Texas!

[AbcNbc247]

Lots of episodes being uploaded on this channel.

[amybrickwallace]

 

Yes, Chuck has recently uploaded episodes from December 1981 to January 1982. Most of them feature Philip English (Dr. Colin Wakefield, TD) as a mysterious geologist (!!!) who lands at the Marshalls' stoop during a rainstorm.

[AbcNbc247]

Thanks for letting me know!

 

I’ll have to check them out 

[amybrickwallace]

 

Sure thing! I believe it starts at episode #340 (December 1981).

[robbwolff]

Thanks for sharing this news! Last night, I got to relive some of my favorite Ruby and Lurlene moments!!

 

[amybrickwallace]

You're welcome! We all owe many thanks to Chuck for giving us a nice diversion from election coverage. ☺

[Efulton]

I just watched the first 10 episodes of Texas after not seeing them since they first aired when I was 8 years old.I have to say I really enjoyed them and Iam looking forward to the next batch.I’ve read on this message board how the original setup was weak but I have to disagree.The original families - the Bellman’s (Striker, Victoria, Reena, Kevin, Samantha & Bart), Marshall’s(Kate, Mike, Justin, Paige, Dawn, Courtney, Ginny & Steven), Dekker’s (Maggie, Max, Rikki, Terry & Elena), Wheeler’s (Alex, Ryan + soon to be Iris & Dennis) and the Wright’s (Billy Joe & Nita) were interestingly intertwined and each family had unique dynamics. Most of the casting was spot on with several bright lights - Josephine Nichols (Kate), Jerry Lanning (Justin), Lisby Larson (Paige), Catherine Hickland (Courtney), Barbara Rucker (Ginny), John McCafferty (Billy Joe), Carla Borelli (Reena), Elizabeth Allen (Victoria) and Randy Hamilton (Rikki).It’s unfortunate that Lanning, Larson, Borelli and Hamilton never found another successful soap role.And damn Jim Poyner (Dennis) was cute and had leading man potential.Another World was shortsighted in not bringing him back to Bay City.

Mike Marshall’s suicide, Iris being reunited with the first man she ever loved and the revelation that Alex is Dennis’ father drove story and shook up the canvas.

 

I get some of the criticism - Iris losing her edge, Bart, Max and Clipper being annoying as hell and it was definitely more traditional and boring in comparison to its competition Guiding Light and especially General Hospital.

 

But if you are looking for a classic soap to watch with big characters, big sets and big hair I say give Texas a shot.

 

 

Edited November 21, 2020 by Efulton

[dc11786]

@Efulton I've also started watching "Texas" from the beginning recently. I'm a little bit farther than you are (first week of October, 1980). I really enjoy it. Mike Marshall's suicide really allows the Corringtons to use those Southern Gothic flourishes that they excel at. I think Mike's death really propelled the show, it's just a shame that it wasn't included in the first week worth of episodes. If it was up to me, I think I would have made the concluding episode of the 90-minute "Another World" reach its ending with Sheik Zeidi in surgery with the assassination plot underway and use that story to propel the story on Monday. This way, Mike Marshall's suicide could be the first Friday cliffhanger. Also, I think I would have had Monday, August 4th episode of "Another World" end with Iris getting on the plane and episode 1 of "Texas" start with Iris arriving in Houston. 

 

I think the first week is clunky at times. The Kevin / Courtney romance is flawed. I haven't decided if I love or hate the twangy theme they use for these two. I find Lee Patterson incredibly gruff, which I think is intended, but he doesn't seem to crack enough around Courtney to make Kevin seem like a viable romantic lead. I know Patterson was a big deal on "One Life to Live," but I don't think it works here. With that said, I actually think I like Kevin more than I liked the bits I've seen recently of his Tom Dennison later in the decade on "One Life to life." I do find Patterson seems a bit more at ease with Elizabeth Allen as Victoria, but I wouldn't want a romance there. I just really like the friendship between Victoria and Kevin. 

 

I think the biggest revelation to me in all of this is Robert Gerringer who seems sort of flat character as Striker, but who has such a deeper inner life than I ever could imagine. The sequences where Striker learns that his beloved Vicky has been cuckolding him for years with his good friend Alex Wheeler are mesmerizing. Allen and Gerringer are amazing together as they play those confrontation scenes. I like this version of Vicky, deeply flawed, self centered like her daughter, but in love with two men, very appealing. Later in the show's run, I feel all those layers are pulled away. Watching this, I don't see why the show didn't have Victoria go after Grant Wheeler, Alex's brother, and then have Reena pursue Grant for all the years of suffering Victoria caused Reena and Striker. Then again, the later Striker "revelations" don't seem to fall in line with anything that is going on right now. 

 

I really like the set up of Billy Joe and Nita. Nita is a woman who is coming into her own and no longer needs a man like explosive Billy Joe, yet she is drawn to a man, Rikki Dekker, who is drawn to a similar level of danger. I like Billy Joe pursuing Elena because she is Rikki's sister, but I don't see how this is going to turn into the sort of romance I have seen between the two down the line. I also was surprised that the Corringtons went into Billy Joe's damaged psyche mentioning how Billy Joe was protecting his siblings growing up, implying he also may have been abused by his daddy, and making veiled comments about what he learned form the cops in prison. Like Victoria, I'm not sure how I'll find the later version of Billy Joe more appealing. 

 

The Dekkers are very interesting. Are they suppose to be Mexican American? There are definitely hints that one or more of the Dekker kids are Marshalls. Everyone keeps talking about how close they grow up. Justin tells Max that Rikki is "our brother" and Terry squirms when Paige refers to the two of them as sisters. I would imagine the plan was to reveal that the Dekkers were somehow tied to the Marshalls through William Marshall, Mike Marshall's brother who died in the war. 

 

I don't mind the Iris / Alex story, but I wouldn't say its the one I want to see the most. I like the construct of Iris and Reena vs Victoria. I even like Victoria pining over Alex and being a thorn in the side of Alex and Iris' relationship. I just find a lot of the Iris and Alex stuff is too much. Alex is hiding that he was with Vicky for years, Iris is hiding that she had Alex's child, everyone hates Alex for the perceived part he played in Mike Marshall's suicide. It's just a lot. I also never knew that they seem to hint that Justin was going to pursue Iris in order to get at Alex. 

 

Dawn and Dennis are pretty standard fare. Kimmel is super green. Poyner appears to be playing the material just as if it was Tom King's slow, talky "Another World." I did appreciate Dennis running around in his shorts while answering the phone when Iris called. I also get the angle they are going with Dawn and Dennis, an impulsive young love like Alex and iris. I just don't care about insolent Dawn. 

 

Funny, I disagree with you on Joel Corodner and Catherine Hickland. Hickland is incredibly green, and I find Courtney to be uninspiring with Hickland's performance. I cannot disagree with others who say it hurts Courtney's character that she has no scenes with the other Marshalls. I didn't remember that initially the Marshall ranch was quite distance from Houston so I get some elements of it. Depsite this, Bart has made it out to the ranch twice to visit with Kate, while Courtney hasn't even managed a phone call home. The disconnect from the Marshall family is a serious problem especially since the show seems to be pitting Courtney vs Reena with Reena in a pretty ongoing friendship with Courtney's brother Justin. In terms of a character construct, I'm interested in Courtney. She's the brain. The smart one in the family who has never experienced life. Even in terms of her relationship with Kevin there are some intriguing angles. Kevin won't leave Reena, who he doesn't love, because she might lose Striker, her father, while Kevin's much more okay leaving Courtney, who he does love, who has actually lost her father. 

 

On the hand, I don't mind Joel Corodner's Bart Walker, the young man of privilege who wants to give back and build a clinic for people who really need services. I think Bart is the type of character you kinda need, just a good old fashioned good guy. I also like how he is the opposite of Kevin Cook, who grew up poor and married his way into money. I kinda like that Bart's a lame duck foe of Kevin's. He doesn't really like what Kevin is doing to Reena or Courtney, but he isn't the type of guy to really know what to do about it. I do like how he occassionally gets bitchy and makes snarky comments to Reena. 

 

I really want to like Sam Walker, but Ann McCarthy overplays almost every scene she is in. In a way, it might work as she is the cousin of Reena, but it often just falls flat. The construction of Sam and Justin is a bit flawed. Sam had too many connections to Justin through Reena and Bart and Courtney to not know that Justin was a well known race car driver. I like the news angle though and I like that Sam is the daughter that Aunt Vicky wish she had compared to venomous Reena. I think recasting Sam would have been a better move than dumping the character. 

 

 

[Efulton]

I have not seen the Another World episodes leading up to the launch of Texas since they first aired. I just remember really not liking the 1.5 episodes in general.

 

I completely agree with you about Lee Paterson. Kevin is constantly miserable. I guess that is the point since he wants to get out of his marriage to Reena and return no Bay City. I also find that in his scenes with Elizabeth Allen (who I love!) he relaxes and shows some warmth. It's too bad there is not more of that.

I have not seen these episodes yet but they sound great. I am looking forward to them.

 

I love Nita. I think I remember Billy Joe sexually assaulting someone and not liking the character for the rest of the show's run but I may be remembering that wrong.

 

I have only seen a couple episodes with Dawn and yes she does seem super green.

 

There is something about Jole/Bart that gets on my nerves. I have not enjoyed any of his scenes so far. Maybe that will change. I suspect Catherine Hickland's stunning beauty may be blinding me from seeing her less than stunning acting skills. 

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I sent a link of episode 1 to my cousin. It made her year.  We used to play Hitopah as kids.  lol

[amybrickwallace]

 

Yes, she was pretty green then but came a long way in her 20+ years on soaps.

[Efulton]

Yes indeed!

[Mona Kane Croft]

Samantha was originally supposed to be Reena's sister.  On an episode of AW, Reena mentioned a sister named Samantha.  But  when Texas premiered, Sam had been changed to her cousin.  I think a sister would have been more interesting, and would have given Reena more depth.    

 

And I assume everyone knows Striker was originally an oil-man, not a lawyer.  In all of his original visits to Bay City, he was a big Texas oil-man and acquaintance of Mac Cory.  He was sort of the Jock Ewing of the Bellman family.  But somewhere between Bay City and Houston, Striker got his law license and his oil company disappeared.  Seemed like a silly and unnecessary change to me.   And why would a lawyer have a name like Striker???  LOL.  

Edited November 22, 2020 by Neil Johnson

[dc11786]

@Neil Johnson It's interesting how things changed from "Another World" to "Texas." I'm curious how much was really adapted from the Corringtons' period piece "Reunion" bible and how much were elements that Paul Raunch cooked up with a combination of the Corringtons and/or Tom King. 

 

I've been surprised by little details that I've learned in episodes like how Striker was a former lieutenant governor in the state of Texas. I believe the nickname was explained in story, but I remember it being pretty weak. It had something to do with Striker's rise to the top of politics if I remember correctly.

 

Alex Wheeler seems like such a poor man's version of Jay Gatsby or a low rent Steve Frame. I know some people have said, maybe even you, that it seemed like the original story was going to be the Marshalls vs. the Bellmans. Alex seems to change all that. 

 

I think Samantha as Reena's cousin allows you to have Reena as an only child and replay the Iris / Mac relationship, but I think you are right that Samantha as her sister would have given the storylines a different dynamic and chance to play something new. 

[Mona Kane Croft]

 

I don't think Tom King had much influence on Texas.  But I'm confident Rauch insisted on changing much of what the Corringtons wanted to do.  Plus Rauch is the one who shoe-horned Iris into the show.  Frankly, I think Texas would have been a far better soap without Iris and Alex Wheeler.  The Corringtons could have worked their magic with the Bellmans, Marshalls, and Dekkers.  Bringing in Iris in such a huge role completely threw-off the show's structure.   

 

I don't remember Striker's name being explained on Texas, but perhaps it was in some kind of ret-con.  His name was explained on Another World, in one of the character's first appearances, when Clifton James was playing the role.  And it was related to him being a young wild-cater in West Texas.  It was originally said to be a nick-name, not his legal name.  But I don't think they ever revealed his legal name.

 

Oh -- and I think Rikki Dekker was going to be revealed as the son of Mike Marshall in the original story projection.  Maggie Dekker clearly knew some secret about Rikki (her favorite nephew).  Perhaps Rikki was Maggie's son too, but adopted by her brother.  But we'll never know, because they dropped it.   New head writer.   It never got much further than a few hints dropped by Maggie, and a few "knowing glances."   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited November 22, 2020 by Neil Johnson

[AbcNbc247]

I think you're right about King. There was a small clip of an episode of AW from July 1980 posted on YT and it said in the credits that all of the Texas scenes were written by the Corringtons, so he probably did have nothing to do with it. 

 

As for Striker, I remember in an episode of Texas that he said his name was John.