Return to Pine Valley: Cortlandt Manor

Our most recent thread.....

Of course we have to post something about THE star of the show.....

Just watch your step in Cortlandt Manor, because Jasper and Myra would sneak off for quickies in various rooms, and forget to lock the door.

Donna Beck IS a common whore!

A Jezebel like that in Pine Valley! The very thought!

Weird and funny. Watch the opening too.

R5 Linky stinky

Let's talk about me!

I always feel like Ruth Martin tends to be an also-ran in discussions of soap matriarchs. Agree? Disagree?

R8 The recasting with Lee Meriwether was crazy, especially when they went back to Mary Fickett for a couple years and then Meriwether again.

Strumpet!

Hark, I hear Phoebe Tyler Wallingford.

And her cunt friend, Enid!

David Canary's daughter had an article published recently - she believes her father suffered from CTE,

There’s a real Cortlandt Manor! In Westchester county, NY. More suburban frau than old money, however.

One of the characteristics of Westchester communities is the addition of "manor" to the town name. There's also Larchmont Manor, among others.

Phoebe’s wigs always looked cheap.

Roscoe Born was cast as Jim Thomason in 1997 and he was so unhappy with his storyline, he walked off the show and didn't come back - right in the middle of a scene! They had to do an emergency recast and tapped John Forsyth to fill in ASAP

Watch as they transition from Roscoe to John right in the middle of a scene!

R17 Kind of surprising that ABC would still hire him after that. But thankfully they did, because I loved him on OLTL.

I just binged YOU, the Lifetime series with Penn Badgley which has now moved to Netflix. In supporting roles were Ambyr Childrers (teen Colby #1) and Daniel Cosgrove (Scott). Ambyr was always my favorite Colby, and she looks good older and is a redhead in this. Daniel looks ROUGH but he plays a pretty awful character so maybe they made him look less appealing.

[quote]Roscoe Born was cast as Jim Thomason in 1997 and he was so unhappy with his storyline, he walked off the show and didn't come back - right in the middle of a scene!

Do you know why he was so unhappy?

I loved Roscoe Born. I still have memories of watching Ryan's Hope as a teen, looking forward to scenes of Joe Novak in a speedo.

How far apart were Pine Valley and Llanview? They were both supposed to be upscale PA suburbs of Philly.

Ops photo looks like Ivanka

R21 My understanding is that they were really close, as was Cornith. The most info I could find said that Pine Valley and Llanview were across the Llantano river from one another.

[quote]Do you know why he was so unhappy?

I don't think he was happy with how vile the character was. He was involved with producing child porn and spent much of his time terrorizing Brooke's daughter who had been in one of his films before she ended up in Pine Valley. He also was responsible for the plane crash that "killed" Maria, although I do not remember why. If I remember correctly he did not know about the child porn part when he took the job. The timing of his departure was a bit odd, because he played the character for a while after his secret was revealed to the audience, and it was pretty clear he would be killed off or sent to jail soon. Since he had already been playing the character for a while, I am not sure why he could not spend two or three more months to finish the arc.

[quote] because he played the character for a while after his secret was revealed to the audience, and it was pretty clear he would be killed off or sent to jail soon.

Maybe he tried his best to finish the job (after being told about the character's past), but maybe it just gnawed at him day after day after day that he couldn't take it anymore, and had to get out

I always thought the Agnes Nixon towns were inspired by the Philadelphia Main Line. That's how I always pictured them. And "Center City" was Philadelphia.

The Main Line

If I remember correctly, Born walked off one of the other soaps he was on. Think it was either Santa Barbara or The City. He didn't get along with Morgan Fairchild at all, so it might have been The City. He apparently wasn't the easiest person to work with.

He dropped out of acting for a while and worked as a hospital orderly. Think that's when OLTL brought him back.

well Roscoe Born did leave TWO soaps (Santa Barbara and One Life To Live) only to be lured back, by public demand and viewer support

Yeah, Philly was Center City or C-City. Somehyit turned into Sea City at some point. I could never figure out how that got messed up so badly. No continuity later on.

I think Sea City was supposed to be their version of Atlantic City.

All My Children

STARRING

Julia Barr

AS

Brooke English

AND

That Skinny Eyetalian Hag

AS

Erica Kane

Own a piece of Mrs. Valentine

I was watching some clips from the early 90s, and I still maintain that I never "got" Lucci. Erica was a jealous shrew. She had neither warmth nor real sex appeal.

R32 - Susan Lucci could have demanded top billing (like Vicky Wyndham did on Another World) - however she never asked for preferential treatment - so the billing was always in alphabetical order

Ironically Julia Barr was always billed first (as they did the billing in alphabetical order)

But Susan never asked for special treatment. She shared a dressing like everyone else on the show. Back in the early 80s everyone was 3 to a dressing room (including Lucci) and nobody complained.

Back in the 1970s Jacqueline Courtney (Another World) demanded the dressing room with the private bathroom. While in the 90s Deidre Hall kicked out Drake Hogestyn out of his dressing room, so she could have it. As it was the only one with a private shower. However Susan Lucci never asked for those demands, using the public ladies room like everyone else on the show.

[quote] While in the 90s Deidre Hall kicked out Drake Hogestyn out of his dressing room, so she could have it.

THAT's why they supposedly fell out.

Had I know, I would have licked Drake's sweaty balls to console him.

AMC always undervalued Julia Barr, especially in the last years she was on the show. They never committed to any real love interest.

Julia Barr 1998 Emmy Reel - where her character suffers from PTSD and freaks out - winning her second Emmy

Fun fact, Barr is her first husbands surname. Even after marrying a second time, she kept the surname "Barr" as a stage name.

Look at fake Sue going in for the hug.

Hey I'm doing Emmy Reels for Younger Actress - here is Sarah Michelle Gellar Emmy reel from 1995

Yes, Sea City was Atlantic City while Center City was Philadelphia.

While going to Center City was frequently mentioned by Pine Valley residents, I don't ever recall hearing Llanview residents talk about going to Center City.

Does no one remember me and my confusion over being straight or gay? I thought I had the lez-lez for Dr. Lynn Carson (played by DL-fave Donna Pescow), but no, I was still straight, wanted to put out for Dr. Cliff Warner, but he still had a stiffy for that bitch Nina. Nina, Nina, Nina - I can't compete, I'm outta Pine Valley!

What ever happened to me? My daughter Bonnie Blue and that stinker of an ex, Wally? How could I have ever put out for a guy named Wally? I must have been drunk - oh wait, that happened after I put out and had that brat... wait, where am I? what happened to me? Maybe I should have made a play for my mother's sexy ex Mark Dalton...

Thanks for the clip R38! I loved Julia Barr. So great to see Marcy Walker too! I miss them both on my screen.

You are welcome R43

Did we ever actually see Mrs. Chance from The Boutique?

[quote]Look at fake Sue going in for the hug.

Nah, Barr and Lucci were pretty friendly.

Was reading an article about the AMC cancellation in Newsweek, and had to laugh at this story from a celebrity fan, Carol Burnett.

[quote]Burnett, who was “mad and sad” about the cancellation, has been so obsessed with the comings and goings of Pine Valley over the years that when she went on a monthlong vacation to Europe in the late 1970s, she asked a friend to watch All My Children and send her a weekly telegram with a recap. When the message arrived at her hotel in Lake Cuomo, Italy, the concierge handed it to her, shaking. It said: “Erica is still missing. Mona hasn’t awakened from her coma yet. And Palmer found out that his wife, Donna, was an ex-hooker.”

[quote]“When I read it, I started laughing so hard that tears were coming down my face and they thought I was crying,” Burnett recalls, laughing. My husband grabbed the telegram and said, ‘Oh for God’s sake, it’s her soap.’”

Susan wrote some nice things about Julia in her - she she hated Julia she could of just ignored her.

R46 We have many letters from when my parents were stationed in Europe where my mother had relatives recapping her stories for her. It had to suck before the Internet.

[quote] she hated Julia she could of just ignored her.

Could HAVE just ignored her.

I remember reading recaps in the Monday paper for all the shows for people who missed the previous week.

In this clip someone basically asks Julia how she feels playing such a boring character at minute 34. About 90 seconds later, Lucci makes sure to point out it is to Barr's credit how she has made the character the most compelling part to watch. Julia responds at 45.

[quote] where my mother had relatives recapping her stories for her. It had to suck before the Internet.

Which is why people subscribed to Soap Opera Digest which had detailed summaries of all episodes from all the soaps.

R51 True, she bought them from the PX, but she said they were too far behind by the time they got to Europe, compared to the letters she received.

Nina Cortlandt was the original Ivanka Trump.

I loved the SOD recaps, but there was always a bit of delay. So I used to follow all the stories with the recaps they would publish in the paper every week, then fill in the details with the longer SOD recaps.

I always loved when Erica and Brooke had scenes together. Julia and Susan had great chemistry.

Oh my, 13 posts since I added my profile to this thread and still not one mention of me, my mother, her sexy, cock-addicted husband, my ex-husband, my daughter... not even Sean Cudahy (who I slept with, you know).

I started watching at about 7 or 8 years old and it was toward the end of Devon's time on the show, I do recall the lesbian storyline but hadn't realized what an utter trainwreck the character was until reading her profile, sheesh she was like the proto-Ann Heche.

Also didn't Devon and Lynn want to open a lesbian bar which they were going to call 'lickety splits'?

I remember when they would have scenes with Devon's daughter, Bonnie. She would deliver her lines like a little Ethel Merman. It was disturbing. BUT CAN I COME VISIT YOU GRANDMA!

Finally I'm getting some attention... that's all I ever wanted. Thanks guys! Hell, I even tried to be 'popular' like that nurse Sybil Thorne! All of it went wrong, wrong, wrong... for Sybil and for me. I'm outta here - maybe there's a train to Corinth where Agnes will let move me settle down. Corinth, sounds like a lovely, quiet place to settle down, doesn't it?

The actress who Devon actually landed the lead in a sitcom pilot (after leaving AMC) where she played a woman enduring a bi-coastal relationship.

Hey I'm doing Emmy Reels for Younger Actress - here is Cady McClain Emmy reel from 1990

[quote]I always loved when Erica and Brooke had scenes together. Julia and Susan had great chemistry.

They worked great as straight-out adversaries or when the writing was good and the story called for it as two people who did not like each other, but did not exactly hate each other, deep in their subconscious even grudgingly acknowledged they had some admirable qualities and even enjoyed some of their verbal sparring. It was believable when they occasionally would work together. The show underutilized that the last years of the show (part of that was Brooke was sidelined and then banished).

One one of the youtube rabbit holes that this thread led me down there was a clip involving Devon in a triangle with some blah guy as her husband and an equally uninspiring Betsy Kennicot (was there ever an interesting Kennicot? ). That had to be one of the least cared about love triangles in the history of soaps. There were also some scenes with Devon involved with Cliff when Nina left him for Dack Rambo that seemed pretty chemistry-free.

There used to be a youtube compilation of Erica and Brooke moments from Tom forward - but it appears to be gone.

Brooke and Erica, always reminded me of Vikki and Dorian on OLTL, in that I loved them fighting with each other, but the few times they teamed up you knew it was going to be something special. They were the original frenemies.

Original Opal is on Blacklist tonight with longtime ATWT actor Larry Bryggman playing her husband

Erica & Brooke FIGHT over the respective daughters being rivals.

The great thing about Erica & Brooke is that it never went over the top into camp. That happened all too often with Viki and Dorian on OLTL. Plus they paired Viki and Dorian together WAY too often. It was almost as if they had no life without each other. Robin's work away from Sleestack was completely different and showed that she was a complete actress. Though it messed with the history about when Dorian returned to her girlhood home to find her mother still alive was the best acting Robin ever did on the show. Completely away from Llanview. It was some of the best work on OLTL. Ever. Her hair, makeup, clothes, and jewelry were all toned down and it made for a different character. Plus I loved Dorian with Mel.

As campy and over the top as Erica could get, her interactions with Brooke often came off as pretty real. As epic as Dorian and Vicky were (and their rivalry was an entirely different level) the fact that Erica and Brooke was not as over the top with vows of revenge etc. made it a bit more believable when they did have those moments when they helped each other or grudgingly said something positive about the other.

That clip at R65 made me think Bianca's coming out might have been one of the last well done story lines the show did. Lucci had no problems making Erica look bad and they had her come to terms with it in stages. She really nailed the self-involved society mother who views her daughter as an extension of herself and at times had some passive aggressive actions that seemed pretty true to life.

Someone finally uploaded the intervention episode. Whether or not you think it is worthy of a best actress Emmy, they really nailed the writing. They either had a writer who was with the show during the Erica/Travis/Jack/Barbara days or they did their research, because the characters acted as if the story line did not have a 7 or 8 year break and the actors still worked well together.

Thanks for that, r61. Cady totally deserved the Emmy that year. She hadn't even been on the show very long when Dixie was thrust into big storylines--breaking up Adam and Brooke and then having Adam gaslight her. I kind of hated when they had Dixie's Pigeon Hollow accent go away. I thought it was cute.

Love her Patsy Stone 'do in that clip, too.

R67 that was me! who is doing the Emmy reels (like the one at R61)

Barbara was so underutilized. They just didn't seem to know what to do with her. I watched Susan Pratt on GH and was shocked by her character on AMC. I didn't know she had it in her. Ann Logan was such a nudge.

It's a cold, cold evening. Just right for threatening to sic the hounds on my tramp ex-wife, cornered in our hayloft.

Yes -- it is too bad they messed up Barbara's return at the end of the show, but the show was in pretty bad shape by the time she came back. They could have had a good story with her trying to find herself again after her kids had grown up and she had let her career go dormant while she was mainly Mrs. Travis Montgomery in Seattle. She had one little scene with Jack where she kind of admitted she did not know who she was supposed to be at this point. Plus I kind of like the kid who was cast as Sean. He was a screw-up but was likable without overdoing the sullen rebel. He was basically replaced by the son Tad somehow had with Hilary. I think I stopped watching somewhere around that point.

Brooke's follow-up to the scene at R61 was pretty fierce.

Thanks 67!!! Been waiting to see that since it aired. What a nice surprise. Enjoyed it very much.

Julia Barr was always great to watch. She should be getting good parts in evening dramas.

R73 why aren't you thanking me? R69 as I'm the one that uploaded it on my YouTube channel?

Thanks Emmy Reel Guy!

I loved the Labines' Dorian/Cramer story. It was really one of their only stories that I was invested in.

[quote] Thanks Emmy Reel Guy!

Thanks for the acknowledgment R67

Serial Asshole Nutcase ruined this thread. We don’t care about Kate Collins. She was never even nominated for an Emmy. Thank God!!!!! She was a horrible actress who is long forgotten. Couldn’t stand that bitch.

Hey Emmy reel poster - are you a homosexual?

[quote] are you a homosexual?

Is Annette Bening a four Oscar Loser?

Estelle (Kate Dezina) tells Rick to take a hike

Reading Kaye Ballard's obit and see a photo and think, Gosh, that looks like a young James Mitchell.....

Because it was!

(See the photo from Carnival, about halfway down or so.)

Kare Ballard dabbled in cunt eating.

So did Fake Nina #1.

Candice Earley, who played Donna for many years, has died.

You don’t say R86?

Fucktard

R87 How pleasant for you. Since we already had an existing AMC thread, I had the good sense not to start a separate thread.

Candi Earley fucked Clint Richie. Her snatch made the rounds.

Where is the new Eterna thread?

I thought she was walking crooked because Clint's cock was so big.

I started it here below

Has Sue Lucci commented yet on Candi’s demise?

Lucci is always on a diet. She won't have anything to do with Candi.

R93, who cares if La Lucci has commented... isn't everyone at the DL waiting, breathlessly, for Susan Dey's comment or tweet?

Or should I have typed, for that bitch Susan Dey's comment or tweet?

Donna was odd for All My Children-despite being on the show for over 15 years, she really only interacted with a small group of characters-Chuck, Phoebe, Benny, Palmer, Billy Clyde, and she was friends with Natalie and Estelle. Did she ever share a scene or storyline with Erica or Adam?

Have Kathleen Dezina, Richard Van Vleet or Susan Dey commented yet?

R96- during the 25th Anniversary celebration, they did a montage of Erica’s female feuds and they showed a flash of her and Donna seeming to argue at a party. Or it looked like. a party because they were glam. Obviously the clips focused primarily on her tangled with Natalie and Brooke, but I remember wondering what that scene was all about. This was that week of shows where everyone was snowed in at the Martin house. That was such a good week.

There will be an AMC reunion on Michael and Sara(formerly GMA Day) on Monday the 11th. A group on facebook is encouraging everyone to watch that day(and that day only) to send the ratings through the roof, to show ABC we still care about AMC.

R99 Did they say which stars would be appearing? Susan Lucci will obviously be there. Would be great to see some of the stars of the show that haven't been seen for a while.

I remember Donna and Erica having some scenes at the Glamorama where they seemed to have buried any hatchets and be on good terms and Donna would give her advice about Jack. It was almost like they were exploring of whether to do some odd ball friendship that they later did with Opal. I am assuming old school late 70's Erica would not have approved of Chuck dating and marrying her, but that was before I started watching. I think Donna tangled with Adam a few times during his marriage to Natalie, but don't remember anything signficant.

Sue will be on that show? She can borrow Frances Reid's walker if she needs it.

You have to give Susan credit - she knows how to turn lemons in to lemonades -- handling a fall in a way that she gets a standing ovation and good press the next day. She does look pretty good on that runway.

Susan Lucci , Cady McClain, Walt Willey, Jill Larson and Jacob Young will be on Strahan and Sara.

What is Strahan and Sara? Is that a thing?

R105 It is Good Morning America's attempt at Hoda and Kathie Lee, but is no where near as good, it was formally know as GMA Day, and took the place of The Chew. The name is always confusing to me because they use the last name of one host and the first of the other. If you are naming something after two people, it should both first names or both last names, not a mix of the two.

I'm guessing they couldn't go with "Michael and Sara" as that's too much like "Kelly and Michael" and I doubt ABC wants to get Kelly riled up about Strahan again...

R107 but they could have named it Strahan and Haines

Hiw come Kelly Ripa won’t be on Strahan & Sara with her former co-stars? Lol

Susan looked cute falling. Much better than SJP.

Was just thinking when Erica fell while modeling it led to her being hooked on pain medication. Hopefully Susan won't have a Woman of the Year melt down in her future.

Candi Earley OUT as Donna Beck

Looking forward to the AMC reunion on Sara and Strahan (?) at 1 pm EST. Lucci, Willey, Larson and McClain will all be on it.

too bad the game show SNL sketch with Lucci and Hartman doesn 't work; it was brilliaint; [italic] Erica Kane [/italic] goes on a game show opposite mousy Jan Hooks librarian and Erica is introduced listing all her great accomplishments; and she shoots Hooks a 'poor you' character.

Lucci has great comedic timing.

^^^see if this link works for you. I just googled "Susan Lucci SNL" . There are some funny videos including the opening. Scroll down for "Game Breakers" with Jan . It's funny!

No mention of Candace Early Manera on Strahan & Sara.

Sue needs to eat a sandwich

It's too bad SNL never put together skits for Family Feud with actors from soap operas... Vicki's clan from OLTL vs AMC's Martins, etc... that would be hysterical if the actors were willing to spoof their characters.

R29 Roscoe Borne was on Days of Our Lives playing a scumbag named Trent Robbins around 2006-2008, he was a regular and raped and married a teenage Nicole Walker and got her into porn

He plays the same type on every soap

R112

R116

She's FINE!

She sends her love!

Lucci, Walt, Cady, Jacob and Jill on Strahan and Sara today. Cady & Jacob recreated the poison pancake scene (lol) and Susan and Walt did a proposal scene.

More of the reunion

Lucci looked great. So did Willey. It was a tad embarrassing when they all chimed in with what they were currently up to. None of it sounded promising. I was hoping Lucci would announce a deal had been reached with hulu for her to do an Erica Kane back in Pine Valley miniseries.

Lucci is not exactly working full time, but is probably working more than many actresses in their 70's. Plus she seems to be keeping busy with other projects as well as traveling and seeing all of the new Broadway productions. I wish Devious Maids would have gone on another season or two. That was a perfect fit for her - am guessing more so than her upcoming Hallmark series, unless it has a fair amount of humor.

[quote] Erica Kane goes on a game show opposite mousy Jan Hooks librarian and Erica is introduced listing all her great accomplishments; and she shoots Hooks a 'poor you' character.

Goes without saying, Hooks was great in that skit as well. I think one of the loudest laughs I have heard on SNL is when Lucci walked into the chapel in the All My Luggage skit.

That really was fabulous, R124. Such a good concept for a sketch.

I love her

See. Being 78 lbs isn’t healthy. Sue almost had a fatal heart attack. Plump is better.

R124 Hallmark will be a great fit for her, most of their shows are light and has a good amount of comic relief built in. Most of the people who used to watch soaps are now watching , so it will probably be a hit.

Do you think the Hulu reboot would have been more successful now that viewing habits have changed? People have moved to Hulu, Netflix and Amazon for regular viewing. Even Lucci probably would have signed on. I thought it was smaller, but done well. Maybe a few years too early? Thoughts?

The reboot was infinitely better without catering to that overrated bitch Erica.

^^^Brooke.

Robin Christopher's very welcome day return as Skye in 2000, when Stuart was thought dead. You can tell the cast is taken aback by her incredible beauty... she steals the scenes from everybody (watch her glaring after Arlene introduces herself). Never understood why she didn't come back full time, AMC was her roots.

Nobody cares about Langley. Nobody cares about that grand old man.

I'll never forget Ann Flood, post-Edge of Night, as the snooty Bitsy, consulting with Dr. Cliff Warner and him going off on her because she thought needing cosmetic surgery was much more important than his desire to heal. Bitsy was just one of those "mothers from hell" which was AMC's trademark, always casting daytime divas like Louise Shaffer, Marj Dusay and Anna Stuart in those parts.

The HULU reboot was very good, for the most part. I still think another reboot could work. Focus on the Kanes, Chandler siblings (Skye, JR, Hayley, Colby), Hubbards, Brooke and her kids Jamie and Laura, a few Martins, Opal, KATE COLLINS AS JANET.

Natalie should never have been killed off. Janet should have been kept in prison and Robin Mattson should have played Laurel, becoming Natalie's new rival.

Great idea r136. I loved Kate as Janet, but I ***LOVED*** her as Natalie; my favorite soap character ever.

Thanks for that clip r132. The show was still pretty good then, for the most part. Shame they put Skye on the other ABC soaps and not AMC where she belonged.

I remember reading once that the show wanted to recast Hayley and Kelly Ripa complained to ABC that it was "her" part and she didn't want it recast. Who knows if that's true.

[quote] Lucci is not exactly working full time

She just signed a deal with Hallmark to do a series of murder mystery movies (a la Jessica Fletcher) - Lucci would play "Charley Webb" (created by crime novelist Joy Fielding)

Lucci would play a small-town newspaper columnist who stumbled upon a new murder (each movie) and solves the crime at the end of each film.

Remember when they dressed Ceara like the Jolly Green Giant?

Lucci and "Murder She Wrote "combination. Certainly works for me. I wish it was a weekly series.

If I didn't read here on Datalounge that Genie loved her time on AMC, I would have thought ^^^ they were channeling their soap diva jealousies anger. But apparently, they really liked each other.

R140 Genie says she was fired from AMC to force her to go back to GH as Laura. If ABC did not do that, Genie had every intention to renew her AMC contract

(141). That's too bad, I believe Genie was an east coast girl. It's hard to be in L.A. if it's not your thing. A lot of the Westcoasters feel the same about working/living in NYC. The salaries aren't big, so to go from a small home/sunshine/yard to a $3000 a month studio in snowy New York can't be easy. I liked her on LOVING.

But ,I am sure some of you're transferred to some really dull towns at the request of your employers. But, that's another post.

Genie loved being on AMC and Loving because they were friendly, relaxed sets. The others she's been on, not so much. Plus the AMC/Loving fans weren't as nutty as the GH/Days/Y&R ones were.

I agree the online might have had a better chance to take off if it had been a few years later and streaming was more incorporated into TV watching as well as more support from the streaming services for their shows.

That said, I think PP started having problems right a way. I was tempted to check it out, but about two weeks after it started airing they had already made an announcement that they were cutting back on episodes. I took that as a sign it was already falling apart and there was little point in getting attached to a show that was already dead show walking.

Except for her EARLY work as Laura, I'm talking David Hamilton era, Loving was Genie's best work. I swore the hair, makeup, and wardrobe people hated Genie. AMC Ceara hair was ridiculous. They made her look like Tammy Wynette.

(I145) That big hair period was not for everyone. Genie looked best straight haired and natural. It was a bad hair era . Even that puppy Kim Zimmer would try to doll herself up like Miss Morgan Fairchild or Miss Donna Mills, to terrifying results.

That “iconic” slut of Springfield scene hasn’t aged well. I remember soap magazine writers trying to draw a comparison to Judith Light’s legitimately lauded courtroom scene on OLTL and Kim’s work pales in comparison. No subtlety or nuance. But this is an AMC thread so back to Pine Valley.

r147 oh please, Judith Light's courtroom meltdown had no subtlety either, it was a lot of shrieking and hysteria.

R148 Judith Light's courtroom scene is still played in numerous acting classes, as an example of great acting, probably the only soap opera scene that is.

It was a great scene. Probably the best in soap history. Poor Anthony Call never got the credit he deserved. The scene would have been as good without him. He played it perfectly. He was tough on Karen but you didn't end up hating him.

Ooop sorry don't mean to derail. I thought it was the OLTL thread. Back to you Pine Valley.

How can anybody criticise the Reva fountain scene for histrionics and then claim Karen's witness stand scene isn't exactly the same?

go to 3:21 he must have worked out for months before the honeymoon scenes were shot.

Tom and Erica as a couple were before my time, but man they were HAF together.

Tom Cooderhay was an appalling actor.

[quote] How can anybody criticise the Reva fountain scene for histrionics and then claim Karen's witness stand scene isn't exactly the same?

THIS

Kathy Bates 4 episode arc on "All My Children" all on one video below

Opps R156 here - wrong link above

The CORRECT link to Kathy Bates 4 episode arc on "All My Children" (all on one video below) is below

Sorry

I always thought Tom was brought to Pine Valley to be a gay character. They switched gears quickly with him.

Interesting about Tom being brought in to be a gay character. Would be interesting to see his first few scenes. How soon was it before they threw him in with Erica and Brooke? For the most part I liked Tom, but for being such a "nice guy", Tom could be a bit controlling and no one could be a more sanctimonious when he felt he was right. I recently saw a couple of clips which I suspect was leading to the end of him and Brooke. One of his friends try to assault her and flat out told her she was lying and called her a horrible person. I always assumed his drinking broke up their marriage, and maybe it was a factor, but him calling believing his friend over his wife about something like this had to do some serious damage, esp. since Brooke had been raped in the past and had to be horrified to be accused of lying about something like this.

One thing I noticed about the Kathy Bates clip is how many extras they had in the jail common room. Now they would be lucky to have that many people at a wedding or funeral, but back then any time the characters were in a restaurant or other public place, it was full of people.

R159, I seem to remember his first appearances had him doing some kind of hero work like finding a missing child or something like that. It would seem a good setup because this gay guy rescues a kid so he's not a pedophile or pervert.

There wasn't even the slightest discussion of bringing Tom on as a gay character. I could see Sean as a predatory bi sexual though. That would have been hot. Sean should have been kept on longer than he was. He was the perfect sexual villain. I used to love watching Sean and Erica dance around each other.

The character of Tom Cudahy was introduced as a Catholic

The photo at R163....

Two of those men were gay (not sure about #3)

I think the one in front played some sort of villain on just about every soap.

[quote] I used to love watching Sean and Erica dance around each other.

I saw a clip that I am assuming was when Lucci came back after maternity leave and Erica was trying to win Tom back after the birth control fall out. She swings by Tom's apartment where Sean is staying and they had a conversation while she was waiting for Tom to get out of the shower. Their interaction was great. They were civil with each other and did not say anything negative,but you could tell by the tone of their words and the subtext that they put into it, that they each knew the other was a schemer and possible trouble for their plans. Besides youtube clips the only time I saw Sean was his second go-around which was mainly him trying to marry Cecily for her money and I believe he struck up a friendship with Skye, but he was not really around that long.

Erica was fucking insufferable which always preventing me from getting really invested in AMC.

Sean was hot in a dirty, hot type of way. You know he'd be nasty and fun in bed.

Tom was nice to look at, but boring overall.

That was very good casting though, they legitimately looked like they could be brothers.

One thing I thought AMC was good at was balancing one's taste. For every salad, there was a steak, so to speak. If you didn't like Erica, here's Brooke. If you didn't like Tom or Cliff, here's Steve. If you didn't like Greg, here's Tad (or, let's be honest, Jesse).

Whoops -- in my analogy, Erica should be the steak.

Erica was the leftover chicken BONES.

R165 The front guy is Michael Corbett, who was indeed a villain on several soaps. He's still alive and does a lot of hosting type gigs.

The man on the left was Christopher Bernau, from Guiding Light. Died of AIDS in the late 80s.

But the third guy - photo is blurry, is that the guy that played Sean Cudahy or the one who played Tom? I was guessing Sean (it's an article about cads, after all) but couldn't quite tell.

Lucci could never play a sympathetic character, IMO. She and Dee Halls are very similar in that manner. No matter what it is, it always plays superficial.

That's why I will always prefer the Zimmer and Slezak types.

I miss Asa Buchanan.

Today, Susan's instagram anted there is talk of a REBOOT again.

Old Sue is desperate. It ain't happening.

Is ABC that hard up that they have to bait these fans again with talk of a reboot?

[quote]Lucci has great comedic timing.

I never found her to have anything other than basically passable comedic skills. That could brush over a scene only in the lightest of situations. Other than that most of the amusing things about her character were based on how they wrote them, about how superficial she was.

I will say in defense of Lucci: she was smart to play stupid. It does take intelligence to stay at the top of your game for over 40 years. When you see pictures of Lucci as a young woman (before AMC) she actually seemed like a studious woman, not a superficial moron.

R178 is the elderqueen who loves to claim that "acting teachers" still use Judith Light's hooker on trial court scenes as part of their course.

I always thought Erica was the worst part of AMC.

Damn that anorexic twig Coochie Lucci is REALLY desperate for a job and a paycheck, isn't she?

Meanwhile you gays can catch me DEE DEE HALLS AKA THE REAL QUEEN OF SOAPS , everyday on Days of Our Lives, I'm in a big storyline now as once again, an inferior women tries to kill the beloved, forever young heroine, Dr. Marlena Evans because she wants John Black for herself, see my amazing acting as I eat the poisoned pastry and pass out! Ron Carlivati is such a genius writer!

By the way Lucci , I might be able to help you out, I hear DAYS is casting a MUCH older, decrepit looking woman to play my Grandma, Grandma Evans! You could visit me in your wheelchair and I'll regale you with stories of my red hot passionate sex life with John Black. You certainly have the hands of a decrepit old bat! I'll mention your name to Ken Corday

Susan Lucci talks about her health scare and work with Celebrity Biography, where she reads out passages from famous biographies. One time she did the Kardashian biography and played Kim. Christie Brinkley, Brooke Sheilds, and Debbie Harry played the other sisters and it was supposed to be quite hilarious.

She did a very good Ivana Trump at this year's Celebrity Biography.

Is Susan still an "Outspoken Conservative"?

Susan is a life long Republican and sadly, I think it’s because she’s under the sway of Helmut, who clearly wears the pants. She’s a bit old school in her adoration of her husband. I remember years ago when she was a guest co-host on The View, it was pretty awful because at her core, she’s really just Valerie Cherish and doesn’t want to offend a single soul (and by soul, I mean fan).

R185 That's interesting, because few mention Lucci's political beliefs, even though she was quite an influential woman at one point. Only gays seem to notice this.

....

Did anyone see the AMC virtual reunions?

It was great seeing most of them again. Michael E. Knight looks better now than he did at the end of the show. Poor Susan Lucci kept having camera problems.

I could have done without Annie and Richie and those damn Careys.

I would have loved to have seen Debbi Morgan, Marcy Walker, Julia Barr, and of course, KATE COLLINS.

When Justin Hartley's ex-wife referred to the actress who played her mother as "that lady" I was not amused! She should be thanking Kate; the best acting she ever did on AMC was opposite Kate as Janet.

[quote]The most info I could find said that Pine Valley and Llanview were across the Llantano river from one another.

How would things have been different had Erica, Brooke, Tad, Stewart and Opal wandered into Eterna?

Well, Lucci wouldn't have looked as frumpy in that Eterna jumpsuit as Slee did.

One of my favorite scenes before AMC started sucking in the 2000s....

Stoned Erica taking down the town.

St. Maria of the Push Up Bra

part 2

Listening to Trump's press conference, you have to wonder how many times he slams a bunch of pills before he goes to the podium. Also, Trump might be the only person who is a bigger narcissist than Erica.

The good and the bad, any more AMC memories?

I'm Adam and Stuart Chandler, I've got 5 Emmys and I can't remember my lines.

WOW - I'd never seen that Erica speech before, but that is fantastic.

I did NOT know David Canary was a descendant of Calamity Jane.

The most hilarious thing to me was that Palmer Cortlandt was straight!

I remember when I was a tween and started watching AMC, my parents would sometimes walk through and remark about the older actors, and what they'd been in. Like "That's Curly from Oklahoma!" or "That's Candy from Bonanza!" I had no appreciation then of the long careers they had enjoyed. Ruth Warrick was in Citizen Kane!

A tour de force from Julia Barr. It had to be satisfying for her to get her best storylines and 10+ years into being a somewhat underutilized cast member. Here is she is in one of her biggest moments. Between this and finding out her daughter was killed- a year of storyline any actress would kill for. She met the moment.

This a long clip, but FF through the dumb stuff.

1989 episodes with a lot of Kate Collins as Natalie looking fantastic, the awesome Robin Christopher scheming as Skye, and the amazing chemistry between Nico and Cecily.

I hate that Natalie’s greatest “loves” were stupid Jeremy and pig Trevor. She was more fun with Adam and Palmer and had the best chemistry with Ross...but then they had Ross rape her...and then she got a terrible hairdo and became a frau.

Bumping this in case anyone wants to continue the AMC talk from the “Soap Characters you hate” thread.