I remember Brian Gaskill on both Models and AMC well. I loved him on the former and was pissed when he disappeared. As a junior high student I was mortified when he promptly showed up on AMC in flannel by the lockers, talking to hairy Anita about their class schedules. They looked so damn old and it was just embarrassing. I never took AMC's teen scene seriously for years other than TC Warner, and don't again today excepting a brief stint with Eden Riegel, Michael B. Jordan, Bobby Steggert, etc.

Another idea I have is that ratings growth could be as simple as David waking up from his coma. I could be wrong, but I think the ratings really started dropping after he "died." Also when the Hubbard story picks up again after Debbi Morgan's leave is over, that could also help. The show doesn't need a new writer coming in with a drastic operation -- whatever short term ratings benefit would come from some big plot-driven mess may not be worth it in the ratings in the long term, even leaving out quality considerations.

Edited January 11, 201114 yr by jfung79

LOL at "hairy Anita". I have pieces of an episode that survived on VHS where BG's Bobby is being a real ham in Michael Delaney's class with Anita eating it up and Shane McDermott Scott eating his heart out looking like a high schooler we'd all keep an eye on in this day and age. Those teens did nothing for me, though I suppose I didn't mind Kelsey, she and early Hayley had a similar take no b.s. attitude and roughness that is sorely missing these days. Kind of a Leah Remini thing, but like, not awful.

I remember Brian Gaskill on both Models and AMC well. I loved him on the former and was pissed when he disappeared. As a junior high student I was mortified when he promptly showed up on AMC in flannel by the lockers, talking to hairy Anita about their class schedules. They looked so damn old and it was just embarrassing. I never took AMC's teen scene seriously for years other than TC Warner, and don't again today excepting a brief stint with Eden Riegel, Michael B. Jordan, Bobby Steggert, etc.

Ugh they so wasted Seggert's talents (OK that could be said for most of the above ones). I dunno, I thought, while rather Afterschool special, Michael Delaney's classes were handled pretty well for a soap (where high school scenes rarely are a high point--witness some recent OLTL), but I do agree Gaskill and Hairy Anita (LOL) really didn't fit in. And yeah, I loved Kevin Sheffield and Kelsey's friendship (which of course disappeared as soon as Broderick was out and McTavish was in--I have my suspicions McTavish wasn't even AWARE of the character lol. But it is too bad--I think many people see AMC as the first soap to really have asuccessful teen scene--I don't mean the truly vintage stuff like Erica/Phil/Chuck/Tara (though that was a start) but more the early 80s stuff when we first really got scene in classrooms, etc.

LOL at "hairy Anita". I have pieces of an episode that survived on VHS where BG's Bobby is being a real ham in Michael Delaney's class with Anita eating it up and Shane McDermott Scott eating his heart out looking like a high schooler we'd all keep an eye on in this day and age. Those teens did nothing for me, though I suppose I didn't mind Kelsey, she and early Hayley had a similar take no b.s. attitude and roughness that is sorely missing these days. Kind of a Leah Remini thing, but like, not awful.

I think some of those scenes are in the stuff i posted a while back setting up Laurel's shooting by Kevin's brother. Early on they tried to make it seem like Scott was the closet gay character--and actually, while some of that story now feels heavy handed (I *loved* it at the time), that bait and switch element with it turning out to be Kevin is well done. I haven't checked that uploader in a couple of months--I should see if she actually got to the shooting scene. I never really bought Laura (I prefered her in the cabin with Pierce and Janet than as a student with Brooke) but I was a big fan of Kelsey and Kevin both (and I admit as a 17 year old just starting to come out I found some of the Kevin stuff hard watching with my mom particularly the well done re-programming therapy stuff with a well meaning Opal). Poor Opal sure has had a lot of people under her care suddenly go missing without a mention or exit scene...

Yeah, that ep has scenes of Phoebe and Brooke up at Pierce's cabin, Brooke's first time meeting him and Pierce having a nice little throwaway line about how nice it is to finally meet the girl who used to tool around on the back of Sago's motorcyle (and Brooke does her great little laugh). Meanwhile, Janet and flanneled Laura are hiding around the corner.

I had forgotten about Opal's role in the deprogramming stuff.

It was strange because I remember that when McTavish was there, even though they still rarely used Kevin, he did meet a cute waiter, and they started dating; he would joke with Kelsey about his relationship with the waiter, and I even remember him one time joking with her when they found some handcuffs, that he would use them on the waiter! I remember thinking, "Michael and his partner would never say that." Then he just vanished in the Holidays explosion. I know everyone said he must have died in there because he was never seen again, but I do remember seeing him somewhere in the melee. Perhaps he died of smoke inhalation like Sophie Burton on Hollyoaks. I don't know. Just pretend this is Kevin.

Yeah, that ep has scenes of Phoebe and Brooke up at Pierce's cabin, Brooke's first time meeting him and Pierce having a nice little throwaway line about how nice it is to finally meet the girl who used to tool around on the back of Sago's motorcyle (and Brooke does her great little laugh). Meanwhile, Janet and flanneled Laura are hiding around the corner.

Haha I loved Pierce number one (I always found it funny that he went on to have a relatively successful acting career considering why he was fired from AMC--to be honest I can't even remember the Pierce who came between him and Maxwell briefly). But it's always silly when soaps pretend characters have been hanging around forever---Pierce has always been in a cabin on the Tyler property or whatever, we just never saw him (I guess it's a bit like how we're now meant to believe Kish are still lurking around Llanview in their baby bliss).

I had forgotten about Opal's role in the deprogramming stuff.

It was strange because I remember that when McTavish was there, even though they still rarely used Kevin, he did meet a cute waiter, and they started dating; he would joke with Kelsey about his relationship with the waiter, and I even remember him one time joking with her when they found some handcuffs, that he would use them on the waiter! I remember thinking, "Michael and his partner would never say that." Then he just vanished in the Holidays explosion. I know everyone said he must have died in there because he was never seen again, but I do remember seeing him somewhere in the melee. Perhaps he died of smoke inhalation like Sophie Burton on Hollyoaks. I don't know. Just pretend this is Kevin.

Hah yeah that's what everyone said--that was only a month or two into McTavish's run wasn't it? I dunno, I get the feeling that someone behind the scenes was keen on dropping Kevin and he only really stuck around as long as he did due to Broderick or someone pushing for him. And right, he was seeing a waiter at the Valley Inn (how I wish we';d see the Valley Inn again--where this crazy yacht club in Pennsylvania came from I'll never know...)

Kevin lasted about six months into McTavish's reign. He vanished July 1998, she started in December 1997.

I do think Broderick had the main interest in keeping him around, sadly...McTavish seemed to want to create her own young group, although she did write for Gillian (I thought she did a much better job with Gillian than Broderick had but then I got disgusted when McTavish had her sleep with David for Ryan's bail money, it was such a really rotten throwback to when they had Dinah basically forced to sleep with Roger on GL - McTavish seems to like to break a woman's spirit).

Clips of the deprogramming stuff used to be on youtube--the guy who posted them was a big Luke/Noah fan and he posted videos of previous gay soap characters--Billy Douglas as well of course But they seem to be long gone...

I have another surviving ep where there is this OLTL's Ford-like gratuitous scene of Pierce #2 shirtless doing bicep curls alone in his apartment before someone comes to his door. Looking back, these were the Lucky Vanous (sp?) Diet Pepsi/Coke commercial years, I don't think you'd see someone of Pierce #2's age shirtless and pumping iron these days, I dunno. maybe the late Eddie Ford.

Yeah, that was a funny bit of retcon with Pierce living in a CABIN on Phoebe's property?? How many friggin acres did she have and how did Brooke who lived in the damn pool house for years not run into him before??

Ha considering the Tyler estate was so huge, it's funny no one has moved in since--is it just an empty lot?

I think I googled Pierce 2 a number of times and could only find shirtless pics, but I can't even remember his name now...

AMC had some beefcake at the time--it musta been a bit earlier during the Gloria is seduced by Alec who's working for Adam story, when Alex would perpetually be shown greased up, working out in Adam's private gym (?) with Gloria drooling lol.

Don't forget Lucky Vanous was on AMC during the 25th birthday week (and the last appearance of Langley?) when he came to Myrtle's shop to pick up his fiance--the Carol Burnett character (Bah I'm blankign on character names...)

Verla.

It was always strange to me how heavily AMC used Grant Aleksander's dangerous sexuality, whereas GL tended to focus less on that and more on his brooding.

That Pierce was back on Y&R in late 2009 as Steve Connelly, Traci Abbott's husband. He had been on that show off and on in the early 90s, before being on AMC. I have vague memories of his comments after being fired, I think basically that he thought he'd be around longer but wasn't what AMC had wanted.

Greg Wrangler?

Pierce was destroyed as a character after they had him dump Janet and take up with Brooke, rutting in the art gallery in strobe lighting, Brooke as Jennifer Beals in Flashdance.

Yes that was him! From the VERY little I remember when he was on AMC seemed to decide as soon as he replaced Pierce 1 that he wasn't working out and to write him off. I've always had a crush on Maxwell (Grease 2!) and kinda enjoyed him on AMC but I admit Pierce and Brooke by then were incredibly cheezy romance novel type stuff that even for a soap (well AMC) felt ridiculous. ANd then I remember his ex wife from the jungles or whatever not exactly being well liked...

But I'm still surprised the first Pierce's reasons for being fired (the sexual attack or whatever it was) didn't seem to directly affect him getting other work. It couldn't have been too easy a decision for AMC, I've read that he was one of the most popular males on the show amongst "focus groups" (I guess they did all that even then...)

Edited January 11, 201114 yr by EricMontreal22

I thought Caulfield and Julia Barr had a cozy chemistry and I liked his last scene, dancing with her, returning to get the picture Jamie had drawn (and of course Pierce was never really mentioned after that). I have never understood why they cast him as Pierce. And what a thankless role his ex-wife, Cristina? was. I mostly remember her for the bad wig, and for the fascinating knowledge that prisoners of war enjoy Tempo magazine.

This was when AMC was "hunkified," which brought us Daniel Cosgrove, and ringleader of a story I still have nightmares over, Vince Poletto.