OLTL Tribute Thread

[Vee]

Viki and Dorian disagree.

[DRW50]

In a sense they were or should have been matriarchs but OLTL took that away in the mid-late '90s. I still get annoyed at the memories of Viki wringing her hands over her worthless brother instead of having an active role. 

[Vee]

I think they were both that to the end, because of their families. Viki especially remained central.

Edited December 16, 2016 by Vee

[DeeeDee]

I don't consider Viki & Dorian matriarchs in the traditional sense.

 

To me they're OLTL's primary Heroine & Anti-Heroine like ATWT's Kim & Lisa or AMC's Erica & Brooke.

What I meant by Matriarch was the older woman who becomes their respective soaps conscience and/or Grand Dame ala Y&R's Katherine, GL's Bert, AMC's Kate, GH's Audrey, RH's Maeve, ATWT's Nancy, SFT's Jo, etc.

 

One could make the case that Renee eventually grew into that role but Pat Elliott isn't inextricably linked to OLTL in most fans eyes in the way the aforementioned matriarchal figures are to their soaps.

Edited December 16, 2016 by DeeeDee

[Vee]

I think Viki is both those things.

[tune_in_tomorrow]

I'm late to the discussions about Erin Torpey and whether Viki was a matriarch, but what it reminded me of (in my admittedly inconsistent viewing in the last several years) was how cold the relationship between Viki and Jessica was once Bree Williamson was in the role. There was little warmth between them, as there had been with Torpey or even with Melissa Archer as Natalie. I know the whole DID storyline was to put a wedge between them but I never saw that relationship really thaw. It was a huge disappointment to me at the end to see Viki's relationship with her children either strained or nonexistent except for Natalie. I liked both Natalie and Archer but really her existence as Viki's daughter shouldn't have happened. She already had unknowingly given birth to another child so she already filled that soap trope quota!

[All My Shadows]

I agree with DeeeDee. Viki would have obviously become that type of character had the show went on and ES and the character aged, but she didn't quite make it. We never got to see any of Viki's grandchildren reach adulthood and turn to her for advice, comfort, etc. like we saw with most of the characters DeeeDee mentioned, and IMO that's one of those things that takes a character from being "mom" to "matriarch." Alice Horton, Nancy Hughes, Kate Martin, Bert Bauer, Lila Quartermaine, etc. all presided over large families of offspring. Viki had five kids - one of whom died nearly 25 years ago and two of whom the show didn't really invest a lot into over the last few years of its run - and a bunch of grandbabies on recurring.

The comparison to AMC's Erica or Brooke is spot-on. Had their show gone on for a decade longer, maybe they would be seen as matriarchs (which would have been fun because you know Erica Kane would NEVER be the Alice/Nancy-type of family matriarch), but they never got that chance.

[SFK]

I guess Sadie, Wanda, maybe even Ina Hopkins, all had the potential to fill that role.

[MissLlanviewPA]

What makes me angry is how Larry Wolek's role was diminished and eventually discarded, because he had earned the role of a OLTL patriarch. 

[KMan101]

That always bothered me too.

[danfling]

The dimishment of Larry also bothered me.   And also, Danny - I think that a feud between Danny and Todd would have been better than between Kevin and Todd.

[marceline]

 

Yeah. The way that the Woleks were disposed of still mystifies me.

[NothinButAttitude]

What mystifies me is that Ron Carlivati always touted that he knew OLTL history, but why didn't he or Valentini not even try or mention the Woleks in the finale? I'm sure Michael Storm would've been extremely open to returning in the finale (on ABC).

[slick jones]

Neither RC or FV could picture him in the shorts the Ford boys wore.....or Cutter or David, or Rex....etc. 

 

No Woleks after 2004 was sad. Every time someone got hurt or sick I hoped we'd see Larry....but no just random doctors in the ER...

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He was quite handsome and aged well. I missed his rapport with Viki and his sister-in-law Wanda.   But the loss of Wanda is another story....

[Dave_01]

 

Forget the final episode; they wouldn't even let Michael Storm attend the show's wrap party. Per Storm in the "Llanview in the Afternoon" book:

 

I was in Italy, on vacation with my wife, and David Coleman -- who did security for the show for many years and knew everything that was going on -- wrote me an email saying that he was sure I already knew, but there was a wrap party coming up for One Life, and gave me the number of the person to call. I didn’t call because I was out of the country, but I sent that person an email letting them know I’d be available to attend, and asked for details. Three or four days later, I received a response starting with “Unfortunately...” ABC had put a limit on the number of people at the party, and they couldn’t include me.

 

So I wrote back to David and let him know what happened, and asked him to tell Erika I wouldn’t be able to be there. Erika and I were buddies from way back to her first day on the show. So then Erika writes back to let me know how shocked she is that I wasn’t invited to the wrap party, and to tell me that she spoke with Frank Valentini, but that because they had already exceeded the number of invitations, there was no room for me. I mean, of all the shitty things. In a way, that was the final rock off my chest. I finally lost my tie. That was a sort of closure for me. Not the one I wanted, but the one I got.

 

You know, none of this is new. There’s no sensitivity in this game. You’re used, and in return you receive adulation. You’re inflated, and then it goes -- and it can go in the most unpredictable way. C’est la vie. It’s not the way I’d run the world, but it’s the way television works.

 

Sounds like just another in a long line of horribly mishandled situations that shouldn't have happened the way they did.

 

Edited January 1, 2017 by Dave_01