zanereed

Correct. Coster wasn't named directly by Lemay, but he was someone who apparently didn't bother learning his scripts. According to Lemay's book, Paul Rauch finally said that he had to let him go because of this.

Agreed. I've always been curious if the whole episode exists, or just that particular scene.

Here's the final scene of this storyline, for those interested: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5XGkhLgi_A

I've heard lots of comments and rumors about Stewart and his attitude on the set during his tenure at GL, so take the following with a grain of salt - similar to George Reinholt, Stewart allegedly became more arrogant as his popularity rose with the show (both of these men even started on their respective shows during the same year!). I believe GL was still using teleprompters during the early 1970's, but even in the November 1977 episode that was released on the "Phillip Spaulding" DVD, you can clearly see Stewart looking off camera for lines. The reason Stewart remained so long was because of enormous popularity. Had GL had an Executive Producer like Rauch during the 1970's, Stewart might have shared the same fate as Reinholt. As it happens, he managed to last 9 years longer on his show than George did on AW. I never believed this rumor, but one contact from the past stated that Stewart allegedly had a hand in getting Lynne Adams off GL in 1976 because he wanted Mike "free" for future story. I've also heard that Mart Hulswit was difficult, as well. Has anyone else heard this one?

He aged well: http://youtu.be/3Kl-TLBWarA?t=35s

Thanks for finding that article, Carl. I believe it was P & G, CBS or someone in the publicity department that didn't want it revealed that Don was married and had a child, because he was insanely popular in the late 1960's/early 1970's. I don't know if they thought that viewers would be less attracted to him (and therefore less likely to tune in to GL) if they knew he was married in real life.

TimWil, Thank you for all of those GL tidbits. It's always disheartening to read more about how Don Stewart was at GL. But, his attitude also explains why Mike never had any long term relationship on GL after Leslie died. I've heard rumors that he and Beverlee McKinsey didn't get along too well, even though Pam Long was building up a Mike/Alexandra/Lillian triangle in 1984. That was also interesting to read regarding Marsha Clark and John Wesley Shipp being Marland "spies"...

That's a good question. What I remember from around this time period (other than some of the vets being written off quickly in the last few months of 1983) was that Alan was busy dealing with Bradley Raines, who was blackmailing Alan for money when Bradley had discovered that Phillip was not Alan's biological son.

Correct. Dr. Mark Hamilton (Burton Cooper is the actor, I think?) made his first appearance in 1978. The scene in particular definitely looks to be from 1979, when Katie started dating Mark.

I don't believe bringing back Hope was ever on their radar, unfortunately. It probably would have required too much back story to be explained, and they probably didn't have enough time to go there with the little time they had left.

Correct. Martha Madison was rumored to be auditioning for Michelle Bauer, along with BethAnn Bonner who also auditioned. In fact, the soap press stated it was Bonner who snagged the role of Michelle before the show was cancelled, and then they decided not to use her (NSA was eventually asked to return for a brief stint as Michelle to close out the show). I don't remember GL ever having plans to bring back Marah. Maybe they would have brought Marah back if Kim Zimmer wasn't going to renew her contract and they would need a way to usher Reva out?

The show never did address having the character of Meta pass away, did they?

Thanks for jogging my memory. You're right, Frank was originally cast in the role of Todd Bauer, and Long changed Todd to Frank Cooper.

That makes more sense. Thanks, robbwolff. I will ask you this as well, since you also brought this up - in 1987 there was supposed to be other Bauers coming to the canvas that were either related to Johnny Bauer or to Ed, and Mary Stuart was to play one of them (as you mentioned). Do you remember who was also supposed to be cast along with Mary?

Marcia McCabe would have made a fine Hope Bauer. No matter who they chose, they really needed a Hope to come back to Springfield who would be able to go toe to toe with Christopher Bernau. I actually think Elvira Roussel was making her way into a more "hardened" and thus far more interesting Hope under Pam Long in 1983, when she was all of a sudden written out. They had so much they could have played with regarding Alan-Michael and his Spaulding versus Bauer roots, but they never chose to go there, for whatever reason. Plus, as Nothin'ButAttitude correctly states above, Hope made Alan want to become a better person. I was an amazing set-up by the Dobsons back in 1979 - Hope, the daughter of Alan's arch-nemesis Mike Bauer, crash lands on a remote island with Alan and the two fall in love. They were able to get a lot out of that storyline for the next few years (again, until Long/Kobe removed Hope from the canvas). I seem to recall that the Hope Bauer angle was axed in 1986 when Gail Kobe moved on. Does anyone else recall?

abw - Did Elissa indicate that DS was good to her? Also - I heard around the time that Michelle was recast that RB was "forced" to leave so that JL could take over as Michelle Bauer. I was never certain of its validity, though.

Paul - thanks so much for posting that picture of Millette Alexander - she still looks amazing. amybrickwallace - I've heard those rumors as well. I have no idea to the truth of these rumors (especially as DS is my current avatar), but nothing surprises me any more. I really hope not, but who's to say? I will say this, if you are asking how DS could have lasted for 16 years on GL if he was NOT well-liked by the cast - DS was very, very popular in the soap polls, certainly ranking in the top 10 of fan-voted "Best Actors" category in "Daytime TV" magazine almost every time in the early 1970's. It could be that his popularity helped keep him around for a long time.

Correct. The top picture is from 1972, the middle one would probably be around 1960-1961, and the bottom one from 1983.

Slick, 1. Bill only fathered Hillary. Paul was supposedly Victor's natural child. 2. I only (barely) recall Pam, as I was very young around this time when I was watching. I don't remember her having a child. The most I remember was that she was both a nurse and a waitress (part time), and then she and Tim Ryan left Springfield together. This website might help a bit, as it has a few synopses from SOD, beginning in 1975. Pam is mentioned in a few of these: http://fnaf.net/classicsod/?s=guiding+light&submit=Search

Mitch, Here's how I would have handled Michael Zaslow's illness and Roger, going back to 1997. If I'm the EP of GL and MZ comes to me and says he isn't sure what's wrong with him and needs to figure it out, I grant him that time off and I tell the writers that Roger needs to be written off the canvas for the foreseeable future - write his absence in as a mystery. Everyone loves a good mystery, right? YMMV, of course. Basically, I think I'm stealing for your earlier idea in this thread. Meaning, Roger suddenly disappears from Springfield. Basically, Amanda asks Blake if she's heard from Roger. Days prior, Roger told Amanda he had business to take care of all of sudden, and he leaves. He doesn't tell Amanda where he's going, who he's meeting, why he's leaving, or when he'll be back. He just leaves (which could have all been done off camera). Blake says she hasn't talked to Roger in a while, either. They both begin to worry as the days pass. It's just like he vanished completely. The next few weeks and months result a "Where's Roger?" mystery storyline, which would culminate in Amanda, Blake and possibly Holly investigating and finding some flight records which indicate that a small plane that supposedly Roger was on crashed in some remote location, killing all passengers - including Roger. Now, the mystery isn't solved as far as the "why" of Roger's disappearance. However, since Roger did not leave any trace of evidence other than the fact he was on the flight, Roger is once again declared dead. Amanda leaves Springfield (if they chose to write her out), and Blake and Holly get on with their lives... ...that is until (as he did with "One Life To Live") Zaslow could find a way to work in order to finally allow the writers to effectively write Roger out of GL, and use Zaslow's real life illness as the way to do it. You could educate the audience, have PGP in conjunction with Zaz's Angels to allow for donations to be made, etc (And screw the "wizend old man" comment). This would allow Zaslow and Garrett to share some final, heartfelt scenes together. They would have knocked it out of the park. Basically, a few months (or whenever Zaslow could return, even briefly) after Roger is declared dead. Holly receives a cryptic phone call from Adam Thorpe, Roger's father (either a brief or long-term stay for Robert Milli as Adam) asking Holly to a private hospital wherever the writers chose - maybe it's in Oregon, where Adam was last known to reside. It could be anywhere. Holly gets a strange feeling in her gut about why Adam called, but she does it, no questions asked - leaving Fletcher to take care of Meg at a moment's notice (and Fletcher wondering what is going on). Holly arrives at the hospital and meets Adam. She's not surprised that it's not Adam who is the patient. She looks straight into Adam's eyes and firmly states, "Where is he, Adam? Where's Roger?" Adam tells her to prepare herself, as he takes her to see Roger, who is now in a wheelchair. Roger tells her his condtion (ALS). He realized something was wrong with him when he was in Springfield. He had tests done privately, and when the doctors told him his condition, he fled Springfield and went to see his father. He didn't want anyone to see him like this - not Amanda, not Blake, certainly not anyone he regarded as an enemy (Alan). He faked his death carefully so that no one would ever learn the truth. He had no choice in getting ALS, but he does have a choice in how he will die. No one except his father and Holly will know about his condition. Holly - feeling so many different emotions at this point - asks why Roger would tell her? Why now? After a heartfelt pause, Roger tells her that he loves her, he's never stopped loving her, and he couldn't love anyone - including Amanda - like he loves Holly. He never intended Holly to find out his condition. He wanted everyone in Springfield to remember him as he was, not the way he is now. He admits that he couldn't stop thinking about her - he became selfish - he finally had to see Holly one last time. Adam was glad to make the call to her. Roger tells Holly that he's truly sorry for everything he put her through over the years. He tells her that he revised his will once he was diagnosed, and upon the time of his death, that new will shall be sent to Springfield to be read. Basically, the majority of his Spaulding stock will go to Holly, with the rest going to Blake. He will make sure Holly is taken care of financially. Holly tells her that she doesn't need his money. Roger looks up at her and just says, "Please accept this. For me." Roger insists to Holly she cannot tell Blake about his condition. He couldn't bear Blake seeing him like this. Roger and Holly look at each other one last time (both saying "I love you" and giving the audience closure between them) and Holly leaves, an emotional wreck. Holly returns to Springfield feeling incredibly numb, her emotions spent from her time with Roger. Fletcher and Blake keep asking where she was, why she left, but she refuses to say anything (although she's very tempted to say something to Blake, but she keeps flashing back to Roger's plea, so she stays silent). If Zaslow could still work, then the next part of the story is that Blake doesn't leave it alone, and traces where Holly went. She goes to the hospital herself. She finds Adam, who is shocked - yet very glad - to see her. Adam assumes that Holly told Blake about Roger, but Blake is in the dark. She pushes through Adam and finds Roger. She's stunned, but so happy to see her father alive. Roger at first thinks Holly went back on her word, but is relieved when Blake tells him that Holly told her nothing (which infuriates Blake). Roger tells Blake he never wanted her to see him like this. He loves her very much. From there, Blake returns to Springfield livid with Holly. Adam would eventually come to Springfield to let Holly and Blake know that Roger passed away peacefully. But then, there would be the issue with Roger's new will, which would have been filled with other surprises for the citizens of Springfield. Roger might have finally been gone, but he wouldn't soon be forgotten...

An interesting post Stalker storyline should have been actually seeing Holly going through recovery in the mental hospital, and having Ken there as her support - especially since Ken had only recently been released from a mental hospital, himself. It would have been nice to also have Barbara return to help as well, even if it was just a limited stint. Instead, Ken himself was just written out after trying to "outshout" Justin Deas. Roger Newman never stood a chance with that one.

I believe that photo was from 1969, after Don had been playing Mike Bauer for a few months. Don certainly looks younger - is that what you meant, Carl?

I went back to watching the abundance of 1984 episodes on YT. It's great to be reminded why I loved Beverlee McKinsey and Tina Sloan. Watch this ep beginning at 32:26, from the beginning of Alexandra and Lillian's conversation to when Mike arrives, and how each of them play it when he does. Priceless. http://youtu.be/FWI0WTjebN0?t=32m26s

Exactly right - once she and Billy were over, that seemed to be it. Buzz certainly didn't do her any favors, as Soaplovers stated above.

I liked Katie Parker. I had a schoolkid crush on both Denise Pence and Lenore Kasdorf. Katie was fun, and was a nice counterpoint to the heavier stories going on at GL. She had a good rapport with Marsha Clark (Hillary Bauer). Marland did write for Katie, but as a victim (the Andy Norris storyline, for example). I think Marland preferred that Nola be the "fun" one during his tenture. It would have been nice if Pam Long had been able to write a Hillary/Jim/Katie triangle, where Katie - for the first time in her life - didn't step aside. She would actually fight for something (Jim's interest), creating a new and (hopefully) interesting dynamic between Katie and Hillary. I liked Nadine, as well, but that all depended on who was writing for her. I certainly never wanted to see her killed off.