History Of One Life To Live (2000-Present)
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| One Life to Live History |
|---|
| 1968 – Late 1970s • Late 1970s – 1989 • 1990 – 1999 • 2000 – Present |
[edit] One Life to Live (2000-Present)
Into the new millennium, more new characters were introduced, including Lindsay (Catherine Hickland)'s sister Melanie (Darlene Vogel) and her husband Colin (Ty Treadway). Colin was killed, but his twin brother was brought on the canvas, only to lose his mind and become a killer. Phelps' tenure saw the departure of a number of long-running actors, such as Laura Koffman (Cassie), Clint Ritchie (Clint), and Strasser (again).
When Phelps and McTavish left in early 2001, they were replaced by executive producer Gary Tomlin and writers Lorraine Broderick and Christopher Whitesell. Many of the actors hired under Phelps' tenure were let go. Fan favorite Gabrielle returned after a ten-year absence and romanced Max, then Bo. Storylines became more campy; and the show had a much-acclaimed week in May 2002 where the episodes were broadcast live. This experimentation was mixed with truly dark tales such as Todd selling Blair's baby, telling her the child was dead and then passing him off as an adopted baby when he realized he was the natural father. Another story involved Viki returning to her former split personality Niki Smith to block out the painful memory of being raped by Mitch Laurence (Roscoe Born). She had one child with Clint (Natalie) and the other child (Jessica) was fathered by Mitch. Another storyline was Antonio (Kamar de los Reyes) having a one-night stand with a woman who turned out to be his fiance Keri (Sherri Saum)'s mother. She then implanted her embryo into Keri, meaning that Keri was unknowingly giving birth to her fiance's child. To the chagrin of many viewers, much airtime was devoted to Lindsay Rappaport's daughter, Jen (Jessica Morris).
In early 2003 Malone and Josh Griffith were rehired as head writers with Frank Valentini taking over as executive producer. A new major storyline involved Mitch kidnapping sisters, Natalie and Jessica, to figure out which one's heart was a match for their grandfather. Victor had been faking his death. He was too ill to have major confrontations with his children and died a few weeks into the story. Dorian then showed up as Mitch's new bride, and she became immeshed in a storyline involving a jewel hunt as well as a "curse" which blinded Mitch. Mitch was later killed by Jessica. Another story involved the return of Cord and Tina's daughter, Sarah Roberts, as rock singer Flash (Shanelle Workman). Flash dated, and even kissed, Joey Buchanan (Bruce Michael Hall), her cousin. Joey, who was a minister at the time, then married Jen Rappaport, but the marriage did not last due to her affair with former husband Rex Balsom. Joey was then sent back to London to live with Clint.
Roger Howarth had come and gone several times but quit for good in early 2003. Mitch had him kidnapped. When the character returned several months later, he was posing as Mitch's brother Walker and was played by Trevor St. John. Apparently Todd had been so badly beaten that he had to get extensive plastic surgery. In spite of much fear that viewers would never accept any other actor as Todd, the talented St. John became popular and Todd, for the first time in a decade, had love scenes as well as a semi-functional relationship with Blair.
Viki developed heart trouble and was saved by a heart transplant from her comatose husband, Ben. One of the most appreciated storylines of the second Malone/Griffith era was Marcie Walsh (Kathy Brier)'s struggle with her self-esteem and her love story with Al Holden (Nathaniel Marston). Inexplicably, Marston was fired, while Al was killed off despite the couple's immense popularity. But a write-in campaign led by Marcie & Al fans convinced ABC to rehire Marston, in spite of his character having died on screen. Al's spirit took over Michael McBain's body, causing the ghost to lose all memories as Al, and court Marcie as Michael McBain. Brooding actor Michael Easton (who had a following as Stephen Clay/Caleb Morley, a singing vampire, on Port Charles) was hired as Michael's cop brother John McBain. John had affair with Lianview's Top Lawyer Evangeline Wiliamson (Renee Elise Goldsberry) that quickly turned into a relationship. Al's mother, Gabrielle, was murdered by the Music Box Killer, and Al's father, Max, left town, thus removing the Holden family from the canvas. Next came the saga of the Santi mobster family, whom Antonio learned he was related to. To the detriment of ratings (which fell to an all-time low in the summer of 2004), much of the action centered around new characters: Antonio's brother Tico (who married Jessica Buchanan), stepsister Sonia, and mother Angelina.
Writers Malone and Griffith were then replaced by Dena Higley. On the day he was to remarry Blair, Todd was kidnapped by the crazed Margaret Cochran, who in an homage to Misery, tied him up for weeks in a secluded cabin while he recovered from his injuries. She then forced him to have sex (rape) to impregnate her, in a throwback to his past history of rape. Margaret then conspired to get rid of Todd's wife, Blair by locking her in the trunk of a car. Margaret became pregnant and stabbed Todd because he tried to strangle her. To keep her away from his family Todd took Margaret to a lake and she never came back to shore. A few weeks later, her body & the unborn child washed up on shore. Todd was arrested for the crime and was tried for first degree murder and sent to death row. Today, Todd is trying to prove his innocence, with the help of Evangeline (his lawyer), but did he or someone else kill Margaret?
Jessica, meanwhile, developed a split personality into-- bad girl "Tess" who goaded Viki into having a heart attack. She has become pregnant either by Jessica's boyfriend Antonio or Tess' boyfriend Nash (who has a past of his own). Concerned that the baby was actually Antonio's, Tess destroyed the sample that would identify the actual father. Viki meanwhile emerged into Niki Smith and kidnapped Jessica forcing her to become Tess to finally discover what made Tess emerge that would destroy Viki forever. Tess refused to tell Niki her secret because if anyone knew, Jessica would intergrate into the dominant personality. Determined to know what happened to their daughter, Viki and Clint returned to the bar where Niki had taken Jessica when she was child. The evidence pointed to a house a couple of blocks away from the bar. There they discovered VHS tapes buried underneath the house with Tess' name and other girls names on the tapes. Viki and Clint decided to give the evidence to Bo, but before Tess' tape could be released to the police, Viki and Clint begged Bo to see what had happened to their daughter.
