DRW50

I can see why they may have thought Rick was getting a chance, given Marcy's soap pedigree, but nothing about Tangie connected with viewers. It's hard to believe she was only on the show a little over six months by then. I don't think viewers started to warm to Tangie until her last months in the role (if they did). If Marcy had decided to stay there's definitely a big what if. I imagine she would have ended up into Roger's increasingly desperate schemes, or fought Reva for Alan, but continuing her relationship with Alan-Michael as Lucy/Alan-Michael builds could have been interesting. Maybe she could have been secretly pregnant and kept quiet because she didn't want him to feel obligated to her, only for Brent/Marian to "accidentally" reveal her secret at a party Alan-Michael throws for Lucy.

In theory, I could understand why Alan-Michael became such a schemer and so cold. The problem for me was the execution and the motivation. I never came away from an episode feeling like we were really meant to sympathize with him. I thought he was just an obstacle to a whole slew of characters. I liked the Frank/Eleni relationship (I didn't love them - I think the most interesting period was when Julie was driving a wedge between them)., but the stakes weren't very high to where Alan-Michael needed to keep them apart for so long and then pine for Eleni even longer. Then there was his position at Spaulding, where Alex treated him with disdain and he was a foil for Nick, who was one of the most sanctimonious asses ever on the show. I ended up not rooting for anyone at Spaulding, which is a problem considering Spaulding was a mainstay of the show. Sad to say I probably rooted for Alex more in her drug dealing years than I did her or Nick at this period of time. And then Alan came in, another character I just didn't have an investment in (by the time I'd started watching GL, Alan was gone, so my first experience was this man doing a Mickey Rooney Breakfast at Tiffany's voice). Rick Hearst has always played third or fourth fiddle in his soap roles, but there was no reason for that to be the case with Alan-Michael. He was a Bauer and a Spaulding. He had the keys to the kingdom. Why they ignored this when Philip left, I never will know.

I remember some of this from watching at the time, mainly Harley being drugged with the truth serum. I remember liking the apartment she shared with Mindy. (I also loved Roger's apartment from this timeframe). Even though they weren't together, I liked Alan-Michael and Harley and was disappointed they didn't go anywhere with them around then. This is probably one of several reasons I intensely disliked Mallet. (I had no real opinion on Alan-Michael and Eleni as it seemed obvious from the start we weren't meant to root for them as a couple - this started what I saw as a long long period of A-M just being a third or fourth choice of the show until about 1995).

Thanks. That makes sense. I guess that was from Conboy to Wheeler. I wonder what Conboy would have planned for them. Probably ended up with Beth bedding Alan-Michael...

I think he would have been accepted - he did a good job in his brief, sleazy role on ATWT in the early '00s, so he still had the chops. The biggest issue (and why Rick left, IIRC) is Alan Michael so often had little to do. I can't see him wanting to return for a love triangle with an angel. Beyond Rick leaving, what were the other times he was asked? I hope it wasn't for the stupid 2007 return. Pairing him with Marina would have been even worse.

I haven't. I'm generally wary of buying soap DVDs, with a few exceptions, but others who are more in the know may be able to help.

I think they did avoid writing Ron's Alan that way for his first year or so, but he just couldn't play the subtlety.

She talks about the movie being the only thing a lot of people know her for, but to her it was basically near the end of her career, and she moved away from acting by the end of the decade because she didn't like being on sets and she was tired of just playing guest starring roles of women who had been sexually assaulted. They asked her if she'd been approached to be in Part V. She said she hadn't, as she would have said yes - she would have taken any role to help pay her way as she needed to help pay off her house.

At about 8 minutes she mentions that the casting director who'd cast her for Friday the 13th had also cast her on Capitol. Then one of the interviewers says that his mother mentioned remembering Kimberly from Capitol. She then says she was unhappily married to Barron Hilton Jr. John Conboy cast her in Capitol. John thought she was like a princess due to being married to a Hilton. She then says something like, "When I left, seriously...it was like three weeks later he fired me and hired Catherine Hickland to take my part because she was married to David Hasselhoff. He had some bizarre - there was no reason to fire me." I assume she believes that it was her leaving her husband which caused Conboy to fire her.

Do you think they should have just written Miles and Nicole out rather than killing Nicole off and having Miles with other women so quickly?

Lynn Milgrim was so bug-eyed on ATWT, I wonder how her theater work was. Do you think she was better in her 1982 stint?

Marland also balanced story for many characters when he was at ATWT. ATWT and AMC both eventually collapsed from the weight of that many people, but they did manage for a long time. GH had so many in the early '80s too. Given Frank's budget magic it shouldn't be as difficult for him. The writing and interest just aren't there.

Thanks.

Thanks @JAS0N47 Is Susan Flannery still Laura?

I wonder if they were trying to do something artistic and present this as staggered out shots of her immediate reaction. Either way it just looks silly. I also dislike the fakeout earlier with the yahoos who were trying to run her off the road (did their cousins later shoot at Karen Fairgate with a paintball gun?). @Soapsuds Thanks. I haven't watched Michelle of late so didn't recognize her voice at first. Sounds like some denture work. Chris seems to have a bright spirit.

Thanks as always @slick jones

That's a nice touch. (don't really love that theme song)

The disastrously unpopular UK remake of the show (Brighton Belles) premiered today in 1993. This somehow led me to learn that in 2012 there was a Dutch version of the show. Golden Girls - Aflevering 7 (NL RTL 4)

Thanks @Paul Raven He wasn't wrong about those weeks long location shoots... I'm surprised at the part about cutting down the length of scenes as I never felt like the scenes were very long under Slesar.

@Xanthe Great spot. @mikeaw1978 @EddieAWHP if you're here this may interest you.

That was nice of her but in the long run damaging to the show. Janet had more to give. If Lemay had known more of the show's history he would have had a field day with her.

Thank goodness for small favors. Mindy's toughness seems to vary between actresses. I think you or someone else said Ann Hamilton's Mindy was a crack shot. Krista's Mindy likely would have kneed him in the balls. Barbara Crampton was so vapid...

Deadline did, although they seem to think she was recurring. https://deadline.com/2026/03/jennifer-runyon-dead-ghostbusters-a-very-brady-christmas-1236747120/ Sad to hear of Jennifer's passing. I used to mix her up with the blonde on Gimme a Break. She wasn't on the level of Mary Page Keller but she seemed to be a decent Sally.

I think @VelekaCarruthers and @dc11786 put some lists of each regime and what they did or didn't do for the show a while back, each one from the late '70s to 1986. Maybe it's not as many as I think but it seemed like about 500 people.

That was probably 30 regimes later.