zanereed

Agreed. I just have a copy of the script from the first episode of GL on radio in 1937 (which was available for a time, I think, on the GL website?).

I believe that is the earliest *known* surviving episode.

Was Judith accepted in the role of Liz as well as Jane was?

Thank you! Was the Tracy/Charlotte reveal around 1968 or 1969? I'm trying to piece together if the reveal came when Victoria Wyndham was leaving the role of Charlotte. Any idea on that one?

He was gone in 1973 and 1975, I believe. I don't remember him being gone for any extended time at all in 1974, but I could be wrong. I definitely remember him leaving in mid-1977 shortly after his affair with Rita was revealed, and him not returning to the show until a year later.

Very true, @Soaplovers. Marland was a better fit on ATWT versus TGL. Holly *should* have become a stronger person post-Roger, not weaker. I really wanted to see a storyline after Roger's death where a proactive Holly aids Mike in trying to uncover what evidence Roger had on Alan. This would bring Mike and Holly closer together, which in turn would make Ed jealous (at the same time he's trying to reconcile with Rita).

I was actually surprised that Marland let Steve Jackson go. I figured that Marland would have kept Steve Jackson around, not only from a legacy standpoint but also because of his connection to Bert as a peer.

Lenore Kasdorf was asked to return in 1989 along with Michael Zaslow and Maureen Garrett, but she declined. I believe the reason was that she would have had to relocate back to New York. However, I think Pam Long would have written Rita very well, and would have definitely found ways to distinguish her from Reva. It would be hard for me to visualize Kasdorf with Simon's Ed, of course. And yes, Kasdorf left in 1981 because she didn't think that Marland had a good handle on her character, and she was probably right.

I guess I was one of the few who liked Josh with Harley, though that pairing was very brief. As far as Reva...for a romantic pairing, I never did have a favorite for her. Very well said regarding Bill Bauer, @vetsoapfan. I also wish they would have explored Ed's hypocrisy towards Bill in more depth after Bill returned from the dead. For the most part, Ed ended up being EXACTLY like Bill. Actually, both Bauer boys were philanderers, although Mike didn't seem to loathe Bill the way that Ed did. Bill remained pretty much the same meek character, whether played by Sudrow or Bryce. Whenever I see old footage of Ed Bryce and Charita Bauer arguing as Bill and Bert, it reminds me of my maternal grandparents - they would argue and bicker just like Bill and Bert. I always wanted to see TGL move forward with Steve Jackson and Bert. I wonder why the show never went there during the 1970's...

Like @Mitch, I wasn't a great fan of Fletcher, either . I did like him in the very beginning when he was introduced, but as 1984 progressed he seemed like he was in every storyline in some capacity. I also agree that he never really clicked with any of the women they tried to pair him with. I think on a friend basis, Fletcher and Hillary clicked. I would have loved for them to have eventually become partners in a PI firm in Springfield - Fletcher shifting focus from reporter to PI, and Hillary abandoning her nursing career to do something completely off the beaten path (against her family's wishes). I think Marsha Clark could have pulled this off. As @vetsoapfan states, Brandon Spaulding definitely died on screen in 1979 (September or October?). For those who have the German TGL DVD set which has November and December 1979 episodes, the David Thomas version of Brandon Spaulding appears in a dream sequence that Lucille has in one of the November episodes included in the set. It may even be up on YT at this point? And like @Soaplovers, my personal favorite era of TGL was the Dobson era, exactly for the reasons written in their post above. The interesting thing about this TGL thread is that it made me reevaluate the Marland era - I didn't care for it as much as I thought I did. Marland's era was "cold and depressed" for the most part, which is why I don't think Marland could have written for Rita, or could have ever come up with a character like Reva. @j swift - I would have never paired Bill again with Bert. In fact, if Bill were to have been given some sort of redemption storyline, it should be just as you stated - Bert forgives Bill, but she doesn't forget. The divorce sticks. In fact, I wish the Dobsons would have just paired Bert with Steve Jackson after the "Bill is back from the dead" story imploded.

The problem I had with the death of Bill Bauer is that it really didn't have much drama, and certainly no long term mileage. It was a problem I had with other soaps at that time - sacrifice a long-term character or historical character for a short-term storyline (Eli Simms, in this case). Plus, as you correctly stated, Bill hadn't been seen since 1978, so what true impact did his death have on that storyline? Not much. If Bill had been around a bit more leading up to his death, giving a chance for viewers to get acquainted/re-acquainted with the character, then I might have been more accepting of it. The more compelling story to kill off Bill would be to bring the character back to Springfield to try to finally make amends with his family. Give the storyline a year to play out (which would NEVER happen today), where Bill tries to make amends to Mike, Ed, and Hillary, and to seek forgiveness from Bert for everything he's done in the past. Bill tries to take an active involvement in both his kids' and grandkids' (and great-grandkid with Alan-Michael) lives. The catch would be that Bill is actually dying, or is very sick. An interesting cause would be liver failure (due to drinking) or lung cancer (due to smoking, which was very frequent on soaps during the 1950's and 1960's). I will still disagree with the writing out of Mike Bauer. I would have been more accepting of even a recast at that point. There's no doubt that Long was going to use Mike not only in the love triangle with Lilian and Alex, but also with the whole "Susan Piper/Brandon Spaulding ain't dead" storyline (don't even get me started on that one). The problem was that during the reveal in November, there wasn't anyone still on the show with who had any history or experience with Brandon, only Alex. Fletcher, Tony, Annabelle, Jim, had no involvement or relation to it. Alan was gone, Amanda was gone, and any other Spaulding that would have been impacted by Brandon's reveal was nowhere to be found. Mike would have probably been there along with Alex, to show what a shock it was having Brandon fake his death. Why? Because Mike had history with the Spauldings. Again, if the end game for Long was Mike and Alex, that would have been fascinating to see play out. Have Hope come back with a slightly older (but not 18 years old!) Alan-Michael, and you could have some very interesting family dynamics going on, not the least of which would be Alan Spaulding returning from the "dead" to see his arch nemesis married to his sister. Hillary Bauer...Hillary was a great character, full of spunk. She was fun! While she was never going to be over-the-top like a Reva, she was still a breath of fresh air in Springfield. Hillary was a nice contrast to her two brothers. In Marland's term, it seemed like he would occasionally forget she was a Bauer. I liked Clark, because she didn't look like traditional leading lady. I think in the right hands and with the right story, she could have been - especially once Roger reappeared in 1989.

Actually, I think Long was starting to write a very interesting storyline for Mike in 1984. Mike had been heavily involved with Alan from the Spaulding family's initial introduction in 1977, and he was front and center in it - even when Marland took over. The problem with Mike was that the character had no solid family at that point, unlike Ed. Mike was clearly the more stable of the Bauer brothers, but with no wife and his only child (Hope) SORAS'd and now with a grandson (Alan-Michael), he became more of a supporting character. This was probably due in part to Don Stewart's refusal to work with some of the actresses that Marland had planned for him (Jennifer Richards, for example). By 1984, however, Pam Long planned a love triangle with Alexandra/Mike/Lillian. The repercussions of that triangle would no doubt have carried over into Lujack and Beth. However, once again it appeared that Stewart wasn't set on working with Bev. I think that was the final straw for Kobe, and she fired Stewart. I still think that if Long's end game would have been Mike and Alexandra, that marriage (or potential marriage) could have sparked more years of Bauer-Spaulding storylines, especially when Bernau eventually returned to the show and if TPTB brought back Hope (and not a severely SORAS'd Alan-Michael).

Thanks @Mitch. I forgot Robert Gentry *was* there as Ed when Holly mentioned Ken (I would have figured he would have rubbed his hand versus his arm, but at least they semi-acknowledged it), but Ed was off canvas by the time Ken finally appeared, wasn't he?

@vetsoapfan: Just curious - what was the chemistry like between John Reilly's Dan and Marie Masters during the time Dan and Kim were falling in love?

I would love to see, from ATWT, any footage of: - The Dan/Liz/Paul saga (late 1960's/early 1970's). - Footage of John Reilly as Dan with Kim (mid 1970's). - Grant/Joyce/Don (late 1970's). - The Bob/Kim/Jennifer/John/Rick Ryan saga from the early 1970's From TGL, really any available footage from the late 1960's through 1979, in particular: - Robert Gentry's last year or two as Ed Bauer. At least some clips from Gentry's final shows exist in black and white, as they were up on a GL website for a time. This was when Ed was arrested for drunken driving. - Don Stewart's early years as Mike Bauer. - Mart Hulswit's early years as Ed Bauer. - Footage of Mike and Leslie (some with Rodell, some with Adams). - Early footage of Lenore Kasdorf as Rita. - Any footage of Lynn Deerfield as Holly. - Any footage of Deerfield with Michael Zaslow and Mart Hulswit. - More footage of Dean Blackwell from the late 1970's. Basically, I'll take anything

Yes, Roger never clarified it - he was confused like the rest of us initially as to why Soap Classics all of a sudden lost the license. However, I will offer my own thanks to Roger, as he was able to help get out some classic episodes from ATWT and TGL that I never thought I would ever see. As far as the UCLA film library, I'm hoping someone there at UCLA made an effort to digitize those films, as you are correct - those films may have deteriorated to the point of being unplayable. That's a huge shame - those films contain episodes I would love to see from TGL (and probably contains the only existing footage of certain actors on that show), but never likely will.

Sorry I missed your question earlier. The woman in the hospital bed (with Ed) is Janet (Mason) Norris. I definitely agree. Even if it was Peter Simon in the role, the fact that Ed wasn't there was a missed opportunity. Even after 25 years (well, 30 soap time), Ed would be reminded of the man and the incident that made him unable to perform surgery. Ken, even after years of treatment, could still have resentment towards Ed for "stealing" Janet away from him. To help give Ken some added momentum, they could have cast Ken and Janet's daughter, Emily, who comes to Springfield to try to start or repair a relationship with her father.

You are correct, Leslie's mother first appeared in 1973, and the storyline continued into 1974. I'm not sure, but I think the storyline started with Rodell still playing Leslie at the time. I also agree in that the storyline itself was pointless. There were zero lasting repercussions between Stephen and Leslie after the revelation. Once Victoria (her mother) and Roy Mills (her bio father) left town, I don't know if it was ever mentioned again?

Part of that switch from Roger/Ed to Roger/Alan was probably due to - IMHO - Peter Simon's Ed versus Mart Hulswit's Ed. It was Hulswit's Ed that fueled much of the Roger/Ed feud during the 1970's. Hulswit was caring and compassionate, but also had a serious temper when pushed enough - and no one knew how to push Ed better than Roger, especially during the latter half of the 1970's. You can see a couple of their confrontations on YouTube (and I really wish the July 1979 episode when Ed confronts Roger about Roger raping Holly was available - it was one time I believed that Hulswit's Ed was angry enough to actually kill Roger). In a fight, Roger could have knocked Ed out, but Hulswit's Ed didn't care - he would dive in to the fight, regardless. With Simon's version, Ed wasn't as..."combative". I guess that's as good a term, as any. For example, I could never see Simon's Ed getting into any sort of intense confrontation with Roger as Hulswit's version did. That was a shame, because even though Ed was older and wiser by 1989, it would have fun to see Roger "set off" Ed. I wonder if Simon could have pulled that off...? Absolutely. Bill's death just tried to prop up a storyline that wasn't really that good in the first place (even if Ed Bryce was fine being killed off).

Joan (or Jone?) Allison was fantastic as Meta Bauer White in 1950. Cool, confident, yet with plenty of vulnerability. The episode where she kills Ted White was actually quite chilling when I first heard it. For anyone wanting to hear this storyline, archive.org has it up here: https://archive.org/details/otr_guidinglight I think the audience in 1977 would have given Bill Bauer a pass had the Dobsons brought him back to Springfield as an amnesiac. But I have to agree with you - Bill hiding from his family was exactly in character for him. That was who Bill was. In my opinion, the Dobsons were writing Bill Bauer as he had been in the previous 2 decades. It wasn't the first time Bill had an affair on Bert (Gloria LaRue in the 1950's, and Maggie Scott in the 1960's), for example, and he had fled from his family before. The whole story could have been about Bill Bauer finally facing what he had done to himself and his family (both families) over the years and to finally try to make amends. As you said - that would have been years of storyline, especially if Simone had stayed in Springfield, as well. I agree with you 100 percent. Hillary being a Bauer plus having had an affair with Roger would have made great points to flesh out after Roger returned from the dead. You bring up a great point about Stephen Jackson. I always thought that after they had that rather horrid storyline in the early to mid 1970's where Leslie's mother returned from the dead, plus revealed that Steve was *not* even Leslie's real father, that they should have followed up with a storyline where Steve has an illegitimate son who comes to Springfield...

I, too, recommend listening to the 1950 GL Radio Episodes either via YT or via archive.org. Not only are the episodes focused around the death of Chuckie and Meta killing Ted, but also the beginning of Bill Bauer's alcoholism. I thought it was a brilliant idea to bring back Bill Bauer from the dead back in 1977. The Dobsons were so focused on the Bauers as the core family that it made sense to help shake things up a bit by bringing back Bill. Where the biggest issue sprang from, however, was the audience not accepting Bill having (seemingly) voluntarily abandoned Bert for Simone a decade earlier (technically 8 years real time, but I think TGL stated he had been presumed dead for 10 years). That Bill could knowingly deceive his original family for so long (Papa Bauer having died while Bill was living with Simone in Canada) didn't sit well with viewers. Someone posted an article in this very thread awhile back from 1978 which I believe said that Ed Bryce (Bill) opted to leave because the story wasn't going well. I think it was a shame, as they had Simone on for such a brief period. Had Bill and Simone stayed, there could have been so much played out between Bill/Bert/Simone/Mike/Ed/Hillary - heck, even Steve Jackson could have been included (Did anyone really believe he and Bert were just "friends" during the 1970's? ). ...and don't get me started on Bill Bauer's return in 1983 simply being used as a prop to push forward the Eli Simms storyline...UGH.

So, how were Adams and Stewart when the show first started thinking about pairing them together (I believe that was either 1969 or 1970)? Was it the same as when Adams came back in 1973, or were Stewart and Adams more affectionate to start with? I'm just trying to imagine the show deciding to bring Mike and Leslie together as a couple (which would immediately add conflict in the Bauer and Jackson families), but the actors not having any chemistry.

Can you recall at all the chemistry comparison between Don Stewart/Rodell and Stewart/Adams? I've always read and heard that Stewart had much better chemistry with Rodell, but with Adams it was...awkward?

She also miscarried Phillip's baby back in 1984, but no - Mindy never had any children.

Here's another option: