Was watching some past episodes from different eras of OLTL and it is amazing how much the show changed through the years with the exception of Viki and Buchanan's. 

 

August 1987- all in all the show was so good when it came to Clint/Viki/Tina/Cord/Maria but all the newbies just weren't working for me. Gabrielle was still a heroine and then the Sanders family was just blah. Wanda had a nice little story where she lost her diner to I guess the city and Judith Sanders helped stage a protest to help Wanda but a scene like that would have worked so much better with Larry, Viki and other written out characters like Carla, Ed, Jenny, etc. who would have known Wanda for years. I love the over the top Rauch era but I really wish he had maintained the diversity with different social classes and races. 

 

August 1992- my first time really getting into the Gottlieb years but the AIDS Quilt climax was some of the best episodes I have seen of OLTL. I finally see what people liked about Sloan & Viki and I wish Andrew had not become such an afterthought. Only thing I wasn't feeling in the 1992 episodes are Tina/Cain/Sarah but I was a big fan of Andrea Evans and Jensen Buchanan. And it is impressive how quickly they integrated the newer, more entertaining characters into Llanview. Rachel, Hank, Sheila, Marty, Jason just feel like they always belonged. 

 

November 2007- I did not realize at the time how much Carlivati did to improve the show between Viki being back at the forefront (I am loving Gigi, Moe, Noelle & Charlie) and the slight return to social conscious (Langston & the Cramer's facing the foster care system, Marcie on the run with drag queens & the New Orleans family) it is really a shame that outside of that I can only think of a few other times Carlivati kept this up (Rex having financial problems for medical bills around Christmas 2008, the beatbox gift for Shane was cheesy but I enjoyed it and the 2009 Kish story which I thought they over did with Dorian trying to marry a woman)

Edited April 15, 20187 yr by soapfave06

I never cared for Gabrielle - especially when she stole Delilah's (who was her business partner) designs and claimed credit for having created them.

 

Edited May 2, 20187 yr by victoria foxton

Jonathan Hogan (Walter Douglas, the homophobic father of Ryan Phillippe's Billy) has just turned up in Retro TV's rerun cycle of The Doctors as Jerry Dancy. He first aired on TD in December 1975.

Interview with then-new OLTL EP Jill Farren Phelps from TV Guide, 8/22/98 . . .

 

And yet, she put the kibosh on Matt and Donna's promising "Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone" story on ANOTHER WORLD, and similarly killed a romance between GH's Scott and Bobbie (at least, I THINK it was Scott and Bobbie), because "no one wants to see old people kissing."

 

ML: "Catherine Hickland, a much-loved, five-soap vet who [...] never had a suds role worthy of her talent." 

Khan: With all due respect, Mr. Logan, this CAPITOL fan wants you to go fug yourself.

 

And Tim Gibbs' "older, razor's-edge" take on Kevin Buchanan was far, far from being "dramatically invaluable."  In fact, it just might have helped render that character utterly useless.

Edited May 13, 20187 yr by Khan

Utter nonsense and lies. Jill Farren Phelps is known for disliking older actors. Her getting rid of Robin Strasser, one of OLTL's most valuable players, was proof enough. She also purged GH of God knows how many vets, heavily limiting the screen time of those who remained. 

Jill liked her older actors - no one else's. (As for Scott and Bobbie at GH, that was a barely-there subplot and I didn't like shoving them back together, but yes she treated the actors poorly.)

 

Michael Logan was always willing to follow a trend. The yes-man line on Kevin Stapleton's wildly unpopular firing (which helped alienate Laura Bonariggo) is laughable.

 

Cat Hickland was great as Tess on Loving and The City, too. Yes, Lindsay worked out but that was because of Cat, not JFP. Her work as an actress saved the character many, many times.

Edited May 14, 20187 yr by Vee

Tim Gibbs was one of the worst recasts OLTL ever had. I always got the feeling JFP was flummoxed at how unpopular he was with viewers (and he was unpopular from first episode to last). He was clearly supposed to be a big hit. Even Kale Browne was liked by some fans before people began to loathe the character as he took over the show and Nora was made into a mannequin.

Edited May 14, 20187 yr by DRW50

3 hours ago, DRW50 said:

Tim Gibbs was one of the worst recasts OLTL ever had. I always got the feeling JFP was flummoxed at how unpopular he was with viewers (and he was unpopular from first episode to last).

 

Mostly because, his take on Kevin was so different and so wrong from what we had been used to.  I guess you could say he was harkening back to Lee Patterson and his Joe Riley, except 1) I doubt anyone (except Erika Slezak) knew, remembered or cared who Joe Riley was; and 2) I don't recall Joe ever being such a PITA.

8 minutes ago, Khan said:

 

Mostly because, his take on Kevin was so different and so wrong from what we had been used to.  I guess you could say he was harkening back to Lee Patterson and his Joe Riley, except 1) I doubt anyone (except Erika Slezak) knew, remembered or cared who Joe Riley was; and 2) I don't recall Joe ever being such a PITA.

 

I could see what you're saying, although I don't know if JFP even knew who Joe was. I took him at the time as JFP's beloved interchangeable [!@#$%^&*] super-stud leading man. 

 

I think Gibbs' glaring lack of chemistry with any leading lady also got in the way. 

 

Reading that article - I never knew that Justin Deas was ever considered to be joining OLTL. I guess he made the right decision to stay with GL and get a decade more employment. 

1 minute ago, DRW50 said:

I think Gibbs' glaring lack of chemistry with any leading lady also got in the way.

 

Remember when we were supposed to gaf that Kevin lost Grace, the alleged love of his life?  Oh, that Jill and that Megan!  Always with the comedy with those two!

3 minutes ago, Khan said:

 

Remember when we were supposed to gaf that Kevin lost Grace, the alleged love of his life?  Oh, that Jill and that Megan!  Always with the comedy with those two!

 

Yes, and we were supposed to be moved when he porked her 'best friend' Kelly. 

I remember that Jill was clearly salivating to pair Gibbs and Robin Christopher - Kevin and Skye. IIRC they bonded over having drinking problems and may have kissed once or twice. It was a very specific type of character - dark, brooding, soulful - and it wasn't Kevin. He seemed to have aged ten to fifteen years. It's to the very gonzo Malone 2003 regime's credit that they actually managed to reconcile this bizarre depiction of Kevin (along with Kelly), take ownership of some of it and rehabilitate the character.

 

I know JFP blamed Florencia Lozano for not putting the pairing with Téa and Sykes over, and allegedly had planned to kill Téa off as part of the bizarre backstory for the short-lived Jared Hall before Roger Howarth agreed to do his trial balloon short return and usher FL out.

Edited May 14, 20187 yr by Vee

2 hours ago, Vee said:

It's to the very gonzo Malone 2003 regime's credit that they actually managed to reconcile this bizarre depiction of Kevin (along with Kelly), take ownership of some of it and rehabilitate the character.

I disagree that Malone rehabed the characters, instead he turned them into Yuppie-Kevin&Kelly.

 

As I recall, Kevin's motivation during the baby switch was his sycophantic loyalty to Asa and wanting to provide an heir.  As a result he turned his head while Kelly had her baby "out of town" and didn't ask many questions about Paul or his helicopter.  However, this was not Joe Riley-investigative-reporter's son nor was it already rich from Victoria Lord's son; who already had a son.  So, it didn't hold together; for me.  And Kelly's desperation to save her marriage also came out of left field for a character that knew Kevin was not the love of her life.

 

I could understand a Kevin-as-modern-Joe in relation with Skye because Joe liberated both Victoria and Cathy from being defined by their fathers and express themselves; Skye needed that.  I was reminded of Joe and Victoria when I watched The Post and I always thought it was a shame that Clint gave up working for The Banner.   After he went back in time, nobody remembered that Clint was once a writer.

 

By the way, if Malone didn't write the baby switch then I am going to borrow from Emily Lattellla/Gilda Radner and say "never mind." 

Edited May 14, 20187 yr by j swift