[My friend, LuAnne Cobb, spent a weekend, going to the AMC & OLTL studios in New York City (Nov. 20) as well as attending a fan event in Staten Island (Nov. 21). Here's her recap and photos.]
By LuAnne
My friend Linda, who I met at Super Soap Weekend a few years ago, picked me up at Newark Airport. We immediately hopped on a train into NYC and then took a cab over to the All My Children studios in hopes of seeing a few soap stars.
We saw Melissa Claire Egan (Annie) and David Canary (Adam) from a distance. After David went in, one of my favorite veterans came out with a beautiful bouquet of roses – it was Julia Barr, who played Brooke English for many years. Julia told us she was there to film scenes for the AMC 40th Anniversary Special. She graciously stopped for a quick picture, and then went on her way.
Next we saw both Chrishell Stause (Amanda) and Ricky Paull Goldin (Jake). They stopped briefly to talk to us and signed some pictures. Chrishell was absolutely beautiful, and Ricky was looking pretty good too!
Linda and I then decided to walk over to the One Life To Live studios. We stayed for awhile, and finally were rewarded when down the street came Brian Kerwin, who plays Charlie. Brian stayed to talk and take pictures for about 10 minutes. He was so pleasant, and seemed genuinely happy to talk to us. It was a good day in NYC!
The next day, Linda drove us to the Uncle Vinnie’s Comedy Club in Staten Island for an AMC Fan Event.
Four of the nicest and most attractive men from AMC then walked on stage: Vincent Irizarry (Dr. David), Michael E. Knight (Tad) , Darnell Williams (Jesse) and Ricky Paull Goldin (Jake) were welcomed with thunderous applause, screams and whistles. It was awesome to see them 10 feet away!
The first part of the event was a question and answer session. The fans asked about many things, including the upcoming move to Los Angeles.
Vincent said that he would be commuting, at least for the rest of the school year so that his children can stay in their current schools. Michael and Ricky said they were moving to L.A. and Darnell said he was going, but he’s lived in NYC all his life and it would be hard to leave the city.
We found out that Jill Larson (Opal), who is a recurring player, was also moving. The fans were in agreement that the cast should come back to NYC for fan events. The guys answered questions for over an hour, then took a short break before meeting with the VIP fans.
All four of the actors took seats at long tables, and we were able to speak to each of them for a few minutes and get our pictures taken with them. Michael took the most time with the fans, even though he was sick. But they all seemed happy to be there and gave the fans what we came for – a great time!
By Michele
There were so many people speaking the truth about Sonny Tuesday, my head was spinning….in a good way!
Maurice Benard as Sonny ABC/Adam Larkey
Lulu is two-for-two on telling it like it is and giving some serious whoop-ass in the past two weeks.
She really let loose on Elizabeth and Nikolas two weeks ago, after finding out they were sleeping around together behind Lucky’s back. She gave a particularly stinging tongue-lashing to Liz (with the whole world cheering).
On Tuesday’s eppy, Julie Marie Berman, once again, gave an incredibly strong performance – first unleashing on Jason and then turning her full vengeance on Sonny.
It was so great to hear Lulu threatening Jason!
Lulu told Jason that if Dominic Pirelli aka Dante Falconeri (Dominic Zamprogna) was dead, then she was going to the police and tell them everything she knew about the Corinthos organization.
“If Dominic is dead, I hope you and Sonny burn in hell!” Lulu told Jason.
Then, when Lulu got to the hosptal, she went after Sonny, calling him a “bastard,” “a rotten pig” and telling him that she hopes he rots in hell!
And in the out-of-the-mouths-of-babes department….how about Christina and Morgan??
Did they speak the truth or what?
Christina (Lexi Ainsworth) said that Sonny (Maurice Benard) ruins everything and they can’t even enjoy a christening without something bad happening.
She then proceeds to inform them that Sonny shot a cop – murder with special circumstances.
“I hope dad goes to prison for life,” she said.
Morgan (Aaron Refvem) agreed with his sister and felt only concern for Dominic.
“If dad did it, he’s like a murderer,” Morgan said. “Dad’s a criminal. Dominic was probably trying to arrest him. That’s what cops do. They’re the good guys.”
The good guys!
Which is quite different than a mobster.
I’m just glad that Morgan wasn’t poisoned by Michael and that he was able to stand by what he believes is right.
And then there was Johnny (Brandon Barash). I loved his conversation with Maxie….more truths.
“Poor Sonny,” Johnny said. “The man shoots a cop and finds out it’s his son. It must wreck his whole night, right?…Let me tell you about awful. Sonny standing in the hallway outside Dante’s room wringing his wrists, hands to the forehead. Poor Sonny. It’s all about Sonny’s pain. What about Olivia? And what about Lulu? She loves Dante. So why should they be forced to deal with the man who shot him?’
Bravo, Johnny! Key words: it’s all about Sonny.
Would somebody tell me why – after Sonny shoots Dante – he still has the right to yell at Olivia (Lisa LoCicero) and blame her for this?
Um….Sonny. WHO pulled the trigger?
That’s so typical of Sonny, never taking responsibility for his actions.
And talk about cayonnes…
How about Sonny threatening Steven Webber before he goes into critical surgery to operate on Dante?
“If my son dies, I got nothing to lose by making you pay,” Sonny said.
Now THAT takes some big ones!
If Dante dies, it’s no one’s fault but Sonny’s.
But the icing on the cake was at the end, when Detective Ronnie Dimestico (Ronnie Marmo) comes into the hospital to arrest Sonny. Sonny tells Ronnie he’s not going anywhere!
Really??? Because you just shot a cop in cold blood.
Ronnie tells Sonny: “Now you want sympathy from me? Special treatment? Is that what you’re looking for? After you shot Dante and put him in the O.R.? I am FRESH out of mercy for you Sonny!”
Yeah, Ronnie! My thoughts exactly.
By Michele
Once again, General Hospital Deee-Livered in a big way with the eppy’s last week leading up to the Sonny/Dante confrontation.
Not to mention the oh-so-great Cliffhanger Friday: the actual showdown with Sonny shooting Dante and Olivia running in at the end and telling Sonny that he just shot his own son!
The Sonny/Dante Showdown!
Truely the very definition of cliffhanger.
When I come home from work each day and immediately tune to GH first instead of OLTL first…..let’s just say GH has to be pretty darn good for that to happen.
And it’s happened every day for the past two weeks and still counting!
I’m having my issues with OLTL right now. But let’s save that for another day, shall we?
On GH, first we had the Lucky/Liz/Nik reveal followed immediately by the Dante reveal!
And all of it was – and is – so worth it!
Let me say up front that Dominic Zamprogna as Dominic Pirelli aka Dante Falconeri captured my attention from Hello!
And he has just gotten stronger and stronger with his range of emotions, his genuiness and his onscreen chemistry with every character he interacts with.
I can’t say enough about how much I enjoy his portrayal of Dominic/Dante – two characters on opposite sides of the law and making you believe in both.
His confrontation with Sonny was the pièce de résistance!
Even his relationship with the tangential characters in the storyline are amazing!
I just love the close friendship he’s developed with Morgan (Aaron Refvem), who Dante will find out today is really his brother!
I’ve also liked the Brooklyn undercover cop thing between Dante and Ronnie (Ronnie Marmo) and the interactions those two have together…as well as the scenes (earlier on) with Olivia trying to get Ronnie to take Dante off the case.
Which brings me to Lisa LoCicero as Olivia Falconeri.
I have absolutely loved LoCicero’s portrayal of Olivia from day one!
Lisa LoCicero (Olivia Falconeri/GH)
She is another one who is very genuine in exuding her emotions….I am always able to feel exactly what she’s feeling as Olivia. She’s a very natural actress.
Agree or disagree with the decisions that Olivia’s made, LoCicero makes you believe and understand those decisions.
Watch these scenes between Olivia and Johnny followed by Olivia and Lulu in church – pre-reveal.
And LoCicero’s scenes on Friday and Monday were knock-it-out-of-the-ballpark Emmy material. That’s all I can say.
Maurice Benard as Sonny….well Emmy winner says it all!
Benard was spectacular in confronting Dominic, the person he thought a traitor.
I do love the layers that Benard shows us as Sonny and the juxtipostion of his life as the take-no-prisoners mob kingpin and the loving father/family man.
Having said that, I do have big issues with Sonny as a character.
I can’t excuse the fact that he orders hits on people at the drop of a hat….and the way he just threw away Claudia like yesterday’s trash among other terrible things that he’s done over the years.
Claudia (Sarah Brown) did a lot of horrendous things, but, in all fairness, Sonny was really the one who got Michael shot because of his lifestyle. And Claudia had no idea that Michael would be there that night.
I also find it reprehensible that Sonny – the minute he finds out Dominic is an undercover cop – shoots him in cold blood.
Hello! Dominic saved Sonny as well as Morgan and Lulu! Doesn’t that count for something?
Another thing about Sonny that I could never reconcile – how is it that all these good and decent women fall for him?
I mean this is the Godfather….the head of the mob for goodness sake! Not to mention Attorney/District Attorney Alexis Davis has a child with him.
See, I’m the kind of soap watcher that roots for the truely-through-and-through good characters – like Dante. He’s my kind of guy.
Now here’s what I’m wondering…..
How is all this going to affect Morgan and Michael, not to mention Carly and Jax, since Jax was the one behind keeping Dante on the case.
The funny thing about Carly and Jax is that I really dislike them as characters separately.
But together as a couple, I love watching them. Weird, eh? I can’t explain it.
I guess in some odd way, those two keep each other grounded.
But, on their own, they tend to spin out of control – especially Carly.
And Lulu….what will the fallout be on her?
Lulu and Dante
The only thing I know is that I want to see more and more of her and Dante together. Lulu (Julie Marie Berman) FINALLY has someone worthy of her, someone who makes her good qualities come out and shine.
And, as I’ve said before, I love the fact that they didn’t just jump into bed. That they were friends first and their relationship grew into love without having sex yet.
So what’s next? Will Sonny FINALLY answer for this crime?
One thing’s for sure: I’m watching GH before OLTL again today.
That says it all!
By Joshua
As anyone who watches As the World Turns would know, one of the major storylines is Liberty’s leukemia.
A core character, Liberty is Brad’s lovechild with Janet and she is also Parker’s ex-wife.
Liberty’s cancer was a rumor that began when her current portrayer, Meredith Hagner, announced that she was leaving the show to pursue a primetime career.
Meredith Hagner (Liberty Ciccone/ATWT)
This story has all of the elements needed for a good story.
Jack (Michael Park) and Janet’s (Julie Pinson) marriage has been slowly crumbling since he accidentally killed Brad back in November. He has been drawing closer to his “True North”, Carly (Maura West). In fact, he proclaimed his love for Carly and his intention to leave Janet for her a few weeks ago.
He even went to the farm to tell Janet that he was leaving – which is where he found out about Liberty’s cancer. Jack, being the family man that he is, would never leave Janet in this time of crisis.
Which is where our journey is.
Carly is now working with ex-fiancee Craig (Jon Lindstrom) to keep her mind off of the love of her life, who she had promised to stay away from. Janet’s boss, Dusty (Grayson McCouch) is trying to win her over and the two are growing closer as friends.
Oh, and did I mention Janet and Dusty slept together on New Year’s Eve, while Jack was with Carly?
The big question on everyone’s mind seems to be this: Will Jack make a choice before both contenders for his love are taken?
The big question on my mind, however, is how will As the World Turns tell the storyline of Liberty’s cancer.
It has been announced that Meredith Hagner is leaving and the role is being recast. So I wouldn’t expect Lib to die on us too soon.
However, in the last three years, ATWT has tried to do two other cancer stories: Barbara’s oral cancer, which was just a way to get Sofie (Justine Cotsonas) in Paul’s (Roger Howarth) circle, and Lucinda’s (Elizabeth Hubbard) breast cancer reocurrance, which was just a way to get Brian (Laurence Lau) to marry her
Both of these stories were dropped and never fully resolved (Barbara’s cancer got a passing mention recently when she was told that Mick’s (Tom Pelphrey) miracle drug cured it).
The time is ticking for As the World Turns, whose cancellation was announced back in November. The soap opera has only eight and a half months left before it goes off the air, which is enough time to tell a cancer story that could win Emmy’s for many actors and actresses.
They have the potential, the talent, and the angst for the storyline.
Let’s hope ATWT does the best cancer storyline ever.
By Michele Dargan
WOW!!!!
The last two days of General Hospital have been all that I have hoped for – AND MORE!
It is SO RARE these days when a soap opera exceeds expectations….
Take the Franco storyline – so underwhelming!
But I digress.
First of all, the waaaaaay long overdue Lucky confrontation with Liz and Nik was so worth it!
Jonathan Jackson as Lucky acted his heart out! The sincerity and intensity of his words and the range of emotions he displayed was mesmerizing.
I could not take my eyes off of him the entire time.
Jackson lashed out with everything that he had and I think he must have had everyone on the planet cheering.
Not to mention, he gave Lucky some sense of justice – to whatever degree that’s possible given the circumstance of his fiancee having sex with his brother.
For me, the worst part of the whole thing was that the entire time Elizabeth was having sex with Nikolas, she would go back to Lucky and be so super sweet and build this fantasy about building a life with him and the boys….yada, yada yada.
And that happened over and over and over and over….well, you get my drift.
Jonathan Jackson as Lucky Spencer
I used to really like Liz – way back in the day – but in the past few years I have had more of a love/hate relationship with her.
And that’s because, for a long time, Elizabeth has been a total hypocrite!
And I tell ya, I was cheering Tuesday, when Lulu told her that and so much more!
This video is great…..First Lulu tells off Nikolas and then moves on to Elizabeth!
For the longest time, Elizabeth (Rebecca Herbst) has been putting herself out there as this sort of holier-than-thou wonderful wife, mother, nurse, etc, etc……
Meanwhile, she has two kids by two different men (both from one night stands) and neither child is by Lucky. Yet, Lucky has stepped up and treated both of those children as his own.
She had my sympathy when Lucky was popping pills and cheating with Maxie.
I even understood why she slept with Jason after walking in on Lucky and Maxie in bed.
What really changed my opinion of Liz was her attitude toward Sam after she had sex with Jason.
Elizabeth had this superior – almost confrontational – attitude towards Sam, who was still reeling from the loss of her stillborn baby and was told she could never have children – and then kicked to the curb by Jason “for her own good.”
I also didn’t like – and still don’t – the fact that she convinced Jason to give up his parental rights to Jake in order to keep him safe. To me, it was selfish on her part.
It just seems to me that Elizabeth always wants the best of both worlds….She wants to have her cake and eat it too.
Prime example: Lucky and Nikolas.
Having said all that…….I don’t like the fact that the writers totally trashed Elizabeth’s character with this horrendous storyline. I really don’t.
I like Rebecca Herbst a lot – and don’t see how the character can be redeemed from this s/l for a very, very, very long time.
Rebecca Herbst
The fact is, Elizabeth cheated multiple times with – not just anyone – but her fiancee’s brother.
And that is going to be pretty hard to overcome.
I hate to admit this, but I was feeling a tiny bit sorry for Elizabeth after Lulu’s tongue lashing. And I liked the fact that Ethan stepped up and offered to drive her home. She does need a friend right now.
Another thing about the s/l that I don’t like is that it ruined the brotherly relationship between Lucky and Nikolas (Tyler Christopher).
Not because I like Nikolas, because I don’t. Waaaay too dark and brooding.
But I did like the relationship between the brothers.
Personally, I don’t think the s/l really did anything to tarnish Nik’s character, because – after all – he is a Cassadine.
Next up! The Dante as Sonny’s son reveal.
And judging from the previews, it’s gonna be doozy!
By Michele Dargan
Being highly unsatisfied with Lucky’s reaction to witnessing his fiancee having sex with his brother the previous week, I’m hoping Friday’s cliffhanger produces a better – and more volatile – week coming up concerning the most hated triangle to come along in a long time.
That’s only my opinion about being the most hated triangle – Lucky/Liz/Nik – however, it’s one that many people also share judging from other blogs and internet chatter.
Let’s go back to last Monday’s General Hospital eppy, shall we?
After Lucky (Jonathan Jackson) witnesses Elizabeth (Rebecca Herbst) and Nikolas (Tyler Christopher) having sex the previous Friday, the only thing Lucky does is trash his house and doesn’t say a word to Liz or Nik about what he saw.
Instead, he convinces Nik – who was about to leave the country for good – to stay and that he needed him.
Are you kidding me?
For one thing – it’s extremely unrealistic to me that Lucky would react in that way.
Secondly, after we’ve all suffered through this never-ending, horrendous storyline and finally see the finish line……oh, no! The saga continues with everyone trying to figure out what the heck Lucky has in store for the two betrayers.
My fellow soap blogger, Paula’s Soapbox, explained her feelings about the situation last week quite eloquently.
Did I mention that Lucky – a recovering addict – proceeds to get drunk multiple times….although I must admit, I liked the scenes between Lucky and Luke (Tony Geary) bonding over a bottle.
Luke & Lucky ABC/Ron Tom
Which brings me to last Friday – a true cliffhanger!
The last words we hear Lucky utter to Liz and Nik are: “You finally made me see reality. You don’t love me, Elizabeth, otherwise you wouldn’t be screwing my brother behind my back!”
You can see for yourself on the video below, which begins with some Lulu/Dante scenes (love those two!) segues into the back half of the aforementioned Lucky/Luke bonding scene and ends with Lucky confronting Liz and Nik.
Did ya see the look on Nik’s face? Priceless!
Sidetracking just a bit to my new fave GH couple, Dante/Lulu, here’s a really nice tribute video to them.
Soooo cute those two!
But will they be able to overcome all the ramifications of Dante, the cop, masquerading undercover as “mobster” Dominic.
Which brings me to the other s/l with a big reveal that everyone has been eagerly awaiting: the fact that Dominic (Dominic Zamprogna) is really Olivia and Sonny’s son, Dante, and that he’s a cop on the brink of taking Sonny down!
Michael overheard Dominic talking to Johnny on Friday about the irony of Sonny offering his business to Dominic while being a cop in disguise.
So you know Michael will go running to Sonny and…..well, that part remains to be seen.
Since this is a spoiler-free zone – I don’t like to know what’s going to happen ahead of time and don’t want to spoil it for our readers – I can only imagine the craziness that will ensure.
But, you see, Michael doesn’t know the kicker – that Dominic/Dante is his brother.
And Dante doesn’t know that part either.
Let the games begin!
By Joshua
I know this was announced a few months ago, but it really took this long to hit me.
After 54 long years on the air – after marriages, divorces, deaths, births, baby switches, broken engagements, affairs, mental breakdowns, comas, and so much more – As the World Turns has been canceled. This is a fact that is made even more sad because it’s sister soap, Guiding Light, ended its historic 72-year run in September.
I started watching As the World Turns when I was 12. It was always close to me.
ATWT is one of the few soaps with so many vets and older characters – Dr. Bob (Don Hastings), Kim (Kathryn Hays), Nancy, Lucinda, Lisa and Barbara – and, especially in the last year, they have been utilized.
Bob’s health crisis mystery combined with Kim’s heart attack was so sweet.
Lisa didn’t get much airtime. But Barbara (Colleen Zenk Pinter) has been canoodling with three (or two, depending on how you look at it) men, two of which are young enough to be her son.
We even got a double dose of Nancy this year. The scenes where she gave Casey her engagement ring from Chris to give to Ali were wonderful.
Now, ATWT has also played a lot of young people: Mick, Ali, Casey, Liberty, Parker, Luke (Van Hansis), Noah (Jake Silbermann), the Pisces twins (ugh), Maddie, Hunter and Adam.
They intermingled the two generations (Ali/Bob/Kim during Bob’s health crisis; Mick and Barbara). They told stories about family, love, hate, and of course, returning from the dead.
Now, I’m not saying that ATWT is perfect. There have been many stories that they didn’t do very well. Heck, people went from the Nuke fanbase in droves to support One Life’s gay couple, Kish (which has even been called “Nuke done right”).
Luke (Van Hansis) and Noah (Jake Silbermann)
When Guiding Light went off the air, it felt like a family member died. But there was always ATWT to carry on the legacy.
When GL was cancelled on September 18, 2009 until September 17, 2010 when ATWT has its final air date, ATWT is the longest running soap opera currently on the air. And yes, 54 is not as long as 72, but the cancellation of ATWT has been felt just as hard, if not harder.
Soon, ATWT will join the ranks of GL, Passions and a horde of other canceled soaps, the third in the last few years. As the World Turns has been a staple of history. I will never forget watching the Walshes, the Snyders, the Hughes, the Stewarts, the Stenbecks, and every other family and character to blow through Oakdale.
Here’s to another nine months of wonderful storytelling and the history that will unfortunately be coming to an end. I am not quite happy with CBS for their decision, but what can you do? I will never forget the memories, no matter what.
Even after 9/17/10, you can help keep the world turning within yourself.
By Michele
It used to be that watching One Life To Live brought me joy.
Lately I watch it with great sadness and trepidation.
The reason: I’m so afraid that OLTL is next on the chopping block – that it will be the next soap opera to be cancelled.
I know it sounds weird to say that I’m afraid of a soap being cancelled, but the truth is…I AM afraid.
It’s because, over the years, watching OLTL has been a source of comfort to me – a comfort in times of stress….in times of sadness.
No matter what else was going on in my life, that escape to Llanview helped me forget (or at least put in the back of mind) my problems.
I started watching in high school – a time of great angst in itself.
But, somehow, when I came home and was transported to Llanview, for that half-hour (at that time) my cares and troubles of the day were forgotten.
Instead, as I watched, I became involved in the lives of The Lords, The Siegels, The Woleks and The Grays.
I experienced their joys, their sorrows and, of course, their drama.
And, somehow along the way, I forgot about my own troubles.
Oh how I miss those days of sets that included the newsroom at The Banner and Wanda’s Diner. Remember those?
How about the time OLTL filmed in Odyssey House, an actual drug rehab located in New York City?
The 1970 storyline brought drug-addicted Cathy Craig to Odyssey House, where she interacted with real drug addicts in the rehab and the director, Dr. Judianne Densen-Gerber, appeared on camera running a group therapy session.
It truely was riveting.
There were other groundbreaking storylines back then too.
The storylines were fleshed out and the drama revolved around it’s core families day-in and day-out.
One of THE most memorable scenes in soap opera history occurred on OLTL when Judith Light as Karen Wolek breaks down on the witness stand as she admits to working as a prostitute.
Check it out below – circa 1979.
Although I’m not always happy with OLTL’s storylines these days, it is – and always has been – my favorite soap.
So why is it constantly coming in the bottom of the ratings? That’s what I don’t get.
There have been rumors swirling for quite some time that OLTL is next on the chopping block.
And with three soaps turning off the lights recently, Passions (2008), Guiding Light (2009) and As The World Turns (2010), could OLTL BE the next one to go?
You know things are bad when your non-soap watching colleague asks you if OLTL is going to be cancelled.
Last week’s Entertainment Weekly had a two-page spread with the headline “Soaps: How Long With They Last?”
The photo contained headstones of the recently departed soaps with the start and end dates. The OLTL headstone had 1968- with the words “Hang in there, Llanview!”
Now that’s serious when soaps get the attention of the main stream media.
According to the EW article, soap ratings have been in decline since the early 90’s, which makes sense on one hand because women have been an integral part of the work force for the past two decades. And, let’s face it, women historically make up the majority of soap watchers.
But with the advent of the VCR followed by TIVO, DVR and let’s not forget SOAPnet, one would think that would help people keep up their soap watching.
Budget cuts translated into firing the high-salaried vets on some soaps or forcing the vets who stayed to take pay cuts. Those reportedly taking pay cuts in December 2008 included the Diva of Daytime Susan Lucci, who plays the iconic Erica Kane on All My Children. Now THAT’s serious stuff!
As more cost-cutting measures, networks are axing the soap operas and replacing them with talk shows or game shows, which are must less expensive to produce.
I can’t really see those types of shows improving ratings, though. I, for one, will not be watching either talk shows or game shows – TIVO’d or otherwise – if my beloved soaps are canned.
What about you?
[Hi Soapbox1 readers! I wanted to introduce you to a new guest blogger, Joshua, who watches all the ABC Soaps plus As The World Turns. He will be popping in from time to time and giving us his take on our favorite soaps! - Michele]
By Joshua
Last week was an all around good week for soaps. I was on the edge of my seat many times.
The most dramatic had to be Friday’s General Hospital. I know that Fridays are generally the big cliffhanger days, but I really haven’t seen a good cliffhanger Friday in awhile.
Jason (Steve Burton) gets ready to punch Franco (James Franco). ABC/Chris Chavira
Jason and Dante make a great team, as do Lucky and Dante and Lucky and Jason. These three actors are so talented, and their chemistry with one another makes a great dynamic.
I gotta say, though, I didn’t like Sonny’s reaction to Franco. Sonny has so much potential. When Franco looked Sonny in the eye and called him a coward, the next shot should have been Franco’s body floating in a river. But Sonny proved Franco was right and released him. That just didn’t make sense.
I am glad Franco is leaving next week. He has been used to death, and I hope he has a good send off. I don’t really think GH needed him at all – the story seemed so rushed and the ratings didn’t go up. Next time a celebrity wants to try soaps for a while, I think they should find someone even more high-profile.
Then there was As the World Turns. The scenes with Henry, Katie and Simon early in the week were wonderful. The scene where Katie looked around her house at “her boys” was so sweet; and Henry and Simon waking up together was priceless! Those episodes really made me think: Why did CBS pull the plug on this? It has everything a good soap opera needs – humor and drama mixed in together.
I liked seeing Noah back, but his return wasn’t really written well. He was there and he and Luke got into ANOTHER fight. Yawn. Mick is also another lemon story. Why bring James back AGAIN? He just died less than a year ago. Emily put a mirror under his nose – he wasn’t breathing. Barbara stuck him with a pin – he didn’t flinch. They’ve got a big job to do to justify this story.
And then we have One Life to Live. I’ll be the first to say that Crystal Hunt is an amazing actress. I’ll also be the first to say that Stacy Morasco is a horrible character and her exit is way too late. But dammit if I wasn’t rooting for her the whole time she was facing off against Mitch and his crazy minion. She actually started to seem human. But now Rex will move in with her and she will manipulate once more.
Then there’s the story that I have named “Dorian’s Debacle”. Mitch threatened her girls, so she did what he said. She did what he said, so her girls moved out AND she is the town pariah. I felt every emotion Dorian portrayed throughout all of the scenes. And Mel’s ghostly return was nice, too. I was just a little upset that they said he might be alive – and this was such a tease.
Which brings me to All My Children. The anniversary was a let down in some ways – the old characters never interacted at all. They did get to use nice clips from the past, however. It seemed the writers focused more on what’s happened in the last two years than what happened in the 38 years before that, though.
Watching Adam try and name his wives in order (Althea, Erica, Brooke, Dixie, Natalie, Erica, Gloria, Liza, Arlene, Liza, Krystal, Annie) was funny; as was Erica giving her full name (Erica Kane Martin Brent Cudahy Chandler Roy Montgomery Montgomery Chandler Marick Marick Montgomery).
All around, this week was great for all my soaps.
By Kimi
Yesterday’s anniversary show wasn’t anywhere near what I was expecting, and that turned out to not be such a bad thing.
Interviewing the show’s characters in documentary style was a great way to not only fill in blanks on old and new characters and story lines, but also gave the show a modern feel. It probably also enabled them to show more flashes of clips throughout the show.
There were many moments that made me tear up, like Greg’s (Laurence Lau) admission that it’s hard to return to Pine Valley due to memories of first love Jenny (Kim Delaney), and some that cracked me up, like when Nina (Taylor Miller) declared her father Palmer Cortlandt (James Mitchell) was the reason she came to Pine Valley, and ultimately the reason she left with husband Cliff (Peter Bergman). Anybody familiar with their love story had to LOL at that one.
“Brooke who” coming from Erica was classic! Watching Hayley (Kelly Ripa) comfort Adam (David Canary) over Stuart’s death was long overdue.
LOVED watching reflections on the lives of Mona and Myrtle by Erica (Susan Lucci), and her thoughts on daughters Bianca (Eden Riegel) and Kendall (Alicia Minshew).
But Erica should have also mentioned her ONLY son Josh (Colin Egglesfield) during the “Loss” segment.
I found the focus on baby Gabrielle strange considering how she was conceived. I doubt Kendall would appreciate her sister predicting Gabby will be the strongest Kane woman of them all.
LOVED the quickie wedding flashbacks, ALL of them, along with all the Hubbard flashbacks.
Glad we got to see Hayley onscreen with her brother and chatting with Amanda (Chrishell Stause) during her interview. Wanted more flashbacks of the Dillon clan though.
Ryan’s (Cameron Mathison) interview was a nice subtle segue way into Greenlee’s (Rebecca Budig) imminent return. And it was great to finally hear straight from a Santos how much Julia (Sydney Penny) meant to them – but Edmond (John Callahan) doesn’t even rate an honorable mention by soul mate Maria? Huh?
Understandably, David (Vincent Irizarry) mentioned losing Babe, but not brother Leo (Josh Duhamel)? No flashbacks either? If nothing else why not at least try to capitalize on Duhamel’s current popularity. Duh!
LOVED Brooke (Julia Barr) and Opal’s (Jill Larson) recollection of daughters Laura and Jenny, but how could Brooke not lovingly recollect Aunt Phoebe (Ruth Warrick) as well?
Jacob Young is such an awesome actor, he made me feel JR’s pain all over again – but no mention of mom Dixie? And Joe (Ray MacDonnell) and Ruth (Lee Meriwether) could’ve mentioned Grandma Kate, Philip and Tara.
My gripes? Not enough homage paid to older story lines that got the show to the forty year mark. I know Charles Pratt wrote these episodes and either he lacked knowledge of AMC history or intentionally highlighted his story lines and characters. Or both.
Also, I thought Kendall and Zach (Thorsten Kaye) had already left town?
It was strange not seeing some originals like Alexa Havins (in my opinion, Babe’s most memorable story lines occurred during her run) and particularly, Marcy Walker’s Liza. She played such a huge part in AMC history, its a shame that fans didn’t get to relive any of that via flashbacks or dialogue.
But it was the vets, some of whom aren’t even on the canvas, that really made me long for those two full episodes even more. Nevertheless, this was a unique way to present forty years of All My Children history, and although there were holes, I enjoyed it. Did you?
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