All My Children Tribute Thread

[allmc2008]

So, where is it stated Mona was in a cabaret.

[j swift]

Although I would never claim to be an expert, here's my recollection:

Mona was friends with Nick Davis and Kitty Shea's mother Lucy Carpenter (who was once impersonated by Myrtle Fargate) from her time on the cabaret circuit.  I don't think she was ever a performer.  However, after Eric abandoned her, she found work in nightclubs and hung with a "fast" crowd which both stunned and embarrassed her daughter when she found out.  One assumes that was either in Center City or some other urban center prior to moving to Pine Valley.  It must have been a very short, but meaningful, period of time because although Erica seems to have been raised in Pine Valley as a child, many of Mona's closest friends were from the club scene.

I'm sure someone will correct me if I am wrong, but there was some ambiguity in the beginning if Eric was actually in Hollywood, or if Mona made up that detail to explain his absence to Erica because she was never willing to provide many details.  Later, with the Kendall retcon, Eric's backstory was made clearer, but that story was different from the tales that Erica told while in high school wishing she could move to the bright lights of Hollywood with her father.

Edited February 11, 2022 by j swift

[DemetriKane]

I don't know if I buy that pairing them would kill other story opportunities. Many of the other soaps have paired two stars. You just need to use them as a true umbrella with many layers to pull from. I read many times on this very forum that most viewers felt that both Erica and Tad last good storylines were in the 90s. So, why not take a chance and go for it? A moment like this is perfect for flipping your show on it's head, and reinventing the focus of the show. If I was writing it, they would definitely get married and would be the new unconventional core family. I just got done watching Erice and Jackson reality show/talkshow and when Tad pretends to be dating Erica was so funny. 

@Vee They started dating at the top of summer 2009 until Greens return on valentine's day 2010. I have always in the minority of thinking Pratt had good ideas, he just needed someone who cared about the show to tap his hand and keep him straight.  

@j swift Yes he was was, I loved his character. I wouldn't mind reverting him I just believe they wouldn't have had to do that if they had slowed things down a bit. His mission was to become a "have" and you make him a millionaire overnight! Where's the fun in that?

[SFK]

Erica and Tad had a scene sometime in the ‘90s where there was a short playful exchange on the subject of a romantic pairing. Tad quipped something to the effect that it would never work because they were too much alike.

[DemetriKane]

And thats actually why it could work. Its a challenge i would be willing to play. And theres tons of drama the comes with that and you might end up grown damn the hell up 

[All My Shadows]

I don't think Tad and Erica ever needed to happen simply because it just never needed to happen lol I almost feel the same way about as I do/did Ryan and Erica. These are characters who were around each other for years and never expressed romantic interest in each other. Having them do so "just because" is such a boring and tired move, IMO, and ruins the idea that characters on soaps can have relationships with one another that aren't strictly familial or romantic. I'm not saying Erica was ever "friends" with Ryan or Tad, but you could definitely argue that she was like a mentor to Tad in the 80s and somewhat of a mother-in-law type to Ryan in the 00s. Why mess up the chance to have those varied character connections just to run through another coupling that's destined to be unsuccessful anyway?

Erica/Tad probably would have grossed me out.

[allmc2008]

You were watching it then? I thought you were much younger.

[Khan]

Frankly, you'd have an easier time convincing me that Erica should've hooked up with Trevor Dillon.

[j swift]

Although I wish that AMC had given adult Tad and Liza more of a chance at a relationship (not when played by Jamie Luner, who I don't even consider as Liza), I think Tad's track record suggested that he wouldn't have been attracted to Erica.  From Hillary to Dixie, Cara, and Krystal, it seemed like Tad liked a more earnest woman, who was a yin to his yang.

Meanwhile, except for her dalliances into cougar-dom, Erica seemed to prefer much more established and mature men than Tad.  Adam, Dimitri, and Travis were much more evolved than Tad, even as he aged.  She went for titans of industry, not a guy whose career path veered from local tv producer to working at his Mom's beauty parlor.

Edited February 11, 2022 by j swift

[Khan]

Agree.  On both counts.

[allmc2008]

In the various projections I've read at Aggie's archive from that era I never read that Mona Kitty's mother. It's also clear that Eric, yes, was in Hollywood. I even have a copy of the projection which detailed Mona and Charles affair. It was written in 1974 or so and Mona was asked by Charles to help with Christmas shopping as Phoebe was too preoccupied with her social life. It was then, in which, they formed an intimate bond. Agnes made it CLEAR that it would play out very innocently and that their would be guilt and such from their feelings.

[j swift]

Mona knew Kitty's mother which is how she uncovered that Phoebe had paid Myrtle to impersonate Lucy Carpenter in order to interfere with the romance of Ann and Nick as well as Kitty and Linc.  Which explained why Kitty's "mother" didn't know she had a twin named Kelly.  That was also the start of the lifelong friendship between Mona and Myrtle.

Also, in case it is difficult to infer my intentions in written form, I am using humor to imply that Mona's motivation was anything but innocent with regard to Charles.  Because I enjoy the irony that this single mother just happened to wind up with one of the richest doctors in Pine Valley, while chastising her daughter Erica for chasing after wealthy married men like Kent Bogart.

Edited February 11, 2022 by j swift

[allmc2008]

You watched it then?

[DemetriKane]

35 min video tribute deep dive into Angie And Jesse history.

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[allmc2008]

It's been 14 years. Think about that for a moment. It literally feels like yesterday.