zanereed

Before looking at Ed Bauer, I think it's good to start by looking at his father, Bill Bauer: Bill Bauer was always portrayed as a weak, indecisive man, constantly hounded by Bert to be a success and to offer his family a better life, and he always seemed to make the wrong choices. He had affairs, he was an alcoholic, etc. Robert Gentry originally played Ed Bauer as rather an arrogant, self-absorbed young man fresh from medical school. He resented his father, Bill, for being a womanizer and an alcoholic. Basically, Gentry's Ed tried hard to be nothing like Bill Bauer. He was particularly critical of Bill's affair with Maggie and critical of Bert for staying with Bill. Bert called him out on his selfishness, stating that Bill was a better man than Ed because Bill had compassion and sensitivity, unlike Ed. By the time Gentry left the role, Ed was exactly like Bill - a womanizer (cheating on Leslie) and an alcoholic. Mart Hulswit's version was a bit more toned down. Ed was still slightly arrogant and self-absorbed, but a bit more mature. However, his romantic relationships were a mess and he was portrayed - as Carl rightly states - pushover. After he divorced Leslie, he went from Janet Mason to Holly to Rita - never being able to keep his personal life together. Although Ed tried to be tough against someone like Roger, he was no match for him. Peter Simon portrayed Ed as even weaker than Hulswit's, although Ed did finally settle into a long term relationship with Maureen. Richard Van Vleet was Chuck from All My Children, pretending to be Ed Bauer. I thought Gentry returning to the role in 1997 had good potential, especially when it seemed like his version of Ed had some fire again. Don't get me wrong, Mike Bauer had issues as well - he was a womanizer just as Ed was, but he was much more stoic and noble (just as Carl stated earlier). Mike was much more similar to Bert than to Bill. Paired with the right person, he certainly could have been the patriarchal figure throughout the show's run, just as Mike Karr had been on the Edge of Night.

I wouldn't have wanted Mo with Fletcher. For some reason, I just didn't like Mo and Fletcher together at that point. I suppose I'm with Mitch on this one, but Fletcher started to wear on me as a character - I never could figure out why they ever paired Holly with Fletcher! But back to Mo - I really wish Mike Bauer had been in Springfield as a source of comfort for Mo. Ed was always the weaker of the two brothers, and I could see Mo being drawn towards Mike and vice versa. Yep, they had another shot with Rick and Abby as the core couple (and Bauers, too), but they blew it.

It certainly would have driven story moving forward, having implications for Roger, Maureen, Ed, Holly, Lillian, etc. However, I really did like the friendship between Roger and Maureen - Michael and Ellen had good chemistry, but I never saw it in a romantic fashion.

Apparently they wanted Lenore Kasdorf to return as Rita in 1989 along with Roger and Holly, but Lenore declined. I really wish she wouldn't have. Although I'm not sure how she and Peter Simon's Ed would have played off each other... Mike and Hope were rumored to be returning in 1986, but that never materialized. I think Hope was not an option at all once they seriously SORAS'ed Alan-Michael and brought him back to Springfield in 1987.

I like how Nola was written under Long, as well. The same holds true for Hope. In fact, Hope just started getting really interesting to me again when she was suddenly written off!

Carl, you're right. As much as I loved what Marland did with a lot of his writing, there still seems to be something missing during this era. "Rickety" is probably as good of a word as any to describe it. I don't know if it was rickety because Marland and Potter didn't get along, or if there was something else missing. Someone mentioned further back that Marland needed someone like Pam Long during his tenure at GL. They are probably right. I wish P&G hadn't switched Marland and the Dobsons when they did in 1979. I really think the Dobsons had really hit their stride in their 5th year at GL, and I don't think Marland was allowed enough time to really get going on ATWT when he was moved to GL. As far as Katie and Mike...I think it could have worked if they addressed the age difference head on. Certainly Mike had issues with Hope and Alan, with one of those issues being their difference in age. Add to that Katie being Hillary's best friend, and Hillary feeling uncomfortable with her best friend dating her half brother. Subtle issues, but they could have driven story. But, GL already had a similar couple dealing with age differences in Kelly and Morgan, so who knows? I would have also been up for a Mike and Holly pairing, had Maureen Garrett stayed on. Yes, it could have been brother versus brother conflict all over again just like with Leslie, but I think Holly would have given this a fresh spin. Either that, or perhaps a Mike and Rita pairing. I always thought Stewart and Kasdorf had some chemistry between the two of them.

Now that is a good question. I wonder how "young" Stewart was aiming for. Mike certainly had chemistry with Renee DuBois, but Marland killed her off towards the end of Roger's storyline (perhaps prematurely). Then Mike was paired with Jennifer, then I believe Trish. Certainly Trish would have been a good match? I wonder why that never panned out? Deborah May came back to GL in 1982 as Ivy Pierce/Brenda Lowry, but the chemistry didn't seem to be there between the Stewart and May as it had been in 1980. I can't remember who else they paired Mike with before the Alexandra/Lillian triangle started to develop in 1984. After watching the 1981 episodes, I agree with you, Carl - a Mike and Vanessa pairing might have been very fun. Oddly enough, I enjoyed the interaction between Anna Stuart's Vanessa and Mike. I never saw why they paired Vanessa with Ed. Mike and Katie...I wonder how that would have played out. I think Mike needed someone fun in order to keep his character interesting. I saw moments like that in his interactions with Jackie (Cindy Pickett's version only) and Alexandra. Would Katie have been considered too young?

Someone posted earlier in this thread that they knew Geraldine Court and that she had told them that Stewart was less than happy with the Jennifer/Mike pairing, with Stewart wanting Mike involved with a younger woman.

I think they were trying to close out any lingering romantic entanglements between Mike and Elizabeth so that Mike was free to pursue Jennifer moving forward (and at the same time, bring closure to Renee). If I recall correctly, though, Mike and Elizabeth would still interact all the way through early 1981, when Elizabeth finally left Springfield (as can be seen in "The Trial of Jennifer Richards" DVD set). ...and you're right - who wouldn't look at Rita?!!?

No, it definitely isn't. I'm not certain who was portraying Trudy at that time.

Here's one from waaaaaaaaaaaaaay back. If this was already linked here, I apologize, but I think it might be one of the earliest existing episodes of the show, from July 10th, 1952. The second Meta (Joan Allison) is in it, along with Trudy: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cz2SrBAhzYM

Doing a search for the user who is posting these, there are quite a bit more from the past few months I haven't viewed yet. For instance, the beginning of the final days for Bill Bauer (August, 1983): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u-l1VdyfELo http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zzRd05af3Oc

Wow. I haven't seen Diane's final episode since if first aired. Watching this again, Sofia Landon is so good here. I wonder why they decided to kill her off? Did Landon want to leave, or did Marland think that Diane had run her course? I agree, Carl - Landon and Bernau were fantastic here. I admit, I'm really enjoying watching Anna Stuart as Vanessa. So, is this the last 1981 episode the poster has? I hope not, as I really wanted to see the Tenerife storyline again, as Alan takes Hope and AM there with Mike following close behind. I think that is where Josh Lewis also makes his debut?

That would make sense. It's the only time I ever remember reading any mention of bringing Hope back. It would have been an interesting choice if they went in that direction. Leeds is 11 years younger than Elvera Roussel, and I can't recall how old Hope was supposed to be when Roussel was in the role - mid 20's or late 20's? I wonder how Leeds opposite Chris Bernau would have looked. Regardless, I would have rather seen Hope Bauer back than SORAS-ing Alan-Michael like they did the following year. In fact, I think that's the primary reason that they never brought Hope back again - with an aged Alan-Michael on the canvas, who could convincingly play Hope as both a mother of AM and someone who was supposed to be 20 years younger than Alan Spaulding?

Well, technically Peter Simon (born September 27, 1943) was only 3 years younger than Mart Hulswit (born May 24, 1940), but I think Mitch hit it on the head - Hulswit's look at that time probably didn't help his cause. Simon certainly looked younger than Hulswit IMHO when he started.

Yes, I had heard going back to the early 2000's (and also confirmed in this very thread) that Don Stewart was difficult to deal with, not learning his lines properly and wanting certain things for his character (such as dating younger women). However, I've also read that Pam Long wanted to write for Mike, and had a long term story line for Mike that involved a love triangle between Alexandra and Lillian (which had already started in the summer of 1984). From what little information I've gathered, Stewart didn't want to go in this direction and Gail Kobe finally had enough and fired him. I wonder...had Peter Simon stayed on as Ed going into 1985 (instead of recasting Ed with Richard Van Vleet) if TPTB would have considered recasting Mike, just as they did with Ed Bauer three years earlier? I know that SOD mentioned in 1986 that both Mike and Hope were coming back, but that obviously never materialized. Had that happened, I would have expected new actors in each role.

Great news! I hope they have some of the location shooting from late 1981 that involved Mike chasing after Alan when Alan fled to Tenerife after being the prime suspect in Diane and Joe's murders.

Carl, By 1989, I was completely used to Simon in the role, and you are right - he was just fine versus Zaslow at that time. However, TPTB at GL really didn't keep Ed and Roger constantly in each other's radars, which was a shame. They had so much history together between their involvements with Holly, Christina/Blake, Rita, etc. It's a shame they really didn't keep that feud going much, especially when Roger and Maureen got along so well as friends. Hulswit probably didn't look like "leading man material" for soaps by 1981 compared to when he got the role in 1969 (and certainly not next to his TV brother, Don Stewart), so I'm sure that was one of the factors that caused the role to be recast. The other thing I heard at one time was that it was Allen Potter who decided to let Hulswit go for apparently questioning the writing at that time. However, Hulswit stated in an interview some time in 1981 or 1982 that they let him go as part of a larger plan to remove the Bauers from the GL canvas. Whether any of that was true or not, I've never been able to confirm it.

Who didn't Mike Bauer date at that point? I know Stewart had been lobbying for Mike to be involved with a younger woman (which I believe is why his relationship with Jennifer was phased out after her trial), but I don't think his pairing with Trish lasted very long because by 1982, they brought back Deborah May in her second role on GL as Brenda Lowery/Ivy Pierce.

Flabbergasted . I was used to recasts as a kid, but since I was familiar with Peter Simon most recently from his work at that time as Ian on ATWT, it was a shock to see Simon in a role that Hulswit had ever since I had been watching. For the first year or two, I had a hard time getting used to Simon as Ed, mainly because I felt Simon played Ed much more relaxed than the often-tensed and confrontational version that Hulswit portrayed. For example, if Roger Thorpe was still on at that time, I just couldn't see Simon's Ed going head to head with Roger in any way.

Thanks for alerting us to these episodes, Carl. I'm glad someone was finally able to post some episodes from this period, especially now helping to clarify exactly when Mart Hulswit exited the role of Ed and Kristen Vigard the role of Morgan. I hope the person that put these up has more from September. I think I still recall Peter Simon's first day as Ed Bauer, but I'd love to finally see it again after 33 years.

Yep, you are definitely right. There must have been too many weddings that week for my mind to process! Here's the clip I was thinking of, definitely from the last Bauer BBQ: http://youtu.be/DxjKMv8YEW4?t=1m50s

Didn't Rick mention Bert in a tribute toast when he married Mindy? Or am I thinking of his toast at what was the final Bauer BBQ?

What I also found interesting regarding another GL connection was the trailer for the "Green Card" movie. It briefly shows Stefan Schnabel, who played Dr. Stephen Jackson.

They definitely are (I have the original German DVD set to confirm). I encourage everyone to watch these, as well as the August 1979 episodes that have also been put up. They are the final months for the Dobsons, who I believe ended their writing in December 1979 or January 1980. There is great stuff here, and the scenes with Michael Zaslow and Chris Bernau are not to be missed. As far as who Doug Marland wrote out first, I suppose it was either Dr. Greg Fairbanks or Dr. Mark Hamilton (as mentioned above). I can't recall if either character had an exit story or just stopped appearing altogether. Dr. Peter Chapman wasn't around for too long after Marland took over, either (but I think Peter did have a proper exit). Holly also exited in September 1980, but like Michael Zaslow, that was the choice of Maureen Garrett versus Doug Marland.