Marland Monday: It’s Christmas 1980! Deck Them Halls!
Ho ho ho! It’s Marland Monday everyone!
Every Monday I look back on the career of Douglas Marland, one of the GOATs of the soap opera genre. Today we’re going to look back on Christmas 1980.
Back in the 80s and early 90s, Christmas was HUGE in soaps. Opulent sets with beautifully decorated trees, poinsettias everywhere create a mini red forest, and people wearing furs, bulky sweaters, fancy outfits, champagne aplenty, and someone has to play the piano and sing some Christmas Carols. It’s required. In the 90s Jerry Ver Dorn (Ross Marler) used to end the Christmas episode with this: “From all of us on Guiding Light to all of you, happy holidays from Guiding Light!” we then got to see the actors sing songs with their real-life families.
But this is Christmas 1980 we’re concentrating on today!
After rewatching Christmas 1980, I’ve noticed this: he always kept the stories going, even during a big holiday. Let’s get in that DeLorean and go back…
In 1980, Morgan (Kristen Vigard) decided to put on a Christmas show for the children at Cedars Hospital. The children are delighted with Floyd (Tom Nielsen) playing his guitar and Kelly (John Wesley Shipp) singing “Christmas in New York.”
We see Tim (Kevin Bacon, just creating those six degrees going. But it’s a sad Christmas for Morgan-her mother Jennifer (Geraldine Court) is in jail for murder. When Morgan visited her mother before, she tried wrapping a gift while waiting. But the gift is messily wrapped (I can’t be hard on Morgan because I have a terrible time wrapping gifts) But that’s what makes it real. Morgan’s upset. Her father died months before. Her mother is in jail for murder and won’t reveal what happened. Let’s not even get into the fact she’s in a love triangle, and her so-called best friend Nola is really a mean girl in disguise. No wonder she can’t wrap a gift. This is what makes her relatable, human. It also explains why she is rude to Amanda (Kathleen Cullen) whose mother Jennifer is accused of murdering (I know it’s complicated-we’ll explore the storyline next month) Again, it makes Morgan human.
Across town Elizabeth (Lezlie Dalton) has a confrontation with Jackie (Carrie Mowry) about the fact she now knows Jackie is Phillip’s biological mother. This is a long-running storyline that lasted for years. Elizabeth has made a difficult decision: to leave Phillip with Jackie and Elizabeth’s ex-husband (now Jackie’s husband-it is a soap) The adults put on a brave front as Elizabeth tells Phillip she’s leaving to explore her photography career, and it would be better for Phillip to stay with Jackie and Justin. In some ways, it’s similar to Charlie Chaplin’s song “Smile” Smile, though your heart is aching/Smile, even though it’s breaking/When there are clouds in the sky/you’ll get by. The smiles continue when carolers come and sing. The smiles are sad and a little forced. What Phillip doesn’t know is if this will be the last Christmas he’ll have both his mothers.
At the end of the show, almost everyone is at Bert’s (Charita Bauer) house for Christmas. God, I loved Bert’s living room back in the day. With the walls painted yellow and the yellow and blue wallpaper/curtains, it’s always been calming for me, like coloring an adult coloring book or a cup of hot chocolate. Her sons Mike (Don Stewart) and Ed (Mart Hulswit) talk for a while, with Mike wearing a spiffy sweater. Bert convinces Mike to sing. Stewart had a beautiful voice and he sang every Christmas episode. Dr. Sara McIntyre (Millette Alexander, an accomplished pianist) played “Silent Night” The camera panned around the living room as everyone listened to Mike sing. Including Elizabeth, who just walked in.
Okay, this wasn’t a typical eighties Christmas; no flash, no bling. But it’s the type of Christmas episode I love: not everything is perfect. Yet it’s cozy and warm. I also love this Christmas because in 1981 so many people would leave or let go: Barbara Berjer (Barbara Norris Thorpe) Robert Milli (Adam Thorpe) Dr. Stephen Jackson (Stefan Schnabel) and Mart Hulsit was replaced by Peter Simon. But today we’re not going to be debating 40-year-old decisions. Let’s just look back and listen to Mike sing “Silent Night” and then everyone joins in.
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Darling readers, I’m taking the rest of the year off to rest, work on another ongoing project, and research what I’m going to write about for Marland Mondays next year.
From me to yours, have a lovely holiday season. Tune in 2022; may we find our way to health and peace.
Special thanks to Joy Moskovic for pointing out spelling errors. Forgive me, sometimes spellcheck has a mind of its own!
