"Marcie and Al: Llanview's Newest Supercouple?" - SOW

Judging by the mail and the message boards, the biggest couple in Llanview isn't Jessica and Antonio or Natalie and Cristian -- it's Marcie and Al, or MARCAL, as their online fans have dubbed them.

That's news to One Life to Live's Kathy Brier (Marcie), as is the fact that there's a site devoted to the off-beat duo: The Diner of Love at http://tessarae_2.tripod.com/welcome.htm "This is cracking me up!" chortles the actress, who is used to playing the sidekick, not the romantic lead. "I go on the Internet to check my e-mail, and that's the extent. It's nice, though, because it means that people are recognizing the work we're doing and enjoying it. I always say they're like Ralph and Alice on The Honeymooners. Nathaniel (Marston, Al) was joking around on-set the other day, saying, 'We're just like the people you'd see in Wal-Mart.'"

Count co-head writer Michael Malone among the fans of the couple. "They were two characters who seemed meant for each other from the beginning," he praises. "They're both interesting people. They're not absolutely perfect physical specimens."

So what's ahead for MARCAL? "A crisis of a different nature is going to occur," previews Malone. "Marcie worries about her self-image, being a little overweight. She's a virgin. How is she going to deal with that as she and Al get closer?"

"It's something that al teen-agers go through and can relate to," muses Brier. "It's fun to have crazy storylines, but every now and then if something is more rooted in reality, it's not going to hurt."

In the more immediate future, Al and Marcie share their first real kiss this week after she escapes from a dangerous situation at the diner.




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