All: Favorite Mother/Daughter Relationships

[juniorz1]

I grew to LOVE Lisa Peluso in the part. But for me, the true Ava began and ended with Roya Megnot. I actually sort of viewed Ava as a completely different character at that point, though I do admit I actually found her far more entertaining. It helped that my grandmother loved her so much. I remember watching with her one day and telling her I didn't really like the new Ava and asking her if she did. She reminded me that it was the same actress who played Wendy Wilkins on Search For Tomorrow years before. Search was my grandmother's one and only soap- she faithfully watched it from beginning to end. So for her, seeing Lisa scheming again on Loving made the show feel like home. I didn't understand until 5 years later, when Marcy Walker joined 'AMC' (I picked it up after SB's cancellation).

Either way, I grew to love Lisa, but my memories of Roya were never erased. Frankly, I actually think that Lila Roberts on AW was Peluso's defining role.

And ITA that she needs to come back to daytime, stat! She'd ABSOLUTELY be an asset to any show she joined. She's a gem.

[DRW50]

It's a shame that Lisa's last role on daytime was a disaster (OLTL's mafia princess) because I loved her as Ava and as Lila. There are so many talented women daytime left behind.

[SFK]

Yeah, her opportunity on OLTL was wasted. I feel like OLTL, even moreso than AMC, was the perfect spot for so many talented AW and Loving/The City vets.

I'm not blessed with the abundance of Loving memories that Juniorz had, but he is dead on about the change in the tone of Ava despite the success of Peluso. Peluso felt more polished and not that Ava was ever dumb but Peluso seemed to have smartened her up, she didn't have that endearing naive vixen who makes mistakes inspite of herself quality. I also think that in terms of looks, Roya was a real find, one of those special darkly exotic soap actresses. Imagine if Amanda Setton's Kim and SMG's Kendall were the same character, compare and contrast the way in which they'd be depicted. I would also agree with Juniorz that Lila was more Lisa's signature role, even if not on paper. Like Marj Dusay's Vanessa.

"Lisa Peluso will return to play Ava very soon." That is hilarious, I never caught that but I do remember when she came back. That sounds like a very polite way of saying, "Now will all yall pressed [!@#$%^&*] stop blowing up our damn phone at this here studio!?!?"

[DRW50]

I remember some photos of Roya and other women in the Wild West outfits for some fantasy or dream sequence Loving did. Was that before she had left the show in 1988?

Oh, and I love the story about your grandmother liking Peluso because she remembered her from SFT. While the conventional wisdom is often that actors can never translate from one big role to another, it's easy to forget how often that isn't true. That was great your grandmother was so devoted to SFT. If they had paid more attention to fans like her, perhaps they'd still be on the air.

[Khan]

Over the years, I've come to appreciate the rapport between ANOTHER WORLD's Ada and Rachel. Ada always loved Rachel, but she didn't take any b.s. from her (or anyone else). And even though Rachel mellowed over time, that no-nonsense grit nevertheless carried over into her relationships with her own children.

Also, Helen Gallagher and Kate Mulgrew were/are so similar both in appearance and disposition, their on-screen mother/daughter relationship as RYAN'S HOPE Maeve and Mary, respectively, was lifelike to the point of being eerie. Watching the reruns on SoapNet, there's a uniqueness in their bond that's simply missing when Mulgrew's revolving door of successors were in the role.

[DRW50]

The biggest letdown with Maeve and Mary also happened to Maeve and Siobhan - they stopped giving mother and daughter scenes together, unless they were tedious recap scenes, like the agony of blonde bimbo Siobhan wailing snot-nosed to her mother about "Joeeeee." When Siobhan first started she had some incredible scenes with Maeve, some of the most complex and real ever for a mother/daughter on soaps.

You have to wonder what might have happened to the Rachel character if Constance Ford hadn't cared so much about the work and done so much to help Robin Strasser. I don't know if Victoria Wyndham also had her help, as VW was a seasoned soap actress, but she did seem very fond of Constance, as did everyone else in the Davis/Cory family.