zanereed

There are the occasional episodes that have surfaced from 1973, as well as the two from 1977 that were put out by Soap Classics. I don't have the exact list any longer, but apparently UCLA has color kinescopes of TGL from 1973, assuming they are still playable. When Soap Classics were going through the P&G archive, there were at least 2 existing episodes from 1976 available (which they never had a chance to transfer and release), along with a black and white compilation tape of Bauer footage from the 1960's, possibly even into the early 1970's. Some of this footage was used on the "findyourlight.net" website, which included scenes of Ed Bauer in 1969 (being played by Robert Gentry) getting pulled over and jailed for drunk driving. I still believe there are still the occasional odd episodes with both film collectors and actors who were on the show from the 1970's. I couldn't believe the two episodes that recently surfaced from 1973 - including the return of Lynne Adams as Leslie! - so I believe anything is still possible.

@Franko (and @DRW50 for the tag), Thank you so much for posting the link to this. I didn't think I would ever see any footage of Don's appearances on this show!

I have two personal "golden eras" for TGL: The Dobson Era: 1975 to 1979 The mid-Curlee Era: late 1989 to early 1992 (though Curlee didn't take the head writer reigns until 1990) I know that both eras had their misses. The Dobsons had a huge misfire with Bill Bauer's return from the dead, for example. However, I feel that by 1979 they were firing on all cylanders with all of the characters and storylines they had in place. I wish TPTB would have left them on the show for at least a year or two longer. I felt the show was really going strong by 1990 into the early part of 1992. After that, there were too many hits and misses for me. I admit that I am also fascinated by the existing 1966 episodes, and wish more episodes were available from the latter half of the 1960's.

This looks like either 1988 or 1989.

I don't think the Dobsons had any intention of marrying Alan and Hope. As you stated, I think Alan was going to take a darker turn towards Hope. With Roger no longer in Springfield, Alan could focus all his energies on getting Phillip back, and I think he was going to use Hope in order to do so. Again, the rumor I have heard for years is that had the Dobsons stayed on TGL, Phillip's parentage would have finally been revealed to him sometime in 1980 (either the spring or summer). This was supposed to have started a chain of events that would start new stories for Mike, Elizabeth, Justin, Alan, Hope, Diane, and one or two others. Jackie was supposed to have fled Springfield, but I don't know if that was temporary - meaning she would eventually come back played by a new actress - or semi-permanently. I can only assume that Alan's affair with Rita would have either already been in play or started later on in 1980, as well. I really wish we knew who the Dobsons had in mind for Amanda's mother, but it certainly wasn't anyone like Jennifer Richards. Court deserved so much better, as the character of Jennifer never did catch on. Plus, how would the Dobsons have written off Roger Thorpe...?

@Paul Raven - you called it. I can't remember if Stewart didn't get along with Court, or if he just didn't like the pairing. I think Stewart still wanted the Mike/Elizabeth pairing to be the endgame for Mike. However, Marland wanted Mike to be involved with Amanda's bio-mother, supposedly creating further tension with Alan and Hope.

The memory does play tricks on me, I'll admit, but I do not recall Ed Bryce reprising the role of Bill Bauer at all until August of 1983. Now, having Bill Bauer at Hope's wedding would have been such a Marland thing to do, but I don't remember Bill being on screen once the character left in 1978, even for a guest appearance.

I actually recall Bert maybe mentioning Meta when Bill died in 1983. Or Bert might have been mentioned Simone? The mind plays tricks on me nowadays...!

Now that is a great question. I don't remember that at all, unless it was done in passing. @vetsoapfan or anyone else watching during this time, do any of you recall this?

Marland absolutely handled Roger's wrap-up beautifully. No character deserved a spectacular ending more. He had the core characters who had an involved history with Roger involved (Holly, Ed, and Mike), which added to the impact. Where I think he failed was not really having a good plan of what to do with Holly, post-Roger. Maureen Garrett just seemed to be hanging around for most of the spring and summer. And you're right - Cindy Pickett was apparently never sticking around past the end of her contract in 1980, so Marland had zero time to focus on the Phillip parentage situation with her in the mix as Jackie. I assume Marland had eventual plans to reveal to Phillip that Jackie and Justin were his biological parents, but I'm curious as to how far out that was going to happen. A few of the key players in Springfield knew by early 1981 (such as Hope, for example), so I always figured it would have been in play by spring or summer of 1981, but that never occurred.

By 1982, I wish they had either moved Sara back into either Justin's orbit or into Mike's...or both. I never thought Sara and Adam worked well together. Meta Bauer certainly would have been more than welcomed in 1986 after they officially recognized Bert's passing on air. @Paul Raven , you might be right - Ellen Demming may have retired by that 1986. However, others on here have certainly posted good candidates who could have filled that role. The other "missing" Bauer who could have ushered additional Bauers onto the canvas would have been Bill and Meta's sister, Trudy. Although Trudy wasn't on screen much past the 1950's, she did marry Clyde Palmer and that they were living in New York. I think Clyde passed away in the 1970's, but I don't know that Trudy was ever mentioned again...?

Quick follow up question - was Meta on the show consistently, or was she there off and on for those 14 years? I seem to remember that she and Bruce moved away from Springfield around 1966 (Papa was thinking of moving away with them), and then returned around 1971. Is the latter correct, or was Meta around during the latter half of the 1960's?

Agreed. I think Demming would have been more than capable of reprising the role. Speaking of Meta, does anyone know why Irna Phillips decided to kill off Joe Roberts? I assume the actor wanted to leave the show? I haven't seen much footage of Meta's third husband, Bruce Banning, at all, so I don't know how their chemistry was. Going to Dick Grant...I never found the character appealing at all. He never seemed to fit in as a leading man. I thought Paul Fletcher was a more interesting character of the Springfield doctors prior to the Ed Bauer and Joe Werner years.

By that point, I wish Rauch had brought back both Hulswit and Stewart as Ed and Mike on contract. Hulswit for exactly the reasons you stated. For Stewart as Mike, I was amazed during the 60th Anniversary event at how many people Mike interacted with before he left for DC in 1984 that were still on the show. Plus (as I think we previously discussed), having Michelle's law-and-order uncle on the show when she was involved with the Danny and the mafia storyline would have lent more weight to it.

@Reverend Ruthledge , I can't argue why you liked Gentry in the role. Gentry's Ed was always intense, which absolutely worked with what they were writing from 1966 to 1969. Gentry was a great contrast to both Bill and an evolving Bert. I don't remember Gentry much as Ed, so thank goodness there is some of his work out there (though I have always wanted to see his work as Ed during his final months in 1968/1969). But as @vetsoapfan mentioned, MH was the one that, IMHO, brought into Ed some warmth along with the intensity. And Stewart definitely didn't have that Papa Bauer warmth, either. @Mitch64 - that's interesting that they tried to get Hulswit back. Do you happen to know when this was?