On Friday's episode of "All My Children", many of the residents of Pine Valley gathered to celebrate the birthday of reformed bad boy Tad Martin (born on Sept. 1st, 1963). Of all the characters on the show, he is one of my favorites. Even though Tad has always served as "eye candy" for some of the fans, he wasn't one of those pretty boys that male viewers wanted to punch in the face. Another thing that I've always enjoyed about Tad is that he has a great sense of humor, delivering some of the funniest one-liners on the show.When I began watching AMC in 1985, the character was still in his Tad "The Cad" phase. Among his many conquests were: Dottie Thornton, Hillary Wilson, Liza Colby, and her mother Marian (a mom and daughter combo... you go Tad!).
After his marriage to Hillary ended, Tad left Pine Valley for a couple of years. When he came back, he had cleaned up his act a little bit. It was during this time that one of the best storylines in the history of AMC began... the love affair of Tad and Dixie. One sign that Tad had renounced his cad status was when he claimed to be the father of Dixie's unborn baby in order to protect her (rat bastard Adam Chandler had actually impregnated Dixie... even though he was married to Brooke at the time). One of my favorite Tad and Dixie moments was when he proposed to her (the first of many) while wearing a bright yellow chicken suit! Over the years, the twosome would divorce and remarry several times... ah life in the world of soaps!
As is typical of a soap character, Tad has been through a lot (teenage runaway, amnesia, jail time, kidnapping, fatherhood, etc.) and held many occupations (TV producer, CEO, and private investigator just to name a few) over the years. Throughout most of it, he always manages to lighten the mood with a funny line or two.
Below is a montage of Tad and Dixie clips set to "You're the One That I Want" by John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John:
5 comments:
I have been a fan of AMC since it's inception and with the exception Mrs. Tyler and of course Erica Kane, Tad Martin (Michael E. Knight) is probably my favorite character from the show. Here is a bit a trivia: Michael's soon to be ex-wife, Catherine Hickland (Lindsay Rappaport on OLTL) is also the ex-wife of David Hasselhoff. Happy Birthday Tad!
Would you believe me if I told you I met "Tad" (Michael) at a bar on a local island here in So. Cal. and we made out at the bar ???? My best friend could not believe her eyes when she finally found me tucked away in the corner with "Tad". Who knows maybe it wasn't even really him but he said he was him and that was good enough for me! (this was about 20 years ago....I don't do such things anymore) :)
AMC first aired the summer my mom was pregnant with me, and she started watching then. So I grew up watching it (stopped around 1998, when it was just too hard to work full time and keep up with the soap.)
Tad was always one of my favorites in a love-to-hate-him kind of way. Thanks for the walk down memory lane! Makes me want to visit the AMC web site and read some of the "past stories" pages.
I never got into AMC. I'm a Y&R girl all the way.... :)
Pjazzy: A few years ago, SoapNet showed some classic AMC episodes that spotlighted Erica Kane. When the show first started in 1970, it aired in black and white! I guess that demonstrates how the networks viewed soap operas at the time.
When I was doing research for the Tad post, I found out that he and Catherine Hickland had decided to end their marriage. I had no idea. I was also reminded that she was married to David Hasselhoff back in the 80s. I had forgotten all about that.
Barbara: Now that's quite a story. It sounds like art was imitating life when you encountered "Tad the Cad".
Book Mama: My soap watching fell off for years because it became too hard to keep up for the same reasons you mentioned. The only reason I watch AMC and OLTL when I do now is because SoapNet reairs episodes at night and on the weekend.
Haley-O: I had a roommate for the summer after my 1st year in college who watched Y&R. I tried to get into it, but it was too slow for me.
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