Members juniorz1 Posted February 14, 2009 Members Share Posted February 14, 2009 Not to defend "the writer", but she did write Liza quite well during her first time at bat with the character. It was when she returned in '03 that the writing for Liza went to sh!t. Actually, Culliton and Rayfield didn't do her any favors either. That's simply not true. MW is a professional and plays what's on the page. I've only seen that rumor written up on message boards, never from a reputalbe source, and only because Liza was turned into a whimpering weakling after MW's turning to God was largely publicized. People just put the two together and came up with their own theories. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members LoyaltoAMC Posted February 14, 2009 Members Share Posted February 14, 2009 Actually, if I remember correctly, Liza began going soft later in Broderick's reign, but I think that was the game plan from the get-go. They brought her on as a bitter, unloved ratings whore only to be redeemed by her relationship with Tad, and later with Jake and Adam. I will say that Broderick, even as the character grew softer, was able to write her with more layers than any of her successors. By the time of McT's third reign, Liza had pretty much become an afterthought, but I blame Frons for that. The writing was already on the wall for the character during Rayfield/Cascio. By the way, Agnes/Wisner had actually softerned Liza up quite a bit years earlier, even before Alice Haining assumed the role. If you look at the course of most bad/bratty female characters on soaps throughout the years, the very popular ones almost always evolve into heroines. It's just the nature of the genre. It's necessary to sustain them for the long term. Characters that most come to mind are Bobbie & Monica, GH; Natalie, Brooke, Kendall, Greenlee & Gloria, AMC; Reva & Mindy, GL; Rachel & Blaine, AW; Ava & Lorna, Loving; Nina, Y&R; Lisa, ATWT; Brooke, B&B. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members juniorz1 Posted February 14, 2009 Members Share Posted February 14, 2009 Excellent post LoyaltoAMC! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Dr Neil Curtis Posted February 14, 2009 Members Share Posted February 14, 2009 If Walker doesn't want back in daytime and you need the character, yes you do replace her! You are Marcy Walker fan so i can understand where you coming from. I don't have a certain actor/actress i favor in daytime, I like them all. So if its Mary Beth Evans, Judi Evans, Jensen Buchannan (i am kidding about this one) or whoever to take on Liza and into their own directions i will accepted it. some characters are not replacable and some are. I never thought Clint Buchannan and Dorian Lord couldnt be replace, but they were and the actors that took on the roles made them their own. I doubt Liza is coming in any form, but if Mary Beth took on the role, she would a make a damn good Liza Colby Chandler. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Jonathan Posted February 14, 2009 Members Share Posted February 14, 2009 What if the character returning isn't female? What if it's Uncle Rob?! LOL! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DRW50 Posted February 14, 2009 Members Share Posted February 14, 2009 I think the writing for Liza definitely started going south with Broderick. As soon as they brought idiot Jake in, falling out of the tree, Liza was doomed. There was scene after scene of Jake berating her for her WRCW job. The one I most remember is when she went to get footage of the well Janet and Amanda were trapped in, and Jake ripped her to pieces. She then had to apologize to him, like a good little girl. When she finally got away from that pig and reunited with Adam, I thought, "Finally," but then Liza was stuck in a story where she had a miscarriage because of turbulence on an airline which everyone later found out Adam owned. The story was a big mess and then when headwriting changes happened, she went further into the baby obsession. AMC hasn't had the best recast track record, but even if they did, I'm not sure I'd want Liza to come back right now. Adam is marginalized and Tad and David are both hard to redeem right now. And I have too many bad memories of her and Jake to want to see them together again. Her other bed partner was Ryan, and Liza deserves better than being a Greenlee replacement the way she was a Gillian replacement right after Gillian died. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members SteveFrame Posted February 14, 2009 Members Share Posted February 14, 2009 I totally agree. I have learned over the years that any character is replaceable with the right performer and the right story. Over the years no one thought Robin Strasser was replaceable but she was successfully replaced twice. First as Rachel on AW and 2nd even as Dorian on OLTL. Elaine Princi won both fans and critics over when she played Dorian. Even Robin Strasser was a recast as Dorian. She did the impossible in making people forget the great Nancy Pinkerton who was wonderful as Dorian. No one back in the 70's thought Gillian Spencer could be replaced as Victoria Lord but she was. Same for Lynne Adams as Leslie on GL and John Colenback as Dan on ATWT. Both were replaced successfully so much so that when the originals returned to the roles they were never as popular as people liked the replacements better. So many times the mistakes made in recasting are the wrong performer was hired esp. in the instances of someone like Philece Sampler on AW who was totally wrong for the role of Donna. If she had been replaced by someone like Sofia Landon who filled in for Anna Stuart at one point things would have been much different. Sofia Landon filled in for a few days and people were writing in praising the great job she did. When replacing someone you just have to match the personality and the strengths of the actress or actor with the character. Not every role is right for every performer. Just look at some casting choices in the past. Some actors like George Reinholt made no real impression in their first roles but later got a role and became stars. I have heard at one time that when Erika Slezak tried out for AMC in 1971 that the casting director didn't think much of her at all. They passed on her. She then went over to OLTL and tested for Vicki and they loved her. I loved Marcy Walker as Liza. I loved the Liza of the 80's a whole lot more than I ever did the later Liza though. Alice Haining was totally wrong for Liza and the way she played her. Alice Haining was a good actress but the writing for the role changed so much at the same time as the look of the character. It was too much at once. Also Marcy Walked has a screen presence that Alice Haining didn't have for the role. It was just a point of an actress not being the right fit for the role. Later as Angel on ATWT, Haining sparkled. I do think Marcy can be replaced as Liza - just needs the right actress. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DRW50 Posted February 15, 2009 Members Share Posted February 15, 2009 Sorry to go OT, but who was Lynne Adams' replacement on GL? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members EricMontreal22 Posted February 15, 2009 Members Share Posted February 15, 2009 When pratt came on there were odd hitns of Brooke returning for xmas. But nothign came of them of course. i REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY would go insane and have so much renewed faith in ABC Daytime if it were Brooke "I think the writing for Liza definitely started going south with Broderick. As soon as they brought idiot Jake in, falling out of the tree, Liza was doomed. There was scene after scene of Jake berating her for her WRCW job." Wasn't Liza brought back under her? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DRW50 Posted February 15, 2009 Members Share Posted February 15, 2009 Yes. The writing for Liza was good for that first year, until Jake fell out of the tree. I think my favorite part of that story (and it's been ten years so my memory may be playing tricks) was when Jake and Liza were going to leave town and go sail away on his fricking boat, and he told her he didn't want her to work, but if she had to work to support him while he stayed on the boat, that was OK with him. What a sweetheart! Mid-1996/early 1997 was the start of a very rough patch for AMC. I don't think the show has ever been quite the same. I guess it was Disney taking over ABC. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members You're Soaking in it Posted February 15, 2009 Members Share Posted February 15, 2009 It certainly was at least a by-product of Disney's takeover... As talented a director she is, I think it was more specifically a case of Francesca James taking over - from Felicia Behr - as Executive Producer. FJ's vision for AMC was just more eccentric and, as a result, often uneven: darker / artsy-er / edgier .... FJ was open about her involvement in guiding storyline. She took the credit / blame for Maria sleeping with Dimitri and the infamous Erica baby-napping... "out there" events that I'm pretty sure wouldn't have ever happened under Behr's watch. Though the fall-outs and pay-offs were well written, I found the catalysts for such storylines difficult to digest. I feel it was even worse when it was FJ and McT. (Camille Hawkins & insemin-rape, anyone?) Broderick seemed to really get Liza when the character returned. The pairing of Broderick & Behr was a match made in heaven for All My Children. It was all too brief. Trigger-happy, Disney-fied execs very hastily fired Behr as part of their efforts to shake things up. It was a case of "if it aint broke..." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Desertrose Posted February 15, 2009 Members Share Posted February 15, 2009 Actually it was Erica Slezak who replaced Gillian Spencer as Vicki, not Dorian. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members SteveFrame Posted February 15, 2009 Members Share Posted February 15, 2009 It was Barbara Rodell and she became very popular as Leslie. **************************** Sorry about the mistake on the mix up of Dorian and Vicki. I knew that just typed the wrong name. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DRW50 Posted February 15, 2009 Members Share Posted February 15, 2009 Barbara Rodell...thanks. That name is familiar. Was she on another soap? Was she the Leslie who was there when the character married Stanley Norris? Maybe AMC could bring her in for a guest part, if she's still acting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members All My Shadows Posted February 15, 2009 Members Share Posted February 15, 2009 She played Joyce Colman (Lisa's husband's ex-wife) on ATWT in the 70s and early, early 80s. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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