I figured since there was a Loving thread, its sequel show needs one.

Can anyone explain the premise? From what I gather, it sounds rather stupid. Did everyone who survived the Corinth Killer just decide to live together in NYC?

Yeah, it basically seemed that way. Everyone who was "young and hip" and didn't get offed by the killer moved to the same NYC apartment building. Kind of hokey, in that respect. But I did like that show for a long time in it's run. I think the fact that it was so hip looking for a soap and they showed alot of NYC, itself, in the episodes caught my interest. I liked the scenes in the bar and the music they played in the background for those scenes.

The last few months of the show kind of lost my interest, as I recall, but they wrapped up the final episode quite well.

And I thought the Aussie guy, Richard, was pretty cute.

Gosh, the memories. I was in college at the time, and enjoying life. That show was a part of those times, so I recall it fondly.

How long was it on? From November '95 to March '97?

I know Laura Sisk Wright was on The City, but was Paul Anthony Stewart? Every time I read about The City, they always group her with Ted King.

that sounds about right, it was pretty short-lived. A little under two years, I'd say.

As I recall, PAS, was killed off on Loving, before the migration to The City. I believe Ted King had something to do with Casey's death, but I may be remembering wrong.

Yes, PAS was killed off on Loving. IIRC he was going undercover to expose drug dealers, and Ted King's Danny was one of them. Something went wrong and Casey was shot to death. Ally worked to take Danny down, but things got complicated. Ally and Danny slept together once on The City, but the show never really took them anywhere. Amelia Heinle (then Weatherly) decided to leave, so Ally was paired with AH's love interest Tony instead.

I enjoyed this show a lot too. They were doing mostly slice-of-life kinda stuff by the end, but they had really distinctive characters, strong personalities, fun interactions between them. Tracy Q being best friends with Darnell Williams's Jacob is just one example.

Thanks for all the responses about the show. I didn't know PAS was killed off on Loving. But then again, I wasn't really watching it, either. How long was Amelia Heinle on The City? Wasn't her character named Stephanie or something like that?

Their closing theme was so badass. Boom-boom-wow-wow-wowow!

I only saw a few episodes of The City, but I remember Tracy Q bringing little Dillon to NY and then marrying a mob boss named Soleto. Didn't he die on their wedding night and then Tracy took control of the mob? And wasn't his daughter Carla her archrival for control? Whatever happened to Carla?

And was Ted King-as-drug-dealer back then hot enough to make otherwise intelligent women willing to shoot themselves in the head in order to have sex dreams?

I'm not sure how long she stayed on The City, but she started out on Loving and yes the character's name was Steffi. I really liked that whole foursome - Ally, Casey, Steffi and Cooper (?) . It's part of the reason why I still have a soft spot for Mia on AMC, even though the character pretty much sucks. I just adored Amelia Heinle on The City/Loving

The City was great!

It was truly an expiremental soap though. Human interactions without the crappy aliens/SORAS/deadnotdeaddeadagain people. Sure it had a mob, but it DIDNT over power the show and they were the BAD GUYS. Can't really speak highly enough about that show. Multicultural (and sexual) cast with realistic sets and EXTERIOR shoots.

My fav scene of all time has to be Sandy (the serial killer) talking to her "mom" on the phone. At this time NO ONE suspects Sandy, not even the audience. Anyways, Sandy is talking about her romance with Ted King's Danny, and all of a sudden you begin to hear that loud annoying sound you hear when a phone is of the hook, then she says the serial killers line "I am finally happy now!" Some creepy shit.

OH and I SWEAR Lorianne showed a boob in her HOT HOT HOT love scene with Roscoe Born! WOW!

And it was the first show that had a Post op Trannie AND have an alternative goth chick, that NEVER got a make over!!! Was great. Wish ABC was still daring enough to tell REAL LIFE stories like The City told.

Who was the head of ABC daytime then?

AH/Steffie was pregnant with MW/Cooper's child. He had dumped her on Loving and Tony had a crush on her. Then, on The City, Cooper showed up for the birth of their child, told her he still loved her, and they left for Paris. That's how they wrote her out. AH wasn't on The City very long - a couple months maybe.

I thought I was the only one who watched. Even though the storylines seemed to be all over the place in the beginning, once the show came together it was really fun to watch. And I loved how it was shot on film instead of video. ABC should have given it more of a chance, it takes a long time for people to get into a soap.



IIRC Carla wanted to have a baby but there was no man in her life, so she roped Danny into being her baby daddy. The original arrangement was Danny would be out of the picture once he made his contribution, but when the show ended Carla and Danny were slowly moving toward coupledom.

I wish SoapNet would re-air the show.

Ooh, that makes it very interesting. Has any other soap done this? Now I really want to see some of The City.

Can I ask how "good" Morgan Fairchild was? I've only seen her in Old Navy commercials and I hate her. Is she any good? I heard people loved her as Jennifer Pace on Search For Tomorrow, but that was 20 years before The City.

It also had a great opening - animated photo collages of all the main characters. Great looking show.



The best thing I can say about Ms. Fairchild's acting skills is she's the only actress I can think of who could flash a full-on smile with the corners of her mouth turned down. (Try it, it's creepy looking but fun.) That being said, she was okay in The City, in a limited sort of way. They cast her hoping she'd pull in viewers. She didn't.

I also loved Roscoe Born as the way cool Nick Rivers on the City. A far cry from the creepy Mitch Laurence he played on OLTL.

What about Catherine Hickland? Who did she interact with on this show?

God, is there a website with information on The City?

TheCustomOfLife I found this page The City Page, perhaps it can help answer some of your questions.

Thanks for the link. Her character's storyline regarding breast cancer sounds like a bit of a snore regarding the way it was handled.

The one storyline that really interests me is the racism storyline with Angie, Jacob, and their foster child.

The link to that storyline

This is the part that moved me the most:

Cat Hickland was mad hot with the guy who played Buck.


Sunset Beach started out on film too. They dropped it a few months in because the audience didn't like the look.

I remember watching the very first ep of this show, with all the camera movements and whatnot, and turning on Days afterwards and thinking, "Ugh, this show feels so boring." But this soap failed, and so none of the other soaps changed their static-camera style a whit.

I loved The City. I so rarely had time for it, but the film stock, the exteriors, everything was so lovely. Roscoe, Cat, Randolph Mantooth (who very nearly became NuClint on OLTL once or twice) , Amelia Heinle, the young woman who played Carla -- great. Claire Labine's Heart & Soul would've done a similar sort of thing, had it made it on the air (and it should've, instead of PC) .

The Masquerade was the big serial killer SL that dominated most of the show's run, IIRC, and it was written by Brown and Esenstein, the same people who wrote the Loving Murders (am I right? or do I have B&E mixed up with another team?) . B&E are not very good, but occasionally they can do a good mystery, and The Masquerade was a fave for a lot of people.

I just remember Angie and Jacob. Mmm.

Angie and Jacob were great. I remember thinking how cool it was to have Debbi Morgan and Darnell Williams working together again as a couple. I forgot Catherine Hickland was on there. Tess! and who was the guy--Buck, right. He was pretty hunky. And Randolph Mantooth was great as well. They had a great cast. Richard was always a favorite in my book. Loved the accent!

What was the explanation behind Jacob anyway? Did he first show up on Loving?

Well, mostly because they realized (The City and SB both) it cost too much.

All I remember about The City is brick walls and West Wing-style camera work.

To me, basically, she gave every line the subtext of "They're paying me enough to say this line, but not enough to mean it." She just seemed bored out of her mind.

I also liked this show a good deal. In addition to what you've all mentioned, I remember that it came out that Danny and Jocelyn's father used to take Jocelyn to these club meetings or something as a girl where he'd make her have sex with his friends. That was just sick. If I remember right, he had a heart attack and Danny refused to call for help so he died.

Didn't that entire storyline happen before on Another World, but with Jason Frame and his sister Sharlene?

Amy Van Horne, though she was just Amy Horne when I knew her. We went to high school together, participated in Forensics and the Junior-Senior dramas. I thought I'd someday see her on a sitcom -- her comedic timing was excellent.

Another site I can totally get behind! "The City" was a great show and I still miss it to this day! I loved all the characters, especially Tony...I been looking for him on other shows ever since.(Did see him on an Olive Garden commercial a few years back.) He was adorable as was/is Randolph Mantooth! I first loved him on "Emergency," (yes, I am 100 years old), and he was perfect on "Loving" and "The City". Why doesn't another soap pick him up? I know he has subbed for ailing actors on a show or two. Fabulous idea to re-air this show on Soapnet. Of course I'm thrilled to see familiar screen names from the OLTL site commenting here. Great minds and all that...the female characters on "The City" were equally well drawn. That's what kept me watching. It was also a really happy time in my life and I was so disappointed when it was cancelled. It was a great experiment that should have been given more time to root. Kudos to whoever started this site.
Given all the drivel that passes for soap content today, it's nice to see that people remember and appreciate a good, inventive show!

To Rona23

George Palermo (tony Soleito) played a kidnapper in a few SUNSET BEACH episodes back in '99.

I miss THE CITY so much.Thank God I have most of show on tapes.

They were so hot!!! I loved Amy Van Horne and Ted (T.W.) King. I remember wishing she would go to GH and be Sonny's love interest . . . way, way, way before I gave up on GH and wished Sonny would be garrotted.

Also hot were Richard and Zoe. It was a quirky relationship, but they really complemented each other. Plus I was a little in love with Richard.

If I compare the show with the ish that's on daytime now, The City, while boring in parts, was just a much better quality soap. Of course, they all were at that time and, if it hadn't been cancelled/replaced, I'm sure ABCD would have ruined it by now.

Woohoo! So glad I thought to look for this thread!

The City was on when I was about thirteen, and I remember how cool I thought it was. Richard and Zoe were so my couple. I loved his smirky Australian yin to her nasty punk yang. And I also loved Steffi and Tony- I think I wrote a juvenile fanfic about them raising her baby together. And that was definitely the show that cemented me as a Ted King fan for life.

I loved this show. Unfortunately, it was not on the air very long. The Masquerader storyline was the best part of the show. Molly was truly crazy. It was really creepy when it was revealed that she was the killer.

Darnell Williams (Jacob) and Debbi Morgan (Angie) will be going back to AMC early next year, although I'm not sure if Darnell is playing Jacob or Jesse.

Soapnet will run some of their classic AMC episodes.

This was a really good soap, and I miss it. Morgan Fairchild was enough to make me tune in! If any of you were fans of Laura Wright she's now Carly on General Hospital. In my opinion this is not her best role, but, on the other hand, you get to see Laura/Carly almost everyday, so if you really like her it might be worth it to watch GH.

Can anyone tell me if LW's character (can't remember her name) died of sushi/blowfish poisoning on this show?

I thought Laura's best role was Cassie on GL (until the character became too boring and self-righteous to bother with), but she was OK as Ally. It's a shame that they saddled her with worthless Tony.

My favorite characters were Nick Rivers, Carla, Tracy Quartermaine, and Lorraine. The episodes where Tracy hired actors to pretend to be her parents and Ned were some of the funniest I have ever seen on a soap.

Ally did not die from the poisoning. She was still alive at the end of the show, she had gotten involved with Tony.

Laura (Sisk) Wright was really cute on Loving/The City and totally hot on GL as Cassie. She is still hot on GH, but I can't stand the character of Carly so I don't dig her as much as I did on GL. She is also a really good actress. My question is what was the name of actor who played Buck? I think that's what his name was. He was tall with dark hair and looked sort of Tom Selleck-ish without a mustache (sp?) and, he was/is the perfect soap hunk/stud or at least he was then. I can't believe that he never did a soap after The City. I don't really recall if he was a great actor or anything, but he always had his shirt off and was always wearing jeans. He looks like he could play one of the husbands and/or boyfriends on Desperate Housewives. Does anyone know who I am speaking of?

I think you're talking about Philip Brown, who played Buck Houston. Check the Soaphunks website for confirmation - there's a few shirtless pictures of him there. Yeah, I could easily see him having beers with James Denton on Wisteria Lane.

Thanks for the info gio, but I don't go that way. I wouldn't have minded looking like him, but I don't really want to see pictures of him. I sort of do remember that he was supposed to join GL as well (as Ben which Hunt Block played) and had even taped some scenes, but backed out after joining the show because he had some sort of breakdown or something. The word breakdown might be a bit too strong, but I do remember the GL brass weren't too thrilled with him and they really lucked out in getting Block. Although, they killed him off which was really dumb, but I won't bore The City folks with the particulars. Once again, thanks gio.

I always wondered if tptb at ABC wanted The City to be what they thought Ryan's Hope would have been like if they had never canceled it. Both soaps took place in New York. Both shows had a bar as the main setting.

I thought that the camera angles were one of the best things about this show. I liked Morgan Fairchild as Sydney Chase (too bad she didn't stay on the show longer), and of course, Molly was just awesome as the sweet, innocent girl who turned out to be the Masquerader. The Masquerader storyline was one of the best storylines in daytime television ever.

This was a great show. I loved the scenery, the city shots and the music. My favorite character was Richard, the Aussie reporter who was Sydney's son. I haven't seen a lot of these actors on things since the show got cancelled. Just the obvious ones who are on other soaps now.

I wish SoapNet would re-air this series instead of all the OC, One Tree Hill stuff that they show all the time.