OLTL Tribute Thread

[soapfave06]

Very interesting to think of Eileen as Gabrielle after what she did with Kristen on DAYS, imagine if that never panned out. 

 

I would just have loved to have seen Andrea's Tina amidst the darker DID story and Victor's death being revealed, plus the David drama. Idk, also as a huge Tina and Cord fan it's almost hard to see him without her lol and seeing her Tina with Roger's Todd and Kassie as Blair. There should have been so much more to do with Tina I 1995, I would assume. 

 

I would have loved to have seen a OLTL without such turnover-Ellen Bethea mesmerize me as Rachel in any scene (more recently Hank stepping down as DA and Nora convincing Rachel to support Hank in the courthouse bathroom) and was such a blow to lose her, I loved Mia Korf as Blair and would have liked to see Kassie as maybe Blair's sister or even an older Kelly. 

 

I did also get to see Javier with Rachel begging for drugs and they were living with RJ, he was indeed hot and talented. I guess they already had rapist Todd to fulfill the permanent bad boy position though. 

[Vee]

 

I may be alone, but I saw scenes near the end of Ellen Bethea's contract run as Rachel with her and the first Ben Price - not the eternally boring Peter Parros, but Charles Malik Whitfield. I'd had no memory of him whatsoever from the old days, but to me Whitfield had serious sparks with Bethea. Not sure what happened there. I have no idea if she still acts; again, last I saw of her, she was a very vocal Obama booster in 2008-2009 on Facebook before vanishing into the digital ether.

 

I'd like to think Andrea could and would play a more nuanced Tina. When you see her off-camera using her normal, deeper voice in rare interviews she is clearly not the same person she often plays up for TV. I loved Karen Witter in the role, but I think Andrea could have done it. She did have chemistry with Witter's '90s love interest (Cain) when she returned to the show - but I seem to recall them deliberately keeping her from sharing scenes with Tuc Watkins as a gag, since she had the little dog. I don't remember if she ever had any scenes with David after all. I don't think so.

 

I know exactly what I'd do with the Mia Korf situation if OLTL ever returned as a streamer. People would absolutely be talking about the Blair switch in this day and age, you could never have gotten away with that in this century. Obviously you can't undo it and Kassie is beloved in the role, but I would address it in a roundabout way that isn't a racebending joke, and give Korf a recurring role that ties her to the Blair character. That's a decent way to handle it, especially since she was talented. But the best response is to add more key Asian and Asian-American characters to any show's canvas.

[j swift]

Recently someone posted scenes from Kelli Maroney's turn as Tina prior to Andrea's 1984 return to role which I'm sure are searchable.  Of course, Kelli turned out to be a poor fit for the role.  However, your musing about Tina being present for the darker phases of the plot reminded me of those scenes.  When Kelly/Tina first returned it was explained that she was working on an advanced business/marketing degree at UCLA during her time in Los Angeles.  Bo noted that Asa was keen to make Tina his right-hand-man because Chuck had recently left the company.  Obviously, that entire thread was dropped, but imagine if Tina hadn't become comic fodder and was a real intellectual threat to Blair and Todd, that could have been great.

[Vee]

I'm somewhat surprised Kelli Maroney didn't click - she went on to a long and storied career as a camp bimbette in 80s horror, and there were definite Tina Lord vibes. Of course, her stint was prior to the second run that made Andrea a star.

[DRW50]

 

Didn't she have problems with Rauch?

 

 

I think this may be what you mean:

 

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I really liked her with Kevin so it was hard for me to be objective, but I do think the first Ben was more interesting to watch and I think if Bethea had stayed they would have clicked.

[Vee]

Obviously they should've stuck with Kevin, but yeah, I preferred Whitfield to Peter Parros by far.

[victoria foxton]

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Edited May 14, 2021 by victoria foxton

[soapfave06]

I so enjoyed reading all the feedback

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Now in mid-January 1995 and am enjoying how close Viki is to Larry and Nora as her life slowly crumbles and Sloan's military funeral-wow!!

 

I did not watch or read up on 1994 much-how rushed was the story of RJ framing Hank for a 1972 university murder? Seems like this back story had a lot of potential but in a two week period Hank is arrested, RJ gets himself out of prison, Hank stands trial and is acquitted. I rather enjoyed it but seems like there was much more to play on there. 

 

Nice to see early Todd and Blair, meanwhile I am lost on what to feel about Andy. Can anyone fill me in on why she was popular?

[Vee]

Andy was no great shakes on her own, but I loved her with Antonio. It was such an odd pairing of types but I adored them as a kid and was heartbroken when he returned single. I haven't watched much of their story in aeons, so I couldn't speak to the quality of it longterm.

[Chris B]

She wasn't written anything like the Tina I remember or like her Ryan's Hope character (who had similarities of Tina). She seemed more like a young Viki if anything. Was Tina different when Andrea Evans first played her? I do agree Kelli would've been fine if written like Tina was in the late 80s-90s.

[Vee]

 

That's very strange, as is the whole Asa grooming her as his successor plotline someone mentioned.

The little I've seen of '70s/early '80s Tina was her as a standard teen ingenue, nothing like what she became when she returned.

[DRW50]

 

I don't really know how popular she ever was. Antonio/Andy had a following, but most of the focus went to Kamar, both in the writing and among fans. I remember the soap magazines being happy enough to admit that she was basically an idiot, and panning the writing for her (at one point she literally clings to Antonio's legs as he walks out on her, IIRC).

[j swift]

I recall enjoying Andy, even though it meant retconning more siblings for Max Holden.  It has been a long held pet peeve of my that writers defy logic by having characters come to a new town, then years later their long lost relatives happen to appear in the same small town, despite the fact that their family has no established roots in that city.  Max lived in Argentina for years, why would his half-siblings from Texas try to find him in Llandview?

 

That being said, Andy was an ingenue for her times.  She was very late 90's in her aesthetic and character.  The kind of girl who didn't care for fashion, but had a meticulously curated thrift store closet.  Every plot was about her desire to be treated equally based on gender norms, and yet she was always in need of being saved by Antonio or Max. 

 

The recast didn't do the character any favors.  I guess by that time it would have been implausible for Max to have three long lost siblings.  However, not only her looks, but her whole characterization seemed to change with the new actress.  Then, when Antonio returned she was totally thrown under the bus as having a marriage ending affair off screen.

[Soaplovers]

Andy originally was on in the late 80s/early 90s...she owned a restaurant/bar called Andy's.  Had dark hair and kind of frew spirited.  She married and moved to California..leaving Wanda in charge of her business.

 

Flashforward a few years later, she came back as a blonde..townboy..and wanting to be a cop.  Had a crush on Luna's brother Dylan, paired briefly with Kevin (during 2 bad recasts) before being paired with Antonio.

[soapfave06]

Thanks for the feedback, I am on the last January episode and honestly find her weird so far but wanting to enjoy her. She half mentioned the affair and not wanting to be judged for being a woman, then judged someone who came to work with her in the cop car (it may have been Kevin-I wasn't feeling it) but was also prying to get close to Dylan,  even in front of Marty and that made me uncomfortable as a viewer 26 years later lol