Mona Kane Croft

Thanks for clarifying those dates. Regarding The Chief storyline -- Lemay had submitted his storyline projections before the writer's strike began, so its likely at least some of the major plot points that occurred during the strike were Lemay's ideas. But all the details would have been written by the scab writers. So it's possible the foundation of The Chief plot was Lemay's creation, but calling the mystery person "the chief" doesn't sound like something Lemay would have done. That detail was almost certainly written by the scab writers. But having Iris revealed as the owner of Bennett Publishing (minus the nick-name) does sound like Lemay's style. I'm also confident Cass and Nicole's ghost plot during the strike was not part of Lemay's plot ideas. He didn't write that type of garbage. Also, did Sharlene, Josie, and Jason come back during the strike? Or was it before the strike?

If I'm not mistaken, Lemay's final episode as head writer was the episode in which Iris knocks on the front door of the Cory house -but we didn't see her. Then Carmen Duncan's first episode was the following day. So if I'm correct, Lemay didn't write Carmen's first episode and the change in Iris's parentage may have been Swajeski's idea, not Lemay's. Who ever did it, I think un-doing Iris's adoption plot was silly and unnecessary. Mac was still a loving father in 1978, after Iris found out she was adopted. So he would have still welcomed her back in '88, even though she was adopted. There was no need to rewrite the plot, and make her Mac's bio-daughter.

Yes, Iris's new accent was addressed one time, when Iris told someone (probably Mac) that she had recently spent several years in Australia. But of course, that was only to accommodate the actress -- not really part of Lemay's plan for iris.

You're right, Lemay wasn't in charge of casting the new Iris. But knowing who was cast (and that she was Australian) likely impacted his creation of Carolyn. I don't think Carolyn's Australian background was unintentional (although Iris's was).

Yes, I don't think Carolyn's being Australian was just a coincidence . Lemay had something planned for her.

I have thought that too. But she was having sex with Evan, so it's unlikely she'd have been a Frame.

The Red Swan Story was entirely Swajewski's idea, but Caroline was created by Lemay. I do agree, it seemed Caroline was created for a specific purpose, but Swajeski didn't follow-through with Lemay's plan for the character. There was one scene, while Lemay was still writing, in which Caroline was on the phone with her mother (back in Australia). And their relationship seemed to be very troubled. So I'm assuming part of Caroline's oringinal purpose included her mother.

Is anyone here familiar with GL, when it was still located in Selby Flats? It seems so unusual for a such a traditional soap opera to be located in Southern California. Does anyone remember if the locale was used or discussed much? For example, the weather, or other unique aspects of living in Southern California?? I'm thinking of NBC's Santa Barbara, which never let the viewers forget its location -- through dialogue, set architecture, etc. -- meaning the locale was really featured as an important part of the show. Was it the same on Guiding Light? Was the California location important and noticeable?

I hated Peter Ratray as Scott. But I thought Ratray was the Scott who briefly returned with Kathy when Nicolette Goulet took over the role. I could be wrong.,

Did Kathy have any children? And after Scott left town, was Kathy even related to anyone on the canvas? It seemed strange to bring back Kathy as a contemporary of Liza, when Liza had been a child through most of the original Scott/Kathy romance -- wasn't she?. Also, what year did Peter Simon and Courtney Sherman leave SFT?

Didn't Victoria Wyndham play Charlotte Bauer? Is there any existing video of her in the role? It would have been amazing to see Wyndham and Nancy Addison (Kit Vestid) together on screen.

I think Ron Raines was well cast as Alan, but the writing became very bad shortly after he assumed the role. They turned a sophisticated millionaire into a bumbling fool. That wasn't Raines' fault, it was the writers. I don't have an opinion about Blake.

If my memory is correct, the Spauldings and Bauers did not live next to each other, but their back yards were adjacent. Ed commented that the Spauling house was "up the hill" from his house, implying the Spauldings lived in a nicer neighborhood. I believe this was Alan and Hope's original house, but not sure if that was supposed to be the Spaulding Mansion we saw in the last 20 years of the show. I think the detail that the two properties were adjacent was forgotten by later writers.

Does anyone know the name of the British actor originally hired to play Reginald Love? According to John Considine's autobiography (and a few other sources too, I think), AW hired a well known British actor for the role of Reginald, and that actor worked in the studio for one day. At the end of the day, he quit -- unable to bear the pace of daytime tv. It was then they called Considine (who had auditioned for the role), and asked him to come to work asap. Someone must know the name of the British actor. Any idea who it was?

Brittany was a terribly conceived character. You can't make a deaf woman the bad-girl. Or at least it would never have worked in the 1980s. People just don't want to watch that. A desperate deaf woman scheming against the ingenue, Sally -- it was so weird, and painful to watch. It made the audience feel guilty for hating a deaf person. Probably the most awkward villainess in soap-opera history! There's nothing wrong with casting a deaf character. That could have been great. But in the 1980s, making her a villainess just didn't work. I'm not even sure it would work in 2020. They should have just cast Gabot as Rachel's sister, Pam. That would have been wonderful. And if they wanted a bad-girl to interfere with the Sally/Catlin romance, they should have hired someone younger, and not make the mistake of making the character deaf.

It was reported at the time, he said he would only return to the show, if he played a new character. He had no interest in playing Sam again. And for some reason, TPTB said yes.

It's interesting that John Randolph's hair got less and less gray, as the years went by.

I've wondered if perhaps the relationship between Alice and Rachel would have evolved into something similar to that of Vicky and Dorian on OLTL, but perhaps a bit more subdued, because neither were as volatile as Dorian. They both could have been in their own corners of the show, having their own storylines, but at least some sparks would fly whenever they happened to be in the same scene. I also would have liked Steve and Alice to evolve in to something similar to Nikki and Victor on Y&R. Many break-ups and reunions over the years, but still the endgame was for them to be together. And if all those major cast members had stayed with the show, we probably would never have seen Miranda Bishop and her clan, the Love family, the McKinnons, Cass, Felicia, and their surrounding characters. And I certainly hope the writers would have been smart enough to finally give Russ Matthews a stable marriage and four or five children, so Russ and his wife could inherit the patriarch/matriarch roles from Russ's parents, as Bob and Kim Hughes did on ATWT. And lots of Matthews spawn who actually retain the last-name Matthews to populate the show into the future.

Anyone care to speculate? If George Reinholt, Jacquie Courtney, Berverlee McKenzie, and Virgina Dwyer had stayed on AW until it was cancelled in 1999, in what major ways would the show have evolved differently than it did? Was there room on the show's canvas for both a strong Matthews family AND a strong Cory family? How would Rachel and Alice's relationship have evolved? Would they have remained enemies? Become close friends? Or something in-between? And what type of relationship would have developed between the show's two millionaire businessmen -- Mac and Steve? And with those four actors remaining in their roles, which later characters would never have been brought onto the show? What other differences would you have expected?

Liz/Susan Mary/Alice Ada/Rachel Pat/Marianne Yes, Lemay loved intergenerational relationships with a bit of conflict.

I think you are correct about Lemay having plans for the character. In one episode, Carolyn takes a phone call from her mother in Australia. You could tell by the conversation, she had a bad relationship with her mother, and it was a hint of things to come (I think). But her mother was never mentioned again, and nothing ever developed.

Yes, he is. But he wasn't playing himself. He was playing Steve, and I'm sure he could have played Steve well, had he known more about the character, and had some direction -- as I said. Just my opinion.

Good points. Everyone blames the failure on the casting of Steve and Alice. But I firmly believe it was the writing that killed their returns. And to a lesser degree, the directing. No one will ever convince me that David Canary wasn't capable of playing Steve Frame. But Canary obviously knew nothing about the character, his history, or his personality. Canary played Steve as loud and jolly, when Steve had always been quiet and sullen,. And because he didn't understand Steve's history, Canary played the role with absolutely no subtext -- which had been George Reinholt's gift. With a little direction, Canary could have played Steve much more believably. I also believe Linda Borgeson was acceptable as Alice. She was no Jacquie Courtney, but had the writing been better, and Canary's Steve been more convincing, Borgeson could have been successful. At least she could cry convincingly, which Susan Harney could not do.

In my opinion, an actress like Walker should have been cast in a legacy role. Perhaps Mindy (as you mentioned), or maybe Hope Bauer (not sure if she was old enough). Tangie just seemed like a nobody role. It was silly to cast Walker in such a minor role, even though I'm sure GL payed her big-bucks. What a waste.

It would be interesting to know if Linda had any scenes with the recently returned Alice Frame in 1981, since they had been so close in the 1970s. But the writers were different, and seemed to know little about Alice and Steve's real history. They made-up a lot of history that never really happened on the show, and they ignored a lot of history that did happen on screen. No research and little continuity, even though only a few years had passed.