Love of Life Discussion Thread

[Khan]

Well, you can't say Ann Marcus didn't do all she could to save the show, lol.

I always feel a twinge of sadness whenever I watch Larry Auerbach walking through the LOL studio for what might have been the last time.  He had been an integral part of the show for so many years, through good times and bad.  Next to Audrey Peters/Vanessa, he might've been LOL's most consistent, stabilizing "voice."

[Mona Kane Croft]

Why was Bruce suddenly a lawyer?  Was it just a budget concern, so they didn't need to hire another actor to play the lawyer?  

[All My Shadows]

I watched those years ago when CHH first posted them, but watching them again so soon after my 50s LOL deep dive freshens it up for me. Ray Slater is still a joooooooke, the image of him lifting up the end table to hit Tony is still hilarious.

Van and Meg needed to be out last scene. One of the biggest fumbles in soap finale history.

[beebs]

I mean, in fairness, they were told so late in the game that the show would end that they didn't have time to edit the scripts before filming, as far as I've heard. The studio having to be repurposed in a rush to accommodate Olympic coverage.

Even just watching this last week of the show in (almost) full, the show is in such good shape under Ann Marcus, it's an absolute tragedy they cancelled the show at this point. I'm sucked right into this Hal/Arlene/Ray story. Ray is such a LOSER, I could just see his jealousy leading Arlene right to Ray, a self-fulfilling prophecy, that could lead to anything, considering his ridiculous temper. The trial is setting itself up for Ben to probably end up back in jail, considering how useless Betsy is as a witness (if she even makes it through the trial).

I absolutely love Tudi Wiggins, she's so THEATRICAL. You just KNOW they'd have played up how utterly dramatic she is if the show continued, especially with how 80s soaps were, and she'd be seen as one of the grand dames of the genre. It's been a joy to watch these episodes. How I hope more LOL appears soon.

[VelekaCarruthers]

There are now 4 episodes from the final week (Tuesday through Friday). Chandler had previously posted 2 of these four episodes.  The new postings are from @Mitch6225

[Khan]

Plus, weren't there hopes (however slim) that LOL would be picked up by another network or sold into syndication?  If so, then I could understand why the show chose to end on a cliffhanger that wasn't related to Meg and Van.  

[dc11786]

Marcus moves quickly to rectify the issues that had been set in place during Jean Holloway's brief run. She wraps up the Bambi Brewster story and quickly shifts Van into the college setting teaching commerical art. Putting Van on the college campus opened up some story for the Sterlings in a series of interesting ways. I really hope one day we get to see some of the story of ex-con turned law student Steve Harbach having his sexual fantasies about Van. I wonder if Peters enjoyed that or was completely appalled. 

I think the younger characters introduced by Marcus were a mixed bag. Amy Russell is a good schemer and I like her partner in crime Joel. I think Steve is also interesting. I don't know what to think of Wes Osbourne because his character has such a terrible story to start (his romance with Gina Gaspero and her thinking she was pregnant when she wasn't). Lianne's sister Kelly and Judy Landers' Cheryl were introduced in January so it's hard to get a sense, but Kelly seems like a drip in that scene with Lianne. Cheryl seems to be a woman of mystery at this point so it's hard to figure what would have happened with her. 

I don't think Marcus' work on "Love of Life" is terribly originally as most of it was retreads of her plots on other shows. The rape plot involving Elliott and Betsy was sorta replay of Mark raping Iris when she conceived her daughter on "Love of Life." I think the Gina Gaspero plot was a variation on a story Marcus told with Patty Griffin on "Days of our Lives" but I think the pot brownie angle was new. The Tony has a child from his time on Vietnam was something Marcus had tried to do on both "Love is a Many Splendored Thing" with a returned Mia Elliott and with Chris Kositchek on "Days of our Lives." Also, the Amy Russell story was suppose to follow the projection that Marcus' Donna Craig story on "Days of our Lives" where Amy turned out not to be Bruce's daughter. 

Despite the replays, it seems the stories fit better onscreen in Rosehill than in Salem.

Bruce was teaching law in the final year. I cannot remember if he was already practicing under Jean Holloway or if that was a move made by Marcus early in her run. I know Marcus put him at the college in her first week or so, but I cannot remember if he was working with Timothy MacCauley already or not. Bruce's law students included Amy, Joel, and Steve. 

I don't have much use for Ray Slater, a precursor to Sonny Corinthos. Under Holloway, they built an entire family around him with his parents and a younger brother and sister. Thankfully, Marcus cut most of them wihtin the first month but let Gina stick around to tell the younger set story. 

The show was cancelled very late in the game to the point that there may be unproduced outlines. Wikipedia (not the best source) states there 7, 315 episodes and Marcus has scripts thorugh 7,316 and outlines through 7, 320. 

Tudi Wiggins was leaving "Love of Life" had it continued. She stated so in the press. I don't think she and Cathi Abbi, the final LOL producer, had a good working relationship. It's a shame because I think Meg's final story with Tom / Lianne while she was faking paralysis was fine. I wonder what would have happened had the show continued. I suspect they could recast, but I also wouldn't have been surprised if the show pivoted to Tom / Lianne / Andrew as there was some setup between Andrew and Lianne while Tom and Meg were involved. Throw in an anchorless Mia possibly wanting to get back invovled with her ex-husband while Mia and Lianne's siblings were dating would have kept things messy. 

As I believe I said above, I have little use for Ray Slater. There were ways to make him work, but it was unnecessary. Pages back, I think I suggested they should have gotten ugly and repaired a pregnant Arlene with Tom (or maybe Ben?) while Ray sought custody by marrying Meg. Meg needed a stronger enemy than Lianne. I also had her going up against Amy Russell after Meg discovered that Amy wasn't Bruce's daughter.

I think the cancellation notice came within four weeks of the show's final episode. They were still introducing new characters as late as the final ten episodes. I think Cheryl might have premiered in the last week. Kelly Wilson was only there for about three weeks. 

[Mona Kane Croft]

That's interesting.  I remember watching occasionally at the time, and was surprised that Bruce suddenly had a background in law.  When he was first introduced, I believe he had been a teacher or college professor, but wasn't he a journalist for most of his run on LOL?  

[dc11786]

Throughout the 1960s, I believe Bruce was in education. First, he was at a private boys school and by the end of the decade he was a college president (I believe). I think the journalism angle was in the early 1970s. 

In December, 1978, the Sterlings purchase a large home from Professor Timothy MacCauley (Sheperd Strudwick). MacCauley was also a lawyer who would be helping Betsy during her divorce from Eliot in early 1979. I think the house was on the college campus, or the edge of it, and that is how they brought Bruce back into the fold, but I may be wrong as I feel like Bruce and Van may have been both offered their positions in the first week of Marcus in May, 1979. 

I don't think that Bruce had many career stories in the last few years when he was a reporter. I seem to recall the big story for him in 1978 is when he believed he was dying and he tried to pair up Van and Andrew Marriott. I think Upton may have briefly tested Bruce with shop owner Faith Manning, but that was very late in Upton's run before Cathi Abbi arrived so I don't think it went anywhere. 

[All My Shadows]

Cathy Abbi was unpopular in general, correct? I seem to remember CHH saying either on YouTube or somewhere else that she was not well-received by the cast and that she had body odor lol

[Khan]

LOL!!

I, too, remember someone saying that CBS had hired Abbi based on Y&R's reputation without realizing until after the fact how little she had had to do with the show's success.  And that, yes, her feet STANK, lol!

[VelekaCarruthers]

Cathy Abbi may have had stinky feet but she made the show look great and hired a superb head writer. The new opening, sets and most casting under Abbi were great.  But there was much damage from Holloway and Upton head writing periods.  

[dc11786]

@All My Shadows If you hadn't found this on your own already.

Holloway was hired by Abbi. I think there were nice elements that Abbi did that you noted (the new opening, the sets including the Sterlings new home, and hiring Marcus later. I don't think all of the casting under her was spectacular. I find a lot of the young women she hired fairly bland with the exception of Dana Delaney. Given the parameters, I still think Abbi was a decent producer, but letting Tudi Wiggins go is the kind of mistake that makes me reconsider how great she would have been in the long run. 

[Soaplovers]

Moving a soap that was old fashion to 3 PM was CBS looking to cancel it and needing a valid reason to do so.  If they truly wanted the soap to survive, they would have stuck it at 2:30 directly behind guiding light.

Seeing the last episodes in full, the disco and young characters were an attempt to youthify the show..partly based on the later time slot.

I think Dana Delaney's character had promise and I liked Lianne...but not sure if Lianne's sister would have survived long term based on the writing/acting.

So Judy Launders character was just introduced in the last week of the show..or was she introduced the week before?  Having her enter as the blonde that caught Wes' eye was a good scene direction wise.

[Joseph]

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Found this while looking for a newsreport on The cancelation that had Audrey Peters looking like Norma Desmond, seems like a compilation of the scenes of a couple from the show, not sure if it was shared previously