Loving/The City Discussion Thread

[slick jones]

He saw them at Myrtle's and followed them to Corinth. I don't remember too much more from there.

 

[Sapounopera]

 

I think that Stacey was created by Douglas Marland as a new version of Hilary Bauer and it worked for her. I never bought her as a leading lady.

 

Watching all these clips and to this day I cannot accept Lisa Peluso as Ava. Roya gave life to that little show.

Edited March 1, 2017 by Elsa

[NothinButAttitude]

Thanks @DRW50 & @slick jones for giving some insight on that story. I (too) wish that someone would post episodes from that arc up now too. I'm interested to see what it was about and how it played out.

[DRW50]

 

Me too. I am more interested in '80s Loving than the later years, but I'd still like to see it, and see more of what the Dinah Lee hype was about.

[dc11786]

Dinah Lee traveled to Pine Valley in September/October 1992. Earlier in 1992, Dinah Lee had been involved with Clay Alden, but he learned his father was the hired hand and not Cabot Alden so he skipped town. When Clay did return in the fall, he wanted nothing to do with her. Dinah Lee went on a downward spiral. She received a letter saying she had previously slept with someone who has an STD, got drunk and naked at the opening of the Maple Street complex (the home of the ghost story), and pretty much bottomed out. I think she left Corinth to settle down and stay at Myrtle's, where she ran into Carter Jones, an old friend.

 

In Corinth, Carter meet up with Ally Rescott, another beautiful blonde, and agreed to take her to the dance being held at AU. Trevor chased Carter down, but ended up pulling over Shana along the way. They bantered about being happy they weren't married to the other. I believe Ally was kidnapped by Carter (was she also held captive in the belfry?) and possibly saved by Casey. I believe Jeremy Hunter also came to help on the case and was then offered a position at AU. The previous year, Jeremy and Ceara had visited Kate at the boarding house and became involved with Matt, the young man Ally was dating who was accused of rape.

 

In 1993, when Dinah Lee married Curtis, I believe Myrtle showed up for the wedding.

[DRW50]

Thanks! Myrtle should have told Dinah Lee to run for it...

[NothinButAttitude]

 

So this story was used to transition Ceara and Jeremy over to Loving too? 

[juniorz1]

I watched part of the 1989 episode because it had redhead Gwyn (her real name escapes me) who I always thought was a solid recast.  And I have been all over the new SB eps because they're posting them in full.  For SB, what I most want to see is summer 1990, when Lionel "died" but actually returned and they held his funeral in the Capwell mansion.

 

For Loving, what I really want to see posted is 87-88, the Lily/Jack/Stacey triangle, Cecelia/Steve/Trisha up to Steve's death, Luke Perry's Ned and the blonde girl who tried to take him from milquetoast April, and everything that was Clay (Alex) and Ava's torrid affair and every scene Roya shared with Nada Rowland.  For my money, that was the peak of my Loving viewing.  

 

Ok, ok, and the initial Trucker/Dinahlee affair would be pretty sweet too.  Robert Tyler was the original Mark Collier for juniorz!  LOL

ETA- Oh and those Shana/Dane Hammond scenes I watched and they were pretty tense.  Loving never aired in St. Louis and I believe I was living there when that storyline started and only watched when I was home in Niagara Falls for the summer.

 From your lips to God's ears!  As I've said previously, I only came to accept Lisa because my Grandmother had such an affection for her from her days on Search as Wendy..  However, in order for me to ever get into her, I had to just decide in my mind that Lisa's Ava was a completely different character from Roya's Ava, a la Clay/Alex.   I literally set my mind to that and that was the only way I could enjoy her performances.

 

If Marland conceived Stacey as a character derivative of a someone he wrote on a previous show, then Lauren Marie was never given the memo.  See, what I loved about 87-88 is every character on the canvas had purpose.  Steve, Cece, Trisha, Ann, Harry, Cabot, Isabelle, Jack, Lily, Ava, Clay/Alex, Rick, Mrs. Rescott (why is Nada Rowland's character name not coming to mind?!?), Shana, Jim, Ned, Blonde Slut, Even April.

 

The only character who I felt had no purpose was Stacey.  I believe it's because we were supposed to sympathize with her but the way Lauren Marie played her, all you could do was pity her.

[DRW50]

 

I'll request those SB clips and see if the person can upload them.

 

Not sure if you saw this but this episode is one where Roya was back as Ava. Elizabeth Savage is also in it.

 

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[SFK]

This opening was rather short-lived and similar to OLTL's Gottlieb champagne opening.  I loved the Johnny Mathis but they saved the best for last with the Jeffrey Osbourne.

I was working at Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park a few months ago, and Nada Rowand's headshot hung on the wall of a local pub, Blind Lemon.  I took a photo but apparently the file is too large to post.

[juniorz1]

 

I'm not sure which story you're inquiring about but I could tell you what the Dinahlee hype was for me- she was the firecracker that set Loving off when she came on the scene.   I believe initially, she was hired as a nanny for JJ, Jack & Stacey's son.  This was when Christopher Cass took over as Jack.  She had an affair with Jack that was reminiscent of the Jack/Lily affair, in that Jack had some spark with her.  The only time Christopher Cass came alive in his entire run is when he shared scenes with Jessica Collins.

 

The producers and writers saw what they had very quickly and shifted her over to the vets- aka James Horan's Clay and the newly returned Christine Tudor's Gwen.  Smart, crafty move.  Those 3 actors had off the charts chemistry!  James Horan was a FAR better actor than Christopher Cass (he was the definitive and best Clay IMO) and throwing Dinahlee into his orbit was genius!  Collins only grew as an actress working with pros like Horan and Tudor- she got as good as she gave, which can not be said for her scenes with Lauren Marie Taylor and Cass.  

 

 

By the time they got her over to Trucker, she was legit the ONLY character I and the audience would accept with him after Trisha.   To put a fire-cracker (I keep saying it but it's true) like her with the laid back Robert Tyler in order to redeem her is one of those cases of the clouds parting and the gates of Soap Heaven opening.  IMO she had more chemistry with him than  even Beck did.  

 

People complain that Tyler was wooden but not with Collins.  There was an intensity about him that made it compelling to watch.   It was almost akin to watching a snake slither up a stiff tree and the tree doing everything in its power not to shift even slightly.  They were magnetic.  Chemistry like that is rare and when the lightning strikes, it's fire.   

 

To me, the final death blow for Loving was Collins and Tyler leaving.

Edited March 6, 2017 by juniorz1

[DRW50]

Thanks for the rundown. It makes sense. I guess the show was lacking a bit of spark at the time she came in? 

 

I didn't know she was there when James Horan was. I never remember when he left (was he fired or did he want to go?). Some of those episodes that appeared on in the last few months made me appreciate his acting more than I had before, especially when he had those difficult scenes with Alex about their past. I liked Dennis Parlato too but his Clay seems more one-dimensional. I've never seen Larkin's.

[juniorz1]

 

Ava had settled down some and was married to Clay.  I forgot that this was her initial story with Peluso, bitter rivals as she seduced Clay away from her.

 

I believe that Horan was let go and Malloy was brought on as Clay during the AMC Jeremy/Ceara invasion.  Malloy didn't have the same spark with Collins and he didn't have that devilish look about him that Horan had which captured Clay's villainous nature.  Parlato was far better than Larkin, but never as good as Horan.  Yes Parlato was one-dimensional, but at least it was the correct dimension.  Malloy's voice and inflections was too kind and never curt- henceforth, never Clay.

 

The show needed a vixen at the time and Collins with her sultry lips, sparkling eyes, and natural talent provided it.   Starting her off with Stacey and Jack worked bc, if most viewers were like me, it was easy to root against Stacey.   Giving her those 3 storylines back to back to back just clicked at a time where not very much was clicking on the show (this was the time of Rocky & Rio, Shana's 1st departure, and much being lost from the 80s version of the series).

[DRW50]

So you weren't much of a fan of Rocky and Rio?

[juniorz1]

No.  I liked her better with Curtis.

 

And I was no fan of Jeremy either.  Not on AMC or Loving.

 

As I said, there wasn't much to cling to on Loving at the time.  Dinahlee came on and it was gasoline on a match.

 

I believe that Carly Rescott was also during this period of time, another character I never got into.

Edited March 6, 2017 by juniorz1