JESSICA ADAMS
AS SEEN IN:
"Changes"
AS PLAYED BY:
Renee O'Connor
CREATED BY:
Danielle Steel
TV UNIVERSE:
Earth Prime-Time
STATUS:
"Born to Rerun" or maybe a clone of warrior bard Gabrielle
Jessica Adams was one of twin daughters born to TV newswoman Melanie Adams
when she was 19. Her twin sister is Valerie and they're fraternal twins.
Melanie uproots her daughters from their New York life when she falls in
love with a widowed doctor in California who has three children of his own. It
became a "Brady Bunch" existence with that extra step avoided by the sitcom (but
which everybody "knew" was happening) - Dr. Hallam's oldest son Mark falls in
love with Valerie Adams and she becomes pregnant.
Their decision to secretly get an abortion provides the storyline with one
of its sudsier moments.
I suppose you're wondering why I chose to focus on Jessica Adams rather than on Cheryl Ladd's portrayal of her mother, Melanie. (Actually, I think you may be wondering why I even chose to do anything about this movie in the first place. But like it or not, Danielle Steel's oeuvre is literature and so qualifies to be included in this year-long celebration of literary TV characters.)
As far as I could tell from this montage of clips which are centered around Jessica, Renee O'Connor was basically the good girl (but full disclosure - I couldn't watch the whole video.) There's no indication that in four years time she would be embarking on a pop culture journey as Xena's sidekick Gabrielle in 'Xena, Warrior Princess'.
I was tempted to make the claim that Jessica is the reborn soul of
Gabrielle, but there were at least four episodes of "XWP" which dealt with that
topic and would put a Zonk on my suggestion. However, it's pozz'ble, just
pozz'ble, that Gabrielle's reincarnation in the 1940's, archaeologist and
explorer Janice Covington (descended from the family line seen in 'Covington
Cross'?), could have been the mother of Melanie Adams. Melanie's parentage
probably didn't have any impact in "Changes".
Plus, there was an "XWP" episode entitled "Send In The Clones," in which multiple
clones of Gabrielle were created. Although set in "modern times" and broadcast
years after "Changes", time was fluid in the "XWP" series - so "modern times"
could have happened almost twenty years before the events in the Danielle Steel
TV movie. And therefore, Jessica Adams could be another one of those Gabrielle
clones. (Then again, trivial items like car models and pop culture references
in the "XWP" episode could refudiate that. Maybe I should just forget that
angle and stick with the Grandma Janice idea.....)
BCnU!
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