Classic Soaps Loving

[Jason73]

I guess that Edge of Night 1980 and Another World 1987 aren't enough of an 80's soap fix for me because this weekend I've been watching Loving. I started with the movie and then the first two episodes and am now watching random episodes from 1983 and 1984. I was aware of some of the characters from Loving back in the 80's (Ava, Trisha, Trucker) and I sort of paid attention to the serial killer story that transitioned the soap into The City, but I had never watched an episode of Loving. I did check out The City for a brief time when it first aired.

I enjoyed the first few episodes and would enjoy following the show from the beginning if only that were possible. It was pretty standard soap fare, but episodes written by Douglas Marland have to be a million times better than anything airing today. The angle of it revolving around a university (at least initially) is kind of interesting. Perry Stephens is very handsome and very likable as Jack and I have always enjoyed Susan Walters. It's also fun to see Susan Keith, who I enjoyed as the first Cecile on Another World. She's currently scheming to seduce Mike Donovan (her real life husband or future husband) who is much hotter here, then I found him as Trevor on All My Children.

I would assume the entire run of this soap would be tucked away somewhere safely in the ABC vaults since it debuted after the practice of tape wiping was ended. It sure would be a treat if ABC made this available on their streaming app.

There's a nice little selection of 1993 episodes I found in a playlist, so I guess I'll check out those, in between visits to Bay City and Monticello.

 

[Daniel Avery]

I would assume the entire run of this soap would be tucked away somewhere safely in the ABC vaults

Now that you mention it, there might be some kind of ownership issue, since I don't recall ABC making any effort to re-air it on SoapNet, which would have been a no-brainer since it was newer material than the first half of Ryan's Hope (which they re-ran several times). They also re-ran Port Charles.

 

[Carrie Fairchild]

Loving ran for a bit on Sky Soap over here but I didn’t have Sky at the time, so never watched it. I may have the wrong idea but it seems like a gentler soap in comparison to some of its counterparts at the time. Also, just this weekend, I saw clips on Instagram of Celeste Holm’s stint as Alden matriarch Isabelle from the early 90’s. As a concept, I was more intrigued with The City, than with Loving, but was disappointed when I watched that short lived offshoot.

Off topic slightly, but I do wish there’d been more of an effort to launch the half hour US soaps over here. An hour a day was a bit of an ask for soap viewers used to the 30 minute UK and Aussie soaps (Knots Landing’s daytime run being the exception) but there were many opportunities to show a half hour US soap from the beginning on terrestrial TV with the likes of Loving, B&B, Generations, The City and Port Charles all launching in the 80’s/90’s. Hell, they even chopped Santa Barbara in half on ITV when they’d a number of ready made half hour soaps they could’ve chosen instead.

 

[Jason73]

Now that you mention it, there might be some kind of ownership issue, since I don't recall ABC making any effort to re-air it on SoapNet, which would have been a no-brainer since it was newer material than the first half of Ryan's Hope (which they re-ran several times). They also re-ran Port Charles.

Oh that's right. I forgot that I had read somewhere that Loving was owned by Agnes Nixon's production company rather than ABC. That was supposedly one of the reasons it wasn't a difficult decision for ABC to cancel Loving and replace it with Port Charles, a soap they DID own.

I may have the wrong idea but it seems like a gentler soap in comparison to some of its counterparts at the time.

What I've seen is very classic soap opera--affairs and family squabbles and a real haves vs have nots vibe. Apparently it takes a more campy turn or something in it's later years. I do remember Ava and Jeremy from All My Children being chased by General Hospital's Faison through Universal Studios and Ava being caught by the King Kong animatronic thing. I wasn't watching then but I can remember pictures being in the soap magazines.

 

[Jason73]

Warning: It's pretty cringey and a far cry from the early stuff I've been watching.

 

[Daniel Avery]

Delia on Ryan's Hope also got carried off by a gorilla prior to this, and given how poorly THAT was received, you'd think soaps would have sworn them off forever. Lisa Peluso (Ava in this clip) must have felt an intense sense of deja vu when her Another World character, Lila, had her wedding interrupted by yet another gorilla (named Carolyn) in the series finale. If a gorilla shows up on a soap, it's the Kiss of Death. Kind of like Ted McGinley.

 

[Carrie Fairchild]

What I've seen is very classic soap opera--affairs and family squabbles and a real haves vs have nots vibe.

Yes, my initial impression was that it was kind of unremarkable compared to the wildness of Santa Barbara or the glitz of B&B. By all accounts, it was huge in Italy where it was known as Quando si ama (When You’re in Love).

 

[tommie]

I always found the name "Loving" off-putting for some reason.

 

[Daniel Avery]

I also read that Trisha Alden was their favorite character in Italy to the point that Trisha was a shorthand/fan title for the show.

 

[Jason73]

I always found the name "Loving" off-putting for some reason.

It's on oddly succinct choice when compared to titles like One Life to Live and All My Children. I wonder if there were other working titles?

I also read that Trisha Alden was their favorite character in Italy to the point that Trisha was a shorthand/fan title for the show.

I've been reading up on the soap and apparently they did some location filming there and also when they wrote Trisha off the show, Italy is where she ended up. Isn't Italy also where Bold and the Beautiful is very popular?

 

[cijimccashin]

I watched the pilot movie and a few of the first episodes and I couldn't get into for some reason. You can tell Agnes reuses a lot of things from her past soap bibles though. The have vs. the have not has always been a staple on her shows. I did watch the serial killer storyline and I thought it was brilliant the show got really good in its last 18 months on the air. Especially in its treatment of African-American characters. I have never seen them get that type of agency before.

 

[Jason73]

You can tell Agnes reuses a lot of things from her past soap bibles though.

Absolutely! The rebellious daughter and the long suffering single mother made it into I think every one of her soaps. Rachel and Ada on Another World were literally ripped from the AMC bible and transported to Bay City. The thing is, that trope really worked for her--Rachel, Erica, Ava -- all became iconic characters. Who was the mother daughter combo on One Life to Live? Carla and her mother?

 

[cijimccashin]

Absolutely! The rebellious daughter and the long suffering single mother made it into I think every one of her soaps. Rachel and Ada on Another World were literally ripped from the AMC bible and transported to Bay City. The thing is, that trope really worked for her--Rachel, Erica, Ava -- all became iconic characters. Who was the mother daughter combo on One Life to Live? Carla and her mother?

Yes, they usually do work. Very relatable too. And yes Carla and Sadie were the mother-daughter duo on OLTL.

 

[tommie]

It's on oddly succinct choice when compared to titles like One Life to Live and All My Children. I wonder if there were other working titles?

According to Wikipedia the working title was Love Without End, but again for launching a new soap in the 80s it seems oddly old fashioned - then again a lot of show titles seem rather dumb when you first hear them so who knows. But the name Loving has always put me off it for some weird reason - it always struck me as an incomplete sentence (loving what?!).

 

[Jason73]

I've been watching some stuff with Paul Anthony Stewart's Casey. I'd forgotten how much I like that actor. He should do another soap. It's also been fun to see baby Laura Wright as Ally.

 

[Jason73]