Erica Kane becoming TV’s ultimate cougar

By David Bauder
AP Television Writer
NEW YORK — Susan Lucci’s memorable “All My Children” character is about to become TV’s Ultimate Cougar.
The conniving Erica Kane, with 10 husbands down already, will fall into
the arms of a much younger man on ABC’s soap opera this summer. To make
life a little more complicated, it’s her daughter’s ex-husband and
ex-fiance’s stepson.
Got that straight?
The soap opera’s summer story line puts Lucci squarely into
television’s zeitgeist, now buzzing with stories about experienced
women looking for younger models — as opposed to old men looking for
models.
Cable’s TV Land just wrapped up “The Cougar,” a reality series
featuring a 40-year-old blond mother of four with salivating
20-somethings competing for her hand. ABC is prepping the comedy
“Cougar Town” for the fall, with former “Friends” star Courteney Cox
re-entering the dating world. On CBS’ “Accidentally on Purpose,” Jenna
Elfman has a baby with a slacker she picked up for a one-night stand.
“Certainly the fact that it is a hot topic right now makes it all that
more delicious for us,” said “All My Children” executive producer Julie
Hanan Carruthers. “It doesn’t mean that that is how we’re going to tell
the story.”
And it’s hard to find a TV character with a richer history. Kane has
lived a lot since arriving in fictional Pine Valley in 1970, with a
drug addiction, time in prison, a stolen embryo, a rape that resulted
in a daughter, a stabbing of Husband No. 8 and many, many manipulations.
She reached double figures in husbands just two years ago.
While Demi Moore may seem the prototype cougar these days, Lucci’s
frame of reference leads her to Anne Bancroft’s Mrs. Robinson and her
famous seduction of Dustin Hoffman in “The Graduate.”
In the relationship with Ryan Lavery, “I’m sure people would expect it
to be the kind of story line where Erica was manipulating things,”
Lucci said. “But there’s been zero of that.”
Those involved say the idea came from the audience.
Carruthers said Lucci, 62, and the 39-year-old Cameron Mathison, who
plays Ryan, have a good comic chemistry and writers were looking for a
way to feature them more, although not necessarily as romantic
partners. Ryan was once married to Kendall, the girl Kane gave birth to
after being raped at age 14.
Erica and Ryan went on a business trip together in episodes early this
spring. Their car broke down, they found a cabin in the woods, they
drew separate baths and, when Erica climbed on Ryan’s shoulders
searching for better cell phone reception, she slipped and fell into
his arms.
Zing!
Viewers noticed the chemistry and writers decided to capitalize on it.
June 22, when he kisses her on the cheek, is the first “butterfly moment,” Carruthers said.
She believes the story will mean more to viewers than other TV cougar
stories simply because it’s been nearly 40 years of Lucci’s character.
“Everyone watching the show has a sense of her vulnerability, her
strength, her eccentricities,” she said. “They’ve gotten to know Ryan
just as well. So there’s a lot more to it than just, “Oh, my God she
wants a younger man’ or “Oh, my God, he wants an older woman.”
How much older? Don’t ask. They don’t tell ages on soap operas.
Mathison said he’s excited, not intimidated, by the story.
After those first pecks on the cheek, how much longer until the Big Moment?
Remember. This is daytime television.
“Make ’em wait, make ’em wait, make ’em wait,” Carruthers said. “There are a lot of almosts.”


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