Generations Discussion Thread

[SFK]

I was just watching her (as herself) in the Gong Show episode of What's Happening!!

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[dc11786]

I have been slowly making my way through "Generations" episodes that I've gotten. I don't think Barbara Rhoades is as 'dramatic' as she is in that commercial, but there are issues with Jessica in those early episodes that go beyond Rhoades interpretation.

 

As most know, Jessica' father, Hugh, died in the opening episode leading to an inheritance plot that goes nowhere until about August 1989. This is a recurring issue in the early episodes of "Generations"; something will be introduced, but only be discussed for episodes on end (Ruth talks about buying the Whitmore house in episode 2 or 3, but she doesn't purchase it until November and there is little conflict in between.) Anyway, Jessica, fresh from rehab, arrives in Chicago to deal with the funeral and to learn her son, Hugh Gardner II, has inherited the family fortune. Again, this plot point is discussed every now and again, but no real effort is made to find him for several weeks.

 

Rhoades' Jessica fits in well in a very well intention story structure. As a houseguest of Trevor and Laura McCallum, Jessica is in contact with Laura (her childhood friend), JD (Laura's down on his luck rock star brother), and Trevor (Laura's successful husband). Each relationship is well developed and its clear the early plan was an affair between Jessica and Trevor, which would force Laura to divorce Trevor and see how Laura handle the circumstances that her mother was dealt with when Peter Whitmore ran off on her. The problem is nothing really pops. Jessica and Laura revisiting their childhood friendship is a nice layer, but its hard to see Rhoades' Jessica pursuing Massett's Trevor while on the wagon. Maybe the plan was for Jessica to fall off again and, for Trevor, while attempting to play savior, to fall into a passionate affair with Jessica. If that was the case, none of that played out. Instead, the show plays Jessica's alcoholism as a secret (it could ruin her career!) and allow Trevor in on only to have Jessica have a surprise hook up with fellow addict Rob Donnelly. I believe I'm missing the episode where Rob and Jessica first meet, but it comes out of almost nowhere.

 

Rhoades spends a lot of her time with Gerard Prendergast's JD Whitmore, Laura's rock star brother. JD is trying to reunite his band, Men of Essence, but needs the money to finance their new album. Enter Jessica- the 'heiress' who JD grew up pining for. JD and Jessica have some sweet moments: JD provides Jessica with a picture of her EP to through darts at, but there is little build. JD is given little to do outside of his relationship with Jessica, which doesn't progress very far. JD and Jessica split when Trevor realizes JD wants Jessica to finance his new album even though JD admits to Laura he has very real feelings for Jessica.

 

Most of the time, though, Jessica is waiting to learn whether or not she will return to her role on "Tomorrow is Another Day." So Rhoades is only occasionally given significant beats to play, but when she does, she does well. One smaller moment that stood out was Jessica and Laura chatting about the graduation party thrown for the younger set at the fancy upscale Le Charmare (sp?). Jessica notes the interaction between Laura and Ruth Marshall and Jessica states that Ruth has avoided the typical pitfalls of the nouveau riche by patterning herself off of Laura, which by itself is an interesting comparison. I think Rhoades worked better when Jessica was in a world that intended to be more drawing room drama than crazy aunts jumping out of airplanes.

[DRW50]

Thanks for the details. Very vivid. I appreciate it.

[DRW50]

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[dc11786]

I can see why people liked Kyle and Sam. The early stages of their romance is very well done. Rutherford grew so much as an actress in such a short period of time. I think the writers did a good job fleshing out Kyle. I think the show also did a good job giving Sam significant reason to be attracted to both men: Kyle is strong, charismatic, and loves her because she of her passion for life while Jordan is suave, rich, and has lived a life of loneliness that Sam can relate to. George Shannon does a good job to avoid coming off as too creepy. I truly believe that Jordan's interest in her is not just sexual, but maybe I'm a fool.

 

It was nice to see Robert Wilson (ex-Channing, Jr, SB and ex-Chase, SFT) and Pat Tallman (who previous appeared as one of Jason's lingerie models during the Leather and Lace storyline) as Brad and Christy Russell. It's a shame that the show recasts Christy and goes in a completely different direction with those characters.

 

There's also a lot of nice overlap in terms of story. The introduction of Hale hotel has taken a lot of random story threads and given them a place to bump into each other. I didn't care for George Deloy as the put upon professor, but I do like him in this brief clips where he defends and empathizes with Dr. Daniel Reubens (who I think has just begun to appear, these clips are from January 1990). The Jessica-Sam rivalry gives both women are strong sparring partner. The insinuations about Jessica being one of Jordan's abandoned flames was interesting. The Hale Hotel uniforms must have kept the cost of costumes down.   

 

I think my favorite bit is Kyle and Sam reuniting to "Here and Now." I've only shipped a few couples in my soap viewing, but I could see why the (few) viewers watching loved Kyle and Sam.

 

It's funny to hear people talking about Sally Sussman Morina's work on Y&R because this material is so strong, but the earlier stuff has a lot of trademarks of the complaints I'm hearing now. Did SSM return to Y&R after GENERATIONS was cancelled? When she was trying to write a Chicago version of Y&R, it didn't work. This faster paced, more comical, more romantic storytelling is definitely more in line with what NBC was looking for during that time period.

[DRW50]

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@dc11786 @SFK @Nothin'ButAttitude

Edited January 24, 2018 by DRW50

[adrnyc]

@DRW50   OMG - if ever there were a show I wish I could go back and watch in its entirety, it's GENERATIONS!!!!  I'm going to have to watch these tonight. I looked once for eps on YT and I couldn't really find any. 

[DRW50]

 

If you look through the thread there are a few others.

[NothinButAttitude]

Thanks again, @DRW50!!! You've provided me with tons of episodes to watch the next couple of days.

[adrnyc]

@DRW50   Thanks for the tip! I'll do just that!

[dc11786]

Those episodes are from late June 1989, not August. 

 

I think they give a good glimpse of early "Generations." There are so many side characters featured in these episodes. We get to see Chris Mendoza (the lawyer at the firm with Rebecca), Billie and Amber (the leather and lace models), Joel (Martin's slimy business associate), and Lloyd (the British lawyer dining with Rebecca). Carl, as you probably know, the actor playing Lloyd Bradfield is Ronald Allen, he appeared on the British soap "Crossroads" as David Hunter. Billie, the model featured in the photoshoot with Sam, is Pat Tallman, who would return in the winter as Christy Russell, a cop often paired with Kyle Masters on assignments. Tallman is a lot of fun in both her roles. Joel Resnick is played by Rick Lohman, who I believe was one of the Tom Bergmans or Gary Waltons on "Search for Tomorrow." The exchange between him and Jonelle Allen's Doreen is fun, but the sort of whitewash Joel and later give him a C-romance with Laura McCallum, Monique's mom after the show writes off Trevor McCallum.

 

The Sam / Monique / Jason stuff is weak overall. Kelly Rutherford is still rather green as Sam and, as I recall, Sam's motivation for going after Jason seemed to arise suddenly. They are clearly playing the resentment that Sam feels toward Monique (Monique and grandma Rebecca were incredibly close while Sam and Rebecca were always more combative). There is definitely some nice groundwork for a smaller climax (Rebecca losing out on the partnership) with Sam's comments about not being disappointed. There was definitely an attempt to parallel Sam not graduating from school with Rebecca not being made partner at the law firm. The show still seems to be hinting at the Sam / Adam angle, which is fascinating, but I don't get the sense that Kristoff St. John is playing that subtext. There were some scenes, I believe, where it was stated, or implied, that Adam had an unrequited love for Sam. 

 

The Doreen material is great. If I remember correctly, this is really Doreen's first set of meaty scenes. The dinner party was fine, and there is a great conversation between Doreen and Henry where Doreen first talks about growing up on the South Side. The tension in the Ruth / Doreen scene is great. Doreen and Ruth's relationship is one of the best elements of the show. There are some great scenes from about a month later where Ruth is accepted into the Women's Arts Council where Ruth defends herself against a snobby and bigoted Mary Gardner. Jonelle Allen does a great job playing a supporting role in those scenes. Ruth and Doreen are also a great pair during the racism storyline. I hope some of that pops up online because the material is really strong.

 

It was nice to see these again. Thanks. 

[Soaplovers]

So would June/July of 1989 be the period when the show finally starts to get going?  I recall that the early episodes were very slow moving with a lot of exposition and little action, or plot movement... kind of like SSM's Y & R.

[dc11786]

The early episodes are very heavy in exposition. There are still some interesting moments, but, as you've said, very little happens, and what does happen has only smaller implications. For example, the affair between Sam Whitmore and Rob Donnelly is a bizarre situation. Sam is struggling to pass biology so she sleeps with her professor Rob so she can steal the final exam. When Rob learns what she has done, he fails her so she retaliates by claiming sexual harassment. Rob isn't interacting with any of the other main characters except for some tense moments between him and Adam. Because Sam can't tell her family about the situation, the whole story is in a bit of a bubble. During this story, there is a great scene where Sam has to see the university psychologist as part of her sexual harassment claim. In the session, there are hints that Sam is deeply disturbed by her father's abandonment and some of her other motivation is explored. It's a really well done scene, but a great scene doesn't make a great story. The impact is lacking all over the place. This all would have worked better if Rob was friends with the McCallums and Rob was hiding his affair with Laura's kid sister.

 

Similarly, look at these episodes. This back and forth between Martin and Henry about the South Side plant has no real meat to it. What is the impact of this? It would have been more meaningful if the show featured some have nots living on the South Side, working at the plant who would have lost their jobs over this. People from the neighborhood who knew Doreen back when she was Doreen Walker singing at Johnny's. The show signed Myles Thoroughgood to a contract as Wally, the ice cream shop scoop boy who had been running with gangs before Henry gave him a job. Wally's family or neighbors could have worked at the factory. This would have given Wally something to do. 

 

Stuff is starting to happen in June / July, but not all of it good. In July, the Doreen story picks up with Doreen and Adam meeting at the menswear store where they begin their secret rendezvous. By August, Martin has learned of the affair, had Adam thrown in jail on drug charges, and Doreen takes an overdose. In September, Martin throws the anniversary party where Doreen and Adam realize who the other person is (both were unaware of each other's true identities) and Doreen learns she is pregnant. Also in the summer, you have Sam meddling in Jason and Monique's relationship through her modeling work. At the end of the summer, Sam sets herself up to be raped so that Jason can play her savior. Jessica and J.D.'s relationship peters out when Jessica learns J.D. needs her money to finance his new album and Jessica goes on a bender with Rob Donnelly. Rebecca loses out on the partnership, then gets offered the partnership, and then declines the offer.

 

By the time November rolls around, that's when things really start to move: Jason is 'murdered,' Kyle and Sam meet, Ruth buys the Whitmore house from Rob, Helen Mullin appears, everyone starts working at the Winston, Adam is trying to figure out Maya's mystery, etc. 

[adrnyc]

@DRW50  Thanks again for posting. Crazy to watch the episodes you posted. I stuck with this show until the bitter end but I remember being bored a lot of the time. The show certainly doesn't have much spark in those two episodes. Although you see the beginning of Doreen's potential. A lot of the episodes posted throughout the thread are gone now, alas, but I watched the few that do exist. I'm sure the rest of the show doesn't hold up today - at least not as well as others have - but I'd still love to rewatch it to see how much I would remember!

[dc11786]

This person's channel has fourteen episodes from December 1990/January 1991. I can never remember if it is in this thread or not, but it probably is since the episodes are so old. 

 

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The show does have long stretches of weak episodes. What I've seen of November 1989 through March 1990 is pretty solid, but even in March things start to fall apart. I would like to see the conclusion of the Daniel Reubens story, but I wasn't thrilled that the show went recast crazy by dumping Sharon Brown, George Shannon, and Pat Tallman. The final months aren't bad, but who knows how things would have turned out.