Gordon Russell's Work on OLTL

[EricMontreal22]

And O'Shea (but, you're right) Though I do remember her scheming a bit--WOST had an episode from 1980 or 81 I think I saved somewhere where she worked at a gym and was classic Tina scheming...

[Vee]

I think just youth fodder at best. I remember seeing some episodes around Bo and Didi's wedding where he was, like, a paramedic. He got his head in the Peabo Bryson opening for a bit. No clue when he left.

Agnes wanted Robin for Cathy. Robin said no; I don't recall whether this was before or after the disastrous Christina Karras stint at AMC, but I think it was before - Agnes gave her Christina, and she hated it and then became Dorian. Robin's detailed all this in some print interviews available online. It's interesting to think what would have happened to the show if she had been Cathy.

I recall that Dorrie Kavanaugh(?) was the Cathy who went nuts and had Megan by Joe, I think, though Jennifer Harmon seemed to pick up the baton well - Kavanaugh had a few memorable bits on DS herself. You could tell what kind of Cathy she'd be.

I seem to recall reading about a bit of flap surrounding the whole Lana thing and Brad's role, and this was way before he raped Karen.

[Scotty]

OLTL expanded to 45 minutes on July 23, 1976 and to 60 minutes on January 2, 1978.

[EricMontreal22]

Poor Jackie--though I've always loved everything I've seen of her on OLTL

OK Karen was Larry's COUSIN right? Was that ever addressed? I know that in real life of course it's an odd, semi-taboo (I know a couple who married and, true to soaps, found out after they were cousins! but they stayed together). I was flipping through the 1998 coffee table book and they mention that Larry's family objected tothe fact, it sounds like, that she was his cousin (though they say distant cousin--but to me it sounds like they'd be direct cousins...)

[Paul Raven]

Josh did not survive into the 80's.

Laurence Fishbourne played him 73-76,Todd Davis in 77.

He was reintroduced in 85 played by Guy Davis.

Ed and Carla didn't seem to get anything in the way of a story until Jack Scott came along in 78 and shook up the Hall marriage.

[EricMontreal22]

Now we have to figure out when the Kevin birth episode was... LOL (Daytime to Remember didn't put full original air dates on their AMC and OLTL episodes, by the time GH eps were on they smartened up and did)

[DRW50]

Eric, Lela Swift, a major director at RH, was a major director at DS. I think someone else was involved too.

When I say change I mean the sharp move from social relevance to the attempt to make a supercouple with Tony/Pat, then on to phasing out the Woleks and the Craigs, bringing in the Vernons, focusing on the "others" like Marco, Edwina, Karen, who all formed a sort of core family of their own.

[Scotty]

It was sometime in 1976.

[Vee]

But Larry and Karen were stars well into at least the mid-'80s, as was Jenny. Anna and Vinnie faded out in the late '70s and early '80s, however, and Wanda became a talk-to if she wasn't already. And there were only two Craigs - Jim and Cathy. The Siegels were long gone by then, though; they iced Tim and Dave Siegel, Eileen went off to Florida, and Julie followed. Dorian's first casualty, other than Carolyn Stoddard, of course.

I quite like what I've seen of Pat, but I guess I'm twitchy knowing the politics after the fact. And I've heard murky things about the longtime cast's relations with Courtney, at least RSW and ES. And Clint Ritchie.

[TC]

I can't speak to this in the same way someone like SteveFrame could. There were huge cultural shifts going on at the time. On soaps this started with AW's Rachel, who among us Jews, was largely interpreted to be Jewish, a minority character, a pushy wannabee princess that everyone either loved or loved to hate. As jews I can say we totally embraced the stereotype. It helped that she was well-written. In retrospect the quasi-Jewess biblical bitch opened so many doors for other minorities on soaps or so it seemed. Running up the back was a little show called One Life to Live that had real colored people, people who were less white WASP than us and it was fun! It was real!

By the time AW was becoming old hat we could switch the channel to OLTL. In my case the (by then we said BLACK) babysitter/ nanny was already doing that. Most of Carla's charade was over by the time I understood what was going on but I got it mostly because I tried to pass for WASP or French Canadian. Watching OLTL bonded me with another minority. Then Sandra (the nanny) and I watched as Katrina's life fell apart which of course led to the baby switch. That's what happens when you're a prostitute. Other soaps had them but not with this kind of follow through. We thought Brynn Thayer was so pretty! And that guy who played Brad was so hunky. I felt kind of funny when Brad went to jail and got hit on by other guys.

NONE OF THIS HAPPENED ON OTHER SOAPS.

I won't get into the Karen thing except to say that I cried.

In a sense I was lucky when it came to soaps. Back then we lived out in suburbia (Pierrefonds - aka Rock bottom) and had to go to school in shifts until the new school was built. It meant I went to school early in the morning and was done by 1PM.

So yes, I was corrupted from an early age.

[Scotty]

We were talking about Cathy Craig....here is a list of the actresses who played the character:

Catherine Burns (1969)

Amy Levitt (1970 to 1971)

Jane Alice Brandon (1971 to 1972)

Dorrie Kavanaugh (1972 to 1976)

Jennifer Harmon (1976 to 1978)

And, after being on the back burner for a number of years, Jim and Anna Craig were gone by 1983.

[DRW50]

Dorrie was Phyllis Wicke, right? IMDB also says she played Martha McKee on RH. That was the newspaper woman Jack had a fling with while he was having issues with Mary.

I can see where people might have been upset about what happened with Lana. What was Brad's exact role? I know he used her and strung her along.

I've heard Jackie Zeman was very good in that role, and of course was rewarded for it with her GH role.

[Scotty]

Even though he was largely wallpaper by then, Michael Storm remained on contract as Dr. Larry Wolek until 1992.

[Vee]

But first they replaced Doris Belack - still kicking today, I believe, doing tons of TV I see her in, and one of many OLTL stars to do voice work for Rockstar Games in Grand Theft Auto IV - with some scrub to play Anna near the end. Whatta indignity. (Incidentally, Tim Adams/Ron Walsh also has a prominent and hilarious role in GTA4, and Connor Paolo/Travis, Starr's boyfriend was a student in Rockstar's teen game Bully)

My understanding was people felt, and rightly so, I guess, that Brad drove poor Lana to her death.

[DRW50]

I didn't even know Anna lasted that long. Did they just give up on Anna after Doris Belack left or were they already done with her even before then?

I wonder if they would have kept Jim on if Nat Polen hadn't passed away.