Loving/The City Discussion Thread

[FrenchFan]

Thanks a lot !

[slick jones]

Thanks @DRW50

[soapfan770]

Thanks @DRW50 for the tag!

Appreciate seeing early Alex/Clay with Roya’s Ava here.

[j swift]

What were the circumstances that led to a live broadcast (or does the YT title suggest that the episode is intact as it was first shown on TV)?

I hope those the same demons who struck SFT forcing them to go live didn't make their way over to Corinth.

Edited May 4, 2023 by j swift

[DRW50]

That's what it means.

[Sapounopera]

Thank you so much @DRW50. Loving was a different show every year. They wasted Susan Keith who was amazing as AW's Cecile in mostly boring storylines. Roya was fire as Ava! 

[j swift]

I just read the excellent recap of August 1989, and I couldn't help but feel that Millee Taggart & Tom King sacrificed Alex to prop up their creation of Clay. 

First of all, what is Alex doing in a Tempest vs. Amourelle business story?  When he was first introduced, it was established that he wasn't very good at management, which was one of the signs that he was pretending to be Clay.  So, why is he still in a business rivalry story two years later?

Second, the writers contrast Alex as a paragon of virtue against Clay as morally ambiguous to explain Ava's attraction to Clay.  Kate is defending Alex, the police allow him to kidnap his child, and he is trying to expose Clay.  But Alex is the more morally ambiguous guy.  Clay is just butt hurt that his family liked his imposter better than him.  Meanwhile, Alex is an international spy willing to abandon his wife to hoodwink a wealthy family and manipulate their generosity. 

The contrast between Clay and Alex is an inspired and groundbreaking approach to a soap story.  But Clay goes down in history as a character who changed his motives and intentions with every re-write and recast.  Meanwhile, the character of Alex is poorly developed from a man of mystery to the most boring of all soap jobs; chief of police.  I will never understand why Port Charles, Salem, and Corinth citizens were willing to employ ex-spies who were once suspected of treason as the head of their law enforcement agencies.

 

Edited May 11, 2023 by j swift

[Khan]

I agree.  I also agree with @DRW50 and @Vee that Jean LeClerc and Jeremy Hunter felt shoehorned into the show.  Of course, the fact that I was a lifelong AMC fan might color my judgment, lol, but I've never been fond of ABCD's habit of cross-pollinating characters between shows.  I think the only time it ever worked for me was when Gerald Anthony took his OLTL character, Marco Dane, to GH; and that's because I thought he played very well off Jane Elliot.  GH could have brought him on as a new character and still have him as a foil to Tracy and it would have been just fine.

[Joseph]

https://soaps.sheknows.com/soaps/news/599090/soap-opera-star-death-anniversary-tribute-roya-megnot-loving-ava-rescott/

Article Remembering The Late Lovely Roya Megnot

[Jermsie]

I had read once before that Harding Lemay was hired as a consultant for the 4 ABC serials.  His main gripe about The City was the fact that it didn't have families, like the general mother/children/father.  But I believe it did have families, but it was more of a "we are family" kinda creation.

[Franko]

Let it be noted that Geoffrey C. Ewing likely appeared in all 23 episodes of Loving that aired in May 1995. @Kane's site doesn't have a recap for May 18, but we can make an educated guess that Ewing appeared that day. Also, Ewing, Debbi Morgan and Darnell Williams will end the month as the three actors with the most appearances. And assuming that she appeared in the May 18 episode, Debbi was in 23 straight episodes from April 20-May 22.

[Kane]

I have mixed feelings about Brown & Esensten, but one of the positive things about their regime is that they actually wrote for and prioritized the black cast members. I won't be at all surprised if it turns out that Alimi Ballard had more episodes in 1995 than in 1993 and 1994 combined. Ewing, too, actually.

[Franko]

Ballard and Ewing are certainly on track to meet that goal. With thanks for you being so thorough, and with the knowledge that there's less than 110 episodes left of Loving itself ...

Ballard -- 27 confirmed episodes in '93; 48 confirmed episodes in '94; 35 confirmed episodes so far in '95 (41 more to go!).

Ewing -- 28 confirmed episodes in '93; 78 confirmed episodes in '94; 54 confirmed episodes so far in '95 (53 more to go!).

And, just because:

Morgan -- 45 confirmed episodes in '93; 80 confirmed episodes in '94; 46 confirmed episodes so far in '95 (80 more to go!).

[Jermsie]

I agree with you, Eric.   I was thrilled hen Ceara became a major player in Pine Valley.  All I knew about GF was she had played Laura on GH.  I hated when she left.

[DRW50]