Loving/The City Discussion Thread

[DRW50]

Thanks for finding that partial episode.

What was going on with Ava and that starter's pistol? I never saw Ava as the gun-toting type.

What a bod on Jack.

Mike seems somewhat cold and unlikeable to me. Was he always that way?

The Harry/Gwyn scenes are very good. Gwyn seems to have a lot of fire here.

I always forget that Dolly didn't die.

[DRW50]

sorry

Edited September 3, 2013 by DRW50

[DRW50]

sorry

Edited September 3, 2013 by DRW50

[Gray Bunny]

What year is this from? If it's from the mid-80's, I'm surprised there's only 1 original castmember left when it only debuted in '83.

I always thought Loving's biggest problem was the title of the series itself. So uninspired and dull.

[DRW50]

October 8, 1985 Digest.

[EricMontreal22]

Gray Bunny, while I love Loving, that fan written piece kinda makes me laugh. That would have been early 92 I believe when Fran Sears very briefly revamped the show.

The show did have a ton of recasts of core characters like the Aldens (some including original actors coming back for the end of their character's run like Curtis, I believe.) So it's true she was the original cast member left (till the Murders where they killed her partly to show anyone could die) but a number of *characters* were there. That said the show was largely retooled--first as early as after Marland left a year in (which is around when Ava came on.) Noelle Beck as Trish would leave shortly after he article but had been there a long time, etc.

Carl, another thought about Levinson as HW after Marland--Wiki of course doesn't mention him, but he does seem to be one of the few people from Marland's original writing team (as shown in the Feb 1984 episode online) who remained. If Agnes Nixon did step in largely as HW as most assume she did (myself included) maybe they didn't want to credit her and promoted him up.

[dc11786]

Levinson was a writer on "General Hospital." I think he was the headwriter before Labine arrived in the 1990s. Later, he was on the writing staff for "The City."

Looking at the credits of the episodes saynotoursoap has posted of "Loving" from 1987, it would seem Ralph Ellis was also listed at the top. I believe Ellis is credited as headwriter in Schemering's book, but Levinson wasn't. It would appear that Levinson took over from Marland in 1985 and was gone by January 1987.

Not sure what is going on with Ava and the gun. I really think the show began to fall apart again around this time. A lot of this stuff doesn't really go anywhere all that interesting, which is a shame because Ava / Curtis / Stacey / Jack should have played out for years. Really, Heather should have been Curtis' daughter and Curtis should have been involved in Lily's return in the late 1980s. Eventually, the quad should have been usurped by Cooper / Ally / Casey / Steffy.

Mike was the Vietnam vet. I think he was emotionally distant and had trouble connecting with everyone, including the ones he loved.

Your timing on that October 1985 summary is perfect. Your summary would probably be late August/early September, which places the partial episode in August 1985. Marland would have been gone about two months.

Marland stayed two years and there was tons of turnover even when he was there. The show dumped two of the main plots rather abruptly. The LIly story was quickly wrapped up in January 1984 with the younger set switching things up a bit. Stacey / Tony / Lorna had a brief run before the show settled into Stacey / Jack / Ava. Similarly, the Doug / Merrill / Roger story was wrapped up rather quickly in the spring of 1984. Merrill left for D.C. in March, Roger died in April. By May, Doug had married newcomer Edy Lester and was involved in the first round of the Jonathan Maitlane story.

Around December, you have another casting purge. Jonathan and Edy are killed off. Doug leaves town. Rita Mae catches Billy in bed with a co-ed and Billy takes a coaching job in the South in January 1985. In return, Gwyneth and Trisha return to Corinth for Christmas and Steve Sowolsky also pops up. Really, the show rarely had a stable cast.

I have a book from 1984 where some cast member states they had nicknamed the soap "Leaving" because no one stayed long in the beginning. It featured a picture of W.T. Martin and Marilyn McIntyre, who were the latest to depart the soap at the time of the publication.

[DRW50]

That's from 1992, I think. Early 1992.

[EricMontreal22]

Yes that would make sense withthe writer and EP listed--and they had a brief run (with that stylized opening.)

[DRW50]

[DRW50]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8BVojj5MuhE

[EricMontreal22]

Aww I loved Carla! I'm surprised the actress never ended up on another soap. Tony was such a drip, though...

[DRW50]

1986 promo. This is a terrific promo - one of the best I can remember for Loving for most of their run.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HOfWELDEBm4

[juniorz1]

I couldn't stand Colleen Dion's Cecelia (or Cece as they called her). In fact, I can't think of a Colleen Dion character I've ever liked and she's been on countless soaps that I watched- B&B, AW, AMC, et all

[EricMontreal22]

Wha? You didn't enjoy the brilliant Leslie Coulson on AMC?