Suds Report: JILL LARSON back on contract!!

[Adam]

This is fantastic news... I doubt it means we will see her any more than we do at this point, but it shows the show is committed to keeping the character of Opal around. I love it. We need her with Myrtle, Phoebe, Brooke gone. We need her type of character. I could do without the whole forecastinbg gloom an doom though, but I think that's a Pratt thing, so hopefully that will diminish now that she is gone. Great news!

[marceline]

Good for Jill! It's so rare to see some genuinely smart decisions made by ABC, this is like a star in the east.

As for the blind items: a foot fetish? Really? Come on.

[All My Shadows]

I know, right? It gets harder and harder to believe that these things have even a smidge of truth in them.

[Khan]

I could totally see DL as David Vickers' mom, the infamous Emma Bradley. I realize Emma is supposed to be deceased, but I think there is a way you could get around that fact. (This is soap opera, after all, lol.)

I'd (re-)introduce Emma as the widow of a recently deceased board member at Llanview Hospital, replete with fully grown stepchildren. (Never know when you might need new characters and families to keep the show going.) Dorian, of course, would want to (selfishly) rush to her side and console her (after she (Emma) has spent most of her marriage living abroad) in yet another vain attempt to be reinstated @ the hospital. However, Dorian would be completely unaware that this woman was also David's mother.

Emma's past, and the reason why David and Spencer believed her to be dead, finally emerges as David welcomes the birth of his and Amelia's daughter, Megan, a sort of tribute to his friend, Viki, who also accepts his request that she be her godmother. (Long story, but, "previously on ONE LIFE TO LIVE," David's efforts at bonding with his half-brother, Matthew, awaken his 'paternal instincts'; and since Dorian, herself, is too old to have children, Amelia agrees to be the child's surrogate mother.) Megan's birth happens prematurely at a hostage situation, staged by Allison Perkins, at the launch party for Jessica and Natalie's new online magazine; but both David and Dorian, of all people, end up as the heroes in the crisis -- Dorian, for delivering Megan while trapped in an elevator with Amelia (who, unfortuantely, dies from complications from pre-eclampsia); and David, for pushing Allison through a window to her death as she is about to shoot Viki. Emma, who'd been avoiding David the entire evening, finally reveals herself to him as she learns she is to be a grandmother.

Naturally, David is livid to learn his mother has been alive all this time, but also confused as to why she would allow him and Spencer to believe she had died. Emma explains she had no choice (but to fake her death). As it turns out, Spencer plotted to murder her when she got wind of his plan to come to Llanview and pass himself off as Asa's illegitimate son; so, she faked her death, then fled to Europe, where she met and married her last husband.

From there, of course, you have Emma and David slowly forging a bond over their mutual adoration for little Megan. Dorian continues to worm her way into Emma's heart, but when Emma bonds with Viki over the baby, as well as over Charlie, whom the board hires to redesign the hospital, that's pretty much shot to hell. (If Mel is back, and alive, then Dorian's insane quest to become head of Llanview Hospital again puts their re-burgeoning relationship in jeopardy. If she's with David again, then that's in jeopardy as well.) Eventually, Dorian attempts to get even with Emma, whom she irrationally blames for all the current miseries in her life, by proving David to be an unfit parent, thereby making Megan a ward of the state. David himself goes over the line to keep Megan, kidnapping his daughter from her foster parents and taking off for parts unknown (and because Viki reluctantly helps David skip town with the baby, that puts her and Charlie's relationship in jeopardy, as well as Emma's relationship with David and friendship with Viki, as she would resent the fact that David confided in Viki and not her). Eventually, Dorian has a complete emotional breakdown and ends up committed (albeit briefly) to a sanitarium, like her two sisters before her.

(Also of note: at the launch party, we are introduced to Emma's stepson, an openly gay attorney and environmental activist who (has stayed away from Llanview mostly because of his father's disapproval of his lifestyle and) becomes, over time, a spoiler for Kyle and Fish's relationship.)

[SFK]

Haha, LOVE it, DL, TW, and RS in the same scene, what a HOOT. I could totally see her as David's mom, which would also give her instant history with Bo and Renee. And I love the idea of Dorian *finally* losing it, I wonder if RS would resist that at first, but that's the kind of material she needs. For reals.

ETA: I know we're just playing pretend here, but the idea of whirlwind DL/Emma Bradley hitting Llanview has gotten me all excited. Or maybe it's this strong ass Starbucks coffee. But seriously, DL is the kind of actor who would do so well at OLTL, the kind of actor they would just love to write for.

[DRW50]

The idea of Dorothy on OLTL is great. Now I wish they hadn't killed Pamela off, because Jill and Christine Jones worked together on AW. Then when they brought Dorothy back as some weird Opal hybrid version of Gwen Frame for the 25th anniversary, Christine also returned, briefly, as Janice Frame tried to will Rachel into not fighting to stay alive.

Didn't it seem like Jill's Opal was harder-edged when she debuted? I've heard that. Her Ursula was hard-edged, with just a little dithering. I thought Jill said somewhere she initially played Opal like Dorothy had, and slowly adjusted the character to what she wanted.

[Gray Bunny]

Ten bucks says Frank Dicopoulos

[NYC123]

I am SOOOOO HAPPY that Jill is finally back on contract. Well deserved!

[DRW50]

Look at this. It's Jill back in 1985 in a bit role as a reporter covering the Kim Hughes arrest (ATWT). It's at about a minute and 30 seconds, or a little more. I never knew she was on ATWT.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VKYqWLITWfY

[SFK]

"... indicted on this serious charge-uh... Henry Strause-uh..." I'm getting a kick out of her almost OTT use of clear speech. You know, recently I've found myself "actor hunting" for stuff just like this when I watch old soap clips on YouTube, you never know who might pop up in an U/5 role or in the background.

[DRW50]

I do that too. It's odd because I've had ATWT and Jill Larson on my mind these past few weeks and there they are, together.

My favorite part is when you see Jill and the other reporters being crushed by the door Hal closes on them. You can hear her saying, "We have First Amendment rights!!" or whatever.

She would have been a perfect fit for the Snyders, but I guess this was ABC's gain.

Now I'm imagining Opal's reaction if she ever saw Rosanna.

[DavidEvanSmith]

Jill Larson's grand return is well deserved! And for her 20th anniversary, no less!

Khan, amazing story!!! I wanna see it on-screen!