zanereed

saynotoursoap,

I agree 100% that Rodell was fantastic on ATWT as Joyce.

Carl,

Mike Bauer was played by a handful of actors in the 1950's and 1960's before Don Stewart took over the role in 1968. Pilar was Mike #4, lasting two years on GL (1963 - 1965), and then he reprised the role on "Another World" for one year. Basically, Mike Bauer was gone from Selby Flats/Springfield from 1965 to 1968, when Robert Pickering was cast in the role as Mike in early 1968. Pickering was Mike for about nine months when Stewart assumed the role until September of 1984.

Personally, Stewart always reminded me of Mannix/Mike Connor. I wonder if TPTB at that time cast Stewart based on that similarity?

saynotoursoap or anyone else who can answer:

Someone else asked a question to me on this after watching the 1973 episode on the Bauer DVD set, and I was too young then to remember - they were asking about the chemistry between Mike and Leslie. She seemed to recall that Don Stewart (Mike) had more chemistry with Barbara Rodell (Leslie III) versus Lynne Adams (Leslie I). Any thoughts?

It sounds like the Dobsons were using Justin to give their opinion of the show.

It certainly seems that way, doesn't it? I don't remember Justin being quite that arrogant back then. He might have started out that way, but it could have been that the Dobsons "tamed" him a bit after a while.

At first I was thinking that Justin was the Dobsons' first character that they brought to the canvas, but that's incorrect - I think their first characters were the Stapleton family. Saynotoursoap might be able to clarify this a bit better.

That makes me feel less pathetic for using all these. If you ever want to talk in any of those show threads I'd enjoy reading your views.

Anyway, didn't Christopher Walken fill in for his brother on GL? Or did he not? There seems to be a noticeable age difference.

Carl,

I was trying to find some evidence for you, but I haven't thus far. From different things that I read over the years, Christopher/Ron *did* fill in for Glenn on occasion (I guess despite that age difference).

Off topic - did you get the new version of "The Aztecs" on DVD (I noticed your new avatar )?

Indeed. Who has lost a lot of fine actors over the past two years, and Caroline was certainly one of them.

I only asked because I seem to watch the exact same shows as you do, based on the different avatars I've seen you use .

But, back to GL...

Carl, this is way off topic, but is your current avatar Caroline John?

Ah, the infamous "wing tips" they gave Ellen Demming to "age" Meta, even though Ellen was only in her early 30's at that point...

saynotoursoap,

Do you happen to know if the Dobsons had Amanda's real mother in mind when they introduced her?

Thank you for the clarification, Paul. Do you know if the Dobsons originally had someone in mind to be Amanda's mother (either an existing character or one they were to create)? I believe the name "Jane Marie Stafford" was never mentioned until after Marland took over (and Jennifer Richards was already introduced)?

Vee,

Carl is correct. What I cannot remember offhand was if Jennifer Richards (Amanda's natural mother) was created by the Dobsons and Marland carried on with incorporating her, or if she was one of Marland's creations independently. Jennifer first appeared in April of 1980 (when the show was under Marland), so I'm not clear on that part.

I'm sure the info is here somewhere--but a search won't find it. What exactly is on the German GL 1979 5 disc set? And is there an option to watch it in its original English? Amazon.de has a video preview which even dubbed I admit made me want it--it doesn't help that although I love other soap themes (I have a soft spot for both the first two AMC ones for obvious reasons, and Y&R's is just classic soap IMHO), I think GL had two of the best themes in the 80s-early 90s.

http://www.amazon.de/Die-Springfield-Story-Staffel-Guiding/dp/B007RU6JI8/ref=lh_ni_t

Eric,

If you are a fan of the Dobson years of GL, or have yet to see anything of that era and want to, then you will definitely enjoy this set. You can watch all the episodes in their original English dialogue. I think the only difference in these episodes is the credits. But these episodes, as far as I can tell, are full and uncut (i.e., no edits due to song rights issues, etc.). The episodes are from November, 1979 (and the set also includes the 1973 "Papa Bauer Funeral" episode that was also included on the "Bauer Family" DVD set that Soap Classics released). I highly recommend it. This set is "Region 2", although I don't know if that will be an issue for you or not?

I hope this helps.

Carl,

I don't think it happened exactly like that. She must be referring to Jimmy, who was Roy and Sandy's son. Roy would have been husband #3 for Penny, I think. Sandy was married to Bob around this time. If I remember the storyline correctly, Penny developed an "overattachment" to Jimmy when she was caring for him when Sandy was sick. Penny married Roy just to get custody of him, but I don't think she took Jimmy to England with ther. This might be wrong? I'm not as well versed on late 1960's ATWT.

In that clip, Joe Werner was played by Ben Hayes.

Once again, thank you for this interview, Roger! I'm very glad that Cindy remembers this role so much and appreciated it. I certainly appreciated her work as Jackie!

Now I really want you to get an interview with Mart Hulswit!

Speaking of 1973, I'm hoping saynotooursoap or someone else remembers this:

If you were lucky enough to see Liz Talbot Stewart's "death scene" in 1973 when Liz fell *up* the stairs, how did it look? I'm still trying to imagine this playing out on screen.

Carl,

I agree with you 100% - Roussell could have molded Hope into a much tougher person (because of her marriage to Alan). They could have kept the Bauer/Spaulding feud going on for several years if Mike and Hope had stayed on.

I wanted to bring back some discussion regarding Roger and Holly. Since people were talking about the onscreen chemistry between MZ and MG, I wanted to ask a question along those lines. I was too young to ever remember Lynn Deerfield in the role of Holly:

http://www.welovesoaps.net/2011/11/lynndeerfield.html

Can anyone tell me how her chemistry was with MZ and Mart Hulswit? Unless Roger unearths a hidden episode of the early 1970's to add in a future DVD collection, I probably will never be fortunate enough to see her in the role.

Roger,

Thank you for the update. I look forward to that interview very much. I still remember her as Jackie very, very well. I was never able to get used to Carrie Mowery in the role.

I often wish that Cindy/Jackie would have returned from the dead, being that she was Phillip's natural mother. I think there was still storyline potential there, especially with Phillip as an adult (which Jackie was never around for, unfortunately).

Not urgent, but any info would be helpful.

Thanks to those who responded.

Roger,

No episodes were usually aired on Thanksgiving and the Friday after. Thursdays would have been football or a holiday special, and Friday's would have been some holiday special, as well. I admit, 1979 would have been hazy for me, as I was still very young. I just don't remember being able to watch the CBS soaps during Thanksgiving vacation.

I think you could have told a story about Mike actually loving Holly, while Ed was mostly just protective of her. Seeing Holly torn between her neuroses (which seemed to make up much of her relationship with Ed) and taking a chance on a new love that would make her grow and change would have been interesting.

Carl,

I absolutely agree. That storyline would definitely have held my interest. Ed never really did love Holly back then. Quite frankly, I don't think Roger did, either (at least how the Dobson's wrote it at the time). Holly was more infatuated with Roger and Ed for different reasons, but Mike could have been the first man she actually fell in love with.

Speaking of Mike Bauer, I've been perusing the German DVDs and it's really in my face what a babe magnet that character was.

Every member of Alan's harem at the time (except, of course, for Hope) ended up having feelings for Mike. Ann Jeffers loved him for years before she left the show. Didn't he wind up dating Alexandra for about a minute before some idiot decided that Mike Bauer wasn't important and wrote both him and Hope off the show?

Mike had the goods. The first time I ever saw him in real time was the Cedars ball in 1997 and my sixteen-year-old self perked up and said, "Oooh, a good-looking older guy! Can he stay, please?"

Imagine my shock when I finally got some glimpses of '80s Mike on YT and then with the SoapClassics and German DVDs and realized that he'd barely aged between then and '97.

Jeez.

Katie,

Don Stewart definitely aged well. When they brought him back in 1997 (too briefly, in my opinion), he was a little greyer around the temples, but still instantly recognizable. They really should have found a way to keep him.

I'm not so certain that the Dobson's didn't know *what* to do with Mike regarding his love life - I think they preferred that Mike be single and more flexible in that regard in order to involve the character in new romances as they saw fit. It was the Dobson's who killed off Leslie in 1976, so Mike was free to be paired up with anyone they brought on. To be honest, I don't know why they didn't try Mike with Rita versus Ed back in 1976/1977. Mike always seemed to be attracted to females that had "complexities" in their lives, to put it mildly (Julie, Charlotte, Jackie, Elizabeth, etc.). From the "Man of the Year" episode on the "Bauer" set, I think Mike and Rita had some chemistry there.

I never thought of a Mike/Holly pairing before, but that would have been an interesting angle to try, post-Roger's death. Although, it might have seen as too much of a Leslie Bauer "copycat" story (Mike falls in love with Ed's ex-wife). However, the new angle to play could have been Mike's constant resistance to the romance, just *because* it was the Leslie situation all over again.

I was mostly comparing 1985 to the writing of today but I thoroughly enjoyed 1983 and 1984. By the end of 1985 it started going downhill for me with a new Phillip, Lujack dead, Kyle Sampson and some other things I didn't enjoy. GL changed radically from the Dobsons to Marland and later to Pam Long. I managed to enjoy most of all three.

I also thought 1983 and 1984 were very good years for the show (with the exception of Bill Bauer getting killed as simply a plot point for the Eli Simms storyline, Hillary Bauer getting killed for no great reason, etc.). By the fall 1985 the characters I grew up with were mostly gone or had been recast. I guess I could not identify with the show any longer. The DVDs that I have purchased from Soap Classics only serve to solidify my attitude, I guess.

By the fall of 1985 I had pretty much tuned out of the show. I don't remember the writing being richer at all by that point. I guess I may have to find some 1985 clips to refresh my memory.

Roger,

Was it an easier transition to Beth and Lujack because of John Bolger assuming in the role of Phillip in early 1985? I think that's what sealed the deal for me, but 1985 was a tough year to get through with GL, regardless.

I still think some of the Bauers could have made a return around 1991, as well (when Reva, Josh, Alexandria, etc. had already left). I think they lost an opportunity by not bringing back Hope around this time. Alan was still in jail, and it would have been interesting to see how Alan-Michael related to his mother as this point (Hope had refused to come to Alan-Michael and Harley's wedding in 1989 due to Alan being there, so there certainly could have been some existing animosity there). Hope would definitely need to be recast for this, because putting Elvera Roussel next to Ric Hearst would likely not work. Hope's constant conflict with Alan-Michael could force her to call her dad to help mediate the situation. This could be the first time that Alan-Michael would really deal with the fact that he's part-Bauer, perhaps softening the edge of AM a bit (rethinking his interference in Frank and Eleni, etc.). Mike leaves behind the Justice Department in order to help his daughter and grandson make amends. It would also be interesting to see just what type of relationship Mike has with AM at this point. As far as work goes, Vanessa could have convinced Mike to come to Lewis Oil full time as their inhouse council (embedding Mike within Springfield again quickly).

I'd prefer that Mike would be played by Don Stewart again - there was no reason he couldn't as far as looks go. He looked great in 1997, just some gray hair added . I don't know that Ron Raines would have worked as Mike...maybe, but I still don't see it. Again, with patience, this storyline could have developed to the point where by the end of 1992 or 1993, Alan returns, setting up storylines with Hope (ex-wife) and Mike (his on-again, off-again enemy from 1977 to 1984) and his desire to "reclaim" his son.