If It Isn't Love
This week, we step back into the life of Amanda Spaulding, this time in 1982. If It Isn't Love deals with treacherous Mark Evans (played by Mark Pinter who would return to GL in 2003 as Brad Green) as he toys with the affections of Jennifer Richards and her daughter Amanda.
There's a scene a little more than halfway through this clipset that shows Amanda in control at the Spaulding offices, giving instructions to her secretary over the phone and being quite the commanding presence at work. It occurred to me what a radical change that was from the frightened, artistic girl that Amanda was in her first years in Springfield (see the Mountains blog entry for example).
I can't help but wonder how that change was received by viewers at the time, especially in this age of vociferous outcry whenever a character does something or changes in a way that displeases his or her fans. Obviously, in the hands of Doug Marland, these changes were handled more gradually and were explained better, but still this is a very different Amanda than the one viewers first met in 1978 and grew to love in the ensuing years.
It's also worth mentioning that headwriter Marland's work on the show ends abruptly in the middle of this set. As many GL historians are aware, Marland quit GL after his friend Jane Elliot was fired from the show and her character, Carrie Marler, was taken off the canvas. Maybe it's because I know this that the post-Marland scenes seem so different to me. Certainly the tone of the Amanda/Mark/Jennifer triangle seems to become more overt and pedestrian and the plot is suddenly very convoluted. I don't know exactly how many (if any) of Marland's plans were retained after he quit, but I do see a change in the quality of the storytelling after his departure.
That said, this is still a very entertaining and, at times, heartbreaking set, especially the section that deals with Amanda's discovery of Jennifer and Mark's marriage, juxtaposed with Morgan's joy at the event and Carrie's (or rather one of Carrie's alters') pleasure at Amanda's suffering. As with any storyline involving Amanda, the work of Kathleen Cullen in the role makes the entire thing worthwhile and this is a very interesting look at the evolution of the character.
Also of note is the presence of early-going versions of Josh, Ross, and Vanessa.
And so, enjoy If It Isn't Love--
clip 1 , clip 2 , clip 3 , clip 4 , clip 5
clip 6 , clip 7 , clip 8 , clip 9 , clip 10
clip 11 , clip 12 , clip 13 , clip 14
____________________________________
Please join us next week as we celebrate the 1 year anniversary of the GLMP blog!
There's a scene a little more than halfway through this clipset that shows Amanda in control at the Spaulding offices, giving instructions to her secretary over the phone and being quite the commanding presence at work. It occurred to me what a radical change that was from the frightened, artistic girl that Amanda was in her first years in Springfield (see the Mountains blog entry for example).
I can't help but wonder how that change was received by viewers at the time, especially in this age of vociferous outcry whenever a character does something or changes in a way that displeases his or her fans. Obviously, in the hands of Doug Marland, these changes were handled more gradually and were explained better, but still this is a very different Amanda than the one viewers first met in 1978 and grew to love in the ensuing years.
It's also worth mentioning that headwriter Marland's work on the show ends abruptly in the middle of this set. As many GL historians are aware, Marland quit GL after his friend Jane Elliot was fired from the show and her character, Carrie Marler, was taken off the canvas. Maybe it's because I know this that the post-Marland scenes seem so different to me. Certainly the tone of the Amanda/Mark/Jennifer triangle seems to become more overt and pedestrian and the plot is suddenly very convoluted. I don't know exactly how many (if any) of Marland's plans were retained after he quit, but I do see a change in the quality of the storytelling after his departure.
That said, this is still a very entertaining and, at times, heartbreaking set, especially the section that deals with Amanda's discovery of Jennifer and Mark's marriage, juxtaposed with Morgan's joy at the event and Carrie's (or rather one of Carrie's alters') pleasure at Amanda's suffering. As with any storyline involving Amanda, the work of Kathleen Cullen in the role makes the entire thing worthwhile and this is a very interesting look at the evolution of the character.
Also of note is the presence of early-going versions of Josh, Ross, and Vanessa.
And so, enjoy If It Isn't Love--
clip 1 , clip 2 , clip 3 , clip 4 , clip 5
clip 6 , clip 7 , clip 8 , clip 9 , clip 10
clip 11 , clip 12 , clip 13 , clip 14
____________________________________
Please join us next week as we celebrate the 1 year anniversary of the GLMP blog!
posted by ivnkplng at
11/04/2007 12:54:00 PM
2 Comments:
Wonderful clip set! Thank you. Interesting to see this period again.
Thanks so much! I remember this story quite well, and yet as I watched the clips, I kept seeing things that I'd forgotten -- such as the locket Mark gave Jennifer, and Mark's telling Brian about his plan. If you have more of this, I'd like so much to see a few more of the scenes between Amanda and Mark. There were quite a few confrontations between them. Also, I'd love to see some of what happened with them after during and after Madrid -- that was when Marland left and new writers had Mark actually fall in love with Amanda. By the way, Kathleen Cullen's Amanda was one of my favorite GL characters. I'd really enjoy seeing more scenes of her and Alan too if at all possible. You are right that it was a radical shift when she took over Spaulding Enterprises. It wasn't the most believable turn of events, but Marland and Cullen made it work. Mark Pinter played the slimeball very well too. For quite a while, I wondered what he was playing at. Then it was revealed that he wanted revenge for Brandon Spaulding takaing sole ownership of the company that his father had helped found.
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