Laura The Phoenix --Your Thoughts?

[Joeytrom]

What also makes the Laura storyline so unique is that it features different characters who never appear again on DS afterwards- Dr. Guthrie, Frank Garner, Lt. Riley from Phoenix (played by two different actors with no announcement about the change to the viewers).
There is even a live shot of a Phoenix street as well as a morgue scene!

Seeing this storyline a second time, I didn't realize that Dr. Guthrie appeared in an almost uninterrupted run from his first appearance until his last, I think he misses only one episode.  I loved the live shot of his car in flames! 

He was featured so prominently, one would think he would have been kept on the show after this story came to an end, a Prof. Stokes type.   Removing him from the show was a huge mistake I believe.  If you're watching the syndicated series only like I was the first time around, you never would have known he was ever there at all.

[Taeylor Collins]

I enjoyed having a parapsychologist around to help solve the puzzles. I missed him after he was gone.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Definitely. Dr. Guthrie is one of my all-time favorite short term characters. Even though when I first watched the storyline in '96, I knew he wasn't going to continue, I was still upset by his death. And if I had been watching the storyline in '67 when it originally aired, I'm pretty sure I would have been really upset when they killed him off. But the great thing about having all of DS available to us is that whenever we want a Dr. Guthrie fix he's only as far away as a DVD (or VHS). 

[michael c]

like bill malloy dr.guthrie was one of those first year characters i found rather attractive(daddy complex?). for real.

frank garner was easy on the eyes too. i actually prefer these guys to the later more conventionally "hunky" characters like quentin and jeb.

[Sandor]

Great topic. What a great part to play on a soap opera in the mid-60's: trampy runaway wife, nasty sister-in-law, possessive mother, and a Phoenix to boot! Only Diana Millay could be so rapturous and sublime and lovable in the role. She's one of those actresses who, when playing a role she relishes and relates to in ways no other mortal being could, takes you on a wild roller coaster ride through her character's twisted passions - guaranteed. Millay was no slouch on some great episodic late 50s/early 60s TV shows (Perry Mason and Route 66 come to mind) - with the blonde hair, the mole, the sharp intensity in her crystal blue eyes, she always left a memorable impression everywhere she went.

As MB pointed out, props to the Laura storyline and all involved, for boosting the show's ratings, taking it to stranger dimensions for a daytime series, whereby ABC allowed Dan Curtis time to develop and present Barnabas Collins to the masses.   

[Brandon Collins]

Good to see you posting again Brandon.  I was talking with someone from this boards and we wondered where you had went.   I always enjoyed your posts. I think we all have our DS ups and downs though. Glad to see your having an up!  

Thanks Taeylor! I appreciate it! To add a little more to the "out of the ds realm" topic, I literally have packed away all of my DS stuff except for my DVDs. There was a time when I had my signed pictures framed on displayed, and my various collectibles displayed around as well. But now all of that is packed away and I'm actually thinking about selling some of it, as soon as I can figure out what I can part with. lol

I definitely agree with the idea that the short term characters featured in the Laura storyline were some of the best of the series, and it is definitely a shame that Guthrie was not continued in some form. One would've thought he could've been brought back as a ghost or something, given that so many other characters were. It would've been cool if his "Great great grandfather" or whatever had've appeared when Laura reemerged in 1897(? someone will correct me if I'm wrong).

The reason the Pheonix storyline works so well is because it truly is a classic peace of storytelling. A marriage goes awry and after the breakup the ex resurfaces and it seems she's more than everyone originally thought. All she wants is her child to come with her into the fire and become like her, living forever as a supernatural being. Her selfishness in this aspect makes her somewhat like Angelique, and definitely her will and determination to reach her goal rivals Angelique's best day.

[michael c]

another word on john lasell(dr. guthrie)...

because not just one 1960's small-new-england-town-with-secrets soap opera is enough for me i've been watching "peyton place". lasell appears in one or two episodes as the divorce attorney of bad girl betty anderson(the lovely barbara parkins)during her breakup with golden boy rodney harrington(ryan o'neal).

[Taeylor Collins]

I honestly have never seen this character as "evil" She wants to give her child eternal life and take him to Paradise.  I like stories such as  this.  Season 4 of Angel and Season Seven of Charmed dealt with Utopia's and I feel these stories are akin to the Phoenix storyline.  There is a price to pay, but is it too high a price for eternal rebirth and living in Paradise?

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Not that this has much to do with the storyline, but I came across this Sci-FI add from '97 while working on the captures for this week's WP eps: