Kate Collins as Natalie =

But for some reason I ALWAYS preferred Robin Mattson as Janet.

I think they were both good as Janet (in their own ways). Yes, RM's Janet was better as a longterm character, but Kate brought great humor.

I think they were both good as Janet (in their own ways). Yes, RM's Janet was better as a longterm character, but Kate brought great humor.

Very true!

Very true!

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Wait, ABC picked her over Kiberd? I thought Collins wanted to leave which is why Melody "girl from Flash Gordon don't know her last name" came in. And she was SOOO boring and non Natalie, though I did enjoy her blind story when terrorized by Carter Jones but again it wasn't a very Natalie story.

Wait, ABC picked her over Kiberd? I thought Collins wanted to leave which is why Melody "girl from Flash Gordon don't know her last name" came in. And she was SOOO boring and non Natalie, though I did enjoy her blind story when terrorized by Carter Jones but again it wasn't a very Natalie story.

Yes, she chose not to renew.

The Kate Collins v. James Kiberd story is infamous at this point. The amazing chemistry onscreen did not translate to off. Kiberd and Collins did not get along. It became a, "if she is staying, I'm out," situation.

So Felicia Behr is all her might (and let's face it, for the most part, Behr saved AMC), turned to the fan mail. Whomever received the most mail would stay. Whomever did not would go. It did not help that at this time Kate was beginning to show her age. She was no longer the beautiful vixen of yester-year. I am sure a certain level of sexism/ageism was at play.

When Collins came back from vacation, it was announced that Kiberd would stay and that she would go.

Fans have always been quick to point out that in all of Collin's subsequent returns as Natalie's ghost, she never interacted with Kiberd.

I think that it was so sad that AMC picked Kiberd. Look at how quickly they ran out of storyline for him. By 1995, he was a glorified extra, playing sounding board to Hayley, Jack and Janet. He was no longer the leading man. He could not get out of the "Dillon" sphere of storylines, whereas Collins seamlessly interacted with so many other parts of the canvas.

A highlight of Collin's run for me will always be Natalie's friendship with Donna. Two women, so different in character and upbringing, bonded through so many hardships. When Donna left for RI to help Emmy, it was that postivie girl/girl relationship that I knew I was going to miss most. It was sad that Donna's subsequent PV visits would go from pure joy (Nat and Trevor's Wedding) to tragedy (Nat's funeral).

Oh wow--I knew they hated each other but not that it was a "he leaves or I go" situation--couldn't they just have broken up the couple? (Granted, I knwo they were huge fan faves, but with Melody it never worked). That said, I'm not sure how AMC woulda used COllins by the late 90s (which says more for the increasingly sad state of ABC and AMC then her).

IO agree Behr, despite some fans feeling AMC was never quite the same after her era, did save AMC with her turn around (and she knows the show--she was an associate Producer back to the early 70s), but I think actually using the word saved (OK, I just did again, but) is a bit overstating things--AMC had slipped by the late 90s but it wqas still doing pretty healthy ratings and (arguably) creatively speaking. It needed a pump, which Behr gave it, but it wasn' tin the state OLTL suddenly found itself, not to mention a number of other shows. But man I wish she could come back.

I guess Kate felt a little differently about those scenes with Trevor in the freezer than the rest of us did.

I guess Kate felt a little differently about those scenes with Trevor in the freezer than the rest of us did.

LOL! I could sense she REALLY enjoyed those scenes! Ha!

HA she prob woulda enjoyed them even more if Kiberd had returned for them... It's too bad--Trev and her really had great chemistry and were the kind of couple you rarely see on soaps anymore (I guess it's often true that actors who don't get along have good chemistry...) I do wish Kate would return even if I have mixed feelings about her treutrn as Janet--I never felt they really delved as deeply as they should have with Amanda and her's relationship (of course that was under Pratt right, who often had good ideas that would be executed within the space of about a week, ending with a violent scene and then the characters forgetting it ever happened--which come to think of it sums up his Melrose Place too, where I admit it worked).

Yeah, well for starters, I haven't cared for Kate Collins' returns as Janet. Just too weird for me. I loved her as Natalie and Janet round one, and I'd have preferred back from the dead Natalie over this bizarre incarnation of Janet. I found her kind of annoying actually, it was just too out there. But it's a shame that she and JK didn't get on, though i assume you're probably right in your assessment of how she'd have been treated had she stck around. I mean, look at Julia Barr. Brooke and Natalie both, I really wish Erica had her rivals (over 50!) still around to stick it to her every now and then.

A significant tally mark on the + side of Melody "Speed Zone" Anderson's stay, the Christmas miracle of restored site.

Oh, I loved every minute of her as Janet. I guess I just really love female soap characters with mental problems. LOL

Melody was just way way way too milquetoast. And frankly NICE Natalie always still had SOME bite to her, even when she settled down. I can only imagine when they decided to recast they consciously moved her in that direction, but, it didn't work (as much as, again, I did like her "blind lady in distress" Carter Jones story which I'm still terribly upset isn't online whatsoever).

Wasn't real Natalie in the house when Carter set it a fire, and then when Trevor carried her out it was Melody? Maybe he just carried out the wrong person.

Edited January 6, 201115 yr by EricMontreal22

Melody was just way way way too milquetoast. And frankly NICE Natalie always still had SOME bit to her, even when she settled down. I can only imagine when they decided to recast they consciously moved her in that direction, but, it didn't work (as much as, again, I did like her "blind lady in distress" Carter Jones story which I'm still terribly upset isn't online whatsoever).

Wasn't real Natalie in the house when Carter set it a fire, and then when Trevor carried her out it was Melody? Maybe he just carried out the wrong person.

No, I believe he carried KC out of the house. The first time we saw Melody was with bandages on her eyes, lying in a hospital bed.

Melody was just way way way too milquetoast. And frankly NICE Natalie always still had SOME bit to her, even when she settled down.

You're right.

Can you picture Melody's Nat as the woman who tried to kill her old geezer husband -- so she could be with his son -- by basically (excuse my language) f*cking him to death? I think not.

No, I believe he carried KC out of the house. The first time we saw Melody was with bandages on her eyes, lying in a hospital bed.

Correct.

I remember all of that well. Trevor definitely carried KC out of the burning house.

Edited January 6, 201115 yr by Pine Charles