Hello everyone and happy almost-Valentine�s Day! Hope everyone�s New Year has gotten off to a great start and that you are ALL sticking to those New Years resolutions you made December 31st. Ok, well at least sticking to maybe one of them?? ;-) I know it�s very hard to do � but hey, I have fulfilled one resolution: I�ve finally caught up on All My Children and plan to stay caught up from this moment forward! I was quite a bit behind, thanks to real life intruding (sigh!) and hadn�t had the chance to watch for a long time, but thanks to our favorite soap channel, the marathons were taped faithfully every Sunday for several weeks and now, at last, I am up to date with all the goings on in Pine Valley. And none too soon, I might add, because there is quite a bit going on right now! Poor Leo getting beat up by that chauffer a.k.a. goon Larry �. grrrrrrrrrowl (put up ya dukes, boy!). What was surprising to me was Vanessa�s reaction at first. She is always talking about how much she �loves� her boys - I can�t believe she didn�t stick it to Larry right after she found out he beat up our Leo! Well, now Larry�s gone and we know �Nessie is the mysterious Proteus. Sooooo, how long before Leo and David find out? They know she�s up to something, and it�s only a matter of time before that darling duo figures out the real deal with Mamma �Nessa!
Ok, on to even hotter topics � wow, is the soap internet world ever buzzing about some comments Josh made regarding his opinion on the past and present status of his character Leo in Soap Opera Digest (February 5, 2002 edition � �Full Speed Ahead� by Elaine G. Flores). In case you haven�t had a chance to pick up a copy of it yet, here are a few quotes from that article:
-�The thing that got me down wasn�t so much the Laura [relationship]. It was treating Greenlee so poorly throughout the whole thing. That was unnecessary.�
-�I was bitter that they [the show brass] lowered my character to build up Laura and Jake�s characters and make them look better.�
-�To be honest, I feel like I�ve lost so many fans throughout this last six or eight months. I�ve heard from people, �Leo lost his fans because Josh lost his � sparkle, or whatever.��
a) Greenlee b) Mia
c) A new character d) No one. Leo needs to be single for a while!
You answered: There was no clear-cut winner here! It was a 50-50 tie between a) Greenlee and d) No one. Why, you ask? Read on!
2) The reason I picked the above answer was:
"Greenlee and Leo are amazing and have the best chemistry. They make me laugh and cry and their passion is intense." ~Dawn Riddick
"I would like to see Leo with Greenlee. However, I think they should both grow together instead of having the same trivial fights over and over again." ~Estee
"AMC needs a couple like Leo and Greenlee - two people who love each other so much and can be bad and exciting while doing it." ~KSMITH
"I thought it was WAY too soon for Leo and Greenlee to start their relationship over- the way that Greenlee is still 'involved' in Jake's life can only bring more heartache for this powercouple!" ~Catherine Jensen
"Leo was more fun single. And Greenlee can't stop wanting Jake." ~Christine
"I would like more dysfunctional family gatherings and more scheming on Leo's part." ~Jadyland
"The Greenlee/Leo romance is getting very stale by now. Their relationship seems to be based solely on sex and he lets Greenlee lead him around like a puppy - it's just getting to be all we see and it's very boring to see them do the same thing over and over." ~RaisinKane
"He is being romantic with Greens." ~Kelly Green
"Acting silly! I love the fact that Josh is such a comical guy and there are many times that I outright laugh at his actions and expressions during a scene." ~Catherine Jensen
"Acting like his old self! I love how Leo acted in '99 and '00 Eurotrash and snobby. Leo's a bad boy with a heart of gold." ~Dawn Riddick
"Shirtless ... hehe ... just kidding. With Greenlee." ~NoImNotAWaitress
"I enjoy watching Leo the most when he is doing anything but yelling LOL. I love it when he and Greenlee are being romantic and having fun" ~Tina
"I would want him to get a job or career." ~LaTonya Butts
"He needs to get a job." ~Tina
"The way he dresses. He seemed to dress better when he first came to Pine Valley. ~Dottie Solomon
"He would be more understanding about Greenlee's desire to have a career." ~Sharon
**Note: Several votes were cast for a change in hairdo back to short and spiky like in the early Leo days. Kelly, KSMITH, Jady, Rastagal, and WUZZUP101 were all in agreement on the hair issue!**
"Family counseling with David and Vanessa, when it is revealed that she is a drug dealer and Leo has to deal with 'enabling' her ROTF!" ~DixieCup
"I would like to see Leo involved in other characters storylines/schemes." ~Christine
And 16 responses for a "Who's Leo's Father?" storyline! (Come ON, writers, please let this one happen!)
"He begged Greenlee to love him after the engagement party. You could see how much his heart was breaking." ~Jessica (this was also the favorite scene for: Estee & DixieCup)
"When Leo proposed to Greenlee at the boathouse." ~MoMoBooo
"When he left Laura at the altar. He looked so relieved and free." ~KSMITH (NoImNotAWaitress, Dottie Solomon, Jady, and WUZZUP101 agreed!)
"I really liked the scene in the park when he tripped over the rock that 'angel' Gillian slid in front of him and the fact that Ryan and Leo couldn't see Gillian. Ryan thought Leo was still drunk. That made my day!" ~Catherine Jensen
"When he was at the police station talking to Greenlee in the jail cell he did wonderful acting. He made me cry!" ~Beachbunny
"He stopped his wedding to Laura." ~MoMoBoooo
"The Pine Cone, with him and Greens." ~Kelly Green
"Leo and Greenlee share a bubble bath at the Valley Inn." ~LaTonya Butts (also DixieCup, Dawn Riddick and Jady)
"When he gave Greenlee that sweet dog. And where the heck IS that sweet dog?" ~Sharon
"When Leo did his 'Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous' routine for Greenlee in Erica's bedroom. And then later that night when he tucked Greenlee in. Made my heart melt." ~Jessica
This was close, with a majority of you splitting it up between David, Vanessa, Ryan, and Greenlee. But a few people picked others. Here's a sampling:.
"I'd love to see him interact with someone like David Canary (Adam/Stuart) or Jack Scalia (Chris) ... the old timers. I used to love to see him with Susan Lucci (Erica) back when he lived in her house while she lived with David. I miss that "playful side" of Leo we haven't seen in a while." ~RaisinKane
" Tad. They are so much alike. When he first worked with him, they had so many one-liners back and forth, and the way he kept calling Tad 'boss' just to tick him off. Leo bugs Tad because he's a younger version of him and together they just crack me up." ~Jessica
11 of you said "Yes" but some felt otherwise:
"Leo is boring now. He doesn't have that comedic life that he used to have. He is totally blind to Greenlee's manipulations. He needs more adventures and for his character to evolve as a single guy." ~Christine (RastaGal seconded this emotion!)
"[Leo's character] has gone downhill since Laura entered onto the scene. He was just so totally out of character and I found it hard to watch a 'pity-me' Leo marrying Laura. He's starting to redeem himself but he has a long way to go." ~Jady
"I was very disappointed that the Becca-Leo storyline was not developed. He was hooked up with Greenlee way too soon when he should have been a player a little while longer." ~RaisinKane
"I loved him with Greenlee, but they have not recently been giving us any real character direction or development. He was just a pawn in the 'scheme'." ~DixieCup
As far as the quotes from Josh in Soap Opera Digest go, I'll say this: I do believe Leo and Greenlee as a couple lost fans. However, I do not believe Leo or Greenlee as individual characters lost any (or many). Look at what has happened over the years to Tad, or Dixie, or Ryan, etc etc. and their fan bases are just as solid as they ever have been. Look at Julia Barr and the ups and downs her character "Brooke" has taken over the years and she has a HUGE fan base. Many people said at the beginning of 2001 when Ryan and Gillian were extrememly happy that Ryan could not be redeemed. I didn't agree with having Gillian killed off, but, in my opinion, his character has gotten more interesting now that we've started to find out some about his family history and he really doesn't have a romantic interest at the moment. There will be times when your favorite characters are going to get boring for a while, or travel down a path you don't care to see them go down. Be patient. Hopefully things will change - oftentimes they do with amazing results! Soaps revolve around romance, but they are also about the struggles we go through in our everyday lives (sometimes with a dose of UN-reality!) to become better, stronger, insightful individuals, who can't help but be loved by others at some point down the line! Looking at the even bigger picture, we know that All My Children is only the tip of the iceberg for Josh - he is destined to go far. True Josh fans will stick with him no matter what.
Hope you all enjoyed this feature and thanks again for all the wonderful responses - please email me with any questions or comments at [email protected]. See ya in a month :-)
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