Wisner Washam interview

[LoyaltoAMC]

Agreed. It had more to do with them being so identified with super couples than with the race issue. Another thing at play was that FMB was trying to consolidate and define a fractured,undefined canvass, and neither Cliff nor Angie was connected to the main families at that time. He was no longer connected to the Cortlandts or really to anyone else on the canvass and was tough to write for. He became the all-purpose doctor. She kind of floated without Jesse, though effort was made to add her to the Natalie/Donna orbit. These two already islanded characters were furthered islanded by being in a relationship, and it was hard to mine any conflict.

[EricMontreal22]

That's a good point about lack of family (didn't Cliff have a sister who was killed on the show or something?). I'm sure race played a small part initially with some viewers still (I'm always shocked at how slow tv audiences in general were to truly be fairly comfortable with black/white interacial relationships), but it was a double edged sword, for sure.

That said FMB and crew seem to have more or less managed to do what they set out to do--clean up the canvas without losing (in fact they ultimately gained) viewers, so... (The Frye Family was brought in after Angie left, rigth? Did her mom ever get an exit? I remember her on Loving...)

[Sedrick]

I can admit with no shame that I was a huge fan of McTavish's first stint at AMC...at least the first few years. The Will Cortlandt murder mystery...Natalie in the well...Tad's return from the dead and his several highly suspenseful near-misses with Dixie (which pushed the show again to #2 and the closest it ever came to challenging Y&R for #1 since the latter took permanent residence in the top slot)...the show was can't miss on a daily basis.

Then things suddenly took a turn for the horrible in 1994-95, culminating in the aborted wedding bombing plot that forced the show to scrap several already filmed shows and trash long-term story already written. At that point a terrible ugliness consumed the show, and for the first time I began to tune out.

Marlena DeLaCroix wrote an excellent on-point review of McTavish's work back in the early 90's, way before Megan's bubble burst with other critics and viewers. Marlena called her out on the nasty conflicts and mean-spirited dialogue and characterizations, particularly the daily scenes featuring the then extremely popular Maria/Edmund/Brooke/etc assorted love affairs and rivalries. I remember Marlena said that Megan had once revealed in an interview that in her spare time she loved playing puzzle games, and Marlena then brilliantly concluded that McTavish was writing AMC as if it were one big puzzle game of interchangeable parts and characters...she simply switched characters around from mate to mate, in scene after scene, with the constant through it all being people yelling at one another or otherwise being angry and ugly to one another. One of Marlena's best reviews IMO.

[EricMontreal22]

Would love to read that--even if I still think 92, 93 and much of 94 were golden (I was reading the 25 anniversary coffee book's storylines for those years--it ends with the tornado--and remember just how many endless stories I really liked).

[EricMontreal22]

Even with the comic gold appearances of Rosie O'D as Naomi the maid/flower seller??

[You're Soaking in it]

I wonder what Naomi would be like today...

[EricMontreal22]

I dunno, but I do really miss Winnifred, as silly as it is to admit...

[Jonathan]

Have you read part 3 already?

[Pine Charles]

That's not silly....

I miss her, too!!

What's the deal? Did Adam fire her or did she just disappear to the Martin attic?

[SFK]

No, she and Coral are in D.C. making a vow before God and man.

[You're Soaking in it]

Well, then Naomi just has to be there.

[SFK]

You know it!

Wasn't Naomi supposed to be Winifred's cousin, just pitch-hitting for her? I liked Rosie's second appearance at the flower shop with Liza a lot better than the first one with Erica at Adam's. I like Rosie, all things considered, but she has a tendency to lay it on a bit thick. I thought she was pretty hammy and annoying. Once on the The View she compared herself to Geraldine Page and BOY did I beg to differ. In fairness, she meant in terms of phyiscal type (still a stretch) but I thought that was a pretty bold comparison nonetheless.

[DRW50]

Nurse Gayle comes to mind, minus the David obsession.

[EricMontreal22]

Agreed re Naomi's appearances. But wasn't Winnifred marriedat some point? When Colby first came on and had that annoying super sweet 16 wasn't she friends/rivals with Winnie's daughter (who was played by the much better actress who was abandoned quickly)? Or was that Winnie's niece? In which case was she Naomi's daughter? Have we ever seen Coral? And where has shebeen now that Erica hasn't had a home Poor Coral. (While they're at it, bring back Mrs Valentine please. Though some might not enjoy that the new Black character is a maid...)

And whoah, what? How is Rosie O physically the same as Geraldine Page?? I mean aside from neither being "traditional beauties" I suppose, I always think of Geraldine as physically rather frail...

I mean, right, I would so confuse this for Rosie:

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