All My Children Tribute Thread

[j swift]

It's an interesting issue.  Around the time of Nina Courtland's first wedding, Phoebe English (I forget if that was her maiden name or if Brooke was her maternal niece) Tyler Matthews Wallingford had banned Erica from most social events due to her mother Mona's relationship with Phoebe's ex-husband Dr. Charles Tyler.  Erica was explicitly banned from the country club, nor was she welcome in the yacht club.  This was one of Erica's motivations for moving to New York that summer, because her prospects in Pine Valley were sparse.  Phoebe, (who was Palmer's next door neighbor), also expressed that she would not attend Nina's wedding if Erica was invited.  However, perhaps due to her association with the Kingsleys and the Bogarts, Palmer relented and Erica attended the wedding.

 

Years later the animus between Erica and Phoebe was mostly forgotten and the relationship with Palmer was always cordial but never close; maybe because she never got involved with any of his relatives.

Edited July 9, 2020 by j swift

[Jonathan]

 

 

Here is one of the earlier interactions.  From what I can infer, Erica and Palmer started out as business partners as they launched Erica Kane Cosmetics.

 

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I would consider Palmer and Erica close.  Remember when she was looking for a "white knight" to save Enchantment?  Erica turned to Palmer for help.

[All My Shadows]

Quoting you again to say that I found it! Thank you so much!! I see what you mean now - they had to plaster an instrumental of "I've Had the Time of My Life" over it when clearly this scene predated that song by about nine years.

The same montage also has a decent-length no-audio clip of Jeff proposing to Mary Kennicott that I'd never seen before. I would be satisfied if ABC didn't want to go through the trouble of streaming full episodes and chose to just do a slew of clips of this nature. Give me full episodes, but if you can't, I'll take clips.

[j swift]

My memory is that had more to do with Erica's friendship with Opal, as opposed to being "close" with Palmer.

[Soaplovers]

I always thought Palmer and Erica had a more father/daughter relationship...while her friendship with Opal helped.  I didn't realize Nina and Erica were friendly..Nina was a bridesmaid at Erica's aborted prison wedding to Jeremy..plus Nina visited Erica a few times when Erica was pregnant with Bianca 

[All My Shadows]

I think Erica being out of town for most of the early 80s helped her maintain cordial relationships with the Cortlandts as she had no opportunities to get under their skin, especially Nina. Keeping her mostly in her own bubble during that time, while I used to think of it as a dumb thing to do for the show's most popular character, really kept her fresh and really allowed her to avoid being hated by everyone all the time. Once they put her back in the PV circle, she had new sparring partners but also had friends. I'm not sure she had many friends left in town by 1979-1980 as much as she had people just tolerating her while rolling their eyes at her.

 

 

In the episodes I'm currently watching, several months before JL's Opal appears, Erica has already reached out to Palmer for "additional capital" in creating Erica Kane Cosmetics, which would become Enchantment.

Edited July 9, 2020 by All My Shadows

[j swift]

Correct me if I am wrong, but I think of Erica having an animus toward Donna which may have also kept her out of Palmer's circle for awhile.

 

Also, did Erica's return to Pine Valley coincide with the publication of her first autobiography?  I recall a failed appearance at a parade around the time of her return and that she lived with Mona during that period (maybe due to the death of Dr. Tyler?), immediately prior to her relationship with Adam.  Did she buy her house after her divorce from Adam and prior to her marriage to Travis?  And can anyone recall the name of Erica's house?

 

Finally, was Nina's later friendship/bridesmaidhood with Erica due to Nina's relationship with Matt Connolly who was close with Jeremy?

Edited July 9, 2020 by j swift

[Jonathan]

 

Do you mean Linden House or another residence?  I can't recall any of her other homes having names, except that one.

[j swift]

Yes, Linden House - what was the etymology of its name?

[Jonathan]

 

I have no idea.  I always thought it was weird that her house had a name!

[Darn]

I always thought Palmer and Erica were close. Their stories didn't intersect much outside of Opal but they both lit up when they saw each other.

[Vee]

I did too.

 

I don't know much about Erica's time in NYC but it sounds wild that she lived out of PV for a year or more? I don't know the specifics. It was brought up again recently when we discussed how she might have been a better fit for The City than Morgan Fairchild (though I liked Morgan).

[All My Shadows]

She left in 1980 after closing the disco and being attracted to model for Sensuelle. I’m not sure on the specifics of when she returned, but she moved into the Chandler mansion in 1984. While she was in NYC, other characters always ran into her or visited with her while they were in the city, so she still was able to build connections with characters like Tad and Jenny, who were also trying to become models. I think Mark also spent some extended time living with her, too, which is where his drug habits started to ramp up. I want to say Mark kept her apartment for a time after she moved back to PV.

 

Pine Valley Bulletin has Palmer helping Erica to expose Lars Bogard’s “war criminal” past, also in 1984, which would make sense if they had become friendly shortly before her departure from PV four years earlier.

Edited July 9, 2020 by All My Shadows

[Jonathan]

Erica and Brooke almost seem cordial in this video.

 

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[Jonathan]

Gosh, I just love Erica so much!  This clip is vintage Erica.

 

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