Roger - a neglected gem

[Gothick]

I have a close male friend who is about five years older than me and watched DS religiously up until sometime in 1968, when a mixture of hormones and boredom meant he was doing other things at four in the afternoon besides tuning into DS.  (I've been loaning him some of the DVDs so he can catch up with 1897--Laura is his favorite character and he was fascinated by her re-appearance then!)

Anyhow, when he was around 15 or 16 years old, from what he has told me, he had a huge crush on Roger!  He loved it all--the arrogance, the ascots, the pomposity, the fact that Roger always acted as if he owned not just the room, but all of Collinwood whenever he walked in, even though he was basically living there because of Liz's love for David.

My friend's spouse just got him a Netflix sub so he can rent all the early 1966 DVDs and recapture Roger in his regal glory.

In the later years of DS, Louis went off for a month or two at times to do theatre.  I believe this is why he wasn't around at all for some months of the Summer of 1970.

Do check out the late Craig Hamrick's marvelous book, Big Lou.  The real life Louis was NOTHING like Roger Collins, a fact for which we can all be grateful, fond though we may be of Roger's sneering and posturing.

G.

[Brandon Collins]

I like the early Roger a bunch of bunches! Everyone has already outlined the reasons why he's so great, and it is true that he got back burnered as the series went on. But think of what a great time it must've been for LE, to have time to go off and do other things. He never got bored with the show, which meant his performances were always fresh because he didn't have to hang around the studio like an ornament. He didn't get tired like JF and others did as the show went on. That's probably a big factor in why his performances were so great, not to mention his unbelievable acting.

[Patti Feinberg]

For me, one of Roger's top two lines is when everyone is evacuating Collinwood because of Quentin's ghost and he, the last one out, declares WE WILL BE BACK, THIS IS OUR HOME!!

Patti

And I hated Joshua Collins, which just proves what a good actor Louis Edmonds was!

[adamsgirl]

I always enjoyed his performances, no matter what character he was playing. For me, the most poignant scenes were when Joshua lamented the loss of his children and the death of his wife. He had come off as so cold and dictatorial, yet underneath it all, he loved his family. Truly great acting on his part! He was able to make what was initially an unsympathetic character into a sympathetic one.

[Pansity]

For me, one of Roger's top two lines is when everyone is evacuating Collinwood because of Quentin's ghost and he, the last one out, declares WE WILL BE BACK, THIS IS OUR HOME!!

One of my favorite scenes in the whole show. Mr. Balderdash, suddenly face to face with a spook he can't rationalize away. (Though it's interesting that in the very beginning, he was the one all gung ho to do seances.) He recovers himself SO well, and refuses to cave in and admit that Quentin has won, even temporarily.

And in Leviathan we see some of that again, but regrettably short lived.

I wish I had been motivated to go to Fests before Mr. Edmonds passed.  He sounds like he was a hoot and a great all around guy.

Jeannie

[MagnusTrask]

Mr. Balderdash, suddenly face to face with a spook he can't rationalize away. (Though it's interesting that in the very beginning, he was the one all gung ho to do seances.)-

Jeannie-- I LOLed at this line of yours.   As for early Roger vis a vis seances, I think if he'd really believed in it, he wouldn't have wanted to do it.    Just some spoiled rich boy lark maybe.    Maybe that's what happens when Roger shifts from brandy to the harder stuff.   It may just be that brandy is his stuffy juice.   Anyway, I like any L Edmonds character when the scales fall from the eyes, and he stands up against the monsters, even when he's wrong, or we want to think so anyway.

1897: [spoiler]I'm thinking of 1897, Barnabas is found out, kills Carl, we either are or aren't supposed to mind (one of the most confusing moments of television ever made), Edward takes charge and defends his family.   I think one has to admire how he deals with all this, especially considering he is, as always, one in a continuing series of Mr. Balderdashes.  He shifts gears in his perspective pretty damn fast and efficiently.  And was he wrong?[/spoiler]

[IluvBarnabas]

1897: [spoiler]I'm thinking of 1897, Barnabas is found out, kills Carl, we either are or aren't supposed to mind (one of the most confusing moments of television ever made), Edward takes charge and defends his family.   I think one has to admire how he deals with all this, especially considering he is, as always, one in a continuing series of Mr. Balderdashes.  He shifts gears in his perspective pretty damn fast and efficiently.  And was he wrong?[/spoiler]

While I do admire Edward for taking charge of the family, and I don't think he was wrong [spoiler] at being mad at Barnabas for killing Carl and wanting to destroy him, in other areas he was totally clueless. However, Quentin told Edward that Petofi was behind cursing him and Jamison yet Petofi sweet-talked Edward into believing Barnabas was the one who did it, which was a big fat lie. When Edward had Barnabas imprisoned in the cell, he condemned Barnabas for all the misery "he" brought and for making a deal with the devil to live eternally, which is so far from the truth it isn't even funny. In truth, the family was in more danger from Petofi than from Barnabas. However wrong and misguided some of his his actions were (i.e. killing Carl), Barnabas wanted to save the Collins family. Petofi was willing to destroy the Colllins family if he didn't get what he wanted and that was to go to the future. [/spoiler]

In conclusion I admire Edward for taking charge when the situation called for it, especially when he had to deal with Trask, but he's just putty in the hands of Petofi and it's infuriating to watch. I just want to shake some sense into Edward.

[MagnusTrask]

I think the Carl thing just blew any chance of Edward listening to Barnabas or to anyone making a case for him, ever, and any of us would have reacted the same way, I feel sure.   

[IluvBarnabas]

You make a good point Magnus. You're so perceptive.

I still think Edward was a fool to disregard Quentin's warnings about Petofi. Still, that may say something...the fact that QUENTIN said Petofi was behind all the trouble. We've all seen that Edward and Quentin don't get along all that well. If it had been anyone else, someone that Edward could trust, that had told him Petofi had been causing all the mischief and therefore not to be trusted, then maybe Edward wouldn't have been so fooled by Petofi. Maybe.

[Positivenergyone]

You're right, ILB.  Edward & Quentin's sibling rivalry did cloud Edward's view.  Their rivalry itself, however, has always been very amusing to me, especially when Quentin manages to push Edward's buttons and rile him up!!  I'm thinking of the 4 siblings discussing "Grandma's" will and Quentin digging into Edward to get a reaction.  The same type relationship carried over with Quentin's ghost and Roger as someone previously remembered Roger's line:  "We'll be back--be assured of that!" then slamming the front door of Collinwood!  The hilarity to me is Quentin's ghost confidently looking over the bannister surveying his conquest, laughing his head off at finally being "master" of Collinwood and once again riling up his relative (somewhat of a continuation of his sibling rivalry with Edward transferred to Roger)!  Quentin really knew how to get Edward's goat and LE played the furious brother/cousin beautifully! 

As far as the character of Roger goes and for that matter Liz & Carolyn, there had to be some non-supernatural characters to lend some normalcy to the stories, and I think that's where they came in.  As a result, sometimes they weren't in the spotlight as much as the other characters.

[Pansity]

Jeannie-- I LOLed at this line of yours.   As for early Roger vis a vis seances, I think if he'd really believed in it, he wouldn't have wanted to do it.    Just some spoiled rich boy lark maybe....

Glad you liked "Mr.Balderdash". Quentin has a nickname too: "Mr. Plays with the Dark Arts for Fun and Profit". 

As to the "rich boy lark" and Roger's just wanting to do it for kicks -- guess he's got a lot in common with 1897 Quentin.  Two spoilt rich boys messing with the supernatural for kicks.  Only Roger was lucky and never had it turn around and take over his life.   

Jeannie

[Angelique Wins]

Like Pansity, I regret that I didn't discover the DS Festivals until after Louis Edmonds had passed away.  I LOVE Roger and each of his characters on the show.  Nobody was a cardboard cutout.  You knew, deep down inside--maybe WAAY deep down inside--there was lots more to his characters than just the lines they spoke. 

In my own attempt at fan fiction, I've tackled both Roger and Joshua (though Joshua may be a bit easier as he's had the benefit of learning from the past) and gotten some rather nice comments, but the last chapter I wrote was met with mixed reaction from my betareader/festival roommate and her "I liked it but..." always elicits an "ok, what's wrong?"

What was wrong, we decided, was that I was unfamiliar with the original Roger.  I didn't get to Collinwood until Roger arrived with his lovely wife Cassandra, and for several days, I witnessed all these people being really rude to his new wife--just because they THOUGHT she looked like somebody else...)  Anyway, that was my first Roger moment. 

But I went back and marathoned the first 200 episodes, many that I had never seen, and went, "OOOOOHHHHHH!!!!!  I GET IT now!!!!  LOL!!!!

The resulting rewrite was met with "YES.  THAT's IT!!!  MUCH BETTER!!!!"

I'm certainly glad I did that.  Now most of the first 200 eps are in my "favorite storylines/parts of the show.  Thanks, Adamsgirl!!!!

Judy