Has there ever been a time when you left for vacation and missed your favorite show? Perhaps it was one of the daytime drama’s past or present or even one of today’s hottest primetime (or summer replacement shows). What did we do before the age of VCR’s and now DVR, huh? This last week, I set off on my annual venture to the Montreat Conference Center here in North Carolina, where yours truly did her duty as a faithful and loyal youth advisor and watched as 10 of my senior high school youth group kids (AKA “my surrogate children”) explored and grew in their faith, love for Christ and friendship with one another. 

Yes we had a good time laughing, singing, dancing and discussing everything they had learned in their small groups that day. We even have a notebook full of quotes that became catch phrases throughout the week (and the some of the noise complaints we got as we sang to Journey, Queen, Carrie Underwood, Black Eyed Peas, songs from the Broadway shows Wicked and Le Mis and numerous contemporary Christian hits we sang throughout the week or back in our home church). You see the house we stay in (owned by our church) has no television, satellite, DVR/VCR or even Internet. Heck, at times you don’t even have cell phone service (depending upon what carrier you use). It is truly a week to relax, reflect, ponder, bond and learn other ways to entertain yourself without using the latest technological advances.

So you can imagine my anxiety (as I awoke early one morning) wondering how I was going to churn out this column for you this week and what exactly the topic was going to be. I had only been home a total of a week throughout the whole month of July (thanks in part to family vacations, church mission trips, etc) and missed watching All My Children at times. As my anxiety moved to panic, I wondered what I was going to do. I guess the good Lord saw my panic, when my honey announced that he had set the DVR to record the episodes this week while we were gone. 

Yessss, I squealed with relief and some excitement as I was somewhat looking forward to tuning into AMC now that Charles Pratt had taken over as the new head writer (and I think even co-executive producer). I read in various soap magazines his “Bible” and outline for the show, and the fact that he consulted with AMC creator Agnes Nixon on his ideas and even on the storylines he wrote during the writers’ strike (you know the time when the storylines were actually somewhat interesting and some episodes were quite good). Needless to say I was impressed with what I read and began to wonder whether or not Pratt might indeed be the one to help save this show. Yes he had a horrible run as head writer on General Hospital, but let’s not forget that he was co- head writer along with Bob Guza, so to me we cannot put all of the blame solely on Pratt’s shoulders (besides he did provide us with some very memorable storylines). 

Pratt was very successful as sole head writer of NBC’s Santa Barbara (where he was responsible for writing the Eden rape storyline and after math that earned Marcy Walker Smith a daytime Emmy award and bumped SB up in the ratings for many, many months) and such primetime hits as Melrose Place, Ugly Betty and Desperate Housewives.

As a viewer of many of these shows and after reading what Pratt’s views for the show are, you could surely imagine how excited I was when my honey revealed he had set the DVR to record this week’s episodes. So yesterday, after I unpacked I settled into watching this week’s episodes. Okay someone BURST MY BUBBLE as I quickly realized that, what I was watching was the same boring drivel that had been played out the last time I watched the show live. Where were the storylines that Pratt promised? Was what we were seeing now, going to be what we got in the next few months?  If the answer was yes, then I was tuning out rather than in!

I want to see the love stories, the show address some of today’s social issues, the vets……I wanted to see the glory days of AMC rise from the ashes once again. But instead we get the same old same old. 

We get to see Annie continue her downward spiral into madness, as she plots and schemes to pin her brother’s death on Colby and Cassandra keeping dibs on them through the nanny cam she has been watching them on.  During the writer’s strike (and even after) it became apparent that the writers did not know what to do with the character of Ritchie, and that Billy Miller was more than likely on his way out. If you read my column each week, I even called that the show may even tie the exit of Ritchie into what could’ve been an interesting and suspenseful murder mystery storyline. Unfortunately, we get jipped as usual we all know that Annie is the one who “offed” her brother. Yes, we know that Annie is not in her right mind and that Ritchie threatened to expose Annie’s little secret (like the fact she had a bun in the oven and that Annie purposely seduced Ryan after learning his “vasectomy” did not take) but if the writers were going to have Annie be the one to off Ritchie and use this as the way to usher Melissa Claire Egan off the show, then they could’ve provided us with a more entertaining storyline.

Perhaps the “Annie goes nutso” storyline will pick up steam and get a tad more interesting as summer ends and the fall progresses, especially the more Ryan and Greenlee try and stay away from one another. Something in me can only wonder what shenanigans (if any) Annie has planned to rid Greenlee from her life, Kendall’s life, Fusion and most of all Ryan’s life. Let’s face it, Greenlee is really Annie’s only threat to living happily ever after with Ryan and raising their children together. Will Annie kidnap Greenlee, set it up to look as if Greens left town, only to torture Greenlee (by taking over every aspect of her life and forcing her to watch) and then ultimately kill her? Who would find out the truth behind Annie’s scheme and which one of Greenlee’s leading men would come to her rescue: Ryan, Zach, Aidan or Jake? 

My dears that would make for an interesting and suspenseful storyline. Alas, something tells me that Annie will go out with a whimper (rather than a bang) when the news finally breaks that Melissa Claire Egan has been released (something that has been circulating since this summer). Until that happens, we will be forced to endure more of Annie pining away for Ryan while he pines away for Greenlee. In fact, it appears as if Annie might catch the duo at ConFusion this week. As I wrote last week, we know that “Rylee:part 2” is a definite go, so it should not be a shocker to anyone that Annie catches Ryan with Greenlee (that is one of the norm’s in daytime nowadays). 

And something tells me that Annie is not going to be one happy camper, when she does catch them together. We all know that Fronsie loves the Rylee pairing and that Rebecca Budig and Cameron Mathison (and their spouses) are real life buds, so I guess viewers should be expecting a big, splashy Rylee wedding sometime this winter or spring and Greenlee sliding into the role of “mommy” to little Emma and “step mommy” to Spike. If we are going to be forced to endure “Rylee,” then could the show bring back her mother Mary (played by Anna Stuart) at least. The banter between Mary and Adam was definitely worth tuning in for. Besides I’ve always thought she has unfinished business with both Jackson and Adam. 

But in the meantime, viewers will have to watch love unfolding between Frankie Hubbard and the happy hooker, Randi. Ever since he first blew into town, I wondered which Pine Valley beauty might just catch the attention of the dashing young doc. Would it have been the late Julia Santos, Amanda Dillon or possibly another beauty? At one point, it even appeared as if the show might be testing the waters with a Colby/Frankie pairing as the two characters were paired together in numerous scenes.

However, it seems as if another woman has caught the attention of the dashing doc and if viewers watch closely, they might just see that the Randi/Frankie love story is reminiscent to the love story of yet another popular AMC couple…….Chuck Tyler and Donna Beck.  Both Donna and Randi are hookers, who are terrified of their “Johns,” Frankie and Chuck were doctors from well respected Pine Valley families.  Since I was not watching AMC during the 70’s and early 80’s, I was not familiar with the Chuck/Donna storyline until the latter years. But if Pratt can build a good love story between Randi and Frankie, then I am all for it.

We’ve begun to learn that Randi grew up in an abusive home, thus causing her to leave and live on the streets. I guess Pratt, B&E, or whoever is the one writing this storyline followed the rule of establishing a back story for your new characters, something that seems to not be done on a regular basis. I am one viewer who is interested to learn more about the character of Randi and watch her romance with Frankie unfold. Too bad the meddlesome Phoebe Wallingford is not around, as her presence in this story would’ve added the right amount of conflict and comedy as Phoebe gave Angie and even Jesse her thoughts about their son being with a hooker. Since we’ve had returns of fan faves over the last few months, why not bring Chuck and Donna back to town for a visit and somehow integrate the two of them into this storyline. Perhaps Donna helps Randi get out prostitution, but not before her own life is threatened.  Hmmm maybe we will find out that Randi is connected to another character or characters on the show….

Those character(s) being Sam Woods and his son Dre. I was ecstatic when news broke that film star Mario Van Peebles would be joining the cast of the dashing attorney (senatorial candidate) Samuel Woods. I had high hopes and interest in this character and expected him to possibly be a new and temporary love interest for Erica Kane. Heck, I even expected a hot and sizzling love triangle between Jack/Erica/Sam to play out and steam up the summer months even more. But Sam was pushed to the backburner and the Sam/Dre storyline that had been planned seemed to have been scrapped. 

So you could imagine my surprise as we began to see Sam Woods (and Van Peebles) back on our screens. We already know that Dre is his son, but what a twist it would be if Randi was revealed to be his daughter. Could a romance with Erica be on the horizon to usher in the fall?? Could Sam be the one who secures her release from jail and then stands by Erica as she begins to learn to live outside the prison gates once again? Van Peebles and Susan Lucci definitely seem to sizzle with one another and pairing Erica and Sam together has the potential of providing AMC with some good storylines in the near future.  So where does that leave Jack? While Erica has been in jail, Jack seems to have taken her prison buddy Carmen under his wing. I cannot help to wonder, whether or not the show is testing the waters to see how viewers might react to a Carmen/Jack pairing or even a quadrangle between Sam/Erica/Jack/Carmen. Who knows Carmen and Sam might just team up to keep Erica and Jack away from one another. 

As I close this column, I find out that what we are seeing play out on our screens happens to be the end of B&E’s reign as head writers of this show. In the coming weeks, the winds of change will blow into Pine Valley and the AMC studios, as a tornado will affect the lives of many Pine Valley residents (some won’t survive) and will signal the beginning of Charles Pratt’s reign as head writer. From what he has planned it appears as if better days are definitely on the horizon for this show. 

What have you enjoyed about All My Children over the last few weeks? Have you not enjoyed anything? What changes would you like to see Charles Pratt make to the show and its storylines? Are their certain characters that you would like to see hop the first bus, plane or hearse out of Pine Valley? Click on the email link below to send me your thoughts.