KMan101

Fantastic news that they'll be streaming the series.

Excellent casting.

Yeah, that's all very true. They were young and felt the pressure on themselves to be "big". Courtney and Josie did seem the most loyal. Courtney probably would have been in the finale had things worked out.

Randomly started watching a 2002 episode and [!@#$%^&*] whoever decided to replace Scott Holroyd with Roger Howarth. And such a waste of Lamman Rucker.

Ah, I do recall that now, somewhat. Thanks. I always liked him so it irked me he had such a chip on his shoulder towards the show (I get it ... and even back then actors were still being told not to get stuck and they feared always being identified as said character). I feel like he probably would have done a proper revival, if it had come at the right time. David shouldn't have been Michael's, SMH.

They all look so good I'm still so pissed the CW fucked us out of real revivals of 90210 and MP (both also unfortunately well before the brief "revival craze") Grant always seemed like he was thrilled to be away from Melrose. But considering he's doing the trash that is Dynasty ....

No lies here. I didn't mind Edmund for a while and even Richard was tolerable in the beginning. But no thanks to any of them. Danny sucked once Bethany Lenz left and we had Pod Michelle. They also failed to capitalize on the chemistry Laura Wright and Paul Anthony Stewart had. Danny/Cassie would have been far better (thank you for trying Millee Taggart!). While most of them were "fine" in the beginning they all ended up helping drive me away as well. Not to mention the awful writing, of course. (Although I'd take Danny Santos anyday over Jesse Blue) Jonathan was the final nail in the coffin for me. I somehow stuck through San Cristobal and The Santos' takeover of Springfield but Jonathan was trash. No lies here. +1 A lot of those characters/actors could have worked had the writing/story direction been better.

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Honestly they sort of did the same with Mallet as they did with Buzz. Harley existed for Mallet as he whined and screamed and petted his dog. I wasn't impressed with him either. Early Mallet is FAR better. It really is sad watching such a vibrant show become what it did. Phelps absolutely rips the heart out of every show she's on and just stomps all over it. Re-watching Curlee's GL and Labine's GH this past week and then immediately watching some later stuff, I just want to cry at the destruction. You know about it, see it, but for some reason, comparison just really makes it hit home. Heck, even by 1996-1998 GH was on the decline without Claire and it was clear as day ... her return of Luke and Laura? Re-establishing Laura. The house of Laura's dreams. My God. It's amazing to watch. We are such a far cry from that. And to think how Phelps just destroyed it. Such strong relationships were just battered to the point of no return. Under Claire you could literally go from a sitcom sequence to such human drama with Luke, Laura, Bobbie, etc. Sigh. Anyway, back to GL ... Gone is the care and devotion and effort at really putting on an amazing show. I mean, this is no new revelation, but the destruction was truly devastating. EDIT: It always bothered me they dumped Nola (but they had no idea how to write for her anyway) and then slotted in Selena (who I liked at the time) and made Drew Selena's daughter. Would have been better if Drew were Stacy and Nola's daughter. I wonder what could have been with Nola had Curlee still been the head writer and no Phelps around. It's like Phelps shrugged and said "here's Nola so shut up about Maureen"

I'm sure there's that too of course.

Sadly I saw this topic approached on the cesspool that is Twitter and so many prefer Christel. I wonder why (though not really, just saying ...) .... Because she was more light skinned than Davetta? Most likely, which is ... sad. But when we have folks telling gorgeous Gabrielle Union her hair is basically too black ... Davetta was my favorite Lily by far. ADORED.HER. I was so pissed when Valley Girl Lily came back. I'm *still* pissed. LOL.

Yep, it was. I like it that way. Same. And the Darlene/Jackie altercation was a long time coming and I really enjoyed it. Great stuff. Really really really captured the feel of the original series. I appreciate anytime they bring up Roseanne the character.

Liz Keifer (like Marj and Ron, and others I've mentioned) is another recast that they tried to write Blake in character for but as Vee said, Liz Keifer is just soccer mom-ish and it didn't work. Sherry's Blake had so many layers that just seemed wiped away when Keifer took over. Looks wise, I can see why they picked Keifer. But acting wise? No comparison. I do think all three Blake's bore a resemblance to Maureen Garrett.

That's true. Sometimes that makes the show watchable, but not very "must see". Sometimes that's needed. But a good assessment. Run of the mill/generic. I guess after watching years of trash, I'm good with a little basic soap, lol. Probably a network mandate. I forgot all about those, honestly. I liked Lisa and the Lisa/Jamie/Vicky triangle as well. I was disappointed she left. I agree she was always probably supposed to be Felicia's niece. Now, she'd be her daughter for sure! LOL. "Shock twist" ...

Loved those two moments. The writing remains so sharp and funny.

Yes! I notice this with her as well. I enjoyed her writing on AW, mostly, but agreed completely with this.

I think one of the last straws for me was being stuck with Jeffrey. Lord!!! ugh. I didn't mind Richard and felt it was a natural end (and another of Cassie's men croaked, it was fitting). Yeah in 2004 everyone bailed. Maureen Garrett, Peter Simon, Jerry verDorn, Grant Aleksander, Laura Wright (which was fine by me, Laura/Cassie grated on me) ... if you really look at it, the show was becoming gutted for years, sadly. (And then I believe O'Leary, Chamberlin, Kiefer and others were all dumped to recurring; but Maeve Kinkead came back) It's funny, but now in 2019, most actors are more than willing. It's kind of sad they jumped ship but who could blame them? They still had options in the soap world. Also on a different tangent, what happened to Beth Ehlers and Harley? She's SO enjoyable to watch in her early years. My God, it's night and day. Betty Rea was a fantastic casting direction. Some misses, but even the greats have a few missteps. I miss when real thought went into a recast. Jensen Buchanan, looks wise, I can see why they cast her (that and probably other reasons) and they made an effort to direct her to be like Anne's Vicky. She still sucked as an actress, IMO, but I miss when they at least tried to "get it right" ... so many end up becoming miscast when the direction is lost and the writing suffers. But a great actor should overcome that I suppose ... I wasn't a Jammy fan, but I get why folks were. GL had such potential. I miss it a lot.

I'm pretty sure. Doesn't he sing opera or something? lol But watching Raines and then going back to Bernau and Pilon, it's startling how much they sound alike at times. Even in the face I can see why they recast with him. The problem with Marj and Ron were they just weren't Bernau and McKinsey (shoes just too hard to fill), but if I were a casting director, I totally understand why they cast them. I've also been watching ATWT and AW and notice Jensen Buchanan wasn't nearly as tragic in the beginning. They at least tried to keep her like Anne's Vicky initially. Same for Beth Chamberlin as Beth on GL. The problem is, over time, they're written terribly. They don't even try to keep them in character and just write them however they want. Just some observations. I'm personally surprised how well they used to recast. It's too bad it all fell apart. And Ron could play that Alan. It's frustrating because, looks and sound wise, he's a solid recast. He's just very different overall. It's weird. LOL. And YES, Dusay COULD do well as Alex. She was NEVER McKinsey, but I absolutely see why they cast her. It went downhill after she returned from AMC. But the writing was never very good for her Alex after that anyway. REAL direction goes a LONG way. Dusay gets a bad rap but I think she was more than capable. They just failed. And I guess she could have made different choices later on. But when Alex is written as a cartoon ... I think Dusay could have sold the Joan Collins material, personally. A lot of these older actors and actresses seem to feel they needed to ham it up. Susan Seaforth Hayes has said it. Robin Strasser. They're all capable of stellar performances but it gets lost when they're hamming it up like a cartoon. Justin Deas isn't a lead actor, IMO. I never understood why Phelps was so hot for him? But then they'd give him actually good material and he'd be more understated and I'd come around but then he'd lose me again. It was just too much. And yep, the Jonathan saga and Reva show (look! she's going through paintings! look she has breast cancer AND she's pregnant!") turned me off massively but we lost a lot around 2003/2004/2005 and the show just never recovered, sadly. Everyone was fleeing a sinking ship.

I think in terms of look and delivery and watching early Marj as Alex, I can see why they cast her. It's unfortunate that Alex became a cartoon and Marj lost her way in the role. Justin Deas was vastly over used and so beyond grating. He'd be my pick. lol. I'd have rather seen him dumped in the water and forgotten about instead of poor Nadine. I thought Marcy Walker fit in well with the cast but the character just ultimately didn't seem work. I need to see more of her time on the show; the bits I've seen I can see why she didn't catch on but there was a lot of missed opportunity and potential, I think. I was glad Marcy went back to AMC. Not a friend of Jill thing, just something I've thought about recently because I'm watching old episodes on Youtube, but I know folks often didn't like Ron Raines as Alan but, like Marj as Alex, I can see why the would have cast him. His voice sounds similar to the other two Alan's (Bernau and Pilon). The problem was with both Pilon and Raines, they weren't bad, they just weren't Bernau, which I completely understand. But I didn't mind Raines or what I've seen of Pilon. And also with Raines Alan, they often just made him a scapegoat and ultimately a bellowing cartoon much like Alex. It was a shame. They weren't awful recasts, they just weren't Bernau and McKinsey, who were just simply amazing, and couldn't be topped, in the roles.

LOL Khan! Everything you say about Todd is why redeeming rapists never works. It NEVER WORKS. And yeah, Karen would be [!@#$%^&*] upon by everyone in town.

A *real* documentary would be AMAZING. Goutman and Phelps are defensive because they know deep down they're show killers Very very true on JFP having a great writing team on Guiding Light. She still ultimately gutted it's heart and soul, personally. She does it at every soap. She just got lucky in a few of her gigs. I've also always thought she made the shows darker. I know some laud her production skills but meh ... But great writers help and that was a very good time, too bad it all went to campy hell with McTavish (sadly? I'd take it over the last 10 years of GL). I would love to get a behind the scenes of ABC during the Frons era and all the hacks he had running the soaps. Lord. Interesting about Caso. Is he more revered than he should be? But regardless it sounds like ATWT floundered a bit. I'd still take it over the last 5-10 years of ATWT ... lol. But it's also an era I'm still trying to get to in terms of watching old stuff. Familiar with a lot of it but haven't exactly taken the time to watch yet (I'm trying ... downloading takes a while ...)

Always seemed like they never recovered from this horrible swap (and all are cancelled). Caso seemed well suited to ATWT, Valente on AW ... JFP gutted AW's heart like she did at every show she's been on. Sigh.

I remember, Vee. You've said it before And it is? Relax. IMHO, they don't do it enough, whether some want to hear the name or not. It feels like they miss natural spots, that's really all I'm trying to say, sorry if you find it redundant. Becky should be allowed to miss her mother in times like this. I just want more and I'm not sorry about it, lol. But I get why they don't.

She's credited as "Austin's grandmother" so who knows? Maybe they intentionally left it vague. And agreed on the first part. I don't care for Roseanne the person but I enjoyed Roseanne Conner and without either Roseanne we wouldn't even have The Conners.

Yeah. I don't recall them giving the character much depth, or development, either. It was a missed opportunity. I do think she came off too harsh. They never name drop her. It feels out of place. They should still be talking about her. But I get why (and yes Dan says "us" "we" ...). I don't miss Roseanne the person but honestly, as much as I adore The Conners without her, I sometimes do miss Roseanne Conner the character. Not a popular take I'm sure. Doesn't mean I miss Roseanne the person ... I can separate the two, but it's hard and I know some can't. I don't recall them mentioning her name at all. Was it meant to be Kathy Bowman or just the actress was back and they knew she could play that type of role well? But it makes sense for Kathy to shame her grandson into denial. I feel like we don't get enough time with these storylines. I was waiting for the tag to be Dan seeing her, but nope, we got Jackie and her weird Ben attraction (why not pair them for the hell of it?) so ... was it meant to be Kathy? (I didn't see the end credits so I apologize if it was confirmed)