All My Children AMC: The Prospect Park Era (old production thread)

[marceline]

Same. Yes, he was green but I think he found his footing quickly and he had crazy mad chemistry with Jill. Every scene between the two of them made me smile from ear to ear. I found him quite charming. The only weakness was the early Pete/Celia stuff and I put that on some clunky writing not him.

[Vee]

I was really, really looking forward to the previewed Pete/Cassandra stuff, which may have been a real spoiler for the Celia and Pete romance. I had liked the look of those two together in the publicity photos, and if Sal Stowers can actually act when doing normal scenes, I think it could be great.

I haven't given up on the shows - I know better than that after all we've been through. They may be back, they may well be done. If they're not I had a good time and the future is always out there to be utilized. But I've heard all the epitaphs before.

[DRW50]

I feel kind of bad because I didn't really buy him as Opal's son at all. I mean their scenes were decent enough, but I just sort of felt like the character was generic.

[Vee]

I thought he so physically resembled the young James Mitchell I knew from old Hollywood - uncannily so - and I thought Pete showed that he had Palmer's killer instinct and temper, which frightened and alienated Celia when he discovered David had put him in a bind in business. I thought he had real strength in that stuff, but was still sweet as pie with Opal. So I bought it, personally.

Daniel Kennedy's sweet, geeky Pete - while even gayer than little Mitchel Federan - had been played as a diamond in the rough IIRC, a nerd with a rock-hard body under his clothes. The classic ugly duckling to swan thing. So Rob Wilson completed the circuit. I do think they could've played on Pete's past neuroses about his self-improvement more in the future; only Colby touched on it.

[marceline]

Oh don't talk about that. I was looking forward to the Cass/Colby/Pete stuff so, so much.

[Vee]

I just hope she can get the lines out. I couldn't get enough of a read on her in those very brief sets of scenes when she finally got out of the damn hospital and stopped crying all the time.

[EricMontreal22]

He definitely has the cheekbones James Mitchell had back in his dancer days. And Carl, you SHOULD feel really bad.

[allmc2008]

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They look very similar!! On a different note it is a shame and a blessing that James Mitchell and other stars couldn't break into hollywood. He, David Canary, and so many others that had brilliant talent could have been legends.

[Vee]

...James Mitchell did break into Hollywood.

[allmc2008]

What I mean is he could have been huge. Well remembered the same way as Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly are. Was JM ever in a Starring/leading role that is well remembered today by millions of fans like Singing in the Rain with Gene Kelly??

[EricMontreal22]

He never wanted to leave New York. Dance was his first love--he only really ever had dance roles (ie "dream Curly" in the ballet portion of Oklahoma!) and only got those because the manager of his ballet company, the legendary Agnes DeMille (who was apparently insane, and also obsessed with the fact that she and he would end up together) moved into choreographing Broadway shows and brought him with her. He had acting training, like most dancers back then, but I believe Where the Heart Is was actually his first major role--a New York soap opera. The man he lived with most of his adult life wanted to stay in New York, I'm sure he did too, etc. So it worked out for him and I don't think he ever had any desire to break into movies aside from going occasionally to play mainly dance roles. That just was not one of his ambitions. There's no shame there. Soaps probably fit him better anyway--he really seemed to relish the theatrical (in the BIG sense of the word) roles like Palmer, and by the 70s those were very much out of date with film acting.

Check him out at 2:55 Wow.

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As for David Canary, I think he may have partly been stigmatized as a TV actor--he had quite a bit of major primetime work (Bonanza, Peyton Place with Ruth Warrick, etc) and back then it was much more rare to start on TV and move into films.

[UKBoi]

Robert Wilson instagramed a still from AMC and said he was itching to get back to work at All My Children yesterday. Positive news or fan-baiting?

[Steve]

Sounds like positive news to me. Maybe Thorston Kaye didn't know the start date because he's not included in the next round of taping.

[greens_dupres]

Me too! I wasn't so sold on Sal Stowers as an actress but I loved the idea. Not sure what to make of Robert Wilson's tweet- I tend to believe Thorsten if he said he spoke to Ginger this week and she has no news so it might just be wishful thinking. I really do miss both shows and while I've pretty much (but not completely) given up hope, I so hope PP surprises us again.

[Wizzerkat]

I'm sure Rob's tweet was more of less fan baiting. I would assume PP at least has occasional contact with the actors. Perhaps the actors are told to occasionally keep up interest for whatever might happen. Or maybe Rob just misses his castmates