One Life to Live Tribute Thread

[hsfolk]

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Edited May 14, 2011 by OLTL #1 fan

[DRW50]

Thanks cheap21. I haven't watched a lot of Badderly yet.

[Cheap21]

theres a good chunk of it on YT. I liked it. It was good for many of the more popular couples at that time. Jake/Meagan, Cord/Tina, Bo/Sarah. It seemed very much like a Days plot as that show also loved to throw their couples on adventures around that time period

Reading up on old storylines, do you know why Gabrielle switched Brenda's baby with Michael Grande's? What investment didnt she have here? I read that the story was panned bc it was a rehash of what Karen did nearly a decade earlier with Jenny Wolek and Katrina but it wasnt executed nearly as good

Edited May 14, 2011 by Cheap21

[DRW50]

Gabrielle switched the babies because she felt that Michael would fall apart if he lost his child, as his wife had just died as well.

While the story wasn't as good as the baby switch with Karen, Jenny, and Katrina, it did have some strong performances from the actors involved, and a very dramatic series of aftershocks (which soaps don't do now), such as Gabrielle working at Wanda's and falling apart, Gabrielle being a pariah, and Gabrielle's trial, which had a classic moment where Megan ran out of the court when Max admitted he still loved Gabrielle. I also thought this story was good use of Brenda, who was a tough yet vulnerable heroine, which soaps always need. Unfortunately her story after this, the one where Michael Grande was drugging her, seems atrocious.

Badderly was named worst story of the year by SOD - I guess part of that colors my thinking. But I should check it out.

[Cheap21]

why would Gabrielle care what would happen to Michael though? I cant recall but what was her connection to him? Were they friends?

I did enjoy Gabrielle's fight with Brenda that occurred in that story. Brenda nearly fell out the window...lol

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and here's the promo for the story

Edited May 15, 2011 by Cheap21

[DRW50]

Michael and Gabrielle worked together for months in trying to find the gold of Eterna. They were either lovers or very close to it. His wife, Alicia, knew Gabrielle's game, but Gabrielle was never a serious threat because Michael loved Alicia and their unborn child. Gabrielle and Alicia were in a car crash. I think that Gabrielle's motivation was flimsy and part of it may have been out of wanting Michael's money and power, but she did genuinely care about Michael. I think it may have also been wrapped up in her regret over not being with Al in his first months of life.

You can see some of them working together in the Halloween 1988 episodes. They start here:

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This is a VERY meta scene where Michael and Gabrielle watch Fraternity Row's baby switch story.

[DRW50]

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[DRW50]

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Edited May 15, 2011 by CarlD2

[DRW50]

The first part isn't around now but this is the second part right after Michael catches Max and Gabrielle kissing...Gabrielle says Max made her, and Michael brutally beats Max.

Listen to the superb background music in many of these scenes.

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This next clip is the start of the Michael/Gabrielle wedding that wasn't.

[Cheap21]

Thanks for those clips. Gabrielle was such a dynamic character and she and Max were a great couple. Its criminal to think how the show wasted them when they finally got her to return

[DRW50]

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[DRW50]

It was a disgrace. Gabrielle, Tina, and Megan, along with Viki, CARRIED OLTL in the late 80's. They were some of the most addictive and complex women ever on soaps. Considering what was done to Gabrielle and Tina, I guess Jessica Tuck was right to ask them to kill off Megan.

I think the show made a mistake in having Michael beat Gabrielle after he found out about the baby (as you will see in the next clips). Gabrielle was never the same without JdP's Max and Michael was stuck in that horrible drugging Brenda story and then killed off. I would have had Gabrielle and Michael hook up again after Max "died," and raise hell across Llanview.

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Edited May 15, 2011 by CarlD2

[Bright Eyes]

Was the actor playing Michael Grande the last Clay Alden on Loving?

[DRW50]

Yes, Dennis Parlato, a good soapy actor. It's a shame his last soap role was his run as the Roger Thorpe recast.

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Next is a bit of a side story in this - Austin knew about the baby switch and hit Gabrielle up for big money.

Edited May 15, 2011 by CarlD2

[DRW50]

Austin was pretty scary. I don't care for some of the brutality against women on the show in the late 80's but at least they were honest about these men. Today Austin would be painted as a noble hero.

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