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[NothinButAttitude]

See I didn't even know who he was until I googled him and noticed he was on Blue Bloods.

[Vee]

Oh, fine, twist my arm! The show's long gone now so I might as well tell it. I know I did on some version of the board, long ago. Mind you, this was many years ago and I was just a kid and stupid, so this is pretty OTT and nuts:

The idea, harebrained as it was, was predicated on Jason and Kevin Marler being identical, not just fraternal (I suppose you could have wanked it by having the family say, 'how did they turn out so alike?', but whatever). They would be SORASed and reintroduced as teenagers and we would discover they have a history of planning the typical 'twinning' sort of game - one twin pretends to be the other and so on. And of course, in classic soap fashion, one boy (Kevin) is good and the other (Jason) is "bad".

Bear in mind that this was long enough ago that Ross and Jerry verDorn were still on GL, and Marcia Cross had yet to make a career resurgence with Desperate Housewives. So the seed of the idea, for me, started with Cross - who, at that point, could not get arrested in Hollywood beyond a few guest spots on sitcoms - taking over the role of Carrie Todd Marler. It would play on viewer recognition of her as Kimberly from Melrose Place, having her come back and be the 'recovered' crazy ex-wife. And no, Carrie Todd wouldn't have DID anymore, but she would be a bit of a schemer, and begin insinuating herself into Ross and Blake's lives.

At the same time, the Marler twins would be up to their usual teen business. Kevin Marler would be romancing some nice girl - I can't remember who, but some legacy kid - while his brother Jason would be jealous of their love connection, and making all sorts of trouble for everyone, though he doesn't really mean it, until he does. In typical adolescent rebellion fashion, he would decide his parents are big fat phonies after their many break-ups and scandals of the past, and scheme to make their lives a living hell. He would then join forces with Carrie Todd, who would whisper poison in his ear to help him along. But over the course of the year, through a variety of twists and roundelays I never quite figured out, things would get way out of hand - Blake and Ross would separate, Ross would lose his job, the town would be scandalized and the Marler family would be humiliated and destroyed, torn apart, with Blake back living with Holly.

Eventually, good twin Kevin would be the one to discover that his brother had started their family's downward spiral into motion, and would confront him at a secluded cabin in the woods - maybe a family place. Drunk and brandishing a gun he would tear into him, and Jason would beg for forgiveness. One thing leads to another, a shot rings out in the night, yada yada - Blake, Ross and Holly show up, and there's Jason with a gunshot wound to the head. He has shot himself with Kevin's gun, he is in a coma, possible brain damage, no one knows.

So the year of all this sturm und drang would end with Kevin spending lots of time with his family at his bad, bad brother's bedside. Being the devoted son and brother, comforting a shattered Blake and Ross. Until, dunh dunh dunnnhhhh, the clock strikes midnight on New Year's, and we discover Kevin Marler watching old family movies, studying and mimicking his own actions and movements on videotape. Because, of course, Kevin is not Kevin - Kevin is Jason. Good twin Kevin shot himself, and a guilt-stricken, traumatized, unbalanced Jason took his place. In his tortured mind, it is his penance to finally be the good son. And no one knows.

And that would lead into the next year of story: Carrie Todd, who once had DID, would discover the secret, but Jason (who would not have DID, and be fully cognizant) would blackmail her into keeping silent. Then Holly would pick up the scent and begin sniffing around. And la dee dah! I had a lot of time on my hands in my sophomore year of college.

Edited February 23, 2015 by Vee

[Khan]

That's a great story, Vee. I'm not sure whether I'd want Carrie to return as someone so villainous...and I'd rather see Marcia Cross come aboard as someone related to Holly and Blake (maybe as some long-lost child of Stanley's?)...but on the face of it, yours is a very powerful, riveting story.

Edited February 23, 2015 by Khan

[Vee]

Eh, she wouldn't be that evil - the teenager would do most of it on his own and she would back out when it got too nuts. She would just be a typical schemer. Meanwhile, in year two, Holly would become the most active player in figuring it all out. I always loved Maureen Garrett. And of course, the good twin would have to wake up at some point and stagger into some public event.

[Khan]

I see your point.

[~bl~]

Marcia Cross as Emily Norris perhaps, Ken and Janet's daughter who grew up away from Springfield...

[NothinButAttitude]

What a total mind f*ck of a story but I love it. It's something that would keep me interested from start to finish and it uses history and all the characters. I really enjoyed the read, Vee.

[Khan]

That might have worked.

[NothinButAttitude]

I know Carl post the link of the YT account that has all the GL videos already but I had to post this promo by itself.

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This promo is EVERYTHING. Kim Simms slinging those long blond tresses! Get it, girl!

[zanereed]

That's exactly WHY they wrote Pilon's version that way. I think they decided to switch out Alan for Roger (since Michael Zaslow thankfully declined to portray Alan, as TBTB originally intended). As you said, the way that they wrote Alan with Pilon in the role certainly made ME want Alan to go to jail (and off the show). I don't think it was fair to Pilon, either.

Edited February 23, 2015 by zanereed

[DRW50]

Desperate Housewives ruined Marcia Cross for me. It's tough to watch her in anything now - season 2 of that show really is one of the most hideously written things I've ever seen on TV.

[Khan]

That's Marc Cherry's writing for you.

[heffer]

Unlike others, I didn't think Pilon's acting was THAT bad and he did have some of the CB Alan's mannerisms down (probably moreso than the Raines version). He didn't have Bernau's charisma in the character though. It was akin to replacing Larry Hagman as JR in DALLAS.

[Mitch]

I think DP would have made a great Alan...though a bit young ..I can't see him as anything then Marj's MUCH younger brother. I remember watching at the time and thinking why they didn't just write out Roger at the time and wait to see with Zaz..as it was ALAN that needed to be recast. Okay, Alex was gone at that time so I would have recast some coldish blonde woman as Alex and kind of bring them back to their glory...kind of a Jessica Langish actress (I thought that her character during "Coven," mixed with her character from Asylum (without the evil from one and the uh, nun of the other) would make a great Alex type an older woman who was not going to take any crap off of any man.

[Soapsuds]

Funny how you mention Dallas since he was on the show as Naldo Marchetta I didnt care for him as Alan. I thought he was miscast in the role. RR was the closest although at the end RR version of Alan became a joke.