T. C. Russell

T. C. Russell is a fictional character on the American soap opera Passions, which aired on NBC from 1999 to 2007 and on DirecTV in 2007–08. Created by the soap's founder and head writer James E. Reilly, the role was portrayed by Rodney Van Johnson from July 5, 1999 to June 19, 2007. On March 19, 2001, Jenny Gaona played the character in flashbacks. Johnson's casting was part of NBC's attempt to include a racially diverse ensemble on daytime television. He was demoted to recurring status in December 2006 before his last appearance in June 2007.

T. C. is the patriarch of the Russell family; he is the ex-husband of Eve Russell and father of Whitney Russell and Simone Russell. Introduced as the perfect husband and father, he eventually becomes characterized by his violent temper and hatred for the Crane family, particularly Julian Crane, before suffering from a stroke and departing to help his daughters settle in New Orleans, Louisiana. He is originally portrayed as a close friend to Sam Bennett before his storyline focused more on the disintegration of his marriage and family. Johnson and Ross made cameo appearances as T. C. and Eve in the series finale of the NBC primetime drama Providence. Internationally, Johnson. At the end of the show, several props and costumes related to T. C. were sold in an auction, along with other items from the show.

Johnson described T. C.'s later character development as "disappointing" by limiting him to "the angry black man" stereotype. He initially praised the show for its racially diverse cast and representation of African-American characters, but later felt his character and the other African-American roles were not used to their full potential. T. C.'s relationship with Eve and Johnson's chemistry with Ross received negative feedback, with a majority of the show's promotional images advertising Eve and Julian as a supercouple instead. Internationally, Johnson was praised for his performance of T. C. as a character "that warms the hearts of many in different countries".

Development

T. C. Russell is one of the original 25 contract cast members invented by the show's co-creator, James E. Reilly. Sheraton Kalouria, senior vice president of NBC's daytime programming,^[1] described the creation of T. C. and the Russell family as the result of an effort to build characters "as diverse as the U.S." and set the show apart from other soap operas. An article in Jet later commented that each member of the Russell family was designed to be "an integral part of the show" in attempt to avoid token characters.^[2] Johnson frequently praised the show's representation of African-American characters in interviews and identified it as one of the primary reasons behind his attraction to the role:

We are the only daytime drama with a full African-American family. The Russells have a key role in the community. There aren't just a flash in the pan. The storylines are heavy. The show has received a huge response from the African-American community for that reason.^[2]

Johnson said the opportunity to act with Tracey Ross also influenced his acceptance of the role. He called Ross the it girl for the African-American community following her appearance on Star Search.^[3]

Storylines

T. C. Russell is the only son of Reggie Russell. T. C.'s family has lived in Harmony for several generations; his many-times removed grandfather once owned a farm that was taken over the Cranes and demolished for the construction of the Crane Mansion. As a young adult, T. C. intensively trained to be a professional tennis player. In the 2001 novel Hidden Passions, he is described looking Arthur Ashe as the role model for his career and training to one day compete in The Championships, Wimbledon.^[4] T. C. was injured in a hit and run accident preventing him from competing further in tennis tournaments. For several decades, he incorrectly believes Julian was responsible for the accident and he harbors a desire for revenge against the Crane family for destroying his future plans; he later discovers Eve was the one to hit him while she was driving under the influence. Sometime in the 1970s, T. C. married doctor Eve Johnson and had two children with her. He pushed his oldest daughter Whitney to start training to be a professional tennis champion from an early age so he could live vicariously through her life; he is not shown to pay too much attention to his youngest daughter Simone. T. C. is unaware of Eve's past drug and alcohol abuse and her past relationship and child with Julian.

T. C.'s early appearances concentrate on the mysterious contents of his secret shed, but it is later retconned that "there was nothing in the shed that was substantial."^[5] From 2002 to 2004, Eve's adoptive sister attempts to expose Eve's past to T. C. and coerce him into having sex with her. Her actions escalate to the point where she slips T. C. a mickey for Eve to catch him in the act of adultery. The storyline culminates in July 2004 when Liz brings Eve's aunt Irma Johnson to tell T. C. the truth about Eve's past relationship with Julian and their child and her involvement in the car accident ending T. C.'s tennis career. T. C. responds to the new by almost killing Julian in a violent rage and later divorcing Eve; he briefly has a romantic relationship and engagement with Liz. Everyone in Harmony incorrectly assumes that Eve's child with Julian is Chad; Whitney's relationship with Chad is believed to be incestuous as they would be half-siblings. The possibility of incest further fractures the family. T. C. grows increasingly jealous and angry when Eve renews her relationship with Julian. T. C. falls into a deep depression coupled with alcoholism and physically assaults Simone after she comes out as a lesbian.

Rodney Van Johnson points to the earthquake and tsunami in the show's 2005 summertime extravaganza as "the turning point" in which "T. C. realizes that he wants to be back with his wife."^[6] Following the natural disasters, T. C. breaks off his engagement with Liz after reconciling with his ex-wife's past and rebukes all of her efforts to seduce her way back into his life. Before he can fully make amends with his ex-wife and family, he gets injured in an automobile accident while driving under the influence and suffers from a stroke. During his recovery, T. C. grows closer to his ex-wife and apologizes to Simone for his homophobic and abusive behavior. He was last shown babysitting Whitney and Chad's son and his grandson Miles Davis Crane-Harris; following the show's transition from NBC to DirecTV, he is said to have moved to New Orleans to help and reconnect with his daughters. He does not physically appear during the show's run on DirecTV or the series finale.

Other appearances

Tracey Ross and Rodney Van Johnson made cameo appearances as Eve Russell and T. C. Russell in the series finale of the NBC primetime drama Providence, marking one of the first daytime/primetime crossovers.^[7] Following DirecTV's decision to not renew the show, Passions partnered with Premiere Props to hold a public two-day estate sale of props and costumes from the show. Stacey Ward, a director of NBCUniversal, pitched the auction as "an opportunity to own a piece of their favorite show."^[8] Several items related to T. C., including his award as Harmony Open men's singles champion^[9] and his framed letter to Eve, were put up for sale.^[10]

Reception

Despite his original positive response to the show,^[2] Johnson later expressed disappointment at his role shortly before his exit. He identified the decision to start "taking out the people of color", like Amelia Marshall, Brook Kerr, and himself, as an obvious sign that "this thing is going down".^[5] He said his character was not properly used and that he was frequently defaulted to "the angry black man."^[5] The Baltimore Sun's Tamara Ikenberg found T. C. to be a one-dimensional character, and an interviewed Passions viewer expressed confusion on the characters personality by saying: "Every time you see him, he's angry for some reason".^[11] Johnson negatively compared T. C. to his previous role as Trey Stark on The Young and the Restless, saying that "I was used well" as Trey. Johnson also said the character gave him a negative stigma that limited his future opportunities for auditions.^[5]

In comparison to fan's positive reception of Eve and Julian's relationship (dubbed "Evian"),^[12] T. C.'s relationship with Eve and Johnson's chemistry with Ross did not receive much attention from the fans and media. Other Passions cast members and representatives commented on the preference for Julian over T. C.; Masters said his character Julian should "just kick T. C. out of his house" and beat him with a 4x4^[13] and a spokesperson from the show pushed Julian and Eve's romance to the forefront as "a new supercouple in Harmony" without any mention of T. C.^[14] Internationally, T. C. received a more positive response. African newspaper Mmegi said Johnson was invited to the 2005 Miss Culture and Heritage contest in Botswana due to his performance of T. C. as a "husband and father in the soap that warms the hearts of many in different countries".^[15]

See also

• Russell family

References

Citations

Bibliography

• Lenox, Tabitha. Hidden Passions: Secrets from the Diaries of Tabitha Lenox. HarperCollins: 2001. ISBN 978-0-061-07605-3

External links

• T. C. Russell at NBC.com