All My Children Tribute Thread

[EricMontreal22]

He really was--and for whatever reason had an "acting" style that (while by no means the worst male actor, even by a long shot, the soap has had--though I'd never call him a great actor either) simply did not mesh with the feel of AMC whatsoever, at least to me.

Edited November 10, 2011 by EricMontreal22

[DRW50]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nmHacSAbnxU&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL

[R Sinclair]

John Callahan was a favorite of Judy Blye Wilson. According to her own words in the 1993 All My Children Behind the Scenes video (which I still have), Judy Blye tracked Felicia Behr down in an airport and sold her on JC. FMB agreed to having JC test for the role and subsequently, he got the role of Edmund.

[DRW50]

Maybe she can cast him on Y&R.

I think he worked very well in his first years but became irrelevant after Eva La Rue left the first time. i would have written Maria and Edmund out in 1997.

[ellabelle]

No way. I loved Edmund. It was St. Maria of Wildwind I never liked. I always thought TPTB missed out on an opportunity for comic gold when they married Edmund off to Maria instead of Brooke. Erica and Brooke married to two brothers, sharing the same palatial estate would have been fabulous.

[DRW50]

I preferred Edmund too, but they never gave him anything good to do after Maria left. The Kit story, the Alex story...and then his reunion with Brooke became about Maria.

[EricMontreal22]

They did really waste him for a long time at the end--and what Rayfield did to his character (only to later have McTavish kill him off) was horrid.

Ha I just found a copy of that VHS used for a dollar.

[DRW50]

Watching the 1996 stuff again, I'm reminded of some of the times I did like Laura, when she was quieter and more vulnerable, like talking about not having parents.

It's just about impossible to care about Laurel's death. The flashbacks don't help because you mostly try to figure out what hairstyle Kiberd will have. You also can't care that much about Trevor or Michael, either because Trevor/Laurel were forced, or because Chris Bruno couldn't act. The best scenes were Jack's eulogy. I also liked the little moment with Hayley and Tim when she was trying to help him get ready and he rebuffed her. It was also a nice touch to have Tom and Jamal return. I'd forgotten about that.

The best stuff on the show is everything with Tad and Liza and WRCW. The scene where Hayley tears into them and then Trevor tells them to leave was great - I have remembered the Hayley part for years now. The argument between Dixie and Tad is very raw, and reminds me again that it seems like this always happened with Dixie towards the end of her runs in PV, a certain coldness and sharpness. The way Tad spoke to her was tough stuff, and I liked Liza eavesdropping on them, and Marcy Walker not playing any type of cheesy villain grins.

I almost forget at times that Sabatino and Lucci had solid chemistry. I'm not sure why they made Kinder evil.

The Noah/Julia/Taylor story is so out of place with the rest of the show, and just dead. I think this was a case of a show writing for a couple based solely on this couple's popularity, not because they actually had any plans for them. It's crap.

[Jonathan]

Concur! Edmund and Brooke was where it was at.

[EricMontreal22]

I liked Edmund/Brooke and Edmund/Maria 9the very first time only), so was kinda torn.

You're right Carl that Laura did have some good moments--I liked her best when she was at the cabin, etc--not as much when she was at school with that group.

I've said it before, but the one thing that really dates that era of AMC for me is the constant synthy music. It's interesting, with AMC (and maybe soaps to some extent in general? not sure), up until the late 80s they mainly used brief music cues to bridge scenes, etc, with the exception of some very dramatic scenes. Behr more and more seemed to have more constant music (which might have been a trend at the time, certainly OLTL did the same), and while at the time i liked it (or at least I didn't notice it), now when looking back, I really do. The music in the final decade was more sparse though not as sparse as in the early days.

The Taylor/noah/julia stuff was forced--this was also what led to the Jamaica/voodoo story (which did bring back an interesting character--i can't even remember her name--who they then had no idea what to do with and she disappeared), so maybe it was a combo of writing for a popular couple and also the, I assume, mandate to try for a few more DAYS/Reilly style stories. It didn't help that nobody seemed to really take to that Taylor particularly.

I never much liked Laurel but while I like to mock her now, at the time she didn't really bother me. She seemed like one of those soap characters who never should have much storyline but was a resonably realistic type person int he community--if that makes sense. At the time I did still find her murder powerful, but more due to the story and the interesting dynamics around it than because I was sad to see her go (probably a good example of a soap using the murder of a major character in a good way--it led to tons of story, and was a character that really was ready to go). Chris Bruno was never really a very good actor as you say, especially in dramatic stuff (he worked best as Gloria's friend who never said much or in a couple of his classroom scenes)--as I've said his boyfriend played by Daniel McDonald was much better at acting and seeming comfortable in the gay role and I would have made him the more prominent one

Everything WRCW was great. That's a good way of doing story based around a workplace where it actually seems like people are 9shock) working, while the drama unfolds. Compare it to the TV station on ATWT the last few years or especially Fusion and it's mindboggling how artifical and inept they seem.

I still really love this era, warts and al--it's great to see so many episodes get put up (though it throws me a bit since the poster isn't putting them up in order lol)

[DRW50]

The main problem with Laurel was the smugness.

Her name was Corinne.

[EricMontreal22]

Yes I do agree about the smugness. And it didn't help pitting her up against Janet/Jane who, while she was planning and doing some awful things when she returned as RM, already had the audeince's sympathy on her side.

[DRW50]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GKQQkTn0_Wk

[Cheap21]

Dixe and that hair, just EWWWWWW!

Anyways I liked Edmund post Maria. I had no issue with him and actually loved him and Alex. I love the whole Devane story and felt he was utilized well in it.

[DRW50]

I didn't think Finola and John Callahan had a lot of chemistry, and the story was so confusing. I also don't know why they had to have the Marick brothers keep sharing women.