One Life to Live

[Daniel Avery]

The premiere of David's movie was some of the funniest stuff they've done in a long time. The in-joke about Blair "being played by an Asian actress in the movie" was especially clever/funny. The reaction shots of the crowd when the "other" material hit the screen was priceless, enough to make it worth having to sit through the weeks and weeks of poorly-executed set-up. I'm guessing Deanna is gone for good, since they didn't show her at all in the bits of the film we managed to see. Thank goodness--she was a waste of airtime. I hope this will be the excuse to get rid of Nate, too, but I doubt it. At least "Original Todd" finally got to reveal himself--THAT is a Friday cliffhanger worthy of a Sweeps period.

I even managed to enjoy Rama and Vimal. I had a feeling her plan would "spring a leak," but the ease with which Vimal's parents accepted his having gone to prison briefly makes me wonder if they're giving the Patels the same bum's rush that Deanna got.

After the past two days, I'm left with two questions:
If Mel Gibson and Harrison Ford were in the film, did they just blow off the premiere?
And who the heck is Edna Beasley?

[ChrisSumnerMatheson]

I LOVED the Vickers Man premiere. I just wish something could be done to make Dorian a lead character again. I understand she's older, but I do think she's viable, just like Clint or Viki. I don't feel like they try ENOUGH for her. When it comes to love interest or her family either. I liked when she took over BE, but that seemed so brief. One thing that is important is to have at least one of her daughters on at all times. A lot of Viki's presence comes from the fact that her kids are leads on the show. With so many choosing to leave when the web show starts, I'd try and ask the actress who plays Cassie to return full-time. I'm sure there are lots of out of work former OLTL actors who'd consider a return. With her, at least the Cramers would still have a strong presence and it would open up for regular returns from Strasser. On the same note, I'd bring back Kevin full time. Dan Gautier hasn't been working much so I'm sure he'd at least consider it. Futhermore, I'd bring Erin Torpey back either as Sarah Roberts or keep her in mind for Jessica in case Bree decides to leave. My last comment on Viki's kids, but I do LOVE Tom Degnan as Joey and I hate he's leaving early. I don't feel the writing helped him, but he's a good actor and looks like Joey. It could've worked out with a better story and better love interests.

With the future up in the air, I'd also consider bringing in a new family to fill the gaps. Rama and Vimal are fabulous and I'd try and get them on contract and make their presence bigger on the web show. I hope they're creative with this and don't just throw anything to the wall. Passions did a good job cutting the cast for DirecTV so the core families still had the important anchors and they elevated some of the supporting characters and also brought in a couple long missing family members to flesh things out. Overall, I thought that was a total success. No reason it can't be the same for these soaps.

[carylfan10]

I highly agree with Daniel Avery's summery for that event. Any time that an event focuses on David I think promises to be fun. I really detest the guy who plays Rick . He's always been the good guy but to go so sleezy well he's not one I'll be following his career. But the payoff with the real Todd showing up was just awesome, I can't wait for them to read those results. The only other thing bothering me is Baker. I wish he would just go away but it doesn't look like it will happen soon. How many times can he kidnap the real Todd?(*if he really is)

[Daniel Avery]

An intrepid fan found an old youtube clip of the actor currently playing Baker appearing on OLTL in a previous role on the show--a bit part as a man at the prison where "OriginalRecipeTodd" was sentenced. It's a really interesting coincidence, but if they really wanted to make this whole TwoTodds thing make some sort of sense, they could pull up that old clip to reinforce the idea that Baker and his shady gang were in on ORTodd's kidnapping/replacement. But I doubt the writers are sweating the details that much or even trying to make the back-story into something seamless or even satisfying; they have a history of ignoring some major plot points in the name of creating new story*. I mean, I'd love for the explanation of the TwoTodds thing to be really clever and not have holes in it, but I'm not holding my breath!

They're certainly staging things at the moment to lead viewers to believe Roger Howarth is the Real Todd, while Trevor St. John is some sort of impostor who has been pretending to be Todd for eight years. It doesn't help that most of the viewers know TSJ is leaving the show fairly soon.

I said it before and I'll say it again: I think Rick the pesky pornographer is only being kept around because they want to pin Eddie Ford's murder on him as an end-game story that will allow Matthew a way out of his plot problems once he recovers. I see this as a plotline they've put on the back burner until later (probably November or December) while the TwoTodds plot plays out, as well as the seemingly dropped Jessica/Brody/Ford triangle. I'm guessing (fervently hoping, as well) that they now realize how much people disapproved of Ford/Jessica, and in order to undo their mistake, we will discover that the paternity test was tampered with and Ryder is actually Brody's son, and not Ford's. If Brody can weather this whole nightmare with Natalie/Liam, he might get a happy ending with that nutcase Jessica, after all.

*See Danielle, the child who was conceived 18 months after Jack was born, and yet is now three years older than Jack. Also see Cole, the child who was conceived two years after Starr was born, but returned to Llanview two years older than Starr--and male, a surprise to viewers who had heard Marty say she was pregnant with a girl when she left town.

[Daniel Avery]

Man oh man, that Phylicia Evans just gave the bitch-slap heard 'round the world. Nora will be seeing stars for the whole weekend.

And in my opinion, it might just be what Nora needs. While I sympathize with the amazingly awful year that Nora has had, the emotional blackmail she dumped on poor Destiny was unfair and downright cruel. The scene at Matthew's bedside was bad enough, but I was willing to hand-wave it somewhat because Nora had only just then learned of the baby (and that it was not going to be around for long). I assumed Nora would get some time and distance from the situation and call Destiny to apologize, but instead she called to browbeat/guilt-trip the girl some more. So having MamaBear Phylicia introduce Nora to the back of her hand for interfering in her daughter/granddaughter's life at such an emotional time seemed...well, probably a bit over the top, but still got her attention and (hopefully) got Nora out of that whole mode of thinking that Destiny could provide her with a "replacement Matthew". Considering the tawdry events during the time Matthew was conceived, you'd think she of all people would understand that you can't "replace" children like a broken TV set.

I've always been a fan of the Destiny character, and this storyline (Destiny's Child!) has provided some good, thought-provoking material. As her pregnancy draws in both her family and the Buchanans, it's a solid "B" story that sort of counter-balances the surreal "Two Todds" stuff, and allows us a break from the Ford family invasion. Shenell Edmonds has a very natural (if sometimes inexperienced) style of acting that seems much more like a "real" teen than the plastic, "look at me acting!" style of many actors her age. Certainly better than the wooden post they hired to play Jack Manning!

Anyway, I hope they re-air Phylicia and Nora's "say hello" scene on Monday...

[Daniel Avery]

Irene's explanation of the whole Two Todds thing will probably go down in soap history as one of the most far-fetched plotlines in the history of soaps. To me, it ranks up there with Eterna, the Spa Girls plot on ATWT, or Reva's Clone on GL. The only mitigating circumstance in this case is that those other plots were written on purpose, while this revelation seems to be the best the writers could come up with to solve a problem they did not create, a sort of "writing themselves out of a corner". Yes, they brought Roger Howarth back on purpose, but had expected to have a year or two in which to solve the mystery of who was the real Todd, how the other Todd figured into the story, etc. Cancellation made it necessary to come up with a much quicker answer. It shows. I felt like I was watching soap history being made as Irene kept blurting out one crazy thing after another. Barbara Rhoades must have laughed her butt off when she got her scripts and thought "Is this some sort of newbie hazing? This can't be my real script."

At any rate, you just have to roll your eyes and say "whatever, Irene!" and try to focus on the performances rather than the situation. The fans of Trevor St. John's Todd must be absolutely livid at the way the writers basically negated his eight years as Todd and wrote him as "special".

[TJames03]

The return of Irene Clayton truly spells out that this show should be tossed in the gutter (along with the mess that is All My Children). Wow - even I could have never guessed that OLTL would sink to the garbage that it is now. Gee-----I wonder if anyone is going to tell Tina that her mother is alive (when Andrea Evans returns in Sept.)? Up until now, Irene died in '78. And if Irene 'died' simply to unite Viki & Tina as sisters, then why did Tina only find out that they were sisters in '85 and not right when Irene died?

F+ck you, OLTL....

[Daniel Avery]

Meanwhile, OLTL tied for #2 in households, and tied for #1 in women 18-34 in the latest Nielsen ratings. People wanted to see what the writers had cooked up to explain all this; now, let's see if they stick around to see the fallout. Brian Frons must be furious at how he's being made to look like a fool.

[TJames03]

OK, so Larry Wolek, Dr. Craig, et al, were all in on the fact that Irene never had cancer and lied to Viki? TPTB really need to go to youtube and watch '78 clips from when Irene died.

OLTL HAS to go - with the bringing back of Irene, that was the ultimate slap in the face for viewers.

Also, there is Viki, Meredith, Tony, Tina, Todd, and Victor, JR. - how many more children are out there of Victor's?

[ChrisSumnerMatheson]

I hope we get scenes with Tina, Victor, Todd and Irene. I hated that Andrea Evans never got to interact with Roger Howarth. Honestly, when it comes to Irene, I would've been fine with her had they not cast such a bad actress. Geez. She's terrible and at her age she should have her act together. There were rumors Liz Hubbard was in the role which would've been brilliant. Sadly it wasn't meant to be.

[Daniel Avery]

I was afraid Liz Hubbard would have taken the hammy material and made it even more of a scenery-chewing buffet. Yes, she is a great actress and would have brought the "weight" of her strong personality to a role that needed a ball-buster type actress, but I think having Rhoades underplaying the "eeeevil mastermind" angle was a good idea. The material was already OTT; no need to make it even more so by overplaying it. I think the writers had decided they needed just to push through the resolution scenes (knowing it was ridiculous), and move on as quickly as possible.

I hope we get scenes with Tina, Victor, Todd and Irene.

It would make sense to have Irene's resurrection as the excuse to have Tina (and Cord holding her purse) return. It would make sense for Viki to have a line about having called Tina to break the news about her mother, her "new brother", etc., but we haven't gotten that yet. I doubt Tina will get to have a scene with not-Todd/Victor, Jr. because he's...well, not long for Llanview. I think next week is the last we will see of him.

[TJames03]

AE did have scenes with TSJ when she returned a few years ago.

[Daniel Avery]

I wonder if they will explain why Tina had no recollection (or at least she never mentioned) Victor, Jr. The show says there is about a eight/ten year age difference between Tina and Todd. Unless Irene had managed to put "special" Victor in an institution and kept him hidden from young Tina (why?), Tina ought to remember having a little brother...right? {snickers}

[TJames03]

That is why this show needs to go away forever - it has sunk to 'creative' lows that are unreal.

[MacandKarenfan]

I read that Tina and Cord as well as Marcie and Michael are headed back to Llanview. Well Now Gigi,Joey, Kelly, David, and Dorian are out of town. I think that it's Stacy Morasco that is in that Bed that Kim was talking to.

[TJames03]

Nah, Stacey was one of the most hated characters (and not in a good way) ever to grace OLTL. Fans HATED her the second she came onto the screen and cheered when she was killed off.

[Daniel Avery]

I think it is the "real" Aubrey Wentworth. They really want us to believe it is Stacy, of course, but Cutter seems to know the "Spotted Pony" as much as Kim and David do. Meanwhile, the revealtion that FakeAubrey's real last name is Karr has led to speculation that she is actually Katrina Karr's baby, the baby that Marco and Karen switched with Jenny's dead baby years ago. Not sure why they would go there, but it's interesting.

Maybe they decided to go really old school and she's actually the granddaughter of Mike and Nancy Karr from Edge of Night.

[MsBobbyEwing94]

I love OLTL and I hate that daytime is going under. I mean soon there will only be 3 soaps. Starr and James are soo cute. Blair and Tea are great when they act toghether.

[Daniel Avery]

I had crossed my fingers in hope that they would NOT go the Stacy route. I actually twisted myself in knots trying to come up with alternate ideas, denying they would actually bring back such a hated, poorly-drawn character. And yet it looks as if they're not only bringing her back, but now they're trying to make us believe that she will be played by Farah Fath (looking like "Gigi", even though Stacy and Gigi didn't even look related, much less identical). I still hope they won't do it, but they keep proving they're not as clever as I want them to be.

This week, OLTL out-performed B&B in total household ratings, landing at #2. I have to wonder if OLTL might benefit from the "final months" buzz the way AMC did, and end up knocking off not only B&B, but even Y&R by January. Y&R is shedding viewers like crazy, which also hurts B&B, and if this overhaul of Days of Our Lives gains any sort of traction, a number of dissatisfied Y&R viewers might migrate there--but I am seriously wondering if OLTL will literally go out on top.

[carylfan10]

The more I watch this show the more I can't help but scratch my head along with thousands of other fans. It is possibly the best soap on the air today. It has humor, it has it's vets, a teen set that can actually act, plenty of drama but balances it out with heart and humor again and there is enough romance to keep me invested (I had to admit to getting a little dry eye at the proposal on today's episode.) It's not right, they knew they were losing a popular vet (TSJ) and they wrote him out one heck of a story, I'm on the fence with Roger howarth's story so far but he's been used, and from what I hear his fans will be happy at the end of the show, or at least Todd and Blair fans will. Some couldn't stay, Victor, Dorian, but enough did to make it worth watching the whole time and it's been GOOD. There are a few shows that I've been watching all my life that I wouldn't mind its trading places at this point, and unfortunately in a few years they will be there too. My biggest complaint about my other soap-Y&R.. is that they take too long to tell a story and the stories they do tell are all over the place. And there is rarely a happy couple that lasts more than a few weeks. Who killed Diane? Who cares? Bring back Patty, just what they need, another crazy character on that show. At one point they had two sets of long lost twins, that's when they lost it for me. But OLTL is going down with its head held high, and I will def jump ship to GH to see what RC and FV bring to the table.