All Episodes Talk

[UYI]

It's so weird how Claire Malis (RIP) is the "forgotten Dorian" between Nancy and Robin. To me she will always be Rose, Jo's mom on The Facts of Life. 
 

Fun fact: a pre-fame Dixie Carter (RIP) played a temp Dorian during Nancy's run; this was sometime around her Edge of Night years. 

(For that matter, a pre-fame Julia Duffy played a temp Karen Wolek, I think during the original Karen's run before Judith Light started playing her.) 

Edited January 27, 2021 by UYI

[Hiyo]

“That was always my problem with Tess”

Mine was that it felt like a cheap inferior rehash of Vicki’s own DID storyline. And don’t even get me started on the retcon that was responsible for Jessica’s DID to begin with...

[Gigi43]

On 2/6/2021 at 2:31 PM, Hiyo said:

Mine was that it felt like a cheap inferior rehash of Vicki’s own DID storyline. And don’t even get me started on the retcon that was responsible for Jessica’s DID to begin with...

 

Mine too. Also, the show/Bree liked Tess better than Jess. I think they'd have been very happy just making Tess the 'real' personality (as they did later on GH with Kate/Connie.) Bree and Kristen were in opposite situations. KA definitely liked being a sweet, nice girl, which Starr never should have become and Bree enjoyed playing the bad girl which was not Jessica. 

[dubbel zout]

Tess and Ford punched a nun and then laughed about it. Tess was garbage. There's no excuse for that.

[Melgaypet]

Instead of Tess, they should have played to Bree's strengths by making Jess darker. Not making her bad or a villain, but colder, harder-edged. It would have been a natural progression, with her experiences during the Santi debacle, to say nothing of Mitch and Haver.

How much more interesting would it have been if Jessica had been the one seeking revenge on Natalie and Jared after Nash's death? Of course, they couldn't have her going the cartoonish lengths of poisoning risotto or cutting brake lines or building a secret room, they would've had to put a little more thought into it.

[dubbel zout]

4 minutes ago, Melgaypet said:

How much more interesting would it have been if Jessica had been the one seeking revenge on Natalie and Jared after Nash's death? Of course, they couldn't have her going the cartoonish lengths of poisoning risotto or cutting brake lines or building a secret room, they would've had to put a little more thought into it.

RE: the secret room. I'll never forgive Viki and Clint insisting that Natalie forgive Jessica for that ASAP. Because it was Tess who did that, not Jessica, so Jessica isn't responsible; ergo, she needs your forgiveness, NOW. No one was tough enough on Jessica, that delicate hothouse flower. So gross. Poor Natalie.

[drtslim]

Quote

 

Instead of Tess, they should have played to Bree's strengths by making Jess darker. Not making her bad or a villain, but colder, harder-edged. It would have been a natural progression, with her experiences during the Santi debacle, to say nothing of Mitch and Haver.

How much more interesting would it have been if Jessica had been the one seeking revenge on Natalie and Jared after Nash's death? Of course, they couldn't have her going the cartoonish lengths of poisoning risotto or cutting brake lines or building a secret room, they would've had to put a little more thought into it.

 

I agree, especially during her last Tess-capade that happened when she found out about the babies' paternity test switching.  Those scenes between Jessica and Natalie at the church with Jessica coldly telling her that she no longer had a sister were so much more emotionally satisfying than anything that happened when Tess came out.  It would have been so much more interesting to see how Jessica would have handled the aftermath.  Plus, she really lost me because they kept flipping back and forth between saying that she let Tess out vs. not being able to control it depending on how it suited the writers' agenda.

[dubbel zout]

All of Jess's alters were cartoon characters.

[Gigi43]

6 hours ago, Melgaypet said:

Instead of Tess, they should have played to Bree's strengths by making Jess darker. Not making her bad or a villain, but colder, harder-edged. It would have been a natural progression, with her experiences during the Santi debacle, to say nothing of Mitch and Haver.

How much more interesting would it have been if Jessica had been the one seeking revenge on Natalie and Jared after Nash's death? Of course, they couldn't have her going the cartoonish lengths of poisoning risotto or cutting brake lines or building a secret room, they would've had to put a little more thought into it.

 

They rewrote it that it was Tess who went after Dorian post losing Megan, right? Aside from Jessica joining Dorian to make Mitch think Jessica was kidnapped when he was blind, they made Jessica dumb and unable to defend herself. It was always her alters once that started. Nothing cool came of Jessica working at The Sun, I would have liked to see her and Todd getting their hands dirty in tabloid stuff, but instead we had Todd letting Jessica's alter roam free and Jessica the doormat got over it. At the end of the series, both of her children were conceived via her alters which is ridiculous. 

[TeeVee329]

On 2/10/2021 at 5:32 PM, dubbel zout said:

Tess and Ford punched a nun and then laughed about it.

NEVER FORGET!

[Handywood38]

I only liked Jess with Brody. I had no use for Antonio, Nash, or Ford. Ford and Antonio were the worst.

I hated everything that Jessica's DID represents even in concept, and the execution just made it worse. BW was good as Tess in 2005/2006 but it went downhill since then. She was even worse as Bess and Wes (smh) but they didn't take over the show like Tess did. I really think TPTB wanted Tess to be the real character, not Jessica. And although I love Viki just fine without her alters, Niki Smith (especially the 2002 version haha) was infinitely more entertaining than Tess ever was. 

Edited February 22, 2021 by Handywood38

[UYI]

My response is up here, since I couldn't type once I moved the quote over for some reason:

It's funny, because I think the Aldersons, Kelley Missal, and Shenell Edmonds (Destiny 1.0) were the only regular teens on the show who were ACTUALLY teens in real life, because while Lenny Platt may have been quite a bit older, I think Jason Tam was around the same age, too, even if he otherwise looked younger, and then Brandon Buddy and Brittany Underwood--while not THAT far removed from their teen years at the time--were still in their early twenties compared to the others. So LP was definitely NOT the only adult in a teenage role back then, even if it was more glaring in a Original Recipe 90210/Dawson's Creek kind of way than it was for JT/BB/BU. (ETA: I actually just looked up Nic Robuck's--James--age, too; he's only a year younger than LP.) 

9 hours ago, Panopticon said:

I adored the way the Serial Drama blog used to snark on Nate being played by the token adult actor while the other teen characters were played by... teenagers. “Why is this gym teacher beating up his freshman student?” still cracks me up.

https://serialdrama.typepad.com/serial_drama/2011/03/dear-afternoon-television-program.html

Even better than the time Dani yelled “my boyfriend made a porno, OKAY?” or whatever that was.

Edited February 25, 2021 by UYI

[Panopticon]

But by the time Nate arrived, Langston-Markko-Cole had left high school and weren’t likely to be chilling with Nate. They were in young adult stories. The other characters who were supposed to be in high school, Destiny-Matthew-Dani-Jack-Shane, were played by teenagers. So Nate stuck out. 

[peachmangosteen]

2 hours ago, Panopticon said:

The other characters who were supposed to be in high school, Destiny-Matthew-Dani-Jack-Shane, were played by teenagers. So Nate stuck out. 

Yea, that's the thing. If you're gonna cast a 20-something (or 30-something in some cases lol) as a teen imo then you need to have all the other teens be around that age as well. When there's some actual teens and then a couple much older actors, it's always so jarring. 

[UYI]

4 hours ago, Panopticon said:

But by the time Nate arrived, Langston-Markko-Cole had left high school and weren’t likely to be chilling with Nate. They were in young adult stories. The other characters who were supposed to be in high school, Destiny-Matthew-Dani-Jack-Shane, were played by teenagers. So Nate stuck out. 

 

1 hour ago, peachmangosteen said:

Yea, that's the thing. If you're gonna cast a 20-something (or 30-something in some cases lol) as a teen imo then you need to have all the other teens be around that age as well. When there's some actual teens and then a couple much older actors, it's always so jarring. 

Did they all graduate before Starr? I guess so. I swear I remembered her graduating in 2011 before the show left ABC, and my memory is better than most so I'm really slipping if I'm wrong, lol. 

Anyway, sorry, I guess I remembered they're ages all wrong. And I guess I find the talk about LP ironic given NR was actually a year younger than him. I'll drop it now, lol. 

[UYI]

Switching gears for a bit:

This includes the earliest M&G stuff, all the way back in 1987. They may not be seen as a great couple on this show in the vein of Cord & Tina, Jake & Megan, Bo & Nora, or Todd & Blair--or at least, not as iconic--but they really should be, IMO.

 

[Hiyo]

They were by me 🙂

[UYI]

So this happened a little over a decade ago. If only Ryder's paternity had been settled in a more satisfactory way! -_-

 

[Pearson80]

On 2/6/2021 at 2:31 PM, Hiyo said:

“That was always my problem with Tess”

Mine was that it felt like a cheap inferior rehash of Vicki’s own DID storyline. And don’t even get me started on the retcon that was responsible for Jessica’s DID to begin with...

I hated that Tess crap, it was lazy unimaginative and it destroyed Jessica in the process. Jessica was such a special character and with lots of potential when Erin played her but she came of age when soaps no longer knew how to write for a heroine without making her self-righteous hypocrite. Rather than adding layers to her personality, they invented Tess.  Jessica going dark would have been the way to go without giving her an alter.. 

What made it even worst was that if the show wanted to give somebody an alter why not Natalie but that made too much sense in a nonsensical show. I have always thought that Natalie should have been Tony Lord's daughter and not Viki's given that we saw Jessica being born and there was no twin..  This was during the time that I was slowly disengaging from the show, disrespecting a show's history was just too much for me.

 

Edited February 26, 2021 by Pearson80

[Handywood38]

14 minutes ago, Pearson80 said:

I hated that Tess crap, it was lazy unimaginative and it destroyed Jessica in the process. Jessica was such a special character and with lots of potential when Erin played her but she came of age when soaps no longer knew how to write for a heroine without making her self-righteous hypocrite. Rather than adding layers to her personality, they invented Tess.  Jessica going dark would have been the way to go without giving her an alter.. 

What made it even worst was that if the show wanted to give somebody an alter why not Natalie but that made too much sense in a nonsensical show. I have always thought that Natalie should have been Tony Lord's daughter and not Viki's given that we saw Jessica being born and there was no twin..  This was during the time that I was slowly disengaging from the show, disrespecting a show's history was just too much for me.

 

One of the funniest stories/plots on OLTL was when Niki Smith tried to make Natalie think that she had DID. I love Natalie but I did laugh when Niki tried to make her think she has DID. 

I agree TPTB shoulda played to Bree's strengths. When Nash died, that was such a missed opportunity. Instead, they took the easy way out. It should have been Jessica, not Tess and her cartoon plots. And Tess was nowhere near as hilarious as the 2002 version of Niki Smith (although I love Viki just fine without her alters). 

I agree with the poster that said Jessica should've gotten involved with the Sun/other newspapers as revenge. That would have been way better than Tess, especially the stillbirth which was the worst part of all. 

[TeeVee329]

On 2/25/2021 at 7:11 PM, UYI said:

So this happened a little over a decade ago. If only Ryder's paternity had been settled in a more satisfactory way! -_-

 

Poor Brody, the heartbreak he'll suffer from this point forward...

This was also pretty much the end for me and ol' Marty, love of the "Superstar!" arms aside.  Her bringing up how Jessica's baby died because she gave birth alone in a cabin when Jessica is supposed to be this great friend of hers and then abandoning Natalie, even for a few minutes, was over the line for me.

Edited March 3, 2021 by TeeVee329

[UYI]

I don't have an exact date available, but this was 30 years ago this month:

"I can find my own way home."

It took ten years, but she eventually did just that, if only for a little while. <3 

 

[Hiyo]

Fiona knocked it out of the park in that scene. It was the little touches she added, like her joy when Max said she was even more beautiful then than when he first saw her, but then also her disappointment when he couldn’t admit that he still loved her. She conveyed it all without having to act big or over the top.

Also, I love the Gabrielle’s theme instrumental in the background. Quite possibly one of my favorite character theme music bits, along with Robin and Stone’s from GH.

Edited March 6, 2021 by Hiyo

[TeeVee329]

Okay, confession time.  Every time I watch Hos vs. Mos Round 2 here, I always add in my own piece of dialogue:

Kim (to Kish): I just wanted to say thank you.  Especially to you, Oliver, I know I was probably a really big bitch up on the mountain.

What Fish Says: Forget it, everybody was upset.

What I Want Fish To Say: You're always a really big bitch so I didn't really notice.

I also kinda love that Kyle immediately clocks Kim's gold diggery reasons for wanting to marry a Buchanan, which I think escape Fish's notice lol.

I also also am always curious what was cut here because we know from magazine stills (one of Fish shirtless in Kyle's bed with Kyle standing there with the DNA results (which is why Fish is kinda randomly shrugging on his shirt when Kim comes in), one of Kim in the hallway with Ghost!Stacy stealing the plant from another door) there was more.

Edited March 16, 2021 by TeeVee329

[UYI]

Ten years ago today.

This really did mark the point that an irreversible shift in daytime had occurred--with GL & ATWT before it, there wasn't anywhere NEAR the same level of surprise, or fan uproar, for that matter. In any case, I still miss this show very, VERY much.

And I firmly believe that both it & AMC were just a few years too early to find success on Hulu in 2013; if they returned today, they would fit right in this streaming landscape as we know entertainment to be now.

(And OF COURSE EW's story at the time only mentions AMC in the link, grumble, grumble, grumble.)

https://ew.com/article/2011/04/14/abc-cancels-all-my-children/

[UYI]

20 years ago today: A return, and a reunion, a decade in the making.

(Also: Happy early 61st birthday, Fiona Hutchison, she turns 61 on May 17th, this coming Monday. I really do think--my own bias aside, hee--that she may be the most criminally underrated actress in daytime history, and it has been such a joy to see her turn up on Alan Locher's virtual soap reunions over this past year, and I'm still holding out hope, perhaps in vain, for one with just her and JDP someday. A girl can dream, after all! :) )

 

[UYI]

I posted this in the GH thread, but I had to post it here, too. Her reign of terror at OLTL was relatively short, but some ramifications certainly remained (mainly Bo & Nora's breakup--I'd love to lay it completely at her feet, but you would think the show would have started the road to their reunion the moment she left, and yet--they didn't, it took eight more years for that to happen).

 

[wanderingstar]

Slate's Decoder Ring podcast has an episode on the Marty Saybrooke rape storyline. The episode is called The Soap Opera Machine.

Episode description: 

On this episode, we investigate the wild world of soap operas through the lens of one legendary, decadeslong, ripped-from-the-headlines storyline. The rape of One Life to Live’s Marty Saybrooke* dared to combine the melodrama of soaps with a serious examination of sexual assault, and over time it morphed from an award-winning story about believing victims into a redemption arc for the rapist at its heart. This is the story of the people who made it happen: the producers, actors, writers, and the soap opera machine itself, the perpetually moving, forever-churning, complex system that creates the miracle that is the daily soap opera.

Some of the voices you’ll hear in this episode include One Life to Live producers and writers Linda Gottlieb, Susan Bedsow-Horgan, Michael Malone, Jean Passanante, and actors Roger Howarth and Susan Haskell-Kaye. We’d also like to give a special thanks to Mara Levinsky, Hillary B. Smith, and Kassie DePaiva for their help this episode

Edited June 16, 2021 by Gillian Rosh

[TeeVee329]

12 hours ago, Gillian Rosh said:

The rape of One Life to Live’s Marty Saybrooke* dared to combine the melodrama of soaps with a serious examination of sexual assault, and over time it morphed from an award-winning story about believing victims into a redemption arc for the rapist at its heart. 

Having not listened, I'm curious how deep they get into this, not only the redemption of Todd, but how he became the show's primary male romantic lead.

[UYI]

Susan's Emmy speech and reel for the Spring Fling story.

 

[wanderingstar]

7 hours ago, TeeVee329 said:

Having not listened, I'm curious how deep they get into this, not only the redemption of Todd, but how he became the show's primary male romantic lead.

They cover this and more - including Roger Howarth's discomfort with Todd becoming a romantic lead of the show.

[Hiyo]

Fans were screaming “Rape me Todd!” at him at certain soap events. In a genuine way. He definitely did not enjoy it.

Edited June 16, 2021 by Hiyo

[dubbel zout]

Fans yelled that at Tony Geary, too. 

[TeeVee329]

On 6/16/2021 at 5:47 PM, Gillian Rosh said:

They cover this and more - including Roger Howarth's discomfort with Todd becoming a romantic lead of the show.

Very intrigued that they get into all that, I'll have to make some time to listen.

Edited June 19, 2021 by TeeVee329

[Gigi43]

I finally gave that Slate podcast a listen. In a way they fell into the trap too because they talked to Roger more than Susan. I mean I get it, it was his character they talked about blowing up to a lead but they touched on the VicTodd/Marty relationship at the end and did mention that fans were horrified. They played the clip of RH's return when Todd said "It didn't occur to you I wouldn't do that?" to make it right with the fans and I would have loved to hear Susan uncensored about how she really felt about the "rapemance" when it happened in 2008. 

 

If you didn't watch OLTL it's a batty listen since the list of storylines Todd went on to have was something like "he was a millionaire, he had two popular pairings (meh to T&T) and even had a story where he talked to a parrot" and they also later played a clip of CIA for UnWed Mothers Program when they went on to explain how RH came back. I was like, "oh no,  non OLTL viewers probably won't know we were laughing at the CIA idea" and the parrot does sound so random.

 

RH made several references to "well I took the money at the end of the day" as if he thinks it doesn't give him much moral high ground to judge the idea of redeeming Todd since he made his living off it and he also said he spent everything he made off of Todd in the 90s. The host of the podcast pointed out Luke and Laura was the starting point to the idea of redeeming rapists and making rape into a love story.

 

On top of "Rape me Todd" stories, which I already knew about apparently RH got it in both directions, he also told a story of being out with his baby son in Manhattan and a woman said to him right there in public, in front of his baby, "Todd, why do you think it's okay to rape people?" That had to be really fucking weird, too. 

[UYI]

5 hours ago, Gigi43 said:

 

The host of the podcast pointed out Luke and Laura was the starting point to the idea of redeeming rapists and making rape into a love story.

 

 

When Michael Malone was considering pairing Todd & Marty up back around 1995 (which Roger & Susan both refused to do; it lead to Roger quitting the show the first time around), he tried to use L&L's story as a way to sell it, which...doesn't work here, to put it mildly (and even acknowledging the obvious that what Todd did was lead a brutal gang rape on Marty, which is NOT what happened with L&L, she wasn't even his first victim; it came out during the trial that he had raped another co-ed, Carol Swift, before Marty; that was part of the turning point which led Nora to deliberately throw the case and cause a mistrial).

Edited July 11, 2021 by UYI

[jsbt]

On 7/10/2021 at 2:55 PM, Gigi43 said:

I would have loved to hear Susan uncensored about how she really felt about the "rapemance" when it happened in 2008. 

Susan apparently declined to be interviewed for the OLTL oral history book, but not before it came out that when she left the second time she allegedly sat her castmates down and said she'd never been treated so poorly in her entire career. I believe that's why Thorsten Kaye declined to cameo for a day as Patrick at the end of her storyline, which nonsensically ended with the psychotic Marty being reunited with the long-dead and magically resurrected Patrick just offscreen. He was pissed about how FV and RC handled her. There were also rumors that they'd originally hoped Howarth would return in '08 during the 'rapemance' (therefore making it okay or something for TSJ's Todd to romance her, because he wasn't her rapist, maybe?). I would love to hear her side of those years.

They did drop a mention of Marty a year or two ago on GH when Nora stopped by to defend Kevin. She said Marty had told her Kevin was a friend, and indicated that "Dr. Saybrooke" was doing fine. I'm glad Marty came through okay. I blame her horrible final storyline on the tattoo people. They did it to Clint too!

[wanderingstar]

Quote

If you didn't watch OLTL it's a batty listen

I wasn't watching OLTL at the end, but I'd watched it during the 90's so I was definitely rolling my eyes at some of Todd's storylines. Of course, as a soap fan for 30+ years, shitty and bonkers storylines are kinda par for the course.

Edited July 14, 2021 by Gillian Rosh

[jsbt]

This podcast also seems to confirm the rumor I heard years ago - that Roger left in 2003 bc he heard about Malone's planned "Rashomon" rape story with Todd and Blair which later played out with TSJ at the end of that year. I think the podcast got its wires crossed when that gets mentioned, confusing it re: the prior abortive plans for Todd/Marty in the '90s.

I grew up watching and admittedly loving a lot of Todd's story as he found some small measure of redemption, but given what it led to over time in the 2000s and then gave daytime license to do with other similar characters - to say nothing of the mirroring of our culture at large - I have to wonder today if it wouldn't have just been easier to pull a Kevin Collins/Ryan Chamberlain from GH on Roger and have him show up as Todd's twin brother or cousin in 1993 instead. It worked for Jon Lindstrom.

[Melgaypet]

On 7/20/2021 at 2:21 PM, jsbt said:

I grew up watching and admittedly loving a lot of Todd's story as he found some small measure of redemption, but given what it led to over time in the 2000s and then gave daytime license to do with other similar characters - to say nothing of the mirroring of our culture at large - I have to wonder today if it wouldn't have just been easier to pull a Kevin Collins/Ryan Chamberlain from GH on Roger and have him show up as Todd's twin brother or cousin in 1993 instead. It worked for Jon Lindstrom.

Easier, and given all the factors you mention, arguably more responsible, but it would be a loss. I don't know if you could call what OLTL accomplished with Todd Manning in the 90s unique, exactly - quasi-redeemed rapists were not new, there were your Luke Spencers and Roger Thorpes and Jack Deverauxes- but it felt unique to me. At the time, and looking back now. I do believe that such a story couldn't and shouldn't work today.

Although you're reminded me of how often I've whined that GH should've pulled a Lindstrom with Kathleen Gati.

ETA: I got so interested in responding to @jsbt's comment that I forget what I came here to post!

On OLTL 2.0, did we get confirmation that the Triskelion organization that was effing with Todd, Victor, Clint, et al and the drug cartel that was moving into Shelter and included Paolo Seganti were one and the same? I plan to do a re-watch soonish, but I wondered if anyone remembered offhand.

Edited July 22, 2021 by Melgaypet

[peachmangosteen]

3 hours ago, Melgaypet said:

On OLTL 2.0, did we get confirmation that the Triskelion organization that was effing with Todd, Victor, Clint, et al and the drug cartel that was moving into Shelter and included Paolo Seganti were one and the same? I plan to do a re-watch soonish, but I wondered if anyone remembered offhand.

Where are you rewatching?

[Melgaypet]

1 minute ago, peachmangosteen said:

Where are you rewatching?

From the beginning of the online revival.

Actually, I already rewatched the first episode and now you've given me an excuse to talk about my impressions! In no particular order:

• Good move opening on Viki and The Banner
• This scene between Dani and Tea was really, really good.
• Jeffrey's introduction was ever-so-slightly sinister, coming as it did immediately after a scene of Victor fleeing his captors. Hindsight or foreshadowing?
• Look at all the extras outside Shelter! That's more people than you generally see at a soap wedding these days.
• Natalie is hot. And water is wet, but still, I notice!
• For whatever reason, the fact that we're re-introduced to Bo as he bellows in outrage is hilarious to me this time around.
• Natalie being all melancholy after her evening out touches me. Don't worry, Nat, sexy Cutter times are coming.
• High Dani is hilarious. Kelley Missal was so, so good in this revival, I'm sad that I never hear about her anymore.
• Laura Harrier sure was pretty. As for her acting...she sure was pretty.
• I remember finding the whole frenetic club scene off-putting the first time around, but it really works for me now. Not because I'm into that sort of thing myself - I'm an even older, crankier hermit today - but because that aesthetic really fits this episode. Especially ending with Dani's OD and Victor's reveal. (Also I know they calm down with that as they go on.)
• The show holds up.

[peachmangosteen]

I mean, like what site? Or is it an illegal thing lol? I'm annoyed they don't still have them up on hulu.

[jsbt]

Most if not all of both AMC and OLTL 2013 were all up on YouTube, but I don't know if they still are. I should've bought them when I had the chance; I'll have to torrent them someday, if a torrent exists.

There was never a confirmed link between the drugs, the Triskelion cartel and Seganti's character, but I would assume it existed. If the show came back today I'd have Dani return from Europe after years away with a dark past behind her, and possibly the mysterious death of Bandini. References to the PP run would be scarce because many folks never watched it, but you could easily re-use the same young set as older twentysomethings and it doesn't take much background knowledge of the 2013 show to simply tell the audience that Danielle ran away with an older man.

[Melgaypet]

6 minutes ago, peachmangosteen said:

I mean, like what site? Or is it an illegal thing lol? I'm annoyed they don't still have them up on hulu.

Oh! Gotcha. They're still up on Youtube. I found a playlist that appears to have all the episodes.

 

[peachmangosteen]

Thank you!

[TeeVee329]

3 hours ago, Melgaypet said:

Kelley Missal was so, so good in this revival, I'm sad that I never hear about her anymore.

I was astonished how much I liked Dani in the reboot, given I found her a non-entity if not irritating the last year or so on ABC.  But she was great, and the writing for Dani - as a spikey heroine who finally wasn't just a photocopy of Starr - was spot-on.  

I just mentioned this in the GH thread, but PP OLTL did the best job any soap has in years with its teens/college kids set with Dani/Matthew/Destiny/Jeffrey.

[jsbt]

I think Kelley still acts, but not much it seems. It's amazing to me no one's hired her in daytime. She was a force of nature on the show, to me the last to take on the sort of fiery heroine/antiheroine mantle passed down from Judith Light, Andrea Evans/Fiona Hutchison, Susan Haskell and Melissa Archer.

[UYI]

To continue the earlier discussion regarding the gang rape storyline, here is Hillary B. Smith's Emmy speech/reel for Outstanding Lead Actress in 1994.

Two interesting pieces of trivia to note here:

1. One of Hillary's competitors for this award? Former/future OLTL star--and Hillary's future co-star, of course--Fiona Hutchison, who scored her only nomination that year for her role as Jenna Bradshaw on Guiding Light.

2. This is one of the few years prior to her win in 1999 where Susan Lucci was NOT nominated in the Lead Actress category.

 

[UYI]

Speaking of Susan Lucci:

Erika Slezak won six Emmys for her role as Viki. 1996, however, was perhaps the most competitive, and infamous, it ever got between her and SuLu: Susan was up for Erica's drug addiction story, while Erika was up for Viki's split into multiple alters/finding out that she was the one who killed her father. This clip doesn't include every other nominee, but Susan's nomination was announced RIGHT before Erika's, with Susan getting a HUGE response from the audience. Makes sense, right?

Except: PEOPLE WERE CHANTING "LUCCI" THROUGHOUT ERIKA'S CLIP, only quieting down once the final nominee (Y&R's Jess Walton) was announced, and then starting up again when Erika wound up winning (and I think you can hear some booing during her speech, too). I realize that the vast majority of Erika's Emmy wins came at Susan Lucci's expense (including the year before, since Erika had also won in 1995--I think her only win that wasn't against Susan was her final one, in 2005; Susan's final nomination was in 2002), but still--that kind of behavior, especially since it ONLY happened when Erika was the one being acknowledged, is pretty fucking gross, not to mention straight up rude. You don't do things like that, period.

Once again, this only has ES' nomination announcement, speech, and reel, not any of the other nominee announcements, but still.