zanereed

That sounds great! And you even tried to work in some of those stories. But what about Mike being programmed to shoot Ed. That would be a real classic...

Oh, no - you're invoking the Kyle/Billy storyline, right? I don't think I could take that plot point in the case of the Bauer Brothers.

I really wish TPTB tried harder to keep Don Stewart in 1984. I always felt like Mike could have been the stability throughout all the transitions that were happening (just like Bert and Papa had been the stability through the 1950's and 1960's), as he moved towards being the solid patricarch of Springfield. I felt, and still feel, that there was loads of story potential with a Mike/Alex/Lillian triangle. Imagine this...

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In late 1984, Lillian reapproaches Mike about pursuing their relationship. She wants a fresh start, and Mike takes the opportunity to do so after his fallout with Alex. The two become closer throughout the fall and winter, which actually irritates Alex to no end. Lillian is still gun shy about relationships, but Mike slowly helps her work through her doubts. Beth is especially happy to see a stable presence in her mother's life. However, in early 1985 (assuming that awful Andy Ferris story still happened), Lujack would be accused of killing Andy, and Alex would insist on Mike defending him. Mike, eventually convinced of Lujack's innocence, would have done so. This would have caused conflict for Lillian, not only with her being fully aware of the history between Mike and Alex, but also not wanting to see Lujack wrongly convicted.

If we follow the plot points of the storyline that happened in 1985, Mike would have been unable to stop Lujack from being convicted, but Mike would become driven to find the truth, putting a huge strain on his relationship with Lillian and bringing him closer to Alex, whose feelings for Mike would become even stronger as Mike would fight to prove Lujack's innocence and eventually succeed. After getting Lujack freed, Alex would open up to Mike about the feelings she still had for him, and Mike would find himself having to choose between Alex and Lillian.

However, before Mike has a chance to decide, in the fall of 1985 he is delivered the bad news that his mother Bert has unexpectedly passed away (and not waiting until 1986 to deal with it onscreen!!). The news devastates Mike and he decides that he cannot commit to a relationship at all for the time being. At this point, Hope returns (either with Roussel back in the role or a recast) for her grandmother's funeral. Hope has changed quite a bit. Alan's "death" the prior year made her wake up and turn her life around. She remains sober, has become much more confident, and has started making some headway as a successful interior decorator in NYC. However, seeing how much her grandmother's death has affected her father post-funeral, Hope chooses to remain in Springfield temporarily (Alan-Michael could also return, although much younger than the 18 year old who appeared in 1987).

Knowing of Hope's status and trying to find a way to keep Mike close by her, Alexandra overhears a conversation Hope has with Ross Marler about needing to find some income while in Springfield to help afford to keep Alan-Michael in private school. Seeing this as an opportunity, Alex approaches Hope about redesigning the Spaulding Mansion. This intrigues Hope - not only for the money involved, of course, but doing so can help represent her further "erasing" Alan's presence out of her life for good. She accepts the job, and Alex tries at every turn to keep Hope occupied with the job so that Mike stays in both their orbits. The plan succeeds, as Mike has no choice but to see Alex if he wants to see his daughter. Again, assuming Lujack indeed died in December of 1985, that event would help bring Alex and Mike together for good, much to the chagrin of Lillian (who still wants a relationship with Mike). By Valentine's Day of 1986, Mike proposes to Alex, and a spring wedding is immediately decided upon, to be held at the recently rennovated Spaulding Mansion. Mike reluctantly agrees to move in to the mansion after the wedding, despite strong hesitancy (as it was the home of his arch nemesis!). Ross and Hope have now started seeing each other, as well - Ross being very impressed with the "new" Hope that returned the prior year.

The entire town of Springfield is invited to the mansion for the wedding to celebrate the 2nd "union" of a Bauer to a Spaulding. Someone makes the odd comment of "Is it weird for Hope that her dad is marrying her former sister-in-law?" :-) But, as all things progress with a soap opera, the wedding does not take place. For, as the inevitable moment of the infamous line of "...speak now or forever hold your piece..." is uttered, a familiar voice in a calm and cool manner states from the back of the room, "Excuse me, but there is no way in hell that I will allow this marriage to take place." Yes, Alan Spaulding is alive and well, and back in Springfield! And as the last line of this Friday, 1986 episode plays out, Alan utters his second line of, "Well, it looks like I returned just in time..."

This would have led to loads of new storylines with Alan's return (in a much better premise than he originally did in 1986) as well as continued storyline for Mike Bauer.

Hope is outraged with Alan's deception. Although alcohol is a constant temptation, she refuses to give in to it, thanks to the love of Ross. Alex is also beside herself. She finally found someone that truly loved after being alone for so long, and Alan ruined it. Alan himself is horrified to learn of all that has gone on in his absence. His sister was about to marry his enemy, his ex-wife is seeing Phillip's uncle, etc.

For his part, Mike becomes obsessed with bringing Alan down, stopping at nothing to investigate the true nature of Alan's absence over the past two years. This obsession causes Mike and Alex's relationship to be completely destroyed, as Mike's hatred of Alan becomes all-consuming. This worries not only Hope, but Ed as well. However, Mike won't listen to Ed. In the end, it isn't Ed who finally breaks through to Mike - it is the understanding and compassion of Ed's wife Maureen that helps Mike stop his downward spiral, as Maureen's spirit reminds Mike of his mother, Bert. However, both Mike and Maureen teeter on the edge of something dangerous, and it appears as if history will repeat itself between the Bauer brothers as it did several years ago with a woman named Leslie Jackson...

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...but it's all just fan fiction. Thanks for indulging me, folks. I really wish this would have happened versus what we were given in 1985 and 1986.

Close - her character's name was Maggie Scott.

I'm not sure exactly what they'll find in the P&G archives. From all accounts, what little they did keep from pre-1979 was not well preserved or documented. I have a tape of the 1974 wedding/tenth anniversary episode, and it's been confirmed that the Mary Matthews death episode is also floating around in the hands of dedicated soap opera collectors. But apparently, P&G never even kept a copy of many historically-significant episodes, like the premiere of SEARCH FOR TOMORROW from 1951, which I also have a videotape of, but P&G doesn't. I guess we'll just have to wait and see what they unearth from the archives, and hope for the best.

vetsoapfan,

Is the quality of the 1974 Tenth Anniversary episode that you have videotape quality or color kinescope quality? I was just curious. Thank you for any reply.

vetsoapfan,

Are the 10th Anniversary show and the Mary Matthews death episode (which I also believe was the last appearance of George Reinholt on the show before being written out in May...?) within the P & G archive on videotape? I have seen the July 1968 footage (black and white) and Jacquie's Emmy reel (color kinescope clips) along with the September 1974 episode (black and white kinescope), but I was wonder about these other two. Thank you!

I think the problem with being able to show any of the Rachel/Steve/Alice triangle is that not much footage - if any - exists in the P&G archives from this particular time. I hope I am wrong!