Jump to content

OLTL Tribute Thread


Recommended Posts

  • Members

 

Interesting stuff. Yeah, what surprised me when I watched the first episode today was that it felt like something made in 2018. It hadn't aged much at all. The technology they're using was all the best stuff, the fashions seem very classic, and the sets are exquisitely designed.

 

David doing his own reality show doesn't seem dated either, since reality shows are still popular. I'd forgotten Dorian had become a junior senator. Some of the things Ron Carlivati had started at the end of the ABC run were nicely continued. But they also brought in a new character like Jeffrey King, so they weren't entirely relying on all of what Ron did.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 7k
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

Top Posters In This Topic

Posted Images

  • Members

Erika Slezak's hair seems a bit orange in the online episodes. I don't remember her hair having an orange hue in the 2012 episodes. I thought she was more blonde. Maybe she changed her hair color during the time off. It certainly differentiates her from the rest of the other women on the show.

Edited by JarrodMFiresofLove
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

On Prospect Park's wiki page it says part of their lawsuit against ABC alleged that a OLTL character had been killed off on GH. Which character was killed off?

 

For the 2013 series I assume that Roger Howarth filmed his role of Todd while on a break from GH, right? In the second episode Viki asks him about his life in Port Charles. But when Prospect Park halts production of the series, did Howarth go back to playing Todd on GH...or is that when he started playing Franco? Was his last performance as Todd on the 2013 series of OLTL?

 

Did GH ever say what happened to Todd and Star, when they were written out because of the lawsuit with Prospect Park? I guess what I am trying to figure out is where Todd would be today...is he supposed to be living in Llanview again or is he off somewhere else, or are his whereabouts unknown?

Edited by JarrodMFiresofLove
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members


OK

 

This is all so fuzzy--especially as I only sorta paid attention to GH, but...  The characters killed off were killed off--Starr was driving to Port Charles (I think?) and was in a car crash that killed Cole and Starr.  Hughes (2nd Cole) returned briefly with Starr--they had to stop in Port Charles due to a storm on the way to Llanview (why they were going there is beyond me since Cole was in hiding).  There was a dumb part where Cole told Starr all about the history of Luke and Laura, the Cassadines and other famous Port Charles people (and so I guess filling in new viewers?) which he knew about because it turned out (unless we knew this already) that Ian Thornhart on the soap Port Charles was his uncle being Patrick's brother.  The crash was involved I believe because they were in the middle of a shooting planned by Sonny, or so it seems (of course).

I can't even find details on how Todd exited, but here's Starr's storyline from her year on GH (so many oh so typical Ron Carlivati plot points here): 

Upon Cole and Hope's deaths in Port Charles, New York, the setting of General Hospital, Starr is rescued by Michael Corinthos. Blair soon arrives to tell Starr that her family is gone. The main suspect in their deaths is Sonny Corinthos, Michael's father. Michael lets Starr stay at his apartment during the trial. When Sonny is acquitted, a distraught Starr takes him hostage at gunpoint; Michael is able to talk her out of it but later has her arrested. However, Todd later blackmails Sonny and Michael into dropping the charges. Johnny Zacchara blackmails Rick Powers into letting Starr out of her contract and she signs another deal with him. Starr and Michael soon begin dating and he disapproves of her new roommate, Trey Mitchell. Starr initially clashes with Michael's sister, and Trey's girlfriend, Kristina Davis. Starr and Michael follow Trey and Kristina to Las Vegas and are shocked to find Kristina and Trey have eloped as a publicity stunt for their reality show. It is later revealed that Kate Howard's alternate personality, Connie, was the shooter the night of Starr's accident. Starr severs all ties with Johnny when it is revealed that he secretly married Connie to keep her from being committed and helped cover up her involvement in the shooting. Todd soon confides in Starr about his involvement in the switching of Téa's stillborn son with Sam Morgan's living child. Starr and Michael nearly make love for the first time on Halloween when he is confronted by his presumed dead biological father, A. J. Quartermaine. She begins sleeping on Michael's couch when she and Trey get evicted from the apartment. As she offers supports to Michael, Starr blackmails Todd into helping Sam's sister, Molly Lansing get her book published. Starr and Michael make love for the first time on Christmas Eve. In January 2013, Johnny finally admits that he was behind Hope and Cole's accident. When Johnny is sent to prison, he gives Starr his half of the Haunted Star making her partners with Michael's cousin and sister-in-law, Lulu Spencer-Falconeri.

Starr is seen grieving on the anniversary of Cole and Hope's death, as well as lamenting the day she met Michael and starting a relationship. As they leave the gravesite, an unknown figure walks forward and gazes sadly at Cole and Hope's gravestones. It is heavily suggested that it is Cole and he survived the accident; however, it remains unknown. On March 20, 2013, Starr receives an emergency call from Langston, telling her to return to Los Angeles immediately. She leaves Michael and tells him she will be back soon. A few days later, Starr calls Michael and tells him she is not returning to Port Charles, and breaks up with him without an explanation. It is implied that Hope and Cole turned up alive in Los Angeles and Starr went into hiding with them.

Edited by EricMontreal22
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

Also this:

No matter what the intentions of the writing staff of General Hospital were at the time, the thread of Cole (and possibly Hope) being alive will not be picked up by the new online reboot of One Life to Live. Executive producer Jennifer Pepperman had the following to say when discussing the opportunity to bring back the characters:

"I was really shocked as a viewer when Cole and Hope were killed and I know on soap operas people say you can bring people back from the dead, but that is something that I feel strongly, and Prospect Park feels strongly about, and that is not bringing people back from the dead. That is one of the things that never really feels right, but I am afraid that ABC killed Cole and Hope, and also Victor Jr. III (Tea and Victor Jr. son) and those are real losses for the show."

And the Tea saga of her time on GH between the OLTL finale and the reboot (I totally forgot they were gonna have a connection between Tomas and GH's Alcazar.)  So I think Todd just followed her back to Llanview--but I don't remember on GH if anyone asked why Kiki and nuFranco looked like Starr and Todd.  WHAT A MESS.

n May 2012, a heavily pregnant Téa arrives in Port Charles, the setting of General Hospital, to provide legal counsel to Starr, who had held mobster Sonny Corinthos at gun point. Téa quickly discloses that she was hired by Blair. On June 1, she collapses in the parking garage and is found by Todd, and goes into labor. Todd crashes their car off the road during a rainstorm and delivers Téa's baby, a boy, in the rain. When the baby is born, he is not crying and Todd takes the baby and goes for help. Todd runs into Heather Webber, who in turn says the baby is unable to be saved. As Todd goes to tell Téa the unfortunate news, he discovers Sam Morgan lying unconscious with her own healthy newborn son nearby. As Todd attempts to return Sam's baby to her, Téa arrives and falsely assumes the baby is hers. Heather leaves Téa's stillborn son in place of Sam's. Todd later returns Téa to Llanview with Sam's baby.

Heather Webber arrives in Llanview in September 2012 at Téa's house, introducing herself as "Susan Moore." She offers to be a nanny for the baby. Téa is thankful and hires her. John later arrives in Llanview, and secretly takes a DNA sample from the baby after Sam's husband, Jason, begins to suspect that Sam's baby was switched with Téa's. The DNA results are a match, and John goes to Llanview to tell Téa the truth. However, before he can tell her, Téa realizes that the baby and her nanny are gone. When John tells her that "Susan" is really Heather, a mental patient who escaped from Ferncliff, Téa is shocked. When Téa finds out that Heather is in Port Charles, she heads to Todd's house. Todd pretends to get a phone call from his P.I. telling him where Heather is, and he and Téa leave to go find her. When they get there, however, they find John there with Port Charles Commissioner Anna Devane. Téa listens as John and Anna punch holes in Todd's story, but is too worried about "her baby". Anna gets a phone call that Heather is at General Hospital, holding the baby hostage on the roof. John, Anna, Todd, and Téa all head to General Hospital. Téa wants to go be with "her son", but John stops her. Todd stays with Téa, while John and Anna confer about the situation. Téa overhears them saying Sam and Jason are on the roof with Heather, and wonders why they are on the roof with Heather and "her son". Téa tries to go to the roof, but Todd stops her. Téa watches in horror as Heather jumps from the roof with the baby in her arms. However, Jason manages to save the baby.

Téa is relieved, and anxious to see her son, but is confused when Todd and Anna keep stopping her. Eventually, she runs inside, and Todd chases after her. She gets out of the elevator, and sees John with Jason, Sam, and the baby. When she goes to get him, John and Sam hold her back, and she becomes even more confused. When Sam and Jason walk away with the baby, Téa is furious and demands an explanation. John and Todd explains to her that her baby died and the child with Sam and Jason is Sam's son. At first, Téa is in disbelief, thinking they're lying to her, but when John shows the DNA test that was run and tells her that the baby who died had hemophilia, a condition that's in Téa's family, Téa finally realizes her baby is dead. She goes to baby "Victor's" room, and tells Jason and Sam she will not take the baby away – she just wants to say goodbye. Sam agrees, and Téa says a heartfelt goodbye to "Victor". Afterwards, she leaves the room, and the hospital, in tears.

Téa comes to the police station after Todd is arrested in connection to the baby switch. Téa asks him flat out if he had anything to do with the switch. Todd denies it, but Téa warns him that if he did do this, he has hurt her more than he could ever have. She goes back to Llanview, but not before telling Starr about the suspicion surrounding Todd. Téa is shown in Llanview again with Blair, when Todd arrives with Carly Corinthos and Skye Quartermaine. Carly and Skye claim that Tomás is actually an international arms dealer named Lorenzo Alcazar. Blair calls Tomás to come home, but a CIA agent shows up, saying Tomás has left for another mission. Téa leaves with Blair and Skye to find Tomás.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

Todd left Port Charles because he got a call from Danielle who was drunk and/or upset and spiraling into a drug habit.

 

Starr left Port Charles after getting an urgent call from Langston about some personal matter, then broke up with Michael over the phone (unseen and unheard) from the Nurses Ball with no explanation. She was later said to be living in L.A. again on OLTL.

 

John left Port Charles on assignment for the FBI and later was in contact with Natalie and Téa (offscreen) disputing the custody arrangement for Liam, which Clint had changed behind Natalie's back.

 

None were ever seen or mentioned on GH again.

 

RH did double duty on OLTL 2.0 and GH, but I don't think the actual filming stints coincided. I think he filmed all his material for OLTL 2.0 in one block before returning to film at GH as Franco. The shows aired simultaneously, so he aired on both at the same time. He was expected back at OLTL 2.0 but the show did not continue, and Todd was not seen again after exiting shortly before the end of the first 'season'. It was implied Todd was walking into a trap the Triskelion cartel (the 'tattoo organization') led by Carl Peterson (Ron Raines) had set for him. Peterson said that his sister Alison (Perkins) had already re-captured Victor.

Edited by Vee
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

I will say this thread has made me revisit clips, etc, of the online OLTL.  For a variety of reasons the AMC reboot has stuck with me more, and I think overall (despite the issues it had with having less of the ABC cast) I think it was the more successful, but it's reminded how much I enjoyed an awful lot of OLTL 2.0  I think there was a chunk in the middle or maybe early on and in the middle where it felt directionless and it lost the initial momentum, but by the end it really was revving up into something potentially great--and frankly something I enjoyed more than the final years of Ron's run (despite all the whiners about the reboots online--who were particularly bitter about Ron not continuing with the reboot).  It kept some of the convoluted crime stuff OLTL often did what with the secret organization but I was intrigued--even hackneyed soap stories like Jack sleeping (almost?) with his teacher were relatively freshly handled I thought.

 

As Vee has said several time it also really helped to be back to back with AMC and emphasize the sorta ying/yang thing the two shows, at their best, always had (even, in their old 1970 way, back when they started judging by the 1969 OLTL ep online and the five AMC 1970s eps out there)--AMC being more homey, a bit more "small town", etc, compared to OLTL's more urban and action oriented edge (even with AMC having stories like the sex trafficking one I think this was true).  Hell the two online shows even emphasized that--online AMC seemed to mostly take place in the day, and OLTL mostly at night.

And now I'm sad once again that the reboots didn't work out.  Oh well, better to go out as (mostly) a creative success than to have been the utter embarrassments they could have been.

Edited by EricMontreal22
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

The AMC 2.0 reboot was almost flawless IMO. Just incredible. Best soap of that year. OLTL had a few fits and starts in the middle weeks, but was on a whole much more serious, cutting-edge and forward-thinking than OLTL had been in years. It felt adult and dangerous again. Tonally they were appropriate opposites but both shows were the wave of the future, IMO.

 

It kills me because I think you could put them on Netflix or Hulu today and they'd work - if the management company hadn't been incompetent. The productions worked.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

The online versions were on Hulu and Hulu Plus according to a press release I found. Basically Prospect Park was a glorified production company (in music and television). Despite creating The Online Network (which was kind of without function), they never put their episodes of OLTL or AMC directly online, they let Hulu and iTunes do it for them. Suggesting they were quite ambitious but didn't have enough resources and had to farm the episodes out to other platforms for them to be seen by the audience. At least that is how I look at it. I am sure their business model was evolving.

 

One thing I'd forgotten was how the owners of Prospect Park originally started in music management, so it makes sense they were putting a lot of music-related stuff on OLTL. It works rather well during the club scenes. And it does give the show a fresh energy that hadn't been in the ABC version.

 

I agree that Ron's writing on GH was a mess. Too many crossovers, too many convoluted plots. Though Prospect Park was suing ABC for having killed off those characters, it really was all Ron's fault, but ABC let him do that. He had too much free reign on GH which some might say ultimately became his undoing. I think if Ron hadn't gone to GH and had gone directly into the online version of OLTL, it's safe to assume none of those crossovers would have happened. He liked doing back from the dead plots, so I am sure it was never his intention to keep Cole and Hope dead. Probably at some point we were supposed to see Star reunited with them, during some big ratings month. But Prospect Park's lawsuit got in the way of all that, so Star, Todd and John McBain were all quickly written off GH. Though ABC reclaimed the rights in December 2016 they haven't done anything with any of those characters, probably because it would be confusing to have Howarth switch roles again. But if they ever decide to kill off Franco, then I can definitely see them putting him back into the role of Todd Manning.

 

I ended up looking at the second and third online episodes. The second one is where Dani's in the hospital and everyone finds out Victor Jr. is alive and that Todd is back in Llanview. First, I think it's very revealing how Trevor St. John is not in the opening credits and everyone else is. So that tells me they didn't plan for him to actually stick around. I guess the idea was to do a triangle with Todd-Blair-Tea, otherwise Tea has no love interest after Victor Jr exits again.

 

Some of the writing is a little off to me in the scenes from the second episode. It's hard to figure out which one is the actual biological father of which child. Todd is acting like Dani's father, but I thought Victor Jr was her bio dad. And Todd was the bio dad of Star and Jack. Sam is included but only in scenes back at Dorian's home, so he seem less connected to these other kids. They don't even mention who his father is.

 

For someone new to OLTL, just joining the stories in the online version, the writing should be clearer, which kid is by which father. Good writing could have really mined that for extra drama, especially if the thesis was that parenting is more than blood, it's about a feeling of connection. In that case, Todd and Victor Jr's conflict, where they both are trying to reconnect and belong to their families again, would be so much more powerful.

 

I thought Viki's reunion with Todd at the hospital was very good but her reunion with Victor Jr. ironically fell flat. I wonder if that's because Erika Slezak might have felt closer to Howarth off camera than to St. John. But she should have played those scenes the same, since both of them were brothers to Viki. Actually since Victor Jr is the namesake of her own father, with whom she had a troubled history, Viki's relationship with Victor Jr should be a little dicier. So I think the writers didn't go deep enough and Slezak didn't go deep enough either in those scenes. I expected more emotional resonance as those reunions played out.

 

The third episode takes Viki to Dorian's home and we have more sniping. This is vastly entertaining but Robin Strasser seem to have trouble remembering some of her lines and she's shouting her dialogue again. I like how this storyline ties in with homeland security. But I think the writers are implying that Dorian can be brought down by scandal. She's a survivor. Plus why would she care what conservatives think, since she's an openly liberal politician (at least she was when Ron wrote the character). It should be more about her concern for the nation's security than about some silly scandal. Dorian is no stranger to scandal or controversy. That's old hat to her. Her beef with Viki should be that a newspaper expose could cause people to distrust the government on big issues like safety and create more havoc because of the ensuing paranoia. So I think the writers are getting the story a bit wrong.

 

Re: the newspaper stuff. Since this is an online show and characters are seen on their computers, then why isn't Viki switching her newspaper to an online edition? It seems out-dated that people are still finding actual newspapers on their front doorsteps. Or that we have all these shots of headlines on the front page. This information should be on their computer or phone screens, not on actual paper. I'm surprised the writers didn't bring The Banner more into the future.

 

Next I want to comment on the coffee shop set. This is the set I remember most from when I first watched these episodes in 2013. It actually feels like a real coffee shop. Must be something in how they designed it, the furniture they selected, the props they used (with real bags of coffee on the shelf). And how a coffee shop, instead of a restaurant, lends itself better to a smaller space. The first coffee shop scene involved Blair and Todd in episode 2, but in episode 3 we saw the coffee shop again when Nora stopped in and had a chat with Matthew.

 

I do wish they had featured or at least referenced some of the recurring characters from Ron's run. I keep expecting to see Ilene Kristen's character (Roxy). It feels like she should somehow be included. They could have had her run the coffee shop. Also, while I didn't care for Aubrey, I think Cutter should have at least referenced some of the characters he had his previous storylines with...otherwise he seems like some new guy with no prior relationships in Llanview.

 

And we haven't had Rama say much about her husband, though I think he must turn up later because the actor is listed in the IMDb credits for the show. Meanwhile Viki and Clint have not once mentioned Jessica. A new viewer would think Natalie is their only child. And that they don't have any sons, either. The writers seem to be pushing Viki's relationship with Todd and Viki's new relationship with Jeffrey King, or her ongoing conflicts with Dorian. But she has other relatives and outside concerns. They're neglecting some of that and it makes Viki less multi-dimensional than she was on the ABC series.

 

One thing I think the online version is missing is a park or town square. Maybe that's added later? Most soaps have this type of set where people can randomly bump into each other. It's silly to expect that everyone would go to the club all the time. There should be a small park outside the coffee shop. Or some outdoor scenes shot in an actual park somewhere. There needs to be a place where people can casually cross paths without having to go to the club or the hospital all the time.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

A lot of people (and mostly fairly) complained about that hospital scene and the fact that some people barely seemed to register that Victor Jr was alive, etc. 

I think you're right that OLTL 2.0 coulda done a better job establishing character relationships and history for new, or long time gone, viewers.  AMC did a much better job with this, but then again they also had the time jump, many more new characters (cast), etc, and so had to--the only story really that was directly picked up was who was shot at the finale, and even that was easily dealt with (let's face it, it would be pretty hard to handle in well written dialogue recap the whole Victor Jr/Todd thing).

Interesting both shows made use of a coffee house setting.  It does seem like a good locale for them to have for group stuff.  --traditionally soaps always use restaurants but who actually goes to restaurants so often, even casual places. 

(Re Ron's GH don't forget he also managed to tie in Ryan's Hope and even Loving to the show when he wrote it--though Loving had a cross over with GH, it is not owned by ABC but was kept by Agnes Nixon's company throughout it and City's run, so I'm not sure if he had any right to do that, but probably no one on either side really cared).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.



×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy