19 minutes ago, Stevel said:

So cool.

I once met Jean Leclerc. He was more interested in my late partner, also an actor then doing video games, than my gushing over his soap career.

Oh that's very cool!  Haha, yeah I started gushing with Tuc but then I checked myself shortly after, trying to play it cool   

13 hours ago, Stevel said:

I've been all over the place with soaps, seen bits and pieces of most of them since being a pre-schooler in the 1960s. For One Life, if I had to choose it would be the late 1970s when I was growing tired of AW.  The Judith Light/Gerald Anthony era.

I kept up though. Loved the Gottleib era as well, but that remote was also busy on other shows. 

I became a more faithful viewer post 2000. With many complaints.

Thank you for asking 

 

And thank you for answering! Now I  consider you one of the lucky ones who got to experience these soaps in their true classic days. And I'm very jealous, in a good way.

Jumping back into 1992 tonight. I had a short break, due to my flu and returning to work. I saw... just a glimpse of the next episode (sometimes I check who is going to be in the next episode if I can't contain myself) and Victoria is finally back. I AM SO EXCITED. It's like this show is airing right now and it's not some old 30+ year old tapes. THE POWER of good soap opera. It lives on forever. 

Up to September 28th, 1992.

🦇

"A woman in love."

🔷

Hello there OLTL lovers! Long time no see. I'm finally up and running after a brief pause. Let's get down to business.

🔷

Dorian, put your paws away from Sloan! Ah! What is going on? Is it possible the show is hinting at a future Dorian-Victoria-Sloan triangle? This could get real messy, real quick. I'm talking about Dorian's coquettish behavior around that undoubtedly handsome silver fox. She is using the excuse of talking about Cassie and Andrew, but we all know what that eye-fluttering means. The Coquette of Llanview has set her sights on a new man. And what a finale of the scene - "Is there a lucky lady already that has your heart?" If she only knew. Oh, Elaine... what will I do without you when you're gone?You are my Dorian Lord. 

🔷

Rachel Gannon did what Viki does best - @DRW50 - She really is like a younger Viki. She tried to make Kevin withdraw the charges against Jason. Beneath her selfless and caring demeanor lies a different story - a woman falling in love...  maybe even a jealous woman. Rachel is aware that Leanne roaming free without Jason, could be... dangerous. Yet, on the surface, she presents herself as a supportive friend that wants nothing in return. Victoria Buchanan style. The intelligent empathetic manipulation technique. Not everyone will get the multiple layers of the dialogue and the characterization. That's why I love it. 

🔷

The detective searching for Suede is out there asking questions, while Luna and the guy in question are on the run. The thing is, Luna has no clue what's going on. The vibe is turning into something straight out of a thriller movie, and I'm worried Luna might end up being the next victim of the show's constant cast purges. Could her time be running out? Guess we'll find out. I would hate to lose her, just as I was beginning to like her. On the other hand, this may be that last push that makes Max realize she is the woman for him. Maybe all of this is so that Max could save her. Cliche, but it could work.

🔷

Alex Hesser and Mortimer's histrionics continue, now heightened by Mortimer's crazy domineering mother. I'm still not in love with this part of the show, I especially hate the animated music that goes in the background, that screams to us - LAUGH, this is funny. The show otherwise does perfectly well with background music... this is a small little exception, they overdo at times. Alex still needs to be toned down, even though it's better. I don't know what is going on in Tonja's mind while she is acting like this. The director should be telling her to calm down. Well... maybe they did tell her... and that was the best she could do. Who knows.    

  Overall - 9/10 (1 point less for the Alex-Mortimer stuff)

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 

Clip of the day

The Coquette of Llanview and the silver fox!  

Thanks as always @Maxim

Based on Tonja's forceful personality, I can easily see a director asking her to tone it down and Tonja saying, "NO!" 

The Dorian and Sloan clip (I almost typed Suede - he was probably more up Dorian's alley) is interesting. Flirtation, but she's also trying to sniff out info.

I was trying to figure out if Renee had feelings for him and was getting jealous. Imagine a Renee/Asa pairing. Asa and Sloan, pistols at dawn. 

 The Post-Crescent  Appleton Wisconsin Oct 23 1966

Thanks @Paul Raven 

Erika's talent was obviously evident from early on.

Gregory Abels would go on to a big role on Where the Heart Is (producing one of my favorite soap magazine covers). I've only ever seen in his few Ryan's Hope appearances.

I randomly selected some 1994 episodes and they were wildly different, the extremely goofy wedding of Tina and Cain playing against Rachel and Ben being trapped together at an apartment building he was scoping out. The next episode maybe a month later played with heavy drama, Cassie being infertile, Dorian behind bars, Jessica acting out and Kevin realizing Rachel has feelings for Ben. 
 

This goes back to Maxim’s point about the show and comedy, for me it did not work and the darker drama played much better. 
 

This show really botched Rachel, Cassie and Marty as the future leads. Maybe not Marty and Cassie took a while but I really think losing Ellen Bethea was such a loss. 
 

Does anyone know why they recast this Ben? He comes off very natural in his scenes and I quite enjoyed his chemistry with Rachel compared to what came later with that other one.

Susan had a good run as Marty and I think it was probably time for her to go when she did. I think both Ellen Bethea and Mia Korf left to do plays, though I may be wrong on EB. I know the network clearly grappled with finding a 'sexier' Rachel which led to the Mari Morrow disaster and onward, until Ellen came back for a number of years on recurring (I think JFP may have intended to keep her in 2000, but pairing her with the wooden Jared Hall didn't work out) followed by Daphnee Duplaix. I agree Rachel should've been handled much better over the years - I used to constantly push for her return. She and Kevin could be around today, alas.

I also much preferred the original Ben to the terminally boring Peter Parros (whose bland role on ATWT was so close to his OLTL one I initially thought they'd crossed the character over). But I do wonder what pushed them to end Kevin/Rachel - maybe network trouble? - as Kevin basically floundered with both actors and story for another year or two after the network IIRC pushed Kirk Geiger out. They hired a series of failures for the role (like ramrod-stiff Jack Armstrong who'd been playing teens 10+ years before, and the infamous Ken Kenitzer) and then finally hit on Kevin Stapleton, which led to the Cassie story. Before that, watching Jack Armstrong and Wendee Pratt try to sex it up was painful.

Totally agreed about Laura and Cassie.

Ellen Bethea reminds me of Ellen Holly in many ways, I really would have loved to see her longterm. I’m not sure where story could have gone, but I’m sure they could have gotten years out of Rachel and Kevin entanglements. 
 

The show had such a solid diverse cast but losing Valerie Pettiford and Ellen Bethea (now adding this Ben to the list) really hurt that progress. I would’ve given anything to see Sheila torn between Hank and RJ. 
 

Ditto on Mia Korf, i was mesmerized at Mia/Laura/Elaine in 1992. I’m sure it’s blasphemy, but I would’ve preferred Mia back, Elaine as Melinda down the line and Kassie to have been an older version of Kelly to have them all. 

I unfairly judge Marty having not watched all of 1994 but it seems she floundered on paper IMO until Patrick came along, maybe because I didn’t care for anyone they paired her with actor wise.

Forgot to add, there was no Todd, Powell or Rebecca in these episodes which was almost a breath of fresh air. Again, having not watched the entire year, I would’ve been over any rape drama at this point. 

1 hour ago, soapfave06 said:

I unfairly judge Marty having not watched all of 1994 but it seems she floundered on paper IMO until Patrick came along, maybe because I didn’t care for anyone they paired her with actor wise.

A key issue with Marty was not ever really having a strong romantic partner to match Susan until they found Thorsten Kaye, who (IIRC) they wisely signed in under 24 hours or he was going to be offered to AMC. The best they had for her up til then was the tortured connection with Bob Krimmer's Andrew, which they never fully pulled the trigger on, or Malone's fascination with the Todd/Marty post-rape relationship which is very compelling to watch in a vacuum in some ways, but is also even more queasy and inappropriate today than it was back then. You can admire the writing in a lot of those '95 eps with Todd, Marty and Blair and still cringe at the overall themes and messaging. I think the rehabilitation of Todd was well done; I also think it went too far, and that is a key area where it did.

I know they allegedly considered Kevin and Marty back in '92. Why it was never touched on later I don't know, but it could've been over many years. It's still a potential temptation I'd play today, assuming Kevin was married to Rachel.

I agree losing Valarie Pettiford was a huge mistake - she was amazing and Stephanie Williams' Sheila was just a cipher. I know how I'd honor Mia Korf today and use her in connection to Blair if OLTL was still around, but it's not so there you are.

Edited October 1Oct 1 by Vee

4 hours ago, soapfave06 said:

Does anyone know why they recast this Ben? He comes off very natural in his scenes and I quite enjoyed his chemistry with Rachel compared to what came later with that other one.

If I had to guess, I'd say the show or the network thought he was too goofy and not a leading man. It's always easier for a soap to tell a story about a stalwart man and an out-of-control woman, and that's what we got once lap dance Rachel arrived. 

3 hours ago, Vee said:

They hired a series of failures for the role (like ramrod-stiff Jack Armstrong who'd been playing teens 10+ years before, and the infamous Ken Kenitzer) and then finally hit on Kevin Stapleton, which led to the Cassie story. Before that, watching Jack Armstrong and Wendee Pratt try to sex it up was painful.

I'd still love to know what went on with the Kevin recasts. If the idea was Geiger being too short, Armstrong was certainly taller, but not much else. I wonder if they were told Geiger was being let go by the network, were at a loss, and someone remembered Jack Armstrong for how good he looked in Speedos on Eden (Diana Barton was also cast on Y&R around this time so clearly someone in soapworld was a fan). Armstrong's assets would have been put to better use on OLTL about 15 years later, but not in 1994.

It takes a lot for me to say an actor was much better as a performer on a softcore Playboy soap than on OLTL or his previous flop stint on AMC, but Armstrong genuinely was. Not just in the expected, but even his acting. 

Maybe he was better in his primetime work than on soaps...I have not watched any of that.

Edited October 1Oct 1 by DRW50

29 minutes ago, DRW50 said:

If I had to guess, I'd say the show or the network thought he was too goofy and not a leading man. It's always easier for a soap to tell a story about a stalwart man and an out-of-control woman, and that's what we got once lap dance Rachel arrived. 

What I'd forgotten until recently is that Ellen was actually on for much if not all of 1994 with both Bens, including the somewhat hokey hospital virus story where she and Ben featured opposite evil Susan Gibney from Star Trek: The Next Generation as the crooked hospital administrator. I do think Ellen had considerable chemistry with the original Ben (I don't remember the actor), who I didn't remember at all til revisiting '93/'94.

As a kid who started watching in '93 and was very familiar with Dark Shadows and Star Trek, seeing both Gibney and Roy Thinnes was a jolt.

Quote

I'd still love to know what went on with the Kevin recasts. If the idea was Geiger being too short, Armstrong was certainly taller, but not much else. I wonder if they were told Geiger was being let go by the network, were at a loss, and someone remembered Jack Armstrong for how good he looked in Speedos on Eden

All I know is that supposedly the network made them cut Kirk for being too short. I just find it crazy they had these young guys in the role and then went out and got Armstrong, who was already playing teens a decade prior. He came off like Nazi Kevin.

Edited October 1Oct 1 by Vee

10 minutes ago, Vee said:

What I'd forgotten until recently is that Ellen was actually on for much if not all of 1994 with both Bens, including the somewhat hokey hospital virus story where she and Ben featured opposite evil Susan Gibney from Star Trek: The Next Generation as the crooked hospital administrator. I do think Ellen had considerable chemistry with the original Ben (I don't remember the actor), who I didn't remember at all til revisiting '93/'94.

There's a certain long, slow death for complexity and story with the black characters on the show starting in 1994 that makes the material easier to forget.

Charles Malik Whitfield was the first Ben.

Charles Malik Whitfield - IMDb

27 minutes ago, DRW50 said:

There's a certain long, slow death for complexity and story with the black characters on the show starting in 1994 that makes the material easier to forget.

I think what kept it going longer was the addition of R.J., who was so often better than his material.