1 minute ago, DeeVee said:

I don't think she was a star before GL, that happened after she left.

But her casting is an interesting story. Frank D. told it on The Locher Room.

He and Melina knew each other growing up. Their parents were friends. When she was auditioning, she ran into him and told him, "Hey, guess what, I'm auditioning to play your wife on the show!"

So possibly their on-screen chemistry came from them knowing other when they were growing up.

Thanks, that’s interesting. The wrong casting and the Eleni story would’ve been so bad. They did a good job finding someone who was innocent and guileless but also projected maturity so Frank didn’t seem like a creeper.

I saw Rick Hearst’s Locher reunion with Sonia Satra and he said he and Melina always remained close too. (Side note I came across an old Sonia Satra interview where it came up she was super private about her personal life and she had dated/lived with Monty Sharp for several years, and apparently she and Monty were together over a year before anyone knew and Rick Hearst was pissed at her for not saying anything because they were close haha)

9 minutes ago, GL95 said:

They did a good job finding someone who was innocent and guileless but also projected maturity so Frank didn’t seem like a creeper.

There was a short time when they tried to make Frank and Sam a thing, and it came across as EXTREMELY creepy.

We have frequently speculated on here why Frank D. had such a long career on GL. He was a good looking guy, but did not have much of a screen presence or much chemistry with his pairings. Clicking with Melina probably saved his GL career.

His casting story is also very interesting. He was originally supposed to play a Bauer. They were trying to create a new branch of the Bauer family. He was going to play the oldest brother. The attempt flopped, so they created the character of Frank for him instead. The reason the Coopers are Greek American is because he is.

2 hours ago, GL95 said:

Thanks, that’s interesting. The wrong casting and the Eleni story would’ve been so bad. They did a good job finding someone who was innocent and guileless but also projected maturity so Frank didn’t seem like a creeper.

I saw Rick Hearst’s Locher reunion with Sonia Satra and he said he and Melina always remained close too. (Side note I came across an old Sonia Satra interview where it came up she was super private about her personal life and she had dated/lived with Monty Sharp for several years, and apparently she and Monty were together over a year before anyone knew and Rick Hearst was pissed at her for not saying anything because they were close haha)

I never knew she was with Monti Sharp. I would say they should have tested them on the show but we see what happened with Alan-Michael and Gilly.

2 hours ago, DeeVee said:

There was a short time when they tried to make Frank and Sam a thing, and it came across as EXTREMELY creepy.

We have frequently speculated on here why Frank D. had such a long career on GL. He was a good looking guy, but did not have much of a screen presence or much chemistry with his pairings. Clicking with Melina probably saved his GL career.

His casting story is also very interesting. He was originally supposed to play a Bauer. They were trying to create a new branch of the Bauer family. He was going to play the oldest brother. The attempt flopped, so they created the character of Frank for him instead. The reason the Coopers are Greek American is because he is.

I think Frank being a likeable background presence with the other Coopers and various characters helped too. I always imagined he never really asked for salary increases or other demands, was willing to take cuts, and was a company man.

Other than Melina the only woman he had chemistry with was Sherry Stringfield.

I think the real surprise was his lasting to get to the Eleni pairing as nothing they threw at him up to that point seemed to gel.

In addition to Frank D being a mediocre actor, watching in 1992 Frank Cooper is such a sad sack mix of no business acumen while trying to run multiple businesses, too much pride to take badly needed money from anyone including Nadine who truly owes him, and repeatedly losing detective work because someone he’s close to turns out to be the culprit (Nadine/Blake). Currently he’s living off the found (stolen really but stolen from a thief) money of Jenna’s he found in the alley despite Eleni/Nadine/Harley all offering him money. (The not taking A-M money I get but the stubborn pride but resorting to sketchy money instead is pretty clearly doomed.)

I’m up to the brief Fletcher/Vanessa pairing and it’s pretty funny how I am pretty sure this is never referenced again once it ends.

I’m up to December 30, 1998.

*What a dreary, dismal 1998 Christmas and New Year's!

In a very snowy Chicago, Hart gets to Cassie’s empty hotel room and sees info on the train she’s taking written on a note. He calls the train station and they tell him that Tammy went ahead and her sister Reva picked Cassie up, so he heads back to SF, but unfortunately the snow is so bad and the roads are closed so he’s stuck. We then see Cassie get into a car, thinking it’s Reva, but realizes the driver is Dinah in a blonde wig! She asks why she has Reva’s car, but Dinah said it’s a rental and Cassie is confused about what’s happening. Dinah starts driving and tells Cassie that Hart knows the truth about being the father of her baby, and Cassie is surprised and eventually says she is meant to be with Hart. But Dinah says that Cassie needs to disappear and leave SF for good. Dinah then gets into an accident and drives off the road! They’re fine, but the car is stalled and won’t start. As they’re arguing, Cassie starts to go into labor! Cassie calls Hart’s cell and says she’s in labor, and just as she’s saying where they are, Dinah snatches the phone out of her hand and hangs up. Hart starts driving out against the cop’s orders, and Dinah thinks Cassie is faking labor, so she gets out of the car and says she’s walking to find help and Hart can rescue Cassie since that’s what she really wants. That’s how the 12/23 episode ends and we then see Jerry verDorn wishing the audience a Merry Christmas with all the crew and their families LOL. What a Merry Christmas we’re having in Springfield this year of 1998 (not!). The next episode, Dinah has second thoughts about leaving Cassie, so she returns. She eventually helps Cassie deliver her baby in the car, just as Hart arrives. Hart/Cassie hug with their baby as Dinah watches from the backseat, who later leaves the car and cries alone (12/24).

Meanwhile, we see that Teri picked up Tammy and took her to her apartment. Alan then arrives and is surprised to see Tammy there. Teri said she got a call about an abandoned girl at the train station, so she saved her. Teri starts to braid Tammy’s hair and Alan mentions Annie used to do that with Tammy.

On Christmas Eve, Reva gets Abby to help her get into Josh’s hospital room so she can get him home. Josh refuses to go because he’s afraid he’ll hurt her or the children because he’s not sure what’s wrong with him. Later that night, Abby and Rick (dressed as Santa) comes to the Lewis house and gives Marah/Shane gifts. Teri arrives with Tammy and tells Reva that Cassie got held up, but sent Tammy ahead. Reva is worried, but tells Teri she’s the reason Josh isn’t home with his family for Christmas, but Teri says Reva’s the one who should be locked up instead, given her crazy conspiracy theories about her. Teri then leaves and Abby tries to cheer Reva up. At the hospital, Josh has a flashback to a sweet moment with HB and it pushes him to be with his family for Christmas, so he leaves the hospital and shows up at the house. Reva/Josh have a tearful reunion of sorts and then the Lewis family decorate the tree together. Teri goes to the hospital to see Josh, but finds an empty room and then accidentally gets locked in his room. She starts screaming for help, but given it’s Christmas Eve, the hospital has a skeleton crew and no one can hear her, leaving her alone all night.

Selena tells Drew she found her daughter, which makes Drew happy. I guess I didn’t realize this before, but apparently Drew never knew she was adopted, so when Drew finds out Selena’s daughter wasn’t told she was adopted, she gets upset and says she would hate her parents for that, which makes Selena sad and hesitant to tell her the truth.

On Christmas Eve, Ross comes to visit the boys, but makes a little joke about the toys Ben bought for the boys. Ben decides he should go and leave them to enjoy Christmas together without him. Blake talks him into staying, but Ross suggests he’ll go to the Spaulding get-together with the boys, leaving Ben and Blake to have a romantic evening together. Ross and Blake say Merry Christmas to each other sweetly and he leaves. Ben and Blake then make love and spend the evening together.

Meanwhile, Phillip and Harley host several people for Christmas Eve (Lillian, Alex, Alan, India, Vicky, David, Buzz, Selena, Susan, Jim), with Beth later arriving with Lizzie. Drew shows up (not sure why she’s invited haha), and Selena’s plan is to tell her the truth that evening (but she doesn’t). Ross then shows up and talks to a happy India. Susan tries to find ways (by lying) to get Harley and Jim together during the party. Harley makes a little speech about being with all their loved ones and everyone starts singing Silent Night just as Rick and Abby walk in and joins them.

Hart/Cassie/Dinah somehow make it back to SF safely with the baby in tow. They go to the Lewis house and Reva/Josh get to meet the baby. Josh apologizes to Cassie about what happened previously and vows to figure out what’s wrong with him. They ask if they’ve named the baby and they haven’t even thought about it. Dinah can’t stand it and leaves, but Hart follows her outside and she says that should be her baby with him instead. Hart says he’ll always be thankful to her for helping Cassie deliver the baby and hugs her. Inside, Cassie tells Reva what happened and how Dinah held her hostage. Reva says Hart will dump Dinah for Cassie and she needs to tell him what Dinah did, but she doesn’t. Cassie and Hart talk and he says he has to be there for Dinah while she goes through her plastic surgery but otherwise he wants to be with Cassie. She doesn’t like that and says it has to be all or nothing, so she packs up the baby and goes to Cross Creek to recover and bond with the baby, while Hart takes Dinah home (blah).

Bill goes to visit Josh and finds a terrified Teri there instead and gets her out of the room. He helps to calm her down and she then invites him to dinner at the Towers one day to thank him. This is getting a little weird, are they going to try and pair Bill and Teri? Teri goes to the Lewis house and tells Reva/Josh that she’s no longer pressing charges and he won’t need to stay at the hospital. She leaves and Reva is confused by her 180 and assumes she’s hiding something. Reva/Josh, now on the same page about Teri, go to Frank and said they want Josh re-admitted to the hospital so they can get his new test results back. While packing up their things, Josh is triggered by his shave kit and Reva goes through the contents and he freaks out about his aftershave. She says there’s nothing to be worried about, and puts some on herself to prove it. She’s then under the drug, being very obedient and doing what Josh suggests (like find Frank funny, to which she laughs at everything Frank says). Josh has figured out it’s the aftershave that’s making him weird and they run a test on it at the hospital. The results come back positive for the drug, which Frank tells them is the same truth serum drug they gave Ken. Meanwhile, Annie visits Alan and lies to him that Josh/Reva are accusing him of being involved in Josh’s odd behavior. While he leaves to get changed, she puts the drug bottles in his safe, framing him as the person owning the drug that Josh was on. On her way out, she kisses Alan and they wish each other a happy new year. Alan privately thinks to himself that he was reminded of Annie with that kiss.

It seems as though Jesse/Drew/Michelle are actually living in the same apartment unit now (they never really established that before), and while the three of them and Bill are hanging out, Danny comes in and grabs Michelle and kisses her in front of all them. Jesse rages and they break the guys up, and Danny says he and Michelle are lab partners in class, which upsets Jesse because Michelle never told him. Alone, Danny tells Drew the reason he kissed Michelle was to show Jesse’s jealous reaction and assumes that he did the same thing to Mick and was capable of killing him. Danny pressures Drew about the truth until she cries and runs away, and then we see a mystery man named Dietz tell Danny that he’s dragging his feet and the ‘boss’ is giving him 48 more hours to figure out the killer or else all the ‘kids’ (Michelle/Drew/Jesse/Bill) are dead. Meanwhile, Michelle tells Jesse this was the second time Danny has surprised her with a kiss and he gets angry. Later, Jesse tells Bill his plan is to leave town, to lure Danny to him and keep him out of Michelle’s life. He makes Bill promise not to tell Michelle until it’s over. Jesse later tells Michelle he got an art gallery gig in NYC and needs to leave, but Bill will take care of her while he’s gone. When Drew finds out, she breaks down crying and doesn’t want Jesse to go, telling him she loves him and she doesn’t want to die. He tries to convince her this is the only way, to make Danny think he killed Mick so the girls are safe. Later downstairs, Drew confesses to Danny that Michelle killed his brother Mick! She says he was hurting and abusing her and she got scared and hit him with the rock.

India, the grifter, and Ross spend time together on Christmas Day and India finds Ross’s checkbook and realizes he has more money than she expected. Meanwhile, Holly visits Blake and sees a nearly naked Ben and gets mad that Blake/Ben are together, which leads her to drink. Holly threatens Blake that if she keeps this up, the Stalker might come after her for prioritizing Ben over her kids. Later, on NYE night, Ross and India stop by to see the kids and Ross overhears Blake telling Ben she loves him. He then oddly suggests that the four of them go out together on NYE at Millennium to get to know each other and make it seem like a ‘new normal’, where there is no resentment. The party does not go well, as Ross does a toast to Ben/Blake’s new relationship, which comes across as jealous and pompous. Blake calls him out on it, and he admits the real truth, that he hates each of them and hates them together, and thinks they’re both the most self-absorbed people he knows (ouch!). He then throws his glass, takes India away and kisses her.

After Christmas, it’s time for Susan and Jim to go back home, but Susan begs Harley to let her stay for a few more days. Harley sticks to her guns and says no.

1 hour ago, DRW50 said:

I think Frank being a likeable background presence with the other Coopers and various characters helped too. I always imagined he never really asked for salary increases or other demands, was willing to take cuts, and was a company man.

Another possibility is they created his character especially for him and then they grew a whole family around him. If they let him go, they would have had to admit they were wrong.

2 hours ago, GL95 said:

I’m up to the brief Fletcher/Vanessa pairing and it’s pretty funny how I am pretty sure this is never referenced again once it ends.

With very good reason.

Interestingly enough, I just caught part of an episode where Fletch is clearly jealous of Chelsea dating Frank. I'd seen other eppys where it looked like something was brewing between Chels and Fletch...but actually seeing him be jealous of Frank is a little sad. And gosh, they really did throw nearly everyone at Frank.

2 hours ago, alwaysAMC said:

India, the grifter, and Ross spend time together on Christmas Day and India finds Ross’s checkbook and realizes he has more money than she expected. Meanwhile, Holly visits Blake and sees a nearly naked Ben and gets mad that Blake/Ben are together, which leads her to drink. Holly threatens Blake that if she keeps this up, the Stalker might come after her for prioritizing Ben over her kids. Later, on NYE night, Ross and India stop by to see the kids and Ross overhears Blake telling Ben she loves him. He then oddly suggests that the four of them go out together on NYE at Millennium to get to know each other and make it seem like a ‘new normal’, where there is no resentment. The party does not go well, as Ross does a toast to Ben/Blake’s new relationship, which comes across as jealous and pompous. Blake calls him out on it, and he admits the real truth, that he hates each of them and hates them together, and thinks they’re both the most self-absorbed people he knows (ouch!). He then throws his glass, takes India away and kisses her.

Wow...I can't believe Ross ever took her back.

29 minutes ago, P.J. said:

With very good reason.

Interestingly enough, I just caught part of an episode where Fletch is clearly jealous of Chelsea dating Frank. I'd seen other eppys where it looked like something was brewing between Chels and Fletch...but actually seeing him be jealous of Frank is a little sad. And gosh, they really did throw nearly everyone at Frank.

That triangle was happening early in my viewing from June 1990 on and it was prime FF time for me. I knew nothing about Chelsea but knew I had no interest in Frank/Fletch competing over a woman.