The Best and Worst of One Life to Live

[brinpol]

The third Tina was messy, for sure. 

[AndySmith]

You know, it almost works...

[Panopticon]

I object on the grounds that Blair was left out while the Rapist Robert Ford made the cut. 

I guess it's a credit to the show that years after its demise I have a visceral negative reaction to seeing Starr with the Tea/Dani/Vic unit. 

But yes, the music synced surprisingly  well with the video. 

[AndySmith]

If it'll make you better, here is Kassie singing the theme song ;)

[jsbt]

There were a lot of those videos or pix outside the studio back then IIRC, especially near the very end of taping. I remember someone said poor little Austin Williams (Shane) came out crying after his last day. Today he's 20 and is apparently interning for Goldman Sachs. We're all old as fuck.

[Melgaypet]

Drunk post! So my grandpa died (the funerals tomorrow). It reminds me of Asa's death. What was the best/worst part? Jos and Zdorian? The Buke siblings? Cord? Kevin? Vicki And Dorian? Bo? Nige? Stupid fake Todd?

the saddest part was that it only lasted two days. I would have loved to have Nathan fiilion and john lop reins and Dan Gaithersburg for a whole week. Joe an Dorian could have had grief sex! And also Asa dying was the saddest. 

[jsbt]

9 hours ago, Melgaypet said:

john lop reins and Dan Gaithersburg

Hmm

(RIP your Grandpa)

Edited April 19, 2017 by jsbt

[Melgaypet]

What. That's not all drunkenness, damn you, autocorrect!

[TeeVee329]

So sorry about your grandpa, Melgaypet.

The one little thing I remember is Viki, Kevin, and Joey all going to Joe Riley's grave.

[Melgaypet]

Thank you, jsbt and TeeVee.

[boes]

Oh, Melgaypet, my sympathies.  It's tough and I'm sorry for what you're going through.

[UYI]

On 4/18/2017 at 8:07 PM, Melgaypet said:

Drunk post! So my grandpa died (the funerals tomorrow). It reminds me of Asa's death. What was the best/worst part? Jos and Zdorian? The Buke siblings? Cord? Kevin? Vicki And Dorian? Bo? Nige? Stupid fake Todd?

the saddest part was that it only lasted two days. I would have loved to have Nathan fiilion and john lop reins and Dan Gaithersburg for a whole week. Joe an Dorian could have had grief sex! And also Asa dying was the saddest. 

I am so sorry for your loss!

But the best part was clearly Max returning for the last time (only three days, but I treasured seeing him again like you wouldn't believe!), and it been revealed in his all-too brief conversation with Cord that he now lives in Gabrielle's home country of Argentina, and not the Mystical Cornpone Bitch's home state of North Carolina. DUH. SO obvious, my friend. ;)

And the worst part was Max mauling on Blair and trying to get her to move to Argentina with him, because the DePaivas being married meant we just HAD to have a brief but still gross reminder of Max & Blair. BLECH. 

Edited April 20, 2017 by UYI

[AndySmith]

Condolences about your grandfather...

...I liked Max & Blair...

[TeeVee329]

3 hours ago, UYI said:

But the best part was clearly Max returning for the last time (only three days, but I treasured seeing him again like you wouldn't believe!), and it been revealed in his all-too brief conversation with Cord that he now lives in Gabrielle's home country of Argentina, and not the Mystical Cornpone Bitch's home state of North Carolina. DUH. SO obvious, my friend. ;)

I didn't really understand that.  I mean, I get that the show was tipping its hat to his romance with Gabrielle, but why would he move his children from the home they'd known most of their lives (they were living with relatives of Luna's, right?) to a foreign country?  It's not like Gabrielle was their mother.  I dunno, I get the sentiment, but they got there in a weird way, IMO.

[UYI]

1 hour ago, TeeVee329 said:

I didn't really understand that.  I mean, I get that the show was tipping its hat to his romance with Gabrielle, but why would he move his children from the home they'd known most of their lives (they were living with relatives of Luna's, right?) to a foreign country?  It's not like Gabrielle was their mother.  I dunno, I get the sentiment, but they got there in a weird way, IMO.

Al was buried in Argentina too, so I could see him wanting to be there with both Al and Gabrielle. 

Logistically speaking, I guess it made more sense for Frank and Leslie to still be in North Carolina with Luna's relatives, and that IS where he went to live in 2003, but after Gabrielle's death went by with no mention of Max or how he was coping (which was inexcusable, IMO), this brief throwaway line meant the world to me--and yes, warmed the cockles of my Luna-hating heart. It is what it is.

Edited April 20, 2017 by UYI

[Melgaypet]

Thanks for the kind words, you guys.

 I like the idea of Max living in Argentina. It feels romantic to me, not just the Gabrielle connection, but the locale. (Disclaimer: I know pretty much nothing about Argentina.) South Carolina just doesn't have the same panache.

[UYI]

Luna was actually from North Carolina (as was Susan Batten and Michael Malone). She also lived in Memphis for awhile because she darkened the streets, er, came to Llanview (Via parachute, because she is JUST SO CHARMING. ICK.)

[AndySmith]

Unpopular opinion, but...I didn't hate Luna. And there were many times where I liked her, actually.

[UYI]

I honestly think whether or not you like Luna is more a polarizing opinion than an unpopular one. It's pretty evenly divided between the two.

I DID think for a long time I was in the minority (the way Gary Warner kissed her and the Max & Luna's pairings asses in his 30th anniversary book--BARF), but eventually I started to see more Luna haters pop up.

So...yeah, you're still in good company, and so am I. 

[AndySmith]

Good to know I'm not sitting alone at the table then lol

[TeeVee329]

Luna did ensure that Ford's death at the glorious, gilded hands of Chandy stuck.  So that's one point in her favor.

Edited April 21, 2017 by TeeVee329

[dubbel zout]

That alone makes her entire tenure on the show worth it.

[UYI]

7 hours ago, TeeVee329 said:

Luna did ensure that Ford's death at the glorious, gilded hands of Chandy stuck.  So that's one point in her favor.

...

That wasn't fair.

-_-

:P 

[Melgaypet]

20 hours ago, UYI said:

Luna was actually from North Carolina...

Er, right. That's what I meant. ;) 

Brett Claywell is from North Carolina as well. 

Did Malone have a Chicago connection, too?Plenty of his characters come from there. The Gannons, Nora, Todd.

[UYI]

Sorry, I know I talk about my Max and Gabrielle love (and my Luna hate) too much. I'll dial it back. :)

1 hour ago, Melgaypet said:

Did Malone have a Chicago connection, too?Plenty of his characters come from there. The Gannons, Nora, Todd.

Not that I know of. I suppose he could, though. 

[AndySmith]

Quote

Did Malone have a Chicago connection, too?Plenty of his characters come from there. The Gannons, Nora, Todd.

Chicago to me is the writer's default city for most TV, not just soaps, when they want their characters to come from a major urban area that isn't on the east or west coast of the US...

[TeeVee329]

16 hours ago, UYI said:

...

That wasn't fair.

-_-

:P 

Lol.  

What's not fair is that Ford even got to stumble into heaven from hell and make a case for his redemption to Luna.  Fuck that noise.  

[Melgaypet]

But, TeeVee, he changed for HISSON! Ryder's trust fund was all he cared about! How could he fail to enter the pearly gates!?

Ew, he was the worst. Viva Chandy!

[dubbel zout]

He punched a nun and laughed about it. That should be enough to send him to hell.

[AndySmith]

Quote

I know I talk about my Max and Gabrielle love

Now that is something you don't have to dial back. Ever. ;)

[TeeVee329]

2 hours ago, Melgaypet said:

But, TeeVee, he changed for HISSON!

UGH, that infuriated me, that that was his argument that he didn't belong in hell.  Meanwhile, he did a lot of vile shit after finding out Ryder was his son, like mercilessly badgering a momentarily lucid Jessica until she turned back into Tess and, as dubbel zout noted, ASSAULTING A NUN!

Fuckin' Ford.

[boes]

3 hours ago, Melgaypet said:

But, TeeVee, he changed for HISSON! Ryder's trust fund was all he cared about! How could he fail to enter the pearly gates!?

Ew, he was the worst. Viva Chandy!

 

2 hours ago, dubbel zout said:

He punched a nun and laughed about it. That should be enough to send him to hell.

 

7 minutes ago, TeeVee329 said:

UGH, that infuriated me, that that was his argument that he didn't belong in hell.  Meanwhile, he did a lot of vile shit after finding out Ryder was his son, like mercilessly badgering a momentarily lucid Jessica until she turned back into Tess and, as dubbel zout noted, ASSAULTING A NUN!

Fuckin' Ford.

The worst, now and forever.  Hell, I would have rooted for Rex over him....

[Melgaypet]

Okay. So Kevin and Kelly are somehow both a Best and a Worst. The overall story was terrible and infuriating and we all know what atrocity this leads to. But this scene? Dynamite. Dan Gauthier and Heather Tom, man. (Also, Kevin is 100% right.)

[dubbel zout]

7 hours ago, Melgaypet said:

(Also, Kevin is 100% right.)

And he's very sorry about that.

[Melgaypet]

Moving to the appropriate thread:

Know what else is super-cute? Cristian and Natalie! I was WAY into them. I fell down a YouTube hole yesterday and one of the clips I was looking for was the scene where they admit to each other that they're in love. I found it, but I like this scene, from a little before that, even better:

Edited May 20, 2017 by Melgaypet

[TeeVee329]

I am legit stunned that conversation did not take place at the quarry.

Edited May 20, 2017 by TeeVee329

[boes]

2 hours ago, Melgaypet said:

Moving to the appropriate thread:

Know what else is super-cute? Cristian and Natalie! I was WAY into them. I fell down a YouTube hole yesterday and one of the clips I was looking for was the scene where they admit to each other that they're in love. I found it, but I like this scene, from a little before that, even better:

 

The resemblance between her and Dan Gauthier is amazing, no snark.  

[eXiled]

I loved when Dan G's Kevin was paired with Heather Tom's Kelly. She spent her entire storyline at the very edge of a nervous breakdown and I loved it! Her desperation was palpable. She even considered sleeping with VictoTodd, who she despised, to keep her many secrets.

I know Gina T originated (and ended) the role, but when I think of Kelly Cramer, it's always Heather Tom's face I see (usually crying in desperation as she desperately tries to keep Kevin from finding out about her desperate scheming).

[BBHN]

Kelly for me will always be Gina T, as she originally was when she came on. Kooky, eccentric, but essentially good hearted. Annoying but somehow charming at the same time. Well, when she wasn't going after her aunt's sloppy seconds (Joey and David).

[eXiled]

Ha ha. When I think of the beautiful, talented Gina T, she's always Dinah Marler in my head (but that's another thread).

Goodness, do I miss these soaps. :-( 

I've lost many, but I mourn One Life to Live, Guiding Light and Another World the most.

Edited May 21, 2017 by eXiled
most ain't lost :-)

[Melgaypet]

Whereas I will always prefer Heather Tom. Gina Tognini may be a good actress - I keep hearing that she was spectacular as Dinah but I never watched that show - but after a certain point, her Kelly stopped being that kooky, insecure girl and became smug and cold. I'm not sure where that point was for me - maybe after Nathan Fillion left, maybe after Brendan died and somehow Blair became the villain which wasn't Gina's fault but really didn't help me like Kelly, maybe when she started sleeping with Max. I don't know. I do know I never cared about Kelly for herself, as opposed to how she affected other characters I did care about, until Heather Tom. There was an honesty to her performance that I never felt from Gina, even with some very, very bad writing. The character never recovered from the Sonfucking, but Heather made me feel for Kelly even when she was a complete hot mess and I also wanted to strangle her. Which was a lot of the time.

[eXiled]

Melgaypet, for me, Gina's Kelly changed -- and not for the better. I don't know if it was the writing or changes that Gina decided to make, but Kelly Cramer became hardened . . . that's the word to keeps coming to mind. I tuned out for a couple of years in the late 90s.

When I began watching again, she's this newspaper magnet, running The Sun. Instead of being a walking fashion disaster, she wore straight-laced pant suits and button down shirts. Where in her early days she hung on Blair's every word, she was suddenly disciplining and chastising Blair about her life choices.

I no longer recognized the bright-eyed convent girl who just wanted to have fun. She became this hard-nosed chick who only wanted to marry a Buchanan (ANY Buchanan) no matter what it cost.

Like you, I never cared about Kelly as a character of her own outside of what she brought to Blair, Dorian or even Viki's stories. It was only Heather Tom's Kelly that made me laugh and hide behind my hands in horror in spite of myself. THAT Kelly, while a hot mess, made me care. I wanted to know what THAT Kelly would do next. I wanted her to win, despite of the fires she kept starting. The only time I rooted against her is when she stepped to Blair. Then, and only then, did I enjoy watching Heather's Kelly get whipped.

Edited May 21, 2017 by eXiled
worst/worse got me down. Torpedoed both to be safe.

[TeeVee329]

You guys, how could you forget the clear choice for best Kelly - Tracy Melchior! #sarcasm

Edited May 22, 2017 by TeeVee329

[Melgaypet]

You know who Tracy Melchior will always be to me? The perfect, plastic magazine model that Angela Chase imagines in the mirror in an episode of My So-Called Life. "I never have to go to the bathroom, ever!"

She was a terrible Kelly. I suppose she continued to be the cold, selfish Kelly that GT had became before she left, but she couldn't connect with anyone. Look at Dan Gauthier (love!) doing all the work there.

[UYI]

20 hours ago, TeeVee329 said:

You guys, how could you forget the clear choice for best Kelly - Tracy Melchior! #sarcasm

 

I thought she and TW chemistry. Really. *runs*

One thing I love about GT is the rapport between her Kelly and ET's Jessica. It probably helps they were very close in real life (and still are to this day--weirdly enough, they also have a close friendship--or at least did--with Darlene Vogel, who played Melanie; I guess her presence benefited someone!).

[TeeVee329]

Funnily enough, that clip of Kelly telling Jessica she was leaving was my only experience with Gina Tognoni Kelly before her 2010 return.  But now, I can't really buy Jessica and Kelly being close friends, not after all the bopping between her brothers she's done.

Speaking of bopping between brothers, here's her rejecting Kevin's proposal in 2010.  Poor Kevin.  And poor us, it's a shame we didn't get more of these two together because they had chemistry, more than GT did with most of the "men" she got thrown at during that stint.

[boes]

5 hours ago, TeeVee329 said:

Funnily enough, that clip of Kelly telling Jessica she was leaving was my only experience with Gina Tognoni Kelly before her 2010 return.  But now, I can't really buy Jessica and Kelly being close friends, not after all the bopping between her brothers she's done.

Speaking of bopping between brothers, here's her rejecting Kevin's proposal in 2010.  Poor Kevin.  And poor us, it's a shame we didn't get more of these two together because they had chemistry, more than GT did with most of the "men" she got thrown at during that stint.

So good....feels like a missed opportunity.  I miss this show.  When it was good, it was superb.o

[Apprentice79]

14 hours ago, UYI said:

I thought she and TW chemistry. Really. *runs*

One thing I love about GT is the rapport between her Kelly and ET's Jessica. It probably helps they were very close in real life (and still are to this day--weirdly enough, they also have a close friendship--or at least did--with Darlene Vogel, who played Melanie; I guess her presence benefited someone!).

 

I loved Erin Torpey as Jessica. She was a good actress and so believable as Clint and Viki's daughter.   I hated what that bitch Dena Higley did to her character with that retcon about her being sexually abused due to Niki's negligence which gave us that Bess/Tess/Ress mess.  I hated that Jessica's character took another hit with the retcon of Natalie being her twin. I never warmed to Natalie because of that. Natalie did not have to be a Buchanan to become a part of Viki's family.  This was the era that began my disillusionment with the show. When you retcon every single thing of a show's history, you will lose the audience. 

[BBHN]

I also really liked the relationship between Jessica and Marty. Well, in the 90s, anyway.

[UYI]

I have to say, that while she and MA may not have gotten along that well (not that any of us know for sure), I've never believed that that or even necessarily how the character of Jessica during her last year or so on the show was the reason why she left. Remember, she had been on the show since she was 9 years old--all of her teen years were spent on the show. She was nearly 22 when she left. I think it's clear she wanted to move on and do something else, and in that Jeff Giles book, she talks about how hard it was to sign another contract at 18, because she was beginning to feel the desire to leave, but knew for sure that she wouldn't sign another once she was 21, and that Erika Slezak encouraged her to go out and experience other things while she was still young and had the chance to do so. Maybe what happened with Natalie and Jessica (and Mitch) was a motivating factor, but I definitely don't think it was the primary cause. And save for the two guest appearances she made on OLTL in 2008 and 2011, she really didn't act much afterwards before retiring to focus on singing, and then on her husband and son. 

Speaking of which, I have a feeling she was the one who insisted she sing Sheryl Crow here. Erin always said she was her favorite singer in interviews.