AMC: Tuesday, 10.27.2009

[Jonathan]

Apparently the actress is doing well; she's made appearances on Mad Men. Not sure how her acting has evolved. I liked the idea of Becca also, but it needed a better actress and a stronger story.

[Jonathan]

Did Jake move out of the Martin house? It looked like Jake and Amanda were in an apartment. Is that right?

[Steve]

I tried to give Marisa a chance too but the character has no depth. Unfortunately she's made JR just as boring to watch as she is.

ICAM that Marisa is the new Becca and I hated her too!

[Cheap21]

at least Becca had nice hair. Her curls were to die for and Alicia Minshew had nothing on her. She also had Greenlee to antagonize her and Leo to play off of. Marissa has no one fun in her story

[EricMontreal22]

Becca was an Agnes creation when she briefly returned for her last stint--I think it was one of her misfires, my suspicion being (as I've said befoe here lol) that she wanted to create a modern "good girl" heroine like Tara in the 70s had been and arguably Dixie in the 80s. THe thing is it didn't work--partly cuz she was so bland but partly because soap heroines liek that no longer really worked (her foil Greenlee also created by Agnes became much more popular--in a way like how Erica did in the 70s).

I hated Becca, and I actually think the Marissa actress appeals tome more as maybe does the original character. But they've done SOOOO little with her character, and what they've done has been so weirdly random and plot driven (she hates one parent one day, likes one the next, she was an erotic massueuse who is also a pretty good almost lawyer, she likes both Scott and JR but has no interest in Scott after JR gets sick, so she gets married, etc) that her character has been a huge waste. Still I think she's not unsalvageable, though with other wasted characters on the canvas I'm not sure if it's worthwhile (she's goin to LA right?). Certainly I'd liek to see a story with true momentum and motivation for her over another Kendall/Zack pairing.

(and now I just realized why that actress on Mad Men looked so familiar! Funny I found her so unappealing on AMC but I love her as Suzanne on Mad Men--course this is 10 years later, and acting on primetime, especially primetime with such controlled writign and directing as Mad Men is quite diff. Is she the second major character on MM played by an AMCer after the Trey guy?)

[Cheap21]

The only way to salvage her is with a recast. Brittany Allen is just too damn bland to be interesting. They should dothe usual recast and take the character in a different direction. Too bad Marcy Rylan from GL is pregnant bc the show could have snatched her up for the role. Maybe in a few months, they should consider bringing her over

[EricMontreal22]

I hate to say it cuz it would be such a disaster under Pratt, but AMC seems lacking right now in terms of a young, manipulative character (I dare not say slut though that's what I was thinking)--I mean we have Annie but she seems to interact a bit older and nearly everyone is on to her zaniness now, Amanda no longer fits that description, Babe only did VERY very briefly before they made her and her mom awe shucks good ol' gals. Marissa has every reason to be deeply resentful, manipulative, because ofher background we know she'll use sex to her advantage, etc

[Jonathan]

I think the "good girl" archetype would've still worked at that time and even now. I just don't think the actress was that appealing and I don't remember her having chemistry with a lot of the guys. Who was she supposed to be related to on the canvas? That was another problem. I don't think she had any real family ties. They should've made her a Tyler or a Brent or a Kennicott.

Speaking of Kennicotts, who was that one "good girl" heroine that Joey aka Jake was in love with back in the late '80s early '90s? The one who Emily Ann fought for Joey's affections. She was also boring. OK, so I guess the "good girl" didn't work in that situation either but I still think it could work.

[R Sinclair]

Katie Kennicott. I remember liking her for some reason. When Emily Ann was going psycho threatening her, I remember flipping through Episodes magazine to see if the character was in the Ins and Outs section because I didn't want her to go. I think I was in sixth grade (grade six, for the Canadians on board! ). So that was VERY early 1990's. 1990-1991 to be exact.

[Jonathan]

I didn't think she was a very strong actress. I knew once that storyline was over, that she was a goner. I wish AMC would revisit these families. It wouldn't be that difficult to make Bailey, for example, a Brent or Kennicott.

[Vee]

If you absolutely have to write for Marissa - and I don't see why - the only solution is to write her out, fire Allen, wait a couple months, then do a Mia Korf/Kassie DePaiva and get someone completely different to reintroduce the character.