Here is Tamara’s first day back at school. I thought that would be a fun way to start out this post since really it is like she’s back where she learned a lot of what she knows now about acting from her “trial-by-fire” playing Carly. Overall it was great to see her back, but I’ll have a lot more to say on this in another post after the American Thanksgiving Holiday. What I have to say isn’t for now, so for now enjoy Tamara’s return. You can find what you need under the links below.
On a superficial note, Tamara looked great! I wasn’t crazy about the dress they had Kim in, but she looked very cute anyway. I just hope they don’t dress her homely just because she’s a doctor. She should be dressing very chic, she has her own practice. The showdown between Kim and fauxCarly (LW is not Carly to me) was decent. I liked that right out the gate, Kim was like “I know exactly what you do” and I’m not going to try to control the kids because they’ll just rebel and try to harder to defy us and get together, so let’s just let this play out. She has every right to be protective of her child. What rubbed me the wrong way was fauxCarly having the nerve to quip back “if you spent time with your son”. I literally was like, “Bittchhhh, what?” Kim is a single, working mother. FauxCarly, Kim doesn’t have time to be in everyone’s business all day like you and still not spend time with your kids.
I did enjoy the looks and interaction between TB and MB most of all. At one point before CarLo, I was a diehard CarSon fan. The little smiles and looks between them were cute. I have a feeling with all the hype and reaction TB is getting, MB will want to attach Sonny to Kim. He loves attention and being in big storylines. Considering the tension between them behind the scenes before TB left, I hope they’ve mended their friendship and Kim gets a chance to get the right balance. Overall, Kim got a really positive response, although there seems to also be an inclination that she’ll soon be in Sonny’s bed. I’m ok with that, as long as she stays firm to her beliefs, and if its not done in like a week lol. I also can tell the LW fans are a little nervous. fauxCarly probably won’t continue to be queen bee…My hopes are TB is nominated for Best Actress and brings home that Emmy for GH. She was robbed the first time around and LW got it just because there was really no competition and they just gave it to her.
I totally Loved thse scennes. I Loved seeing Tamara back together with Maurice Benard and Steve Burton
Pam:
Thanks for leaving a comment. Yes, it was great seeing the old team back together. Though I’m still not liking Tamara in this new role. I want her as Carly.
Dianne
It is great seeing Tamara Braun back on daytime television, especially after the boomerang/mishandled that “Days of Our Lives” has been giving her since 2008. Even her role on “All My Children” was a letdown, due to misdirection of character for a more story-dictated way of telling.
For me, it is still too soon to judge Braun in the role of Kim Nero, but I have a strong feeling this could be a potentially good long-term role. As for her being Carly, to me, Laura Wright has become Carly and as a fan of both actresses it is quite disappointing to see bashing of an actress, purely based on comments made 12 years ago. She’s been in the role since, and there is clearly not intentions of replacing her. And, in that being said, Sarah Joy Brown even mentioned Wright was her choice of Carly before they cast Braun. My take on Wright’s comments, from 2005, isn’t that she favors Brown over Braun; I took it as she liked the spice and the edge that Brown’s Carly had, and that based on the material she was being given, that’s the direction she was taking.
Take it as you want, I just felt it my responsibility to respond to what was being said, and express my disappointment in the bullying Wright has endured because fans feel the need to say things behind a keyboard. Not wanting to fight, as I enjoy Brown, Braun and Wright; just wanted to put my two-cents in, and I hope it isn’t removed, flagged or discouraged.
Joel:
Thank you for stopping by, however, I have to beg to differ on your assessment on Laura Wright. And I’ll bash as much as I please since to me Laura Wright has not ever been Carly. She’s been her former “Guiding Light” character playing at being Carly. And it is just to base feelings on those things Wright said 12 years ago because to see her now kissing Tamara’s butt is a little dishonest and disconcerting. As for that comment supposedly made by Sarah back in 1997 from that 5oth Anniversary People magazine, that quote was said by Wright, not Brown. As a writer myself I can say this, without growth in a character there is no need for the character to exist. If the character backslides then it’s a clear defficiency on two fronts:
It’s clear that the writing for Sarah Brown near the end of her run was getting bad. During all four of Tamara’s years the writing was abysmal, however, a good actor/actress has the ability to pull that out of the trash heap with something Laura Wright has no handle on. That is SUBTEXT. Subtext means that you’re able to take what is on the page and transcend it somehow. While all the crap was being written by Pratt and Guza for Tamara including all the servicing of Sonny and Sonny alone never mind Carly’s feelings (example: 2003 was all about how Sonny felt about Ric and Ric’s trying to get back at Sonny via Carly) at being raped (reconned so as to make Ric more promising as a long term character) and that the whole Panic Room story was also servicing Sonny’s feelings. In that scene when Mac came to get Carly’s statement on Ric, the camera focused in on Sonny, not Carly and Carly’s feelings. But despite all that servicing, Tamara managed to give us insight into Carly’s feelings and emotions. That takes a skilled actor/actress. Of which Laura Wright is not. She has high school plays as her CV and nothing else other than soaps. Sarah Brown at least attended school on a theatre major. Tamara attended the prestigous Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts in London, England with their summer session program. The regular program according to film director Kenneth Branagh in his autobiography Beginning, said the regular program is two years long and is hard enough, however, the summer program that has limited spaces open to those outside of those from Great Britain. Tamara won a seat. In that two months what is done in the regular two year program is condensed into two months. In that you learn how to break down scenes, study Shakespeare and work on diction and body language. Tamara graduated with her certificate from that program. Speaks a lot to her dedication and her ability to do the program. Jennifer Bransford has a degree in drama from Dartmouth College. What is the commonality here? Three of the actresses have some actual theatre training, if not two of them have actual degrees, and one has only high school plays and a modeling career as “training”.
It doesn’t matter of the “edge” that Sarah had in the role, she really didn’t have an “edge” she had what is called small-girl-trying-to-be-big-girl syndrome. She saw Brenda (and don’t get me started on my feelings on Vanessa Marcil) and wanted to be her. She wanted to be Alexis, Lily, et al. So she in effect acted bigger than she was because she didn’t know how to do anything else. Michael Logan had this to say about (original text can be found in the Press Section).
Sarah while good, wasn’t exceptional as she left no room for Carly to grow. Recasting with Tamara and her ability to read subtext and expand on that character in terms of bringing humility, humanity and above all maturity to the character allowed for Carly to grow beyond the ingenue and brought Carly into lead territory. Without Tamara doing that Wright wouldn’t have had a role to come to when she abandoned “Guiding Light”. I’ll reiterate what I said on another message board about both Brown and Wright, neither one could have played that Panic Room storyline without reducing it to trash. Why? Because Tamara reached into the psyche of Ric and appealed to him through reason. Tamara is also a psyche major and brought that to the table in terms of showing Carly subtly beginning to work on Ric and his conscience. And she did it calmly and with a tunneling effect neither Wright nor Brown can do. They do grandiosity and with a “Look at me!” fragility that grows tiresome. And I can tell you there are a lot of tired fans of GH who do not like Wright one bit due to her tendency to be bitchy and snarling. Just read what bored558 had to say on Wright’s abilities in the inset photo I posted to CeRon. Wright also has many pejorative nicknames on several forums that allow for freedom of speech. Those “fond” nicknames are Snarls, SnarlyBabes, the Hosebeast, Cujo, IT, ItSnarls…. and many others. While there have been a few for Tamara, universally people are tired of Wright thus the nicknames.
No one is bullying Wright. We’re just giving her back what she gave us Tamara Braun fans way back in 2005 when she needlessly dissed Tamara. She outright made it known she disliked Tamara’s play on the character and preferred Brown’s. While acceptable in terms of it’s her opinion, she and her fans need to put on their big girl/boy panties if they think we Tamara fans are going to take her or their crap lying down. I will always allow for open discussion on all of my sites. I do not moderate after the first post since I have to protect this and my other sites from spamming and other malware attacks, but you will note I approved your post without editing it. Unlike soap forums like Soapcentral who seems to think that critiquing acting/actors is cause for having your posts pulled and finally banned, I do not and will not do that here. I believe everyone has the right to their voices, however, I will address your comments with backup information and research as needed.
As for Tamara’s time on ALL MY CHILDREN and DAYS OF OUR LIVES, in all three roles as Reese, Ava and Taylor she was given the shaft. As Reese having to play the “angry Anne Heche lesbian” was insulting. But then that was Charles Pratt Jr. for you. Taylor was an abomination in terms of the character should have remained played by Natalia Livingston for all the “changing” Corday claimed he wanted to bring. As for Ava…. DAYS OF OUR LIVES clearly did not know what to do with the character both times. They gave into the vociferous Steve and Kayla fans who cried into the heavens how pissed they were at having yet another interloper in their couple’s life. The second time around in 2015-2016 was plainly a disgrace. Given Ava left Salem sane and sensible, there was no justification given for having Ava return crazy again and certainly no reason for the character to have been treated like she was. I made me feelings be known at my Stephen Nichols site how I feel about the rabid Steve and Kayla fans, but most specific the rabid Kayla fans who made it their mission on Twitter to tell Tamara (note: Not Ava) to go away even calling her disparaging names directed at her. You can read that here: A Commentary …. Or The Serious Post. Given the amount of outcry about Ava having raped Steve in that room in Indonesia, no one has wanted to address my comments about how mental illness is treated on soaps. I was banned from SoapCentral because I was more concerned with that issue than I was for all the crybabies whining about Ava’s “rape” of Steve. As if…..
….. with all that said, this is the reason I’m so sick with Tamara coming back to GENERAL HOSPITAL as another character. Given how the disaster of Taylor Walker went, I don’t see Kim Nero ending in anything else other than what happened to both Taylor and Claudia Zacchara as played by Sarah Brown. No where for the character to go because Wright’s Carly will always be serviced and yet, not as she should be had Tamara come back to reclaim her former role. It’s not like this hasn’t been done on GENERAL HOSPITAL before. Just as Stephen Martines when Tyler Christopher came back in 2003 to reclaim his role as Nikolas Cassadine, and is now being done to Billy Miller. It can be done, it just takes courage and guts on Frank Valentini’s behalf. He said to Tamara he wanted to work with her back in 2009 after she won her Emmy for Ava. Fine, work with her and bring her back AS Carly. But then that was before Wright “won” hers in 2011. One has to wonder if Valentini is scared to remove Wright, which he should have done and not repeat the ridiculous ONE LIFE TO LIVE character fiasco that has been Roger Howwarth, Michael Easton and Kristen Alderson. Not to mention what happened with Sarah as Claudia.
Dianne
Dianne, Sarah Joy Brown admitted she had suggested Laura Wright for Carly around the time of her exit, in an interview she did on “SoapBox” in 2014 — as evident here around the 50:15 mark: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZgPNI7krFoc
It feels like, to me, you’re insinuating someone is less than based on the fact that they supposedly never went to college is insulting to those in a non-acting profession, and as someone who did attend college myself, it’s incredibly off-putting and insulting to know one is judged simply by that. In my belief, what it is you’re punishing Wright for is simply what you are doing to her regarding a comment she made 12 years ago, as well. People grow, learn and excel in their lives; I didn’t see any insult to Braun, as both as Braun and Wright fan, honestly. Each actress has brought their own flavour to the role of Carly and I appreciate that from each of them, specifically as evident in the “Carlypalooza” episode in 2014.
Moving to “Days of Our Lives”, you and I are in agreement: the casting of Tamara Braun in the role of Taylor Walker was wrong. Natalia Livingston, in my own truth, was greater in the role for what they were writing. Claiming she had no chemistry with James Scott, who was then-playing EJ DiMera was a bullsh*t excuse, if you ask of me. And it makes me question Ken Corday’s decision making, though, I’ve always questioned his decision-making skills. Her return in 2015 as Ava could have been fantastic! Had they not pin-pointed her once again to being in the Steve/Kayla trap, she could’ve really developed into something more. But, hey, I’m not in-charge of “Days of Our Lives”, because there are many changes I would’ve made during that time. The 50th anniversary was over-all disappointing and very depressing, so it shouldn’t surprise me Braun’s Ava got the shaft in such a lacklustre way. I’ve always selfishly wanted her to join “The Young and the Restless” as Victoria Newman, a role I felt she could’ve really excelled at, had they not cast Amelia Heinle before Braun left Carly.
I’ll end in saying this: I am a fan of both Tamara Braun and Laura Wright (as well as Sarah Joy Brown). All three are respected actresses and I enjoy seeing them in their crafts. And I am exceptionally happy to see where Braun can take the role of Kim Nero, and I’m hoping that we don’t see her put into a corner. There’s a lot of potential for her to branch out and interact with other characters outside of the Corinthos family, etc.
And I thank you for not editing my comments. And I am truly sorry that you experienced that at the Soapcentral boards; it’s a specific reason I avoid soap forums and comment sections, because they can get a bit confrontational. I appreciate you hearing me out, however, as I do enjoy Braun and this website. However, felt like I did need to put my two-cents in, as a fan of both actresses, and am happy to see them both mixing it up on the Port Charles canvas.
Joel:
As if Sarah had the ability to pick her successor. GH casting agent Mark Teschner said he had kept Tamara in mind for when Sarah ever decided to leave. Teschner was the one who chose Tamara, Sarah had no say. Then she griped that they dressed Tamara in “her” (Sarah’s) dress, “her” hair style. “Her” makeup style. Apparently Sarah doesn’t understand the concept of what a replacement or even an understudy is. And I for one do not believe Sarah did this. The one thing I have to say about Brown is that she’s subject to confabulation…. and frequently. I’ve caught her in more than one occasion where she’s over-inflated her own abilities. So I give her no credence whatsoever.
As for a person’s “worth”. I’m stating that both Sarah and Laura Wright are not trained actors, therefore they do not understand the concept of SUBTEXT. It’s the difference between listening to Ligheti or Justin Timberlake. And again you apparently did not get what I said about Wright starting all of this by her negative comments directed at Tamara Braun. Wright started this. I didn’t. People may grow but Wright has stayed the same in terms of her ginormous hubris. It was an insult to Tamara, as were some other things I read back when she took over. You like her. Fine. I don’t. I don’t care to based on those comments and the fact she is quite frankly no actress. And there are others who feel this way, so please go and have at them. I do not like Wright or Brown. I used to be a Sarah Brown fan until I saw what Tamara can do and did with Carly. You can read my Tribute to Tamara here and understand my feelings more. I was a huge Sarah Brown fan. Probably had the net existed as it does now, this might have been a site dedicated to her. However, as chance had it this ended up as a Tamara Braun site. As for the Carlypalooza episode, you failed to note the one thing that was the same and the thing that was different about the actresses (minus one) who have played Carly. That is the appearance of each. I remember the one thing from when Sarah was playing Carly. The scene was with Tony Geary (talk about headcases and hubris) where Luke said, “I’m not going to kill you little girl. You have your mother’s eyes.” Bingo! One of these things is not like the other…… Talking to any actor as I have the one thing about theatre actors they must do is this: They must prepare to take over a role at any time. The one thing that is different with stage as oppose to television or soaps in general is that unlike on television no one in the audience can tell if you have blue, brown or green eyes. The audience cannot see you. But on television it’s a different thing. Soaps different even still. Each time an actor/actress takes over for another either in a temporary case or permanent, the actor/actress must look like the character they’re taking over. In this case Sarah to Tamara to Jennifer all had brown eyes and whatever colour of hair the previous actress had in the part before departure. With Sarah she had blonde hair. Tamara was asked if she would cut her hair and was willing to bleach it. She said, “Yes.” So when we saw Tamara as Carly we saw her with brown eyes and blonde hair. With Tamara before she left she had brown eyes and dark brown hair. When Jennifer Bransford took over she had brown eyes and brown hair. By the time Jennifer left she’d been made to change it from dark brown to light brown almost blonde. So then when Wright took over she had blue eyes and very blonde hair. So where was the professionalism in her in order to make herself LOOK like Carly is supposed to look? I would have preferred Wright’s GL co-star Gina Tognoni take over the part because, a) she has brown eyes, b) she has brown hair. She would have been a better fit. Wright simply does not understand that to play the part requires a change in her appearance. And that is what the Carlypalooza episode pointed out, the discrepancy of Wright’s casting.
I do agree with what you said about no reason to recast Taylor with Tamara. Considering how much longer Taylor was on they could have brought Tamara back to play Ava the role that was created and written for her sooner than ousting Natalia Livingston. As for what I would have loved to have seen with Tamara’s 2015 return was considering that Steve and Kayla were divorced, would it have hurt for the powers that be to consider keeping Steve and Kayla apart for longer and actually given Steve and Ava an actual try? Have it that the reason Steve left Kayla and Joey in Africa was that Ava told him about their son, perhaps something she found in some of her father’s records at the villa in Tuscany and she needed his help finding the boy. Have it that while they were gone (while Stephen Nichols was on “Young & the Restless” playing Tucker McCall) they were hip-deep in trouble and couldn’t get out of it and Kayla thought Steve had abandoned her and Joey for good. Steve emerging from that trouble with Ava finds out Kayla has divorced him and so he has nowhere to go but to Ava. Then in 2015 when Nichols came back to the show have him come then with Ava, or have him go off and find Bo then when he gets back to Salem have it he can’t get back together with Kayla due to his relationship with Ava who returns in December, but not batshit crazy. As for a replacement for Amelia Heinle, there was talk of that when Heinle was renegotiating, but Tamara shot that down. I think that was around 2006.
While I understand you are a fan of all three, understand for reasons that are not unreasonable on my behalf, I am not. I don’t like Wright as a person because of those things she said against Tamara. Whether she said them 12 years ago or yesterday, they are still her words and she must be responsible for those words. Tamara is the epitome of class and grace. She would never say anything like that. When she found out they had cast Jennifer Bransford as Carly she graciously congratulated her. In fact, in an article I have on Bransford she said two weeks into her run she was having issues with the character because no one told her about her character. They have character bibles on these shows in order to keep track of who these people have been with and their children…. No one gave that bible to Tamara and no one gave it to Jennifer. Most reputable shows would have, but not GH or the lot known as Guza, Pratt, Frons and Phelps. So Jennifer was struggling. In a break she said she was having issues to Alicia Leigh Willis (Courtney). Alicia asked her if she’d like to speak to Tamara so Alicia gave Jennifer Tamara’s phone number. Jennifer talked to Tamara for a time who explained everything about Carly to Jennifer. I would like to know if Sarah would have done that with Tamara? I don’t think she would have. I also do not think Wright would do that if someone else came in to play the character after her. That would mean a professional courtosey that Tamara showed to Jennifer. I don’t think either Brown or Wright know what that is due to their hubris. I’m not saying this out of some intention of being snarky. I’m saying it based solely on Brown and Wright’s own words, which when last I looked one is responsible for. Saying that a comment is not relevant some 12 years after it’s said is like saying someone is not responsible for sexual impropriety. If those words were crass and made to disparage, then whoever spoke those words is responsible for them. While the three of them are respected in their crafts, I only care about one of them. That means I could care less what Brown or Wright have to say because they’ve proven they don’t care about me as a Tamara Braun fan. And there are more like me who also don’t care. I for one watched the 22nd of November’s episode with a knot in my gut and likely will for the rest of Tamara’s run as Kim Nero because I don’t want her playing another character on a show she was on previous as a major character. That’s asking me to have amnesia and I refuse to drink the Kool-Aid.
Soaps are not like any other show in television. My feeling is this, I’m a huge fan of actor Christopher Meloni. In 2011 he left the role of Det. Elliot Stabler on the show Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, a role he played for 12 seasons. From 1996-2003 he played the part of prisoner Chris Keller on the HBO show “Oz”. So this would be like Meloni suddenly coming back to SVU not as Stabler, but as Keller. This isn’t like a one off here. Actress Diane Neal played the part of rapist Amelia Chase in a third season episode of SVU called “Ridicule”. Later after actress Stephanie March decided to leave her role of Alexandra Cabot, Dick Wolf brought in Diane Neal to play the part of ADA Casey Novak. Diane cut her waist length hair and changed the colour to play Novak from what she looked like as Chase, however, again Chase was a one off. Neal was fired in 2009 and so it would be like suddenly the producers asking her to come back in season 19 to play Amelia Chase again when she’s so known for the part of Casey Novak. Again soaps are not like regular television and I feel sometimes they should be. Many of the casting faux pas would not be happening if they’d stick to the one character rule. Meaning no stupidity like Josh Taylor coming back to play the part of Roman Brady when he played the part of Chris Kositchek for six or seven years and was involved in many front burner storylines on “Days” as Chris. Or like what we have here with both Sarah Brown and Tamara Braun coming back to play another character on the show they once were on playing another character. This is the issue I have other than both Brown and Wright’s personal conduct. Depending on the length of the contract Tamara has signed (she usually only signs on for six months or less) will depend on whether she’s put in that corner. But that first scene with Sonny was a clue as to where she’s heading. Almost all of the message boards I’ve seen are saying it’s going to happen and most of those still are saying they wanted her back as Carly to be with Sonny.
Like I said I moderate first posts only. Why? So I can determine if it’s spam or legit. I will never censor anyone on any of my sites’ comment sections. That goes against my nature of allowing free speech. As for what happened on Soap Central it’s typical with someone like Dan Kroll who wants to schmooze with the stars. He won’t allow actor bashing, however, when it’s a favourite of his or of a moderator, they will usually let those go. Like on the “Days” board the mods on that section are huge Kayla fans. So they didn’t care what I was saying about the character of Kayla, not Mary Beth Evans. But they deleted many of my posts because I wasn’t being politically correct and loving Kayla to bits, but despising Ava because she was a “predator” “pedophile” and “rapist”. I will hear anyone out on any topic, however, I present facts to back up my statements. Considering Brown’s past statements and confabulation in what she said about who should take over the part of Carly…. I’ll tend to believe Mark Teschner over Brown because he has no ball in this game. He was the one who found Tamara and for Sarah Brown to even say she discussed who should follow her shows just how much hubris she has. That Wright is now kissing Tamara’s butt over the comments she made 12 years ago, sorry but I just cannot get in line with what you’re saying. As you can see by CeRon’s comments, Wright has always been FauxCarly. And I have some screenshots of other message boards and comment sections where they say the same. I’m hoping that Tamara won’t have to suffer Wright long, or I’m hoping that like I mentioned before Valentini sees his mistake and does what has been done with Howarth, Easton and Alderson and cans Wright and puts Tamara back as Carly where she should be.
Dianne
I swear these writers have no subtlety. If Tamara isn’t going to be Carly, supposedly, then why have Kim pretty much be like TB’s version of Carly.
So, Kim meets “Drew” in a bar, just like Carly met Jason in a bar? I’m still on the fence if Kim is actually Oscar’s mother, something tells me in my gut she isn’t his biological mother, and her friend who dated Drew is, plus that friend just disappears…Sounds like Carly and Charlotte. Plus Kim is an OB GYN, she probably helped deliver Oscar, something happened and she took Oscar in as her own. I pretty much rolled my eyes at the early 2000’s mention when Kim was asked when did all this occur. I mean Carly was in a coma for about a month, Alcazar could have taken her and who knows…maybe wishful thinking, but Kim hopefully will not turn out to be the bad guy in this. Tamara is knocking it out of the park. She looks very comfortable.
Its only day 2 and I’m already over seeing LW in general. She’s brash with no subtlety and no layers. She just has two things she does which are passed off as acting, 1.) Very loud voice and 2.) Not as loud voice, but still loud voice. SB is just as bad with the monotone robot thing he always does, I never thought he could act to save his life.