An Editorial by the Webmistress

I was shocked when I saw Slezak's responses, so I re-read the entire article a couple of times.  I thought that I was perhaps reading too quickly, and her comments would have more meaning if I searched for contextual clues or links to her thought-processes.  Alas, no matter how many times I re-read the entire piece, her stand-alone responses to the queries posed appear to do just that:  Stand alone and in stark contrast to my memories of "One Life to Live," a show that I began watching well before Slezak joined the cast.

Joe Riley:  I was a fan of Lee Patterson and was thoroughly disappointed when I realized that, indeed, Joe Riley was going to die, therefore, Patterson was leaving the show.  (No, I didn't read soap opera magazines then and there was no Internet by which to stay apprised of show developments.) Joe and Viki were magical together because they were an unlikely couple.  Joe was a brash, young reporter for The Banner and Viki was uptight, stuffy, and, as scripted then, vastly over-protected by her overbearing father, Victor Lord.  (It wasn't until many years later that the audience would learn Victor had sexually abused Viki, splintering her psyche into several distinctly different personalities.)  I can't argue with Slezak's belief that, as the characters were crafted back in the '70's, had the writers stayed a course true to the characters' core characteristics and, absent Joe Riley's tragic on-screen death, the two characters would have remained married.

However, I cannot agree with Slezak's assessment of Joe Riley as Viki's "greatest love."  It is my fervent opinion that, based upon the stories that have unfolded on my t.v. screen since September 10, 1979, that distinction goes to none other than the character of Clint Buchanan.

Why?  I think my reasoning will become clear . . .

Most emotional on-screen moment:  Viki has had so many emotional on-screen moments for since she first entered the audience's consciousness in July 1968  that it's exceedingly difficult to pick just one and label it as the "most emotional."  Rather, I recall many, many moments when I was moved to tears as Viki suffered through yet another quintessential soap opera crisis. 

However, if pushed to select just one moment that stands out for me, contrary to Slezak's perception and experience as the performer portraying Viki, the death of the man with whom Viki entered into an adulterous affair wouldn't even appear on the list of the top 25 such moments.  (Frankly, I was happy when that character died.)

In my estimation, Viki's most memorable and emotional on-screen moments occurred during the 1888 Buchanan City storyline.  Slezak was at her absolute best during the scenes revolving around the supposed death of Clint Buchanan.  Her performances were believable, somewhat understated, and natural, despite the extent of the despair Viki was feeling when she thought that she had lost Clint forever.  I will never forget the scenes that took place  place in present day Llanview and Arizona, while Clint was in Buchanan City in 1888, struggling to find a way back to Viki and the children.  One was the funeral for Clint at which Viki attempted to speak and was so overcome with sorrow that she simply couldn't continue.  Slezak's portrayal of the suddenly grief-stricken widow left with 3 young children to raise rang true, and  was completely appropriate, believable, and, ultimately, heartbreaking.  It was made more compelling by the audience's knowledge that Clint was not dead at all, thus, Viki and the children were suffering needlessly.  Sure, we all knew that Clint and Viki would eventually find their way back to each other, in true soap opera style, but watching the drama unfold each day as we found out just how they would accomplish their goal was mesmerizing and delicious. 

Even more touching were a series of scenes which subtly, but hauntingly, portrayed the profundity not only of Viki's distress, but also the unbreakable bond Clint and Viki shared.  Viki was working at The Banner where she began editing a story, only to find a file on the disk that had been created by Clint.  It was a letter he had composed to her as an exercise in learning to use the new word processor.  Clint's assertion that Viki would never read the letter made Viki's accidental discovery of it even more poignant.  As we heard Clint Ritchie read the letter to Clint Buchanan's beloved "Mrs. B." in his deep, unmistakably resonant voice, Viki gradually crumbled -- word by word -- as he reminded her of all that (she believed) she had lost.

As Viki pulled into the Llanfair garage, Neil Diamond's "The Story of My Life" assaulted her with memories of her life with Clint.  The scene she recalled remains among my all-time favorite "One Life to Live" moments.  Although it was brief, it epitomized the charm, mystique, allure and, ultimately, comfort and familiarity of Clint and Viki Buchanan and explains perfectly why the audience was drawn to them over and over, day after day, month after month, year after year . . .  Clint and Viki had just arrived home and were sitting in the car when "their song" (the aforementioned Neil Diamond tune) came on the radio.  Clint suggested that they not go into the house but, instead, go up to Llantano Mountain to "make out."  Viki teased him about being too old to carry on like a teenager, but Clint assured her that it was quite acceptable for old married people like them to be silly and romantic.  As noted, it was a brief scene, but it perfectly captured the essence of what Clint and Viki Buchanan were all about --- and why "One Life to Live's" long-time core audience still misses them so.  Simply put, Clint and Viki were characters that we could relate to.  The scene was not out of the ordinary and could take place in any vehicle in AnyTown, America on any given evening involving two people who know each other well, have been through significant life experiences (like raising children) together, and still crave each other's intimate company.  Therein lay its brilliance.  And for those reasons, it endures.  Scenes like it are seen all too rarely on daytime television, including "One Life to Live."

The other reason that scenes involving Clint and Viki ---  separately or together -- were so emotionally charged was the amazing  chemistry between Clint Ritchie and Erika Slezak.  Clint has often said that they worked so well together that, after a time, they "could finish each other's sentences."  It was a pleasure to watch two consummate professionals make their work appear so effortlessly flawless.  Clint and Erika looked as though they were having a genuinely good time portraying Clint and Viki.  And, by all accounts, they were.

BEST LOVE SCENES:  Slezak's response is, frankly, mind-boggling.  She contends that, not only has she never really had love scenes until the arrival of the character of Ben Davidson in 1999, the "best" love scenes during her 30 year tenure have been with actor Mark Derwin.

 I have to preface my comments about those statements by acknowledging that the term "love scene" is amorphous, at best, and, at worse, completely impossible to define with any degree of specificity.  The term can mean one thing to one viewer, something entirely different to other viewers, and still something else to the actors portraying the characters those viewers are watching.  I plainly don't know what definition of "love scene" Slezak used as a point of reference.  Therefore, I can only accept her remark at face value.  And, at face value, it is a highly offensive remark that seems calculated to dismiss and demean a substantial portion of Slezak's tenure on "One Life to Live" during which she co-starred with Clint as "Mr. and Mrs. B."

Actually, trying to establish definitive criteria for what makes a scene a  "love scene" is akin to attempting to define "pornography."  When the U.S. Supreme Court decided Jacobellis v. State of Ohio in 1964, Justice Stewart these immortal and oft-quoted words in his concurring opinion: 

I shall not today attempt further to define the kinds of material I understand to be embraced within that shorthand description; and perhaps I could never succeed in intelligibly doing so. But I know it when I see it, and the motion picture involved in this case is not that. [Emphasis added.]

And so it is with "love scenes."  I can't define a "love scene" with any specificity, but I know one when I see one!  And throughout the nearly 20 years that Clint Ritchie and Erika Slezak graced the screen as "Mr. and Mrs. B," I observed more memorable and emotional "love scenes" than I could ever count or enumerate here!  So why does Slezak insist that she "never really had love scenes until Ben Davidson came along"?  I can only theorize.

But speaking of "pornography," . . .  

When "Mr. and Mrs. B" were at the center of "One Life to Live," ABC-Daytime promised, and delivered, "love in the afternoon," not soft pornography in the afternoon.  And soft pornography is what ABC delivered during Jill Farren Phelps' tenure as Executive Producer.  Perhaps, some have suggested, Slezak didn't actually mean that she had no love scenes throughout the years preceding transformation of Viki into "Blondie," but, rather, she was trying to draw attention to the fact that the type of scenes she has done in the past two years have been different.  One Internet poster suggested the following:  

. . .How could Joe Riley to have been Viki's greatest love, and she not have any love scenes with him?  

On the other hand, if you define ''love scene'' by the explicitness of the scene or the degree of dress or undress of the participants, it is obvious that, for whatever reason, "the powers that be" are (or at least were) "showing" more with Viki and Ben than they did with her previous relationships.  I would guess it was by that definition that ES was answering that question. . .

Could be.  Although I don't believe that the distinction between the scenes that Slezak has been involved in over the course of the past two years and those filmed in prior years is related to "the degree of dress of undress of the participants."  As demonstrated by the above photo, Slezak began baring her shoulders in love scenes many years ago.  That's not a new development.  Nor do I believe that the distinction is based upon the explicitness of the intimate behavior depicted in the scenes in question. 

Rather, the difference can be seen in the circumstances, settings and staging of the love scenes in question, as well as the use of those scenes to move the plot along.  

Before Viki became "Blondie," love scenes were tastefully staged in romantic (or sometimes comedic) settings.  But the scenes that have characterized the relationship of "Blondie" and her new beau have been set in tawdry and unappealing locations such as the Llanfair's dusty attic, the seedy Crossroads Bar, and cheap motels.  Whereas Clint Buchanan purchased Viki a beautiful mare of her own for their second wedding present, built her a gazebo in which to renew their vows after they returned from Buchanan City, spent the night with her in front of the fire in the library at Llanfair, and danced with her in his office when she brought picnic suppers to him while he was working late at The Banner, Ben presented "Blondie" with a red dress fit for a Las Vegas hooker before hoisting her up onto the pool table at Crossroads.  While Clint Buchanan frequently whisked "Mrs. B." away for a romantic interlude at her family's comfortable cabin, his Arizona ranch, in New York City or Europe, Ben whisks "Blondie" away to the attic to be intimate on a lumpy old mattress or the floor.

Whatever Slezak's motivation, one thing is clear:  Her attempts to rewrite history by pretending that the greatest love story ever told on "One Live to Life," i.e. that of Clint and Viki Buchanan, either never happened, was insignificant in the context of the show's history or, as in this most recent interview, that she never participated in "any love scenes" during the Clint & Viki years is an affront to many people, but most particularly the show's long-time fans and Clint Ritchie.

Slezak's comments not only belie the show's actual history, as explained above, they also dismiss the viewers who watched "One Life to Live's" greatest love story as it unfolded.  Many of those viewers, myself included, hold the characters of Clint and Viki Buchanan dear in their hearts and memories.  Many, many fans felt cheated when the story of Clint and Viki was not played out to its logical conclusion, i.e. a reunion of those two core characters.  Indeed, even Michael Malone, the "One Life to Live" headwriter who, under Linda Gottlieb's then-leadership, was responsible for the break-up of those beloved characters saw their coming back together as an eventuality, as he explained in an interview not long ago.  Malone stated:

There is one moment I remember vividly that suggests to me an inevitable move back together of Clint and Viki. As least in the pure narrative sense (I mean, taking away all the external factors that control story in daytime--actors move to Hollywood, networks cut costs, contract negotiations fail, recasts don't work, etc.) That moment was a shot of Clint (tired and unhappy) walking up the stairs to be with a crying Jessica during the time when he and Viki were working out the divorce. I always thought of it as the "John Wayne in The Man Who Shot Liberty Valence" shot--it revealed Clint as the quiet man who would never stop loving a woman his whole life long. And that makes the audience hope that someday, some way, maybe she'd come back to him.

From the summer of 1997 through the spring of 1998, it was obvious that Clint and Viki were headed back into each other's arms.  Slezak was very vocal about her feelings on that subject, telling

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Past Editorials:

Christmas Came Early for "One Life to Live" Fans

The Top 10 Most Annoying Things About the

 Current State of "One Life to Live"

The Long-Awaited Reiner Interview with Executive Producer Jill Farren Phelps --- with Analysis by Guest Editor Apricot

Needed: A Few Proud, Brave Network Executives

Life in Llanview Without Clint

Why I Tuned Out After 30 Years, 11 Months and 2 Days"

Viki & Ben? No Dice!

The Top 10 Ways for an Executive Producer to Destroy a Long-Running, Successful Soap Opera