zanereed

True, unless Reinholt's attitude had adjusted by that point. Speaking of which, I'm guessing that's why he was never considered for roles, even after making that guest appearance on AW in 1989.

On 12/4/2023 at 9:42 PM, kalbir said:

I'm pretty sure Nicolas Coster was on As the World Turns by Summer 1994 so the timing doesn't work. Jed Allan first appeared on 90210 in Spring 1994 so timing also doesn't work there either. I'm thinking JFP's choice might have been either Roscoe Born or Lane Davies.

I think that George Reinholt could have come on TGL in 1994 and performed the role of Alan Spaulding very well.

11 hours ago, j swift said:

Just one more detail.  At some point Alan and Ed should have joked about sending the catering bill for Blake & Phillip's wedding to Justin and Roger.  I mean it's least they could've done... (lol)

That could have been one of Mike Bauer's plots to lure Roger out in the open .

16 hours ago, Paul Raven said:

Yes great story potential there. Shows how easily Mike would have fitted into that storyline.

I'm guessing one of the reasons Mike didn't return is that TPTB wanted as few 'old' people as possible.

I'm thinking you're right. However, that was such short-sighted thinking, IMHO.

Actually, Mike Bauer *did* appear in 1989 via a phone call with Phillip, when Phillip called Mike in regards to Phillip investigating Adam (Roger). I don't know who played Mike, but it was voice only, and certainly not Don Stewart. The weirdest part of the call was Phillip saying to Mike when he called (paraphrasing), "Hey, Mike, it's Phillip Spaulding. Do you remember me?"  

I actually thought that initial phone call was going to lead to Mike being recast and coming back to Springfield, but that didn't happen.

Honestly, Mike Bauer could have easily been inserted back in at this time, whether played by Stewart or someone else. Mike had been away from Springfield for 5 years, that it was probably safe enough to try to recast. Mike Bauer had ties to most everyone in the cast, so it wasn't as if he was a brand new face in town as had been the case with Holly and Roger, but TPTB made it work for them to slide back into the cast.

As for who would have played him if Mike had been recast, Don May would have been a "slam dunk", but I honestly think May would have been a decade too old to play Mike. Nick Coster might have been firmly planted on the West Coast by 1989, so I don't know if he could have been tempted to play Mike.

The David Bailey idea made me think of another ex-Russ Matthews from Another World, Sam Groom. I think Groom would have been affable, but still could have the "Law and Order" attitude for Mike.

On 6/18/2022 at 10:10 PM, j swift said:

For me, it would have either been after Roger's return at Phillip and Blake's wedding as a federal prosecutor in the litigation of Roger for his prior crimes, only to lose the case due to Alan's unlawful procurement of evidence (which is more credible than Roger getting immunity through the CIA).  Alan and Roger's feud was missing the historical context of Mike. 

I agree completely. Although, I might have done it a bit earlier in the storyline. When Alexandra is trapped on the island with Roger (Adam), I would have had the rescue team find Alex, but it wouldn't have been led by Fletcher, it would have been led by Mike Bauer. Why? Mike Bauer was working with the feds to hunt down Adam Malek. The fact that Mike had previous history with Alex would only serve to help the story more.

Mike would return Alex safely back to Springfield, and reunite with his immediate family. While there, Ed and Maureen would persuade Mike to stay in Springfield for awhile, at least for Phillip and Blake's wedding (and hopefully the show would remember Mike had history with both of them!!!). Mike reluctantly agrees...or he appears to...

...because in reality Mike has no intention of leaving Springfield, at least right away. Unknown to Ed and Holly, Mike is there because he has uncovered alleged evidence of a government operative, who is currently going by the alias of Adam Malek. Mike's evidence points to the fact that this operative is actually Roger Thorpe. Because Mike shouldn't even be privy to this information plus having no crystal-clear evidence, Mike keeps this information to himself. However, Mike eventually encounters his old friend/enemy, Alan Spaulding, while in Springfield, and Alan begins to suspect that he, himself, isn't the only one who believes Roger is still alive...

Mike tries to set up a series of "traps" for Roger, in order to bring him out in the open. As always. Roger stays one step ahead of Mike (barely, of course, so that Mike doesn't look like a complete imbecile).

Mike's presence would have added extra history and intrigue. I could also see an eventual Alex/Mike/Roger triangle, as well.

18 hours ago, Paul Raven said:

Interesting. i don't think CBS/P&G or Gail Kobe had much investment in older legacy characters. 

They were expensive, had a lot of story baggage and worst of all, over 40.

They were interested in the here and now, hot new couples. 

But it was a short sighted policy in that there was no solid structure. Each new set of writers dropped some characters, introduced their new pets and  a lot of young actors chose to leave. So we had fragmented families and constant turnover. 

If the writing and characters were interesting and appealing as happened with Pam Long then viewers were there for it. And a lot of her new characters were tied into established families eg Bauer, Spaulding, Reardons.

But as time went on there were only a few characters that had been there more than a few years. Not a good thing for viewer loyalty IMO.

I had always heard that Stewart was just outright fired by Kobe, and that there was no "reduced contract" or anything offered.

"We Love Soaps" essentially confirmed this back in 2013 or 2014, stating that Stewart was fired by Kobe while Stewart was playing a round of golf.

I really don't blame Long, as she *wanted* to write for Mike Bauer, essentially placing Mike - a legacy character and a Bauer - at the center of a major love triangle with two newer characters, Alexandra and Lillian. Plus, that triangle would have a direct impact on the new, "hot" couple, Beth and Lujack. I can't confirm this, but I have a feeling that Long's initial endgame to this triangle would have been Mike and Alexandra together and engaged. And, that would make sense and would be a great - if confusing - pairing. Mike Bauer would be engaged to the sister of his on/off nemesis since 1977.  The "confusing" part would be that Mike would be engaged to Alan-Michael's Aunt! 

9 hours ago, DRW50 said:

I think it would have been a mistake recasting Mike, especially with the shaky recast of Ed not long before, but I am sorry we didn't get a Mike/Alex pairing. That could have provided so many layers and so much family drama, especially if Hope returned. Alex ended up feeling much more aged than she should have been, between the pairing with Warren (who always seems very gay to me), then HB, and all the obsessive focus on Lujack and later Simon. 

Others on this board have suggested Jed Allan would have been a solid Mike recast (as Allan had been playing someone similar on DOOL as Don Craig). However, I don't know if Allan could have been persuaded to move to the East Coast.

I never understood why Stewart hadn't wanted to "play ball" with the storyline. I know that Stewart moved to the West Coast once he was fired from TGL to look for roles out there. Maybe he was ready for a change?

I think that had Stewart had been willing to play out Long's original storyline, he would have lasted much longer on the show. 

16 hours ago, titan1978 said:

Didn’t Marland get rid of Hulswit though?  He kind of destabilized the Bauers with that move.  From what I have seen, his Ed was more dynamic than the one played by Peter Simon.

He did, but that was more because Hulswit was (apparently) critical of Marland's writing - so much so that Marland wanted Ed recast. I completely agree - Hulswit was much more dynamic than Simon ever was.

7 hours ago, Paul Raven said:

Don Stewart lasted a few years longer than Mart, into the Gail Kobe/Pam Long era.

I think Don Stewart chose to leave, but it's quite possible he was offered a contract for less money/fewer appearances and he could see the writing on the wall.

Stewart was fired by Kobe. Pam Long actually had a long term storyline planned for Mike Bauer as part of the Alexandra/Mike/Lillian love triangle (which would have been connected to the Beth/Lujack romance), but Stewart was resistant to it. There were previous comments in this thread that Stewart and Beverlee McKinsey didn't get along offscreen, so I don't know if that had something to do with it...?

9 hours ago, TVFAN1144 said:

Why did they recast Ed and not Mike?

I suspect it was because they had just recast Ed from Peter Simon to Richard Van Vleet (as Simon wanted to leave) at about the same time that Kobe fired Stewart. Ed was more central to the show at that point. He was married to Maureen, and her family was heavily involved the main storylines. Rick was also involved, as well. Mike, while being a Bauer, had no wife or children in Springfield, and he wasn't heavily tied to any storyline - Mike was easier to completely write out.

I think that had Simon stayed on as Ed in 1984, the show would have likely recast Mike and would have continued on with Long's original storyline.

14 hours ago, Paul Raven said:

I believe that the dismissal of Berger,Schnabel etc was made at a higher level and Marland was forced to comply. I'm sure he later said he wished he had fought harder against that edict.

That makes complete sense. I always got the sense that Marland had to sacrifice those vets in order to keep the Bauer family intact - I've heard that TPTB at P&G wanted the Bauer family phased out as early as when Marland initially took over in 1980, but he was able to keep that from happening during his time there.

On 5/31/2022 at 8:40 PM, RavenWhitney said:

Doug Marland......

I know that Marland definitely did not care for Hulswit, as Marland was the one who convinced Allen Potter to let Hulswit go (which Potter later stated that he shouldn't have done), but I was always surprised by Marland letting go of Milli, Berjer, and Schnabel. Marland always tended to use the vets well, even if they weren't in major storylines (as he did on ATWT). I suppose there must have been cost cuts involved, and since Roger and Holly were no longer in Springfield, Berjer and Milli weren't needed. Marland must not have felt comfortable finally "officially" putting Bert Bauer together with Steven Jackson, so Schnabel wasn't needed, either.

On 5/13/2022 at 3:57 PM, Tonksadora said:

Oh, thanks! Great. Elsewhere someone has said that Papa Bauer always called him Michael.

Yes, both Papa and Bert referred to Mike as "Michael".

Once upon a time, the P & G soaps loosely crossed over to one another. As you mentioned, Dru Mitchell was in Oakdale at one point, and Mike Bauer took Hope to Bay City from Springfield (or maybe TGL was still Selby Flats versus Springfield...?), shortly after Hope's mother, Julie Conrad, killed herself in a mental institution early in 1966.

On 4/8/2022 at 6:02 PM, divinemotion said:

So nobody will recommend me a period to start watching...

I second @Keri's recommendation - go to YT and start here:

The 1979 episodes are sporadic, but you can get a good sense the storylines that played out throughout the year.

3 hours ago, Joseph said:

Besides the Original Amanda Were there any pianists on GL? I read Millette Alexander was a pianist in real life but did her character play?

Here's one such instance where Sara played the piano (Christmas Eve, 1982):

On 4/2/2022 at 12:43 PM, DRW50 said:

Speaking of that, I was trying to remember ( @zanereed or someone else may be able to help), did Mike and Ross know each other before Ross came to town? Mike  says he and Ross have known each other  for years, and he sings Ross' praises. I know that Ross was, by this time, A Reformed Character, but he had only been in Springfield for 3 years, and for a year and a half or more of that time he had represented the Bauer family's archenemy on a rape charge, and then sniffed around Amanda's money for months and months. I'd certainly have forgiven Ross -  just look at that face,  pixels and all - but I am not sure why Mike would...

That's a great question, as I really can't recall. The first appearances of Ross from March of 1979 are on YT, of course, but I don't think any of them include an initial encounter with Mike. My instinct says that they didn't know each other *well* when Ross first came to Springfield (as opposed to when Alan Spaulding first appeared, for example, and the show established right away that Mike and Alan knew each other already). For some reason, I think Mike knew Ross by reputation only, but 43 years on the memory will cheat, of course.

I agree with you, though - I remember that Mike and Ross were certainly not best friends during 1979 and 1980!

On 3/12/2022 at 9:55 AM, vetsoapfan said:

After Alan-Michael was suddenly SORASED to his late teens, I thought that Courtney would have made a good Hope Bauer. IRL, she was the age that Hope would have been with a young-adult son, and she had had her greatest success as the leading heroine on AW. Courtney's star appeal would have been an asset to TGL (if TIIC had used her correctly), but I do think her strength lay in portraying "good" characters rather than darker, more manipulative roles. She did not fare well as Maggie Ashley on OLTL or Diane (was that her name?) on Loving. Still, if JC had been cast as Alexandra, I would have cheered her on!

She would have made a great Hope Bauer, but I always wished they brought Courtney on as Elizabeth Spaulding, Alan's first wife, but with a bit more strength and resolve versus how Lezlie Dalton originally played the role. Then I could really imagine George Reinholt as Alan Spaulding opposite Courtney as Elizabeth!

10 hours ago, vetsoapfan said:

The mileage from Mike and Alex alone could have run for years, fueled by Mike's contentious relationship with Alan.

This is where I figured Pam Long was originally going with the love triangle. If Mike and Alex had eventually become engaged, that alone would have provided years of story. Mike would be marrying the sister of his long-time nemesis (who was still presumed dead, of course). Even if they didn't end up married, the lead-up would be fascinating. Would Beth be supportive of this marriage because of the effect it would have on her mother, causing friction in her relationship with Lujack? Would it serve as an impetus for Hope Bauer to finally return to Springfield for the wedding? Hope's father would be marrying her former sister-in-law. Alan-Michael's aunt could potentially also be his grandmother-by-marriage. I don't know if Long would have gone there, though. I also don't know if Christopher Bernau ever intended on returning to the show before he did in 1986, but as I stated above, it would be entertaining (if not a cliché) for Alan to return from the dead during the actual wedding ceremony. 

On 2/15/2022 at 11:35 AM, Orea Mou Kiria said:

If Mike had stayed in the 80s, there would not be much need for Ross in TPTB's minds. Perhaps not even Ed, since he could be the town lawyer and the Bauer patriarch as well. 

I think you are right. Had Mike stayed on, there wasn't much for Ross Marler to do at that point except to interact with Philip.

I really wish I could see what Pam Long's original story projections were for the Alexandra/Mike/Lillian triangle were. I do know, for example, that it likely was to have been Mike who was supposed to defend Lujack when Lujack was accused of killing Andy Ferris in early 1985.

I don't know if *any* of these are true facts or rumors, but what I've gleamed over the years is that the love triangle was supposed to cause conflict between Lujack/Beth. I guess I could see some of that starting in the spring and summer of 1984, but I'm not sure that ever came to true fruition. Mike would have been paired with Lillian through late summer/fall of 1984, but supposedly would have went with Alexandra to Barbados during the Susan Piper/Brandon Spaulding storyline in late 1984 when that storyline reached its conclusion, much to Lillian's chagrin. I don't know who Mike would have been with by Christmas. I assume still with Lillian...? I also don't know if the Ferris murder was planned that far in advance, but I think either that or some other event would have finally put Mike and Alexandra together for a possible engagement. I don't know if a wedding would have eventually happened, but my own fanfic would have been for the old soap cliché of having their wedding being interrupted by a back-from-the-dead Alan Spaulding.

On 2/15/2022 at 1:59 PM, vetsoapfan said:

Then Stewart opined about Mike's romantic life. The show was flirting putting him together with Trish Lewis, and he said that he didn't understand the reasoning behind that, considering her youth made Trish age inappropriate for Mike. He said that he and the more-age-appropriate Deborah May (Ivy Pierce/Renee Dubois) had had good rapport and chemistry, and he was sorry to see  Mike's blossoming relationship with her suddenly dropped. (These comments surprised me, because the general theory among fans had always been that Stewart had actively campaigned to have Mike paired exclusively with much-younger female co-stars.)

Very possibly, particularly when TPTB knew they were losing Charita, they might have wanted Stewart to remain in order to provide a glimmer of continuity, but it's hard to say. P&G/Kobe/Long/whomever, gutted almost all of the pre-existing cast in 1983 and '84, so I doubt they cared too much for continuity or the desires of long-time viewers. The show might have fired Stewart even though Mike had years' worth of storyline potential left, the way it axed Hope, Hillary, Amanda, Justin, etc.

Stewart apparently had issues with Mike being paired with age-appropriate Jennifer Richards in 1980, which was Marland's original idea. I don't know if Stewart and Geraldine Court didn't get along...? I agree that Stewart did have chemistry with Deborah May when May was on the show as Renee Dubois, but when May returned as Ivy Pierce a couple of years later (again, I don't know if that was because Marland was trying to placate Stewart or bringing May back as a new character was Marland's own idea), I don't recall them having as much chemistry (which is probably why May was written out).

Regarding Stewart's departure (and this is pure conjecture on my part based on what I've read in articles and have gleamed from this very thread) - Stewart was definitely fired by Kobe, and by that time it was because (as stated previously) he wasn't willing to be featured in the Alexandra/Mike/Lillian love triangle, even though Pam Long was very willing to write for Stewart. Some have stated that was because Stewart and Beverlee McKinsey did not get along well, but I have never been certain on that. Regardless, Kobe apparently had enough and fired him.

As others have stated previously in this thread, Stewart wasn't well liked among some of the cast, and apparently had been riding on the extreme popularity he had during the 1970's (at one point he was the most popular actor on TGL) - for instance, he didn't tend to learn his lines very well. And yes, he apparently never liked the women he was paired up with, which supposedly caused constant headaches behind the scenes.

Like @Chris 2says above, I always believed if Stewart would have played ball with Long/Kobe in 1984 and had done the proposed love triangle, and therefore survived the rest of 1984 and 1985, I think he would have continued on the show for much, much longer.

On 2/10/2022 at 8:55 PM, TVFAN1144 said:

On the interview with Alan Locher it sounds like Mart Hulswit was not kept on because of his participation in the actors guild and campaigning for actors issues.   But it would have been good to have him back as well as Mike.

Doug Marland never liked Mart Hulswit, because Hulswit was critical of the writing at that time. I think @vetsoapfan can quote the exact phrase that Marland used for Hulswit...? I guess it was Marland who convinced Allan Potter finally to fire and replace Hulswit, even though Potter was apparently hesitant to do so.

On 2/13/2022 at 11:35 PM, Khan said:

Best answer?  Gail Kobe didn't give a [!@#$%^&*].

@Khananswered it.

37 minutes ago, j swift said:

Hillary was not my favorite character because she was always a bit of a butt-in-ski.  She was clearly the third choice for most of her romantic partners including Kelly, Floyd, Jim and Fletcher.  She also lacked the sex appeal of most of her female rivals like Nola, Katie, and Morgan. 

In fact, I have a theory that Marcia Clarke must have had a sexy headshot which is why casting agents from both GL and OLTL cast her in such vixen-esque role as Hillary and Tina.  But, once she appeared on screen there was very little spark (no pun intended given that Hillary died in an explosion)

Actually, that's true, but I guess I never saw the character of Hillary as "vixen-esque" (to be honest, I never saw Clarke as a good Tina recast, either). I liked the Bauer brothers actually having a sister, though, and I thought Clarke had a good rapport with Charita Bauer (even though she wasn't Bert's actual daughter). I don't remember much of Linda McCullough in the role of Hillary, but maybe a Hillary recast would have worked moving forward.

I didn't necessarily have issues with 1983. Phillip finally found out that Justin Marler was his biological father after being on TGL for 7 years (real time), and I felt the reveal was written well. However, there was never a true impact of that reveal because Justin was written out of the show shortly thereafter. Meaning, there were no real ramifications for Justin/Phillip/Alan, and that story in itself could have lasted for years.

I also didn't mind the Eli/Annabelle Sims story, but it wasn't a great send-off for Bill Bauer, a true legacy character since the TV show debuted in 1952. I didn't question the retcon of Bill Bauer knowing Henry and Brandon, as Bill was in Public Relations, so he could have well been a rep for both men and their respective businesses in the past. However, Bill's death seemed pointless after the storyline concluded. I wondered with Bill finally dead, that some romantic storyline would be given to Bert. I know Pam Long intended for HB and Bert to be romantically involved the following year, which had to be scrapped due to Charita's health and eventual passing.

My real issue was a year later, when Springfield's legacy cast had essentially been gutted by Kobe. By the end of September of 1984, Ed Bauer, Katie Parker, and Ross Marler were the only legacy characters left on the canvas, and the person playing Ed by that point was the second recast in three years. Granted, not all was the fault of Long and Kobe. Don Stewart was fired for not wanting to play out the proposed Alexandra/Mike/Lillian love triangle, and Peter Simon wanted out after three years. I still think killing off Hillary for storyline purposes was not a great choice, however. I suppose Kobe and Long believed that as long as they had Charita around as their anchor (and Kobe definitely wanted to keep writing for Charita, from what I've read), that any changes they made would be eventually be smoothed over...?

Regardless, I never watched TGL intently after 1984. I came back occasionally after Chris Bernau returned as Alan in 1986, but was never invested again until Maureen Garrett and Michael Zaslow returned in 1989, and that eventually wore off after 1993 (after the death of Maureen).

22 hours ago, vetsoapfan said:

Jon-Michael Reed's obvious vexation at TPTB's destructive decimation of a once-fine show permeates his critique.

All the gratuitous changes infuriated longtime fans, and ended up crippling The Guiding Light in the long run.

To think, that was just in 1983. One year later, and the canvas would look even more different...and not for the better, IMHO.

23 hours ago, Forever8 said:

And not to mention that Holly also had a niece Emily too that could've added to the dynamic too. 

Absolutely. Thinking back to 1998, even if Berjer had retired from acting, it would have been interesting to have Barbara die off camera,  and suddenly Holly learns that Barbara wants to be buried in Springfield. This results in having Ken, Emily, and Andy all return to Springfield for her funeral. Holly and Blake immediately find themselves surrounded by family - Holly having to look after two brothers for different reasons, Emily figuring out how to engage with her perhaps-estranged family (maybe Janet purposely kept Emily away from them), and Blake dealing with relatives she barely knows. It would have been fun to see if Blake would identify with "Uncle Andy" based on her past behavior (again, depending on who that would have cast as Andy).

On 1/24/2022 at 8:07 PM, Khan said:

Listen, once you've survived the horror that was Joel Fabiani as Roger Thorpe....

You have me, there. OUCH.

On 1/24/2022 at 4:09 PM, MichaelGL said:

I think the show missed the boat with Holly's family, in later years. There was so much potential. 

 

You also had the fact that Andy had a past with Trish Lewis; he could've ruffled some feathers within that family as well. 

Absolutely. To their credit, the show did bring back Barbara Berjer in 1995 as Barbara Norris, but I don't think Barbara was utilized enough at that time. There was so much history between Barbara and Roger, for example. Roger always hated Barbara for her constant interference in Holly's life. In fact, they should have brought in Roger's father, Adam Thorpe (Robert Milli), on a contract basis to further complicate things - Adam and Barbara had been married in the 1970's. As it was, Barbara left again in 1996.

Then, TPTB brought Roger Newman as Ken Norris in 1998, but again - I don't think they had a good plan on what to do with him. Imagine if both Ken *and* Andy suddenly arrived on Holly's doorstep - Ken being released from the mental institution and looking to reconnect with his family, and Andy also being released from prison around the same time - Ken having learned his lessons, but Andy not having learned a thing and concocting his next big scheme, which probably would have had something to do with Spaulding Enterprises.

On 1/19/2022 at 12:50 PM, vetsoapfan said:

I would rather watch a thousand mob-inspired shoot-outs in the Bauer kitchen than have any Bauer associated romantically with the dreaded Buzzard. 

So true, but I can't help but believe that TPTB would have hired Mattson, looked at Deas, and go, "Oh, yeah, we'll just pair Hope and Buzz together - that'll set ratings on fire !"

20 hours ago, Spoon said:

Ron Raines Alan was a mustache twirling clown.  CB portrayed the role with such class.  Even Daniel Pillon(?) was better in the role than RR, so of course RR was in the role the longest!

Agreed 100%, although I think Pilon still went down the "Max DuBujak" route versus trying to give some depth to Alan, as Bernau had.

1 minute ago, DramatistDreamer said:

Chris Bernau definitely did so much for that character- he was that good.

When you see what came after, it was obvious how much of a factor Bernau had been in that character's success.

Absolutely, 100% correct. That character could have easily been a one-note villain archetype, but Bernau brought such depth to the character that even if his motivations were less-than-admirable, Bernau's Alan always believed he was doing the best for Alan

Pilon and Raines didn't bring that to the character at all. Alan became the one-note archetype. I remember either P & G or the soap press was lauding the hiring of Raines, as they said he would remind the audience of Bernau. Uh, no.

As for Hope, they could have brought her back at any time during the 1990's and 2000's. Unfortunately, if they had brought on Mattson, I'm sure they would have wanted to pair Hope with Buzz (for that Mattson/Deas Gina/Keith reunion).

I still think a good Alan recast in 1993 would have been George Reinholt, and I can't even take credit for that idea...someone mentioned it to me back in 2020. I never thought of it before, but I think Reinholt could have made Alan a complex character in the vein of Bernau. Roscoe Born would have been perfect, as well, but I really like the idea of Born as Andy Norris, Andy being fresh out of his prison stint and looking for help from Holly.