Discuss - Ep #0067

[Watching Project]

Robservations #67

And if you'd care to look back, the first WP discussion topic for this ep:

Re: Discuss - Ep #0067

[McTrooper]

It’s interesting that Carolyn was so ready to discard Burke just based on what Liz told her about Burke even though before and after wards she’s still fascinated by him.

Quoted from Roservations:
Burke comes in and greets them. Speak of the devil, says Maggie. Were you? asks Burke, immaculate in a three piece suit. We were just talking about you, says Carolyn. You couldn't have chosen a more fascinating subject! declares Burke.

I really like that (whatever you’d call it) attitude Burke has. 

With the excellent way the suspicion gets moved around in this story I’m surprised Mrs. Johnson didn’t also become a suspect. 

[alwaysdavid]

    Maggie and Carolyn are talking in the diner. Maggie is bitter about Burke.  This exchange makes me wonder how well the girls know each other. Maggie had never been to Collinwood before recently and Carolyn is obviously younger.
    The arrival of Mrs. Johnson brings many questions. She appears to be jealous of Bill’s relationship with the Collins family and in particular Elizabeth. More questions on the timeline. Mrs. Johnson recalls a 10:30 call.
    Meanwhile, in the diner, Sam asks Maggie if she knows the sequence of events.
    Carolyn has gone to Burke’s room and asks if he accuses Roger of Bill’s death. She refuses to believe Burke.

[B.Collins]

in the early episodes when i watched them a couple years back i thought the same thing with Maggie and Carolyn how close are they? i know later on it's obvious they are close but in the early days Maggie rarely went up there & we didn't have as many scenes with the both of them since Vicki clearly was closer to Maggie. yes i do think the youngest one is Carolyn and for about the first year or so she's also the most immature as well. 

as for Burke i dunno he was so well written and so well acted i think the show suffers when Mitch Ryan was Fired.  later on we really didn't need Burke on the show but when he was on he was a great character. 

i was thinking recently how they really didn't do much with Mrs. Johnson when she was on i was looking up how many episodes Clarice Blackburn was on and they really didn't use her that often the only times in the show history i think she was used off the top of my head that was story wise was 1.  during her going undercover at Collinwood  2.   in 1795 as Abigail Collins and 3 when her nephew was there other than that when she was on she was pretty much part of the background or it feels like it to me.

i don't think they really knew what to do with her in short.   

[McTrooper]

It is a shame that Mrs. Johnson didn’t get more story.  And it’s odd that such a character that should technically be ever present at least in normal time Collinwood.

She does have a shining moment in 1995 even if her character’s backstory is altered a bit to amplify the drama.  And I liked the actress’s appearance in the PT 1970 story. 

It’s hard to picture a path for keeping Burke’s character in the show.  Unless he was brought back in place of Sky during the Leviathans storyline.  But, I don’t imagine newer viewers would remember him and three leading men would have been expensive.

[B.Collins]

exactly they didn't need to write him off if i'm not mistaken i think Anthony George had only signed on for what 3 months i think i read somewhere?   if they can recast the role of Burke and he wasn't a bad Burke either he was pretty good i think they easily could have kept him or they wrote him off really only cause they felt there was nothing else left for him to do on the show which would make sense as well.

your right Burke had been gone 3 years by than and the newer viewers would not have known who he even was.  as for Mrs. Johnson it's funny how i never really thought much about her at all she's not a forgettable character or actress either. if i recall the (1995) story arc they did later on was her last time she was even on the show at all.  i wonder if she was ready to even leave at that point? or they just didn't know what to do with her? i dunno maybe she was enjoying the stage more than the show perhaps?

[Uncle Roger]

Like a lot of the cast, Clarice Blackburn was on recurring status during her time on DS. Recurring status basically means that the performer is on call but is free to accept other work. While Clarice was used quite a bit as Abigail and Mrs. Johnson continued to be a presence through the Quentin/Beth haunting, her appearances began to really taper off. Clarice got herself a gig on another soap, either Secret Storm or Where There Heart Is. The heavier workload kept her from appearing in HODS .Things on the other soap must have lightened up enough for her to do a few episodes of DS in 1970.

[McTrooper]

Cool info. It does shed some light on things. 
I imagine something similar was done with Thayer David. 

When I first started watching on Sci Fi I got the impression he was a regular character, but rewatching more recently he wasn’t in a ton of episodes even in the Leviathan storyline I started out watching back then.   

[B.Collins]

with him i think he did films and the stage as well much like Joan Bennet would take time off from the show to do plays as would John Karlen as well. Thayer didn't do the show for like a year after he stopped playing as Matthew Morgan. but i doubt he sat on his hands either

[McTrooper]

I’m glad even though he wasn’t a show regular he was on quite a bit.
Thanks for the info

[B.Collins]

my proof of having them do films or stage is really only through the various interviews i've seen where they said how good the show was when they needed a break from it. for most i think it was for the stage but i wouldn't be surprised if some of them were making films as well.

[Uncle Roger]

John Karlen apparently did not have a contract, at least not a very binding one. During his absences from DS, he appeared on three different NYC based soaps: Love is a Many Splendored Thing, Another World and Hidden Faces

[B.Collins]

on Volume 2 of the dvd Jason Patrick who was such a damn good actor both on DS and later Dallas said he didn't have a contract with DS but later on he had to meaning later on in his career i think is what he meant.

so the fact Karlen didn't have one does not surprise me at all, i wonder how many of them were under contract vs. the ones that didn't ? 

[Midnite]

on Volume 2 of the dvd Jason Patrick who was such a damn good actor both on DS and later Dallas said he didn't have a contract with DS but later on he had to meaning later on in his career i think is what he meant.

Dennis Patrick 

[B.Collins]

thank you i dunno where my mind was but at least i had half his name right lol