OLTL Tribute Thread

[Bright Eyes]

That Cris/Natalie episode was the first time I ever saw OLTL. I loved Natalie ever since and thought it was a shame they never reunited, until Jared came along. I don't know if it was the same episode, but another early entry in my OLTL watching had Asa having a one on one with Sarah 'Flash' Roberts. I can't if they were the same episode, but I remember thinking Flash as a nickname was cool for a soap opera character, already being conditioned to love it from watching Canada's answer to Saved by the Bell; Student Bodies! At the same time I thought it was a shame the actress, Shanelle Workman, was not my cup of tea. I was further surprised to see her get a gig on B&B. By that point I knew Brad Bell loved to stunt cast, but exactly what stunt was he trying to pull by casting an 'actress' no one was clamoring to see again? 

[Vee]

They gave Flash a lot of scenes with Asa because her initial intro storyline as a runaway was a complete botch - lusting for her cousin because Brian Frons micromanaged the storyline with Joey, Jen and Flash and wanted it frontburnered and over-promoted when none of them were capable. The show pushed very hard to retrofit Jessica Morris' Jen into Marty Saybrooke, which was insulting, and Bruce Michael Hall's Joey was good at some things and terrible at others - he couldn't carry a major story on his own, certainly not with weak regular partners.

 

Afterwards, they thought tying Flash/Sarah more closely to the Buchanans and Asa would help. It did, but they didn't give her any other stories beyond a backburner romance with recurring player Riley, who became increasingly popular and stuck around without her (I think Jay Wilkison went on to do Broadway). I liked Shanelle Workman at the time, but today her weaknesses are extremely apparent and the whole Hot Topic goth thing is now super-dated. It was clear at the time they intended to bring on her brother C.J. (long rumored to be OLTL's mythical gay unicorn) and bring back Tina, who they were actively trying to recast, but none of it manifested onscreen.

[EricMontreal22]

Yep Jay Wilkison was kinda wasted--I thought Riley was one of the more compelling characters of that time (though the detail that he was named after Joe Riley struck me as bizarre and just a random pointless connection to the past) but he basically got stuck in his father, Daniel Colson's horrible plot which led to him (I think) going back on drugs, being arrested and leaving for rehab.  Wilison did go on to do some Broadway--he was in Rent for the final years and is on the filmed final performance that was released and I remember him on Nashville for a while...  Flash was just one of those characters that probably looked good on paper from that bizarre Malone/Griffith era, but never worked (partly due to the actor and all the reasons Vee gives).  Was she originally part of the LOVE Center crew?

Bright Eyes I loved Student Bodies!  lol

[SFK]

 

I watched that episode with Gillian Spencer at Paley (when it was still called The Museum of Television and Radio) in New York over a decade ago, but this video appears to be someone recording a clip reel from a cast/crew event post-cancellation announcement.

 

My mom was one of those from day one OLTL viewers and she said Spencer's Niki was amazing.

Even Slezak mentions in her Archive interview that she'd heard how good Spencer's Niki was and she was intimidated about taking on the role of the multiple.

[Vee]

 

And the irony is all that only came about because he took off with the audience despite being a bit player for Flash's band originally. He was used to give her something to do before she exited because fans preferred him to her and Joey (her cousin!), then clicked with Jessica Morris. He was still wasted on her extremely minimal talents - I always liked him and regretted his exit, as he'd become like a son to Nora and a brother to Matthew.

 

 

No - Flash was gone by then. The Love Crew debacle was summer 2004: Marcie, Jen, Riley, Julie Tanaka, jock Nick Messina, Shannon McBain (who I'd forgotten existed until just now and who was played by Mrs. Jensen Ackles, Danneel Harris!), and yes, Matt Cavenaugh as token gay non-core character Mark Solomon. Rex and Adriana also orbited it.

 

The Love Crew mess was so bad: Retrofitted youths thrown together overnight, most of them new, all of them struggling in this incredibly earnest, embarrassing ploy for teen viewers. There was even a bizarre ghost story/past lovers angle with Lord and McBain ancestors thrown in that Malone mercifully was forced to ditch before it went anywhere, and which was rewritten as R.J.(!!) faking a haunting so he could claim the land. But somehow Higley's story the following year was worse - the Killing Club murders, based on Malone's lame IRL book(!!), in which Marcie whined and howled her way through a storyline featuring all her Love Crew pals being brutally murdered until finally the show realized fans were pissed enough at Marcie that they actually trotted Viki out to sit her down and say (and I quote) "please stop it" and told her it was her fault.

God, those were some rough years.

Edited October 3, 2018 by Vee

[Khan]

 

That is HILARIOUS.  Please tell me it's available on YT.

[Taoboi]

I remember loving Riley as the edgy good guy and was sad to see him go. 

[Vee]

 

Probably? I dunno. It was in early July '05, I believe.

 

ETA: Yep! (not embeddable)

Edited October 3, 2018 by Vee

[DRW50]

 

That doesn't really seem like Viki, but it was entertaining enough (and at least it gave Erika something to do). 

 

Who was the killer anyway? 

[Khan]

I think it was Dr. Stephen Haver?  Something to do with mommy issues?  And I think Rae helped him confess.

 

Thanks, Vee, I know I would never have been able to find it myself.

[victoria foxton]

Some lameo called Hayes Barber.  http://www.soapcentral.com/oltl/content/scoop/twoscoops/2005/050801.php    The Killing Club disaster

Edited October 3, 2018 by victoria foxton

[Vee]

No, Stephen Haver was a year earlier (sigh) - the Music Box Killer in 2003-04 under Malone. Literary agent Hayes Barber was the Killing Club culprit; he was actually Marcie's demented former classmate Ivan Potter. Naturally, Daniel Colson's slew of murders had been running at the same time as this story because why not have two murder sprees at once, right?

 

I always liked Viki shutting down Marcie - it was one of the few shining Viki moments from 2003 to 2007, a dark, lonely time for the character.

[victoria foxton]

Khan Dr. Haver was the killer in the godawful Music Box nonsense. I will never forgive OLTL for killing Gabrielle Medina

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[Khan]

 

And don't forget the One Pure People bullshit.  Or did that happen later?

 

Sorry for thinking Haver was the Killing Club killer.  Could you really blame me for mixing up my OLTL serial killer storylines, lol?  My God, it seemed like there were so many at the time.  Reminds me of what Henry Slesar said when ABC hired him to co-HW the show: "It was with the caveat that OLTL was not a crime show; yet, when I joined, there were two murder mysteries running concurrently."

 

I've watched the scenes between Viki and Marcie.  I must admit I can detect some meta stuff going on -- not just with Marcie's whining (which she was prone to do a LOT, IMO), but with Viki's comment about the murders in the book being so "barbaric."  You could tell not everyone was thrilled with the real-life book.

Edited October 3, 2018 by Khan

[Vee]

The OPP (yeah you know me! I could never take them using the acronym onscreen seriously, and they did it constantly) was 2007. I guess it's actually pretty timely now, but was very poorly written.