uses sympathy, compassion, and her own feminine wiles, together with his misery and his pills, to lure him into bed. Later, sober, he apologizes. Learning from Pearson that Monica has seen a divorce lawyer, Jeff confronts her, and she insists it’s a lie. Avoiding his attempts to kiss her, she musses her hair and tears her blouse, then rushes to Rick’s, claiming that she can’t stay with that maniac any longer. They wind up in Rick’s bed, and after making love he confesses he always loved her. Rick replies to her question of whether he wants to marry her by saying he has to talk to Jeff. Monica insists that Jeff not bear any pressure from their problems. As she leaves, Rick gives her a key to his apartment. Jeff, having spent the night drinking, misses his surgical assignment, and Steve, informing him that his personal life can’t interfere with his profession, puts him on suspension. Rick can’t persuade Steve to reverse his decision, but Mark, sensing what’s at the heart of Jeff’s problem, convinces Steve to lift Jeff’s suspension and transfer him to Mark’s service. Rick asks for his key back, telling Monica they can’t do anything as long as she’s under Jeff’s roof. So she has a duplicate made and moves into intern’s quarters, explaining that Jeff’s violence drove her out. She tells Jeff she needs privacy to work things out, and tells Rick Jeff wanted her out. Thinking that this is the preliminary to a divorce, Rick tells her she can come to his place. In New York, Leslie’s abortion is delayed by a mix-up in scheduling, and she calls Terri to commiserate. Rick overhears Terri’s conversation and forces the whole story from her. He flies to New York to stop Leslie, feeling responsible for pointing out how evil Cam was, and arrives to find that she has decided she can’t deny her child the right to live. Monica, meanwhile, expecting that Rick will be home, uses her key to let herself into his apartment and is shocked to find Mark there; knowing that Mark was uncomfortable at the hotel, Rick offered Mark use of the apartment in his absence. Monica is upset to learn that Rick is in New York with Leslie, and Mark doesn’t know why. Mark does advise Monica to play fair with Jeff, but she resents his interference. The next day, while covering for Leslie at the clinic, Monica discovers Leslie’s lab test report and jumps to the conclusion that the baby is Rick’s. When Rick and Leslie return, Monica wastes no time in accusing him. He is dismayed to see that she is still as suspicious and possessive as she was before he went to Africa, and points out that her making a duplicate  key proves she hasn’t changed. Terri encourages Leslie to see Rick in a romantic light and then suggests to Rick that Leslie is interested in him. Rick likes this idea and tells Mark he’s growing ‘unwilling to cope with Monica’s unreasonable demands. But Monica immediately recognizes the threat Leslie represents and decides to attack. She goes to Leslie and tells her flatly that she and Rick are having an affair and he’s her exclusive property. Leslie, who realizes she has been falling in love with Rick, is hurt, and Rick is mystified when he feels Leslie pulling away from him. Monica’s big moment comes when she brings Rick a housewarming gift and seduces him into letting her stay overnight. She is in the bedroom when Leslie stops by to apologize for refusing his dates, and makes a dramatic entrance into the living room draped in Rick’s bathrobe. Leslie turns and runs out. Rick later informs her he’s disappointed in her, because she prejudged Monica and him rather than giving him the benefit of the doubt. Heather tries to arrange another tryst with Jeff, but he replies that he still loves his wife. Heather decides there’s only one way to get Jeff to be pregnant with his child. She manages to overhear Monica putting Jeff down by telling him he no longer turns her on and should look for someone he does. Heather goes to Jeff and tells him that she heard Monica and that she is the one he’s looking for. She manages to get him into bed again, and sweetly assures him this is right. She then sets the stage for future meetings. Steve, meanwhile, offers to help Monica and Jeff work out their problems. Jeff is willing, but Monica turns the idea down. Instead, she presses Terri to convince Jeff to end the marriage. Terri now knows that Monica isn’t a good wife for Jeff and promises to try. But Jeff makes it clear to Monica that he still loves her and won’t let her go. She is bitter and upset, as she has already implied to Rick that she will soon be free. Audrey is upset to find that Florence Andrews has been inquiring about Tommy and herself. She goes to Florence’s home and finds she’s away now. Florence has gone down to Mexico to sign a sworn statement that she purchased a false death certificate for Tom, to protect his son after his wrongful conviction. Tom, learning from her that Steve and Audrey are to be married and Steve is planning to adopt Tommy, tells  Florence not to do anything, as there’s still no assurance that he’ll ever get out. But the judge does accept the statement, and, ironically, on the day that Steve  and Audrey are married, Tom is released from prison.
    • 1976 Pt 12 Final part Laurie agrees with Stuart that Peggy is rushing into marriage to prove that the rape didn’t ruin her life.  She points out that the only way Peg can be sure is to make love with Jack before the wedding. Stuart admits she’s right but points out that he can’t suggest that to Peggy. As the wedding approaches, Peg seems happy that Jack’s become close to the family. However, her happiness is shattered by a nightmare in which her loving bridegroom turns into a leering Ron Becker, forcing her to cancel the wedding. Jack reassures her he’ll wait as long as it takes, and Chris confides that she and Snapper didn’t consummate their marriage on their wedding night because of her own rape experience, but Peggy tells Chris she might never be ready.  Despite her desire to keep Karen as her own daughter, Chris helps a police artist create a sketch of Nancy so it can be printed in the newspaper as part of a search for her. When the attempt proves fruitless, however, Chris asks Greg to file application for permanent custody of the child. Greg points out that adoption is the only way to prevent Ron from returning and claiming the child, and that it will take quite a while. Meanwhile, a nurse in the psychiatric ward sees a resemblance  between the newspaper drawing and her autistic patient, Mrs. Jackson, but since “Fran” doesn’t respond to the name Nancy and no one else sees the similarity, she fears she’s mistaken. Jill is horrified to overhear Kay, when brihging baby Phillip a Christmas gift, telling the child she remembers the night he was conceived. Kay has to then admit to Jill she saw her with Phillip in the bunkhouse that night. Jill is aghast to realize that Kay new the truth all along and put her through such agony in spite of it, denying her baby his father’s name. Lance tells Laurie they’ll marry on Valentine’s Day. He laughs that it’s corny but agrees, secretly wishing it were sooner, as Vanessa has vowed to prevent it. Indeed, Vanessa makes an unprecedented venture out of the house to visit Brad, telling him to rebuff any advance Leslie might make to him, as she’s reaching out to him only from a sense of duty. But Laurie then makes a concerted effort to reach Vanessa. Without being sure why she’s trying so hard, she tries to assure the woman she’s not losing Lance and she, Laurie, will help her find a plastic surgeon somewhere who can help her. Grudgingly, Vanessa seems to be reconsidering her view of Laurie, and Laurie is delighted when Lance offers her a choice between two diamond necklaces, explaining that her preference will be Vanessa’s Christmas gift. Learning from Les about Brad’s blindness, Stuart tells Brad he could have turned Leslie away only out of great love. Knowing that Les is going to see Brad again, Laurie warns him not to bring the baby into their discussion, as Leslie will come back only she’s convinced he loves her, not for the babies sake. Leslie finds Brad disheveled and sloppy, and proceeds to straighten the apartment, stating that she can't respect him if he lets himself go. Realizing that neither Brad nor Les will make the first move, Laurie hurries things along by refusing to help Brad with his grooming, saying he should ask his wife. Then, having learned  that Brad offered Les the use of their piano, Laurie untunes the Brooks' piano forcing Leslie to accept his offer. By refusing to cater to his  blindness, Les manages to get Brad to stop wallowing in pity, and by the time Leslie’s Christmas braille message of her love and her need for him arrives, they are husband and wife again Lance takes Laurie on a business trip on New Year's Eve, and tells her, on board his plane, she won't be  won't be able to call him “Mr. All Talk and No action” after tonight. When Laurie protests that waited this long and will continue to wait until married, Lance delights her by instructing his pilot to land in Las Vegas, where they are married immediately.
    • Yeah, not sure why Jack and Jen didn’t rush to Marlena - or even Carrie - to offer their condolences. A few flashbacks would've been a nice touch too. Instead, we got a whole episode of them talking about Chad and Abby? Come on. On the bright side, I loved Anna’s scenes with Marlena and Carrie - sweet and heartfelt, felt like a real 80s throwback.
    • Martin and Smitty were designed to avoid the stereotype of gay men sleeping around (which to an extent is true). If you recall Martin had a line about them not being open when Chelsea came to talk to him. The producers are walking a very fine line right now and it might not be popular to say but I can understand it. Establishing enough footing to ward off complaints will let them showcase gay characters more openly later.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy