All My Children Tribute Thread

[Jonathan]

The 1980s. I recommend the storylines involving the introduction of the Cortlandts (which include Cliff and Nina), Erica as a model in NYC, and Jenny/Greg and Angie/Jesse as the teenage couples.

Edited November 20, 2021 by Jonathan

[Maxim]

Thank you so much. What year was Erica as a model. Maybe I will start with that. 

[Jonathan]

This is a good starting point. This channel, HamiltonBernique, posted 40 "Erica Fest" videos. 

 

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[Maxim]

Thank you...  you are amazing. I am getting the pop corn ready.

[DemetriKane]

I would recommend a few storylines to watch:

1. Brooke/Adam/Dixie gaslighting baby storyline from late 1988-early 1990s. It had all the elements that makes a good story: Family, mystery, deception, romance, betrayal, secrets, lies, triangles, hopes, dreams and trust. It’s the shows quintessential storyline imo, with motherhood being the heart of the story it connects with the theme of the show. It’s the one storyline that played out until the finale of the show and it’s hulu reboot because of the child that was produced from it.

 

2. Janet green ushers in a second golden period for the show. (Early 1991-2000). The feel of the show changes, and we witness a changing of the guard with new leading characters (Dimitri, Edmund, Maria and wildwind). During this time there’s a focus on unconventional families, even more comedy, strong masculine presence, identity theft, a gay teacher, bts drama of a talk show with a tv death,  a whodunnit, 2 major deaths, a pill popping addiction, a alcoholic mother, fan favorite return, long lost children, a baby switch, a plane crash, lots and lots twins and a tornado! I personally feel this period was the prescursor for shows like “everwood” and “one tree hill” I’m  sure others will disagree though!

Edited November 20, 2021 by DemetriKane

[Vee]

The Jim Thomason plane crash story (among others in that era) was terrible lol

[DemetriKane]

Oh I kinda liked that storyline. Well things were good until 1997 

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[victoria foxton]

It's when Megan McTavish returns. When things go off the rails.

Edited November 20, 2021 by victoria foxton

[allmc2008]

@victoria foxton @Vee

 

Well, I'm glad we are now talking about Megan McTavish. Northwestern got her papers and, being a student, I got to go through them.

Her bible along with all the outlines for her 2nd run are amazing.

She wanted David to be Ryan's other brother and for David to have raped Kit (Jackson's sister). Ryan was convicted, if you all recall, because of the DNA match. It was supposed to have been David's they sampled. She wanted to do the rape because, and I quote, "Rape stories are juicy as hell and they are a great way to bring up the ratings."

Her idea for David's mom was that she was a the Madam of a brothel who screwed Ryan's dad.

Instead of what Jim/Brooke we WERE going to have a triangle between Dimitri/Brooke/Anton.  Megan had accepted that storyline, which was presented by others in the room, but vetoed it. She felt that Brooke and Anton would gross out viewers.

Kendall wasn't on by this point but she wanted to bring her back to pair her with Ryan.

 

She wanted to redo that Janet/Fake Will storyline but with Maria. Someone was going to pay a look-a-like to act as Maria's ghost.

 

She was obsessed with demographics. She specifically stated that she wasn't going to have (I forgot all who but I do know Brooke was one of them) on the back burner for the summer because those characters (again, I can only remember Brooke) "scared away the 18-34 demographics".

 

Regarding correspondences I found. There were emails  between her, the network, and others of power revealed interesting things about about Agnes. Agnes was impressed with Bill Bell's shows and how they were handling the ratings corrosion. Agnes told Megan to have less scenes per episode, make them longer, and make them less eventful. She wanted Megan to focus on characters trying to follow their dreams. Megan felt that Agnes was wrong and that everything needed to be action packed and the scenes needed to be shorter and quicker. One thing specifically was that Agnes wanted Megan to write scenes in which Scott talked about his dream of being a film maker to Becca. Megan told that to the head of ABC Daytime and told the head of ABC Daytime that 'nobody in the 18-34 group wants to work in TV or Film'.

 

I can see why Agnes may have liked Megan McTavish. If you read her earlier outlines, I mean at the start of a run, she had a GREAT understanding of character. She even reiterates her storylines to the overall theme of AMC rather well. But she goes off the rails as the ratings move. She becomes more thrilled with the ratings movement and even says she gets a thrill from that. The thrill is was motivates her. Like, she comes off like a pro-gambler or a real estate agent or a car salesperson when it comes to hitting the correct demos. And that is when she falls.

[DeliaIrisFan]

Speaking of McTavish, I finally finished watching all that's available online from Natalie in the well to the resolution of Will's murder for the first time.

Given everything McTavish subsequently did in her career, it's fascinating to watch what I believe were the first characters she officially created: Angelique, Galen, Gloria, and Stephen Hamill.  I have to imagine at least three of them did not work out at all as planned.

I actually wonder if Gloria, the only one who ended up lasting, was even intended to: I kind of got the vibe early on that she was originally going to be the victim of a less far-reaching whodunit, maybe limited to the Cortlandts, and they changed it to Will when the actor left.  In any event, I was surprised by how much I liked Gloria.  The actress/character were wasted in later years in such unfortunate stories, from what I saw—somehow I still remember even her scenes from the ads for that Maria/Erica baby switch story, when I wasn't watching the show, were like nails on a chalkboard—but she was about the most riveting part of the show for a good month or two after everyone discovered Natalie was alive.  And I'll be damned if I didn't feel for Gloria in the rape story, manipulative and problematic as it clearly was.

With Angelique I was actually expecting the worst, given the general concept and how short-lived I knew she would be, but surprisingly I thought she had her moments.  (Sometimes perhaps unintentionally hilariously, like when Angelique still couldn't speak and was just watching all the teeth-gnashing at WildWind after she was wheeled into the party, but I'm not sure what more any performer could have done with that.)  I assume Angelique was meant to last longer and they cut their losses, but I also suspect the triangle they were setting up with Dimitri and Erica when the uploads cut off was originally intended for Dimitri and Natalie.  Am I wrong, or did Angelique just vanish for weeks after her intro, while Natalie dropped Dimitri with barely a second glance, and Dimitri showed no inclination of wanting to reconcile with Angelique at that point?  Did Kate Collins announce she was leaving right then?

As for Galen and Stephen, I am guessing they were meant to be long-term romantic leads?  They weren't terrible, and I'm not 100% sure if Stephen/Dixie was cut short more to make way for Tad's return than for any other reason, but it foreshadowed McTavish's challenges making "good" characters compelling/dynamic.  I had heard of Galen but had no idea she was actually recast in such a brief time period, so I was as surprised as most viewers would have been 30 years ago, but the character still didn't take.

To be fair, I picked these four characters even though I know McTavish must have had a major hand in creating Dimitri, and I actually think Lucas Barnes—Terrence's father—pre-dated Angelique by a day or so.  But Broderick and Washam were still credited above McTavish in Dimitri's first episodes, and I really doubt Lucas was intended to stay on the show longer than he did, or move beyond a supporting role.  (Although if the actor were interested, they absolutely should have kept him around and given him more to do!)

[DemetriKane]

@allmc2008Hey best friend. Can you please shoot me a Dm and all those juicy Meghan info you stumbled upon.

[allmc2008]

She DID say her in outlines and letters that Dmitri is Erica's true love. She didn't allow any room for interpretation either.

[DemetriKane]

And I stand with her Periodt. 
 

I have to agree with Agnes a bit about their scenes, I mean they’re both right it should have been a balance of both slower character scenes and a action packed scene. But as for the characters chasing dreams I’m team Agnes, AMC was that place for that. Almost all the women were on the make so it’s within theme. I disagree with Meghan about the young adults being interested in film and tv. and IMHO Bill Bell was just as obsessed with Agnes show, he started giving his black storylines more room to breathe as Jesse and Angie were slowly moving out of Pine Valley! And practically stolen her their storyline Dru/Neil/shemar/Olivia is a fleshed out version of Jesse/Angie/Eugene/Yvonne.

Edited November 24, 2021 by DemetriKane

[victoria foxton]

   .@allmc2008 Wow! i never knew that. It's even worse than the trash that aired. Very dark and cringey.  What i remember from that time. Was Gillian & Ryan going on the run. Which felt like an eternity. And MM trying desperately to make Kit and Edmund happen. I also remember how bad Nan Martin's son was. He clearly didn't  inherit  his mother's acting talent.

Edited November 25, 2021 by victoria foxton

[DemetriKane]

@victoria foxton 

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Yea they didn’t give a [!@#$%^&*] about that casting of Jamie.