2 minutes ago, j swift said:

One last thought from Donna's introductory scene - I really liked Jennifer Runyon's Sally. 

 

I am more familiar with Mary Page Keller's performance because that was the period that I watched the most, but in re-watching this scene I admire Ms. Runyon's take on the character.  Runyon's Sally is spunky and had the chutzpah to spare with Donna.  Keller's Sally was a good heroine/damsel-in-distress but she lacked some of the spark that made connected Sally with her history as a troubled teen.  It is akin to DAYS Hope wherein later writers forgot her subversive nature as a teen and only wrote her as sometimes sleuth and misbegotten Mom. 

 

My interpretation was that Donna's disapproval of Sally was motivated by snobbery and protecting Peter, versus any real animosity toward her.  Sally's time with Caitlin was written as he was a bad boy and she was this sweet and innocent girl.  To me, Keller's Sally lacked the wit and self-assurance to battle Donna on her own.   However, if I remember correctly, Sally had already been married, she went through a rebellion period, and she wasn't always nice to those Hobson boys.  So, writing her as a wilting flower forced to choose between Peter and Caitlin was a bit of a character change for such a powerful young woman.  In hindsight, I wish they had stuck with bratty Sally. 

Mary Page Keller was great as Sally but I LOVED Jennifer Runyon in the role.   

On 9/14/2020 at 12:28 PM, Neil Johnson said:

So when Vicki Hudson hooked her claws into Jamie, I thought it was a little creepy.  Especially, since the age difference was never mentioned in any of the dialogue.  They just started pretending they were the same age.   

Not only was Jamie's age in suspended animation, but he also seemed to have forgotten any of the lessons he learned from being in a triangle with Blaine and Sandy.  One would think that after his history with Blaine, Jamie would have learned to listen to his mother when some new vixen claims he fathered her baby.  Also, in the creepy-but-never-mentioned file, he dated Vicky's aunt Nicole back in the day. 

41 minutes ago, watson71 said:

 

I never thought about this til Halloween 1989 when Cecile returned to the show.  They had scenes with Cecile, Vicky, and Donna.  Both Cecile and Vicky were married to Jamie, but Cecile was always a contemporary of Donna in the same age bracket. Cecile was clearly a decade older than Vicky, as was Jamie.

 

 

 

It's ridiculous how the writers forgot Cecile's background -- calling her a social climber and a gold-digger.  Cecile was more of an aristocrat than anyone in Bay City.  She was the daughter of a French count, a French citizen, an heiress, and only moved to the US around 1978.  I wonder if anyone ever told Nancy Frangione about the history of the character she was playing?   Good Lord.   

 

Cecile was originally the same age as Jamie and Dennis, but when Frangione took over the role, the character aged, even though Jamie did not.  Still, I wouldn't say she was in the same age bracket as Donna.  Just my opinion.  

 

 

Edited September 16, 20205 yr by Neil Johnson

20 minutes ago, Neil Johnson said:

She was the daughter of a French count, a French citizen, an heiress, and only moved to the US around 1978.  I wonder if anyone ever told Nancy Frangione about the history of the character she was playing?   Good Lord.   

 

Wasn't her real father Felicia's ex, Louis St George? But even if she came from a good background, she was more likely to marry for money than for love.

51 minutes ago, j swift said:

Not only was Jamie's age in suspended animation, but he also seemed to have forgotten any of the lessons he learned from being in a triangle with Blaine and Sandy.  One would think that after his history with Blaine, Jamie would have learned to listen to his mother when some new vixen claims he fathered her baby.  Also, in the creepy-but-never-mentioned file, he dated Vicky's aunt Nicole back in the day. 

Jamie never learned a lesson in his life!  For clarification Jamie was in a triangle with Cecile and Sandy.  Jamie and Blaine were long over before she got involved with Sandy.  Unless I’ve forgotten them getting back together before Richard Bekins left. 

2 hours ago, j swift said:

No wonder Peter was so screwed up.  Reg is talking about the new beginning with his grandson and completely ignores any reference to Peter (or Peter's son with Britney (which maybe wasn't Peter's but Reg didn't know that for sure), or Scott, or even his great grandson Stephen.)

 

Frankly that whole scene being an argument about whether it was worse for Michael to lose his unborn son vs for Reginald to lose his unborn grandson and have that as the climactic issue that finally killed Reginald was gross to me. The harm Reginald did Donna is what should have been the focus, followed by the cascade of damage to Victoria, Marley, Peter, Mary, the McKinnon family, and probably a bunch of other people I can't think of (did he kill both Zane and Sally?). "I could have had a son!" should not trump "You damaged your existing children and grandchildren!"

On 9/15/2020 at 10:53 PM, Neil Johnson said:

 

It's ridiculous how the writers forgot Cecile's background -- calling her a social climber and a gold-digger.  Cecile was more of an aristocrat than anyone in Bay City.  She was the daughter of a French count, a French citizen, an heiress, and only moved to the US around 1978.  I wonder if anyone ever told Nancy Frangione about the history of the character she was playing?   Good Lord.   

 

Cecile was originally the same age as Jamie and Dennis, but when Frangione took over the role, the character aged, even though Jamie did not.  Still, I wouldn't say she was in the same age bracket as Donna.  Just my opinion.  

 

 

One of my favorite scenes in AW history.  Donna being snarky and eliteist.  "Her legs are too short..."  :-)

What's ironic is that Donna used Cecile to come between Sally and Peter.

 

Once Jennifer Runyan left..and the following 2 recasts changed the character of Sally...it seemed like Sally's function in the Donna/Peter/Cass orbit fell to Cecile....since Cass and Peter were both interested in Jennifer Runyan's Sally (both characters started around the same time]

9 hours ago, Soaplovers said:

What's ironic is that Donna used Cecile to come between Sally and Peter.

 

Once Jennifer Runyan left..and the following 2 recasts changed the character of Sally...it seemed like Sally's function in the Donna/Peter/Cass orbit fell to Cecile....since Cass and Peter were both interested in Jennifer Runyan's Sally (both characters started around the same time]

 

Sally went out with Gil a few times before she got engaged to Peter. I thought the irony of Donna ruining Peter's engagement to sweet reformed Sally only for her to realize she had matched him with pernicious Cecile was a delicious escalation. If Donna had had anything other than class against Sally I think Cecile and Peter would have been just more of the same. 

 

I didn't feel like Mary Page Keller's Sally was a damsel all the time. She had a sense of humour about a lot of things and she did run her own life (even if marrying David was a bad idea). 

On 9/17/2020 at 6:43 AM, ScottyBman said:

One of my favorite scenes in AW history.  Donna being snarky and eliteist.  "Her legs are too short..."  🙂

 

It must have been a shock for longtime NBCD fans to see Anna Stuart play such a bad girl so well, several years after her nearly six-year stint as the sweet Toni Ferra Powers on TD.

Yes, Anna was great as Toni, but she owned Donna from her very first scene on AW ... the perfect marriage of actress and character. And she got more beautiful as she grew older!

4 hours ago, teplin said:

Yes, Anna was great as Toni, but she owned Donna from her very first scene on AW ... the perfect marriage of actress and character. And she got more beautiful as she grew older!

 

Yes! She's still gorgeous to this day. ☺

On 9/19/2020 at 2:31 PM, amybrickwallace said:

 

Yes! She's still gorgeous to this day. ☺

100%

For you long time viewers, why do you think Donna was the only member of the Love family (not counting Vicky and Marley) that caught on with the viewers? Reginald, Nicole and Peter were long gone by the time I started watching. 

23 minutes ago, amybrickwallace said:

For you long time viewers, why do you think Donna was the only member of the Love family (not counting Vicky and Marley) that caught on with the viewers? Reginald, Nicole and Peter were long gone by the time I started watching. 

John Hutton's Peter Love was interesting and somewhat popular  The recasts and writers changing Peter's personality really ruined the character.  I liked all 3 Nicole's.  I never understood why Lauri Landy only lasted a few months.