One Life to Live Tribute Thread

[dc11786]

I watched very sporadically when Malone returned having never watched before, but picked up OLTL with a bit more frequency in 2005 when GL became such a mess and the rumored gay Coulson story was beginning. From what I remember, it was presented as a bit of a Friday plot twist to a mystery involving Daniel's secret affair which Bo and Rex were investigating because I think they ended up at a gay bar together in one sequence. There was a red herring early on with Daniel getting a political aide, a young blonde, who I think we were suppose to believe was Daniel's mistress before they dropped the bomb and had Mark revealed. If I recall, I don't think Mark had appeared much in the months leading up to this, but I think they gave him a few scenes with Riley or someone shortly after. 

At the time, I didn't hate the twist because I saw it as an obvious soaped up Jim McGreevy story and was only recently out of the closet myself at the time. It was good to see gay representation when it was so barren in daytime in general (Mark and Eric Walsh were barely shown). Now, as a more experienced adult, I think my issue was with the insistence that the show stuck wtih the gay label rather than bi and that there wasn't any effort to really play the fallout (everything happened in like May, 2005, and then the last thread was Riley leaving in early to mid-June 2005). Daniel killing Paul over the blackmail to keep his secret worked for me because of the political angle, but I can definitely say it was still problematic despite Higley's claim of balance by having Eric and Papa Walsh reconicle on Father's Day a few weeks later. 

I think James Harmon Brown and Barbara Essensten were script editors during the early months of Higley and it was a much tighter show than it would be from what I watched later with their replacements. I found the day to day much more enjoyable in spring-summer 2005 and I remember thinking by late fall some of the energy I was enjoying was gone. I tend to like HIgley's work so my response is certainly outlier data. 

[Vee]

That would explain a lot about elements of the pacing and climax, though the story was still trash AFAIC. Higley's OLTL was its dumbest, darkest period til the end for me, and it had its share of lowlights in the final years.

And yes, Bo and Rex did go to the gay bar together lol. I still remember those scenes. Mark had been gone for quite some time IIRC.

[dc11786]

I wasn't sure re: Mark because I know they had been slowly killing off all of the Love Crew players in the Killing Club story. 

I think Brown and Essensten were there through the climax of the Killing Room murders. I seem to recall Bo interrogating a janitoral worker somewhere and the beat was played that the dayplayer janitor didn't want to speak with the cops because they were undocumented, which Bo deduced. It was just a very surprising beat to play. 

Given that Higley is known most for unfleshed out ideas, I think it often comes down to the quality of the writing team that is what I really enjoy. I thought the early Rex/Adriana stuff was neat and the kind of couple writing that was effective. I thought Nash was a well developed addition and the romantic complications worked. I felt from the beginning that Duke and Kelly were going to be a thing from when they were running partners back in the summer of 2005. I thought the concept of Ginger Foley was interesting, but I'm not sure Shannon McGinnis was capable of carrying a story on her own. I didn't hate Paige, but going from Brown to Huffman to Neil in under a year was a lot. Most of the veteran characters weren't well suited in that era so I can see why most didn't enjoy it. 

[Vee]

I just remember Nash's debut with the Hamptons remote feeling very paper-thin, as did the whole ugly Tess story. I didn't understand their connection or anything redeeming about Tess in particular and never did. Forbes March did have chemistry with Bree and they had their fans, so there's that I guess. But I never got behind them together because Tess was so repugnant, particularly when she hounded poor Viki into a stroke.

Rex and Adriana, for me, was much more compelling as something teased late in Malone II when he was still a shady character vs. when they tried to make them a real couple, which is around the time Higley and co. caught on to the audience interest in the early, vaguely omnisexual grifter Rex (the character had originally been intended by Gary Tomlin to be gay and seduce Seth Anderson before becoming a full-on schemer in Malone II). Then they instead began to frontload him for the rest of the show's network run as a heroic lead. Which made him and JPL increasingly unbearable as the years went on.

I forgot all about Ginger Foley. Everything about the Margaret saga (but especially Tari Signor, who I think Higley had intended to 'redeem' with amnesia and pair with David until what seemed like a last-minute rewrite to finally kill her off) I have tried to block out tbh. But YMMV. I know everything has its fans.

[chrisml]

I am probably in the minority, but I think Jessica Morris was a better actress than Melissa Archer but was never given the material. I think Jessica Morris became quite good and emmy nomination worthy during Sam's death. Jen's death was needlessly brutal and added nothing to the story and it only served to loosen Hickland's ties to the show. 

[Vee]

Whereas I think she was given way too much material.

[Khan]

I still remember when Lorraine Broderick re-used some early Jenny Gardner material for Jen Rappaport, having the latter run off to NYC (for reasons I can't remember now) and becoming a model (and yes, I say it was Broderick, because the parallel between Jens Rappaport and Gardner was so obvious, lol).  That was when Charles Busch was on the show for awhile as Peg Barlow (another, obvious AMC connection?); and I remember thinking, "Geez, you have a chance to make real history here, OLTL, and you're wasting it on Jessica [!@#$%^&*] Morris."

[Vee]

I never realized that was Broderick too, and forgot the Jenny Gardner parallel. It makes sense.

I think Tomlin (who was prone to falling for online hype, including with Ty Treadway and the Todd/Tea island debacle) was enamored of JM due to a very early, somewhat positive response to Cristian and Jen in her early months, but it quickly became clear she was terrible. Then it was All Jen All the Time for what felt like two years but was only maybe one, until Natalie took off like a rocket and Cristian and Natalie worked as an organic outgrowth of their unforeseen chemistry. Tomlin wisely took the off-ramp. Making Jen a scheming princess (and then later a Marty ripoff wild child under Malone II) worked better, but Morris was never going to be much of an actress.

Don't forget Paul Michael Valley's brief turn as the skeevy NY photographer!

Edited March 14 by Vee

[Khan]

ICYMI, sports fans: "Peg Barlow" was the woman (played by a male actor/playwright) who ran the modeling agency that employed Jen Rappaport in NYC.  As longtime AMC fans will recall, Jenny Gardner's agent, Olga Svenson, was played by Peg MURRAY.  Also, "Barlow" was the last name of a character (Mickey, I believe?) that appeared on AMC during Lorraine Broderick's first HW'ing regime (either with Wisner Washam; or later, with Victor Miller) as part of a storyline involving Tad Martin, his adopted brother, Joey; some dude named Barton Crane; and a disk that Crane was after and was hidden away inside Joey's toy chest.

And I'd just as soon forget Paul Michael Valley being one of many, wonderful actors wasted on AMC and OLTL during this time period, lol.

Edited March 14 by Khan

[Vee]

It is again delightful and amusing (and refreshing in these anodyne 2020s for ABC soaps) how relentlessly horny early Malone OLTL immediately becomes, lol. Less than two weeks into the new regime Kevin is having ludicrous fantasies about succumbing to passion with sequined red dress Lee Ann while Joey Thrower is soaking wet in the rain, then they immediately get this twunk's shirt off. Never happened with Stephanie to my knowledge, who had an even hotter tryst with Jason on Malone's first credited day. I still think Kirk Geiger is a superior Kevin in this era and Thrower's constant whining is often annoying, but he's not bad. I wonder why they recast or if they just felt he was too whiny/boyish for the stories that later developed.

Someone in the comments on these episodes is claiming Asa's first love (Rose Smith) was Cain's mother. If that's true it seems like an out and out ripoff of Max's own family past with Asa, heralding Cain and Asa's future connection (where Asa basically subs him in for Max for awhile as his new 'true' son/'son I never had'). I wonder why multiple regimes kept revisiting this angle.

Edited March 14 by Vee

[Vee]

The intrigue re: Sheila leaking to Viki about female misdiagnosis at the hospital is actually compelling IMO. I guess this is Brenda's last story angle as she becomes involved and finds out Sheila was the source.

It is funny watching Asa install Kevin at the hotel and tell the concierge he will be 'the next Buchanan' to run the place. He told them Max was that guy like 3 weeks ago.

The scenes with Clint and Kevin mending fences up at the cabin and bonding, with Clint reminiscing about his rocky upbringing under Asa and Kevin telling him he's the best man he knows and wants to be, were very touching and well-written and played.

Testing Luna with Jon Russell, another character not long for the show who I think may have only recently returned under Rauch as a spoiler for Bo and Cassie in early summer, is surprising. I have always wondered if playing Max and Luna was in the initial long story/bible for Malone (if indeed there was one) or if it was only Mia Korf's Blair at first. I believe Max and Blair was supposed to be the endgame was for a long time til they switched gears. Maybe they responded to seeing Susan Batten and JdP together and it grew out from there over time. Time will tell, I'm a few behind.

Edited March 14 by Vee

[DRW50]

If it wasn't originally planned, I wouldn't be surprised, given that JdP was supposedly so against the pairing.

[Khan]

And I wouldn’t blame him for being so against it.  Max and Luna together just plain didn’t make any sense.

[DRW50]

I think it did from Luna's end, but looking at Max's history I agree it doesn't mesh. Unfortunately, I am not sure anything done with Max in his last run did (although I liked the Roxy pairing, even if the show never had any real interest).

[Vee]

I don't remember him being against the pairing itself, though I could be wrong. I do remember him being annoyed with their final days in '94 or '95 where he felt Max became just Mr. Mom.