It's Daytime Emmy week, and we've got a word of advice for the winners: Don't assume that trophy will bring you storyline security!
Cases in point: Hillary B. Smith and Robert S. Woods. Despite winning Emmys as One Life To Live's Nora and Bo Buchanan, the actors - who are among the best and most adored in daytime - fell victim to the show's ever-changing roster of writers and producers and wound up being little more than comic relief. But suddenly that has changed: New executive producer Jill Farren Phelps and her head scribe, Pamela K. Long, have put the husband-and-wife characters at the center of a ripsnorting tale of sex, blackmail and death. This week, as Nora holds photographic evidence that Bo bedded her conniving assistant, Georgie, Bo is arrested for Georgie's murder.
TV Guide: Congratulations on finally getting off the back burner.
Hillary B. Smith: Back burner? We've been in the freezer. Now we're on the counter, thawing. This is very exciting! We just might make it back to the stove.
Robert S. Woods: It's been years since I was at the center of a big story, so this is a dream come true. It's great to be nervous and excited again, to feel the ol' butterflies. I was starting to wonder if I was over the hill, if maybe they were just paying me because I'm some antique that's nice to have around.
TVG: So marriage is the kiss of death?
Smith: At one point we were so starved for story, we were begging, "Break us up!" The early menopause story we did was my idea to shake up this couple, but ABC got scared. They would do it only if it was sprinkled with humor, so it just became a little bone they threw me to keep me occupied. I wanted to take it deeper. The original plan was for Nora to get so whacked out on hormones that she had an affair with Bo's son.
Woods: We really fought getting married. For a while, we became a middle-aged couple who were only defined by what we ate. Our storylines were about either food or the dog. Now we're having these great, intimate, tender scenes. Jill and Pam really like Bo and Nora. Finally, the stakes are high.
Smith: It was Jill who said, "They've been writing Nora as a victim and Bo as stupid, and this has to stop." And it did. Now Woodsy is doing such incredible work, I get goose bumps seeing him so excited.
TVG: Ever worry you'd be written out?
Smith: I was praying to be written out. I actually gave notice last fall but was convinced to stay by [then executive producer] Maxine Levinson. Two weeks after the deal, she was let go. When Jill showed up, I said, "Look, I just want you to know you are the guy who's going to pay for all the crap my old boyfriends laid on me." She said, "I'll be the love of your life." When I saw her the other day, she said, "So, am I the love of your life yet?" I said, "I've agreed to date you." That's where I'm at: thrilled but cautious.- MICHAEL LOGAN
