This 17-part series was recently posted on youtube.com. I haven't watched it all yet. It includes Ross' brother, Ben Warren (Hunt Block--who according to published reports, will soon be on OLTL).
Added: July 05, 2007
From: classicGL


Part 1
from 1998: Ben Warren announces to Blake, Ross, and Beth that he is leaving Springfield. Run time 4:47


Part 2
Ross tells Blake how he got Ben to leave town. Ben wonders to Beth why he's leaving. Run time 4:33


Part 3
Ben invites Beth on a getaway. Blake has a terrifying vision while making love to Ross. Run time 5:32


Part 4
Beth tells Phillip and Harley that she will be going away. Run time 3:59


Part 5
Ross tells Blake how close he feels to her. Holly announces that her brother will return. Run time 3:59

Part 6
Harley intercepts a phone call from Ben and then viciously attacks Beth. Run time 5:56


Part 7
A gun is mistakenly delivered to Ross' office. Blake and Holly argue about Ben. Ben brings a gift for Blake. Run time 5:01


Part 8
Beth tries to reach Ben after Phillip walks in on her and Harley. Run time 2:11


Part 9
Blake struggles with her attraction to Ben. Ross assures Vanessa that his marriage is solid. Run time 4:49


Part 10
Blake blasts Ben for pursuing her. Vanessa tells Ross about Ben's purchase. Run time 3:58

Who will he be playing? I don't remember you saying anything about new characters...

Hey Meags, I got this from soapzone.com

Part 11
After talking with Vanessa, Ross walks in on Blake and Ben and misinterprets what he sees. 5:09


Part 12
Lillian calms Ross as Blake is rushed into surgery. Holly attacks Ben. Run time 4:41


Part 13
Ross, Ben, Holly, Beth, and Lillian variously hurl accusations at one another and themselves. Run time 2:23


Part 14
Beth defends Ben from the accusations of Ross and Hart. Holly tries to comfort Hart. Run time 5:37


Part 15
Beth reminds Ben of his mistakes. Ross, Holly and Hart are devastated when Rick delivers news of Blake's condition. 4:34

Part 16
Ross holds Ben, Hart, Holly and Beth at gunpoint. Run time 4:49


Part 17
Lillian and Beth argue about Ben. Ross and Ben each tell Frank to arrest the other. Run time 3:01

Well OK. I'm guessing you probably didn't like this particular storyline, Emily.

Okay - EWWWWWWW!!!!!!

I absolutely hated this story:
1. To prop Ben, both Ross and Blake were dumbed down. Two smart, saavy people had no clue how to deal with this smarmy jerk out to destroy their lives and family.

2. Ross is a non-violent guy, so for him to have a gun and bring it home (where he had a wife and 2 young sons that he loved dearly) and then to accidentally shoot his wife was just wrong.

3. Tiic tried to parallel the dynamic of Blake's parents, Roger and Holly, with Ben and Blake - but the situations were so totally different, it was ridiculous to try. Tiic simplified it by saying Blake's mother Holly was attracted to the bad boy and couldn't get him [Roger] out of her system, so Blake was the same way. Not only was there so much more to Roger & Holly, they were developed with better writing and much more time.

4. Ben sexually assaulted Blake and the story portrayed it as consensual. We were supposed to believe that the man did know better than the woman, that he was right to tell her what she wanted, that it didn't matter that Blake told Ben no and to leave many times before she finally tripped to the floor and he pinned her down, continuing to pressure her to give in. It was disgusting to hear other posters call it hot and erotic.

5. To make matters more insulting, Blake's mother Holly (who was raped by husband Roger many years ago, which was a huge defining mark on Holly's psyche and her relationship with Roger) encouraged Blake to "cry rape" to save Ross from jail and to save their marriage. I know Holly fans who quit watching after that.

6. Because Blake was so ashamed of crying rape, she developed a physical paralysis that the doctors could not attribute to her gunshot wound. The paralysis didn't clear until Blake told Ross "the truth" about her and Ben and then saved Ben from certain death. <gag>

7. Blake ended up falling in love with Ben because his adopted mother abused him and didn't love him as a child. No other reason was given that I know of. She was so "in love" with Ben that she let him move in with her, in the home she shared with Ross, with her and Ross' young sons.

8. Blake was written as not being able to live without a man, and she threw herself at either Ross or Ben, depending on who she thought would take her. It was insulting to the actress and her character. Blake came to not like herself being with Ben, but every time she tried to end it with him, he would seduce her into having sex and then get upset after that she must be just using him and his feelings.

It was very demeaning. Ross and Blake as a couple did not have any problems when Ben first came to town. Ross was the love of Blake's life, and she was never happy with the bad boys she had previously been with. But the story tried to tell us that Blake was more intrigued by a guy like Ben, even though he was quite open that he had come to town to destroy her husband Ross. We were supposed to believe that Ben was more her type and why would Blake even be with a guy like Ross, ignoring the 5 previous years of work Ross and Blake had put into their relationship.

I didn't find anything appealing about Hunt Block the actor, though his fans were trying to proclaim him as some kind of sexy love magnet, and his affair with Blake was the hottest thing GL had ever had. Thankfully, SOD Best-Worst 1998 named Ross/Blake/Ben the worst triangle of the year, and tiic eventually ended it (Ben took a job as legal counsel for the local mob family and Blake didn't want her young sons associated with that) and Ross and Blake took another year or so reuniting. To me, it wasn't just a matter of seeing my favorite couple in a soap triangle - it was the way it was portrayed, demeaning to women, demeaning to the actress and her character, and two characters I really liked (Ross and Blake) used to make the new "bad guy" look good.

I think GL's head-writers at the time were Esensten & Brown (the new HWs at AMC), nicknamed the "drunk twins" by GL fans at the time because E&B said in an interview that they liked to have writers meetings at the local bar, and GL fans couldn't attribute the bad writing to anything else. HB only lasted one contract on GL, and rumor was he was fired for too much ad-libbing, being difficult and changing too many of the lines written for him.

That answer the question on whether I liked the story or not. ;)

roll1.gif Sorry, girlfriend. I tend to post anything that has Ross mentioned a lot in summaries. I watched it after I posted it and said, "Uh-oh. This ain't so hot." And then I immediately thought of you having to sit there as a fan and watch this in unedited version. Naturally, I didn't have all the particulars but it seemed obvious to me that Ross and Blake were dumbed down to build up the Ben character. Ross carrying that gun around was just stupid. Having seen "Certain Rights" at youtube.com, I too find it insulting that they would have Holly advise her daughter to cry rape for the reasons you indicated.

"The drunk twins," huh? That's funny. I wonder what the plans are for HB once he ends up on OLTL. I haven't really watched the performer. I think I might have caught an episode of Knots Landing, here and there. Sounds like Ben/Blake/Ross lasted for awhile.