Members MontyB Posted September 14, 2011 Members Share Posted September 14, 2011 Yes she was. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members EricMontreal22 Posted September 14, 2011 Members Share Posted September 14, 2011 How long was she on as Meta? I remember I watched during her introduction--and loved it (i was particularly thrilled as I had just around that time listened to those 90 or so very early 1950s radio episodes of GL where Meta really was the star, and a troublemaker, what with the death of Chuckie, her insanity fuelled killing of his father, etc). But I seem to remember soon afterwards it seemed like she had disappeared. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DRW50 Posted September 14, 2011 Members Share Posted September 14, 2011 She appeared in late 1996 and early 1997, and then she was infrequently seen for the next few years. I think Mary was battling cancer at this time. I'm not sure. When the Labines became headwriters, Meta began to appear more often, and was on fairly frequently in 2000 and 2001. Mary passed away in early 2002. In her last few years, P&G had a party for her, in honor of her special Emmy. I still wish they'd actually had a funeral for Meta the character, but I guess Mary really was the character by that time - Meta herself could have just been a new character. I always thought they should have brought someone like Helen Gallagher in as Trudy Bauer, during the times Mary was ill, and after her passing, as the show had so little warmth or family feeling. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members EricMontreal22 Posted September 14, 2011 Members Share Posted September 14, 2011 Did McTavish actually bring in Mary as Meta? Anyway it was a smart decision, even if maybe not used as much as it could be--and I agree about Trudy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DRW50 Posted September 14, 2011 Members Share Posted September 14, 2011 McTavish may have had some input but she was gone by the time Meta arrived. There were odd rumors at the time that Michael Laibson wanted his mother to play Meta (he denied that). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members John Posted September 14, 2011 Members Share Posted September 14, 2011 Mary Stuart was On From 96-2002 as Meta Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Paul Raven Posted September 15, 2011 Members Share Posted September 15, 2011 I realize Mary was on GL but that was a good 10 years after Search. I think it would have been nice if in 87 a role was created for Mary,just to recognize her status. Actually,in an interview she mentioned there was talk of an earlier GL role of Hannah Bauer,but that never materialized.This was possibly the Lainie Bauer character that Teri Keane played. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members John Posted September 15, 2011 Members Share Posted September 15, 2011 When SFT left NBC in 86 I heard P&G said she could go to another P&G show right away but it didnt happen She was a crooked Judge on OLTL in 1988, Judge Webber Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Antoyne Posted September 15, 2011 Members Share Posted September 15, 2011 Any acto or actress not playing a character named Jason, Sonny, or Carly in the last 8-9 years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Saving ATWT Posted September 16, 2011 Members Share Posted September 16, 2011 There is no such thing as ageism on soaps. Soaps are primarly about sex and adventure which doesn't leave room for vets. I have little pity for most actors in this situation because they generally replaced an older actor in terms of airtime. Y&R, as well as most of ABC daytime, were youth-centric at the start and this is why the shows did well. One could argure that ATWT lost the top slot in the 1970s due to an ageing, has been cast. Older actors are great in supporting roles and make for great power brokers; however, there isn't enough room on any canvus for a bunch of has beens. I know you were a big ATWT fan--imagine if TPTB had big stories going for Bob, Kim, Nancy and Lisa all at the same time? The show would have felt like a hour long Depends advert. A great example is Fulton never evolving into an actor capable of playing a character her own age. The 70 year old sex kitten routine was painful to watch and she lacked the depth to take Lisa to the next level. I don't blame Goutman because she had this issue under Marland, too. Now imagine if ATWT had retained other former big stars like Penny, Don and Ellen? There would be no room for new additions and, in the process, no new fans. I'm starting to think all soaps should have been cancelled at 30, and replaced by a new show. This would have prevented the stagnation as well as hurt feeling that suround the remaining soaps. I don't think all vets, by any means, should be fired but we all know when it is time to leave center stage. Bell, Dixon and Irma all understood this and that is why thier shows did well. We might still have a genre if the writers still understood when to break with the past. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DRW50 Posted September 16, 2011 Members Share Posted September 16, 2011 I'm sorry but I don't believe that stories for older people = Depends. If you feel that way, you have a right to your opinion, and clearly we are never going to agree. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Saving ATWT Posted September 16, 2011 Members Share Posted September 16, 2011 No, we never will but I still like you 'cause we like the same shows. Goutman goof troup of kids didn't help the show, either. I just think 'love in the afternoon' is key and older characters can't generally fit into this theme. I'm starting to think the 'stars' were the eventual undoing of most soaps: Erica, AMC; Reva, GL; Dorian, OLTL--the shows relied to strongly on these characters, while viewers weren't turned on by watching them sweat. Romantically, Zimmer added something to GL in the 80s but did the exact opposite in 2007. Demos, Demos, Demos.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Skin Posted September 16, 2011 Members Share Posted September 16, 2011 I don't know if I necessarily agree with your comments about older vets being useless and not being worthy of leading story. I can think of a lot of great moments where veteran characters/actors were used and were amazing in those storylines. Erica Kane reliving her rape in 2003, Luke Spencer pulling his son off of a respirator in 2005, Erika Slezak's work in the Heart of the Lord storyline and her resulting work as Viki for the last decade or so. These were all phenomenal stories and they were all leads in them. I will agree with you on one thing though soaps should definitely have phased characters out once they've full filled their usefulness in terms of story. I've felt that way about soo many characters for so long and I don't understand why soaps continue on with a character even after they've proven their usefulness and continue to clog up the canvas with characters who are virtually useless. They just become plot contrivances and they wind up doing things that are completely out of character and diminish who they were originally meant to be. I can think of at least four characters off the top of my head who could have been written off a certain soap 7 years ago yet they and their group still persist on this show and are still going strong. Why? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DRW50 Posted September 16, 2011 Members Share Posted September 16, 2011 I don't believe the problem is soaps not wanting to break from the past. I think the problem is soaps creating a worthless present. The only soap currently on the air I would criticize for never trying to break from the past is B&B. Every other soap has often happily junked most of what them unique in order to hype a generic idea of what some mythical white 18 year old filthy rich girl wants to see. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Khan Posted September 16, 2011 Members Share Posted September 16, 2011 Perhaps. But I think there's something wrong if soaps are, or have become, "primarily about sex and adventure." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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