Any Capitol Fans Here?

[DRW50]

Don't hold back! I still don't know how to spell Steve Kaslo/Kazlo on SFT, because of the soap magazines and what other things say.

Don't you think Tonja looks very striking in that photo. I think she looks much softer in black and white. She reminds me of Loretta Young or a young Joan Crawford.

[SFK]

She is/was beautiful. I'll share something with you. I used to work with an event planner in the D.C. area and while doing some filing one day I came across photos and resume that Miss Maryland Tonja Walker had submitted. They must have been from the late '70s, pre-soap career. I of course nabbed them, had them tucked away in some papers, and one of my parents THREW THEM AWAY! I was furious.

[DRW50]

Sorry about that! It's like when a parent throws away their child's comics while they're gone because hey it's just junk. No harm is meant obviously but that can cause years of therapy bills

[SFK]

Yeah, totally, it was just such a random little gem of a find that no one but a soap fan would really appreciate. And yes, they were in black and white, full-body shots, short shorts, cropped top/tied Daisy Duke style. I remember reading an interview with her where she talked about blowing her cash when she first started out in L.A., I guess Capitol came before GH, where she'd fly her friends out (presumably from MD) just to hang. I loved Alex Olanov and I wish I'd caught her entire character arc. I really started watching regularly around Central Park wedding to Asa/mayor of Llanview/Poseidon era. Missed the Cassie and Bo stuff, let alone her start as a FSB agent.

[DRW50]

By the time I started watching OLTL Alex had kind of lost most of her spirit as a character (which even Tonja complained about when she left), but when I got to see the first go-round with Alex and Carlo I loved it, and I still can't believe some of those scenes made it to air! VickRobCal and Phillyvideofan also put up some earlier glimpses of her, when she was just the agent, when she was Bo's "nice" girlfriend, and when she went nuts, and I love all that too. Honestly I feel like Tonja plays crazy so well, even better than comedy.

I'm glad you got to see all that stuff. Maybe someday you'll find it again.

Edited September 3, 2010 by CarlD2

[DRW50]

Finally found about this ad, long after anyone cares, most likely. It's from the May 11, 1982 SOD. Network Publishing Co

Edited November 22, 2010 by CarlD2

[SFK]

I don't exactly get who everyone's supposed to be in this pic. I get Tyler and Julie in the middle and Julie bottom right, but the other pics sort of look like McCarthy-era flashbacks (which the show did). Like, Judson, Clarissa, Baxter (?) The girl running looks like she could be a young Clarissa, and I'm totally lost on the balding man holding the woman by the wrists. At any rate, the line about the scheming woman could apply to both Sloane and Myrna.

[DRW50]

I wonder if some of those were supposed to represent generic conflicts.

The running woman is like a cross between Donna Reed and Joan Crawford.

I didn't know they did McCarthy flashbacks.

[SFK]

Yeah, I don't know how many they did, I guess I remember them from the pilot movie. Just a couple quick black and white flashbacks of Judson Tyler being tried as a commie which Myrna falsely accused him of because Clarissa "stole" Baxter from her.

With a little Barbara Stanwyck about the nose and lips.

[SFK]

I wonder if that's supposed to be Sam telling Tyler to, "Get the hell outta here! Stay away from my daughter!" and Judson shaking Julie, "Your mother ruined my life! Stay away from my grandson!"

[DRW50]

From the 10/12/82 SOD, Network Publishing Co, an article on soap sets. The photo is of Myrna's "inner sanctum", Sloane's living room, and the Clegg dining room. I will type up the sections of the article which refer to Capitol.

Edited November 22, 2010 by CarlD2

[DRW50]

[Sapounopera]

I just love all pf Carl's vintage articles This living room reminds me a lot of the Forrester living room on B&B (which btw is identical to the Brooks living room of Y&R)

[SFK]

Thanks Carl! at the quote from that guy, it sounds like he realized he put his foot in his mouth and he's paddling like crazy as he's just sink-sink-sinking. But I agree with him, the show had some wonderful sets, the most magnificent of course being the black and white Clegg living room and foyer with that impossibly tall staircase. I liked Myrna's personal spalon which also functioned as her office. A seemingly superficial but actually quite brilliant choice as she truly conducted business from there. Looking good and keeping up appearances (and meddling!) *was* her job. She was always on the phone (in the pilot movie she's getting a massage while switching between three different phone lines, this was the early '80s so this also meant three different *phones*), she even had a tanning lamp in there. Kind of reminds me of stories I've read about '70s Iris lounging on the chaise with a phone glued to her ear.

I don't remember if Sloane lived in a guest house on her parents' property or if she had her own apartment/condo elsewhere. I just know that's not the Denning home, that's her own place where Trey came over in his raccoon coat he borrowed from Simon on GL and wined and dined her on Christmas with violinists and everything. When they got married, Sam and Myrna gave them a present. They opened the box, and there was a miniature of the Georgetown townhouse they (well, Sam ) bought them. Must be nice.

The McCandless home had a similar setup, the stairs, kind of like the Forrester mansion, in beige and dark wood. The Dennings had a curved staircase with nutty Paula upstairs playing the harpsichord.

[DRW50]

Thanks both of you for filling me in more on the sets. The living room does look like a Bell set -- I guess that's through Conboy. Funny to hear about the raccoon coat, which I always associate with Archie for some reason (Archie used to wear them in the old old days). SFK I love your descriptions of the scenes. I should look for those. I can imagine Myrna on all those phones. The quote is very funny, although you do have to feel sorry for him, as he basically says at the end that the sets are better than the scripts.

There was another brief line in there about Capitol that I can't remember right now.