robbwolff

Bruhner was before Pam Long. He arrived around March so it was either during the L. Virginia Browne/Gene Palumbo stint or when the Cullitons and Gary Tomlin were interim head writers.

I think Bert was off-screen in early 1984, not 1983. She was very prominent throughout 1983. She was in the story involving the older German hospital patient (Martin). Didn't Annabelle live with her after she was introduced? Bert was part of the story involving Annabelle and Eli, which led to Bill Bauer's murder. They even hinted at a possible romance between Bert and HB. I think Bert went off-screen after the story involving the mystery of Annie Sims ended. She returned in May 1984 when Tony and Annabelle were married.

I watched a bit on my iPhone. The scenes in the restaurant featured palm trees in the background and that got me thinking. Wasn’t The Young Marrieds set in a suburb of the then unnamed town on General Hospital? So at this point GH couldn’t have been set in New York but rather a locale with palm trees like Florida or California. Makes me wonder when TPTB at GH decided GH was set in New York.

She kinda resembles Laurie Walters from Eight is Enough.

It was Jeff Ryder who said he was thinking about bringing back Mike and Hope in an article that appeared shortly after Bert died. I posted the article upthread a bit. Within a month, Ryder was replaced by Mary Ryan Munisteri as head writer. Sheri Anderson and Joseph Manetta brought in teenaged Alan-Michael in June 1987 along with the horrid Lacey Bauer and reintroduced Rick in time for the 50th anniversary. Long returned a few months later as head writer.

And Clarke was apparently the second Lesley Ann. Video surfaced showing another actress playing the role: Jacqueline Perkel. She now works at the same college where I'm employed.

I think Bunim was EP of Santa Barbara from 1984 to 1986. Was the other actress that Alan wants to get Carolyn Ann Clarke who played Lesley Ann? I know they mentioned Carolyn Ann, Kathleen Cullen, and Marsha Clark during the reunion. I really enjoyed the reunion, especially getting to see Harley again. She's always been one of my favorites.

Actually it was Ellen Dolan who appeared as Maureen in those scenes. Ellen Parker assumed the role shortly after Bert died. I'm still watching the latest Locher Room reunion, but Harley Jane Kozak is still pissed that Guiding Light taped the day of Charita's funeral. And thanks to Dolan, we know now it was a spiteful Gail Kobe who killed off Hillary Bauer when Marsha Clark exercised her right to go out to California for pilot season.

I’m not sure Mac was being cruel. I recall that scene and felt it worked because Mac just blurted out something about his firstborn in his excitement over Amanda’s birth. Once he made that remark, Iris pushed for the truth.

It was very challenging. I teach two college courses in addition to having a full-time job. So I had something like 55 papers to read and grade while my vision was blurred. Somehow I got the work done.

I received my first Pfizer shot on April 9. Unless previous vaccinations, I never even felt the needle enter my arm. Starting that Friday evening and ver the weekend, I had some mild side effects: headache, fatigue, muscle aches. But within a few hours of vaccination I had another side effect: distorted vision, which is apparently a rare side effect. For nearly a week after the poke, I had blurred vision. It was the worst last Monday when I literally had to hold my MacBook about 6 inches from my face so that I could read an email. At that point, I signed off from work, took some medical cannabis, and napped for hours. Thankfully, my vision is back to normal now. I go back for poke #2 on April 30. I'm hoping for no or mild symptoms. After I scheduled the appointment, I remembered that's my bday weekend.

And I think you're right: I vaguely recollect the name Theresa Regina being used at some point. I didn't realize that Joanna had been used for the name of Lloyd's wife at one point. That's now the second character named Joanne whose name was changed. Sometime in 1983, Billy Lewis' ex-wives were referenced as Dina and Joanna. When ex-wife #2 arrived, she was known as Reva.

I trust Jason's word about Days waiting for news of a renewal. His knowledge about the show is pretty amazing. Also, I'm not sure about NBC having to telling Carlivati about its plans so that he could write an ending. That surely didn't happen with Port Charles in 2003. The show completed production at the end of its six-month taping schedule. ABC cancelled the show later, in June 2003, so Brown and Esensten never had the chance to write an ending.

The quote about bringing back Mike and Hope was in Soap Opera Digest and was part of an article about Jeff Ryder's plans for the show. It was around early April 1986, so right after Bert passed away. He also discussed plans to introduce Sarah and Rusty Shayne. Of course, Ryder was gone from Guiding Light by May 1986. Here's the article:

I really enjoyed it. I was surprised to not only hear the original theme song from the Retro reruns, but also to see Robert Mandan guest starring in the premiere. The sets were pretty impressive. I found it challenging caring for the characters. I didn't know them so I wasn't invested in their stories. What really bothered me was a line toward the end of the episode involving Mandan's character asking the doctors about he and his wife having a child. The doctor's response -- in light of the events in this episode -- made me cringe.

Did they actually say Kincaid was too old to play Tom? If so, that's absurd. He was younger than his predecessors C. David Colson, Justin Deas, and Tom Tammi.

I had lost interest in GL by the time Charita passed way, but my mom was still a big fan. I recall reading an article in one of mom's soap magazines around the summer of 1985 where there was talk of possibly recasting the role of Bert. I think they even dropped the names of a few actresses who were being considered. A year after they allowed Bert to die, there were talks with Mary Stuart about joining GL as Hannah Bauer. This was when Sheri Anderson was head writer. Years later, Mary talked about that in a soap mag interview. I'm not sure who Hannah was supposed to be. Perhaps she was meant to be the mother of Johnny, Lacey, and Todd (who was slated to be played by Frank Dicopolous until Pam Long dropped Todd and created Frank Cooper).

It is so long ago that it's hard to remember the details. I do remember the bust being laughable, but don't recall is Liz was aware that the bones were that of Maria. Walter Gantz wasn't around long at all -- less than three weeks. Lee Sheldon sped through story way too quickly. Poor Nicole was murdered around the second week of June and Miles was bedding Chris a few months later.

That was really ludicrous. Her name was Maria and she was a patient at Greenhaven Sanitarium where Laurie Karr and Liz Corell were also institutionalized. Dr. Prentice, who was in charge of Greenhaven, accidentally killed Maria in a struggle. One of the guys at the sanitarium, Benedict, protected Dr. Prentice by burying Maria and then drugging Laurie Karr so that Laurie wouldn't reveal that Dr. Prentice had killed Maria. There was another guy involved in the mess -- Timothy -- but I don't recall his connection to Greenhaven. I always felt 1984 was a frustrating year -- so many new characters added for these stories only to be dropped as soon as the story was over.

Edge's Mexico trip wasn't taped in Montauk. It was taped in Los Cabos, Mexico. As for Alicia's involvement with the plastics formula, the storyline had been going on since late March. Julianne Moore was even featured as Carmen Engler early in the storyline. A lot of people forget that Edge ended with a second Olympics cliffhanger: the arrival of Marcia Cross as Liz Correll, who showed up in Derek Mallory's office with human bones. I thought it was a brilliant way to introduce a new intriguing character and mystery.

Thanks for sharing this, Paul! I lived in East Brunswick and remember when Edge came to town in 1978. Years later, probably around 1985, my old elementary school (Chittick) had a silent auction, including the final script from Edge, signed by the entire cast.

I first started watching GL in April 1982 and remember a lot of the details during that period.

This is not accurate. Pat Falken Smith was there for only about 2 months in the fall of 1982. There wasn’t much turnover at all during her brief tenure. Pat was replaced by L. Virginia Browne and Gene Palumbo around December 1982. They were gone by late March or early April. This is the period when a few characters were jettisoned: Sara, Tim, Jennifer, Gracie, and perhaps some others. Browne/Palumbo kept Morgan and moved her into Phillip and Rick’s orbit until the character was abruptly phased out in May 1983. Next came interim writers Carolyn Culliton, Richard Culliton, and Gary Tomlin, who were there around April/May. I think they introduced Annabelle Sims. Pam Long and Richard Culliton arrived in May; this is when the massive cast changes happened. Hope was gone by November/December 1983. Alan departed around April 1984. Long/Culliton wrote Quint and Nola’s wedding. I don’t remember a kidnapping story during their honeymoon. Their honeymoon involved an inn and the tale of star-crossed lovers, John and Nora, who had died a century earlier. Lisa Brown gave birth the following year. Quint and Nola then had that very unpopular story with the child Jonathan Brooks. As for Browne, I always take what she said with a grain of salt. In one article, she claimed that Guiding Light continued to use her bible for another 9 or so months after she was fired as head writer. I’m not sure how true that is, but she also claimed that she was credited on screen during those 9 months. Not true at all. Her name was gone from the credits by early spring 1983.

Mike Marshall on Another World committed suicide in the summer of 1980 as the show was getting ready to launch Texas. Also, Laura Delaney Cooper on Somerset committed suicide.

They were looking to identify the child actor who played Tabitha on Bewitched. Serena was mentioned in the segment when the panelists asked who played the role of Serena.