Maybe I didn't try; Maybe she didn't see me?
Maybe fear made her go, I don't know, maybe so.
Then came you, we were two
of a kind, finding room to grow...
Well, don't just stand there, say Hello! ]
In the wise empty eyes of the sea, there's a freedom;
In the long, distant song of the tide, you can hide;
On a beach, you can reach for the sun, and find peace, instead:
And love is waiting, just ahead:
Hello, again! This time, it's our turn!
Fate says Amen; I--I say, OK!
Remember when we waited our turn?
Hello, again! Today is the day!
No explanations! No time to wonder why!
Today we fly!; and that's all that we can try for! What's the sky for?
Hello, again! Surprise! It's our turn!
I don't know when I've felt so open, so easy--
Well, hello--again!!
"Memory Book" sounded like it was sung by Mary Ryan/Kate Mulgrew, but wasn't; it was sung by a "ringer," Robin Grean ( a sound-alike, ala Marni Nixon, in "My Fair Lady," "Camelot," and "West Side Story," Ms. Grean had a part in Broadway's "Jesus Christ, Superstar," was one of Bette Midler's "Harlettes," and also backed Barry Manilow, and writes lyrics ). It began as a song written as a love theme for the characters of Jack Finelli and Mary Ryan ( played by Michael Levin and Kate Mulgrew ). Lyrics were added, during the time of the marital troubles--when Mary got pregnant with their future daughter, Ryan Finelli, and Jack had been in an car accident, resulting in him becoming impotent ( he later had surgery to correct it--though, sadly, first trying out his recovered "potence" on his old friend, fellow reporter, Martha McKee! Yeah, and Mary arrived at his doorstep, the morning after--which prompted her to immediately accept the anullment/divorce ). Jack had demanded a church annulment and divorce. This melancholy song played as the accompaniment to various lovely scenes of their courtship--including a day at a park, where they swung on a child's swingset; slid down a slide, then kissed; ate a picnic; bought---then later released --a whole bunch of balloons. The scenes changed almost every day they were shown--and they were shown, sometimes 3 days in a row ( in those days prior to VCRs, when people had to rely on their memories, and reruns, to re-enjoy such scenes
"Hello, Again" ( not to be confused with Neil Diamond's song from "The Jazz Singer" ) became quite a hit--though I don't know if it was sold as a record? I DO know that John Gabriel sang it, himself, and sang it on the talk shows of the day: Dinah Shore; and maybe Mike Douglas, too. It was devised as a love theme, complete with lyrics, when the show's writers had decided to pair Dr. Seneca Beaulac with lawyer Jillian Coleridge ( John Gabriel and Nancy Addison ). Seneca had just lost his license to practice medicine, due to him fulfilling his late wife's choice to have the "plug pulled" when she suffered brain damage, due to anurysm bursting. Jill had taken him to her family's beach cottage, to cheer him up--and, uh, yeah--had decided to cheer him, some more, via sex! And so, we hear this song played over a series of still photos of the two holding hands, running/walking/swimming at the beach. This reprised, after he and Jill had returned to the beach house--where she soon after had delivered the baby that had been conceived, the last time they'd visited that beach house!
Or WAS it? In fact, it turned out later, after much angst, and having upset her fianceé, Frank Ryan ( from whom she'd had a break-up, just before being with Seneca ), that the baby was Frank's, after all.
*****SPOILER ALERT!*****************
****FOR THOSE WHO ARE ONLY NOW WATCHING THE SOAPNET RERUNS, AND DON'T WANT TO KNOW WHAT TRANSPIRES--DON'T LOOK FURTHER DOWN!!************************
Jill came to realize that Seneca had covered up, about the baby's real parentage, because he wanted to marry her. He had been successfully wooing her, via a clever method: "I can't make love to you, with my body ( because she wouldn't let him ), but I can make love to you, by giving you presents." So he gave her poetry; toe rings; and, cleverly, had asked her what was the very best thing she'd ever had to eat? She tells this story about how she'd been very, very angry, one day, as a child; and had locked herself into the bathroom. But her dad had come home, demanding: "Jillian, come out of there; I want to give you something." "Well, I thought that the 'something' was a spanking! So I said, 'NO! NO! NO!'; finally, I came out, and he fed me this delicious chocolate eclair!; and that was the best thing I ever ate!" So, Seneca brilliantly gave her a lush chocolate eclair--and she ate it so blissfully!
Exactly so; chocolate is the key to a woman's heart!
Of course. during this time, Frank was making up for the disgraceful way he'd acted, when he'd discovered that the baby "was Seneca's." About this time, Daniel Hugh Kelly had taken over the role from Andrew Robinson--and since he was a different Frank than the one who had rejected Jill's baby, the audience was more accepting of him--and there was a rapproachment between he, Jill, amd little Edmund. There was a scene that was a treasure: Frank had bought the baby a new toy: one of those plastic cones, with colored rings. Daniel Hugh Kelly was improvising brilliantly with the baby, who'd --adorably!--picked the rings off the cone, and tossed them. Daniel played along, also tossing one. You could hear some cameraman and/or other crew member laughing uproariously. They then alternated tossing the rings, until Daniel threw the last one--so the baby threw the cone! ( More guffaws from the crew! )
There was also a good scene, where Frank and Jill had decided to stay in Riverside, and run a law office together-but couldn't decide whose name was to come first?: Ryan and Coleridge? Or Coleridge and Ryan? Frank came up with a method that old movie studios had employed: at the time Jerry Lewis and Tony Curtis starred in Boeing-Boeing together, their names, in the opening credits, were run around in a moving circle; on posters, they alternated for the top spot. Flattering both stars egos. In this case, Frank had placed their last names at a diagonal--with the one on the right side, at the bottom. But their secretary said: "That's great for you, but how do I answer the phone?" They answered, with a laugh: "Law Office!"
[ of course, maybe this came much later in the series? At the moment, Frank's wants to work in Washington DC? ]
So, there was hope that all would be well, for Frank, Jill, and their baby.
SIGH!
Oh, wait, there's one more funny moment ( though I'm not sure if this was before or after the tragedy ): Seneca wanted to surprise Jill at the beach house, and crept into the bedroom--and caressed the body in the bed--which turned out to be FRANK! HA!HA! ( either that, or it was Frank creeping in, and caressing Seneca! )
SAD; SAD; SAD; SAD; SAD;
So, while she was at the beach house, trying to sort things out, this gas explosion destroyed the cottage; laid Jill up with an agonizing backache, that required pain pills ( to which she became badly addicted--and later, Nancy Addison played an addicted-to-morphine character in 1978's "The Dain Curse"
TV miniseries, with James Coburn ); and her poor baby--Edmund Strong Coleridge--died, which controversy sparked intense viewer anger. People have never forgiven the writers for doing this, and frequently cite this as the genesis of all the subsequent baby-death stories that keep cropping up in soaps. It IS annoying! They create this new character, an infant with a really great name, and circumstances, and then the writers stupidly kill him/her off, wasting all the valuable future storylines they could've had! IDIOTS!
I know the cat hasn't appeared "yet," in the reruns; but since the cat seems to not have info in any of the cast lists I've seen, I thought I'd share the info, as I'd been trying to remember the cat's real name, and finally had, last night!
SO:
Jack gets a young cat ( less than a year old, from the looks ), and names it "Finelli" ( because Mary names her baby "Ryan" ). Jack always refers to it as "he," but actually it was a female named "Remedios the Beauty," and was ( Jack's portrayer )Michael Levin's own cat. She was white or gray, as I recall--and I read this in one of the Soap mags of the day--"Daytimers" "Daytime TV" "Soap Opera Digest."
The scenes with cat are adorable, one with Jack cradling her like a baby, while she made very baby-like sounds ( I could tell that the cat wanted to be set down, as cats can get uncomfortable, being held on their backs like that! But he wouldn't set her down--I guess because she would've run off the set ).
I looked up the name just now, and found some links--one was to a poem:
poem
There was also a character named so, in a novel by Gabriel Garcia Marquez "One Hundred Years of Solitude."
Some artwork:
artwork
Some music, too:
" "Remedios the Beauty" is a short composition appearing on Frisell's 1988 ECM release, Lookout for Hope. It takes its name from Remedios the Beauty, a character in One Hundred Years of Solitude who possesses such unearthly beauty that Heaven eventually lifts her straight off the earth."
Later on, the cat stopped appearing, without notice--I guess Mr. Levin just felt it became too much trouble to bring the cat to work? I don't know; there was only this one article. But the scenes with the cat are precious. Jack shows his soft side! and if it isn't spoiling TOO much, his scenes with baby Ryan are ALSO heartwarming!
