zanereed

There are some episodes up on YT from June and July of 1984 that feature Mike and Alex. Looking back, I wonder if Stewart knew his days were numbered. Mike didn't give any speech at all during the Springfield Founders Day event in August of 1984. I think Bert wasn't available because of Charita's health, but the fact that the second longest running character on the show didn't give any speech concerning Springfield, and that a speech was given by none other than H.B. Lewis (who had only been on the show for about a year) made zero sense. As far as the Reardons go, I agree with @P.J. - I don't really think they had a true direction for the family once Marland quit.

@DRW50 - you are very welcome. Again, who knows how accurate any of this, especially 41-odd years later. The things I believe the most out of all of it are that the Mike/Lillian/Alexandra love triangle was supposed to play out for most of 1984, and lead to ramifications with the Beth/Lujack romance, along with Kobe definitely firing Don Stewart at some point in August.

Exactly. Take these things with a grain of salt. I've heard that Hillary's death was Kobe's call to add more weight/excitement to the story (she said something along those lines). But by the time of Hillary's funeral, Ed was recast, Mike was written out, and the only anchor they had was Bert being there. So, was Mike supposed to go to Barbados for Hillary as well as rescue Alex? I really would love to see Long's actual story projections for all of 1984. Supposedly the P&G video archive began in September of 1979, which should have all the episodes with Brandon Spaulding and his death. I was hoping when that first German "Guiding Light" DVD set came out a few years ago that it would begin with those September episodes. Instead, it began in November of 1979. Maybe the September episodes are no longer in the archive.

You may be absolutely right! I'm trying to remember who actually interacted with Brandon before his death in and around September of 1979. I do remember Lucille being with him, but was anyone else? I honestly can't remember, other than Lucille. I assume Alan was...? I was very young at the time, so I can't recall. Regarding 1984 and the November Babados storyline - all I was able to gleam years ago was that Mike - still apparently upset with Alex at that time (for whatever reason, that wasn't clear) decides to go to Barbados to both help rescue Alex and to get some type of revenge for the death of Hillary. Lillian doesn't want Mike to go, but he does it, anyway. The point of this was to bring Mike and Alex back together and to legitimize Brandon's sudden reappearance. And you are correct - if Mike helped Brandon with his will, it would tie him in some way to Brandon besides just Alex accepting his return. I never found out if Pam Long had anything else planned for Mike Bauer beyond 1984. I've been told that Mike was going to have to make a tough choice at Christmas, whatever that meant. I assumed it would mean being with either Lillian or Alex. Hell, it could have meant choosing between regular and decaf 😆.

From what I gleamed, the set up was Lillian dating Mike to start. Alexandra was to become fascinated with "Mr. Law and Order" by the late spring/early summer of 1984. You can see Alex and Mike's relationship developing on some of the June and July episodes available on YT. Alex would even use Lujack as leverage to keep in Mike's orbit, trying to get Mike to help free Lujack from The Galahads. Mike was still dating Lillian at the time of the Founders Day event in August of 1984, but shortly thereafter Mike Bauer was gone from Springfield, completely. I don't remember Mike ever having an exit scene at all, despite what has been written on some sites. I wish more episodes from late August and early September 1984 would become available to actually confirm when Don Stewart's last appearance was. I have never seen the original story outline for Mike/Lillian/Alexandra, but Mike was supposed to eventually go to Barbados to help rescue Alexandra from Susan Piper and to legitimize Brandon Spaulding's surprise return from the dead (though I don't believe Mike had ever actually met Brandon Spaulding previously). I don't know if this was to be the event that finally brought Mike and Alexandra together or not...?

I completely agree - they should have brought back Hope back in 1987 before an 18 year old Alan-Michael, whether played by Elvera Roussel again or by someone new. Eventually A-M could have been brought back to Springfield, but they could have brought Hope to feud with Alan first. I would have finally put Ross and Hope together, for instance. Even though I have Stewart as my avatar, I agree that they could have recast Mike Bauer back in 1984. I am assuming that the issue was that Stewart was still massively popular with the audience, since he and Charita were the longest running cast members at the point. Plus, Pam Long did want to write for Mike, since he was an older leading man in Springfield that was single! Long had planned out a love triangle for Mike, Lillian, and Alexandra that would have had repurcussions for Beth and Lujack. Stewart and McKinsey didn't apparently get along, so that story didn't progress the way it was supposed to. I was told that Kobe had enough, and informed Stewart while he was out playing golf that his contract wasn't being renewed. I thought that was just hot air, but I seem to remember Roger Newcomb verified that story in this very thread years ago! I think Stewart came back for the 60th Anniversary in 1997 because Paul Rauch was the producer at that point. I wish both Peggy and Billy had returned to Springfield, especially once Roger was back in 1989. I think having Billy Fletcher back (although you are absolutely correct- he would need to have a new first name!) versus introducing a new son in Hart would have had a much bigger impact.

I think all those succeeding teams didn't care for a core family like the Bauers. The Spauldings and Lewises always seemed to be more attractive. Plus, once they SORAS'd the hell out of Alan-Michael in 1987 to 18 (born in 1981), it probably would have been tricky to bring on at least Hope due to this. My issue with removing the Bauers was that a core family with a rich history was gutted in about year. By the end of 1984, Ed was recast for the second time in 3 years, Hillary and Bill were killed off for no good reason (though Ed Bryce was really brought back in a guest role to finish Bill Bauer's story), Mike and Hope were completely written off, and Charita passed away off screen. It was Ed and Rick remaining, with Michael O'Leary having a little over a year under his belt and (IMHO) Richard Van Vleet being completely miscast as Ed. I still think that Kobe planned to recast Mike Bauer once she fired Don Stewart. Meaning, Mike Bauer would leave for Washington DC temporarily in September of 1984 and return by October or November with a new actor - just in time to rescue Alexandra in Barbados and to add further legitimacy to Brandon Spaulding's return. However, when Peter Simon didn't resign with the show, they quietly wrote Mike Bauer off to Washington DC, never to return.

I think Kobe's emphasis was more on plot versus character, which is why she was just fine in firing most of the people she did. If anyone pushed back on something planned for their character, they were expendable. Better to have Pam Long create a new character played by a new actor than to try to placate a beloved vet. I was told that the only exception to this was Charita Bauer, who Kobe liked and admired. Apparently Kobe gambled that she could completely change the show to her image (to be fair, as most producers did) without pushback as long as Bert Bauer was on the show. Obviously, Charita's untimely death put that theory completely to rest. This is why I never thought Long and Kobe meshed well. Long seemed to thrive writing for characters versus big events (i.e. Susan Piper/Barbados/back-from-the-dead Brandon Spaulding to start with...).

There are probably a few more episodes out there from the Dobson's run. I believe Roger Newcomb from "We Love Soaps" confirmed on this board back when Soap Classics DVD program was in existence that at least 2 1976 episodes existed in the Proctor and Gamble archive, but unfortunately they were never issued. Thankfully Roger got the 2 1977 episodes and the 1973 Papa Bauer funeral episode released.

It is interesting that Ross was originally introduced to have more family around Justin, which resulted in both Ross and Lainie in the Springfield canvas. Then Lainie and Justin get written out, and Ross becomes the last Marler standing for years. As Jerry Ver Dorn once stated in a Soap Opera Digest interview, once Mike Bauer left Springfiled, it was pretty easy to stay in Springfield as the only consistent attorney within the town. He wasn't wrong at all.

Now that is a great point. I wonder why Marland didn't go this route? Maybe because he had already brought back/SORAS'd a legacy character in the form of Tim Werner, so he instead wanted to introduce a character of his own?

Joe Ponazecki. I think he made sporatic appearances on GL as Larry Wyatt as early as late 1978 or early 1979. I think he had more consistency around February or March in 1980, when Doug Marland took over writing duties. This was when Mike Bauer was trying to lure Roger Thorpe out in the open when they suspected Roger was back in Springfield to obtain Christina. I remember him being around until 1989, or did he make it into the 1990's...?

It is interesting that Ann lasts as long as she does as a character on the show. I assume the show chose not to renew her contract, but I don't know for certain. I also believe Millette Alexander's contract wasn't renewed after she last appeared at Christmas in 1982. Looking back, I really wish that they had ended up pairing Sara and Mike Bauer versus Sara and Adam. Sara and Mike were already good friends, and it would have been an interesting twist in 1978 if Sara and Mike had a fling after Dean Blackwell's death, Sara turning to Mike for comfort after Dean's death. Mike and Sara certainly could have been a tentpole couple moving forward, unlike Mike and Elizabeth.

Correct. Lynne Adams (Leslie) decided she wanted to leave the show, as Leslie hadn't been given much to do since Adams returned as Leslie in 1973 (and now everyone can witness her first scene returning as Leslie in 1973 on YT - unreal) I don't think the Dobsons tried to stop that from happening, as I think they wanted Mike single again. I agree, @DeeVee - they should have let Mike and Leslie have a child together. I wonder it they thought it would be too strange to have two siblings that could also be cousins 😄. As far as Ed and Holly go, at least they allowed Ed to show up at the end of TGL and take Holly on a "trip around the world". IMHO, I don't think Peter Simon had as much chemistry with Maureen Garrett as Mart Hulswit had, but I'm glad the show gave them a final scene together.

More fantastic behind-the-scenes footage from Mitch, and this time with sound. What a find. Thank you again Mitch! As far back as 1981, it began with Alan's affair with Rita Bauer. By the end of the year, however, Alan and Hope were back together. I know by 1983 Hope began drinking and that brought a huge wedge between Alan and Hope. However, Elvera Roussel supposedly wasn't too keen on playing an alcoholic Hope, so the "War of the Roses" Alan/Hope storyline never played out as they fired Roussel by November of 1983.