From an Episodes.

I've always wondered for anyone's that's read the OLTL 30th anniversary book - are the recaps/storylines/character descriptions accurate? I only ask this because writers have always been known to retcon elements and I wonder how much of that is represented in the book. Also, does Gary leak any of his feelings into descriptions of characters or couples? Or maybe even "pimp" the ones ABC was big on, a la Rex and Gigi level? I got the book about two months ago and read the first few years summaries but haven't gotten super in depth with it yet.

From what I remember, the recaps are unbiased - it's hard to say what is accurate because most of us haven't seen the 60's or 70's material. The sections on characters generally tried to focus on as many past names as possible - there was more attention paid to popular characters of the past, but nothing which seemed like an agenda. All the Gary Warner books seemed very similar, right down to the personal anecdotes which always ended in "cute" quips and exclamation points (I guess you could say I had one life to live!), but they were very professionally done, very classy and informative.

From what I remember, the recaps are unbiased - it's hard to say what is accurate because most of us haven't seen the 60's or 70's material. The sections on characters generally tried to focus on as many past names as possible - there was more attention paid to popular characters of the past, but nothing which seemed like an agenda. All the Gary Warner books seemed very similar, right down to the personal anecdotes which always ended in "cute" quips and exclamation points (I guess you could say I had one life to live!), but they were very professionally done, very classy and informative.

I tend to agree with this, he did a very good job with his books. Granted, I would argue he was a bit too pro-Max & Luna (calling her "the one" for Max in a way I don't think any other couples were praised--I admit that this probably unfairly biased me against them [and Luna alone] years before I started watching their stuff on YouTube--I need to work on that, lol), but I'm biased there to begin with .

And besides, at the end of the day, SOD and the SOD/SOW tribute named Max & Gabrielle as one of their top couples (where a select few were chosen for each) and NOT Max & Luna, so, at the end of the day, I'm happy with that .

From an Episodes.

I've never seen these before! How great .

I suppose these are sometime in 1990, given how early she left the following year. She last aired in March 1991, right? I wish someone would put up the trial where she was sentenced to prison up on YouTube.

I liked Max and Luna but she was nothing more than a space filler for Gabrielle. If Gabrielle were in town, there would be no contest. Oh and Gabrielle/Tina >>> Tina/Luna

I liked Max and Luna but she was nothing more than a space filler for Gabrielle. If Gabrielle were in town, there would be no contest. Oh and Gabrielle/Tina >>> Tina/Luna

I sometimes get the feeling I'm being unfair to Max & Luna (and Luna in particular), but then when I want to watch YouTube clips of them, I'm like, "Do I HAVE to be fair about them?" Oh well.

I will say that the clips I've seen as them as friends are kind of sweet (and I don't blame her for crushing on Max hardcore--that man was in his prime in the early 90s, though he's stayed hot to this day). And I felt bad for Luna when she admitted her rape to Max.

But the favorite color question to Max when they first met--and Max saying the same damn thing word for word--too contrived for me.

It would have been interesting to see what AE's Tina and Luna would have been like together. And I remember seeing the first clips of KW's Tina and Gabrielle, where there was animosity between the two of them--Gabrielle was a part of her 3rd wedding party to Cord, so some of their friendship must have been resolved before it crashed again when she went to prison.

How sad to think that they probably never spoke to each other again after that .

Edited January 25, 201213 yr by MissLlanviewPA

I've never seen these before! How great .

I suppose these are sometime in 1990, given how early she left the following year. She last aired in March 1991, right? I wish someone would put up the trial where she was sentenced to prison up on YouTube.

They're from 1989.

Luna was raped? When did that happen?

Luna was raped? When did that happen?

A few years before she was on the show. She had a New Age store in Memphis that was targeted by the KKK, and one of the Klansmen raped her (and then burned down her store). She admitted this to Marty after her rape when she went to the hospital for counseling.

Shortly afterwards, she told Max.

I do feel sorry for her, but some of it kind of seems out of nowhere to me (along with her first dead husband), knowing that Malone created her and loved her character so much. I don't know. Still touching scenes, but still a bit out of left field to me.

Edited January 25, 201213 yr by MissLlanviewPA

At times I feel like Stephen Schnessel (?) was the main person who "got" Gabrielle. She had some extremely complex, strong writing in 88-89 which Fiona played beautifully. After this Gabrielle seemed to start going way off track as a character - for instance, the idea of her pursuing Cord, then sabotaging Max's newspaper business, and other stunts. I guess this wasn't any more ludicrous than the time she spent with Michael Grande wearing Dial H for Hero outfits, but it seemed like around 1990 her stories became more and more about plot.

I do wonder what Gottlieb/Malone would have done with her - there was no one like her on the show at that time. It's like one part of her character went to Mia Korf's Blair and the other part went to Alex.

I give Schnessel a lot of grief--because I think the show largely became overly camp when he was there (under Peggy O'Shea, who had a long history with the show, the work was much more sophisticated and managed to keep more classic Llanview). I always got the impression Schnessel (what a name) was more of a yes man to Rauch, but that's probably unfair, as there WAS some great character work under him.

Aw, I loved Max and Luna back the day, but I agree- if she hadn't died, I don't know how much longer they would have lasted as a couple (but then again, if they'd broken up, I have no idea who was around then that they would have been paired off with if they weren't together). I do think that Max loved both of them very deeply, but in different ways.

I wonder why they never did anything with their twins. I always thought it would be Frankie that hooked up with Starr and Leslie would have made sense in the sort of "good girl" teen role.

Edited January 25, 201213 yr by AdelaideCate007

I give Schnessel a lot of grief--because I think the show largely became overly camp when he was there (under Peggy O'Shea, who had a long history with the show, the work was much more sophisticated and managed to keep more classic Llanview). I always got the impression Schnessel (what a name) was more of a yes man to Rauch, but that's probably unfair, as there WAS some great character work under him.

It would have been very interesting to see what would have happened to Gabrielle if Peggy O'Shea had continued on the show, as she created her character.

Luna was a Mary Sue character - she was never wrong, she was stronger and braver than everyone. I do think Susan Batten gave a wonderful performance, and I like that Luna never became one of Todd's defenders even after Todd had become "good" once Howarth became a fan favorite. I think Max/Luna worked for a few years but by 1994 held both characters back. The gambling story was rushed and made them both seem one-note. I would have paired Luna and Cord. I also would have had Luna leave town with the twins. Killing her was just fanfic, nothing more, and there was no real reason for the twins - Max already had a child, and that should have provided good drama, since Al was about 10 and the boy who played him was a decent actor. Instead, Al was packed off, then the twins, all so Max could be a disgusting pig.

I'm not sure what O'Shea would have done with Gabrielle but I think moving her out of the triangle with Steve and Max was a good idea.

Schnessel wasn't as good at building stories as O'Shea, and certainly some of his stories were just outright duds (anything with Melinda or Cassie, any attempt at actually making someone believe Viki and Roger had chemistry, most of Mari Lyn's stories although the stalker story has some great soap moments like Lolly's murder). I think his greatest strength was strong, yet fragile, complex female characters, like Tina, Gabrielle, Megan. Yet he also had some very good young heroines, something OLTL seemed to struggle with (remember Joy O'Neill?). There were dullards like Debra and insipid Mari Lyn (although I have to admit I have a soft spot for Mari Lyn), but Sarah and Brenda were great, they were both genuinely kind women who were not pushovers or saps. A lot of the stuff for Megan seems to be forgotten because most people remember Megan/Jake, but I liked her a lot with Max, and her adventures with Marco were silly fun - yes, it was tacky to do a spoof of Viki's DID story, but it was nowhere near as heinous as what was done later on.

I think you can judge his era more by what came after - making Michael Grande a total cartoon, the drugging story with Brenda, recycling bad stories with Tina, et al. The show fell apart. Just compare Charlotte, who was essentially a husk, to the women on OLTL in 1988 and 1989.

Edited January 25, 201213 yr by CarlD2

The show certainly did fall apart (and quickly) as soon as he left as HW (he passed away, didn't he?)

Yes.