Loving/The City Discussion Thread

[dc11786]

I received another batch and have jumping around from October 1992 and June 1993 so I've just watched Trisha's exit storyline. When I've read about it, I wasn't impressed, but, after seeing the storyline play out, I have to admit there were some really nice moments to all of it. 

 

In what I've seen, Noelle Beck is given little to do in her final months after carrying the show for most of the past two years (except for the times she has been on maternity leave). Seeing her in less heavy material, Beck is quite charming and has a nice rapport with the cast. I can see why Trisha was loved. Taggart does have Trisha resume her art position at the university and plays a B-story where Arthur, Trucker's geeky assistant at the bike shop, has a crush on her, but it isn't anything big. Her last days are a nice tribute to the couple. Trisha and Trucker spend the morning in bed together, they hang out with Shana and learn she is pregnant, they plan a trip to the cabin, and, in general, just seem to be in love. Things only start to become complicated when Trisha finds a picture of Buck Huston, her mysterious houseguest, and her newly returned brother Curtis Alden. Trisha questions Buck indirectly about it, and, when he isn't honest, she makes plans to confront Curtis. She stops at a pay phone to talk to Curtis, who is at the Forest Inn with Dinahlee, only to carjacked. 

 

I wonder how people would react today to what happens in the aftermath of Trisha's death. After the car explodes, a rather big focal point is the picture of Buck and Curtis burning. It's an important point as the picture is only proof of Buck and Curtis' connection, but I'm not sure how people would feel as we are suppose to believe in that moment Trisha has perished. 

 

The funeral is nicely done. It's a true event. There is a big reveal (Dinahlee realizes she has been seeing Curtis Alden) and almost everyone is there (including rarely used players like Armando and Dr. Ron Turner). The choice of song, Amazing Grace, seems to work well for Trucker's trajectory, but it's odd that they don't announce who the singer is, I believe its Roberta Flack. Anyway, looking over the Alden clan its hard to commit to their grief as so many of them have been around for under a year. 

 

During the funeral, they finally reveal that Trisha is alive and she slips off to another town where she is befriended by a kind woman, Margie, who takes her in. They build a nice little side story here with Margie believing Trisha is a battered wife and having a daughter who ran away. When Jeff Hartman arrives freshly released from Dunellyn, Margie tells him about Trucker beating Trisha and you can almost buy what they are doing. Trisha and Jeff dance to Bonnie Raitt's "I Can't Make You Love Me,"  a song "Loving" has used several times, and Trisha asks Jeff if he would need a secretary in Rome. It nicely sets up what should be Trisha's return, in love and happy with Jeff but then remembering Trucker and her son Christopher. I think the story requires a lot of leaps of logic, but if you accept them its kind of a nice exit. 

 

Overall, Millee Taggart and Robert Guza's run seems to be very strong after a year of chaos under Addie Walsh and Haidee Granger. Walsh, by the way, is credited as headwriter until January 1993. The Ava / Leo / Shana triangle is very strong. Under Guza and Taggart, Leo Burnell is more of egotistical, arrogant, and a bit of a chauvinist. Shana and Leo have a combative back and forth, while the push and pull between Shana and Leo brings out the worst in Ava, which is best for the audience. At times, there is too much humor in the storyline. Some of Shana's fantasies aren't my cup of tea and some of Ava's schemes seem like they were rejected by the writers of "I Love Lucy." Overall, it's a really nice story. Shana not wanting to love Leo, Leo torn between what both women offer him, and Ava not willing to let another man walk out of her life. 

 

While Ally's pregnancy may be nothing new, the way Guza and Taggart present the material seems different. In the transition period between Walsh and the new writers, all of the lying and deceit comes out. Ally tells Casey she is pregnant. Casey confronts Cooper, which leads to Hannah learning about the baby. Then Ally goes to visit Hannah only for Hannah to confront Ally. When Cooper arrives, Hannah calls off their engagement, while Casey turns around and says he's going to support Ally despite the hurt.

 

Most of this is strong, but there doesn't seem to be much effort put into giving Hannah much of a perspective. Gayheart was certainly green, as are so many first time soap actors, but more effort needed to be point into Hannah's point of view. In contrast, the other characters have been strengthened. As much as I hate Giff's death, it is clearly an event that defines who Casey is and guides him in nearly everything he does. Hannah arrived in Corinth from a small town very naïve. This should be her defining event, and, in a way, it is. Hannah hangs around the younger set a bit while longer, but then Guza and Taggart isolate her and have her lusting after Jeremy Hunter. The Hannah / Jeremy story is one of the weakest ones. Laura Sisk Wright has completely settled into the role of Ally and she has sort of gone with the tough girl with softer edges who doesn't want to play games anymore. The character has gone through such an evolution in the past year, but Taggart, who I believe introduced the character, seems to have given her the strongest sense of self. Ally's impending motherhood seems to be directly impacted by her parents' divorce. Cooper also has changed. While Ally embraces motherhood, Cooper completely rejects the idea of being a father. He starts drinking a bit, landing himself in jail for a DUI, and then puts on quite a show at Burnell's in the Arabian Nights window display. It is only after Trisha dies and Cooper has a moment of reflection with Clay that Cooper becomes more interested in fatherhood.

 

While it's not revolutionary, the Cooper / Ally / Casey triangle works because all of the characters have stakes and all of them seem to be operating based on their own individual experiences. Also, none of the trio are perfect. Cooper is easily manipulated by people like Clay and Stephanie Brewster and was pretty quick to abandon the baby before the change of heart. Ally is wishy washy at times about whether or not to accept Cooper's role in the baby's life, while Casey tends to be jealous of the connection that Ally and Cooper will always share because of the child. What's nice is the story is all about little moments like Coop showing up at the Lamaze class when Casey is already there as her partner and Ally worrying about how she is going to be able to pay her medical bills.

 

In the long run, Stephanie replaces Hannah, but, initially, she seems to replace Mia, an Alden University student who Cooper is fooling around with for a bit. Mia is first seen Jeremy Hunter's art class before she ends up hooking up with Cooper and is last seen breaking up the fight between Coop and Casey when Casey learns that Coop is the father of Ally's child. Mia has similarly dark features like Stephanie, but Stephanie certainly has more personality. From the moment she's introduced, Stephanie is a troublemaker; Casey catches her stealing a scarf at Burnell's. She is established as a long time Corinth resident, Isabelle has known her family for years, and she has been attending classes at AU with the rest of the younger set. She's a fun addition. 

 

Louie's prostate cancer story is probably the last nice thing done in the final days credited to Walsh. Probably my favorite scene from 1992 is Dinahlee talking to Louie at Pins the night before his surgery. She's worried about him, but he says guys aren't suppose to talk about these things with pretty young ladies. Louie is trying to reassure Dinahlee, but it's Dinahlee who has the best little moment. Dinahlee goes off on a little monologue about how she's never known her father who abandoned her when she was four years old. She talks about how she always imagined what he was like, and, now, she hopes that he would be like Louie. Under Guza and Taggart, Louie's impotence continues and there are some really nice moments between Louie and Kate. Louie avoids Kate when it's time to go to bed, first staying late at the bowling alley and then coming home to do a crossword puzzle. It's such a real conflict that you'd never see play out today with a couple at that age. When Kate is talking to Ava, Kate makes it clear that she and Louie have had an active sex life, which shocks Ava. I can see why it was well liked, and I wish it was featured a bit more. 

 

On the down side, nothing seems to really work about Curtis Alden. Patrick Johnson is given very little direction and struggles to find any depth in Curtis. The writing isn't helping. The show pushes Curtis / Dinahlee hard with the silly "Ronnie / Betty" story, which is mostly ridiculous but does lead to some nice tension for Clay and Ava individually as they realize that Curtis and Dinahlee are in love with the other before they do. The reveal of Dinahlee and Curtis' true identities after Trisha's funeral is a nice climax to the story and the possibility of a Clay / Curtis / Dinahlee triangle is intriguing, but no one has a sense of who Curtis is. It doesn't help that they've also saddled Curtis with some mysterious backstory involving Buck and their time in Kuwait. The show needed to really figure out who Curtis was. I feel like Taggart had similar issues with Curtis during her first stint. The other issue is the father/son dynamic between Clay / Curtis doesn't generate the interest that the Clay / Cooper relationship offers. After Cooper gets in trouble with Steffie for nearly having sex in a window display at Burnells', Clay offers to mentor Cooper in the art of being a calculated, vindictive Alden. Some of it is over the top as anything, but it's an intriguing proposition. 

 

I've only seen a little bit of Tess, and she works as a con artist/grifter type, but I cannot see how she could work long term.

[danfling]

Luke Perry (Ned Bates) has passed away at the age of 52.

[Historyfan]

 

[Historyfan]

 

Thanks for the recap of these episodes!

[chrisml]

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[dc11786]

I don't like Larkin Malloy's Clay, but, to be fair, it has more to do with the writing than Malloy's ability to act. When Malloy arrives on the scene in January, 1992, Clay is a failed Hollywood producer looking to reconnect with his family and redefine himself. Walsh and Ryder come on with the plans of playing with Clay's paternity, which is a bizarre decision based on the character's history. Clay already felt like an outsider due to the acceptance of Alex Masters as faux Clay. I don't know why there was a need to make Clay Tim Sullivan's son especially since they ended up killing off Tim Sullivan after a couple of months. 

 

My biggest issue with Malloy's Clay was he was written as a romantic lead, which didn't make much sense given the character's previous position. Clay and Dinahlee were appealing; Jessica Collins had chemistry with both Malloy and Parlato. I think the bigger issue is that the show needed a strong villain now that a lot of the show's previous heavies were either written out or tamed. With that said, Walsh and crew swing to far in the other direction with Clay once Parlato steps in. 

 

Parlato plays Clay for the back of the house, initially. I don't blame him. Clay gaslighting Stacey into marriage was a truly awful storyline that, in modern times, the character would have been raked over the coals for, deservingly. Within the span of two to three weeks, Taggart and Guza end the storyline and move on. Instead, Clay stays in the darkness, but is more menacing than criminal. The outline for Clay under Taggart and Guza works better, Clay fighting his own son for Dinahlee's love and taking Cooper under his wing. The problem is the show never develops Curtis in any meaningful way to interact with Clay.

 

Patrick Johnson's Curtis is a hero-type with only hints of a backstory sprinkled here and there. There's little depth given to his Curtis. Michael Lord fairs a little better once they decide that Curtis is more psychologically damaged by everything he has experienced. Curtis' descent under Michael Lord is more subtle than Richard Cox's Giff. This isn't a comment on Cox, who was super talented, but rather to how bad the writing was in 1992. 

 

Back to Parlato, I think this scene here shows how the character works at his best. Clay rejects love and acceptance because they are things he is completely unfamiliar with and, instead, he hurts the ones around him. These scenes are from the spring of 1994 during Ava's coma. If you watch the rest of the clip you will also see the returns of Carly and Sheri Rescott as well as Edie Falco as Ava's nurse. 

 

The Clay / Alex scene starts at the 43 minute mark.

 

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Edited March 31, 2019 by dc11786

[j swift]

I agree that Curtis was a woefully underdeveloped character.  He started out like his father Clay, a little spoiled, neglected, and jealous of Jack's ease with women.  Then, with each return, the character morphed into people depending on the story.  I guess in the end Gwenyth's descent into madness explained the genetic link to psychosis in both Curtis and Tricia.

 

I would also add that Carly never seemed like a reasonable threat to Ava's happiness.  Ava had been through a lot and grown as a character, then Carly comes to town and she regresses to her teenaged self.  However, I don't buy that Carly was that enticing to either Clay or Paul.  She wasn't as smart or clever as Ava and her only quality seemed to be her ability to reproduce.  The appeal of Dinahlee was obvious, but the attraction to Carly was a hard pass.

Edited April 1, 2019 by j swift

[dc11786]

Curtis seems to have potential during Christopher Marcantel’s first run. Like you said, spoiled heir who was threatened by his adopted cousin. I love some of the more sexual elements they explored with Curtis; he fell in love with LiIy’s alter, he was involved with the production of pornographic films, and he seduced Rita Mae while pretending to be Jack. think moving Curtis out of Jack’s orbit was a mistake. Pairing Curtis with Ava seems like an easy way to continue the Jack-Curtis rivalry especially since I don’t believe Johnny’s parentage had been revealed. It was Linden Ashby’s Curtis that married Ava and in the few scenes he appears in from around the time of his marriage to Ava he seems more than serviceable. 

 

With Burke Moses, we get a more romantic lead it seems. He falls for poor illiterate Lotty and has to deal with her con man husband Eban Japes. It might have been more appealing if Eban offered Curtis some seedy business opportunity and Lotty saw that other side. Or maybe just had Curtis pop in to Diane Winston’s bordello. Instead, the show pursues Rick Stewart as the bad Alden son. I think Rick and Lotty might have worked better with Gwynn meddling in that relationship. 

 

When Stan Albers arrives the character is shifted into a younger set of characters. None of the Curtis / Todd / Rocky nor the Curtis / Rio / Rocky material is overly compelling. Albers handles the comedy well, but his Curtis is more the brunt of the joke rather than a smart aleck. Albers is very good in Alden family scenes, but all the other romantic stuff seems super generic.

 

i don’t mind Michael Lord. I do think the source of the madness seems to be rooted in Curtis’ feelings of inferiority to Clay. The Clay / Curtis dynamic should be more compelling. In his own way, Clay was repeating history, in his own way, by undermining Curtis’ confidence. Gwynn seems to push Curtis out of town to save him, which is compelling. I do wish the show had invested more in that (Gwynn/Clay). Also, Curtis and Cooper could have been compelling as well if it was fleshed out more. Cooper was the type of golden boy that Curtis hated. As Cooper and clay grew closer, this could have been pursued further. 

 

I do wish that the show had kept Elise Neal’s Janie Sinclair around. I think her manipulating Curtis into marriage could have been a way to really connect the fractured canvas.

[slick jones]

 

THE CITY

NOVEMBER 13, 1995- MARCH 23, 1997

SOHO

 

 

Cooper Alden       Michael Weatherly   1995

Deborah ____ Brewster  Alden    Nancy Addison Altman   1995

Tyler    Alden      Michael Deutchman   1995-96

                           Zach Wroblowsky     1996

                           Casey Gunther         1996-97

Dr. Arnold      James Murtaugh 

Dr. Bakers      Jack Ryland         

Pat ____ Baxter   Lee Chamberlain   1996

Ally Rescott Alden  Bowman     Laura Wright    1995-97

                           DeLaine Yates  1996 (Temporary)

Steffy Brewster   Amelia Heinle   1995-96

Jocelyn Roberts Brown    Lisa LoCicero    1995-97

Larry Brown       Larry Brown

Dr. Burke      Joanne Camp - Sobel    

Marty Burns      David Margolis    1996

Officer Cappelini     Barry Sigismondi     1996

Bernardo Castro     Philip Anthony-Rodriguez   1995-96

Michael "Mike"  Chamberlain    Michael James Reed    1996

Azure C. (Chang)     Carlotta Chang    1995-96    transgender character

______    Chang    Paul Young    1996   Azure's brother

Resident Chang       Jonathon Sam     1995-97

Jared Chase    Joel Fabiani    1996  

Sydney (Dottie Simpkins) Chase  Morgan Fairchild   1995-96

Malcolm Christopher      Geoffrey Whyte    1995

                                       Grainger Hines     1995-96

Beth ____ Dixon           Elizabeth Whyte      1996

Detective Lucy Dolan     Kristina Lear     1996; 1997

Father Luke Fletcher      Richard Holmes     1996

Dr. Angela "Angie" Baxter Hubbard Harrison Foster     Debbi Morgan   1995-97

Jacob Foster     Darnell Williams     1995-97

John Garcia     Fernando Lopez       1996

Dr. Geren       Stan Egi       1996

Guido Giordano      Emanuele Secchi       1997

Rico Giordano      Joseph Ragno

Murray Golden    John Doman     1996

Andrew Gross    Ron Parady      1996

Mrs. Hansen    Laury Marker    

Mr. Hansen     Tucker Smith 

Loren Harris      Apryl Foster

Darryl Hassey      Murphy Guyer      1996

Lorraine Hawkins    Maggie Rush   1996-97

Bobby Heckler     Alex Kilgore     1996

Dr. Hollis      Frances DuMaurier   1996

Liam Hopkins    Ted Pejovich    1996

Dillon Hornsby     P.J. Aliseo     1996-97

Frankie "Rajhib" Hubbard     Alimi Ballard    1995-96

Lyndon "Buck" Huston    Philip Brown    1995-97

Tess Wilder Partou Huston    Catherine Hickland

Melanie Jackson     Kathleen Sisk    1996

Kayla Jones    Erica Mer    1996-97

James Kenyon     Monti Sharp      1996

Tommy Kessel     Paul Lazar

Samuel King   Henry Doughlas Berrings   1995-96

Mr. Kingsley     Paul Schaeffer   

Kevin Larkin      Mark Deakins     1996

Robin Leach  Robin Leach      1996

Nurse MacPherson     Lisa McMillan     1996

Molly Malone   (real name Sandra Carlson)   Melissa Dye   1995-96   (Music Box Killer)

Trudy ____ Malone    Beth Dixon     1996

Dr. Marino      Jan Munro     1997

Vicky Mason    Ginger Tipton     1996

Alex Masters    Randolph Mantooth    1995-97

Marilyn McCoo    Marilyn McCoo    

Jackson Montgomery    Walt Willey     1996

Dr. Constance___ Peterson      Courtney Simon    1996

District Attorney Pierce     Ken LaRon     1996

Sarah Reynolds     Judith Blazer    

Nick Rivers     Roscoe Born     1995-97    

Zoey   Rivers   Joni Allen     1995-96

Danny Roberts    Ted King     1995-97

Joanna ____  Roberts      Kit Flanagan    1995-96

Lou Roberts        Robert Trumbull    1995-96

Detective Ruiz     Len Carter     1996; 1997

Mrs. Schaeller       Sonia Stewart

Judy Silver    Judy Gold     1995-96    

Agent Andre Smith       Andre Ware     1996

Carla Soleito Soleito    Amy Van Horne     1996-97

Carmine Soleito     Michael Della Famina    1997

Connie Soleito     Jennifer Esposito    1996

Donna Soleito     Monica Trombetta   1996

Gino Soleito     Al Martino     1996

                          Joe Sirola     1996-97

Joe Soleito        Frank Pellegrino     1996

Joe Soleito, Jr.  James Sioutis  1995-97

Maria ___    Soleito     Suzanne Costallos     1996

Detective Tony Soleito     George Palermo     1995-97

Tracy Angelica Quartermane Ashton Williams Hornsby Soleito   Jane Elliott     1996-97

John Starks       John Starks   

Taylor Stone     Josh Collmer    

Officer Waters   Jarrett Wright    1997

Richard Wilkins     Corey Page    1995-96

Rebecca Wooden    Deanna Jacubczak      1996

Val Zeller       Catherine Campbell

 

 

 

Bruno     Jarrod Bunch        1996

Catherine      Sarah Wynter    1996    +Richard W

Dee             Didi Conn    1996-97    Tracy's spyE\

Dorothy          Echo Allen     1997

Eric       John Healy       1996-97     bartender

George          Richard Holmes    1995

Jason     Tommy Tune       1996     producer

Leonard       Jacinto Riddick    1995-96      chauffeur

Lou          Drew Falcone     1996

Marge      Virginia Graham   1997   Lila Quartermnaine in Tracy's play

Maria     Gloria  Cromwell    1996    outspoken maid

Mark      Kelly AuCoin        1996\

Mark       Bryan D'Arcy James    Ned Ashton in play

Natasha     Diedre Quinn

Pamela       Melinda   Mullins     1997

Raymond    Robert Blackburn    1997    Edward Quartermaine in play

Roger     Ricardo   Cordero    1995

Ron     Ron Galotti          publsher    

Ryan     Dylan Scott    

Tommy    Michael Ryan Segal     1997

Vito     Anthony J. Rubistello     1996-97

 

 

 

Bartender      Donna Murphy     1995

Bartender      Len Carter            1995

Bellhop          David Carlson

Cab Driver     Robert Catrini       1996

Chess Player  Tom Morrissey     1995

Cop                Eileen Galindo

Flower Guy    John Reidy

Hotel Desk Clerk  Jack Aaron

Hotline           Tracy Mitchell

Judge             Paul Vincent    

Mobster's Wife   Mindy Mann

Mover            Marshall   "Dancing Elk" Lucas    1996

Murder Suspect    Ralph A Vallani

Nurse           Elizabeth Van Dyke  

                     Alana Campbell   

Photographer     John Scurti   

Police Officer     Michael Teneglia      1996

Secretary     Jami Simon       1996

Stage Manager (Richard) Brendan Higgins    1995-96

Surgeon        Tim Maloney      1996

Waitress     Tara Lynn Orr   1996

 

 

 

 

???   Delores Mitchell

 ???   Victor Warren

 

 

 

Anyone with more info, please feel free to let me know.

[Faulkner]

PAS did Cyrano on Broadway while he was on Loving. He posted this photo circa 1993 on his IG. Dude was hot.

 

 

[AdelaideCate007]

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[victoria foxton]

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[AdelaideCate007]

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[DRW50]

Such lovely photos.

[AdelaideCate007]

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