Wow, scary that you remember that. I thought I was the one around here who needed help.

No comment.

Love Enid, always.

Who is that woman with Enid?

So Wilma loved and favored Natalie, right? She seems like a headcase even with Natalie. Is that the same actress who played Wilma later on?

I love the scene between Natalie and Ellen. Kathleen Noone is such a fine dramatic actress, even if she ended up just playing camp on all her later soaps. They don't have heroines like Ellen on AMC these days, although Angie does sort of have that vibe.

That woman with Enid was just a dayplayer.

I used to love Ellen and now that the show is moving to LA, Kathleen Noone might be able to return if Frons and Pratt weren't running the show. Angie has potential as a heroine but the writing for the past few years makes the "heroic" characters all judgmental hypocrites!

I scare myself that I remember this (LOL) but Natalie did mention Janet at least once long before Janet appeared. It must've been early 1986, around the time the show went on location for the big foxhunt at the Chandler Estate that would ultimately take the life of Alex Hunter. I remember Natalie mentioning to Jeremy and Erica that she had been on the phone with her sister Janet in Canada. Wisner Washam was the HW then. He was also co-headwriter with Agnes when Janet was introduced in 1991. The obvious intent was to create a spoiler for her romance with Trevor, and my guess is that Agnes or Wisner remembered what was probably just a throwaway line from four years earlier mentioning Janet, and voila, we got Janet!

Damn, do you have a great memory! I read an interview in Soap Opera Weekly years ago where Kate Collins said there had been a previous mention of Janet but even then I couldn't recall the exact scene.

Damn, do you have a great memory! I read an interview in Soap Opera Weekly years ago where Kate Collins said there had been a previous mention of Janet but even then I couldn't recall the exact scene.

I was such a rabidly crazy AMC fan back in the day, that I recall a lot of little things from that time period. I thought it was such a unique show, with some really great idiosyncratic characters that you wouldn't find on any other show, it never took itself totally seriously, and it had a very small town/Peyton Place-ish feel to it. I found the show almost magical in a way and was totally drawn to it. Other shows in that era might've been quirkier and taken more chances (OLTL, SB), had better production values (Y&R), and deeper writing (ATWT, AW), but there was just something different about AMC. I suppose every soap fan feels that way about the one show they hold dearest to their heart. Sadly, the show is just putrid at this point. Just utterly unwatchable garbage for me. I'm not a huge Nelson Branco fan, but I definitely feel the way he feels about the show. It has toally lost these elements that defined it and made it so special. It's lost its identity and has that "stink" about it that comes from rotting away before our eyes.

KN must have REALLY gotten tired of playing Ellen. Whenever soaps are mentioned to her in interviews, she always says that she'll only come back if she gets to play a bitch.

Yes, it's funny what things we remember. I probably couldn't tell you what was going on that day, but I'll never forget Dorian giving her address as 202 Lincoln Terrace, or Erica's Linden House on Lancaster Drive. (Of course they always fudge around with these things).

I miss that era of AMC too, people really take for granted how infinitely watchable a small town of people having to DEAL with one another is. Such great characters, not this wash of generic we see today.

Edited October 18, 200916 yr by SFK

AMC always had a lot of character and never took itself too seriously. It also had a strong identity, and a balance of characters. There were unquestionably good, decent people. They weren't "good" people who did horrible things but were OK because others are worse or because they sometimes felt bad about it. That is the type of character that someone like Pratt, or Frons, would probably sneer at.

They also had such fun characters, who still had a heart deep down.

I can see where Kathleen would have been bored with Ellen, and she did a great job as bitchy Claudia on KL. I just think there's something necessary about a character like Ellen, or like Brooke, at least before Brooke went on the vigilante path (although that never bothered me as much as what Tad did with Madden).

True true, and what I loved about Brooke is that she wasn't overtly nice really, LOL, she was far from sickeningly sweet, she was what I'd call a good, decent person who wouldn't hesitate to slap the taste out of your mouth if you came at her wrong. She really was the perfect match for Erica, she'd been young, needy, and a little promiscuous herself, but she grew up in a way that's taken Erica decades to do, she's still not there yet and never will be (that's what makes her Erica). Brooke had what Erica lacked in intelligence and maturity, yet she had a quiet appreciation for Erica's star quality and own brand of smarts.

Man, I will never forget the sight of Janet walking into Nat and Trevor's house for the first time, it took me and my grandparents a second to register that it was also Kate Collins!

Bring back JFAP!

In a way she reminded me of the witch who played Gloria's abusive mother--are there any clips of her?

I remember that story. It was like the movie Carrie. Gloria's mom was a religious nut and would lock her in closets when she was younger, forbid her from dating, ect.

YES! Those were the DAYS man! And damn, look how beautiful KC looks as Nat!

Remember when Janet got her makeover, she looked kinda good with that long brunette bob. I always think it's interesting that they went more the "identical cousins" route here when they could have retconned and made them twins. Far less believable, but so much more entertaining. That summer Janet held Hayley hostage, great television. I really didn't care for her latest stint.

And where the hell is Teresa Blake? Actually, I just looked her up on IMDb and someone wrote that she fell in love and had two great kids. Ahh, Gloria and the rice pudding... I guess Gloria was *somewhat* of a precursor to Annie (Gloria's crazy was more justifiable/better motivated).

How did they write out Angelique, does anyone remember? That was one of the most gothic storylines ever on the show. Helga wheeling her all catatonic/mute into the party in that old-fashioned wheelchair, that was so creepy.

ETA: the episode where they buried Anna Claire and played "Tears From Heaven" and Erica gave Gloria Mona's bible and then ran into Dimitri and they kind of reconciled, that could have been a stand alone primetime episode... SO good!

Edited October 18, 200916 yr by SFK

Bring back JFAP!

Only if played by Robin Mattson.

That was one of the most gothic storylines ever on the show. Helga wheeling her all catatonic/mute into the party in that old-fashioned wheelchair, that was so creepy.

Loved it!!!!

Only if played by Robin Mattson.

Why? Don't you like Kate?

I would have liked to have seen Kate playing a less crazy Janet.

I think Angelique just left town.

I really liked Gloria. I liked her accent, and that she was generally a flawed person who tried to change. She never seemed like another self-righteous meddler type. She also made you feel her emotions. I wish they could have done more with Gloria and Dimitri.

Awesome, and look at Ruth in the corner. LOL at someone stepping on Brooke's dress, and for a second there I thought that was the long-forgotten Vivian Taylor Roxbury, but I guess it's Livia. I do spot Taylor though, next to who must be Derek.

I definitely liked my Janets in the order in which they were received: 1) KC 2) RM 3) KC

Like I said, I really didn't care for Janet this last go round. I wish she'd been written/played more like when she first came to town if they were gonna make her nuts again. She was like a whole new character who I didn't really like.

Loved it!!!!

Why? Don't you like Kate?

I lke Kate and loved her last stint in AMC. The thing though is that her Janet is too over the top and cartoonish and I cant see her as a viable character on AMC. Kate as Janet is good in small doses appearing for a few weeks every so often, but nothing permanent. I think RM's Janet is a better fit for a Janet that can stick around. She's better at a redeemed Janet and her Janet was smarter and more calculating whereas with Kate, while funny and enjoyable, her Janet was a campy one note disney villian with little range and not much viable longevity