One Life to Live Tribute Thread

[j swift]

We really don't know when in Dorian's timeline she learned of Addie's supposed death because she instantly recognized her as an adult when Blair introduced them.  Just as we don't know who paid for her care, or why the Cramer parents were willing to treat Melinda's mental illness but not Addie's, or why Blair would blame Dorian and not her parents for her neglect?

Edited May 2, 2021 by j swift

[FrenchBug82]

There was a similar conversation about AMC's Stuart just a few weeks ago. And the answer is simple: as unedifying as the writing for mental illness on soaps has been, it would be worse if a specific diagnosis was given. Because suddenly every trait of the character would be assumed to be that of anyone with that diagnosis and lord knows most diseases can take a lot of different forms for different people. And inversely every trait that doesn't fit the diagnosis would get them a lot of peeved-off letters.

Better for them to give themselves a lot of leeway story-wise by staying vague, so they can adapt the disease to their story needs AND not create problems for themselves by inadvertently miseducating the viewing public.
So honestly I prefer it that way.

 

Edited May 2, 2021 by FrenchBug82

[Forever8]

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[amybrickwallace]

 

Agreed. Critics said the same thing about the Sheldon Cooper character of The Big Bang Theory. The show couldn't win either way. In cases like this, it's probably better to keep it ambiguous.

[soapfave06]

Watching some 1995 episodes, was the Linda Soto character mainly background or did she get major play? I see her with Antonio as he makes Andy jealous and she was working with Bo to help Andy out but have never heard of her. If she was a Vega family friend I am assuming she was phased out as Tea was brought in?

[Vee]

It's been so long, but I feel confident the Angel Square recurring cast (Linda Soto, Javier, etc.) hung in as local talk-tos til at least some of '97. I believe Téa interacted with a number of them, esp since IIRC she was initially brought in as a spoiler for Antonio and Andy and maybe Kevin and Cassie.

Edited May 9, 2021 by Vee

[DRW50]

 

I think most of them last through the Labines, and then never appear again once JFP arrives.

 

I don't know about Javier, but Linda and Eddie (wasn't there an Eddie?).

Edited May 9, 2021 by DRW50

[soapfave06]

Thanks Vee and DRW! And wow-I had no idea Tea was brought in as a possible pairing to Antonio and Kevin-hard to picture her outside of Todd despite this being an era I have never had much interest in. 

 

I am enjoying Nora and Bo's ties to all the Llanview drama and I am assuming they are pretending to be on opposite sides of the Antonio and Andy crime drama-well actually they just confirmed this onscreen

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As I did not start watching until '06 but enjoy pre-mid 90s the most I wish there was a Gabrielle or Tina esque star power character, I like the cast here but no one seems on that page. 

[Vee]

There was an Eddie, yeah. I may be thinking of him and not Javier, who might've been a straight antagonist? I don't know, it was all so long ago. I haven't watched much of that material since I was a kid.

 

I do think the early-mid 90s under Gottlieb, Malone, Horgan, et al was very strong until it wasn't, but I don't know how they would've handled Gabrielle or the full-power Tina being on '90s OLTL. They were both such bigger than life characters, and it was a very grounded, socially conscious show at its best. Karen Witter's Tina adjusted to it for the most part while also changing and maturing a great deal, but Krista Tesreau's was a dreary nonentity. I don't know how Andrea Evans' Tina would've fit in. I know the Gottlieb/Malone regime allegedly considered using Gabrielle early on (she had just left, and they allegedly either toyed with talking to Fiona Hutchison or recasting), but it never happened. The different eras of the show were apples and oranges.

 

1997 was when they were clearly just coasting on supercouples and past successes in recent years. I felt it even then; they were trying to just cruise. '96 had been a mess with Malone getting burnt out and then being fired, and a slew of bad stories took over. Bo and Nora were considered a supercouple at that time in '97, as were Patrick and Marty, Antonio and Andy, Todd and Blair (who were broken up but remained in orbit of each other). And I personally think they all qualified, so I don't think Téa was ever considered a serious spoiler for Antonio and Andy - I'm pretty sure they knew Kamar and Wendee Pratt were leaving that year. Susan Haskell and Thorsten Kaye also left late in the year, IIRC. It was a strange time. Labine didn't want to be at the show, and then in '98 JFP came in and 'shook things up' and 'energized' the show - irrevocably.

[victoria foxton]

Here's Vicki and Eddie playing pool. At Dylan's going away party. Linda and Dylan share a dance.

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[Soaplovers]

I remember Linda was originally tied to Javier..the antagonist.  But she helped out the police with catching Javier..and she stayed as a talk to thereafter before being phased out.

 

I know Javier was the one to get Rachel hooked on drugs..and it seemed like the show was pushing them as a toxic couple...but I think the actress playing Rachel wasn't accepted by the audience (she'd been recast) and was written out quickly.  

 

I do wonder how Andrea Evan's would have paired if she returned during this more gritty era.  She did well in the more low key late 70s era of OLTL when it was still psychological and a bit gritty so I think she might have adjusted to this era.

 

And Gabrielle...not sure how she would have faired.  Fiona did do well on GL in the late 90s being in the Cooper orbit..so maybe she could have done well in the Angel Square era of OLTL.

Edited May 9, 2021 by Soaplovers

[Vee]

 

Before Malone got the axe, he'd intended to pair Rachel #3 (I think?) with Drew Buchanan as an interracial couple beset by Becky Lee, who would return as Drew's mother but now be a bigot for no apparent good reason to do a story that was already old hat at that point. I believe he also intended to have Rachel kill R.J. in a murder mystery. I'm very glad none of that came off. 

 

Allegedly they considered no less than Eileen Davidson for a Gabrielle(!!) recast in 1991 or 1992, something that blows my mind.

[DRW50]

 

That would have made more sense than her SB stint, but I wonder what would have happened to Gabrielle's accent. 

 

Javier probably could have been a good long-term antagonist with better writing. Similar to Manzo, I thought the actor was talented and also very hot. I think the actor (Rene Lavan?) may have had some 'artistic' nude photos out in the late '90s that were very enjoyable...

 

Ugh, Rachel #3 was so hard to watch. Ellen Bethea was such a wonderful presence. They did Rachel very dirty after she left.

Edited May 9, 2021 by DRW50

[Vee]

HBS always said Daphnee Duplaix was the only other Rachel that embodied the integrity Bethea had, and she was right.

Edited May 9, 2021 by Vee

[SFK]

Daphnee was a wonderful Rachel. I absolutely hated what they did to the character under the first two recasts. In hindsight, I wonder if that s/l would have been more palatable had Ellen remained in the role. I think I may have had an easier time going on Rachel’s journey with Ellen ushering it. In any event, watching a young, strong, intelligent woman of color’s demeaning descent into addiction was not a story I cared to be told.