6 hours ago, FrenchBug82 said:

Brooke was her equal in intellect and accomplishments. And fan affection, if not fame.

 

4 hours ago, Soaplovers said:

And other than a few men..she always took Erica's leftovers.

 

Upon reflection, the Brooke/Erica rivalry almost arose out of thin air.  Early on when Brooke was involved with Dan, Benny, and then Tom, I don't remember any significant interactions between the two women.  Erica never pined for Tom, and given Phoebe's disdain for Mona, she and Brooke rarely socialized. 

 

It wasn't until Brooke hooked up with Adam that Erica began the narrative about how Brooke took all of Erica's leftovers.  Then, Brooke's relationship with Jack cemented their animosity.  It feels like various writers used Brooke to remind Erica that either Adam or Jack were the loves of her life.  Erica was usually willing to toss any guy aside, until she knew someone else wanted them.  Certainly Brooke never did anything to Erica to deserve her scorn.  They just happened to have the same taste in men. 

6 hours ago, FrenchBug82 said:

Verbal exchange is not quite the same as what I meant. It is entertaining but it is different from having an equal keeping you in check in the audience's mind. Trading verbal barbs is fun stuff but it is easy. Having an enemy who knows your number and is not afraid of you and can look at you in the eyes as an equal in the audience's esteem is quite another thing and is important for the show's balance.
Erica was Erica. She was quite an unsufferable person if you think about it. That's why Mona was so important in humanizing her and I think the rivalry with Brooke was helping in a similar way.

 

Which brings us to this. I agree. I only mentioned Brooke because Brooke way outlasted Barbara and we were talking about her disappearance in the last decade of AMC.
By that time, every woman who went up against Erica, verbally or more rarely otherwise, you always felt that if there was something at stake other than verbal sparring, Erica would wipe the floor with them.

Brooke was her equal in intellect and accomplishments. And fan affection, if not fame.
 

I am not the most objective person to ask because I never cared for Maria at all. But, obviously, no. Only reason to me she could even be mentioned in this conversation is because the one unforgivable thing Erica ever did was at Maria's expense so that gives her, in theory, moral superiority over Erica.
But in terms of intellect or charisma, Maria has nothing on Erica - or Brooke IMO. She was "likable" (not to me but broadly speaking) but that's not enough to go up against complex layered characters. Maria has things going for her (again not to me but broadly speaking) and she was strong - but I never got any depth from her.

All I will say is try to picture any other character mentioned here deliver the lecture Brooke gives Erica about Bianca in the video shared a few comments up and you can't think of any other "rival" that would have enough weight for Erica to listen.
Picture Krystal or Annie or Greenlee or Maria. You'd just roll your eyes. Erica would just have to reply who do you think you are with contempt and the audience would probably side with her, despite agreeing with what is being said.
Erica couldn't do that with Brooke, at least not from the audience's POV. She could say the words but the audience knew who Brooke was and Brooke had earned the right to lecture/advise her.

 

+100,000,000. You summarized perfectly what made the Erica and Brooke relationship so interesting to watch.

23 hours ago, Pine Charles said:

OMG!!.....

 

What book is Susan Lucci reading from?

17 minutes ago, allmc2008 said:

What book is Susan Lucci reading from?

 

Ivanka Trump's biography. This video is from Celebrity Autobiography, the broadway and off-broadway show.

Brooke and Barbara were Erica’s only worthy opponents. Natalie could have grown into a third opponent, if they kept writing her the same. 
 

Maria never measured up! I was always rolling my eyes when they argued especially at wildwind. It wasn’t just that she was a goody goody, she just never carried  the weight and history that I felt was needed for those storylines. Imagine Brooke getting knocked up with Dimitri’s baby and Erica kidnaps the child. I believe the audience would be much more torn about the situation, because Brooke wasn’t a saint and the ladies had a very complex relationship. It makes the storyline more interesting imo. 
 

Both characters needed each other to survive, I figured TPTB knew this until Barr was let go/asked to go recurring. The show missed so many opportunities, to usher Brooke back onto the canvas, in a big way before Adam’s exit storyline. I’m just glad she got to come back and have decent story and fun moments with Erica before the end.

 

And I agree about Dixie screwing over Brooke twice. I guess that’s why the push her with tad instead of going all the way with the Edmund romance the first time around. By that time I was rooting for Brooke to finally get her fairytale wedding too! I don’t know how early Eva and John started dating but I’m sure their behind the scenes romance influenced them getting the super couple treatment.

Edited March 21, 20214 yr by cassistan

You are HATE and SPITE with an expensive haircut.”
 

 

 

Edited March 22, 20214 yr by Pine Charles

30 minutes ago, Pine Charles said:

 

You are HATE and SPITE with an expensive haircut.”
 

 

 

 

Bianca and Laura should have been a couple. Or Erica should've had an affair with Jamie.

10 minutes ago, Jonathan said:

 

Bianca and Laura should have been a couple. Or Erica should've had an affair with Jamie.

Oh, my!!

 

And then Brooke walks in on them in bed (a la Mona walking in on Erica in bed with her best friend Nick)??

1 minute ago, Pine Charles said:

Oh, my!!

 

And then Brooke walks in on them in bed (a la Mona walking in on Erica in bed with her best friend Nick)??

 

Yup!

Btw, I remember everyone HATING blonde Laura - especially after that tart got Gillian’s heart (a character whom the audience eventually grew to love).

‘90s, curly-haired Laura was a superior actor (of course, the writing was better then, too).

Edited March 22, 20214 yr by Pine Charles

40 minutes ago, Jonathan said:

 

Bianca and Laura should have been a couple. Or Erica should've had an affair with Jamie.

That’s exactly who tamera Braun needed to come in as. If the show was gonna do the first daytime same sex wedding, it needed to epic. A slow burn reconnecting romance of them two  just in time for the 40th. Ugh! You can reinvent the entire show now we them as in laws.

 

my show left the airwaves too soon.

Edited March 22, 20214 yr by cassistan

17 minutes ago, cassistan said:

That’s exactly who tamera Braun needed to come in as. If the show was gonna do the first daytime same sex wedding, it needed to epic. A slow burn reconnecting romance of them two  just in time for the 40th. Ugh! You can reinvent the entire show now we them as in laws.

 

my show left the airwaves too soon.

 

YES!!!!!

1 hour ago, cassistan said:

That’s exactly who tamera Braun needed to come in as. If the show was gonna do the first daytime same sex wedding, it needed to epic. A slow burn reconnecting romance of them two  just in time for the 40th. Ugh! You can reinvent the entire show now we them as in laws.

 

my show left the airwaves too soon.

Precisely!!

 

(Btw, the last few replies have made me resent Maria. LOL!!

And I remember more or less enjoying her in the ‘90s... although I do recall - my mother, too - always thinking it was a mistake to break Brooke & Edmund up for Maria.... SAINT Maria of Wildwind, tending to the sick in her push-up bra).

Bianca/Laura would have made so much sense! I actually started watching a few months shy of twenty years ago when the big storyline was Leo harassing Ryan to get Gillian's heart for Laura. I could not care less what people will think of me for this, but I LOVED Laura/Leo, their hospital room wedding, etc. I mean, I know better now, but I was 11 lol

All of the "They should have..." stories/ideas that we come up with only would have worked with a slower-paced show than what AMC was in its last decade and a half. I feel like even if they did some of the things we wanted them to, it still would have been hollow compared to how the ideas exist in our heads. Still, it's fun to think about how some false notes could have been improved. I will forever want Asher Pike to be the jock who regularly schtupped the Daniel Kennedy version of Petey Cortlandt instead of a weak and useless extension of the Cortlandt family.

6 hours ago, cassistan said:

I don’t know how early Eva and John started dating but I’m sure their behind the scenes romance influenced them getting the super couple treatment.

Does anyone know the timing of their real-life romance? I think she was still married to John Hurley when they started frolicking around but I always had assumed it was after their characters had been paired up.