Gordon Russell's Work on OLTL

[TC]

Sorry about that last post. I'm still using VISTA and with my failing eyesight I have it at 200%. I had to type something and get normal characters.

[Y&RWorldTurner]

That Megan story shouldn't have worked, but somehow it did.

Jessica Tuck sold the hell out of what Rauch and then Gottlieb gave her.

[DRW50]

Does anyone know if the baby switch going on up to like 1982 or 1983 was partially because of Russell's passing? Did they need to pad it out because of the transition?

[TC]

OOOOOH England. My Lionheart

- Kate Bush

[DRW50]

That was the Rauch era to a tee, the best of their cast made so much out of what they were given, the show was powered through them. Jessica truly was phenomenal and in some ways I'm still somewhat surprised that such a quirky and strong character was at center stage on a Rauch show.

[Vee]

That's the missing element to that terrible story! Kate Bush.

I like when the show can incorporate wacky elements of its past into relatively realistic modern situations, which is why when I heard Mitch was holing up in an underground complex in the mountains for Feb sweeps, I so hoped it was Eterna. I also once wanted to see Todd and Blair move into Lion's Heart like the Addams Family, with all the foreboding of "what if this is just another step in him becoming like Victor," etc etc. Of course, today much of Lion's Heart Manor is parts of Todd's rape house, and he is Victor.

[TC]

I never understood why Antonio (remember him? thought not) was the only one who had spinning daggers in his eyeballs at that place.

OOOOH he's here again, the man with the child in his eyes

- Marty Saybrooke

[Y&RWorldTurner]

Gordon Russell was suppose to be transferred to GH before he died, I believe.

I wonder how he would have done under Gloria Monty's iron fist. He probably would have gotten fed up and left, like Douglas Marland and Pat Falken Smith did.

[Llantano Incorporated]

I think both Gordon Russell (and especially Peggy O'Shea) are vastly underrated and under appreciated- And I still feel that 1985-1987 was OLTL's TRUE renaissance- not Gottlieb's era which I now feel is vastly overrated and well, dreadfully boring in many ways- although the production design was AMAZING.

From the clips I have seen I think Brynn Thayer (jenny) was one of the most beautiful and interesting actresses daytime ever had. I love watching her.

[Llantano Incorporated]

Yes. Yes. YES!

I am a huge 80's OLTL fan and the key to the show's success were the actors and characters.

The storylines were essentially outlandish "good versus evil" tales with campy and outrageous villians. A life or death cliffhanger every Friday. Romance was really not OLTL's forte. It was simply FUN.

The actors- especially Tuck, Evans, and HUTCHISON!!! sold the hell out of every campy, outrageous drop.

I have never loved a show like I loved OLTL back then. Only Six Feet Under comes close.

And I loved that the females RAN OLTL. OLTL has/had the best female cast ever in daytime. (minus the younger actresses of today)

[DeeeDee]

That would be Y&R. (minus the younger actresses of today)

[Llantano Incorporated]

I would have put Y&R as #2

Y&R has some of my most favorite actresses ever- Kimberlin Brown, Jeanne Cooper, Tracey Bregman, Melody, and Brenda Dickson (sorry, I loved her).

[DeeeDee]

I would have put Y&R as #1, ATWT as #2 & OLTL as #3.

ATWT going off the air without Kathryn Hays & CZP having Emmy's is a crime.

[Khan]

In a way, I do, too. Karen left with Steve Piermont, right? I like to think Karen and Steve made their way to Canada and assumed new identities in order to escape the mob. There, they settled down (...more or less...) and raised two kids, a son and a daughter. Eventually, Steve became a restaurateur (sp?), and Karen became the wife and "P.T.A. Mom" of her dreams.

Now, here is where the story gets interesting.

Their daughter, Jenny, has graduated from medical school, and guess where she is about to begin her internship? That's right: Llanview Hospital, under the guidance of Dr. Larry Wolek, who has no idea that she is his ex-wife's child. Jenny also strikes up a casual friendship with Kevin Buchanan, back in Llanview and still reeling emotionally from his and Kelly's breakup. Kevin admits to Viki that he is attracted to Jenny, but finds her very hard-to-read. Viki, as well, senses that Jenny makes a point of keeping her emotions close to the vest...much like she, herself, used to do before she met Kevin's father, Joe Riley.

Meanwhile, Jenny receives an unexpected visit from her old college friend, Mary Karr. (Back at the University of Florida, it is explained, Mary and Jenny belonged to the same sorority.) Larry and Viki realize this is the same Mary who was switched at birth with Brad and Jenny Vernon's daughter. Jenny isn't pleased to see her old friend, though, b/c of something she learned while the two still were in college: namely, Mary worked as an "escort" (yes, just like her mother, Katrina) in order to subsidize her financial aid. Mary has looked up Jenny, though, because she is in trouble. Mary, several months pregnant, is on the run from her abusive pimp-turned-common law husband after he threatened to kill her. Viki inquires about Katrina; Mary explains she (Katrina) cut her out of her life once she discovered how she was getting by in college. (Mary had been busted for criminal solicitation, forcing her to drop out of school.) Jenny, looking down on her friend's sordid profession, says she can't blame Katrina, and refuses to help Mary even after Mary pleads for her baby's life. Fortunately, Viki, Kevin and others (including Todd, of all people) do help; and in time, Mary settles permanently in Llanview and goes to work at the Sun.

But, I'm getting ahead of myself.

Privately, Jenny feels guilty for refusing to help Mary out of her situation. Kevin picks up on this and basically goads her into helping her friend. Unfortunately, the timing couldn't be worse: the boyfriend - who, years ago, exposed Mary's secret life to Jenny - has been trailing Jenny in the hopes of finding Mary. When Jenny realizes she has unwittingly led him to Mary, she attempts to get in his way, and ends up getting shot. The boyfriend is arrested and carted off to jail (I want to keep him alive for future story developments). Jenny, sustaining a gunshot wound to the abdomen, requires a transplant of some kind in order to live. Larry attempts to contact Jenny's parents in order to let them know of the situation and find a possible donor match. When that fails, however, he personally travels to Canada...and comes face-to-face with Karen.

I'll try to sum up the rest of the story:

* Once Larry, Karen and Steve get past the shock and hurt feelings over seeing each other again, Larry explains Jenny's predicament to Karen and Steve. You can tell that Karen wants to rush to her daughter's aid, but Steve is too afraid that doing so will put their entire family in even more danger. Larry, frustrated, returns to Llanview, not realizing that Karen is following close behind.

* In the meantime, Mary gives birth to a boy, whom she names Marcello (or "Mark," for short). Mary sneaks her baby into Jenny's room at the hospital; Karen later walks in on the three. Mary is shocked to see her friend's mom, whom she had heard about but had never seen before. When Mary explains she named her son after Marcello Salta, Karen, flashing back to when she and Marco Dane switched her in the nursery with Jenny (Wolek)'s stillborn baby, realizes this is the same Mary Karr, but keeps that secret to herself. Later, after she is through with Mary and Jenny, Karen leaves Jenny's hospital room -- and runs smack into Viki. Viki puts two-and-two together and realizes she is Jenny's mom.

* Viki urges Karen to help her daughter by giving her the much-needed liver transplant, citing her own attempts at saving both Megan and Jessica's lives. Karen drops the first of two bombshells: she can't help her daughter, even though she is a likely match, b/c she is, in fact, HIV-positive. Jenny found this out when she was younger, and it was this revelation that led her toward medical school. Viki realizes now why Jenny is so driven in her work at the hospital, and why she reacted so badly to Mary being a hooker. Karen, though, is stunned to hear what had become of Mary; she and Steve decided not to tell their kids how she contracted the AIDS virus, saying instead that it was the result of infected blood during a transfusion!

* Unfortunately, Larry overhears Karen's confession, but is called away before he can confront her. Once he exits, Karen drops the other bombshell. She tells Viki she must convince Larry to be tested in order to see if he's another match. When Karen hesitates in explaining why, Viki figures it out: Jenny is Larry's, and not Steve's, daughter. Karen admits she was pregnant when she and Steve left Llanview. She tries swearing Viki to secrecy, but Viki won't go for it: they've kept secrets before, and the results were devastating. She tells Karen, in no uncertain terms, to come clean with Larry for their daughter's sake. But, Karen doesn't get her chance. Kevin overheard Karen admit Larry was Jenny's daughter. Out of concern for Jenny's life, Kevin takes it upon himself to deliver the news to Larry.

* Larry is too worried that Jenny will die to get angry at Karen. Once he is proven to be a match, however, and he saves Jenny's life, he lets Karen have it with both barrels for keeping their daughter from him all these years. Karen tries to explain how contacting him at all would have exposed her and Steve to danger, but Larry won't have any of it. Karen feels that, once again, she's made an absolute mess of things, so she tries to leave town. Jenny, however, convinces her to stay through her recovery. In the meantime, Karen finally listens to Viki's advice and comes clean with her daughter about her awful past and how she really contracted the AIDS virus. She isn't sure from whom, but she knows it had to have been during her days as a prostitute. (Karen also tells Mary about the baby switch.) At first, Jenny is furious her mother deceived her all these years, but comes around to forgiving her, as well as Mary. However, everyone stops short of telling her that Larry is her biological father, including Kevin, whom Viki had blasted for taking it upon himself to tell Larry the truth.

* Larry comes around to forgiving Karen, as well, to the point where, after several visits, Larry and Karen actually share a kiss...just as Steve walks into Larry's room.

* Jenny makes a full recovery; she and Kevin embark on a real, romantic relationship.

* Karen is tempted to stay with Larry, but it's Larry this time who tells her that as difficult as it has been all these years w/o her, Steve needs her more. Karen realizes that Steve is right, and together, the two return to Canada.

* Mary accepts Todd's offer to work as a reporter at the Sun after she almost endangers her life in order to write a story about "the life". By now, Todd is at his lowest emotionally, with Starr now living in New York with Cole; Jack and Sam living with Dorian at La Boulaie while Blair, the victim of a nervous breakdown, is at St. Ann's; and Tea no longer speaking to him after his machinations in keeping Danielle and Matthew apart result in Danielle filing a restraining order against her own father (with Tea's help). Therefore, Todd sees building a relationship with Mary and Mark as one more chance at redemption. But, once Mary learns all about Todd's litany of past misdeeds, will she have anything at all to do with him, or will she recognize a horrible pattern in her life and try to correct it by keeping her new boss at arm's length?

* We reach the point where Jenny and Kevin are set to marry at Llanfair. Steve and Karen return for the wedding, accompanied by Jenny's younger brother, Brian, who immediately takes a liking to Natalie (much to the chagrin of Rex, who can spot a slickster when he sees one). By this point, almost everyone except Jenny knows that Larry is her father, but now that information is in the wrong hands...namely, Dorian's. Dorian tries to blackmail Larry into helping her get back on at Llanview Hospital. However, on the day of the wedding, Dorian receives yet another visit from "Mel," urging her not to go through with this latest plot. This time, Dorian is convinced the right thing for her to do, but who should show up on her doorstep and overhear her talking to Mel's ghost but none other than Herb Callison! Now a judge, Herb is called in by Viki at the last moment to officiate over the ceremony after the original judge takes ill. He thought he'd stop by Dorian's for old times' sake, not realizing he'd stumble into yet another one of her schemes. What "Mel" can't accomplish, however, Herb can. Dorian goes to Llanfair to tell Larry she has decided to keep quiet about the fact that he is Jenny's daughter...but Jenny overhears everything. It ain't pretty.

[DRW50]

This sounds like great material, and very true to Karen. Would Stephen Schnetzer get to come back as Marcello?