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Passions Sneak Peek: Meet Pretty Crane
Melinda Sward courtesy Innovative Artists
Those sudsy schemers on NBC's Passions often mention the character of Pretty Crane, who has never been seen on the soap. Well, here's a headshot of Melinda Sward, the actress who has been cast as Pretty. She arrives in Harmony on Monday, July 30.
As Passions viewers are frequently reminded, Pretty's selfish sister Fancy Crane (Emily Harper) did something awful to her in the past. We don't yet know what.
It's nothing personal against Emily Harper, but I've hated the Fancy character since day one. I don't mean "love to hate." I just hate her. She's so annoying.
Fancy and Noah were daytime's most boring couple until Passions split them up. Now Fancy, who is Sheridan's niece, is paired with Luis. Gross! This "Shuis" fan doesn't buy for a second that Luis is suddenly in love with Fancy anymore than I bought her overnight conversion from spoiled heiress to policewoman. Puh-leeze.
So let's hope Pretty makes Fancy as miserable as possible. LOL! Here endeth my rant.
Other items of interest to all you Passion-istas out there:
• That's the 4'0" Danny Woodburn playing Demon Elf. Love him!
• Sitcom veteran Georgia Engel debuts as Esmerelda, the good witch, this Thursday, June 28. She takes part in the soap's spoof of Broadway's Wicked. More to come on that....
• The fabulously nutty Kathleen Noone and Marianne Muellerleile return as Mrs. Edna Wallace and Norma the psycho on Thursday, July 19. I can't wait!
UPDATE: There's quite a debate going on between the "Shuis" and "Lancy" fans in the comments area below. I have lots to say, so come join us!
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Jun 25, 2007 6:38 PM
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daniel you are 100% right us DEVOTED
SHUIS fans do NOT buy this lancy WUV
for one min i am glad you agree with us 
or sheridan being evil
(mckenzie so rocks playing evil sher) i have said from the start of alistar (we know is is not dead lol) is using the chalice (i dont think chad returned the real one ) so i think al is controlling sheridan to be his CLONE he hates her & hates luis 2nd to her what better plan
than to have her ruin lancy
JMO
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Jun 25, 2007 7:41 PM
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Thanks Daniel for the Passions update.
Man, am I going to miss this "crazy soap" 
Oh well, until I can not watch anymore I enjoy the zaniness and delightful "little" soap.
Do U know who the blackmailer is?
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Jun 25, 2007 8:23 PM
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Gotta disagree with you on Fancy and Noah. FOAH rocks! I can only hope that one day Lunacy and Paloah-ugh! will end! Give me my FOAH and SHUIS!!!!!!
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Jun 25, 2007 8:39 PM
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Ok, I usually like what you have to say in your comments but no way today.
Somehow, Fancy is selfish but Sheridan isn't? Um, ok. Never mind Sheridan covering up the rapist's 2nd attack on Fancy or allowing the blackmailer to nearly strangle Fancy to death or tormenting Fancy after her rape about not being able to let any man touch her again (how can you forget Sheridan physically restraining Fancy and saying reprehensible things about her rape as a way to make Fancy leave Luis?). That's all water under the bridge, is it, even though it has all happened in the past few months?? How can you overlook those actions and not have it leave a sour taste in your mouth or make you see Sheridan in a different manner?
Sheridan has almost never put Luis first, even though he was constantly putting her first, and now that he's with someone else and has dared to move on, it's not alright with her that he's no longer constantly groveling at her feet? I call bull.
Also, the Fancy/Luis relationship didn't develop overnight. It's been going on for over a year, since Vendetta. Plus, if whatever Fancy did was so awful to Pretty, wouldn't she have been ostracized and her maliciousness have been more well known. If it was that nasty, Pilar would certainly know since she knows all of the non-Alistair Crane family secrets. And there is no way Pilar wouldn't have butted in and said something to Luis. We all know how Pilar likes to but in with her children's love lives.
Fancy was selfish & definitely self-centered when the show first started but the character has matured. Can she be that way at times... sure, but all the time? Nope. Sheridan's character has regressed from needy, somewhat mature to a selfish, obsessive nutter who screwed over her second husband & stepson for a man who has repeatedly told her to leave him be and that he's moved on.
How is Sheridan's behavior okay but Fancy is the selfish one? Sheridan is nothing but all about what she wants: Luis. It's not enjoyable, especially in light of the fact that he's not playing games when he tells her that he's already with someone else & happy. It's revolting.
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Jun 25, 2007 8:51 PM
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ROCK ON, BOBO!! ITA with your entire post.
Just how many times did Luis practically beg Sheridimwit to leave Chris and marry him? But nooo, according to her she was loyal to Chris and James, yet stalked Lucy every chance she got because she couldn't handle Luis doing the one thing that she told him to do, which was to MOVE ON.
Okay, he's got the message now...he's with a woman who finally treats him like a man, so Sheridimwit needs to shut it and accept her choice!
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Jun 25, 2007 10:05 PM
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Man I don't even watch Passions anymore but I've got to put my two cents in. Sheridan is just awful. Luis deserves so much better and if that's Fancy then good for him.
The man sacrificed everything for Sheridan and all he got in return was a slap in the face as he watched her jump every man in sight the minute he disappears. And then she chooses never to leave these guys. This is what you're rooting for?
I'm almost disappointed.
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Jun 25, 2007 10:30 PM
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I completely agree with you Daniel. Shuis was one of the reasons why I first started watching Passions and to see Luis completely in love with Fancy is a bit crazy. Sheridan and Luis have been one of the supercouples for Passions. It really stinks that for those of us who will not be able to watch Passions once it leaves NBC (and who have no other way to watch it) most likely won't be able to see the Shuis happy ending that we have wanted for years.
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Jun 25, 2007 11:45 PM
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I must take issue with the discription of Fancy as "Pretty's selfish sister" and the assertion that she converted overnight from a "spoiled heiress" to a policewoman.
Yes, when first introduced, Fancy was supposed to be Passions's answer to Paris Hilton - spoiled, selfish, self-absorbed. But her relationship with Noah changed her. Not overnight, but over the course of several months, months in which she learned that love is far more valuable than money, months in which she saw her grandfather stabbed into a "coma" and Noah treated her heart like a yo-yo, she blossomed from the selfish heiress into a loving, caring young woman.
Then she met Luis on-screen for the first time in May of 2006, and she developed a crush on him when he saved her. That crush didn't suddenly burst into love out of nowhere; it slowly grew for several months, until Fancy realized three months later that she was in love with Luis. If she'd been selfish, she would have gone after Luis without a second thought, but she went to Sheridan and asked her if she could pursue a relationship with Luis, and Sheridan answered "yes", not because she was actually okay with it, but because she was so selfish and self-absorbed that she believed that Luis would always pine for her and would never be able to find love again while she lived her happy little life with Chris and James.
Luis, meanwhile, had formed a friendship with Fancy in Rome, and came to lean on her in times of need. For so long he fought for Sheridan, only to have her marry his brother and then Chris and then leave him heartbroken and alone when Marty died. Fancy was there, though, and he eventually came to feel the same feelings for her that she felt for him. He realized his love for her suddenly, true, but her near-death experience in the mineshafts (when Sheridan drugged Luis's tea so that he couldn't go out and find her missing, dying niece) made him realize how important she is to him.
Luis and Fancy weren't a rushed pairing, haphazardly thrown together and forced on the viewers. Their relationship developed from crush to love over a six-month time period, throughout their relationship, it has been Sheridan, not Fancy, who has been selfish. As I mentioned earlier, Sheridan drugged Luis's tea so that he would be unable to find Fancy, her own niece, who was dying in a mineshaft. She then sent a picture of them kissing to a tabloid in order to out their relationship to Sam and sat by her unconscious, recently raped niece and whispered venemous things in her ear, telling her that she was no good for Luis. Then, most dispicably, she stole Fancy's rapist's button and tricked everyone into believing that Fancy was either suffering from PTSD, lying for attention, or overmedicating herself with alcohol and pills, thus allowing the rapist to continue to terrorize his/her victim. All the while, Luis has been repeatedly telling Sheridan that he's not in love with her anymore while she continues to accept the truth slapping her in the face and schemes to win Luis back like he's a nice purse that Fancy maliciously stole when it's anything but. If anyone needs proof of Sheridan's insanity, just go find pictures of her disguise to infiltrate the prison in April/May. *shivers*
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Jun 25, 2007 11:48 PM
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Daniel I totally agree. At first, Fancy was ok to me, but after her relationship with Noah, I wish that she goes far to the left. I don't buy an heiress working for the law. If that was the case then Paris should've been a DA by now. And I like Sheridan as the bad ass of Harmony even though it's still not right without Alistar. But I can't help but wonder, what would Diana do if she saw her best friend being this awful to her niece and everybody else for that matter?
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Jun 26, 2007 12:14 AM
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I totally agree about Fancy/Luis, Daniel. I actually sort-of liked the character of Fancy in the beginning (hey, anything that took attention away from the Ethan/Theresa/Gwen saga for 2.5 seconds couldn't be bad in my book). But this has just gotten ridiculous since Rome. Fancy made unreasonable demands of Noah and now she's making them of Luis. And he's supposed to be madly in love with this twit? Not to mention what they've done to our poor Sheridan. James E. Reilly is very vengeful when it comes to actors. I feel that the Shuis fans will be paying for Galen's contract issues for years to come. This sucks. I will not be following Passions to DirecTV (though I have the service) simply because of the way they have handled Shuis this past year. Its sickening. This was the best couple on the show and they are in ruins.
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Jun 26, 2007 12:41 AM
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So she's Pretty huh? Well that picture says otherwise.
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Jun 26, 2007 2:06 AM
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Hey it's Daniel here.
Let me respond to some of the comments Passions watchers made in response to my blog.
First off, James E. Reilly, the headwriter of Passions, has always written this soap in a totally wacky and outlandish style.
The show works great as campy comedy, but the characters and relationships lack emotional truth for me as a viewer because it's all written so silly and absurd.
There is a ridiculous masked weirdo in half man/half woman drag stalking and blackmailing everyone in town for gosh sakes! Tabitha can't decide if she's a "good witch" or a "bad witch." Tabby also teleported into another dimension the other day with visual and sound effects ripped off from Star Trek. Meanwhile, Kay has just summoned a Demon Elf (?!) to help her find her sister, Jessica, the pregnant prostitute who's been buried alive.
How can any of you possibly take anything that happens on this show seriously?  ">
Somebody brought up Fancy's rape storyline. Like the rest of the rape tales on this show, Fancy's rape was an absolute joke and, frankly, an insult to Passions' viewers.
I think it's fine to tell rape stories on soap operas, but when you do, it should be done with sensitivity and sophistication and respect for the fact that rape is a real, devastating crime. It is the worst kind of violation and it is not a laughing matter.
Go on YouTube and watch the episodes of Eden's rape at the hands of a masked stranger on NBC's late, great Santa Barbara. Now that was harrowing drama, which also realistically portrayed a rape victim's experience both during and after the attack.
Can you imagine Passions ever pulling off anything that good?
Don't get me wrong. I like Passions. But it's a cartoon. I simply can't look at it any other way.
That's why I'm fine with Sheridan turning into a scheming bitch overnight. It's entertaining to see McKenzie Westmore play nasty! It's certainly better than watching her be the helpless victim time and time again, staying married to guys she didn't love (Antonio, Chris) simply because she didn't want to hurt their feelings by informing them she didn't really love them. So she'd rather hurt the feelings of the man she truly loves (Luis) instead? Makes no sense. You can't take illogical writing seriously or you just end up angry and frustrated. At a TV show. That's a dopey waste of time and energy.
When I root for "Shuis" it's not because their relationship really makes anymore sense to me than Luis and Fancy. It's ALL nonsensical, OK?
I just happen to like McKenzie Westmore's longtime chemistry with Galen Gering. They have looked so good together ever since Passions began in '99.
I also have trouble buying that Luis has fallen out of love with Sheridan after all these years of struggling to be together, and so he moves on... with her niece. "Lancy" just doesn't do it for me.
Whatever. Like I said, the stories on this soap are all nonsense anyway and I can't take it seriously.
If you disagree, you're entitled to your opinion. Just remember... We're only talking about Passions here. Now somebody pass me another Martimmy.
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Jun 26, 2007 4:00 AM
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God! Fancy? Pretty? Who comes up with these stupid names? And why didn't they name Ethan Pinhead instead?
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Jun 26, 2007 6:14 AM
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Ditto, Daniel.
I love this soap because it is so campy. After watching the other soaps who "try" to be all about the drama, I need a break and Passions offers that to me...it will be missed
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Jun 26, 2007 11:26 AM
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Shameless plug alert, suds fans!
As long as you're doing your last-minute holiday shopping [i]anyway[/i], I just thought I'd remind ya that my book, [url http://www.tvguidestore.com/product_detail.asp?T1=TVG+155583986X%2DA&HDR=TVGBOOKMOVIE][i]The Q Guide to Soap Operas[/i][/url], makes a great soapy stocking stuffer.
FYI: You can now order [b]autographed copies[/b] from our own [url http://www.tvguidestore.com/product_detail.asp?T1=TVG+155583986X%2DA&HDR=TVGBOOKMOVIE]TV Guide Store[/url].
They're offering this due to all the e-mails I've gotten from folks who really, [i]really[/i] want signed copies of the book, even if they can't get to one of my book-signing events.
By the way, I'm not the type of author who just carelessly scrawls an illegible autograph inside a book jacket. Not only do I give good cursive handwriting, I do pretty doodles! (I'm a bit of a frustrated visual artist.)
Get your autographed copies of [i]The Q Guide to Soap Operas[/i] [url http://www.tvguidestore.com/product_detail.asp?T1=TVG+155583986X%2DA&HDR=TVGBOOKMOVIE]right here[/url]!
Happy Holidays and Lotsa Love,
Daniel R. Coleridge
Senior Editor, TVGuide.com
Proud Author, [url http://www.tvguidestore.com/product_detail.asp?T1=TVG+155583986X%2DA&HDR=TVGBOOKMOVIE][i]The Q Guide to Soap Operas[/i][/url]
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