katie_9918

Anytime they tried to give Justin Deas lead actor material he managed to ham it up to kingdom come, but I thought he was pretty valuable when he was relegated to supporting material. Unfortunately, he wasn't relegated to supporting material nearly enough to make him worth the loss of Maureen Bauer in my opinion. And I agree that Nadine was also a much more valuable character to keep around than Buzz, who Brent Lawrence actually had a reason to have a beef with rather than randomly having to kill like what happened with Nadine. I really do very much enjoy watching both Marj Dusay and Ron Raines as the '90s/'00s Alexandra and Alan, but they both play completely different characters than the characters who were originally conceived as Alexandra and Alan Spaulding. I remember when Marj first appeared as Alexandra. I was about thirteen years old and was well aware of recasting at the time, since my grandmother let me watch the show with her every once in a while and I distinctly remember being aware of both the change from Elizabeth Dennehy to Sherry Stringfield as Blake and the change from Carl Evans to Rick Hearst as Alan-Michael, but when I realized that Marj was playing Alexandra, I remember bursting out, "That is NOT Alexandra!" And my grandmother was surprised when I said that. I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks Marcy Walker actually fit in well with the cast and simply was not served well by the conception and writing of the character. Then again, she was doomed from the beginning in that she was hired and then the writers were told, "Oh, hey, come up with something for this big get that will help us regain ground against the return of Luke and Laura." As if. Another character that I thought actually generated a lot of low-key chemistry with just about every other character he had any kind of significant screen time with was Patrick Cutter. I know it's certainly subjective and others may disagree, but I thought he was the only character that Barbara Crampton's Mindy registered with at all, other than MOL as Rick Bauer, but by the time he returned, it was far too late for Barbara Crampton, who'd been stuck with VI and fighting with MD for too long. I also enjoyed the cop shop scenes that the Cutter character was able to help continue for a little while after the loss of Mallet. And speaking of Vincent Irizarry's Nick, as an Alexandra fan, I was always so grateful that the show took the time and trouble to develop a warm relationship between Alexandra and Susan (practically the only thing they did develop about Susan Bates), because it would have been the easiest thing in the world for Nick and Susan to get together, Alex to breathe hellfire once again because she didn't approve ONCE AGAIN, and Nick and Susan to leave because of it. While I think Susan was always meant to usher Nick off canvas, I was so glad as an Alexandra fan that Nick and Alexandra parted ways on-screen warmly and fondly, with a real mother-son relationship. I know at least one of Alex's later absences was explained by being off with Nick and Susan, but I really appreciated actually seeing that Nick and Alexandra were good with each other, after so much time of not being good with each other.

Please stop posting nothing but quotes, Donna.

Sorry, but Jonathan Randall straight up sucked and the actor was nothing to write home about. I felt bad for ATWT fans when I heard they got stuck with him, and considering that show got to keep their sets to the end and got more time between cancellation and last episode, I irrationally resented them for quite a while. I might be outing myself as an idiot, but for all I’ve privately bemoaned GL utterly wasting Marcy Walker, I never really thought about who else she could have portrayed. I like Khan’s idea, or if they wanted to connect her to Roger, maybe she could have been a foster child or adopted child that Adam and Sara would have had and then come to Springfield because she found out and then was curious about the biological child Adam never talked about.

I couldn’t stand Jonathan and he was yet another way I saw Reva continuing to take airtime from other characters. He never should have been brought back after we finally got rid of him and I still hate to this day he never paid for stealing Lizzie’s daughter from her. Why was Phillip wasting his time in ‘09 throwing Grady over a cliff when he should have thrown Jonathan over a cliff? While I never had strong feelings over the Otalia story one way or the other, I still think Olivia was a pretty ridiculous choice to all of a sudden go that way with her previous romantic history and I did think they were overrated to the extreme. I still wish Marcy Walker hadn’t been so misused as Tangier’s Hill. Under better circumstances I think she could have done well. She had a good vibe with the rest of the cast.

The only time I really care about from what I’ve seen so far is when he was with Paulina. Jensen Buchanan’s Vicky, to me, was a complete villain protagonist and I just can’t get behind Jake and Ellen Wheeler’s Marley in 1999 because of the history there. And unfortunately the writers post-Jensen thought Jake was useless without Vicky. I liked Jake with Molly on ATWT, part of the good things Hogan Sheffer did with that show (along with what should have been a crack pairing but wound up pretty good as long as it lasted Hal and Emily). But I’m really sorry I can’t find that 1984 episode. It really was cute. Of course, I’m also sorry there’s so little of Paul Stevens’ work as Brian Bancroft before 1981.

There’s an episode from, I want to say 1984, because Carl was involved before he went completely nuts, that had a surprise party for Larry and included a dinner party involving Cecile, Peter, Mac, Rachel, Carl, and I think Felicia, that got booted off YT. Larry was cute, busting on himself describing how he was practicing his big surprised face, only for Clarice to troll him for a scene and then Mayor Brian called up to troll him over the phone to get him to his real surprise party. There was possibly also stuff going with Quinn and a blow-up clown in her car that was surprisingly terrifying and effective, if I’m not mixing up episodes. I do hope that episode makes it back to YT, because it was delightful.

And how were the last episode or two? I haven’t gotten around to them on my DVR (currently doing the MCU on TV).

Not interested in seasons 1 and 2 of Discovery, but I’ll be checking reviews of Picard and season 3 of Discovery carefully to find out if the Blu Rays would be worth the price.

Eccleston always deserved a lot more credit than he’s gotten. I liked Tennant, but preferred the overall direction the show seemed to heading with Eccleston. By the time Smith took over, it was too late to course correct the overwhelming focus on the Doctor as an object of romantic affection. I find less and less to like about RTD with each rewatch. He was incredibly self-indulgent. Moffat was as well, but I thought he hid it a lot better until he lost Amy and Rory, his first Companions.

Please just stop posting entire threads. It’s cumbersome and difficult to get through. I’m also reasonably certain you also copy and paste extremely long lists and blog posts word for word on Facebook in one of the GL groups I’m subscribed to.

I "knew" about Bernau and Crothers, but Gentry too? Damn, I never would have guessed that one. And I'm guessing Datalounge was right about Paul Stevens? I've found that I can't help thinking his performance as Brian Bancroft has a kindness to it that had to have come from the actor himself. I hope they all found fulfillment and happiness during the time they lived. I know this is a very naive statement, but it just seems such a waste of who they were that they felt they couldn't be who they were (and not without reason at the time). I stand corrected there. Like I said, I have no idea why I even started wondering about him. Maybe it was Michael Hudson I was getting vibes from? If so, I'll be the first one to stand up and point and laugh at myself.

I remember seeing on Datalounge that Paul Stevens might have been/probably was. I don't usually ponder this kind of thing too much, but in watching some of the late '80s Another World episodes available on YT, I ponder about Kale Browne sometimes. Based on absolutely nothing other than something I just can't put my finger on.

The Five Faces of Alice, the set that was referred to in the post I was quoting. The clip featuring Wesley Pfening was not from her time as Alice and I wanted to point out that there is a small sample of her work as Alice.

There’s a 1979 (April 11, 1979 to be exact) episode on YouTube, probably uploaded after the Five Faces set, that features Wesley Pfening as Alice, taking place after Sally had run away from boarding school. Also features Michael and Marianne, Rachel, Brian, Ada, Liz, Mac, Rose Perrini, and a few others. I really wish there was more available from that era. Brian seemed like he evolved into a hell of a good catch from his introduction through 1980. I really don’t understand how he didn’t seem to have a good pairing after Iris. I have to shake my head at Mac and Rachel in this period. From what I’ve seen, they spent a lot of time acting like two teenagers obsessed with having their own way with each other, despite all the trouble it had already caused between them.

I heartily agree.

Moffat may have gone off the rails in his last two seasons (and some might say even before that with some justification) but after having seen most of this season, I’m now glad Capaldi didn’t stick around for Chibnall’s boring mess. I think this cast, especially JW, deserved a lot better. Unfortunately, Chibnall’s going to get a bigger curve than he deserves due to the first female Doctor. He’d better hope fans don’t rewatch this season too many times, because I feel his shortcomings, and the shortcomings of this season (almost none of which have to do with the cast) will be exposed pretty quickly on rewatch.

Ouch! My heart breaks with all the Bill hate! No, I’m kidding. There are a lot of great points being brought up regarding Bill Bauer and his many weaknesses. But I think if Bill and Bert would have ever had some kind of real sitdown or even blow-up fight between 1977 and that awful story in 1983, it might turn out that Bill might have some major things to forgive. Even by today’s standards, Bert Bauer was not a good wife to Bill. She constantly spent money they didn’t have, she nagged at him, she belittled him both to his face and behind his back to his own family, and she made his life as much of a living hell as he made hers. That’s what I would have found so fascinating if only Bill would have been written to stay in Springfield after his resurrection, especially after having spent well over a decade with a woman who seemed to be completely unlike Bert. I would have found it very interesting to watch Bill reintegrate and get to know the warmer, more sympathetic, wiser, and more wonderful Bert who was only starting to emerge around the time Bill disappeared. I remember a line Sean Kanan’s AJ practically snarled at Carly a few years back in General Hospital. “Why couldn’t you have built me up instead of constantly pushing me down?” Bert kept Bill on the ground a lot during their early days, and according to what I’ve read, Bill responded almost immediately and very favorably when she finally started showing him some affection. It wasn’t enough to get him off the alcohol right away, but there were other reasons at the time that Bill was hitting the sauce like there was no tomorrow. Guiding Light was so good at exposing uncomfortable truths, especially at the time, and I think it would have been wild for a completely different (and better) Bert and a completely different (and better) Bill confront the fact that, whatever the hardships and however they remain tied together by their family, they became their best selves once they weren’t shackled together anymore. And think of the shockwaves that would have gone through that Springfield if Bert and Bill did file for divorce, but Bill stayed in town and they wound up making peace and becoming good friends as Bill re-entered.

Comparing an ahole like Roseanne to a monster like Kevin Spacey is apples and oranges, in my opinion. That said, I think it’d be hilarious to get Plummer in a cameo as the doctor breaking the news to Dan and family that Roseanne didn’t make it through her knee surgery due to complications.

I was just watching the episode when John died and I have a question. Were John and Pat becoming close again leading up to his death? It looks as if (from the AWHP, anyway) they both had horrendously bad luck with romantic involvements that weren’t each other. I wish there was more footage of John available. By the time he died, he seemed like a pretty great guy, from what little I’ve seen of him anyway.

I don’t think Spencer and Justine ever lived in Bay City. The Harrison men, all three of them, came to Bay City from Boston. I think it was first Ryan, then Grant, then Spencer. But you’re right in that it makes no sense Spencer never had a reaction to Rachel’s resemblance to Justine, except that history didn’t exist until the Justine travesty actually started. I think Carl had some comment around the time he found out Ryan was his son about how “like” Rachel was to Justine, but my mind might be making even that up.

The most of I’ve actually seen of Willis so far (yet hope springs eternal) is the temporary Iris attacking him because she couldn’t get at the already-dead Janice after Brian (the Only Sane Person in Bay City for several years) told them what happened in St. Croix. Was Willis recast at some point? Maybe if so, a softer actor would have necessitated a change of heart in the character?

There was Tracy, who almost raised Matthew with Russ until Mac decided at the last minute he wanted to raise Matthew himself. *facepalm* MAC... really? Back to Tracy, Jason Dunlap was apparently responsible for her death because he was trying to kill Russ but got Tracy instead. I’ve read that Sharlene (played by LH) was afraid of him, but he also couldn’t bring himself to hurt her either... it was all pre-reformed Willis’s fault, he was the one who told Russ about Sharlene’s past and then had the nerve to be remorseful about it only after the irreparable damage had been done... Seriously, what was up with that generation of Frames? Even Jamie barely escaped that legacy of blaming everyone but themselves for their issues.

I’ve been reading the AWHP recaps and watching the 1979-1982 episodes available on YT, and I’ve got to say, Russ treated Sharlene very badly (not that her worthless brother Willis - were there ANY Frames other than Steve and Frankie and Dean who didn’t blame the world for their problems - or spineless Sharlene herself helped matters any), but his life just got worse and worse afterwards. Did he really have two wives pass away one after the other? I’m not sure I even want to watch the hatchet job they’ll do to poor Russ to justify poor pathetic heroine Sharlene keeping Josie from Russ, given I’m already seeing it being laid down pretty thick with Sharlene vs. Rachel regarding Sharlene’s crazy sister (ran in the family) Janice, who tried to kill Mac (and Rachel and Mitch). I’m literally stopping myself from yelling at YouTube, “Screw you, Sharlene! And your brother Jason too!”

Good luck, David. I’ll check this out for him despite the fact that I LOATHE Lena Dunham. Christian movies are probably preferable to working with good ol’ Lena.

BYE Guza and BYE Tony Geary, who cheerled him all the way when it was Genie who kept Geary relevant past his - what was it, six month contract? ETA: Substitute stronger language for BYE