Liz Hubbard mentioned today on The Locher Room that one of the actresses who played one of Lily’s daughters (I assume Faith) was fired because she got heavy and the show wanted to do a ballet story with the character.  Liz suggested they keep her and change ballet dancing to tap dancing because the actress could tap. It didn’t work, and she was fired and replaced with a thin actress who (I’m paraphrasing) was like a 45-year old woman in a girl’s body. Martha laughed. 

Ashley Greiner was fired for weight gain?  AFTER the diet pill storyline?  For (ugh) Valentina de Angelis?  I don’t recall ballet being a plot point at all. 

 

Shaking my head...so sad.

1 hour ago, Soapsuds said:

 

 

and who is the producer Liz and Martha trashed?

 

Sounded like Goutman. At least the reactions were consistent with Goutman.

 

There was much praise for Scott Bryce and deservedly. I may have misunderstood, but while Hunt Block was in the role, there were thoughts of pairing Lily and Craig? 😬

 

It would be lovely if Liz wrote a memoir. She has so much wisdom to share. Listening to her, it's like a professor teaching philosophy. 

 

What a great chat. Their relationship should be lauded. 

 

Alan mentioned another ATWT reunion soon. 

Yes they wanted HB Craig paired with Lily which Martha said yuck. She said Craig was always a father figure to Lily.

Martha and Liz got a surprise when first Luke gave them a shout out in the chatroom.

That story about switching out the thicker actress for the thinner one is vile. I always knew that weight was at the root of it, but hearing the specifics just reminds me of the myriad reasons why I hated the show's final decade.

IIRC, Douglas Marland didn't seem all that upset when Elizabeth Hubbard left THE DOCTORS, where she had portrayed Dr. Althea Davis.  So, it appears the two never saw eye-to-eye at either show.  Yet, IMO, no one wrote for Hubbard, or for Lucinda, better than Marland.  And I say that as one who will adore Hubbard until the real world stops turning.

I always suspected Goutman and possibly Sheffer wanted to pair Craig and Lily, yes. Didn't Goutman actually do it or tease it near the end with the irregulars (Beck and Lindstrom)? The show was completely alien to me by then on far more levels.

6 minutes ago, Khan said:

IIRC, Douglas Marland didn't seem all that upset when Elizabeth Hubbard left THE DOCTORS, where she had portrayed Dr. Althea Davis.  So, it appears the two never saw eye-to-eye at either show.  Yet, IMO, no one wrote for Hubbard, or for Lucinda, better than Marland.  And I say that as one who will adore Hubbard until the real world stops turning.

On The Doctors Marland did nothing with Althea. Until he finally wrote her out. He wrote amazing stuff for Lucy. It sounds like they were friends. But i got the vibe their friendship was complicated. 

34 minutes ago, Khan said:

IIRC, Douglas Marland didn't seem all that upset when Elizabeth Hubbard left THE DOCTORS, where she had portrayed Dr. Althea Davis.  So, it appears the two never saw eye-to-eye at either show.  Yet, IMO, no one wrote for Hubbard, or for Lucinda, better than Marland.  And I say that as one who will adore Hubbard until the real world stops turning.

 

I didn't figure Hubbard to be the type who would be at all self-conscious about how she appeared onscreen but it seems as if she may have been concerned about how Lucinda was seen by others.  It would be interesting if she truly preferred the earlier iteration of Lucinda considering that the character had been on the canvas a full year before she became anything other than marginal.  I guess Hubbard didn't like Lucy being an interloper in one of her daughter's relationship and an obstacle in the other daughter's relationship.  Like you said, Lucinda was far more complex under Marland's pen than in the year and some change that she had been on the show previously.

 

As much as people complain about Eileen Fulton's performances, from what I read about Lisa's "bad gal" days, she leaned into it, rather than shying away or complaining and got a pop in the jaw by an overzealous fan as a sign of just how much she embraced her characterization.

 

I have to watch the whole livestream tomorrow. Did La Hubbard name-drop Paddy Chayefsky? Speaking of memoirs and tell alls, her relationship with him had quite a few paragraphs in his biography.

2 hours ago, antmunoz said:

Liz Hubbard mentioned today on The Locher Room that one of the actresses who played one of Lily’s daughters (I assume Faith) was fired because she got heavy and the show wanted to do a ballet story with the character.  Liz suggested they keep her and change ballet dancing to tap dancing because the actress could tap. It didn’t work, and she was fired and replaced with a thin actress who (I’m paraphrasing) was like a 45-year old woman in a girl’s body. Martha laughed. 

Ashley Greiner was fired for weight gain?  AFTER the diet pill storyline?  For (ugh) Valentina de Angelis?  I don’t recall ballet being a plot point at all. 

 

Shaking my head...so sad.

 

It sounds like the ballet storyline was just a smokescreen to shake Greiner loose. It's a shame because I thought she actually had a resemblance to Kathleen Widdoes, so that Faith looked like she could really be Emma's flesh and blood.

Edited May 2, 20205 yr by DramatistDreamer

Liz also freely admits she always re-wrote her lines and ad-libed. She told a funny story in that interview with Alan that someone once told her they couldn’t believe she was still re-writing her lines on THE DOCTORS, and her response was, “Well, somebody should!”

 

I can imagine something like that driving someone like Marland insane. He wrote so much of his shows by himself and was often involved to the in every aspect of the writing. It probably worked his nerves to have an actress like Hubbard putting her own unique stamp on the material in ways he might not have imagined.

Edited May 2, 20205 yr by BetterForgotten

3 minutes ago, BetterForgotten said:

Liz also freely admits she always re-wrote her lines and ad-libed. She told a funny story in that interview with Alan that someone once told her they couldn’t believe she was still re-writing her lines on THE DOCTORS, and her response was, “Well, somebody should!”

 

I can imagine something like that driving someone like Marland insane. He wrote so much of his shows by himself and was often involved to the in every aspect of the writing. It probably worked his nerves to have an actress like Hubbard putting her own unique stamp on the material in ways he might not have imagined.

 

Unless it was a show like Curb Your Enthusiasm where performers are encouraged to improve, I doubt that any writer would like this-- I certainly wouldn't. If there are suggestions on re-writing dialogue, you should take it up with the writer, otherwise, say the line as it's written. It's actually bad form to do otherwise and I love La Hubbard.

By the way, I doubt Hubbard would've dared to do that in theater and certainly not with Paddy Chayefsky, who was known to be very strong-willed and domineering.

Didn't Doug write ATWT (and Lucinda ) for like 8 years?

For sure in that time there would be instances when she wasn't happy about the writing or particular plot points. Maybe she is focusing on those times and forgetting the good stuff...human nature to do that.

2 minutes ago, DramatistDreamer said:

 

Unless it was a show like Curb Your Enthusiasm where performers are encouraged to improve, I doubt that any writer would like this-- I certainly wouldn't. If there are suggestions on re-writing dialogue, you should take it up with the writer, otherwise, say the line as it's written. It's actually bad form to do otherwise and I love La Hubbard.

By the way, I doubt Hubbard would've dared to do that in theater and certainly not with Paddy Chayefsky, who was known to be very strong-willed and domineering.

Several GH writers (Pat Falken Smith for one complained publically about the ad libbing going on (Geary and Rogers, maybe others who followed their lead) .

The part about Marland is 41:20 into that video with Alan if you guys want to check it out yourselves. 
 

It does seem like their complicated relationship went back to THE DOCTORS. She said she once suggested that he write an ‘All About Eve’ type story on that show for her, but he wasn’t interested and only cared about “young love.”

I guess we know now why it was called the HUBBARD Squash.   

Here's the tub scene Liz got in trouble for. 

 

His dialogue needed some punching up..so I tip my hat off to Liz for making his writing pop.  He may have been good at plot, but his micro managing his script writers made the dialogue stilted