How did this soap end?

What happened to characters like Mona, Mike, Steve, and Carolee?

Did they fire David Michael Elliott, or did he choose to leave?  

He had won the role of the mayor's son in Jaws 2, and is still based in LA today. I would guess it was his decision to leave the show.

1 minute ago, amybrickwallace said:

He had won the role of the mayor's son in Jaws 2, and is still based in LA today. I would guess it was his decision to leave the show.

 

That's a shame (although I certainly understand leaving for the movie gig).  I enjoyed watching Elliott, who seemed refreshingly natural and real as teenaged Billy.

1 minute ago, Khan said:

I enjoyed watching Elliott, who seemed refreshingly natural and real as teenaged Billy.

 

Agreed. The timing left much to be desired, as he left just as Billy would be part of his biggest story to date. 

So has there been any noticeable changes with the change of head-writer?  The changes were obvious when it went from the Pollacks to Cenderella to Depriest to Marland... so just curious if there was a noticeable change with these new writers?  

 

I think in a few months time, Grover will take over.. and from what I read.. she made an effort to write a good show.. but was in over her head... we shall see if my impression of her will hold true.  I honestly assumed that Depriest would be lousy on this show and she was well above average.. and I assumed Marland would tighten up the show (since he wrote some strong hospital content on ATWT and GH)... and he was lousy on this show.

3 hours ago, Soaplovers said:

So has there been any noticeable changes with the change of head-writer?  The changes were obvious when it went from the Pollacks to Cenderella to Depriest to Marland... so just curious if there was a noticeable change with these new writers?  

 

I think in a few months time, Grover will take over.. and from what I read.. she made an effort to write a good show.. but was in over her head... we shall see if my impression of her will hold true.  I honestly assumed that Depriest would be lousy on this show and she was well above average.. and I assumed Marland would tighten up the show (since he wrote some strong hospital content on ATWT and GH)... and he was lousy on this show.

 

Grover was awful too, IMHO.

4 hours ago, Soaplovers said:

So has there been any noticeable changes with the change of head-writer?  The changes were obvious when it went from the Pollacks to Cenderella to Depriest to Marland... so just curious if there was a noticeable change with these new writers?  

 

I think in a few months time, Grover will take over.. and from what I read.. she made an effort to write a good show.. but was in over her head... we shall see if my impression of her will hold true.  I honestly assumed that Depriest would be lousy on this show and she was well above average.. and I assumed Marland would tighten up the show (since he wrote some strong hospital content on ATWT and GH)... and he was lousy on this show.

 

Most people on the soap boards are saying they don't see a noticeable difference, largely because the same dialogue writers are in place. The Brezes' writing credit is different from previous head writers. They're billed as "Story by Mel and Ethel Brez." If I remember correctly, Mel was one of three co-head writers on ATWT in the 90s.

The Brezes were also on the writing staff of OLTL in the mid-80s. On the staff with them at one point was TD's final headwriter, Barbara Morgenroth (who is a novelist now).

Hi - I'm interested in these posts; I played Lynn Nelson on "Love of Life," under my prior name of Andrea Martin, and since had changed my name to Amanda Trees due to another actress in the media with the same name!  (I was advised to choose to be known under a different name, and kept my middle name of Christine the same.)  I played the half sister of Sandy Porter, played by Bonnie Bedelia.  Tammy Porter was the real mother I had searched high and low for, as she had to give me up at birth due to no way to support me and still follow her dreams of being in theater.  Lynn, a runaway teen searching valiantly for her mom, finally did find her - only to realize so many trials and tribulations in trying to work out a whole new relationship with her.  Vanessa Sterling stepped in and had me move into her home, thinking she could guide me into settling into life with a family.  Anyhow, over a period of time I noticed a few anthologies were written about soap opera history, and for some odd reason, my character was left out.  I was very active in the plot lines, and had many stories that were written involving all the other characters, so I'm just saying "hello" now, thinking to weave back together some of the tapestries of my life with you guys.  I'm doing music now, piano and writing, and singing.  My website is amandatreesmusic.com

38 minutes ago, Musical Soap Lady said:

Hi - I'm interested in these posts; I played Lynn Nelson on "Love of Life," under my prior name of Andrea Martin, and since had changed my name to Amanda Trees due to another actress in the media with the same name!  (I was advised to choose to be known under a different name, and kept my middle name of Christine the same.)  I played the half sister of Sandy Porter, played by Bonnie Bedelia.  Tammy Porter was the real mother I had searched high and low for, as she had to give me up at birth due to no way to support me and still follow her dreams of being in theater.  Lynn, a runaway teen searching valiantly for her mom, finally did find her - only to realize so many trials and tribulations in trying to work out a whole new relationship with her.  Vanessa Sterling stepped in and had me move into her home, thinking she could guide me into settling into life with a family.  Anyhow, over a period of time I noticed a few anthologies were written about soap opera history, and for some odd reason, my character was left out.  I was very active in the plot lines, and had many stories that were written involving all the other characters, so I'm just saying "hello" now, thinking to weave back together some of the tapestries of my life with you guys.  I'm doing music now, piano and writing, and singing.  My website is amandatreesmusic.com

 

Welcome! It's nice to hear from someone who starred on the show. I wish material from that era was available. Synopses/summaries leave so much out.

Hi @Musical Soap Lady.  I found this on newspapers.com, from The Detroit Free Press.  Some folks in the Love of Life thread might remember you.  I didn’t start watching LoL until the 70s, unfortunately.  Would love to hear your remembrances.

 

 

 

Edited March 24, 20196 yr by jam6242

Welcome @Musical Soap Lady!   I would love to hear about your years on LOL. Did you do any other soap roles? Were you Barbara Harper on The Doctors in 1968? What years were you on LOL?  I have you credited in 1965, but information about LOL is spotty.  (Cancelled Soaps Cast Lists and Character Guides Thread page 57).

 

Looking forward to hearing your stories.

How nice of you to post.

As you might have gathered, there are a few of us who appreciate the lost history of soaps.

Anything you can recall about your time would be most appreciated.

Yes, all the storyline you detailed has never been mentioned in histories of the show, so anything else you can add would be most welcome.😊

Can anyone provide some insight as to what is going on with Tom? Seeing as there's been a gap in episode uploads, I am confused about the shift in his character. He was a sweetheart one second and now he's belligerent. Is he suffering from postpartum or something? 

You could probably blame that on the change in HW's (from Doug Marland to Ethel and Mel Brez).

 

Marland had planned for Tom to come out of the closet.  However, Colgate-Palmolive nixed it, forcing him to change his story to one about child abuse.  I suspect that's one reason why he ultimately left for GH.