PROS AND CONS OF 1897

PRO: No Jeff Clark!

CON: RD plays TWO characters!!

She sure did!;)

Hey Jen, you know who will win that cat fight (a la DYNASTY style) and I would be willing to place a bet on it!

heehee Vam my money is on Beth!

jennifer

heehee Vam my money is on Beth!

It will not be YOUR money soon;)

Reminder:

Everyone seems to be talking about 1897 as though it's ready to start.  Quentin (as a ghost) will be appearing soon, but there's a fairly sizable present day story about that before they go back in time.  I'm sure many will love this part, but just thought I'd mention that it's not quite time for 1897 yet.

Luciaphil has already covered a lot of what I like and dislike about 1897 (as usual!).

As much as I'm looking forward to 1897, at the same time I'm dreading the present-day setup. I think it took a little too long, and focused a little too much on the children. Strangely, this is the case with each time-travel story line. It begins with the focus on the children in present day, yet once we actually travel back into the past, we see next to nothing of the kids. But I was pretty sick of the kids, in each instance, by the time they finally traveled into the past.

As Luciaphil has already pointed out, the 1897 episodes are usually outstanding, but the story line itself is the most inconsistent in the series, written day by day, seemingly with little planning. There are history revisions aplenty and I don't like seeing performers play more than one character within the same time line (KLS as Rachel & Kitty; Thayer David as Sandor and Petofi; Roger Davis as Wilkins and Tate, etc.). It is also unfortunate that both Joan Bennett and John Karlen both left the show for the majority of this time line. I also felt the end of the story was too focused on Petofi and got tired of him. They seemed like they were just dragging the whole thing out by the end of 1897 because they didn't know what to do next and didn't want to end a popular story line.

That being said, I can't wait for Nancy Barrett to play Charity possessed by Pansy Faye; and Joan Bennett really gets a chance to do some acting with the Judith character. I was very impressed with how much Bennett brought to the portrayal that obviously wasn't in the script. In fact, just about every performer has their best character in the 1897 time line, from John Karlen to Grayson Hall.

Can't leave out Terry Crawford's Beth! She really lights up the storyline from her kissing chemistry with Quentin to her devoted care of Crazy Jenny, she is wonderful!

At the 2001 Halloweenathon at Tarrytown, Terry Crawford and Marie Wallace reprised their roles as Beth and Crazy Jenny and were totally awesome!  Watching them was as if I was watching the storyline for the first time again! They were so in character and dead on perfect! With them doing it live and just a few feet from me, I felt I was part of the action, which totally magnified the enjoyment

They were both wonderful at the Halloweenathon. For those of you who haven't seen a photo of these two lovely ladies in costume from last years party, look below. You can check out more photos from this gathering on my DS Events site located at;

http://bobubas.topcities.com/index.htm  

It will not be YOUR money soon;)

you know Vam i do usually back the underdog!heehee
have been a Red Sox fan as long as i've been watching DS(1966)of course i was a wee girl barely out of the cradle! just think Beth might surprize you and since Quentin is the prize! sometimes nice does beat out witch!And Angelique might just mess up one of her potions!

jennifer
of course you might also see me jumping off The Tobin Bridge  soon anyway!

did i tell you i always enjoy your posts!

Hey Bob love that picture! They both look so good!
are they going this year?

jennifer

[color=FF00FF]Thanks for the pic Bob!!!

Ahhh, the memories of Tarrytown! Miss ya sweetie![/color]

[shadow=purple,left,300]Always, Minja [/shadow]

The best of 1897 is, of course, Quentin.  The mind switch episode is brilliant...the flashing back and forth there.  Magda is great and Beth by far the most tragic charecter (someone please explain to me the logic behind Beth being considered a wimp, while Julia is lionized as this paragon of strength.  Beth had some basis and Julia was motivated solely by something that existed only in her mind.  Even if Julia had something to go on, getting it from Barnabas  cannot compare with a piece of Quentin).

Con wise:  Amanda Harris blows chunks.

The best of 1897 is, of course, Quentin.  The mind switch episode is brilliant...the flashing back and forth there.  Magda is great and Beth by far the most tragic charecter (someone please explain to me the logic behind Beth being considered a wimp, while Julia is lionized as this paragon of strength.  Beth had some basis and Julia was motivated solely by something that existed only in her mind.  Even if Julia had something to go on, getting it from Barnabas  cannot compare with a piece of Quentin).

Con wise:  Amanda Harris blows chunks.

Beth rules  I agree totally with above Nancy
Also Amanda Harris[puke] sorry for any of her fans
but i think she was one of the worst actors on the show ICK! That voice!

jennifer

Beth rules  I agree totally with above Nancy
Also Amanda Harris[puke] sorry for any of her fans
but i think she was one of the worst actors on the show ICK! That voice!

I just don't understand all the animosity towards Amanda Harris. Granted she didn't have the strongest character on the series but plenty of others were equally weak if not more so. As for her acting, I thought she was just fine, if not quite good. I can think of so many other actors who were so much worse: Lee Beery (Joanna Mills), Kathy Cody (Hallie Stokes), Betsy Durkin; I would argue even that Donna Wandrey (Roxanne) and Diana Millay (Laura) were worse actors.

Maybe there's a little jealousy/outrage going on here over the fact that Quentin fell for Amanda and not someone else you would have preferred more?

 ...the flashing back and forth there.  Magda is great and Beth by far the most tragic charecter

I agree Nancy.  Who could not love that Magda!  She was a trip!  I thought Grayson did a great job portraying her too.  

I have always liked Beth and wished that she and Quentin could have wound up happy together!  It was such a bummer to find that he went from Beth to Amanda in just one storyline.

I just don't understand all the animosity towards Amanda Harris. Granted she didn't have the strongest character on the series but plenty of others were equally weak if not more so. As for her acting, I thought she was just fine, if not quite good. I can think of so many other actors who were so much worse: Lee Beery (Joanna Mills),  

I totally agree with you. I have always felt Ms. Beery gave  one of the more weaker performances on the show. It seemed like she was forever looking at the telePROMPter? ;-)

As far as Donna McKechnie goes, I also enjoyed her performance on the show. I think you might have hit the nail on the head with the jealously theory. HA HA. :-)

                                                Bob

Hey Bob love that picture! They both look so good!
are they going this year?

As far as I know both women will be in attendance again this year. They really are two of the sweetest ladies one could ever meet. :-)
Go RedSox. ;-)
                 Bob