OLTL Tribute Thread

[dc11786]

I watched very sporadically when Malone returned having never watched before, but picked up OLTL with a bit more frequency in 2005 when GL became such a mess and the rumored gay Coulson story was beginning. From what I remember, it was presented as a bit of a Friday plot twist to a mystery involving Daniel's secret affair which Bo and Rex were investigating because I think they ended up at a gay bar together in one sequence. There was a red herring early on with Daniel getting a political aide, a young blonde, who I think we were suppose to believe was Daniel's mistress before they dropped the bomb and had Mark revealed. If I recall, I don't think Mark had appeared much in the months leading up to this, but I think they gave him a few scenes with Riley or someone shortly after. 

At the time, I didn't hate the twist because I saw it as an obvious soaped up Jim McGreevy story and was only recently out of the closet myself at the time. It was good to see gay representation when it was so barren in daytime in general (Mark and Eric Walsh were barely shown). Now, as a more experienced adult, I think my issue was with the insistence that the show stuck wtih the gay label rather than bi and that there wasn't any effort to really play the fallout (everything happened in like May, 2005, and then the last thread was Riley leaving in early to mid-June 2005). Daniel killing Paul over the blackmail to keep his secret worked for me because of the political angle, but I can definitely say it was still problematic despite Higley's claim of balance by having Eric and Papa Walsh reconicle on Father's Day a few weeks later. 

I think James Harmon Brown and Barbara Essensten were script editors during the early months of Higley and it was a much tighter show than it would be from what I watched later with their replacements. I found the day to day much more enjoyable in spring-summer 2005 and I remember thinking by late fall some of the energy I was enjoying was gone. I tend to like HIgley's work so my response is certainly outlier data. 

[Vee]

That would explain a lot about elements of the pacing and climax, though the story was still trash AFAIC. Higley's OLTL was its dumbest, darkest period til the end for me, and it had its share of lowlights in the final years.

And yes, Bo and Rex did go to the gay bar together lol. I still remember those scenes. Mark had been gone for quite some time IIRC.

[dc11786]

I wasn't sure re: Mark because I know they had been slowly killing off all of the Love Crew players in the Killing Club story. 

I think Brown and Essensten were there through the climax of the Killing Room murders. I seem to recall Bo interrogating a janitoral worker somewhere and the beat was played that the dayplayer janitor didn't want to speak with the cops because they were undocumented, which Bo deduced. It was just a very surprising beat to play. 

Given that Higley is known most for unfleshed out ideas, I think it often comes down to the quality of the writing team that is what I really enjoy. I thought the early Rex/Adriana stuff was neat and the kind of couple writing that was effective. I thought Nash was a well developed addition and the romantic complications worked. I felt from the beginning that Duke and Kelly were going to be a thing from when they were running partners back in the summer of 2005. I thought the concept of Ginger Foley was interesting, but I'm not sure Shannon McGinnis was capable of carrying a story on her own. I didn't hate Paige, but going from Brown to Huffman to Neil in under a year was a lot. Most of the veteran characters weren't well suited in that era so I can see why most didn't enjoy it. 

[Vee]

I just remember Nash's debut with the Hamptons remote feeling very paper-thin, as did the whole ugly Tess story. I didn't understand their connection or anything redeeming about Tess in particular and never did. Forbes March did have chemistry with Bree and they had their fans, so there's that I guess. But I never got behind them together because Tess was so repugnant, particularly when she hounded poor Viki into a stroke.

Rex and Adriana, for me, was much more compelling as something teased late in Malone II when he was still a shady character vs. when they tried to make them a real couple, which is around the time Higley and co. caught on to the audience interest in the early, vaguely omnisexual grifter Rex (the character had originally been intended by Gary Tomlin to be gay and seduce Seth Anderson before becoming a full-on schemer in Malone II). Then they instead began to frontload him for the rest of the show's network run as a heroic lead. Which made him and JPL increasingly unbearable as the years went on.

I forgot all about Ginger Foley. Everything about the Margaret saga (but especially Tari Signor, who I think Higley had intended to 'redeem' with amnesia and pair with David until what seemed like a last-minute rewrite to finally kill her off) I have tried to block out tbh. But YMMV. I know everything has its fans.

[chrisml]

I am probably in the minority, but I think Jessica Morris was a better actress than Melissa Archer but was never given the material. I think Jessica Morris became quite good and emmy nomination worthy during Sam's death. Jen's death was needlessly brutal and added nothing to the story and it only served to loosen Hickland's ties to the show.