Loving/The City Discussion Thread

[Forever8]

The one with Ned and Lois moving to Brooklyn? I think it was called Heart and Soul. Wasn't that the same one with a family of actors and a black family of musicians? 

[BetterForgotten]

Labine had also created a version without a GH connection called Union Place, which was pitched to NBC, but they opted for Sunset Beach instead. 

[victoria foxton]

It's bittersweet watching the epilogue of the Loving Murders. And the wrap up of the series. The City had great aesthetics. But the stories were lackluster. Sydney Chase was an unlikable cold fish. Not the type of character to anchor the series. The City does improve towards the end. With the arrival of Queen bitch Tracy Q. 

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Edited April 19, 2020 by victoria foxton

[BetterForgotten]

And Jane Elliott herself was a producer on Loving during its last years! 

 

I would have sent Debi and Darnell back to AMC the first chance I got, but then again, maybe it's a good thing they weren't there for McTavish's second stint...

[Khan]

I wonder what would have happened if, instead of sending Jane Elliot over to TC, they had sent Susan Lucci?

 

 

At the very least, they could have sent them over to OLTL after TC had been cancelled.

Edited April 19, 2020 by Khan

[John]

I was shocked Debbi Joined PC as Ellen Burgess

After watching The Loving Murders again, I have to stick with my idea that  Elizabeth Savage could not have pulled this story off if she were still Gwyn

[KMan101]

It's bizarre watching Heinle because she actually has personality and life to her. Just saying.

[OzFrog]

Watching through the first few episodes of The City, never having watched it previously...

 

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[DRW50]

 

We wouldn't have gotten the baby stealing story (which was more suited to The City anyway, probably...), so that would have been something. That period feels like a lack of ideas on what to do with Erica. 

 

 

Debbi still wanted to play a character who was unsympathetic. I remember a letter in SPW taking her to task for wanting to play a bitch, and how that had already been done with Dominique on Dynasty, etc. but I can see why she tired of the heroine role. Of course Ellen was never that unsympathetic, so if those were plans they changed early on. 

 

 

Heinle was wonderful as Steffi, which is the only reason I had as much goodwill as I did for the rest of her lackluster soap career. I've heard people say she has finally improved as Victoria in recent years - I wouldn't know as I don't watch it. 

[NothinButAttitude]

Is it just me or does Sydney's penthouse somewhat has features from the Alden's manor in it?

[Khan]

 

Exactly.  Erica was in a bit of a rut by the time LOVING had morphed into THE CITY -- and I say that as someone who has worshipped at La Kane's stiletto-heeled feet his entire life.  Moving her from AMC's Pine Valley to TC's SoHo might have been just the thing, both for Erica, and for TC itself.  PLUS, I happen to think she and Buck would have been FIRE as a couple. 

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Sigh.  If only Agnes Nixon had thought of it, I'm sure Susan Lucci would have graciously agreed to join TC (while still making occasional appearances on AMC, of course) as a favor to her.

Edited April 20, 2020 by Khan

[DRW50]

 

It wouldn't have been a world away from the year or two that Erica lived in NYC in the early '80s. The more I think about it the more disappointed I am. 

[Khan]

 

No, it wouldn't have been.  But, this time around, they could have had Erica return to NYC in order to -- oh, I don't know -- assume the reins of a high-powered modeling agency, or something.  You know, just so it wouldn't feel like a rehash from her last residency in Manhattan.

[BetterForgotten]

Well, it's been rumored for years that the cast treated poor Morgan Fairchild horribly and were terribly jealous of the special amenities allotted to her in her contract. They would have never gotten away with that sh!t with an ABC Daytime superstar like Lucci.

[Khan]

 

At the very least, I think bringing Susan/Erica over to TC, with her built-in, loyal audience, might have helped TC buy more time to establish itself as a viable show.  As it is, they tried to launch TC with Morgan Fairchild, who (no offense to Morgan or to anyone else) hasn't been relevant since the mid-'80's.

 

 

True.  Plus, by most accounts, Lucci is wonderful to work with.  Unless Sarah Michelle Gellar and Lee Godart had joined the cast, I think TC's cast would have had a much easier working relationship with her than they did with Morgan Fairchild (who I adore but, let's be honest, has never had a series or role that ran for very long).

Edited April 20, 2020 by Khan