Newsgroups: rec.arts.tv.soaps
Date: Fri, 22 Jan 1993 12:41:53 -0500 
From: Jennifer Allyson Turner <jt3j+@andrew.cmu.edu>
Subject: Re: AMC: Character glut

>It seems to me that AMC is missing something vital.  The old
>favorites are still okay, but the newer characters are lacking.
>In general, I really am not compelled by the Maricks, Gloria, 
>Galen, Steven, the Fryes, Lucas, Mimi, or even Nat and Trevor!

The only new characters that I really cannot stand are Not and Gloria. 
Lucas is okay and Mimi's okay, but I think Derek's a really good actor. 
When he was telling Tom how he felt about Mimi, I felt SO bad for him. 
I think Lucas should skip town and take Tweety and An Li with him.
 
>Personally, I think it's time Steven and Galen were exiled
>for good.  The only reason to even see Steven was so that
>Tad could be examined by someone other than Joe.  The Carter
>Jones stuff was good, but NewNat's scenes with him were
>far better than anything he did with Galen.  Time to go, and
>take An Li with them. 

I agree.  What role do they REALLY have now?  If they got rid of Galen
and Dr. BJ, maybe they'd be able to bring back some of the old
characters.  And speaking of An Li, she and Terrence are going nowhere. 
The only purpose she fulfills now is as moderator for his arguments with
Taylor.  Oh, yeah, and nanny for Peter.

>I am glad that AMC has people of color, but they are so
>boring.  I wish they would hire the old Pat Baxter and bring
>in a new Angela.  Debbie Morgan's not been anyplace since
>Generations was cancelled, has she.  Bring her back with a
>pubescent Frankie.  The woman who played Angela's mother was
>great.  I'll never forget (10 years ago) how she rolled her
>eyes when Angela said she was pregnant, and then announced that
>she was secretly married to Jesse.  The commitment to showing
>People of Color is great, but I say they should get rid of
>Mimi and Lucas and bring back the Baxters.

What happened to Angie, anyway?  One minute she's engaged to Derek and
they're planning their happy life together, the next minute, she's
nowhere to be seen.  Did she skip town?  What?

I hope that if they do bring her back, it will be Debbie Morgan and not
that other woman.  To me, she was never Angie.
 
>Gloria was given the Barnabas Collins treatment--a villain who is
>so well liked they make the villain sympathetic.   At least
>Barnabas' was a little more drawn out.  The rape was just a little
>too catalytic.  At least the triangle has had time to develop.
> 
>I see no reason to have Dmitri and Edmund on the show past this
>May.  Let's give Erica a rest and keep her off men for a three-month
>period.  Fifteen men in 20 years?  Enough for now.  Edmund is a 
>hunk, but unnecessary now that Angelique and Helga are long gone.

I like Edmund and I like him with Brooke, but I like Tad and Brooke
better.  But if they're going to throw Dixie and Tad back together (at
least for a while), I'd like to see Edmund stay around.
 
>The introduction of Jack's mystery woman so far, sucks.  The lesson
>here is that he obsessed with Lorraine not because she's who she is,
>but because he's bored and depressed.  And so are we, no?

I find this storyline ludicrous.
 
>Here are some other old characters I would love to see returned, either
>as recasts or the original actors.
> 
>Skye--Time to spar with Hayley for Daddy's affections.

Yeah, I'd love to see Skye again.  Wasn't she engaged to Will at one
time?  I'd love to see her interact with Hayley.

>Ross--Time to spar with everyone.  His dalliance with Natalie
>       was one of my favorite storylines.
>Joey--Well, perhaps not. 
>Langley--Where the devil is this man? 
>Cecily--She could be paired up with Joey, Tad, Charlie, a new Brian.
>Trask--Brian's older brother. Why not?  He had all of Brian's resentment
> 	without all the "cool" posturing.
>Lanie--Kill off David and bring the grieving young widow back to PV.

They can't kill off David because Jeremy just lost the love of his life.
 That would mean too many complications for Loving.

>Mark--Kill off Ellen.  Erica could lean on Mark while swearing off men.

Don't kill her off.  A simple divorce will do.  These two always had a
rocky relationship, anyway, didn't they?
 
>Moreover, I think it's time a new family was introduced.  Perhaps
>a lower-middle-class hispanic family, with the mother as a nurse, 
>the father laid off from wherever, and a few young adult kids.  They
>can be blended in as if they were always there--like she and Ruth have
>worked together for years.  One of the sons could be gay and always 
>running off to Llanview to hang out with Billy and Rick.  One of
>the daughters could get into some ill-fated romance with some one.

Could be interesting.  But all these cross-overs can get pretty complicated.
 
>The introduction of the Chandler family nine years ago really perked
>things up.  Perhaps a new family that reflects reality could do the
>trick.  Maybe the woman who played Mrs. Gonzalez (the woman who rented
>rooms to Jenny in NYC) could be the grandmother.

Wow!  Has it only been nine years?  Then again, I wouldn't really know
since that was around the time that actually started to pay attention to
AMC and to actively watch it.
 
>What do you all think?

Great comments! 
> 
>Seth


*************************************************************
Jennifer A. Turner                    jt3j@andrew.cmu.edu

"I wouldn't trust that man with a child.  I wouldn't trust 
 that man with a CANARY."
                          Nola Orsini on Adam Chandler
*************************************************************