All My Children Tribute Thread

[Khan]

 

No one -- and I mean no one -- sparred better with Erica/SL than Brooke/JB.  They were AMC's version of OLTL's Dorian and Viki.

[BetterForgotten]

Even when Erica had other rivals and when the characters didn’t orbit one another, the show would always acknowledge that Erica/Brooke didn’t much care for each other. That continuity was always strangely satisfying.

[j swift]

Writers certainly played a lot with who was Adam's true love, but I always assumed it was Brooke.  Liza was a younger model of the same pairing, and Erica could never be a lasting relationship, so it seemed like Adam and Brooke were destined, (by the soap gods) to be each other's end story.

 

However, I miss the messier younger Brooke from her days with Benny and Aunt Phoebe.  Even during Brooke's early pairing with Tom, she exhibited an impulsive spark and a bit of brattiness.  Somewhere along the line, someone noticed that she had dated most of Erica's exes, so she was written in contrast to Erica.  As a result, she lost some of the phrenetic energy that she had when she was introduced.  I recognized her more when she became pregnant by Tad but realized that he belonged to Dixie, but that was the last time that she seemed like Brooke English to me.  While it was true that she dated men who had been with Erica if we judged every character by that criterion the whole town of Pine Valley would have issues.  It never made sense to me that Erica was allowed to maintain her motivation for 40 years, but Brooke's reason d'etre lacked consistency.  She also was often absent from Jamie's universe, which was odd given all that she had risked in order to raise him.

[EricMontreal22]

I see your point but I'm not sure I agree.  It felt natural for me the way Brooke grew up and matured--I believed it.  (I also fully believed that Erica... didn't.  OK she did, but not nearly to the same extent.)

As for being outside of Jamie's orbit, well that was largely due to when they really used Jamie Brooke was already gone, IIRC.

[Soaplovers]

Brooke was kind of a judgmental shrew.. so I loved it when Erica would always burst her bubble.  With that said, Erica/Brooke consistently didn't care for one another and that was maintained up till the end of the ABC version of the show.  One time when my mom tuned in (late 90s).. she noticed Brooke and Erica didn't interact at all and wondered if the two had somehow made peace until Erica said she wouldn't trust getting a final meal from Brooke if her life depended on it.. and my mom said 'well that answers my question'.

 

Since Brooke was Erica's best female sparring partner.. let's select who would come in 2nd after Brooke?  Erica vs Annie was entertaining.. Erica vs Greenlee was slanted where Erica would come out on top.  I would say perhaps original recipe Natalie or Barbara would be a close 2nd to Brooke for best sparring partner for Erica.

[EricMontreal22]

DEFINITELY Natalie.  I think Susan Lucci even mentioned Brooke and Natalie being *the two*. 

(Barbara is a good third choice, though...  But really, it would be easier to make a list of female friends Erica *had*)

[Khan]

 

Agree.

[Soaplovers]

Pre-porkchop Natalie.. that is

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[EricMontreal22]

Certainly pre-Dale Arden from Flash, Natalie (ugh one of the worst recasts in a show that has had some doozies...)

[EricMontreal22]

Just posted this week, an episode right smack dab in the middle of the beloved second McTavish run! 

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[DRW50]

There were some elements of that run I did really enjoy - much more than the supposed return to form afterward that actually made me quit watching the show - but it was ruined by McTavish veering wildly out of control, as per usual, with things like the Kit Fisher story (I almost typed Kit Fister, which would be another type of story entirely) and Adam tricking Liza into being impregnated with his sperm. 

[EricMontreal22]

Yeah, I admit that it's much better in hindsight than I thought at the time--I was surprised (better the devil you know?) although, as you know, I really liked 99-2000 out of the Agnes co-HW time before it completely fell apart.  It still feels like AMC on some level at any rate.

[DRW50]

 

There are some decent elements (like Bianca's story, among others). Part of it is my Greenlee block. I associate her with the worst of AMC.

[Darn]

The music starting at the time stamp in this clip until the end of the scene is outstanding. It's awfully tense yet beautiful.

 

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They handled Bianca's coming out with such care. The writing, directing and music was on point.

[EricMontreal22]

Yeah, at least Nixon went out with a bang.

I liked other things I suspect were Nixon and not Passanante like some sense of a smaller community (poor Marian trying hard to join and fit in with Enid's group, etc)  I thougth Greenlee was tolerable back then but I liked Leo and Leo and Bianca's friendship a lot, etc.