One Life to Live Tribute Thread

[EricMontreal22]

I can only assume that authorwasn't all that thrilled with the following few years of OLTL then... It is a fascinating review though, and largely seems to relflect what I know of that year.

[DRW50]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xORqix0nBFc

[soapfave06]

Did anyone here watch in OLTL's earlier years? I would love to hear some memories of the good old days. I would love for Meredith to make an appearance and Ed, Carla, Larry and Wanda to return. I didn't even watch then but the first decade is just so intriguing to me.

[DRW50]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ROnKzrca4Mk

[DRW50]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SNvEsp51YUU&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL

[DRW50]

1/17/84 Digest review, by John Kelly Genovese.

"One Life to Live" premiered over fifteen years ago as a daring experiment on the part of creator Agnes Nixon - a breath of fresh air in the nebulous, whitewashed world of Oakdales and Rosehills. Ironically, today's "One Life" is the complete opposite - a haphazard study in serendipity, choppy in its storytelling mechanics and shoddily imitative of every other serial on the air.

These are strong words, but in this case well warranted. What is doubly tragic is that "One Life" has never experienced the mass cast purges endured by most of its contemporaries, and therefore should be expected to retain balance and continuity. As matters now stand, Llanview is by no means a ruin, but neither is it a cohesive, evenly conceived unit.

If "General Hospital" wins the prize for The Majority of Underused of Misused Characters, "One Life" is First Runner-Up. Lovable dingbat Wanda Webb Wolek (defined so beautifully by Marilyn Chris), old-school black mother Sadie Grey (the powerful Lillian Hayman), eccentric mother-confessor Ina Hopkins (the delightful Sally Gracie) and father-shrink-Chief of Staff Will Vernon (the debonair Anthony George) constitute this show's comparative plethora of "tentpoles." No one is knocking tentpoles - they're an essential part of any serial's overall tapestry. In a better balanced serial, however (most notably "All My Children" and "Loving"), even the folks in supporting positions are vital and active in some way.

It is in the next category, however, where "One Life" makes GH look better - the quality and depth of the story material. GH, regardless of quality, usually employs two concurrent front-burner stories which are riveting enough to almost make one forget the imbalance of actor usage. By contrast, "One Life" will either prolong and overplay a segment until no one gives a damn by the time it ends - as with every storyline involving warring father and son Asa (Phil Carey) and Bo Buchanan (Bob Woods) - or throw other, equally promising characters occasional bones, only to snatch them away just as the story is beginning to build.

The latter category can be attributed to the majority of "One Life's" characters. The slowly building relationship between Samantha (Dorian Lopinto) and Drew (Matthew Ashford) paid off when he became engaged to Becky (Mary Gordon Murray) and promptly got himself killed, leaving poor Sam with zilch. The realistically drawn involvement of ex-prostitute Katrina (Nancy Snyder) and good cop Rafe (Ken Meeker) gets little story play. And the calculating duo of Brad (Steve Fletcher) and Marco (Gerald Anthony) have had so many short-lived storylines involving get-rich-quick careers that their respective romances (?) with Jenny (Brynn Thayer) and Edwina (Margaret Klenck) have amounted to repeated arguments with little story direction or change.

As an added bonus, a third and equally annoying category has recently fond its way onto this show: the predictable storyline. These are segments which are established in the course of a mere two or three consecutive episodes, and whose participants are so obviously placed in their respective positions that even a once-a-month casual viewer can deduce much of the long-term storyline. How neat that David Renaldi (Michael Zaslow) turned out to be a special agent whose inordinate proffesion would place the catty Dorian (Robin Strasser) in the hands of third world revolutionaries. And what a happy coincidence that Carla (Ellen Holly) and Alec (Roger Hill) should arrive in Llanview precisely when Ed (Al Freeman Jr.) was unsure about his budding involvement with Alec's publicity person, Courtney Wright (Phylicia Ayers-Allen). Where are the surprises?

Granted, the show seemed to be recapturing the element of surprise with the enigma surrounding David Renaldi., before we knew he was Cassie's (Ava Haddad) father. Ditto Echo (Kim ZImmer) and Giles (Robert Gentry). Unfortunately, the latter turned out to be a short-run, contrived murder-and-amnesia story for Viki and Clint (Erika slezak and Clint Ritchie), while the former became watered down too quickly by the gun-toting refugees of San Carlos.

Currently, mystery master Henry Slesar (head writer of "Edge of Night" for sixteen years until recently) has joined "One Life's" writing staff. Slesar's story sense, combined with a sensitivity to Agnes Nixon's flawless original concept, can turn "One Life to Live" once again into its basic, individualistic self - a show not afraid to dare, to educate, to surprise, and most importantly, to follow through on its most noble convictions. Let us hope this materializes. For "One Life to Live" has an acting company too good, a history too rich, and a potential too great to become a mere time-filler between "All My Children" and "General Hospital."

[soapfave06]

Thanks for posting that article Carl. I love to see what the magazines thought about the shows back then.

[DRW50]

Thanks for reading! The early 80's were a strange time for the show, especially knowing what was coming up, so you always want to know more.

[soapfave06]

I know, they had various cast changes and the stories ranged from bizarre to more relationship based. You always post some wonderful articles I never even knew existed I appreciate them all!

[EastMA2]

I loved Elaine Princi as Dorian. OLTL should hire her back. Thanks CarlD for the scene with Marty & Jason.

[DRW50]

I like her a lot, and by her last few years on the show she was golden. I'd always prefer Robin in the role but I'd love to see Elaine too, if not as Dorian, then in another role.

[SFK]

Jason reminds me of Jay from Jay and Silent Bob.

Notice how differently they seemed to write for Dorian? Maybe it was just for the sake of this May/December material, but it really does seem like she was stripped a bit and put into the "generic 40-something diva" spot, not unlike Donna or Iris over at Another World in the '90s. Matter fact, Donna got her May/December s/l too. But there's something about the dialogue and characterization here that sort of belies the richness of the character. Dorian wasn't just rich and pretentious. But I'm so glad that Elaine got to usher in all of the Addie and Blair stuff which was great stuff that explored the depth of Dorian, probably most akin to her early stuff with Melinda when she first came to town. Although it was often not about her, the Cramer Women kept Dorian relevant in a way that would not have happened without them.

[DRW50]

It seems like they never really played up Dorian's wealth when Elaine was in the role. She was more of a nuisance or just having some money to keep her comfortable, but never luxuriating in her money the way Robin's Dorian might have.

Gottlieb talked about how the class lines on OLTL had become too blurred, and she did change that to an extent (for instance, poor trash LeAnn and rich cowboy Asa squaring off) but during her run Viki, Sloan, etc. often seemed more upper-middle class than really rich. Only when Robin came back, and Alex sunk her claws into Asa, did the money start to flow.

[SFK]

Did you know that Robin didn't like that Dorian ran the Intruder and encouraged them to change that? She thought Dorian, who wanted so badly to BE Viki, would never attach herself to something so smarmy as a tabloid.

[DRW50]

She was probably right, although I did enjoy Elaine in that role, even if she was mainly being debased.

I would love to hear Robin's thoughts on the last years of Dorian...or maybe I wouldn't...