All My Children Tribute Thread

[danfling]

Poor Alice Haining (Liza #2).    We were in high school together, and I saw her in quite a few stage performances.    She was the perfect ingenue!

However, the casting directors of the New York soap operas nearly always cast her as a bad, mean character.  She had roles on Search for Tomorrow, Loving, One Life to Live, and All My Children in which she played unsympathetic characters.    She, again, was the perfect ingenue, and she could have played Hillary Wilson so well!

I understand that she was influenced to be an actress by the late Christopher Wines (Dr. Jeff Martin #1 on All My Children).

[DRW50]

Not sure if this was already around or not, but early in this video there's an interview with Lizbeth Mackay, complete with a number of clips (talked over most of the time, and with irritating organ music). They also have nurses asking her fan questions, and show her briefly watching an episode of the show from home with a reporter. This is in good quality.

@victoria foxton @Paul Raven @vetsoapfan@SFK @danfling@j swift @slick jones@Vee

https://archive.org/details/WJZ-PMMAG-007-001

 

Edited August 13, 2022 by DRW50

[vetsoapfan]

Thanks!

[slick jones]

Thanks for the tag. 

I've never seen the characters in action. I've only read about them.  It's strange seeing Regis from Guiding Light attacking his wife.

[victoria foxton]

@DRW50 Nice to see a little bit of Leora. As always thanks for the tag.

[j swift]

As I mentioned above I am watching 84-86 on TikTok, and I have a theory...

I wonder if Jeremy Hunter was a replacement character for Giles St. Clair

Here's my totally unfounded, out of thin air, no proof theory.  After the unsuccessful recast of Mike Roy, Giles was brought on as a love interest for Erica, and the third part of a love triangle with Brooke.  The character was intriguing, but mostly portrayed as a himbo, sunning himself in speedos on the roof of the Chandler Mansion.  One of his stunts was that he climbed the building of Erica's office tower.

Cut to Jeremy, a french stud who also climbed the building to Erica's office window.

At the time AMC was struggling creatively with recasts of Nina and Liza, as well as the fake Jenny.  So, perhaps rather than recasting Giles, they brought in Jeremy.  Which, of course, proved to be very successful as the character drove story for years both on AMC and LOV.

Also, justice for Dottie, she deserved to find love, and I would have liked them to explore more of the possible connection of Donna and Cliff.  Benny was remarried too quickly after Estelle and Nina was not a good match for Cliff, so the pairing of the two made sense and there was chemistry.

[Joseph]

I just decided to deep dive on AMC, I enjoyed some 1984, 1988, 1989 today, The second Nina was Truly Crazy but was interesting, Liza #2 was Nice Too,The Ellen/Cynthia Rivalry was riveting! I LOved An scene in which they argue and even change a few words in French, Not to Mention The Cake! Angie was interesting I'm trying to make sense about a clip kinda loose of her being harassed by a Teacher, How Old was she supposed to be? Was she on School or College?

Also read about Taylor Miller's Return to AMC on 1989, apparently she was cheated into making a 2 week Return just for Nina to Remarry Cliff and Reveal her Kid was really his, The actress Expressed frustration with the decision, and I share it with her! Have Enjoyed Immensely Ellen Wheeler and David Canary as Cindy and Stuart, Also I'm being Introduced To Cindy's Twin Karen, Who I Never Heard Of Before! Not sure if what I saw was her first episode would Love To Know! Does anyone remember her first Scene? Cady McClain is Pretty good since the beginning, in early 1989 she had a great scene with Adam talking About her Baby Sister Della/Delia? I'm assuming she'll turn out to be Melanie, Whe did Paige Turco Join? There's No Specific Date, the only clue I got was she Left GL in February (Would Like to get the Exact Date to that one too) so I can only Assume it was after that

[Joseph]

One More Question

Please register in order to view this content

The Famous Ball from 1980 In Which Daisy was Introduced was Miss Nina Courtland's 18th Birthday/ Coming Out Party Right? Did Nina Ever go to School or something like a normal Teenager?????? Also I distinctly remember reading about Daisy having a Portrait of hers hanging on Courtland Hall, that was basically Taylor Miller with Dark Hair, I'd it true? Does anyone have a picture of it?

[~bl~]

Where are you viewing Joseph?

[j swift]

Yes, Nina's 18th birthday was celebrated with a costume ball.  Daisy had already been introduced, she was living/working in the stables and was established as Nina's mother shortly before the ball.  But, it was during the party that Palmer realized Daisy was in Pine Valley and hunted her down with his very scary german shepherds.

I don't know if it was due to her diabetes (which seemed to magically disappear after she lost her virginity to Cliff), or she was just sheltered by Palmer, but Nina was never shown in high school, despite the fact that she would have been just a bit younger than Jenny, and perhaps close in age to Tad, given that he was matriculating at PVU during Daisy's trial for Zach's murder. 

I would speculate that given Nina's romance with Cliff, who would have been in his mid 20s at least, they didn't want to emphasize Nina's youth.

 

In the scenes on TikTok, there's no painted portrait, but there is an 8x10 in the living room of a woman who was supposed to be Daisy, but it was just a picture of Taylor with a wig.

 

Today's thought after watching 1985-1986. Cliff drunkenly slept with Sybil the moment Nina rejected him due to her fears about loosing her eyesight, and later Nina slept with Matt the moment she thought Cliff was dead.  Some love affair!  These two hop into bed with other partners the minute their back is turned.  Nina did it with Zack, Steve, and Matt, all the while claiming her love for Cliff. 

Edited August 20, 2022 by j swift

[Joseph]

Which Part? 1980, 1984, 1988 or 1989?

Thanks for all The Info, do you have a link or something for those scenes from Tiktok? Or maybe an idea where the scenes where taken from? 

Please register in order to view this content

True! NINA was so sheltered by Palmer to turn out to be quite the little Slut! I only forgive her because she married Cliff Way Too Young, he however should've been a little more responsible! At Least Nina never picked an ugly Man in her life

[Joseph]

I'm gonna answer all then:

1980 I've only seen on YouTube not that much around

1984 I'm seeing part on YouTube and Part on Internet Archive

1988 All On Internet Archive

1989 On Internet Archive too the guy who posted there even put a great Text on the synopsis and Backstage insights 

[Jonathan]

Nina was one of the original HOs of Pine Valley! (Ahh remember when we all used to call out all the hos in our Daily All My Children threads? Those were the days.)

Edited August 20, 2022 by Jonathan

[danfling]

All My Children was having a terrible time after Jenny's death in 1984!    Jacqueline Babbin left as the show's executive producer.   She was the show's best one.    Jorn Winther had been wonderful also, and he returned.    However, the show was going through some hard and unsuccessful times.

The characters of Giles and Matt were introduced almost at the same time.   I think that Giles had been intended as a love interest for Brooke and that Matt had been intended to be paired with Erica.   Matt's storyline was later switched to a paring with Nina, and Giles was quickly dropped.   I had never thought about a Giles recast, but the show had been having an awful time with some of the recasts:  Nina Courtlandt Warner, Liza Colby, and Wally McFadden.   Not to mention the almost-a-recast Sheila Thomas.    (I expected, though, that, at some point, it would be revealed that Sheila and Greg had conceived a child who would come to Pine Valley and be big trouble for Enid and Greg.)

The show wrote off Devon and Betsy (who had fallen in love with Wally).    Jason Kinkaid was suddenly shown as a love interest for Opal, but that did not last long and the actor who played Jason was mis-cast as Tom on As the World Turns.    Another departure was Peter Bergman as Dr. Cliff Warner, but he eventually returned.    Nina was, by that time, involved or married to Matt Connelly.   Mitch Beck, Donna's estranged brother, came to town, and a new Latino storyline was attempted.   The character of Pillar was re-cast.    I think that the actor who played Mitch was not a big success, so Mitch was written out and the actor moved into a new role on Loving.    Cliff and Pilar gravitated toward each other.   I liked Teri Eoff, and she was lovely on Search for Tomorrow, but she did not look or seem South American in any way to me.

The character of Melanie (a cousin to Pamela and niece of Brandon) was introduced.  She had scenes with Mark, but it was her cousin Pamela who was falling for Mark.   It appeared that Melanie and Chuck were to get married, but suddenly Melanie was written off and Carrie (a roommate of Melanie) and Chuck were paired and eventually were married.   

I am not sure when it was, but at some point Donna and Tom moved into a property on the estate owned by Phoebe.   They did not remain together for a very long time.  There was also a male character named Rick who worked as a gardner.   I cannot remember which stories he affected.

Devon and Bonnie McFadden were written back onto the show.   Devin's initial storyline was a big one on All My Children that fizzled.   She thought that she was falling in love with Dr. Lynn Carson (played by Donna Pescow, whose boyfriend was playing Jason).  Following that fiasco, Devon and Chuck began dating.   Devon was one of my favorite characters, so I hoped that she and Chuck were to be paired in marriage.  However, I heard that actor played Chuck was concerned and mentioned it to Trisha Pursley, who played Devon.   She was encouraged that Devon was dating Chuck, but he told her that it seemed that the show was about to pair them and to write them off the show.

Pamela Kingsley met a young actor named Brian Cummings.   (He and Pamela met Oprah Winfrey in her cameo on the show), and they left town.

Bonnie McFadden was somewhat involved in the Chandler storyline and the introduction of the audience to Stuart.     Then, she and Devon left town to pursue a career as a child actress for Bonnie in Hollywood.

The show did have one good thing to happen, although this was probably before 1984 when Linda (played by future Oscar nominee Melissa Leo) was appearing on the show.    She was on about the time that Cynthia's son Andrew and Nina #2 were in the cast.

Tad and Hillary were married during this time.   She took a job in the Town Hall, and Matt McCoy played an employee there who was bound to fall in love with her.    This storyline was dropped very suddenly.

The show then was faced with the departure of Lawrence Lau as Greg Nelson.  It unsuccessfully tried to recast twice before Greg was written off the show.

Had I been writing or producing the show, I would have shown one of Greg's two older sisters who had been mentioned.    She and her husband would have moved to Pine Valley, and he would have been searching for a job.     She and Dr. Cliff Warner would have fallen in love (after Liza left town).

Future unsuccessful storylines for All My Children were the intended pairing of Dr. Jeff Martin and Dr. Angie Martin.    Stephen Schenkel (who had worked on Ryan's Hope, but not as executive producer) became the new executive producer following Mr. Winther.

 

 

[j swift]

I'm watching eps on tiktok https://www.tiktok.com/@amcfantok?lang=en

It's odd that Liza #2 has almost no scenes with Greg or Tad.  She works at the TV station with Cliff, who for some reason is more motivated to be on local television than to work at the hospital which had been his passion.  Upon reflection Alice Hanning has Liza's preppy vibe, but she's missing any sense of bitchiness and her role is mostly as a talk to for Marion during the Zach Grayson murder mystery.

Marion's wealthy fiance seems lost to history, I'd love to know if anyone remembers what happens to him once Marion goes to jail?  Her motive to kill Zach was that he was blackmailing her with their affair that she had prior to meeting a rich dude who wanted to marry her and take her on a trip around the world for their honeymoon.  I swear the women in Pine Valley women underestimate the reactions of their romantic partners and keep too much information secret for no logical reason.

But, I totally agree with you @danfling that Melissa Leo's Linda is a bright spot in a fallow period.  She's got a very juicy scene where she taunts Nina about the pictures that she took of Nina and Zach in flagrante delicto.  Obviously sexual assault on a woman who had been drugged would be played differently today, but that scene was great at showing Linda's villianry and went a long way as a red herring to implicate her in the murder.

Andrew is definitely another highlight of the period.  While there's a lot of overlap between Andrew and Tad's role as town cads, which may have limited story potential for both,  Stephen Caffrey is excellent in his scenes with Jane Elliott,  They remind me of the mother/son duo in the film The Grifters with Anjelica Houston and John Cusack.  Although, I always think of his hysterical lip sync scene in Longtime Companion whenever I see him (as well as the heartbreaking ending of that film).

I also really like Robert Gentry as Ross.  It is an such interesting role that was written as a romantic hero with some questionable motives and is tied to two major families.  It is a shame that later creative choices backed Ross into a corner, because he had such potential, and I like Gentry so much more as Ross than as Ed on GL.  Was Ross excluded from both Adam and Palmer's will?

Finally, there's one other character that I don't recall the reference.   At some point when Adam disappears, and is then kidnapped by Billy Clyde,  Ross is firing a female member of the household staff.  He really dislikes her and she was clearly not a nice person.  I think she had something to do with keeping Stuart in line, but I can't remember her name or her story?

Edited August 20, 2022 by j swift