Loving/The City Discussion Thread

[DRW50]

July 15, 1986 Digest.

[DRW50]

June 3 1986

June 16 1986

[DRW50]

From the November/December 1991 Episodes.

[Paul Raven]

What a treat! Fran Sears has always been a bit of a mystery.She certainly seemed upbeat and enthusiastic. The storyline with paralyzed Paul broke new ground in that it tried to explore the issue,rather than just being a plot device.

I wonder what happened ,as Sears stint wasn't long lived. Maybe she couldn't handle the pressure.I t would be interesting for someone like her to give an insight on how things went wrong.

[DRW50]

I'm glad it was something you enjoyed. I don't know very much about her either. I guess Loving ground people down. Did she create any big stories or characters? I guess it's probably discussed in previous pages.

I like how she talks about the appeal of soaps, and mentions her grandmother.

Was this when Christine Tudor had returned?

[Paul Raven]

I'd have to check to match up Sear's tenure with storylines.

Haidee Grainger was the other producer who appeared out of nowhere and was short lived.

[Khan]

The network always had such ridiculous expectations for LOVING. They wanted it to be the next AMC or OLTL, but they never realized that it took time for AMC and OLTL to become the monster hits that they were.

[DRW50]

October 20, 1987 recap

[DRW50]

November 17, 1987 recap.

[Cheap21]

Peter Davies...what a hot priest

[DRW50]

Yes he is!

September 8, 1987 Digest.

[Sedrick]

I remember distinctly that the tenure of Fran Sears was greeted with positive praise from both the soap press and many fans. Sears helped to bring a tighter focus and personality to the show. It was under under Sears that the show suddenly blossomed into a highly entertaining and downright hilarious daily must-see. The antics of Gwyn and Norma as partners in crime were LOL funny, as well as Ava's battle with Shana for the affections of Leo Burnell had me falling out laughing every day. It seemed as if finally LOVING was about to gain real momentum as buzz began to build, but just as soon as it did, Sears was dismissed. Haidee Granger took over and instantly gutted the structure Sears had set up, and the crackling humor that had set the show apart and gained positive raves was gone overnight.

[dc11786]

I find the 1987 synopses so bizarre. The April storyline has never impressed me. I feel like it was a retelling of the Dolly Jones storyline with younger characters who had absolutely no connection to the canvas. I think it would have been a better idea to make them all college students and tie the stories to the university campus. This could have amplified the fight between Shana and Jim if Cabot Alden was giving Dave Hindman fancy cars in order to keep him on the football team.

I think the Alan Howard story should have played out onscreen. It might have been a bit dark, but I think if we actually saw his rich family and tied them to the Aldens maybe the story would have had more roots.

Carl asked if there were plans for Cecilia. At one point, it seems to be suggested Cece would hook up with Tony, Ava’s former flame. Tony was a doctor so he could have been tied back into the Clay Alden story with all the paternity tests that would have needed to be done. Tony’s renewed status as a doctor may have made him attracted to Ava again, which would have left Cece free to pursue Ava’s beau Clay. Imagine the fireworks between Cece / Trisha if Trisha had to call Cece ‘Mommy.’ Instead, it seems like they flirted with Cece / Rick, which would also seem to have some roots.

Zach / Lorna’s story seemed weak and I would like to have seen Linc / Lorna explored more. I’m just not sure where the show could have taken them with all the changes in direction.

In general, I’m finding the 1985-1987 period very hard to read as it tends to be very disjointed with no clear direction, characters coming and going, and rather run of the mill story telling. I do find it interesting reading about prominent characters like Marty, Dolly, Tony, Judd, Kristen Larsen and others who most of the soap books skip over, but I can see why. I find it very hard to believe the show gained viewers during this period. Maybe the day to day execution was stronger than the long term storytelling.

Sears was there under a year. She left in the spring of 1992. She and Addie Walsh were behind the college push which led to the introduction of Hannah, Staige, Kent, Cooper, and Casey. It was Haidee Granger though who handled most of their stories during the summer of 1992 as EP and interim head-writer.

Granger was there when the Leo / Shana romance played out. Leo was introduced during the summer of 1992 by Granger. I suspect Addie Walsh’s original plans were for the Leo character to be Curtis Alden. Also, Jacqueline Babbin was EP when Norma and Gwyn were going at it. Babbin was big on reshaping the show through the use of minor characters. Norma had been introduced during Heather’s kidnapping and stuck around with her romance with Wally and became frienemies with Gwyn.

[DRW50]

Sedrick, dc, was Elizabeth Savage playing Gwyn at the time of the story with Norma? How long was Ilene Kristen around exactly? Was her character very different than Delia (or Roxy)?

Why exactly would they have two characters named Rick in a two year period? Trisha dates/uses Rick as a beard, then a few years later another man named Rick shows up and befriends her and is her long lost brother.

Is it me or is the Dolly story repulsive and way too much for a daytime soap? Dolly essentially is raped repeatedly because she needs to find her child who is being sexually exploited? That's just awful.

I wonder if Marland gave the alcoholism story to Ann that he initially had going with Lily Slater's mother.

Do you know what happened to Jenny after she helped make sure Cabot was acquitted of Nick's murder? I assume they found out at some point that she was the killer.

So how long exactly was Kelly around after Zack and Lorna left? Did they have story plans for Kelly that they never followed up on, or were they just waiting until her contractual cycle was up?

I like your idea about Tony/Cec. I'm not sure why they wrote Tony out, unless the actor wanted to leave. He'd been there for 2-3 years by that point and could have been a B-leading man, especially with all the trouble finding a Curtis.

I find Stacey annoying in some of these recaps, especially around the time of the custody battle.

Is anyone else surprised at how long the custody battle went on even when Tug and Sherrie came to town to claim their son? Usually a show would just give the baby back to them and they'd go. Did they ever get their son or was this the JJ that Stacey raised until her death?

dc, I wanted to apologize for not posting these in the right order. That may be a reason why they seem so disjointed. I have them all over the place and I just post them when I find them and hope people can patch the dates together.

Edited May 7, 2011 by CarlD2

[DRW50]

August 25, 1987 Digest.