Oh, where to go in reflecting on this 41-yr-old show.
Yes, it has given us the names of Phoebe, Erica, Courtland, Opal (Dorothy Lyman from the moment she squawked, "ooh, it's hot on this bus!"), and couples like Cliff & Nina, Greg & Jenny, Jesse & Angie.
But in my past 48-hr reflection, it seems to me this hearty program missed more marks than it hit. lol! No, no, it's okay. There were definitely some major pluses along the way.
I started with the show when it was ten-yrs-old. By then, Phil and Tara were just being removed (He was missing, she ran off with Jim Jefferson, a fellow in a striped pullover).
Dr. Chuck Tyler and hooker Donna Beck were married and in full-swing. In fact, that's the best place to begin. Donna couldn't have a kid, so she was going to get one off the black-market. "Once Chuck sees the baby, he'll fall in love with him." Didn't happen. Chuck got mad and they split up. Chuck married Carrie Sanders, Donna fell into a romance with Palmer Courtland (one of the wildest romances the show ever had). On a ski trip, Chuck and Donna are trapped in a cave, so they have sex. A child is conceived. What Donna didn't know is Palmer was sterile after a riding accident (and having his two kids), so he always knew he wasn't the father. Donna has the baby after FIVE MONTHS! So now Chuck and Donna have a kid. Guess what? The kid is killed in a night club fire.
This was always what AMC did. Even with that night club fire, we had Greg Nelson in a wheelchair, Ray Gardner was blind, Erica was locked in a dressing room and Chuck had left the baby in Donna' dressing room (she sang in the club). I started back to school, got out early, came home to see who was saved, and everyone was out of the club, the baby was the only fatality. Missed it all in thirty minutes.
The same thing would happen when Ray Gardner was going to blow up the Martin family on Christmas. I wanted to see the house blow up. Same setup. Started back to school after Christmas, came home early, missed thirty minutes of the show. House was intact, Ray blew himself up. Utter disappointment.
Early on, the show truly had some of the trashiest characters around, such as Ray Garnder, Billy Clyde Tuttle (married in real life to Christine Baranski, I believe), purehearted prostitute Estelle and a fave of mine, tho I don't think she was a hooker, Edna, a total nutcase.
Oh, yes, and Myrtle Fairgate; her brilliant turn trying to help Phoebe by warning her Langley Wallingford was an imposter. This woman raced to the church on foot, but didn't make it in time.
For me, a grand minus has definitely been Adam Chandler. In the entire time he has been on the show, it has been one little girl after another (Dixie, Gloria, Liza, etc.), making each woman look more and more stupid for falling for this man with his track record. Why any of these women would have anything to do with him after Dixie and Brooke alone is beyond me. Each one was just another 'hes trying to control you' bit.
This pretty much led to the total ruination of Marcy Walker's Liza Colby. Walker didn't like the early on schoolgirl image she had on AMC(not that the forgettable wispy haired Eden Capwell on Santa Barbara was any better), but upon returning and hooking up with Adam? The promise in Liza was that she could have gone on to rival Ercia Kane.
Definitely this was AMC's major problem. Palmer Courtland and Adam Chandler should have paired up with characters like Marion Colby and Enid Nelson (one of the most annoying women around), then with these guys as parents, the young people of Pine Valley wouldn't stand a chance! Marion did eventually marry a Chandler, but it was daffy brother Stuart.
But again, the minuses were always there. AMC mocked the 'chased by bad guys' bit popularized by Luke & Laura from General Hospital (after doing a couple of Lovers On The Run story lines theirselves) by having Tad, Dottie, Greg, Jesse, whoever, running from bad guys encircling a monument, and other characters (a woman with a baby carriage, etc.) end up joining in to slapstick music. If the show didn't take things seriously, how could viewers?
I was recalling Angie's parents, played by Lee Chamberlain (Electric Comany) and Antonio Vargas (Starsky & Hutch). All that objection to Jesse and then Dad turns out to be running a black market baby scheme anyway. And Mike Minor (Petticoat Junction) as Brandon Kingsley.
And I never recall seeing another show have to recast in mid-story as AMC did, from Mrs. Gonzales, the hispanic landlady who helped Jesse and Jenny (she changed in mid dramatic moment), to Mike Roy, should have been Erica's true love, another actor had to do the death scene.
And where on Earth did Natalie (Kate Collins) come from? I was trying to recall this. I think she was a rival for Erica somewhere in there. She never really carried much weight, did she? Some Kent Bogard, Lars Bogard storyline. I think Lars ended up a Nazi and the agent for models, Olga, was his sister?
And another biggie, Brooke's mother, played by Patricia Barry, ended up the big villianess, Cobra. There was Phoebe's sister-in-law. Too hilarious.
No, it wasn't a bad run, I will say that. Been some fun moments, lots of fun moments. The gang was missed anyway, Palmer, Nina, Jenny, Daisy, but they have provided some hearty memories.
Yes, it has given us the names of Phoebe, Erica, Courtland, Opal (Dorothy Lyman from the moment she squawked, "ooh, it's hot on this bus!"), and couples like Cliff & Nina, Greg & Jenny, Jesse & Angie.
But in my past 48-hr reflection, it seems to me this hearty program missed more marks than it hit. lol! No, no, it's okay. There were definitely some major pluses along the way.
I started with the show when it was ten-yrs-old. By then, Phil and Tara were just being removed (He was missing, she ran off with Jim Jefferson, a fellow in a striped pullover).
Dr. Chuck Tyler and hooker Donna Beck were married and in full-swing. In fact, that's the best place to begin. Donna couldn't have a kid, so she was going to get one off the black-market. "Once Chuck sees the baby, he'll fall in love with him." Didn't happen. Chuck got mad and they split up. Chuck married Carrie Sanders, Donna fell into a romance with Palmer Courtland (one of the wildest romances the show ever had). On a ski trip, Chuck and Donna are trapped in a cave, so they have sex. A child is conceived. What Donna didn't know is Palmer was sterile after a riding accident (and having his two kids), so he always knew he wasn't the father. Donna has the baby after FIVE MONTHS! So now Chuck and Donna have a kid. Guess what? The kid is killed in a night club fire.
This was always what AMC did. Even with that night club fire, we had Greg Nelson in a wheelchair, Ray Gardner was blind, Erica was locked in a dressing room and Chuck had left the baby in Donna' dressing room (she sang in the club). I started back to school, got out early, came home to see who was saved, and everyone was out of the club, the baby was the only fatality. Missed it all in thirty minutes.
The same thing would happen when Ray Gardner was going to blow up the Martin family on Christmas. I wanted to see the house blow up. Same setup. Started back to school after Christmas, came home early, missed thirty minutes of the show. House was intact, Ray blew himself up. Utter disappointment.
Early on, the show truly had some of the trashiest characters around, such as Ray Garnder, Billy Clyde Tuttle (married in real life to Christine Baranski, I believe), purehearted prostitute Estelle and a fave of mine, tho I don't think she was a hooker, Edna, a total nutcase.
Oh, yes, and Myrtle Fairgate; her brilliant turn trying to help Phoebe by warning her Langley Wallingford was an imposter. This woman raced to the church on foot, but didn't make it in time.
For me, a grand minus has definitely been Adam Chandler. In the entire time he has been on the show, it has been one little girl after another (Dixie, Gloria, Liza, etc.), making each woman look more and more stupid for falling for this man with his track record. Why any of these women would have anything to do with him after Dixie and Brooke alone is beyond me. Each one was just another 'hes trying to control you' bit.
This pretty much led to the total ruination of Marcy Walker's Liza Colby. Walker didn't like the early on schoolgirl image she had on AMC(not that the forgettable wispy haired Eden Capwell on Santa Barbara was any better), but upon returning and hooking up with Adam? The promise in Liza was that she could have gone on to rival Ercia Kane.
Definitely this was AMC's major problem. Palmer Courtland and Adam Chandler should have paired up with characters like Marion Colby and Enid Nelson (one of the most annoying women around), then with these guys as parents, the young people of Pine Valley wouldn't stand a chance! Marion did eventually marry a Chandler, but it was daffy brother Stuart.
But again, the minuses were always there. AMC mocked the 'chased by bad guys' bit popularized by Luke & Laura from General Hospital (after doing a couple of Lovers On The Run story lines theirselves) by having Tad, Dottie, Greg, Jesse, whoever, running from bad guys encircling a monument, and other characters (a woman with a baby carriage, etc.) end up joining in to slapstick music. If the show didn't take things seriously, how could viewers?
I was recalling Angie's parents, played by Lee Chamberlain (Electric Comany) and Antonio Vargas (Starsky & Hutch). All that objection to Jesse and then Dad turns out to be running a black market baby scheme anyway. And Mike Minor (Petticoat Junction) as Brandon Kingsley.
And I never recall seeing another show have to recast in mid-story as AMC did, from Mrs. Gonzales, the hispanic landlady who helped Jesse and Jenny (she changed in mid dramatic moment), to Mike Roy, should have been Erica's true love, another actor had to do the death scene.
And where on Earth did Natalie (Kate Collins) come from? I was trying to recall this. I think she was a rival for Erica somewhere in there. She never really carried much weight, did she? Some Kent Bogard, Lars Bogard storyline. I think Lars ended up a Nazi and the agent for models, Olga, was his sister?
And another biggie, Brooke's mother, played by Patricia Barry, ended up the big villianess, Cobra. There was Phoebe's sister-in-law. Too hilarious.
No, it wasn't a bad run, I will say that. Been some fun moments, lots of fun moments. The gang was missed anyway, Palmer, Nina, Jenny, Daisy, but they have provided some hearty memories.