42 replies to this topic

[TheCustomOfLife]

Bump.

[TheCustomOfLife]

So, I'm reading through my Soap Opera Digests from 1992 I won on eBay, and there's this really stupid story about Casey's crazy father Griff, talking to a painting of Trisha. So, I've gathered that Griff is crazy, and that he's supposed to be taking pills but Casey has found that he isn't doing that, but what happens next? And Casey tries to hit on Ava, but she tells him that she's too old for him? So, what, does she have no love at all? At this same time, Casey is also supposed to be hiding his attraction to Ally, but everyone knows they're so in lurve. Then Trisha divorced Trucker and then they got married, like, a day after their divorce became final? I'm confused. Someone please explain these plot points.

[The Last Dodo]

MAJOR bump.

OK, so I just watched the final episode (or damn close to it) here, and I'm seriously about ready to cry for two reasons:

1. This is clearly a soap that is firing on all four cylinders. I know it had a wildly uneven past (most of which, to be honest, I didn't follow), but at this point the writing and acting are uniformly topnotch. Yet it's gone and soaps that are completely insulting to the intelligence still remain.

2. Christine Tudor Newman (Gwyneth) should have won the lead actress Emmy that year in a walk. She took something that could have been completely over the top and unintentiionally hilarious and made it harrowing and riveting. Yet she wasn't even nominated.

Sigh.

[twotrey]

Am I glad I found this thread. The Loving murders were the last time I was really excited about my soap viewing. Those last few months were definitely must-see TV, and if you missed an ep, you were screwed. Also loved how the episodes that largely pertained to the serial killer storyline had a special opening title sequence.

I also thought this show was ABC's first and best example the whole "synergy" concept that got fed down our throats at the turn of the millennium with Rae Cummings and such. When Loving had its many crossovers with AMC, while no doubt a ratings stunt, they felt a bit more organic. The first major crossover story, with Jeremy and Ceara breaking up over in Pine Valley and then reconnecting in Corinth and returning to PV, wasn't so hot (probably because Jeremy and Ceara were never really that hot to begin with anyway) but the "Fatal Connection" storyline (as the promos put it) with Dinah Lee moving from Pine Valley to Corinth after breaking up with Clay, then running into "old acquaintance" Carter Jones in PV, only to get her ass beat and moving back to Corinth, with Carter following behind and Trevor and Jeremy (who then decided to stay put in Corinth) chasing him. What I thought was really cool during that time was how the two shows played almost as one 90 minute soap then, with the Carter/Dinah Lee story both seamlessly playing through each show yet easy to follow if you didn't watch both shows. One fave moment of fluidity had a bruised-and-battered Dinah Lee making a teary phone call to sister Hannah (Rebecca Gayheart's character) on Loving only for the call to abruptly, mysteriously end. First shot of the day's AMC? Dinah Lee passed out at the phone booth.

They also kept continuity between the two shows pretty straight as the years passed, with Ceara's death on Loving meaning Myrtle, Trevor, and FauxNatalie leaving PV for a few days; and when Angie joined Jeremy in Corinth, I remember her telling him (or, rather, evil Gilbert posing as Jeremy during that rather horrendous storyline) to call Erica to say that she was sorry about Mona's passing. Of course, they blew it in the end, though, as Jeremy's death in Corinth was never mentioned to brother Timmy over in PV, and was finally acknowledged a year or two later in passing by Erica. What made that all the more frustrating was how Liza referenced "the Corinth serial murders" during a WRCW brainstorming session, so the writers were still staying current.

I was so hoping that if ABC went through with The City's original title of LOV*NYC, they would retain the theme song but change those last lines to "The one thing we should treasure/Now and forever/Is L-O-V-N-Y-C." Oh well.

[guinevere34]

Ok, so I'm really, really bored at work this week. Wanted to see if there was a topic on Loving and sure enough, there was. When I was a little girl I watched all the ABC soaps with my mother (I remember Jenny and Greg, Opal played by the actress from "Mama's Family" and when Liza Colby tried to claim she got raped/beat up by somebody, IDR who. I remember wanting to look like Trisha on Loving when I grew up....I remember Lucy Coe before she turned bad!) But eventually I had to go to school and stuff, so I stopped watching. After I graduated from high school and started nannying, I started watching again and that's when the Loving murder mystery thing happened. I was SO bummed when I realized that they were doing it to put an end to the show! In any case, I became obsessed. Jeremy, Erica Kane's ex, murdered by being entombed in plaster or something? Genius! I was SO excited when it was revealed that Gwyneth was the killer because I had remembered her as Trisha's mom from when I was little. Speaking of which, when Gwyneth Paltrow became famous, did anyone else immediately think of Gwyneth Alden? Anyway, I totally followed everyone to The City....which was ok, but just not the same. At the time, I had also started to watch GL because my best friend was a CBS girl, and then suddenly Laura Wright and Paul Anthony Steward joined that cast. All I would have needed was Amelie Heinle and I would have been in heaven! Loving, like many of the victims of of the Corinth Serial Killer, was killed off in his prime. If I were a gansta and Loving was one of my fallen homeboys, I'd be pouring out a whole 40 oz of Old English for it right now. *sigh*

Edited by guinevere34, Dec 29, 2005 @ 11:56 AM.

[blackwing]

I only watched this show for about a year; it was when Celeste Holm was the matriarch.

I know some of these people are still on soaps, like Casey and Allie, and that Michael Weatherly (Cooper) has sort of made it big on NCIS. But what happened to the show's supercouple? The hot Trisha and the resident hunk Trucker? I don't think either of these two has really been in anything since. Why not? They certainly were a good looking pair.

[dirksunboy]

This was a great show the first year or so, when it was operating with the Agnes Nixon/Douglas Marland "bible". Jennifer Ashe as the poor incest victim Lily and Susan Walter as mega bitch Lorna Forbes were great. Lots of good storylines...

..then the ratings remained crappy and they started screwing with the show. I watched it pretty regularly the first 4 years or so, but had pretty much given up by the end.

To answer blackwing, Noelle Beck (Trisha) pops up on stuff every now and then, and I *think* she was up for Krystal on AMC? And the incredibly hot Robert Tyler (Trucker) has given up acting, IIRC.

And yes, it's a shame Christine Tudor was never nominated for an Emmy. Almost as big a shame as Kate Collins never being nominated for Nat or Janet on AMC.

[twotrey]

Noelle Beck's big post-Loving gig was as a regular on CPW, the revamped second half of Central Park West's sole season.

[DocHopper]

Okay, I have to comment, since I haven't seen this thread in forever. I wasn't a huge Loving fan, but I remember parts of it. My mom used to watch it on her lunch breaks. And I guess I watched with her in the summer.

But the thing that I always remember from Loving is a wedding (I think Trisha and Trucker's, and boy is that a stupid name) it happened in this glass chapel in the middle of the woods, and was lit entirely by candlelight. I thought it was absolutely beautiful. I mentioned it to my sister once and she didn't remember anything about it. Did I make this up?

[gkatte]

Noelle Beck (Trisha) was also on 'Sex in the City'. She was Big's ex wife who befriends Carrie briefly. I think she may have been in two different episodes but she was Big's first wife.

[PaperBagHead]

Noelle is still so beautiful.
I used to watch Loving, when I had mono, since it was on before AMC. Loved that there was a charachter named Lauren, like me. How did Jeremey die?

[Lyle Lyle]

I watched Loving when I lived in LA since I liked 30 minute soaps over hourlong ones and B&B drove me batty at times... then I moved back to Honolulu where the ABC affiliate wouldn't air any of the half-hour soaps.

Anyway, I've long been intrigued by The Loving Murders (I once had all the promos on my hard drive, found on AOL at some point) soap opera serial killers have always interested me from a creative standpoint but The Loving Murders had a killer who made use of powder puffs and quick drying plaster. Every so often I'll write to SOAPnet about re-running that landmark storyline, but I've yet to see such a thing.

Ah.

[Scrumtrelescent]

Yeah, Jeremy was the one who was killed by being encased in plaster. The writers were trying the weirdest murder scenarios they could come up with.

[twotrey]

Gwyn's murder victims and causes of death (not sure if this is the right order):
Stacey (poisoned body powder)
Clay (poisoned cognac)
Curtis (drowned)
Cabot & Isabelle (poison candles)
Gwyn & Ally (failed attempt - car exhaust)
Jeremy (quick drying plaster)
Gwyn (had Steffi use her own poisoned injection on her after Tess--the intended victim--smashed her hands with a stapler before escaping, and Gwyn couldn't properly commit suicide)

[butheircousins]

Hey Doc! I remember the wedding in the glass chapel in the middle of the woods. At the time I thought it was the most unrealisitc thing I had ever seen. What I remember most was when I saw it was saying, "Why is there a glass plant garden in the middle of the woods!". I guess woman are/were into the fantasy part of it. You didn't dream it. I remember it well and it was a time when daytime had big weddings. Of course, it wasn't on location but they did put time and money into it. Hopfully, this answered your question.

[RyanCrowell]

I watched the last year or so of Loving. I wish I had seen the earlier episodes, because they seemed to be all over the place, from what I have heard, and at least that can make for interesting viewing. It can't be any worse than the crap which is on daytime now. I had hoped Soapnet might repeat Loving, but they are too busy repeating such classics as OC.

Is it true someone on this show was addicted to cough syrup?

So many people got their start on the show. Rebecca Geyheart, Patricia Kalember, Elise Neal, Michael Weatherly, John O'Hurley...

I had an old Soap Opera Weekly from about 10 years ago with a "Where are they now?" feature on various former soap actors. One of them was O'Hara Parker, who played Lorna Forbes in 1986. Her brother is one of the founders of Badgley Mischka.

[jacey82]

Hi longtime lurker popping in!

I loved this show when I was little but I can't remember how Casey died. Does anybody remember? I just remember Ally holding him and then later trying to set-up ted king's character Danny to make him pay.

[butheircousins]

I think Loving was very AMC and OLTL in the beginning and then it sort of went downhill from there. I remember that they had one true supercouple (seriously, who were the first to have their names combinded into one?) and, I guess that would be Trisha and Trucker (no kidding, that was his name) and, there was also Jack and Stacey although I don't think they were they hot couple, but it took them a long time to get married and then for some reason after years and years they dumped original Jack for some other guy. I don't recall the actor or the reason for the change. I have always wondered what happened to the actress who played Trisha. I think her name was Noel Beck. She was really pretty and I was really surpised that some other soap didn't pick her up. Of course, she may have wanted primetime, but I guess it didn't work out.

[twotrey]

Noelle Beck turned up on CPW (the revamped version of Central Park West) after her brief return to Loving for the home stretch leading into The City.

Edited by twotrey, May 28, 2009 @ 6:07 AM.

[steve91199]

Roya Megnot, who played the first Ava on Loving from 84-88, has died. Here's a clip of her.

[dimples1]

Sigh.

I just don't get why SoapNet doesn't air any of these long, but not forgotten ABC soaps on their network.

[Coldit]

No action here forever, but perhaps someone will stumble upon this and know the answer to my questions:

Any recollection of who the actress was who played April (I think was her name)? Of the Ned/April coupling (Ned = Luke Perry)?

Also, anyone have a link to any YouTube videos of the Loving murders playing out? I'd watched the show for quite a while (strangely enough with Trisha and Steve being my favorite pairing), but missed the final arc because of...I don't know, college or something else way less important than soaps. I still don't actually even know what happened. Just that all the major characters were murdered and it ended up being by one of the Alden gals.

[steve91199]

Any recollection of who the actress was who played April (I think was her name)? Of the Ned/April coupling (Ned = Luke Perry)?

Alexandra Wilson played April. Her best known credit may be as Josie Watts on AW.

There's some talk about Ned/April here.

Also, anyone have a link to any YouTube videos of the Loving murders playing out?

You can find some of them here. They don't have Stacey but do have most of the others.

It's nice to hear about Loving. If you have any other thoughts I hope you can share them.

[Coldit]

Oh, thank you so much! I will definitely do some YouTube indulging when I get home from work.

So most of those Alexandra Wilson credits aren't familiar to me -- except for 90210. Brooke? Was that the chick Brandon dated during one of the summer seasons with the bad haircut who turned out vaguely racist? That would make me sad; I didn't enjoy that actress. But I loved Ned and April.

Years ago I worked on a project briefly with Nada Rowand, who played Kate Rescott. I was so excited when I heard she'd be working on it, and honestly when I first met her I just felt like hugging her and calling her Mom. She told me the only person she really still spoke to from Loving was Roya Megnot and that they were still quite close -- I actually didn't know till I clicked on this thread that Roya had passed away earlier this year. Very sad.

I will have to do some YT memory jogging before I can really contribute many thoughts. I just kind of have flashes in my head -- I think there was a woman named Shana? An attorney? Did she date a minister? I feel like she was one of my favorites. And there was a Harry who won the lottery, right? I seem to recall this show being more class-mixed that the other ABC soaps -- they definitely had the wealthy Aldens but there were a lot more working-class blue-collar types.

[steve91199]

You were right about her 90210 role. Can you believe 90210 has a Wiki??

I always liked Kate. She felt very real, she just worked hard and tried to be a good mother. Nada Rowland was a very underrated actress. Loving had so many underrated actors. I remember reading that she did her own cabaret act. I'm glad you got to meet her.

I will have to do some YT memory jogging before I can really contribute many thoughts. I just kind of have flashes in my head -- I think there was a woman named Shana? An attorney? Did she date a minister? I feel like she was one of my favorites.

Yes. She dated a minister, Jim Vochek. His sister was a newscaster. Later Shana married a man named Leo, and eventually they left town together.

Loving did have a class mix. That was deliberate from the start. They wanted the upper crust Aldens and Slaters and the more common Donovans. Stacey, and her brothers, and their mother Rose. I think most of them left within a few years but the class element remained.

There's some good Youtube stuff, although I wish there were more. There are a lot of clips of Casey and Casey/Ally, and some individual episodes. This is a 1984 episode, and a 1989 episode. There are others too, I just can't remember them. If you want to see images, dubbed into another language, there are some here.

[Spazzo47]

I was just thinking how some network exec should be smart enough to figure out that some of the shorter running soaps (Loving, SB, Passions) might be good hole fillers for their daytime line ups. The worst 90s soaps are much better than anything we see now. So if they did a double episode of Loving starting from the beginning, it can remind writers how to write good soap and it can be a really cheap way to fill the hole between The View and AMC.

I always enjoyed Loving and never understood why it got such low ratings. I started watching around the Casey/Ally era and I think I watched until it committed soapicide. then I watched some of The City. The first time I read about the reality show with that name, I got excited because I thought they were bringing it back.

[steve91199]

You'd think some network would snap up these soaps, especially since some of them, like SB, still have huge cult followings in some countries. Yet they don't want to make the effort, because it's easier for them to run the same crap over and over for a brief ratings spike.

I don't understand why Loving didn't get better ratings. I think there was too much backstage turnover and the show had a bad reputation. They also may have been better off putting Loving between AMC and OLTL or OLTL and GH.

The cast certainly seemed to give their all, and looking at a lot of the clips again, it's sad they never got more credit.

I had the same reaction you did when I heard about The City. Needless to say I didn't watch the MTV version.

Promo for the Loving movie.

[JaneDigby]

I wasn't a major fan of the show but I have a vague memory of the show pairing Clay Alden with Ava's sister. I think her name was Carly. Was she a kindergarten teacher? Anyone remember this? I seem to remember this being pretty good so maybe I hallucinated it. Of course, I can't remember how it played out. Help, anyone?

[Black Knight]

Yes, Carly and Clay were an item. He had had a child with Abril and wanted custody, so he married Carly to bolster his chances of getting custody, though he did love her. He ended up losing custody, though, and although Carly stuck with him then, she left him a little later over some other scheme of his. I think that's when that particular actor left town, and then the Larkin Malloy recast arrived some months later.

Carly went on to have a romance with Paul's physical therapist, Flynn (played by just about the only soap actor who dared to be openly gay at the time, he sadly passed away not too long ago). They got engaged, but then Flynn decided Carly was still stuck on Paul, and stood in the street screaming at her about it...and then a car hit him and killed him, which was sort of awesome because it was so unexpected. Carly and Paul ended up getting back together, and they left town together with their son.

[ByaNose]

I remember thinking that Susan (Lorna) Walters and later Noelle (Trisha) Beck being really bad actors and really green when they first started, but as time when on they got so much better. I know the actors in daytime hate the term "training ground" when starting in daytime, but for them it was and it payed off. Anyway, Loving was the traditional soap and never got the ratings because they were against Y&R and were the lead off for ABC. It should have really been sandwiched between AMC and Loving like B&B is between Y&R and ATWT.