All Episodes Talk

[Grinaldi]

I figured y'all would be among the very few who would appreciate how I've been spending my time in quarantine.

[UYI]

I watched the Rappaport reunion Alan Locher did the other day and I have two big things I have to say:

1. Catherine Hickland is STILL gorgeous, and a GREAT storyteller (I LOVED hearing that she had watched DAYS and AW growing up, and that she later was an extra/under five on the former, and got her first real soap role on the latter!)...but damn, homegirl needs a haircut BADLY. Maybe she doesn't trust her husband Todd Fisher with a pair of scissors? LMAO. (Also: No questions about Ty Treadway! BOO!)

2. Jessica Morris is surprisingly kind of shy and quiet, which she mentioned was part of the reason she started acting--she started acting as a teenager as way to come out of her shell, something that even her teachers had noticed when she was growing up--she was a good student, but barely spoke at all. But she came across as very sweet, and she looks EXACTLY the same. She's barely aged at ALL. 

Edited July 19, 2020 by UYI

[UYI]

It feels weird to even be sharing this here, to be honest, but I don't there's ANYONE here who would interested in this reunion, even if they WERE watching at the time, but here it is, just in case:

Alan Locher is holding another OLTL reunion this Thursday, August 6th, at 2 PM Eastern, with these three stars:

Mark Arnold (Rob Coronal, Cassie's husband back in the Ava Haddad days)

Sharon Gabet (Melinda Cramer--the only Melinda who DIDN'T go crazy)

Holly Gagnier (Cassie 3.0--the one after Ava and before Laura--and the one whose Cassie slept with Jon Russell when the latter was dating Dorian--if I'm not mistaken, she was actually the LEAST popular Cassie BY FAR--the original Cassie, Cusi Cram, played her when she first came on as a teenager, but I think she's less "unpopular" and more "forgotten", having been there in the very early 80's)

In fairness, Mark and Sharon were on The Edge of Night, and the draw of seeing Sharon in particular is there for that reason alone; Raven was INSANELY popular and iconic on EON (and Sky & Raven were an equally popular and iconic supercouple), and she hasn't really acted much since leaving OLTL, having mostly focused on her religious beliefs since then, from what I understand. But then, even with the OLTL connection, Holly's other major soap role was as Ivy on DAYS, and I'm not even sure if she was there as Cassie all that long opposite Rob....I don't know. The whole thing just feels kind of random and weird to me. I'm all for OLTL reunions that recognize actors that were there before the 90's and 2000's (meaning those who were there PRIMARILY before the 90's and 2000's, not those who started earlier but stayed/returned later in those two time periods), but still.

Here's the link, on the off chance that anyone else here is interested:

 

 

Edited August 4, 2020 by UYI

[Dandesun]

So if I'm remembering this right... Lindsay killed two dudes who were totally creepering on Blair and Blair got to wake up to two corpses on her. Actually, I'm not sure if she regained consciousness before Spencer was found. Actually, I think she was still out of it because I do remember Starr seeing that and flipping the fuck out (rightly so) with her drugged, unconscious mother in a wedding dress with a corpse on top of her in a hospital room.

I do remember not being sorry at all that Lindsay offed the two of them. Hell, I was ready to throw her a parade both times. Also, the whole Who Killed Spencer Truman story was lame af. He was about to rape Blair so it was full on 'Defense of Another' argument and wasn't Rex the suspect for awhile because of... Rex reasons? Bleah.

[Melgaypet]

That was so stupid. They had Lindsay faking a breakdown, even though she had a perfectly acceptable excuse for killing Spencer. I know she went looking for him to kill him for entirely non-Blair reasons, but he was totally about to rape Blair and anyone would have been justified in stabbing him. I know that was to make Bo into her guardian so that he could fall in "love" with her again (because that scenario isn't creepy, no sir), so that Nora could be outraged by Lindsay getting away with killing a man AGAIN and getting her hooks in dumb ol' Bo AGAIN so that she would bust Lindsay at her wedding AGAIN and Bo could be shocked - shocked, I say! - that Lindz was a liar AGAIN and everyone could decide it was really all Nora's fault AGAIN.

And Lindsay blew off RJ - who was awesome and appreciated her for who exactly who she was and never would put her on a pedestal she would inevitably tumble from and wasn't into her to subconsciously punish his ex-wife and also was awesome - for Bo, which may have been the dumbest part of the whole thing, and I say that as someone who loved Bo.

[Hiyo]

Lindsay and RJ had so much unexplored potential.

[TeeVee329]

Agreed.  The possibility of Lindsay and RJ tantalizing hung in the air for a long time, but when the show finally went for it, they didn't really go for it, if you know what I mean, it was very afterthought-ish.

[jsbt]

On 8/6/2020 at 3:26 PM, Dandesun said:

So if I'm remembering this right... Lindsay killed two dudes who were totally creepering on Blair and Blair got to wake up to two corpses on her.

My God, you're right. Both times!

I watched some '04 clips the other day for the first time in many years and I cracked up at Lindsay just out among the populace with Daniel Colson at Capricorn in like, January or February. Less than a year prior she murdered her ex-husband and the father of her kids and had been committed to the bughouse! Soaps.

I always liked Cat Hickland first and foremost; though I was always fond of the actor I mostly hated Lindsay until she got hers in '02, when Troy's using her during his scheme to make her pay for what she did to Nora made me feel truly sorry for her. But I felt Lindsay was played out by '07. I personally had always been more interested in R.J. and Nora getting together again than R.J. and Linds, which felt like a backburner spot for both of them. I didn't mind Lindsay as a mover and shaker in town post-Sam's death, but in the ensuing years it became mostly about her crying over dead Jen. And I had zero patience for their briefly reuniting the same old Bo/Lindsay thing in '07/'08. When they wrote her out that final time it felt right. I loved the last, quiet scene she had with Bob Woods in prison, where Bo simply said "I hope your time here goes quickly" and told her goodbye. That's enough. I wouldn't mind seeing her from time to time but the character ran its course to me.

I've been blessed during this pandemic with a lot of classic soap online or on TV (the Y&R classic repeats, which are really educational and essential on CBS All Access) to help keep me sane and whole. But there's not just OLTL and GH stuff on YouTube; someone also put up the entirety of the Loving Murders from 1995, which I hadn't seen since I was a kid. It holds up! I hadn't realized until one of the actors mentioned it during a recent Zoom reunion that Linda Gottlieb had apparently consulted on that story or its marketing. I actually liked Cat first on LOV/The City, and today it's her character there, Tess Wilder, who is considerably sharper, smarter and meaner than Lindsay IMO. Lindsay always had a core based on hurt and heartbreak. Tess was all knives.

Edited August 8, 2020 by jsbt

[Gigi43]

I liked Lindsay/RJ. I always would have liked to see what RJ/Blair could be like but they'd probably end up making it about Todd and RJ/Tea/Todd so it's probably for the best it didn't happen. 

[Hiyo]

They did tease a Tea/RJ hookup for like 5 mins in the early 2000s, right before the actress left the show. 

[jsbt]

R.J. and Tea were dating in 1999-2000, it was very hot. I would put them together again today.

[Hiyo]

Were they together that long? It felt so much shorter in hindsight, like it was only for a few months. Still, it was a nice pairing, however long it lasted.

[UYI]

Erika Slezak, Jerry verDorn, and Mark Derwin will be joining Alan Locher this Thursday. September 17th, at 2 PM Eastern. In addition to their conversation, they are also raising money for the Autism Society of America. 
 

It will be great to see Erika and Jerry, of course, and while my favorite moment of Ben's was probably when Niki pushed him out the window (while wearing a red wig to try and frame Natalie), he reminds me of my early OLTL days, so I'm cool with it. And I know Erika & Mark have always ADORED each other. :)

All I have right now is Alan's YouTube post, the actual video/countdown hasn't been posted yet.

https://www.youtube.com/post/Ugxb0zr6TYG5PsnGa-l4AaABCQ

Edited September 14, 2020 by UYI

[Hiyo]

As acceptable as JVD was as a Clint recast, Clint Ritchie will always be Clint to me.

I always felt they threw Clint under the bus to prop up the Viki/Sloan pairing. I loathed Sloan.

 

[UYI]

On September 23rd at 3 PM Eastern, Crystal Chappell and Hillary B. Smith will be in The Locher Room talking about their soap careers, their work on the online soaps Beacon Hill and Venice, and their friendship with each other.

Obviously, CC is FAR better known for her roles on DAYS and GL than she is as Andrew's clown school owning nun cousin Maggie, but I knew y'all might want to see Hillary, and I can see Crystal poking fun at Maggie as a character so there's that possibility, too.

 

[UYI]

Thursday, November 19th at 2 PM Eastern: Thom Christopher and Tonja Walker. CARLO & ALEX REUNION YAY! <3

 

[UYI]

There were a lot of static issues (I think on Tonja's end; she looked like she was using an iPad and/or her phone, which she was holding up/trying to adjust but never could quite manage to do, she probably needed ear buds), but I LOVED seeing these two together again; they are just wonderful together. And Thom Christopher is 80 years old now, OMG! I guess he's like Patrick Stewart: If you're a bald man, chances are you'll be ageless! 

Edited November 20, 2020 by UYI

[TeeVee329]

Some truly terrible scenes between Lucas and Michael on "General Hospital" today made me think about this:

Obviously he's partially trying to assuage his own guilt here, but the compassion that Oliver shows Schuyler - someone who is, at best, a casual friend, more of an acquittance really - here in offering to work something out, to find a way to let Schuyler still be part of the life of this baby he loves, is so nice.  Contract that with what a dipstick Michael was today to Lucas, HIS OWN UNCLE.

Oh it would have been so interesting to see this play out with Oliver and Schuyler and Kyle and Sierra, even before you factor in the reveal of Schuyler being Roxy's son.  Siiigh.

[Melgaypet]

2 hours ago, TeeVee329 said:

Obviously he's partially trying to assuage his own guilt here, but the compassion that Oliver shows Schuyler - someone who is, at best, a casual friend, more of an acquittance really - here in offering to work something out, to find a way to let Schuyler still be part of the life of this baby he loves, is so nice.  Contract that with what a dipstick Michael was today to Lucas, HIS OWN UNCLE.

So good. Compassionate people acting compassionately is something we don't see enough of on GH. It's crazy that not even his own family members seemed to care about Lucas' pain.

Oh, Fish. "She's not going anywhere. I'm still in Llanview." That hurt. And did you notice how he protected Kyle? Saying "I" had a DNA test done, instead of the truth that Kyle did an illegal test without his - Oliver's - consent. Not that Schuyler wouldn't have realized that Kyle was involved - he basically did - though it was irrelevant once he realized Fish was telling the truth about Sierra. But, so sweet!

 @TeeVee329, something else you recently said in the GH forums made me think of OLTL. You said it was a mistake to make Joss a good girl à la Starr instead of the monster Carly deserves. I agree, but it reminded me what a mistake it was to make Starr the good girl, instead of the hellraiser Todd and Blair deserved, and who Starr had been pretty much until she met Cole. It was just strange to make Starr the Jessica of her generation, and Kristen Alderson was not good at being the ingenue, which I think is a more difficult role to play than many people credit. Erin Torpey did it well, so did Kimberly McCullough, Genie Francis, Becky Herbst (though Elizabeth started out as the troublemaker), Eden Riegel, and others I'm probably overlooking. KA was much better when Starr was being a bitch. Eden McCoy might be better at playing bad as well, she's unremarkable as the teen heroine.

Edited December 24, 2020 by Melgaypet

[TeeVee329]

1 hour ago, Melgaypet said:

Oh, Fish. "She's not going anywhere. I'm still in Llanview." That hurt. And did you notice how he protected Kyle? Saying "I" had a DNA test done, instead of the truth that Kyle did an illegal test without his - Oliver's - consent. Not that Schuyler wouldn't have realized that Kyle was involved - he basically did - though it was irrelevant once he realized Fish was telling the truth about Sierra. But, so sweet!

That "She's not going anywhere.  I'm still in Llanview" line did hurt.  I have to imagine TPTB hadn't made the decision to axe them at that point, otherwise I can't imagine them scripting that line on purpose.  And there was no real way to cut it from the scene after the fact.

And to your other point, what I love is that Schuyler stutters out an accusation that Kyle faked the test, because it speaks to both Kyle's shady side and Kyle and Schuyler's frenemy relationship, two other things I love.  I almost wish Schuyler had left Fish's involvement out of it entirely.  "Your boyfriend is Team!Balsom because of Roxy and we don't like each other so he faked the test just for funsies!".

1 hour ago, Melgaypet said:

@TeeVee329, something else you recently said in the GH forums made me think of OLTL. You said it was a mistake to make Joss a good girl à la Starr instead of the monster Carly deserves. I agree, but it reminded me what a mistake it was to make Starr the good girl, instead of the hellraiser Todd and Blair deserved, and who Starr had been pretty much until she met Cole.

Oh totally, it was just as big a mistake to do that to Starr.  Anytime they let Starr show some edge - I remember one time in 2010 when she tore into Ford re: his affair with Langston - it was such a breath of fresh air compared to the drippy teen dream she was most of the time.

And all you have to do is look at Dani on the PP version, how the sharper edges they allowed her to have made her so much more interesting as a young adult heroine.

Edited December 24, 2020 by TeeVee329

[Melgaypet]

We all know Tina slept with David Vickers when she believed he was her brother. But did you know Tina also dated her first cousin? Richard Abbot, son of Victor Lord's sister Gwendolyn, who lost Tina to Cord. (The actor looked familiar to me, turns out he's Anna Lee's son and played that jackass Dr. Boardman on Port Charles. I think he got killed by a serial killer, or Rachel Locke, or maybe a vampire.)

 

[drtslim]

On 1/3/2021 at 1:21 AM, Melgaypet said:

We all know Tina slept with David Vickers when she believed he was her brother. But did you know Tina also dated her first cousin? Richard Abbot, son of Victor Lord's sister Gwendolyn, who lost Tina to Cord. (The actor looked familiar to me, turns out he's Anna Lee's son and played that jackass Dr. Boardman on Port Charles. I think he got killed by a serial killer, or Rachel Locke, or maybe a vampire.)

 

Yes, and I thought that it was so strange that no one questioned it.  I wish that they'd brought in some other random, rich blue-blood as a non-Cord option.

[Dandesun]

Tina was a Hapsburg waiting to happen.

[Melgaypet]

50 minutes ago, Dandesun said:

Tina was a Hapsburg waiting to happen.

+1000 points for the Hapsburg mention.

I guess old money blue-blood families probably did intermarry a lot, but that close a degree of consanguinity should raise eyebrows. Viki and Clint's objection seem to be "Richard is a nice guy and Tina is a conniving, gold-digging tramp," not "hello, you two had the same grandparents!" I mean, Larry and Karen were cousins as well, but way more distant. Like third or fourth cousins at least.

[drtslim]

3 hours ago, Melgaypet said:

+1000 points for the Hapsburg mention.

I guess old money blue-blood families probably did intermarry a lot, but that close a degree of consanguinity should raise eyebrows. Viki and Clint's objection seem to be "Richard is a nice guy and Tina is a conniving, gold-digging tramp," not "hello, you two had the same grandparents!" I mean, Larry and Karen were cousins as well, but way more distant. Like third or fourth cousins at least.

 

Didn't they eventually change it so Larry and Karen were just related by marriage?

[UYI]

On 1/5/2021 at 7:49 PM, Melgaypet said:

+1000 points for the Hapsburg mention.

I guess old money blue-blood families probably did intermarry a lot, but that close a degree of consanguinity should raise eyebrows. Viki and Clint's objection seem to be "Richard is a nice guy and Tina is a conniving, gold-digging tramp," not "hello, you two had the same grandparents!" I mean, Larry and Karen were cousins as well, but way more distant. Like third or fourth cousins at least.

I think they were second cousins, actually. 

Either way, Karen's maiden name and her married name were one and the same and that's just WEIRD to me. 

[UYI]

For any Nash & Jessica fans still out there:

This Friday, January 22nd, at 3:00 PM Eastern, Forbes March & Bree Williamson, together again.

 

[TeeVee329]

I love that, every time I watch this, another snippet jumps out at me:

Today, it was Stacy huffily saying to Fish, "You've know me long enough to know that just because I "say something" doesn't mean it's "the truth"".  I kinda love that a scheming character like Stacy is just like, "Yeah, I'm a schemer, you should not trust what I say, like, at all."  Which really shines a light on how stupid Rex, Gigi, and sadly Schuyler were in their parts of the story buying into any of this malarkey, given how many lies they had already caught her in.

On 1/17/2021 at 7:29 PM, UYI said:

For any Nash & Jessica fans still out there:

This Friday, January 22nd, at 3:00 PM Eastern, Forbes March & Bree Williamson, together again.

I feel like I remember, back in the TWoP days, someone posted an interview with FM in which he was verrry salty about being let go, blaming the casting of the Jared character, etc.  So I hope this is not a lot of "Nash and Tess/Jess were a supercouple, we were gold, they threw us away, so stupid" talk from one or both of them.

[jsbt]

It's gonna be, and I'll pass!

[UYI]

22 hours ago, TeeVee329 said:

I feel like I remember, back in the TWoP days, someone posted an interview with FM in which he was verrry salty about being let go, blaming the casting of the Jared character, etc.  So I hope this is not a lot of "Nash and Tess/Jess were a supercouple, we were gold, they threw us away, so stupid" talk from one or both of them.

The only thing I really remember hearing about Nash's death is that FM's firing was seemingly out of nowhere, to the point where the audience didn't have any spoilers about it before it actually happened--I had just started watching again after a few years away around that time, so I don't really know for sure.

Whatever. Jess was better with Brody, anyway.

(That said, some of BW's best work was in the aftermath of Nash's death/Jess finding out that Chloe was dead and that she actually had Starr's daughter, Hope. She really was someone who couldn't always elevate what was given to her if it was particularly bad--and Jessica's battles with DID in the final years of the show is proof of that--but she WAS fantastic in those two stories, in particular.) 

[TeeVee329]

Nash's death also kicked off a recurring theme I hated - Natalie keeping a secret that caused Jess to split and thus everything Tess/Bess/whoever did was her fault.  Poor Nat got the short end of the stick so many times.

[dubbel zout]

And everyone was treating Jess like she was some fragile flower, instead of a gravely mentally ill woman who needed immediate and intensive therapy.

[TeeVee329]

That was always my problem with Tess, or Connie on GH, or Gabigail on DOOL.  We're supposed to be just loving the zany, sexy antics of the alter, but all I think about is the mentally ill woman trapped inside and the horrible moment when she'll come back the forefront and, in most cases, find herself in the bed of a man she would not be with otherwise.  Yuuuuuuuck.

Edited January 21, 2021 by TeeVee329

[jsbt]

3 hours ago, UYI said:

The only thing I really remember hearing about Nash's death is that FM's firing was seemingly out of nowhere, to the point where the audience didn't have any spoilers about it before it actually happened--I had just started watching again after a few years away around that time, so I don't really know for sure.

He was very pissed and took more than a few shots at the Jared character. Frank gave him the Frank treatment, which was promising an actor big things coming soon after actor inquiries only to cut them loose.

Forbes had chemistry with Bree, but he was one of many cases of a former model-turned-actor who was terrible in their early work (as Scott on AMC in the late 90s, with Rebecca Budig) only to return as a hammy overactor in later years. He was more bluster than talent, and Nash wore thin for me quickly especially given how he treated Jessica's mental illness. The funeral, of course, was Bree's best work. But it wasn't enough for me to ever consider her a close successor to Erin Torpey.

[TeeVee329]

I wasn't watching most of that time so all I really know about Nash is him being with Tess/Jess and, of course, that he made for a hilarious corpse.

Did he have friends, other love interests, a place in the community besides that relationship?  I feel like you, @jsbt, talked about them maybe trying to put him with Sarah at one point?

Edited January 22, 2021 by TeeVee329

[drtslim]

B

38 minutes ago, TeeVee329 said:

I wasn't watching most of that time so all I really know about Nash is him being with Tess/Jess and, of course, that he made for a hilarious corpse.

Did he have friends, other love interests, a place in the community besides that relationship?  I feel like you, @jsbt, talked about them maybe trying to put him with Sarah at one point?

Nash and Tess had a nice love story; so we understood when he tried to keep her sick (despite it being stupid and awful).  The storyline where he pursued Jessica relentlessly despite her marriage and their resulting affair did not do them any favors; and they were soon backburnered after they got together.  They could be extremely smug together as a couple; but I liked the Lucy/Ricky Ricardo dynamic that they developed later on.  They tied in his winery with the BE Takeover at the end.

He never had a real love interest outside of Mess.  They brought in Claudia, a former mark (poor little rich girl that he used for money).  She was determined to win him back; and I think that Nash had a drunken ONS with her after Jess married Antonio.  She left after a couple of months.  

Jessica set him up on a date with Layla while she was married to Antonio; and they developed a nice friendship.

The brief flirtation with Sarah happened during the writers' strike; but it was quickly dropped when RC and company returned.

I can kind of see where FM was coming from re: the Jared character; but I think that they served very different purposes on the canvas.  I do think that there may have been a plan to put Jared with Mess; but he worked so well with Natalie.  I think that it's more valid to say that Jared was sacrificed for John (since his pairing with Marty was a flop; and the network wanted to go back to Jolie) than Jared taking Nash's place on the canvas.

Edited January 22, 2021 by drtslim

[UYI]

4 hours ago, jsbt said:

Forbes had chemistry with Bree, but he was one of many cases of a former model-turned-actor who was terrible in their early work (as Scott on AMC in the late 90s, with Rebecca Budig) only to return as a hammy overactor in later years. He was more bluster than talent, and Nash wore thin for me quickly especially given how he treated Jessica's mental illness. The funeral, of course, was Bree's best work. But it wasn't enough for me to ever consider her a close successor to Erin Torpey.

And I know you and I have both probably said this about a billion times each, but it bears repeating: This show wouldn't have let even HALF of what happened to Jessica under Bree happen to her with Erin in the role. Yes, they made Mitch her father right before she left (and I do believe Erin when she says that she left because she had simply reached the age where she had grown up/outgrown the show and had to move on--and that Erika Slezak was crucial in encouraging her to do so while she was still young and could try new things--but what they did to Jess' paternity in her final year and a half or so on the show probably made it THAT much easier for her to walk away), but even that wasn't anywhere NEAR as bad as everything that came later on.

I have often wondered if Erin ever found out about all of the retcons to Jess' childhood later on--if she did, it must have felt like a GIANT slap in the face to her time on the show. 

Edited January 22, 2021 by UYI

[jsbt]

15 hours ago, TeeVee329 said:

Did he have friends, other love interests, a place in the community besides that relationship?  I feel like you, @jsbt, talked about them maybe trying to put him with Sarah at one point?

That was a writer's strike thing with Gary Tomlin; they flirted while she was working for his business, I believe, which was set to collapse due to Dorian's machinations within months. I thought it was potentially interesting because ultimately, both Nash and Sarah were very immature adults, stunted in their development. They were party people, his wife Jessica wasn't (and was increasingly annoyed by his time spent with her little cousin), and it showed. That's the kind of IRL family tension that can happen or can lead to affairs with other people; you'd have seen it play out on another soap, or a British show. But it didn't here, probably because neither performer was particularly fascinating. I do think they maybe kissed once; I can't remember for sure.

Nash had had a forced friendship with Antonio not long after Antonio and Jessica married; it was designed to increase the angst and guilt when Nash and Jessica embarked on a full blown affair behind Antonio's back. I don't remember too many other close relationships offhand. I do remember Jerry's Clint (improbably, IMO) loved him.

I think Jared was largely a Ron creation - I know they delayed John Brotherton's start date during the headwriter handover - and I think Ron always intended him for Natalie. The story there was too well crafted. I think the Tess/Jess angst was just plot.

[TeeVee329]

3 hours ago, jsbt said:

I do remember Jerry's Clint (improbably, IMO) loved him.

Oh Clint, no!

I will say that Jared probably benefited from having story/drama with Charlie as well versus just with Natalie.

[Melgaypet]

I loved Nash's death. Not because I hated Nash, but because it was great soap. Bree W gave the best performance of her career and the whole pile-up of Jared & Natalie Exposed/Dorian Takes BE/Nash Dies had the potential to drive story for years. Potential that was squandered with Tesscapades, yes, but still.

I think Clint mostly liked Nash as an alternative to Antonio, really, but that might be me projecting. I found it much more implausible that he was rapturous about Jared after his death.

[jsbt]

The whole thing with Nash's death and the BE takeover was a great event, and one of the last great ones on OLTL. Ron squandered it immediately, unfortunately. But we've all been over that many times.

[Guest]

On 1/21/2021 at 10:23 PM, drtslim said:

I think that it's more valid to say that Jared was sacrificed for John (since his pairing with Marty was a flop; and the network wanted to go back to Jolie) than Jared taking Nash's place on the canvas.

Ugh, yes. Still SO MAD about this painfully obvious move. Watching Natalie and John move inevitably closer after Jared's death was so demoralizing.

[Melgaypet]

Question for @UYI, who is the Holden/Medina expert: did Gabrielle have a career? I remember her blackmailing Todd into a job at the Sun, but that was after Asa divorced her with no settlement and Bo demanded she get a job if she was going to be his roommate. I don't remember her having a profession. Did she live on family money? Am I forgetting something? Thank you in advance!

[UYI]

3 hours ago, Melgaypet said:

Question for @UYI, who is the Holden/Medina expert: did Gabrielle have a career? I remember her blackmailing Todd into a job at the Sun, but that was after Asa divorced her with no settlement and Bo demanded she get a job if she was going to be his roommate. I don't remember her having a profession. Did she live on family money? Am I forgetting something? Thank you in advance!

Gabrielle was a fashion maven, having worked for Designs by Delila (as in Ralston, former wife of Asa and by then wife of Rafe Garretson), then in the costume department at Fraternity Row (by then Max was EP, not Bo, a fact which a lot of people seem to forget), and then eventually as the style editor at the Sun.

I don't know if there was any specific skill set involved, though, but fashion was definitely her thing (as for family money: I'm honestly not sure, all I know was that her father's side of the family were supposed to be strict Catholics...and yet her parents were separated and living on different continents until her father died, go figure). 

 

[Melgaypet]

Thanks, @UYI! I knew you'd know.

[jsbt]

OLTL circa 1975 - possibly the only episode from pre-1977 in circulation for many years other than the Kevin birth episode. A young Tom Berenger as Tim Siegel, Ellen Holly as Carla Hall, Doris Belack as Anna Wolek, George Reinholt as Tony Lord and many more.

Two more from '77, featuring Larry Wolek's wedding to the pre-Judith Light Karen as well as a pre-GH Jackie Zeman as Lana McClain, Nancy Pinkerton as the OG Dorian, a glimpse of Danny Wolek and the ill-fated Brian Kendall, and more.

Get 'em while they're hot.

Edited January 25, 2021 by jsbt

[Melgaypet]

Interesting! Here's some random thoughts:

• George Reinholt had some serious chin and also seemed like an ass.
• I kinda liked pre-crazy Cathy Craig.
• Young Tom Berenger is not as hot as Major League-era Tom Berenger.
• Poor Jenny Wolek maybe should have gone ahead and become a nun, it might have saved her a lot of trouble.
• Carla looked GLAM.
• Nancy Pinkerton looked a little too matronly for Dorian, I think it was the hair. I was baffled that Ed Hall and Cathy's doctor didn't blink an eye at Dorian inserting herself into the case.
• Who was the girl Josh Hall (who was not Laurence Fishburne at this point) was flirting with at the wedding?
• Poor Not!Bobbie. I think Brad ended up poisoning her or something.
• Claire Malis as Dorian seemed like a desperate housewife or something. Were she and Karen friends, why was she involving herself in their interior decorating decisions? To stick it to Larry? Was she really that bored?
• Young Larry is very cute.

[jsbt]

2 hours ago, Melgaypet said:

Interesting! Here's some random thoughts:

• George Reinholt had some serious chin and also seemed like an ass.
• I kinda liked pre-crazy Cathy Craig.

I thought Reinholt's Tony seemed pretty charming up to the moment he compared Cathy to a Saigon hooker and forced himself on her. Ah, the 70s.

Dorrie Kavanaugh plays Cathy in '75; Jennifer Harmon (who I knew from other stuff later on) played Cathy later. What's wild to me is that Cathy here seems vastly overSORASed IMO. She started on the show as the mousy young teen daughter of Jim Craig in '68 or '69 as played by Catherine Burns, who was nominated for an Oscar for her stunning performance in Last Summer (seriously, see it) shortly after starting on the show, and the subject of a much-hailed Hollywood Reporter story a few years ago. After Burns left they cycled through a few actresses; Cathy became a teen drug addict and did the famed location remote at the Odyssey House rehab center, etc. But then by '72 she's suddenly Dorrie Kavanaugh who looks like she's in her 30s. They re-conceived the adult Cathy as the '70s concept of a liberated feminist, which is interesting and apparently something Kavanaugh took very seriously in other work IRL. But ultimately Cathy ran through various older men - Joe on the rebound from Viki, having his daughter (who died), then Viki's dumped second husband Steve Burke (seen in the '75 ep) - and finally had her breakdowns and a tortured relationship with Tony.

Before Cathy went nuts, Agnes Nixon had wanted Robin Strasser to come on the show and take over the role from Kavanaugh, presumably to reignite the old Rachel/Steve/Alice triangle from Another World with her, George Reinholt and Jacquie Courtney - Courtney was playing Pat Kendall, Tony Lord's long-lost love, and Cathy was the third wheel involved with him. Robin supposedly wasn't interested in playing a recast at that time, so Agnes created the doomed role of Christina Karras on AMC for her, which Robin hated. When Dorian became available a few years later she jumped on it.

Young Tom Berenger is not as hot as

Major League-era Tom Berenger.

He looks ready to beat his mom up. He comes off a bit nuts, which I guess is appropriate since his first notable film role was brutally murdering Diane Keaton in the shocking finale of Looking for Mr. Goodbar a few years later.

Who was the girl Josh Hall (who was not Laurence Fishburne at this point) was flirting with at the wedding?

Samantha Vernon, later to marry Asa and then drown in a hot tub.

Jackie played Lana McClain. Her death was an accident, apparently. I always find Nancy Pinkerton's subtler, quieter Dorian so fascinating. Robin is capable of that and very talented, but she played Dorian to the rafters after she returned in 2003, IMO out of fear of losing her job again. I saw some of her Vivian fill-in gig on DOOL and I thought she did well.

[dubbel zout]

1 hour ago, jsbt said:

Jackie played Lana McClain.

I remember JZ as Lana, and then went she went to GH, I was all, "What is Lana doing at a hospital with another name?" I was young and new to soaps.

ETA: That article is fascinating and terribly sad. Thanks for the link, @jsbt.

[marypat57]

It was wonderful to see some very vintage OLTL.  I watched the show from the 1968 premiere until sometime in the late 1990s when I became disinterested with the story lines and stopped recording it.
It was great to see all of the old characters-the Woleks, Craigs, Viki and Joe, Carla Hall, among others.

Kudos to @jsbt!