Welcome Guest [Log In] [Register]



Hello, soap fans -- and welcome to Daytime Royalty!

For those unfamiliar, we are an uncensored community for fans and lovers of the daytime genre. We have a no-holds-barred atmosphere in regards to the shows, writers, actors etc. but we do not allow member suffering succotash in any form.

You're currently viewing our forum as a guest. This means you are limited to certain areas of the board and there are some features you can't use. If you join our community, you'll be able to access member-only sections, and use many member-only features such as customizing your profile, sending personal messages, and voting in polls. Registration is simple, fast, and completely free.

Join our community!

If you're already a member, please log in to your account to access all of our features.

Username:   Password:
Add Reply
DR Retrospective Interview with Suzanne Rogers
Topic Started: Oct 16 2016, 10:07 AM (4,677 Views)
lysie


Tell us about when you were originally cast.
I went out to Columbia. I was reading for another part, and they said “We think you would be right for something else. First I had auditioned for The Young and the Restless. It wasn’t on the air yet, and the casting director had been in the audience for The Follies. I was in the cast of The Follies at the Schubert Theater. He brought me out, and that’s how it all started.

He told my agent they were starting up a soap, and I might be right for that. So I went in to CBS, and the first thing they said to me was “Where’s your blond hair?” And I said, “Well, I’ve never had blond hair!” He said that the family they were casting for was all blond, but he said, “You know, you might be right for the other girl.” So I said, “Okay…” Anyway, they had me come in, and I did a test, and they also sent that test over to Days. Betty Corday saw it, and they wanted to see me in person. They had something in mind. It was a new character. Maggie. So I went back and read with seven other girls. Then I went back again, and there were only two of us.

Now mind you, I had only done theater and commercials. I had never done a test for anyone. So I was a bit nervous, needless to say. I got the studio. It was studio 9 at the time. I went into the makeup room, and they told me I was supposed to be a farmgirl, so casual and plain cut. They weren’t going to put a lot of makeup on me. I had worn jeans and a little blouse with flowers. The other girl came in wearing this beautiful pantsuit. Earrings. Just gorgeous. And she was a blond. And I thought…wow. And they all knew her. “Oh boy. I’m not going to get this.” She was supposed to go first, but she had been so busy talking to people and catching up, that she wasn’t ready when the stage manager came in, so they took me first.

It was kind of like baptism by fire. I got out there, and they handed me the crutches. The audition was on the farm set. We might have had to sing. I don’t remember for sure. John Clarke was Marty Hansen. MH. He had MH on his belt buckle. His real name on the show was Mickey Horton, but he had amnesia and couldn’t remember who he was, so he came up with Marty Hansen. He came up to my door and asked for a glass of water. I hobbled to the door on my crutches, gave him a glass of water, and we sat out on the back porch and he was just being nice and charming. That’s just what the scene was about. He was asking me questions about me. Where were my parents, and I had to tell them they’d been killed in an automobile accident, and I’d been left crippled. That was my story, and that’s how it all started.

That was on a Friday. It was Friday the 13th. I went home. Now, the day of the reading as I was leaving, a car pulled up beside me. It was the guy I had read with. He rolled his window down and said, “I wanted to tell you, you just knocked me out. “ And I said, “Oh…thanks.” Anyway, after the test, I went home and called my agent. He knew who the other girl was too. The weekend went by, the longest weekend in captivity. Then Monday came, and I thought “Well, I guess I didn’t get it.” Monday afternoon around 4:30, I called them at the office, and said “Well, I guess I didn’t get it.” And they said, “Oh we should have called you. You need to go pick up some crutches. You got the part. You start Wednesday.” And that’s how it all happened. It was very strange. I was so nervous. John Clarke was very sweet. I said, “I’m so nervous.” And he said, “You better use those nerves. You’re going to be nervous. Use it.”

How long did you think you would be there?
Well, initially they didn’t say. They weren’t sure. It was a new part, so they weren’t sure. They were just taking it week to week. In the meantime, I had read for a film, and the film was going to go. So my agent had told them that if I got the movie, I was going to go do it, and they didn’t stop me. So I did get it, and I flew off to New York to do the movie. But the movie didn’t get made. The money just wasn’t there. I came back home. The minute I landed in LA, my agent called them and said “She’s back.” And they immediately signed me to a contract. Before they weren’t interested in a contract.

My understanding is that your early years on the show, it was almost like two different shows. There was what was happening in Salem, and then there was what was happening on the farm.
Absolutely. At one point they were thinking about doing a spinoff and making that a show. I understand they’ve thought of doing that other points, too with other stories and couplings. The network wasn’t interested. They liked what they had and didn’t want to put on any more soaps. But it was different. We were out on the farm. We weren’t city folk. We were working with animals, working the farm. Even though I was on crutches, they said that the one thing they didn’t want me to do was to be in a wheel chair. They didn’t want me to always be sitting down for my scenes. Then everyone would always be looking down, and they wouldn’t be able to see their eyes. So they said I would have to run the house on the crutches. So I said, “Well, it’s a good thing I’m an ex-dancer, and I know how to work these things!” It all kind of fell into place. I was at the right place at the right time. I was very lucky. I had the look that they wanted. John Clarke and I just clicked, and the audience loved the storyline, so that’s what it was. And I was on the crutches for two and a half years.

Did being separated like that make it hard for you to feel like a part of the cast?
Yes, because for that period of time the two of us worked on the farm, on that set…and I didn’t work with anybody else. There was a farm hand. An older guy named Hank who had helped my dad run the farm. He was still there. And before I’d been paralyzed I’d had a boyfriend named Jay. Those were the only people I ever worked with for two and a half years. So it really was almost like a different story until Marty convinced Maggie to go see another doctor to see if the paralysis could be reversed.

A part of Maggie was happy with things the way they were, and she was a little leery about going into the city. And of course, she got to University Hospital, and they put her in this office to wait..and she starts looking around at the pictures…and there’s a picture of Laura and Mickey. Husband and wife. Married! She’s (Laura) in a wedding dress! And even though he (Mickey) didn’t have a beard, she (Maggie) knew that was her husband! A nurse came in, and I (as Maggie) asked her, “Who is this?” and she said, “Oh that’s Laura Horton, and that’s her husband Mickey.” And I said, “Thank you.” And then Maggie just turned around and left. The person she thought was Marty Hansen was not. His name was Mickey Horton. She went back to the farm and kept that secret.

The secret came out later after the county fair. They took pictures of the prize this and the prize that, and those pictures were in the paper. Tom Horton saw them, and recognized Mickey. Alice didn’t believe it at first, but Tom eventually got Laura and the two of them came out to the farm. When Maggie saw them, she knew the jig was up. Maggie thought that if she stayed crippled, maybe Mickey would stay with her. She thought that if she got well, Laura was so beautiful, and Maggie was just a farm girl, and Mickey would want to be with her. So the story became about why Maggie didn’t want to get well because she was afraid Mickey would leave her for this beautiful, blond wife. As far as Maggie knew, they were still married.

You were finally integrated with the rest of the cast!
The first people I worked with, were Tom and Laura. It was so lovely to work with someone else! And then when Maggie came back to Salem…they wanted her to come back and get the operation because they were all doctors. So they were all against me! Mickey’s brother, Bill, was also a doctor, and he’s the one who operated on Maggie. When Maggie still couldn’t walk, he told everyone there was no physical reason she couldn’t walk, so there was something psychological holding her back. In the meantime, Maggie found out that Laura and Mickey were at odds a bit and started to feel a bit more secure about Mickey staying. Anyway, that’s when the red shoes happened.

You’ve always listed that as your favorite story.
That was a wonderful story. That and the story where the daughter we adopted was taken away from us. That was the story I submitted for my Emmy tape the year I won.

I think a lot of people would be surprised to learn that a lot of Maggie’s earlier stories were based on her being insecure.
Well because she was cripple. I got a lot of fan mail from people who actually were crippled, and they thought I was. It was kind of a movement. Finally a show was showing a handicapped person! So the show had to handle it well, and I think it was handled really beautifully.

I think it also might surprise a lot of people to hear that Maggie would keep such a big secret. The Maggie we know now would spill quickly.
Yes! The character has evolved so much in the past few years. When Mickey passed away, who would have thought when Victor brought flowers to her to come see how she was that that would lead to something. First of all, it was so out of character for him to do that, She had probably never even really had scenes with Victor. And she’s found her voice. The last few years before Mickey died, she really had no one. All these years, he was the lawyer, and she was the housewife. She never really had a job. She helped Alice as a volunteer at the hospital, but she didn’t really have a job. When Mickey bought her the restaurant, all of a sudden she was opening up and becoming who she was. I think that’s why she took in all those kids. I called her the woman in the shoe. She had all these kids, she didn’t know what to do. She had all these kids/relatives but not really relatives. She found out later about Melanie and Daniel being related of course, but at first they weren’t. But when Mickey passed away, she really had no one, and I think she’s really found her voice over the last several years.

You mentioned the story you won the Emmy for. Maggie’s alcoholism is still referenced on the show because she is a commonly used AA sponsor. Tell us about playing that story.
The biological mother of the daughter Mickey and Maggie adopted wanted her child back. She came to town looking for her and found out they had her. It didn’t explain how she found out, but she found out. She learned from her lawyer that Mickey had been in a mental institution. So that was one strike against them. So Maggie is out and keeps thinking someone is watching her, but no one in town believes her. The audience would see it, but no one believed Maggie. The woman’s lawyer basically told her that she needed to get information on Maggie if she wanted to get her daughter back, so she kept following Maggie. That got Maggie insecure and anxious again, and that started her drinking.

The audience was furious. They didn’t like it. They didn’t like that they were making her an alcoholic. I think I was only an alcoholic for about two months. They were writing in saying “You’re ruining this character! You can’t do this!” It might have been longer, but it didn’t last long. The loss of her daughter shook her out of her alcoholism. The family all gathered around to help her get through it. Ever since then, on the show, my character has never had a drink. If there’s a gathering, my character has water or lemonade. I think the story was good even though the audience hated it. They hated that it was destroying my character. The audience’s reaction was just so adamant about it, that the writers decided to try and get through it quickly.

What did you think of the story?
Being that I’m not an alcoholic and have never been around anyone that was, it was hard for me to get. I talked to several people to get an idea, and what I got from them was that the whole thing is really about hiding it and not letting anyone know about it. So that’s what I grabbed a hold to. And it usually does come from insecurity or some kind of insecurity. So that’s what I chose to do with it.

My Emmy tape was an argument between Mickey and I, the variety show, and the scene where the biological mother comes to take Maggie’s daughter away. I go to the window and watch them take her away and then collapse on the floor. It was the little girl’s last day on the show, so she was crying. Back then you could do two cuts. Three pieces of tape. They didn’t have to be done on the same day as long as they were done in that calendar year.

Mickey and Maggie were also involved in one of Stefano’s first stories. Stefano faked Mickey’s death!
Yes! Oh my god! That was the first time on the show that Maggie’s character really ever even contemplated looking at another man other than her husband. Stefano kidnapped him but told the family back in Salem that he had died. There was a scene where I come into the church and literally threw myself on the casket. But I thought he was dead. In the mean time, his partner in the law firm was Don Craig. He had moved on from Marlena, so he was free. He had a crush on Maggie, so they went out. And then there’s this scene where we went out to dinner, and I was in this beautiful dress, and he asked me to marry him…and Mickey falls down the stairs. When you think about it now, god that was silly. But at the time….I mean, wouldn’t you know! That was kind of the only little hiccup in Maggie and Mickey’s relationship. But she thought he was dead. And she had turned Don down and turned him down and turned him down. Then this happened!

You left the show in 1984.
In 1984, I got an illness. I got Myasthenia Gravis. That’s a neuromuscular illness. I was off the show for a year. I was on Prednisone. Prednisone is a miracle drug, but it has hellacious side effects. They call is moon face, so that will give you an idea of what it does. It blows up your face. I had great skin! No wrinkles at all! My face was very full. I didn’t want anyone on the show.to know anything about it.

John Clarke went to the producers and told them I was sick. I got a call from Al Rabin, and he said, “We understand that you’re ill.” And I said, “Yes.” And he said, “Well, we would like for you to come back to the show if you’re up to it.” And I said, “Well, I look quite a bit different.” When I left the show, I was running 10ks and I was very thin. So I told him that I thought that he should see me before making that decision. I let him know that I had been on that medication and was still on the medication. So we met at a restaurant. I got there before him and sat down. I love him dearly for the fact that he walked in, and it did not register on his face how bad I looked. He didn’t let it show. I looked puffy. I really did. He said they wanted me to come back, and they would work around my schedule and whatever I could do. He said they’d make sure there was a sofa in my room if I needed to lie down. When someone is so kind, how can you say no?

The doctors had said I’d never be on camera again. And you know…I guess there’s a little devil in me, because there had been a voice in my head thinking, “Well, I’ll show them.” So I went back. Some of the cast was not as kind as I would have thought, but mostly everybody was wonderful.

Now mind you, back then we were only about 2 or 3 weeks ahead. The first day I saw myself on camera, I was watching the show and I saw this person on the phone, and I thought, “Who is that?” And then I realized it was me. And I started crying and praying “Why why?” But I thought, “No. You’ve got to look at this. You are going to get better. Turn this back on and face this. This is what you look like now.” I did, and it was hard to watch myself looking completely different from what I thought I looked like. But I did it, and I got through it. I went into remission. I started on the medication in 1984, and I went off of the medication in 1995.

In the double wedding picture you can see that I look kind of full faced. They did a good job of pulling my hair up and trying to make it look like I wasn’t full faced.

Fast forward a few years, and Maggie had an affair with Neil that Sarah walked in on. That was also a bit of a departure for Maggie.
Well, Maggie was a surrogate for, she thought, Evan Whyland. Mickey knew that Maggie wanted to have a child, and he was sterile. Maggie was artificially inseminated and was carrying a child for Evan and his wife. Toward the end of the pregnancy, his wife was killed in a car accident. Evan was a doctor at the hospital along with all of the Horton. He did not want to raise the child by himself, so he gave Maggie the child. But down the way, it came out that Neil had switched the sperms and put his own sperm in the petri dish. So the baby was really Neil Curtis’.

Now, Maggie does have two daughters. Melissa and Sarah.
They never really explained a lot of that. All of a sudden Melissa went to Nashville and then Sarah wanted to be with her. Then I’d be without anybody again. Instead of having a family unit, they’d always be breaking up that family unit. I don’t know whose idea that was. They were always getting rid of my kids.

You were still on the show in the 90s, but you didn’t have a lot of story. What was that like for you?
Well, I was still sick. It wasn’t until 95 that I was completely off the prednisone. I don’t remember that it traumatized me very much. I do remember that at one point when I wasn’t working very much, I went to one of the big department stores out here and started working. I love clothes and I love fashion, so I went to work part time. Then I’d also have time for auditions. So it wasn’t traumatic for me.

The next really big story for Maggie was the serial killer story. Tell us about that.
Let me tell you about how that happened. I was in the makeup room one day, and Deidre was talking to John Aniston about their contracts. I was across the room. And she said, “When is your contract up?” And I said that I had until March. And that was it.

The next day, I got a call from Ken Corday. I had never gotten a call from him before. I said “Is this good news or bad news?” And of course, it was bad news. He told me they were planning to write off the character in 7 weeks. Needless to say, I was pretty upset. He explained that a lot of characters were going to get killed off in an upcoming storyline, and he told me I had to play like I didn’t know anything about it. I hung up the phone and was numb. I had to work the next day. And that’s how it all started. I was the first woman killed. That was so hard. I didn’t like that at all!

Of course it all ended up being fake. So on March 31st of the next year, I got a call from the office. They said that I needed to come over the next day at 10:00. I’d been off the show for months at this point. I said “Can you tell me why?” and they said, “No” I was the first one there, and I didn’t know anyone else was coming. So I went into this huge room, and I look up, and here comes James Reynolds. And he has no idea what’s going on either. And then Thaao came in…the only one that didn’t come into the room was Frances Reid.

So Ken came in and told us that we were all coming back. And I have to tell you…I never was so relieved in all my life. I didn’t know how much longer I could keep my house. You know…the usual things you think about. So then he takes us over to the set. So in the mean time, they had brought on other people. They have technically filled our spots with other characters, so we’re thinking “Where are we going to fit in?” So we all walked over, and he had us stand behind something, and he said “I’m going to handle this,” They had told the cast there would be a meeting on the set, and they wanted everyone to be there. He tells them, “I want to introduce you to your new cast.” So we hear all this murmuring, and then he introduced us one by one in the order we were killed off. And that’s how it was.

Needless to say, some people were happy, and some people were not! They were not happy to see us! Because whatever they’d been doing for the last 8 or 9 months, they weren’t going to be doing as much of it. It was quite an eye opening experience.

In the interim, I was a ghost. That was kind of fun. I got to wear my hair wild and curly, so I didn’t have to tame it down. I figured an angel could have her hair any way she wanted. I enjoyed that. I didn’t enjoy the idea that I was a ghost. An angel. Angel. I think it really shook a lot of people. People felt they’d been lied to. People asked why we didn’t tell them. Well, I didn’t know. Maybe some did. I didn’t. It was all very surreal. But that’s what our show does so well.

You came back to a new Mickey and a triangle with Bonnie.
For a while they really didn’t have me with Mickey anymore. Then they’d use us and then they wouldn’t for weeks at a time. I think they really wanted to get John Clarke back, and I think he had just had enough. He didn’t want to do it anymore. When they were going to kill me off, he had asked them to kill him off because he didn’t want to be there anymore. But it was just the way it was. You don’t ask questions. I love my job, so I just try to make everything work.

We haven’t even really touched anything from the last decade, and we’ve missed a lot of other stories, too. Is there anything we haven’t talked about that you would really like to talk about?
I was glad that they gave my character a job. I’m glad she had something to do. Being a mother and raising children is wonderful, but I also think it was nice to see her fulfilled and having a voice. Standing up. One good thing about the pairing of Maggie and Victor is that she stood up on her own. She didn’t need him. All of his wives either used him as a means to an end or to step up in society. She had her own money and didn’t really need him. I think that was part of what attracted him to her. She was independent. It’s kind of nice to see her grow. I Think my character has grown a whole lot, and I like that.

Have there been any other stories on the show that you wish you could have been a part of?
No. I don’t think so. First of all, the people that have gotten the storylines that have made me think “Oh, how nice that would have been” did it so well. I think our show is cast so beautifully, and we’re all so very different. That’s what I like about it. Would I have liked to have worked more in my own stories? Yes. But I don’t really covet anyone else’s stories.

What’s your favorite thing about Maggie?
She’s a straight shooter. I think she is loving to a fault, and I think she is fierce if it comes to anyone hurting the people she loves.

What’s your least favorite thing about Maggie?
She cries a lot. I think it kind of comes with the territory. What do you do? She’s not big on screaming and hollering…although she’s done it more these last few years than usual! I don’t like being nasty, and it's hard for me to play that.
Online Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
paul89


wow its good
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Sindacco
Member Avatar


Great interview, this made me like her again, thanks :D
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
HOURGLASS85


Thanks Lysie. Loved this interview. Was really interesting. Would love to have more revealing interviews from actors, former producers, writers, etc. that fill us in on what was happening behind the scenes all these years.

Does anyone know if the original plan was to let Deidre Hall go at the conclusion of the serial killer story? Obviously the initial plan changed by bringing back all the killed characters. Just wondered - especially since SR referenced the conversation in the make-up room - whether they would have gone there and gotten rid of Marlena.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
DrewHamilton
Member Avatar


Great interview! Lots of new tidbits I never knew, and some things I knew were explained better.

I never knew Suzanne auditioned for Y&R first. I wonder if she was going to play one of the Brooks sisters. Or maybe Jill?

We always hear about the various DAYS spinoff ideas. I don't think I ever knew there was a proposed spinoff of the farm in Brookville. It's hard to imagine that Mickey and Maggie never interacted with the other cast for 2 and a half years. And people think stories take too long to tell nowadays.

That Jay character. Maggie's ex-boyfriend. Did they confirm he was Summer's dad? I can't remember if they ever said an actual name, or just an old boyfriend.

I remember finding out that Maggie initially lied about her knowledge of Mickey's identity and then that she was able to walk. It was such a great aspect of the character I never knew. My only knowledge of Maggie was from 1996 and onward. So to get up to date on some of her stories from the 70s really made me like the character even more. Mind you, this was all pre-Tomlin's love for Suzanne Rogers and making the show centered around Maggie and Victor.

I'd love to know which actors were rude to Suzanne when she first came back after her leave due to MG.

The show's refusal to integrate Melissa and Sarah onto the canvas is such a mystery to me. Especially when it was decided to make Maggie such a central character in recent years. If Lisa Trusel doesn't want to act, recast the character of Melissa. And bringing on Sarah seems like a no-brainer. To me at least.

Really interesting tidbits about the serial killer story. I always love the story about John Clarke wanting the show to kill off Mickey instead of Maggie to save Suzanne's job, knowing how much she still wanted to work. A true gentleman. They could've easily made Mickey the next victim. Something tells me Reilly's decision to keep it Maggie as the victim was due to his creation of Bonnie Lockhart and her desire to go after Mickey after Maggie's death. I think the same story could've worked if Mickey was killed by the serial killer, and they brought on David Lockhart as the money hungry parent of Mimi instead. Have David set his sights on Maggie, an older wealthy woman, who he plans to swindle for her money.

I can only imagine how relieved Suzanne, JR, Thaao and the others were when they found out they were all coming back and their characters were alive. I'll never forget hearing that rumor for the first time. It was on April 1, 2004. Everyone suspected it was an April Fools joke.

I also found it interesting that Suzanne made mention of some new actors not being happy about the serial killer victims being brought back. If you think about who was brought on to replace those killed, you have Tek (replacing Abe), Patrick (replacing Jack), Bonnie (replacing Maggie). No one really replaced Cassie, Caroline, Roman or Tony. And by the time Doug was killed, I think it was known, at least to the writers (not the cast) that the story direction had changed and they were bringing everyone back.

Again, awesome interview. Thanks for sharing!
Edited by DrewHamilton, Oct 16 2016, 11:31 AM.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
DrewHamilton
Member Avatar


HOURGLASS85
Oct 16 2016, 11:07 AM
Does anyone know if the original plan was to let Deidre Hall go at the conclusion of the serial killer story? Obviously the initial plan changed by bringing back all the killed characters. Just wondered - especially since SR referenced the conversation in the make-up room - whether they would have gone there and gotten rid of Marlena.
That's definitely a mystery I wish someone would finally reveal/solve. Given Reilly's love for Marlena, I don't think he would've sent her off the show. There would've been something that redeemed Marlena and kept her on. Obviously the brainwashing by Andre (impersonating Tony at the time) was not the initial plan.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
thepadange
Member Avatar


DrewHamilton
Oct 16 2016, 11:29 AM
I remember finding out that Maggie initially lied about her knowledge of Mickey's identity and then that she was able to walk. It was such a great aspect of the character I never knew. My only knowledge of Maggie was from 1996 and onward. So to get up to date on some of her stories from the 70s really made me like the character even more. Mind you, this was all pre-Tomlin's love for Suzanne Rogers and making the show centered around Maggie and Victor.

BTW, what did Tomlin write for Maggie in 1980/1981?
Edited by thepadange, Oct 16 2016, 11:42 AM.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Spencer Hastings
Member Avatar


I love this. My early memories are just of Magge being the busybody in the restaurant so this gives me a much greater understanding of her character. Suzanne did a great job setting the scene and explaining what was happening at the time! I love that she hates Maggie crying as much as I do.

Quote:
 
Needless to say, some people were happy, and some people were not! They were not happy to see us! Because whatever they’d been doing for the last 8 or 9 months, they weren’t going to be doing as much of it. It was quite an eye opening experience.

I'm going to need names. :coffee:
Edited by Spencer Hastings, Oct 16 2016, 11:42 AM.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
thepadange
Member Avatar


Spencer Hastings
Oct 16 2016, 11:41 AM
I love this. My early memories are just of Magge being the busybody in the restaurant so this gives me a much greater understanding of her character. Suzanne did a great job setting the scene and explaining what was happening at the time! I love that she hates Maggie crying as much as I do.

Quote:
 
Needless to say, some people were happy, and some people were not! They were not happy to see us! Because whatever they’d been doing for the last 8 or 9 months, they weren’t going to be doing as much of it. It was quite an eye opening experience.

I'm going to need names. :coffee:
I think this was even worse:

Quote:
 
So I went back. Some of the cast was not as kind as I would have thought, but mostly everybody was wonderful.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
DrewHamilton
Member Avatar


thepadange
Oct 16 2016, 11:41 AM
DrewHamilton
Oct 16 2016, 11:29 AM
I remember finding out that Maggie initially lied about her knowledge of Mickey's identity and then that she was able to walk. It was such a great aspect of the character I never knew. My only knowledge of Maggie was from 1996 and onward. So to get up to date on some of her stories from the 70s really made me like the character even more. Mind you, this was all pre-Tomlin's love for Suzanne Rogers and making the show centered around Maggie and Victor.

BTW, what did Tomlin write for Maggie in 1980/1981?
Well Sarah was born in 1981, so I'm going to guess the whole surrogate story was Tomlin.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Jason47
Member Avatar


DrewHamilton
Oct 16 2016, 11:46 AM
thepadange
Oct 16 2016, 11:41 AM
DrewHamilton
Oct 16 2016, 11:29 AM
I remember finding out that Maggie initially lied about her knowledge of Mickey's identity and then that she was able to walk. It was such a great aspect of the character I never knew. My only knowledge of Maggie was from 1996 and onward. So to get up to date on some of her stories from the 70s really made me like the character even more. Mind you, this was all pre-Tomlin's love for Suzanne Rogers and making the show centered around Maggie and Victor.

BTW, what did Tomlin write for Maggie in 1980/1981?
Well Sarah was born in 1981, so I'm going to guess the whole surrogate story was Tomlin.
Gary's storylines for Maggie...he wrapped up the Kyle storyline and did the surrogate storyline...

11/3/80-11/7/80: Julie resigned herself to the fact that Doug can't divorce Lee because Lee wouldn't be able to finish her therapy. Maggie got wise to Lee using the situation to her advantage.

11/17/80-11/21/80: Kyle had a therapy setback and Maggie pleaded to be allowed to continue helping him.

11/24/80-11/28/80: Kyle fantasized about Maggie, while she assured Mickey that Kyle can't break up their marriage.

12/15/80-12/19/80: Maggie suggests to Marlena that she confront Liz.

1/12/81-1/16/81: Maggie and Mickey became closer after Kyle moved to Florida.

1/19/81-1/23/81: Don and Marlena embraced after Maggie forced a meeting before the Craig divorce was final.

4/6/81-4/10/81: Maggie's eyes lit up when Neil started a surrogate mother program at the hospital.

4/20/81-4/24/81: Mickey nixed Maggie's idea to become a surrogate mother. Maggie predicted that Michael would fight David for Trish.

4/27/81-5/1/81: Mickey allowed Maggie to become a surrogate mother. Maggie and David questioned Neil's hesitation to hire Stuart as hospital administrator. Maggie learned that Michael would be returning in two weeks.

5/4/81-5/8/81: Neil wondered if Maggie could handle surrogate mother status.

5/11/81-5/15/81: Maggie vehemently opposed Mickey's suggestion that she postpone surrogate motherhood.

5/18/81-5/22/81: Mike convinced Mickey to support Maggie. Stuart had eyes for Maggie.

6/1/81-6/5/81: Maggie became pregnant as part of the surrogate mother program. Mickey confided to Marlena that he's still apprehensive about Maggie's pregnancy.

6/15/81-6/19/81: Maggie comforted Stuart, whose daughter-in-law died in San Diego.

6/22/81-6/26/81: Mickey feared that Maggie wouldn't surrender her child once it was born.

6/29/81-7/3/81: Stuart harangued Evan for snapping at Maggie. Mickey grew insecure over Maggie and Stuart's mutual admiration society.

7/6/81-7/10/81: Evan opened up to Maggie about his grief.

7/13/81-7/17/81: Neil confirmed Evan's suspicions that Evan fathered Maggie's child through the surrogate mother program. Evan pursued Maggie in order to win his child.

7/20/81-7/24/81: Stuart and Neil discouraged Maggie's friendship with Evan.

7/27/81-7/31/81: Stuart and Neil remained secretive about Maggie's child, which Evan fathered, unbeknownst to Evan. Evan comforted Maggie after the press had fun with her pregnancy.

8/3/81-8/7/81: Mickey felt slandered by the article about Maggie. Neil failed to pry Evan away from Maggie. Lee taunted Maggie about her pregnancy.

8/10/81-8/14/81: Maggie insisted on salvaging her friendship with Evan.

8/17/81-8/21/81: Evan comforted Maggie when she had pregnancy complications, and decided not to leave town.

8/24/81-8/28/81: Reporter Mark Garrett pestered Mickey and Maggie. Maggie had second thoughts about surrendering her child and failed to pry info from Neil about the adoptive parents.

9/14/81-9/18/81: Stuart forced Mark not to print his story on Maggie. Evan suspected Maggie wants to keep her baby.

9/21/81-9/25/81: Stuart caught Evan making a pitch for Maggie.

10/12/81-10/16/81: Mickey and Maggie learned that Maggie's child would be adopted by a doctor.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Jason47
Member Avatar


Spencer Hastings
Oct 16 2016, 11:41 AM

Quote:
 
Needless to say, some people were happy, and some people were not! They were not happy to see us! Because whatever they’d been doing for the last 8 or 9 months, they weren’t going to be doing as much of it. It was quite an eye opening experience.

I'm going to need names. :coffee:
I'm just wrapping up the research on the monthly contract credits, so this was handily available. This was the contract cast airing on May 5, 2004 (when they were taping around 1 month ahead of time), so this would be the cast at the April 1 meeting:

5/5/04:
Cast:
Starring: Drake Hogestyn as John Black
Frank Parker as Grandpa Shawn Brady
Alison Sweeney as Samantha Brady
Renee Jones as Lexie Carver
Kristian Alfonso as Hope Brady
Peter Reckell as Bo Brady
Lauren Koslow as Kate Roberts
Arianne Zuker as Nicole Kiriakis
Kirsten Storms as Belle Black
Jason Cook as Shawn Brady
Farah Fath as Mimi Lockhart
Kyle Lowder as Brady Black
Melissa Reeves as Jennifer Horton
Eric Winter as Rex Brady
Bryan Dattilo as Lucas Roberts
Kyle Brandt as Philip Kiriakis
Judi Evans as Bonnie Lockhart
Brody Hutzler as Patrick Lockhart
John Ingle as Mickey Horton
Heather Lindell as Jan Spears
With: Deidre Hall as Marlena Evans
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
DesignatedShelley
Member Avatar


I want to like Maggie again, I just can't any more with the Victor-Maggie-Brady-Jonas-branch-whoever-is-dating-Brady-now family unit. I really don't get why Sarah and Melissa are nowhere to be found, but she can still be Hope's and Jennifer's aunt Maggie. I always felt bad for Suzanne when I heard about how she reacted to being let go in 2003, and also how her stories dried up after a while. If the writers will stop using her as a Kiriakis and stop having her cheerlead for bad couples and not make her cry any more, I think we could be on a road to reconciliation.

ETA: I would love to see her Emmy reel. I really liked SR in the one clip I've seen of her from the 70's.
Edited by DesignatedShelley, Oct 16 2016, 01:07 PM.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Ophelia
Member Avatar


Why on earth wouldn't they have tied in Maggie's time in the wheelchair with her first few years (on crutches)?
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Lovejm


Ophelia
Oct 16 2016, 01:20 PM
Why on earth wouldn't they have tied in Maggie's time in the wheelchair with her first few years (on crutches)?
I thought they did. She talked about being through it before and they redid the red shoe thing
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Michael Goldberg
Member Avatar


Good interview Lysie :) Too bad Suzanne didn't have a chance to talk about Maggie's great love for Melanie and Daniel :P
Edited by Michael Goldberg, Oct 16 2016, 02:04 PM.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Casey
Member Avatar


Great interview, DR! Lots of awesome things brought up here that I haven't heard before and really enjoyed reading. Such a shame that there is no way to view some of this early material as I would love to see it!
Online Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Ophelia
Member Avatar


Lovejm
Oct 16 2016, 01:24 PM
Ophelia
Oct 16 2016, 01:20 PM
Why on earth wouldn't they have tied in Maggie's time in the wheelchair with her first few years (on crutches)?
I thought they did. She talked about being through it before and they redid the red shoe thing
Ah, I lose patience with Maggie so that was probably a day I skipped or ffwded. Was she crying? Was Summer in the scene?
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
JTClassicSoaps
Member Avatar
J&M and Family Fanatic!

Amazing Interview! My love for Maggie has long since waned but I still adore SR. I was really surprised when she talked about people not being nice when she returned from her illness and some people being upset with the "all alive" twist in 2004.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Casey
Member Avatar


lysie
Oct 16 2016, 10:07 AM
Now, Maggie does have two daughters. Melissa and Sarah.
They never really explained a lot of that. All of a sudden Melissa went to Nashville and then Sarah wanted to be with her. Then I’d be without anybody again. Instead of having a family unit, they’d always be breaking up that family unit. I don’t know whose idea that was. They were always getting rid of my kids.
I have always wondered why Days did this. Mickey was the only child of Tom and Alice to stay consistently with the show past the 1970s. Addie had died, Bill and Marie would only occasionally pop in but were not permanently there and I doubt we will ever find out what happened to Tommy Horton after 1980. It would only have made sense to maintain Mickey's family unit to represent the Horton presence and stress both his and Maggie's importance on the show for years to come but they never seemed to make the effort. Plus, even when Melissa was on the show, she did not serve the same purpose that Hope and Jennifer did. Is it because Melissa and Sarah were not biological Horton's that the show did not care as much about them?

I think it would have made more sense for the show to try and keep Lisa Trusel around on recurring status after her appearances in 2010. They should have kept her around and reintroduced her connections to the canvas slowly. I also think it was a mistake to get rid of her son, Nathan, back in 2011. If they needed to get rid of Mark Hapka, fine, but they should have gotten another actor to play the part. You don't get rid of token core characters with deep connections to the canvas like that. Also, once they cemented the importance of Nathan and Melissa, they could have easily brought back Sarah Horton - a character with a blank slate who could be used for pretty much anything (this is who Melissa Archer should have played).

Instead we got lazy retcons such as Daniel being Maggie's eggbaby and whatever the heck that Summer mess was supposed to be these past couple of moths in an attempt to create direct ties to Maggie when they already had other opportunities to do so without needing to rewrite anything.
Online Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
1 user reading this topic (1 Guest and 0 Anonymous)
DealsFor.me - The best sales, coupons, and discounts for you
Go to Next Page
« Previous Topic · DAYS: News, Spoilers & Discussion · Next Topic »
Add Reply