One Life to Live Tribute Thread

[AMCOLTLLover]

Thank u so much for your reply. Means a lot. 

[vetsoapfan]

I always love reminiscing about vintage soaps! AMC and OLTL were excellent in their early years!

[SFK]

Some crossover episodes that (to my knowledge) have yet to make it to YouTube are Dorian's (Elaine Princi) visits to Adam in Pine Valley when he was trying to smear Natalie in The Intruder. I remember when these episodes were airing from seeing the pictures in SOD, but I never caught them. I do remember Adam picking up the phone during a heated exchange and dialing The Intruder asking to speak with Dorian Lord.

[Joseph]

Question: Did Janice Lynde Get Nominated for an Emmy for Plahing Lairel on OLTL? Someone made a playlist on the character and described that Miss Lynde Got Nominated for Playing Leslie Brooks and Laurel Chaplin yet I never heard of it

The worst part I have the impression she did that herself but I may be wrong

[Joseph]

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here's the reason i'm asking

[Franko]

Perfect (accidental) timing, the Daisy Awards episode being posted the day the Oscar hostesses were announced. One of these days I'll give full commentary, but for now I'll note that Spring's clip seems to be a parody of Dark Shadows.

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[will81]

Pretty sure the first acting nomination and win in the leading or supporting actress category for Y&R was for Beth Maitland (I believe Terry Lester was another early nominee in the male category and Tracey Bregman got a special award for ingenue or something). Pretty sure Janice was never nominated for any emmy for any of her daytime roles. Maybe she was nominated for a different award and it has been confused with a Daytime Emmy. 

[Joseph]

Yeah Maybe, as i said i have never heard of it before, btw was the Laurel Character any good? I admit i don't have the patience to watch those partial episodes right now

[Vee]

Some random musings:

Out of utter boredom today I began watching some of the many, many spring-summer 1991 episodes of OLTL on YT - late-stage Rauch. (Naturally, the eps many of us crave to see again beyond very early September '91, right as and Malone took over either then or IIRC late August, are to my knowledge not on YT with nearly as much order and detail, just a lot of clips here and there - I am dying to see Andrew and Blair's introductions.)

I've watched some of this period here and there before but it is truly bizarre to see Alex being treated as a friend by Viki, Renee, Asa, etc. and her confiding in them. Of course by this time she is already scheming to try to get Bo into bed through a variety of schemes (like faking a stalker and sending teen ward Lisa Porter off to school, I think for cramping her style), and Laura Bonarrigo's wonderful Cassie debuts in April. I believe Tonja came on in November of '90, so I wonder how long (or if) Alex was considered as a legit love interest for Bo before they decided to turn her psycho. It was Gottlieb/Malone who saved her job.

The Bo/Cassie pairing remains so bizarre to me - I know they supposedly had them reference it when she was a Banner reporter trying to pump him for info in the Labine era or something, but I personally never heard it mentioned onscreen since I started watching, and I watched (with breaks) for around 20 years from '93 on. They are cute together in banter but always just seem like friends.

Also interesting: They seem to be teasing reuniting Larry Wolek and Brenda McGillis in this period in the spring or summer after a blow-up over Michael Grande, her romance with Dan or whatever. I guess that didn't quite happen. I remember seeing Brenda as late as Luna's introductory episode, though I can't recall if she had any lines. I don't know if she got an exit.

This is also the time when they had the story where the bullet fragments in Clint’s head are supposedly gonna kill him in a few months according to his specialist (Olivia Birkelund!). The show was tired at this point but Phil Carey gives an incredible performance with Clint Ritchie doing a monologue about when he and Olympia brought Clint home from the hospital. You can tell it was too real for Carey because those Buchanan actors were all close, I’ve never seen him that emotionally vulnerable.

An interesting beat with Bo confiding in the Nicholas Walker Max, who seems to have just lost Gabrielle (but is already sniffing around Lee Ann, a creepy pairing I never understood in either incarnation and I can't recall how quickly Malone and co. ditched it - I seem to recall it lasting at least til 1992 though she was also being pursued by Kevin). Bo admits he is not in love with Alex as well as not over Sarah and that's why he can't get involved with her (days before Cassie bumps into him at the airport, of course), and they talk about how love means trust. Bo earnestly asks Max if he really could never trust Gabrielle - and after a beat they both laugh. Cynical, perhaps, but I thought it rang true.

Edited February 19, 2022 by Vee

[j swift]

While I get the humor in this interaction, however, Gabrielle had an equal reason to mistrust Max.  He mislead her about his return from the dead, the fact that he wasn't Asa's son, and her father's involvement in the drug trade.

With regard to the Bo/Cassie pairing, it is one of those relationships that looks good on paper, given their history, but I can't help but blame the actress for lacking the sex appeal to carry it off.  After his past girlfriends like Delilah, Mimi, and Pat, Cassie seemed less alluring when played by Laura Bonarrigo, and perhaps better suited for a former priest that a former playboy like Bo.

[Vee]

Actually it's more that she just came off too young for Bo approaching middle age. You're entitled to your opinion, but you're also the only person I know who has ever claimed recently that LB was a bad recast, despite being in the role for the better part of a decade and being fired by JFP while pregnant amidst viewer outcry.

[DRW50]

I think the most popular Cassie with fans was Ava Haddad, although Laura seemed to win people over, eventually. 

Holly Gagnier was the most sexual Cassie, by far. It's hard to imagine her paired with Bo though. I still cringe at the memory of Faux Bo and Tina.

[j swift]

I would rank order Cassie's as (1) Holly Gagnier, (2) Laura Bonarrigo, (2) Ava Haddad, and (4) Cusi Cram.

Holly is my number one because she was spunky in a way that seemed inherited from Dorian.  I liked Holly on DAYS and was a fan when she came to Llandview.  My only critique would be that her Jersey accent was a little thick for a character who was supposed to have been raised in Europe.

Laura was compelling, and I liked her pairing with Kevin, but I always felt like the character was written as the moral authority of the Cramer girls which was unappealing.  I don't get why Cassie was always put in the position where she had to judge Dorian, Blair, and Kelly, rather than just be amused by their antics and supportive.  Also, her emotional breakdown during her marriage to Andrew was written as if it came out of nowhere.  I get why Cassie wanted to have kids, and the pain of her baby's death, but the whole story with River made her seem suddenly off-kilter.  Very little groundwork had been laid for her to be desperate to raise a baby, only to loose custody due to an affair  So, it is not that I have any negative opinion of the actress, despite saying that she lacked sex appeal, I just had very little appreciation for the material she was given. 

Ava was sexy, but, saddled with the damsel in distress era for Cassie, and her co-stars were not always as charismatic.  Also, she had one of the worst bridal gowns in soap history.

Cusi herself has such an interesting family history, but it is unfortunate that her time as Cassie did not allow for much character development.   Her Cassie seemed much more concerned about Dorian and Herb's divorce than the fact that her mother had missed most of her childhood.  The rumors at the time that Cusi was fired because of her weight (see the news of the 1980s thread) make me reticent to critique her performance because who knows what could have been if she was allowed more time in the role.

[Vee]

Yes, when this came up a few weeks ago I noted that I do know some Ava Haddad diehards, which I attribute to the classic Mitch storyline from the '80s. But I've never heard anyone complain about Laura until now.

Most people seemed to despise Gagnier. I've seen many of her episodes but I personally don't think she's that bad. I blame the story with Jon Russell.

[DRW50]

The writing for Cassie under Laura's watch was often a mess, from early on - when I watch some of her Gottlieb-era material from 1991 she is ALWAYS about to have a breakdown. I can't imagine how draining that was to play.

I think that's another reason JFP assumed she could just write the character out without fans caring (and of course it was also likely a way to get rid of Robin Strasser).

I think Cassie had many valid reasons to be appalled by Dorian for Robin's first few years back in the role. After that, it started to feel forced. But this was a longrunning problem with the writing for the Cramer women, even after Cassie left.

It's around 1995 that the writing starts to fall into a rut for Cassie again after a few cohesive years. And then having her leave Andrew for Kevin just, in the long run, weakened the character, although I assume if JFP had not come in, Andrew and Cassie would have reunited. 

I think that's a factor as well. I also think Rauch's horniness plays out onscreen, and I don't think a lot of viewers, who watched Cassie grow up under various actresses, felt comfortable with the more sexual take.

Edited February 20, 2022 by DRW50