It's been way too long since I posted anything at all on the SON Forums. I selfishly read them to excess daily and enjoy the information, insight, opinions, and visits back to 'soap yesteryear.'

It has been rather apparent to me that Fiiona Hutchison maintains quite a bevy of fan support here throughout SON. This thrills me, as Fiona Hutchison is my persoanal ALL-TIME Favourite Daytime Diva. I have, like so many others here, adored her work & beauty since 1987 when she lamented her love life to her Abuela in Argentina~ (On OLTL) of course.

I hope to encourage, invite, begin a new topic for Grande(wink) discussion regarding Fiona, her Characters, Gabby or Jenna alike. How many other fans still treasure this unique lady's talents and contributions to her Daytime Shows? How many people prefer Gabrielle Medina to Jenna Bradshaw? Or Jenna to Gabrielle? How many still love thinking back to the years when Fiona worked daily with the likes of Andrea Evans? They were 'kinetic energy' on screen together!!!!

How is it that Fiona was never awarded an Emmy for Gabrielle in 1991? Or even in 2004 for her work after Al's death aired? The scenes she shared with Erika Slezak just after Al's death just stunned me! Was Fiona instantly well-received and popular in her role as Gabrielle? I seem to recall that she was quickly recognised for her exotic beauty in S.O.D. These are but a few of the questions I can only hope/anticipate that get discussed here within this thread..... Long Live Gabrielle & Jenna~

She was originally only supposed to have a 3 month stay at GL, but they kept on extending her contract.

Fiona says working with Michael Zaslow was the reason she decided to stay on the show:

http://fionafest.hourb.com/articl26.html

You can find more past interviews/articles with her on that site.

I believe in her second exit interview in 1999 she still praised Rauch, but I didn't buy it. I completely buy that she was punished for speaking out about the Michael Zaslow situation.

There were a few OLTL fan club luncheons that Fiona attended even when she wasn't on the show (at least 1998 and 1999, based on pictures I've seen). Fiona Fest had this very touching picture of her embracing Michael Zaslow, who had just returned as David, from the 1998 event.

Neither. I liked ATWT's Celia best. Jenna was a BORE and I hated Gabrielle's return to OLTL.

Perhaps we should start a thread for Marcy's roles now: Liza vs. Eden! (And of course Tangie )

LOL..Tangie was a trainwreck.

On her Facebook page, Fiona has DAYS as one of her "likes." I know she's on THE BAY now, but I'd be tempted to watch the show if she were ever on.

I do wonder how successful ABC's smear campaign against her worked though.

When she first landed Jenna, she mentioned that AW, DAYS, and SANTA BARBARA were all after her. I wonder how her history would have changed had she went to one of those shows...

As for Jenna vs. Nadine, I'm only familiar with the beginning of that triangle over Buzz. To me, Nadine was a heinous character at that point for hiding a confused, pregnant teen in her attic when what she desperately needed was a referral to Planned Parenthood (withholding from her the fact that Maureen had died until after the funeral was particularly low) so that Nadine could pass the baby off as her own. I had no sympathy for her, and I actually was turned off by the way the Coopers were so nasty to Jenna. And now that I know some of the dirt on the various people behind the scenes, I tend to think of Nadine circa that era as a precursor for James Reilly's misogynistic, campy work, whereas I associate Jenna more with Curlee, Demorest, Broderick, et al.

Jean Carol always played up Nadine's loneliness and vulnerability, which is why I felt sorry for her. I had seen Nadine over the years, through good and bad times, and the one constant was how lonely and desperate she was. Buzz and Jenna were strangers to me, and then Buzz just took over the storyline, with that godawful "accent" and the gum-smacking. That was the end of my GL.

Technically, I shouldn't have felt sympathy for her, especially since I also liked Bridget, but the show did a wonderful job with Nadine's motivations and with the price Nadine paid - she went back to the poverty she'd spent her adult life running from. I didn't even like Buzz and Nadine together - I just wanted Nadine to have a good story and not be the patsy for that couple.

I never associate Jenna with Curlee/et al, mostly because the character was just so vague at that time. She moved from being witty and jaded, with a heart somewhere underneath, to just a victim, and to having a constant earache from Buzz's "banter". I have never seen Fiona as someone who is suited for that constant yapping, screaming, and forced comedy which made up the first years of her relationship with Buzz. Jenna lost all focus. I associate Jenna as pure JFP - she likes an actor and then has little idea of what to do with said actor.

I also found it fascinating how FH's Jenna sort of stepped into Beverlee McKinsey's shoes during that period before they recast Alex. Dare I say part of the reason viewers were willing to accept Marj Dusay to the extent that they did was because the show paid homage to the fact that Jenna was a poor substitute for BM's Alex as the Spaulding grandame? I think people were ready for Alex to come back and reclaim the family heirlooms, but I would argue it was intentional...I don't think Jenna was ever being "propped" as an Alex replacement.

To be honest with you I'm not even sure if people really accepted Marj. I think people were happy to have Alex back, but she was never the same, and she never had the same prominence on the show. It took me years to accept her. At the time she reclaimed the role of mistress of the manor, I mostly saw her as a little loud and annoying - my sympathy went to her because of the degrading way Nick treated her, but it was clumsily obvious that JFP saw little use in the character beyond a shrewish foil to Nick and Mindy.

I never thought the show was trying to replace Jenna with Alex. I just felt like the show struggled with any identity for Jenna and it was easier to downgrade her to Buzz's galpal and Roger's victim, partaking in phenomenal stories like stolen face cream.

Edited May 28, 201213 yr by CarlD2

The storey didn't last long, but this is one of my favourite soap promos

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/RmtCc1AoYrc" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

I guess for those who watched her religiously on both shows, how were Gabrielle and Jenna different? Did Fiona play them the same or differently as an actress?

Edited May 28, 201213 yr by Y&RWorldTurner

I had forgotten she was on ATWT. I dont even recall Celia to be honest with you. I thought Fiona shined as Gabrielle. The only time I liked her as Jenna was with Henry. When she first came on GL she still Gabby's mannerisms.

I mostly remember her wearing leopard print shoes (they just showed a woman's pumps for weeks), and I think she did a lot of hammy acting. It wasn't much of a role.

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

The storey didn't last long, but this is one of my favourite soap promos

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/RmtCc1AoYrc" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

I guess for those who watched her religiously on both shows, how were Gabrielle and Jenna different? Did Fiona play them the same or differently as an actress?

She looks like pure Gabrielle in that promo.

Jean Carol always played up Nadine's loneliness and vulnerability, which is why I felt sorry for her. I had seen Nadine over the years, through good and bad times, and the one constant was how lonely and desperate she was. Buzz and Jenna were strangers to me, and then Buzz just took over the storyline, with that godawful "accent" and the gum-smacking. That was the end of my GL.

Technically, I shouldn't have felt sympathy for her, especially since I also liked Bridget, but the show did a wonderful job with Nadine's motivations and with the price Nadine paid - she went back to the poverty she'd spent her adult life running from. I didn't even like Buzz and Nadine together - I just wanted Nadine to have a good story and not be the patsy for that couple.

I never associate Jenna with Curlee/et al, mostly because the character was just so vague at that time. She moved from being witty and jaded, with a heart somewhere underneath, to just a victim, and to having a constant earache from Buzz's "banter". I have never seen Fiona as someone who is suited for that constant yapping, screaming, and forced comedy which made up the first years of her relationship with Buzz. Jenna lost all focus. I associate Jenna as pure JFP - she likes an actor and then has little idea of what to do with said actor.

To be honest with you I'm not even sure if people really accepted Marj. I think people were happy to have Alex back, but she was never the same, and she never had the same prominence on the show. It took me years to accept her. At the time she reclaimed the role of mistress of the manor, I mostly saw her as a little loud and annoying - my sympathy went to her because of the degrading way Nick treated her, but it was clumsily obvious that JFP saw little use in the character beyond a shrewish foil to Nick and Mindy.

I never thought the show was trying to replace Jenna with Alex. I just felt like the show struggled with any identity for Jenna and it was easier to downgrade her to Buzz's galpal and Roger's victim, partaking in phenomenal stories like stolen face cream.

Its a shame they couldnt get Joan Collins to stay longer in the role. At the time I thought Joan was a bad mistake as Alex but she was actually pretty good in the role and better than Marj.

Yeah, she kept her signature long hair for quite some time.

I remember being surprised when she returned to GL with shorter hair - she still looked fierce though.

Edited May 28, 201213 yr by Y&RWorldTurner

I thought she looked great when she returned to GL in 1996, with that haircut - I had remembered her hair looking a bit too long and shaggy at the end of GL. Overall she always had good hair at GL. When I saw her on OLTL in 2001 I was shocked at her hair and I think it sort of created a bad impression for her from the start - it was very severe, and so many people associated Gabrielle with the long hair.

It was all about the hair from the beginning, wasn't it?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=93SC22LSoHo

And I LOVE her Argentinean style dress, too .

I mostly remember her wearing leopard print shoes (they just showed a woman's pumps for weeks), and I think she did a lot of hammy acting. It wasn't much of a role.

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

It's a shame ATWT didnt use Fiona to her full potential. She could have been a long long relative of a central character. I was always envious of OLTL having such a talented actress like Fiona.

They brought in some talented actors for short term roles at this point. I guess it may have been a budget thing, I don't know. Or perhaps she was too hot to touch after the Zaslow controversy so they hired her short term, like they did with Roscoe Born around this time.

Basically what happened with ABC and Fiona all those years ago, was when they started she was on a very low salary. And they played her a lot for all those years, and basically didn't have to give her much money even though she was going over her guarantees and getting little or nothing for it. When she was up for renewal, ABC said that she could only get a certain percentage more for her OLTL work based upon her base salary (not the extra episodes) and there would be no negotiation. And if they were going over her guarantee she still wouldn't be getting that much. I'd have to search for the SOD or SOW which went into exact detail over what happened, but when I read the article I was upset on her behalf and understood why she left.

While P&G shows traditionally don't pay as much, back in 1993 the highest paid GL star was Zaslow who made in the neighborhood of 750,000 a year. He had favored nation status, so no one made as much. The reason I know the figure is based upon an interview that was done when Joe Lando was hired for MacCauley West, but I digress.

Years ago, I was at the bowling event when Fiona showed up and told everyone that she was fired from GL. The other actors had not been informed yet, so I was seeing real reactions. It was extremely intense, but she said at that point that if OLTL called her and offered her a dollar she'd go back.

Edited May 28, 201213 yr by ~bl~