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REFLECTIONS BY JILL….
Is everyone getting excited about the mucho publicized “live week” on OLTL in May? Are you sitting on the edge of your couch waiting to see what happens? Are your tirelessly trying to sift your way through all the spoilers and scoops that are being spread all over the Internet about what’s going to happen? Have you, like me, decided that more than half of that stuff is junk that Gary Tomlin is throwing out there to throw us totally off base?
If you answered “yes” to most or all of these questions, then like me, you are very anxious for that week to arrive out of sheer curiosity. I can’t wait to see how the actors, as well as the crew handle the things that might and definitely will come up unexpectedly. I am also praying that most of the junk that I am reading as far as spoilers and scoops is untrue. I’ve written about scoops and spoilers before, but they seem to be getting way out of hand lately and there are so many contradictions that we don’t know what to believe. I’m sure TPTB like it that way.
Here is just a sample of some of the scoops for the weeks leading up to and including the live week, which really annoy me:
Nora sees green when Alex hits on Troy – OK…I guess it’s not enough that we have to see Nora and Troy getting to know each other and dating like high-school kids. Now we’re going to see Nora being jealous of Alex. Is this silly or is this ridiculous? Somehow I see Alex being the one to take over these scenes and Nora being left speechless. Maybe Nora will need to work that much harder to keep Dr. Troy…could a Cleopatra costume possibly help?
Jen is jealous of Natalie and Cristian's close relationship – Come on Jen…get over it. Let’s at least let Natalie have one friend in this world. I’m kind of surprised that Cristian was still waiting around for Jen after she made that snap decision to marry Al. It was very immature to think that marrying Al would put an end to Cristian trying to get her back…so she’s lucky she did get him back. And what was all that questioning she did about what happened between Cris and Natalie and whether it was just that one time? She’s got some nerve after she slept with Al at the quarry. We know Cris had dumped her and she thought it was over, but she sure didn’t waste any time. She should be happy she’s got Cris, happy she really screwed up her mom’s life with the news, and keep quiet. If she pushes too hard against Natalie, and Cris sees a side of her that is not too attractive, will he like it? Will he stand for it? Be careful, Jen.
Al lashes out at a loved one – The whole town of Llanview should be lashing out at this sorry excuse for a decent young man. Now he is going to live on top of Cris and Jen and I hear that he’s going to really go over the deep end in his obsession for Jen. Isn’t it time for a “time-out” for Al Buchanan…and do we really need to have Jen involved in so many of the storylines on the show all the time? As usual, too much talent is sitting by the wayside while all the attention is directed to uninteresting plots.
Ben has sex with Niki…Niki Seduces Ben! – So the deal is that Niki is going to drug Ben’s wine so he passes out in bed and winds up with Jordan…but the kicker is that when Niki tries to ply him with the wine, Ben…let’s just say….decides he doesn’t need it. After all, this man has been very patiently waiting for his wife to wind up in the same bedroom with him after what seems like months although I’d call it a couple of weeks in soap time. If she were Viki, she’d remember a scene quite a long time ago where Viki greeted Ben at the door with wine and he said, “My addiction is not in a bottle.” (I know, it’s sick of me to remember that…go ahead, say it!) To put it bluntly, he doesn’t need the wine and is more than happy to escort Niki/Viki/Siki to “third base” and over the wall without wasting time on the wine. Niki gives in to a night of passion with Ben. So we have the love scene that Ben and Viki fans have wanted for what seems like years, and I, for one, could live without it. Yeah, yeah, yeah…I know…Niki is supposedly the sexual part of Viki…but she’s not Viki. She doesn’t love Ben. She wants to get rid of him and the spoilers say that after her plan to get him in bed with another woman doesn’t work, she goes even further with her plan to get rid of him. The only thing that would make me happy would be if Viki suddenly came out during all of this and realized she couldn’t allow Niki to go to bed with Ben. Of course, this won’t happen…it makes too much sense. I see the fallout from this being really bad and this is one storyline where I hope that the spoilers are overblown. They better be.
Those were just a few of the things that are supposed to happen. I’d like to see things like…RJ finally getting caught by Keri in one of his schemes to break up she and Antonio…like Jen and Cris not giving Al the chance to annoy them as their neighbor and moving out (perhaps into Lindsay’s gallery…that would make Linz pull her hair out, but hey, she’s not using the gallery for what…28 years…lol). My main interest, however, will be to see just how many bloopers, ad-libs, and all-out screw-ups will be made during the live week. Now, I know GT has his own ideas about planting some planned goof-ups. Personally, we don’t need him to tell us what would be funny…so I’m sure you can think of plenty of your own, and this is a list of some of the things I can imagine happening that week…some planned….some not so planned. And keep in mind that my sense of humor can be a bit weird, too.
RJ and Shawna in a heated scene…RJ threatens that if she doesn’t start keeping her mouth shut and stay out of his and Keri’s life, she will wind up in an alley somewhere. As he tosses his head to leave her standing alone, a bunch of his braids smack her right in the face and then get caught in the door as he slams it.
Nigel and Asa are in the living room of the mansion. Nigel hands Asa a bourbon, which he’s done a million times, Asa takes a good long swig and Phil Carey realizes that it’s not the usual iced tea that passes for television bourbon….it’s really bourbon. As he’s trying to cool his burning throat, Mr. Carey is chasing the so-called butler around the room using a few choice words that we’ve never heard Asa say before…and I don’t mean “loco” and “pole cat.” The kicker will be when he finds out that it was Bob Woods who switched the drinks.
Lindsay is finishing passing out the clean laundry to her new neighbors in Statesville when her nemesis, Big Old Nellie comes hobbling uncomfortably down the cellblock ready to kill our dear, sweet, Linz for over-starching her bloomers. You have to hand it to Linz….she knows how to entertain herself.
Roxy winds up back in jail when Jess decides to press charges for her mom trying to bilk her out of $100,000 (I don’t know if this will happen). Jen comes to visit Roxy in her cell and unlike the last two times Roxy had visitors in jail and in a very un-ladylike way slithered herself out of that top bunk, she tries to get down gracefully and falls on her butt. Did anyone else find it hysterical the last two times she tried to get down from that top bunk? Ilene Kristen is very tiny and it was a long way down. Actually, it’s kind of like me and my short legs trying to slide down from a big, high SUV without a 6-foot ladder.
Rae Cummings walks into the Banner and stands in the middle of the City Room in a total fugue state. Linda Dano can’t remember if on that day she’s a love column writer, a professor, or a shrink, or even what town she’s supposed to be in and she’s pulling her hair out wondering who she is and where she belongs.
Troy walks into a scene where he’s attending a big dinner with lots of hot shots in Llanview and everyone he goes to speak to looks at him with disdain and calls him “Colin.” Finally Starr comes to sweep him away to a romantic picnic in the park of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, pork rinds and juice boxes.
Viki and Allison are in a scene in the Llanfair library. Allison is in one of her antagonistic, “in your face” moods. They yell at each other…Allison taunts Viki and then makes the dreaded mistake of pointing that annoying, threatening, index finger at her. Viki grabs the finger….wrestles Allison to the ground never letting go, while Ben comes in with a big Hefty bag, throws it over Allison, ties her up tight and rolls her down the long front driveway to wait for the sanitation men.
Here’s one I’d love to see….
The entire town is attending some function…maybe a wedding…maybe a funeral. Everything is going well until an uninvited guest (and a long lost OLTL fave) appears totally unexpectedly to the actors, as well as to the viewers…..IT’S DORIAN!
And call it a blooper…call it an ad-lib….nobody does it better than Mark Derwin…I would pay money if he (accidentally on purpose) just happened to slip up in a scene and call out, “Blondie, I’m home!” How much money would I pay? Lots!!!!!!! Don’t worry all you anti-Blondie people. I am not sure he’d have the nerve to do it, but if it just slipped out…well, live television IS live television.
Ah, I love a good laugh and I hope we get many. I’m going to be one of those loonies counting the bloopers and ad-libs that week…care to join me in the contest?
See ya next week......
Jill Berry
FAN FEEDBACK AND
QUESTIONS
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Kendra writes: “Hey, I was just wondering if you knew what lipstick/gloss Jen (Jessica Morris) was wearing during her wedding? Please tell me! I love it!”
Dear Kendra: I’m so sorry, but I am not
privy to what goes on in the hair and make-up room, although I would love to be
a fly on the wall there for just one day. I have no idea what Jen was wearing
on her lips that day, however I have heard that many of the actors like the
cosmetic products from Catherine Hickland’s product line, so maybe it was one of
those. Perhaps if you write to the studio someone would be able to answer that
question for you.
______________
Sheree writes: “You want to talk about a personality transplant, how about Blair? It seems the minute she married Max, she totally lost her brain. The writer's took her job and the SUN and gave it to Kelly. LOL! Whatever chutzpah she had disappeared. Now she's swallowing all this crap Todd is telling her? Give us back the smart, savvy, eat my dust Blair I love! Give her back The SUN, have her fire Gabby’s butt and send Todd where he belongs!”
Dear Sheree: I agree that Blair is a shadow
of the feisty woman she used to be. I guess her love for Todd has blinded her.
I have read, however, that once the truth comes out about Baby Jack, Blair is
going to get her rowdy self back in gear and take the town by storm…so hold
on…she’ll be baaaaccckkkkk!
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HippieChild38writes: “Just discovered your website and I love it! I am an avid fan of OLTL and love all the storylines except one; The Jen/Christian/Al triangle. Frankly I am sick of Jen; she is a whiny, wimpy, spoiled brat and I've started fast-forwarding all her scenes. I realize the writers are to blame for this but frankly I think Jen needs to be recast as a stronger, more capable person. This Jen does nothing for me. What's your opinion? Please don't think I'm mean; I know the actress is very talented and I'm not bashing her; I'm bashing the character.”
Dear HippieChild38: I don’t think you’re mean at all. I’m glad you found our website and are enjoying it, and if you go back and read some of my past articles, you’ll note that the thing people complain about most on the show is the Jen/Cris/Al mess, so you are not alone. It has never worked and I agree that the writers have not done right by Jessica Morris. She was an intriguing character when she first stepped on the set and then her character’s personality and storyline went downhill. I’d like to give her a chance with some better material. I think she did show a bit of feistiness the other day when she tossed Natalie out, although I thought she could have been a little more understanding. At least we saw a side of her we haven’t seen before.
© Copyright by Katherine Thurston, 2002
