DRW50

He seemed to work out in how he was used on Search and Y&R, but even if his exit is always called a mistake (including in this interview), I never thought he was used well on RH. He went from being a thug who unwittingly caused Siobhan to have a miscarriage to being a piece of ass tied to an exhausting and overexposed storyline. Kirkland's Hope has always gotten more attention, I guess because it was an easy nickname given to the press by the fed up actors on the show, but for me the mob element and the chronicles of Kimberley's loins were a much more long-running and corrosive problem. I know Labine mentioned seeing Rae/Michael as a love story in one SOD article on bad strike decisions - if she really did then no wonder Rae was in such a poor state as a character by this time.

Thanks @te. I don't think I ever heard the theme. That show came and went so fast and primetime soaps were over by then.

@MLH Welcome to the board. I can see where the treatment of Michael Zaslow - some of the most shameful in soap history - would cause you, or any viewer, to quit watching. Whatever one feels about Roger and Holly, they did have a very compelling, complicated connection for most of their return, until McTavish and Laibson just junked all of it, aside from maybe one or two scenes. I never will get what the logic was. You're right about the Roger/Blake relationship - just two very broken people.

Thanks a lot @chrisml

Thanks for sharing. I never would have known otherwise. I prefer show interviews this way rather than the grab bag quotes. No surprises in here about Rauch, Behr, Swift, etc. but still, I appreciate hearing a new voice lay them out in such detail. The Swift story is especially juicy. Also didn't know how much people in the cast opposed Michael Corbett, but it makes sense - I can see why someone at the show or the network latched onto him, but he really did come out of nowhere and was forced in. I wonder if that's why Daniel Hugh Kelly quit. The lighting definitely does seem to become much more generic with Joe Hardy. I do think Cali Timmins was good from fairly early on.

An interview posted on the Ryan's Hope thread last night mentioned Michael Levin throwing chairs. Did you see the Catlins thread link I posted?

She seems to have been at GL through summer 1993 so she might have started some of the pairing. Curlee was also phasing out and then we had all the 1994 and early 1995 turnover. They did seem to mostly want to establish her as the plucky daughter to Buzz. I still wonder if they ever would have gone anywhere with Alan-Michael and Gilly (probably not).

I'm still surprised at how long they took to get Alan-Michael and Lucy together properly...maybe because there wasn't a ton of viewer interest or just how easily distracted JFP was.

It had in his last year or so, although they seemed to be going back that route after Philip's return.

He had more focus, but I don't think they ever developed him well. He was stuck in the bratty/scheming role for too long. He did have more development than Dylan, I suppose, but it was more frustrating to me because he should have been more of a character than he was, whereas I thought Dylan was fine in how they used him.

Alan-Michael really wasn't either. By this point GL was starting to become more focused on stretching out and overusing existing characters or bringing in new characters and dynamics instead of having the generational aspect. I think another issue was that I'm not sure how many viewers were really asking for Billy and Reva to have a son. They already had kids of their own and their dynamic, while very interesting, had mostly been resolved and now had to come back up because of a retcon son. If Kim hadn't left, I think they would have gotten a lot more out of her relationship with Dylan than they did.

I don't think Cloris had so much power in the industry that she could dictate her son getting a job. There was a rumor that someone once talked with her at a party about her son being on GL and even she said he couldn't act. I do think Morgan settled into the role once they dropped the rebel aspect. Some aspects still didn't work but they smoothed everything out after he and Sam broke up and he was mostly likeable support in the Lewis family and in the Julie and Bridget pairings. He also worked well with all the Lewises. I do wonder what they would have done with him if Englund hadn't left when he did - probably would have made him look bad compared to Hart, but he could have at least gotten to react to Reva's return from the dead. I didn't mind his relationship with Sam but looking back he was too visibly old for her - sometimes I wonder if Suzy Cote looking so young is one of the reasons she was let go after a few years.

@LostinHarmony Enjoyed reading your memories of the show. I have been watching some lately on Youtube, albeit in clip form. I think what I find most interesting with the different clips is going back and forth with some of the recasts. Some really drain the life out of the characters. I also enjoyed the bits I saw of the Noah/Theresa friendship, which I had never heard anyone talk about. I don't know if it lasted to the end of the show.

In terms of movement, I tend to see it as the same doors with a few aesthetic differences, but I do think Mamdani's campaign (for the primary anyway) was strong and should be studied.

It was a shitty story, but a part of me keeps thinking about how so many Mamdani supporters believe this is the exact type of person who can be reached if only the neolibs and 99.999999% of other Democrats are all wiped from existence. They don't care about racism, they just care that their latest messiah and battering ram (see Emma Vigeland and the other cosplay socialists claiming that Democrats didn't care about opposing the bill and only cared about stopping Mamdani) might get hurt by it. When they turn against him in a year or less, they will be parroting the story as the gospel truth.

I just hope it is not tied to any of the same garbage they are doing to 60 Minutes due to the merger Shari Redstone is involved in.

Thanks @slick jones I think the John Black body double would be for June 2025.

It makes you wonder if they have been told something bad backstage. I feel sorry for them being in this position when they should be celebrating their new show.

Looking it up, Harley was first by a few months. I don't know if Archive has playlists either.

That's so sad. I was just reading an early '90s article about Juian a few days ago. He was gorgeous, charismatic, and a good actor too. I couldn't stomach most of Nip/Tuck after the first season, but he always did his best. He also did a good job in the Fantastic Four films. And another AW alum gone too soon.

Thanks @Maxim You can tell we're meant to take Cassie seriously now because they've straightened her hair. They really did seem to reset Cassie's history with Laura in the part. She'd had a very tumultuous marriage with Rob Coronal, but she had known what it felt like to be loved by him.

I couldn't tell if he meant Harley decided not to have an abortion (although I know any of that was before Harley was introduced to Springfield).

Frank Dicopoulos talks GL during their anniversary week. ‘Guiding Light’s Frank Dicopoulos Reflects on the Soap’s Most Important Storylines, From Lillian's Cancer Battle to Harley's Pregnancy (Exclusive)

I doubt this is the only reason Kin Shriner has left GH for maybe the last time, but it certainly can't have helped. Beloved ’80s Soap Star Reveals Devastating Outcome From Failed Surgery - Parade (he is currently in rehab in Florida) Frank Dicopoulos talks GL during their anniversary week. ‘Guiding Light’s Frank Dicopoulos Reflects on the Soap’s Most Important Storylines, From Lillian's Cancer Battle to Harley's Pregnancy (Exclusive)

I had forgotten until someone on Twitter pointed it out that the episodes were taken down during the show's anniversary week... I hope Irna haunts them.