Mona Kane Croft

True. But wasn't he at GL for a much shorter time than he was at ATWT? I think he was at ATWT for 8-years. Perhaps he had plans to mine GL's history, but did not have the opportunity.

Wasn't there talk of him playing Sonny's relative (maybe brother) on GH, back in the early 2000s? I think that was reported in a couple of soap magazines. That would have been interesting casting. Although I've always preferred less Sonny and more doctors on GH. I don't know what he has been up to, but now the fans finally have some footage of what he looks like these days. Many folks have been curious about that for years. Remember that photo that makes the rounds every year or so? A guy that is clearly not Tom Eplin, but somehow got labeled as Tom online years ago? So now there is a verifiable image of him in 2025. Although the context is tragic.

Interesting. Thanks for the information. I remember Farrell and Hogan, and I think I kind of remember MacDonald (now that I see some pics online). But knew nothing of the first actor to portray Scott.

If I'm not mistaken, Hogan also played Scott Banning (one of Julie's husbands) on DOOL. The role of Scott was also played by Mike Farrell. I'm unable to confirm this, and my statement is coming from memory. So if I am incorrect, anyone feel free to correct me. Hogan certainly had a great career, and seemed to easily move from daytime to primetime and back again many times. It never seemed his daytime work harmed his ability to be cast in primetime series. I really can't think of any other actor who worked on so many daytime dramas AND also such a long list of primetime series. Definitely a great example of a working actor.

I agree completely. In my opinion, Denise was simply cast in the wrong part. Denise is a romantic leading woman type of actress -- not necessarily the star of the soap, but one of the female romantic leads. And any 60-minute soap would have at least two or three of this type. Mary McKinnon was not that type of character. Mary was a go-to talk-to character -- more similar to a younger version of Ada Hobson, Helen Moore, or Mary Matthews. Denise should have been cast as a more impactful, dynamic romantic type. Perhaps a returning Missy Matthews (to tangle with Liz) or even Alice Frame (despite the darker hair). Denise's character should have completed with Felicia or Sharlene or Iris for a man. Or even competed with Rachel, after Doug Watson died. Great actress, the right show, but cast as the wrong character.

Now that you mention it, I remember reading about his plans for rebooting Guiding Light sometime before his death. I believe this was just after he left Y&R. As I recall, Rauch said he had been in contact with some of the actors, and perhaps a few writers, and they were interested in joining his effort. But, at least in the interview I read, Mr Rauch never mentioned anything about obtaining the rights to GL, or having the blessing of P&G. So who knows if it would have ever come about?? But Rauch was a power-house executive producer (despite his MANY flaws). So if anyone could have got Guiding Light back into production, Paul Rauch was the man to do it.

I haven't watched that scene for many years. What an amazing use of established history. And we have the old Rachel again -- the Rachel with spit-fire!! Can you imagine watching scenes this good day after day for years? Too bad Lemay was saddled with the huge continuity error of having the Frame Farm near Bay City. I supposed he realized there was no way to un-do it, or to even explain it away -- so he just went along with it.

I don't think it was a long as two years. But Lemay had turned-in storyline projections for a year, so Swajeski had access to those. And I believe she used Lemay's projections for around six-months, perhaps a bit more -- eventually mixing his ideas with her own. Anyone who was familiar with Lemay's work from the 1970s, could fairly easily tell which ideas were his, and which were Swajeski's in 1988-89. There was nothing unethical or illegal in her using his projections. The production company had paid Lemay for his work, and after he submitted it (probably either right before or right after the strike) it belonged to P&G. So she had every right to use it. And I'm glad she did. I only wish she had continued to follow Lemay's writing style throughout her tenure. But her style turned out to be quite different from his, in my opinion.

Sven Peterson. Dear God, that name still shivers me timbers... "Watch out, Rocky. Or I'll give ya' a burial at sea -- wrapped in a garbage bag and shoved underneath the dock in the Cory boat-house." One of the most gruesome scenes ever on daytime television.

Yes, I watched Beverlee McKenzie's Iris from her first AW episode until her last. And I've always felt Carmen Duncan was a very good replacement. The writing for Iris was very different in 1988-89, so that caused some unexplained changes in the character. But none of that was Carmen's fault or responsibility. Despite her bothersome Australian accent, she successfully replaced Ms McKenzie. She may have been the only actress who could have done that.

I had been aware of the show since the very beginning, 1964. I was very young, but my mother watched AW daily, and I saw it occasionally on school holidays. I remember bits and pieces of Pat Matthews' first murder trial. So the creator, Irna Phillips, was writing at that time. Later, I remember more details during Agnes Nixon's run as head-writer. But still was not watching regularly -- only catching the occasional episode on school breaks. I started watching regularly (meaning every day) in 1971 just as Harding Lemay was taking over the duties as head-writer (the first time). And I was very quickly hooked by Lemay's unusual character-driven writing style. Lemay wrote those characters as if they were real people. His writing style was so unusual, I would almost call it experimental. Very sparse plots, but each character was so fully-formed -- they almost didn't need plots.

Doran played the adolescent Jamie during most of Harding Lemay's run on AW. Red-headed kid, very good young actor. Was playing Jamie during the Sven storyline.

Agreed. Bekins was the best actor to play Jamie. No doubt. Second best, in my opinion, would be either Robert Doran or Stephen Yates.

I do understand people's criticisms of Larry Lau's acting choices. And I understand your use of those adjectives to describe him. But in my opinion -- of all the actors who portrayed Jamie, Lau's acting style is the most similar to the acting style of George Reinholt (Steve Frame). Especially the choice to play things brooding and moody at times. Plus Lau looked more like Reinholt than any of the other actors. I'm not suggesting Lau was the best actor (of all those who played Jamie), i do feel a couple of the others had broader acting range. Just saying he was the most reminiscent of George Reinholt. Which may or may not be an important thing, And all of this is just my opinion, of course.

If anyone remembers Meta Bauer's Christmas toast in the Bauer kitchen from the early-2000s (the one where she speaks about remembering Reverend Rutledge), I was able to use the Shazam app to identify the version of Silent Night we hear in the background of that scene. It is Silent Night recorded by Lorie Line, and was released on one of her albums, The entire song is available to hear on YouTube. Ms Line may have recored more than one version of Silent Night over the years, but the song Shazam sent me to was definitely the same arrangement featured during Meta's speech. During Meta's scene, they use a segment from near the end of the song. So that is the part that will sound familiar.

Very well said. I'm hoping the characters on Beyond the Gates will be relatable and believable. But I am aware most of them will likely be wealthy. So there's that. We will find out in February. At least we will have Tamara Tunie (our Jessica Griffin) on our tv screens again.

Who could ever forget those old Christmases with the Hughes, Matthews, Bauers, and I'll add the Martins and Hortons??? All those families were relatable. They were all more-or-less middle-class. And they were all loving, welcoming, and supportive of even the occasional black-sheep in the family. Those extended families were similar to my family, but a little more perfect. And their Christmas traditions were similar to my family's traditions, but a little more perfect.

Yes that's it!

Absolutely correct, Contessa. The farewell to Doug was the last time for me -- and was the first time for years. I remember being a little girl, and it seemed my Mom was crying at her soaps even more than once a week. But soaps were more believable back then, and were mostly based on emotion, rather than strong plots. What was Agnes Nixon's famous quote? Something like -- "Make 'em think, make 'em cry, make 'em wait..." ???

I completely agree. Well, striking us in the heart -- that's exactly what soap operas are supposed to do, isn't it? A well written soap opera should make the audience cry at least once a week. That's my opinion.

Beautiful scene. I'd love to know who specifically wrote it. Great actors with a good script. That's really all we need to make a good soap opera.

Interesting comment. In my opinion, Harding Lemay (in 1988) essentially turned Lisa into Alice Matthews, Vicki into Rachel Davis, and Jamie into Steve Frame. In other words, Lemay was building a long-term romantic triangle, which could have gone on for several years. Sadly, Donna Swajeski didn't know how to write (or even continue) a long-term romance. So she broke-up Jamie and Lisa rather quickly, and sent Jamie nearly 100 percent into Vicki's orbit. Big mistake, in my opinion.

That would have been an interesting interview. Mary seemed to have opinions about that issue around that time.

Regarding P&G soap opera matriarchs and heroines. Wasn't sure where to post this, so decided to start with the Guiding Light group, as there seems to be a lot of P&G collective knowledge here. I'm rather confident there will be no definitive answer to my question, so any replies will likely be speculation -- but that's okay with me. Here's the question: Were the following actresses ever all in the same room together at the same time -- Helen Wagner, Charita Bauer, Virginia Dwyer, Mary Stuart, Ann Flood?? And if so, what was the occasion?

I agree completely with your statement here. And the actors and others will have unique insights to that era. I'm excited to read what they have to say. But my concern was (and still is) that the two individuals who would have the most inside information and history are Lemay and Rauch, who are both deceased. As biased as both of them would probably be -- they both would have historical information that nobody else has. So to ignore them all together (which Mr. Lisanti has not said he intends to do) would be a mistake in my opinion.