I guess in later years they just changed it to Erica fleeing town due to personal problems (when she worked as a waitress in Sea City, or that weird thing when she was a showgirl).

So I wanted to ask my Natalie question. Do you think the character was as interesting after the rape storyline?

I know Kate Collins didn't seem that thrilled about what the show did to Natalie and Jeremy.

Erica the Showgirl her first big story after mctavish's return, is a story I always forget. It was awful in that it was so campy, it introduced the show to Zack (who she actually ahd chemistry with then) and just out there--but it would have been golden if we had had been given ONE scene of Erica in the showgirl routine or at the least in a rehearsal. Sigh. But it did lead to the great intervention which was nearly spot on--I would just deduct points for the unecesarily nasty addition that her dad didn't even lead to her rape from neglect and a creepy friend, but actually sold her into it.

AMC fans always seem to disagree if it's Sea City or C City. I used to think Sea, but now it seems it was C City which was interchangeable with Center City...

I missed much of Natalie and Jeremy but even when they had been paired up with Trevor and Ceara, they did seem to always have a connection, more than Jeremy and Erica did at that time, from what I remember. But I did always like Natalie, and liked her with Trevor, although aside from avoiding Janet she didn't have a ton to do by that point. Still, even as a watcher just from 91 on, I was taken aback by Melody Anderson playing the role as suh a damsel in distress (though I, oddly, liked the Carter Jones story). It waqs my first major soap recast which is part of the reason I found it just so wrong--but I realize it was a poorly done recast. (the other recasts from around then I remember was the DA who ended up with nice and cute and boring doctor Steve, who had a strange name like Daylen--who led into the Carter story as he was her ex, and the infamous Laurel recast from a femme fatale blonde we saw maybe four times to who she became).

Oh Genie...

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/ROWv5seYsY8" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Galen.

Something always fascinates me about Kate Collins as Natalie ( I enjoy her as Janet but it's all very one note). She was so regal and also very cut off from the world, but you can see the vulnerability. I also love her voice. To me it seems like she became more generic over time, and it was mostly just the actress playing against the writing that kept the character together.

I wish I still had that old Weekly letter from the Collins fan blasting them for claiming Melody Anderson was better than Collins because Anderson was sweet and wasn't icy.

Oh Genie...

This reminds me of the comedian who always wants to be serious, the actor who wants to direct. I think Genie really wants to be seen as a vixen, or a bitch, but every attempt to do so hasn't exactly been easy to watch.

AMC fans always seem to disagree if it's Sea City or C City. I used to think Sea, but now it seems it was C City which was interchangeable with Center City...

Erica meets Aquaman! Water fight with Mera.

November 1972 TV Dawn to Dusk.

Maybe I am wrong, but I could have sworn Ericawas there.

She was definitely involved in the climax of the story.

I hope Hatch didn't intend to write a poem that rhymes--maybe it's the Sondheim fan in me but none of that does, it's all kinda sorta rhymes...

That Ceara promo is hilarious--and completely against how I've ever seen the character, so I guess she did change a lot. I wonder what part Genie thinks was such great writing...

I agree with you about Collins--her voice and persona. I know she has said now that she could never play Natalie because she's too frumpy (which, if she means it seriously, is a comment that I hate), but I think she still managed to make the character strong, and her and Trevor had a charming Tracy/Hepburn relationship.

I don't think it was supposed to rhyme, "truth" and "proof" aside. Oh the idealism of the late 60s and early 70s. It's one of those great peeks into a bygone era of soap magazines (these years also have "soap stars for peace", mainstream soap actors saying lines like, "I'd rather burn draft cards than bodies," and of course, the endless recitations of, "I believe in empowering women, but I'm NOT a feminist!"

I agree with you about Collins--her voice and persona. I know she has said now that she could never play Natalie because she's too frumpy (which, if she means it seriously, is a comment that I hate), but I think she still managed to make the character strong, and her and Trevor had a charming Tracy/Hepburn relationship.

I think it was a mistake to kill Natalie off. I guess there wasn't a lot of story left for her at the time but there may have been later on. For instance, I might have tolerated Greenlee if she had story with Natalie. I could see Natalie trying to make some sanity out of that Fusion crap.

Oh I thought the rhymes were meant to be "beautiful/unreal" "comprehension/inpiration" cuz of the form of the poem... I agree it's kinda charming though to see features like that.

I think Melody as Natalie was the final straw--the role was destroyed after some fun, but regressive, woman in distress stuff. Robin M was actually a big relief for fans (at least for myself) at the time as Janet, though I started to miss Collins.

I was so enchanted by Collins' brief returns in 97-01, especially the one where she came back to talk to Tim, and when she welcomed Harold. It's one of the reasons I was jolted by the crazy Janet return stuff - I really liked her as Natalie. Natalie seems to be just a distant memory now.

Edited September 17, 201114 yr by CarlD2

Even the Tea Garden in Pink Heaven? (which must be online...)

Some SOD covers

Edited September 17, 201114 yr by Paul Raven

AMC fans always seem to disagree if it's Sea City or C City. I used to think Sea, but now it seems it was C City which was interchangeable with Center City.

I think it's actually Sea City.

Check it:

Pine Valley :: Bryn Mawr :: Center City :: Philadelphia :: Sea City :: Atlantic City.

I'm not even gonna lie. I would have knocked JM's junk around in the 40s and 50s.

OMG - me too! I've never seen pictures of him from that long ago... he was very attractive and masculine looking. Yum!

Oh, and thanks for posting the 1991 clips! One of my favorite years of AMC - got me hooked and why I still watch today, and through to the very end!

AMC fans always seem to disagree if it's Sea City or C City. I used to think Sea, but now it seems it was C City which was interchangeable with Center City...

Sea City and C City are two different towns.

Sea City ≠ C City

Sea City ≠ Center City