Susan Lucci AKA Erica Kane. I was on a three-hour ride to Boston this past weekend and thought this might make an interesting column. First, I am very aware hearing from both the press, talk shows and other co-workers, that Ms. Lucci is a wonderful woman to work with. She has been called gracious, professional, supportive of her cast members and kind to her fans. She is also the only character to be on the show since it began 40 years ago. That is an accomplishment right there.

However, is she a great actress? Meryl Streep probably has nothing to worry about. Susan Lucci with all her hair flipping, me, me, me attitude, and her habit of acting with her hands, distract from what she does do very well, and that is makes Erica who she is and who her fans have come to count on.

What I wonder about is why TPTB and the writers seem to do nothing but recycle old storylines for Susan to play. How many love triangles are we going to have to endure? These always start off badly. There is always hostility between the new man and Erica, They eventually get together and Jack plays the third wheel. The gruff new love object for Erica this time is the grouchy old mountain man named, Caleb. Years ago, it was Mike Roy, Jeremy, the DA that put her in jail, and even the man who was FBI, Chris Stamp, and thought to be Ryan’s actual father. The point being we know how this is going to turn out. There has been some speculation on the Boards, that Caleb might be Ross Chandler. Interesting, not sure yet if I am convinced.

What I would love to happen is for Erica to forget about Fusion, give it back to Kendall and Greenlee and, with Brooke out of the picture, let her go back to being Editor of Tempo. She and Jack should just get remarried. I liked it when they got married and had that totally blended family thing going. It was the closest to reality that a soap dared to go. Just because J & E remarry, things do not have to be dull. If Erica goes back to Tempo and Jack has his law practice, there will be professional dilemmas to deal with. Their respective children and/or step children are enough dynamite to keep things lively. Also, maybe Reggie could return after graduating Law School and join Jack’s practice. Since he has a “street side” to him, maybe he cuts corners every once and awhile. Bianca (the new actress playing her) and Kendall’s return will give Erica some family to fuss over.

Perhaps Jack decides he wants to run for DA, or Mayor of PV or even Governor of PA. That would make Erica First Lady. She would eat that right up with a spoon. Perhaps during this SL, Erica who had heart surgery years ago after an accident, starts showing signs of problems but does not want to tell Jack or anyone else because of the campaigning. Eventually she collapses and needs trusted Dr. Evil to save her life, but he has no license any more. What to do?

I guess my main point is that Erica will always be Erica, but they need to use her maturity and experience to play out some wonderful storylines and not keep recycling old ones. Or just write something new. Maybe she has a drug relapse, slips into depression, I don’t know. I find it hard to believe they cannot come up with worthwhile material.

Well, that all for me on this subject. Please let me know what you think.