For the last couple of days, the Ford advertising jingle “Have you driven a Ford lately?” has been stuck in my mind. The words come to mind, images of the One Life to Live characters appear and I’m not sure what to do. So, I decided to write this blog entry to try and make it stop. This post will have spoilers.
The potential double meaning of “have you driven a Ford lately?” is not lost on me. We have bare-chested actors, scenes with them in a sauna, and Robert Ford sexing up various women. If One Life to Live is attempting to make people drool, okay, but even Twilight gives Team Edward versus Team Jacob. While the Ford brothers are in high school, college, mid-20s, they are all the same type. When it comes to the shallow, I prefer a bit of variety, One Life to Live. Of course, if I had a choice between the shallow and meaningful soulful scenes with talented performers, the shallow loses easily. I’m not going to invest hours a week just to gawk.
The Ford family is Robert/Bobby originally called just Ford, Nate Salinger, James Ford, Inez Salinger and coming soon is Eddie Ford. Eddie and Inez were married; they had Robert and then James. As the relationship went on, Eddie became abuse to Inez. When she became pregnant with Nate, Eddie believed that he was not the father. He threatened her life and unborn child, so she abandoned the older kids. If there had been a way to get them out of the house, she would have, but it was impossible. James was too little to remember Inez, but Robert did and resented her for leaving, James was trying and Nate who was raised alone felt betrayed by his mother keeping such a big secret. In some ways, the Ford guys each have a Cramer girl and/or daughter of Todd as a love interest. Bobby has Langston who was adopted by Dorian, James has Starr Manning (Todd's daughter & Cramer girl via Blair), and Nate has Dani (Todd's daughter).
When Robert Ford came to Llanview, it was as part of David Vickers’ reality show crew. It was a small part, and the most notable thing was his visit to the Buchanan stable. He and a bucket inspired viewers. Ford was eye candy which many appreciated. Most everyone calls him just Ford, even if his brother James shares the same last name. Ford is a player; he flirts with nearly every woman, and has a lot of sex. He slept with Langston numerous times while she was in high school, the pizza delivery girl Karen, Hannah who then tried to kill herself and Jessica who though around 30, thought she was a teenager. Ford wants to do right by James, hates his parents, and doesn’t know Nate. He has feelings for Langston or at least he says he does. Langston is angry over what happened with Jessica, and has pushed him away. If he is the biological dad to Jessica’s kid, there will be a lot of strife among her family and friends.
The second member of the Ford family we met was Nate Salinger. He is a student at Llanview High and got the lead male role of Cole in the Spring musical. His relationship started with Dani as she was his leading lady. They kissed as part of rehearsing and realized they cared for one another. Dani broke Matthew’s heart, and since then has hated Nate. Nate has worked at the Buenos Dias and the Country Club. While desperate for money, he found a suitcase full of cash. He used that to try and safe his house. Instead Inez used it to pay for medical bills that James incurred after being shot. Now he is busy trying to help his girlfriend deal with the "death" of her mother, trying to forgive his mother and accept his new brothers.
James Ford was running away from his father when he ended up in Llanview. He stole a lot of money, got into trouble, went on the run with Starr and got shot. James fell for her, and called her Twinkle as a nickname. The money is the cash that Nate had found. Since this cash was from Eddie Ford, they sort of deserved to use it. James wants a relationship with Starr, but doesn't want to hurt Starr's child Hope by causing her to break up with Cole. With the news that the actor who plays Cole (Brandon Buddy) is leaving OLTL it looks like James will win the battle for Starr's heart.
Inez Salinger, their mom is young and has dimples. For the sake of story we have to forget that it is impossible for the actress Jessica Leccia, who plays the part to have mothered a child Ford’s age while married as she would have been in elementary school at the time. After leaving Eddie, she and her unborn child lived life trying to stay out of Eddie's way. Recently, she lost her job, and then their home. Nate and Inez lived in a shelter, which we didn’t see. After hearing her sad story, Bo Buchanan gave her a position as his assistant at the police station. To annoy his brother, Clint has started seeing Inez. The thing Inez wants most in her life is for her boys to get along and for them to forgive her.
The newest Ford, we have yet to see on screen is their father, Eddie Ford. John Wesley Shipp is playing the part. About 30 years ago on Guiding Light, he was the guy running around barely dressed like the young guys playing his kids. He was a good guy, a doctor who had a penchant for playing the guitar, singing Anne Murray tunes and wearing a speedo. Clips of this are available on youtube. For most people, myself included I see Mitch, Dawson’s Dad on Dawson’s Creek. I remember crying when he died on that show. In between those two jobs, he’s played a superhero, along with some characters that were villainous like on Santa Barbara, As the World Turns and even ABC Daytime (Loving/All My Children). His list of credits is potentially longer than this entry and I'm not exaggerating.
Whether one loves or hates the Ford characters they take up a lot of time and space on One Life to Live these days. They are tied to the core families via their relationships so it is nearly impossible to ignore them. And yes the title of this thread has finally stopped singing in my brain, so writing this blog entry has done its purpose.
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