One Life To Live means a whole lot to me. I started watching in the mid-80s at my mother's side in the exciting days of Executive Producer Paul Rauch and Head writer Peggy O'Shea. I remember bits and pieces from that time, and the first story I really remember is the Clint goes back to 1888 story. I loved that, but it was the 1989 Eterna story that cemented my love for this show. In the 90s I was in and out, being forced to attend school, thankfully catching the greatest story the show has told, in my opinion (Viki's Multiples). Since they invented the DVR I've been spending 5 days a week in Llanview without fail.

I still whistle the old theme song, I think of Viki as my second TV mother (How could you not?), I was unreasonably excited to meet Michael Malone at a book signing, and there's just something comforting knowing that all our old friends are there 5 days a week to visit with. It's the number one topic of conversation with my 86 year old grandmother, who's watched since the beginning. This is something special. It's more than just a TV show. I think that's why we take so much time to think and write about it, and why we're sometimes harsh or critical. It's because we care that much.

We're currently in a time when not everything is flowers and sunshine in Llanview, but then again, I don't ever remember a time when everyone was happy with everything. Jeremy and I agree about a lot of things, but we do have our disagreements on certain characters and situations, things he loves and I hate (Jen Rappaport, Adriana) and vice versa. I think there are two kinds of OLTL fans, those that love Dorian first and those that love Viki first. I'm a Viki guy, and Jeremy is a Dorian guy, but any true fan loves both of them. That relationship is the core of the show, and woe to TBTB that forget that.

I feel watching this past week that the show is better than it was during sweeps, and there's just one major plot that I'm not thrilled with (The custody storyline). Otherwise, things are pretty good, not fantastic, but not terrible. Hopefully they can take that as a solid base, build on it and really start to excite us again.

Two weeks ago, Jeremy wrote about how everything is seemingly fixated on babies and children and I thought that was completely dead on. It also reminded me of how one of the more successful stories of recent years wasn't about kids at all: The Buchanan Enterprises crisis/takeover. There are all sorts of things in town and the character's back stories that could be used in that manner to drive story, enrich character and allow us to enjoy the stories that are focused on progeny without feeling they're the only thing to watch. These are some of my ideas, I'd love to hear yours...

The Banner In Crisis

If we forgot that Todd owns a newspaper until he called in that tip on John and Natalie and Marty, what about the fact that Viki owns one too? Newspapers across the country are in trouble and so what better time to give Viki a story and to do something topical and relevant that ties into a core aspect of the canvas. The Banner is what brought Viki together with both Joe Riley and Clint, it's the legacy of Victor, and it's nearly a forgotten aspect of the show, save for the occasional prop papers when someone needs to learn a bit of plot they weren't there to witness.

Say the Banner is close to Bankruptcy. What would Viki do to save it? Who would become involved in that story; would Todd offer to buy her out and merge with The Sun? Would Viki be conflicted about saving Victor's legacy considering all we've come to know of him? Say she goes to Clint for help, and he tells her it's best to put the paper out of its misery, that's conflict between pragmatic business and the belief in legacy and tradition. I think there are interesting possibilities in a story like this.

The Ruins of Eterna

Someone suggested this jokingly in a letter last week, but I've been dying to go back here for over 20 years. We know Ron Carlivati loves to revisit the stories of the past (I think I've enjoyed some of the retellings more than Jeremy did, 1968 particularly, really did work for me), so why not Eterna? You say it was destroyed at the end of that story? Hello - this is a soap; there was another wing of the town that survived unscathed - and it was the secret storage place of Victor when he was living at his hidden mansion Lion's Heart. And there's still gold in them thar' hills. I know some people hated the sci-fi stories of the 80s, but I loved 'em.

Say Danielle and Matthew go hiking and fall into Eterna II, We meet a shady new character who seems to know the town but nobody knows, he's exploring Llantano mountain looking for the gold... and in time is revealed to be Tony Lord! Tony didn't die in the middle east, but was kidnapped by terrorists and was brainwashed. His father left him this inheritance, if he could find it in the secret wing of Eterna. The manhunt for Matthew and Danielle interferes with his secret search for the entrance to Eterna II. As soon as sweeps hits, a few members of the search party find the entrance and fall in and become trapped. Tony has to decide between saving his family members or the gold. His sister Viki finally realizes who he is and convinces him to save his family as the last section of Eterna once again crumbles under the mountain.

Blair's Singing Career

I seem to keep hearing about Blair needing a story from somewhere. What if she's scouted during a club performance and is taken in by a somewhat shady promoter/manager. He begins to work on making her famous but at the same time, begins drugging her so that she will do what he says when it appears she might not be willing to fully commit to the road to the top due to wanting to also take care of her children. His manipulations work and she's becoming a star while ignoring her children. Starr ends up stepping in and fighting with Todd over who will take care of Jack and Sam, and Dorian senses something is wrong with the promoter and begins to scheme to break his hold over Blair. Another bonus is that we can have another tie in product - Kassie DePaiva can record an album and have it released, she promotes it and the show on The View, etc., and everyone benefits. We've had books from the show, why not an album?

Rex Goes Undercover(s)

Daytime has done several prostitution stories over the years, but I don't think I've seen one like this...There's a very smart new gang of criminals in town, they're running illegal gambling, drugs, and prostitution. However, every time John and the cops try to bust them, there's a front operation and the ones in charge are always nowhere to be found. They have to get someone on the inside, but the only connection they have is Ford, who has fallen in with the group as a male escort (He's talked about being poor on the show, so this would be how he makes ends meet after being fired from his school position when found using his office for un-businesslike reasons). Reinstated Bo enlists Rex to go undercover using Ford as an in and a means to meet the higher ups. Of course Rex has to “perform” which complicates his relationship with Gigi.

Rex begins to get in touch with his darker side again and become conflicted about how to proceed.

We can even turn this into a replay of the legendary Karen Wolek story. Rex's true work is kept from Gigi, but during the operation a murder happens, and due to his undercover work Rex is the only witness. He's pulled from the case, but has to testify and he has to admit what happened from the witness stand with Gigi looking on...

You can also use this story to reveal that Ford goes both ways and unlock all THOSE possibilities as well.

Dorian and Joe

I've heard things about Mel perhaps returning, and if that happens I'm all for it, but what is the story there? I will say I don't know if you could do Joey and Dorian again without Nathan Fillion, and with the success of “Castle” I think that's less than likely (as fond of OLTL as Fillion is). So that leaves us with doing this with a recast Joey. It's tricky to say the least. Bearing all that in mind, I'd still like to see this. Dorian truly cared for her Joe, it grew beyond just hurting Viki, and I don't think Viki ever got that about their relationship.

So what if we use this as a means to flip the traditional Dorian/Viki relationship? Joe returns to town and crosses paths with Dorian. They get together to catch up and sparks fly. They rekindle their romance, and Joey hides it from Viki, but she finds out and goes off on the two of them. Joey and Viki fight, and Dorian taunts Viki behind Joey's back. Viki decides she has to break them up. Dorian realizes she's just fallen into fighting with Viki again and goes to Joe to tell him. Her honesty wins him over even more and their relationship continues in a very genuine and real way.

So in this equation we find Dorian in the more traditional Viki role of being the one “in the right” and Viki becomes the one scheming to do something for what she BELIEVES is right. I think you could see some amazing performances with a setup like this. In the end Viki would have a wake-up call and realize that she's been wrong. You could even work the murder of Victor into this. Ron Carlivati seemingly put the blame back on Dorian during the 40th Anniversary shows, but he's never elaborated on what he meant (if anything) This storyline could be a place to explore that situation a bit more, Viki wanting to explore what Dorian told her and perhaps use the news that she's a murderer as a way to break the two of them up. There are myriad possibilities here.

John Dies in a Firey Car Wreck

That's pretty much it. The body is found and DNA identified seventeen times. It's really him, and he does not reappear as a vampire named Caleb. There's something wrong when you're constantly rooting for a “good” character to fail in doing good things...

So those are some of my crazy ideas. I think finding some balance in the type of stories being told would really bring some more depth to the show, in the way that the show generally balances well between giving airtime to the vets and the newcomers. And now my thoughts on this weeks episodes...

(I've made a discovery too - while the episode titles aren't appearing on screen anymore,  they do show up at abc.com when you go to view the episodes there.)

Monday, 3-1 “First Love, Last Love”

- Alison Perkins is always a welcome sight, and look at the way Roscoe Born played seeing her - his trembling lips excited but he knows he can't show it too much to the guards. That's acting. Plus, I like Barbara Garrick in that wig...

- Roxy and Brody, I like that they're bringing Roxy in more and seeing who she plays well with. The answer is “everyone”.

- Cute pun - Ford asks Langston to explore her “Wilde” side.

- I was convinced on Friday that it was Cassie that died as soon as Andrew walked in. But I should have known that all that stuff about “Aunt Addie's Special Tea” was WAAAAAY too obvious to actually be true. It's really great to see all the Cramer Girls (and Andrew) together - but where's Addie? I'm sure Cassie wants to thank her profusely for the tea...

- I'm with Jeremy about this, Jessica going after Cris and acting like a bratty HS girl is fantastic. Jessica is best when insane, and Bree Williamson plays crazy so good. They really ought to just turn Jessica into a Tina-like character from here out.

- It's good they're going into Langston's issues with her parents. Reminds me of when she was really interesting. I almost believe Ford is genuinely interested in her too.

- You can tell that Cole's study buddy (Hannah?) is new - she called Starr and Cole's home life “intense”. That's the last thing it is...

- I'm so glad Roxy is giving Brody some booze. It is a bit of a lapse though, since he's supposed to be in AA... Brody should get trashed and have another bar brawl. Then he and Adriana can tie each other up in a hotel room - in fact, perhaps THAT'S where Adriana got that idea from, when she had Brody in that hotel room...

- Is it just me, or did Gina Tognoni look a bit like she was half smiling when she got the news about Melinda...

- Ford's convinced me, Langston should have a fling. It's certainly a better story than her and Markko being a middle aged couple. I'm on board with this story.

- I feel like Cris is kind of getting off on Jessica's throwing herself at him...

- Blair knows EXACTLY where Langston is...

- Mitch is more interesting scheming from Jail than out loose in the world. Maybe the walls give Roscoe Born something to play against, but then again he's always stellar.

- Oh, Ford, now you want service from Markko too? I like the fact that Ford is so cheerful about being such a creep. That's what makes it not creepy, but fun instead. It reminds me of old Max.

- Let's hope Dorian has a better plan against Mitch in Round 2. This grudge match is just getting started.

- Solid episode, good performances in general and I like where things are heading in these stories.

Tuesday, 3-2 “Que Sierra, Sierra”

- The first shot and we're back to the great baby plot of '10 and my spirits fall a little. The last 2 episodes were baby free and oh so good.

- More Orange Juice product placements. I'm glad it's for something generic like OJ and not a specific brand. It seems less obnoxious this way.

- Just when you think Farah Fath's hair can't get any stranger... that's one hard-working barrette.

- It's hard to invest in what I like about Kim-Clint knowing she's going to be gone in a month or so. But I do like it.

- Love Viki's “oh shit” expression when Jess asks how she's going to get Cris back.

- Apparently there is a gun show on at Cris and Ford's place.

- Love that Dorian is referred to as “Embattled Mayor” in the Sun. Nobody reads the Banner anymore.

- When do we get a new opening? While I'd love nothing more than an updated version of this: , I am reasonably sane and realize that's not happening. I appreciated the bone they threw us with Blair singing it last week. I don't know how much I like the new GH opening. I like the actors being credited, but the character name thing was tried before and it just feels lame. Still, it's time for a change already. We're not getting HD (yet), so at least give us a new opening.

- Mitch can undo electric shock? Ummmmm ok....

- I hope Erika Slezak keeps growing her hair out. It's getting into the awkward in-between length, but I'm really curious to see how it will look when it grows out, I think this is the longest she's ever worn it since the early 70s.

- Blair has your number Langston. She knows all about screwing everyone in town.

- It's sort of hard to get weepy over Melinda, I've never seen her on screen, and If I remember, she's been off screen since 1981? Would have been better to bring her back if even for a few shows to increase the impact of her death. I wouldn't have minded if they'd brought her back and killed off Adriana instead.

- KEVIN! They need to quit jerking Dan Gauthier around and give him a contract. He's the best Kevin we've had, and I really think we need to get off the recast merry-go-round. Bring Kevin home once and for all.

- I think the reason I'm dreading the custody storyline is that it's just going to be full of hatred and bile and accusations. There's no lightness in this story, it's all depressing. The words “long hard slog” come to mind. I'm not against seeing Sky, Gigi, Rex, Kim, Clint, Fish, and Kyle in a story. I just don't want to see them in THIS one. I'd like to see them in a story that's not about fighting and who's the lying asshole this week.

- Seeing Rex and Adriana together again in the same room makes my skin crawl. Nothing against Melissa Fumero, but I haven't hated a character that much since Jen Rappaport. At least with Stacy I could have fun ripping on her. I just plain hate Adriana. Not even the bitchy bangs era did it for me...

- Oooh, I hope Brody comes under Mitch's sway...

- It's so nice that Blair and Langston can bond over being slutty.

- Greg has become Larry Wolek. It's an improvement.

- It's awful to admit, but I love how distressed Viki is over Jessica's behavior. This is my favorite story right now. Haha - Lip Gloss! She's fully a teenager now!

- Did Ford's shirt not come with buttons? Not that I'm complaining...

- If Langston wants Markko so bad, why does she go into a shell when he tries to touch her?

- Mitch is getting more visitors than Disney World. But, hell, I'd be in line for that show too! Roscoe Born could make the phone book riveting.

- Sky, FYI, it's usually not a good idea to tell people that hate you incriminating details of your life. Just sayin'. This story is becoming the black hole of the show. Everyone is lobotomized. Everything else today is enjoyable.

- Love Blair springing the Cougar Trap on Ford...

- Does Sky really think Gigi will take Kim as a reliable source? Nobody in this story is exhibiting very good judgement...