This is not exactly relevant to the conversation, but I was watching some of Summer 1982, and the whole "Alan and Henry step away to start their own company with Hope" thing was a real low point for Marland, IMO.
First of all, Hope was an interior decorator. It was as if she had to be part of the company to make sure Alan didn't slip back into his old ways. Or maybe Marland couldn't think of anything to do with Hope so he put her in the middle of that so they could fulfill her minimum appearances per week in her contract.
I believe it's around the time that Marland steps down that the new writers do the whole struggle over Spaulding story, as you outlined. Having Alan and Henry sitting by the fire and talking about cutting back on the cutthroat atmosphere of the corporate world was a major blunder, IMO. I have no idea where Marland thought he was going with that. Having it cut short by Marland leaving was an immediate improvement to the show.
Though why the oil rig was called the "Madrid Project" I will never figure out--Madrid is in the MIDDLE of Spain! It's not on the coast! You can't have off-shore drills in Madrid! Did any of these people own a MAP? (Yeah, I know, it's not really a big deal but my family lived in Spain for a while and it bugs me).
Yes to all of this. It would have been great if they worked the fact that AM was a Bauer into the story. And have it really drive Alan mad! The Bauers were his nemeses for a very long time.
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DeeVee ·
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