BetterForgotten

It may take a year (or even years), but people will realize how good they actually had it with Barack and Michelle.

The confrontation with Lilian will always be severely implanted in my brain. It's that perfect moment when great acting, writing, and directing combine.

But how much of that second run was Long? Robert Calhoun had just come off a lauded stint EP-ing ATWT, and Nancy Curlee was Co-HW and said she and Long shared "responsibilities" for stories during that time. I think Curlee even wrote Josh and Reva's wedding episodes, amazing enough. What Curlee told us in 2009: Toups: In 1989, you were promoted to Co-Head Writer. What was your role in that position under Head Writer Pamela K. Long? Curlee: We shared responsibilities for stories. I was able to put the Roger/Mindy/Billy/Alex story in motion, which had great legs, I thought, and focused on actors I particularly liked. I did a lot of the layout of the week, which meant breaking the stories down into episodes.

I did hear Calhoun and Long didn't get along very well and were like oil and water, but I guess that worked.

I think Long's second stint was way better than her first - but I don't know if that was more Nancy Curlee and Robert Calhoun's influence.

Holly was initially very disappointed and let down by Ed when she found about about everything, which I thought was pretty realistic (as she had always built him up as her "hero"). I don't think it lasted too long though.

I did see some of the 1990 stuff, and I hope more gets posted. Ah, the good old days... Nothing against Keifer, but I do think she was too homely for the part, and it as just jarring to go from Stringfiled to her. Stringfield will always be my Blake (and Kimberly Simms will always be my Mindy). They needed an actress who could still play the vampy aspects of the character, but also someone who could progress the character and transition her to the more respectable position. With Keifer, she just couldn't play the darker parts of the character, so they had to make the character softer to match her sensibility. I think it's fitting that the affair revelation was Stringfield's last episode. There are just some scenes I will never forget, and I will never forget Holly dropping that damn tray - it still cuts me deep as it did the first time I saw it. Gosh, Maureen Garrett is so underrated...

I wish Sherry Stringfield had gotten to play these scenes. I get that they were trying to say the love of Ross matured/tamed Blake, but because Keifer couldn't play the character with edge, it made it feel like they were whitewashing how awful Blake had been to Holly and almost as if everything was Holly's fault.

Lol, this album is deader than dead, I'm surprised there's even a second single.

It's hard to imagine that Lynn Deerfield played Holly for 6 years and virtually nothing exists of it. Maybe that's exactly why I could never imagine anyone but Maureen Garrett playing Holly. I wonder if the change in actresses was seamless or if it took the audience a while to accept Garrett.

I always liked the turbulent yet soothing music they used in Roger/Holly scenes in the early 90s - a perfect background for their dynamic. There were variations of it, it's kinda overdone towards the end of the brilliant scenes below, but still perfect. In retrospect, it's amazing that Roger and Holly's returns worked as well as they did. GL was such a different show by 1989, but despite all the changes and the show being an entirely different beast than their previous stint, it worked and was just the shot in the arm the show needed. Not to mention, it drove years worth of stories. When I started watching, I didn't even really know their history, how long they were away, and how the show had changed - they were just compulsively watchable characters both together and apart. Goes to show what great characters, actors, and writing can bring to the table. If I'm honest, this is probably the only time in my soap viewing existence where returns worked and the characters were arguably better defined than during their original stint. Too bad Zaslow and Garrett (especially her) remain so underrated and still never get the credit they deserve.

God, 1996 was a terrible year for this show.

Was it Bridget Dobson that said they would try to write a compelling opening teaser and then "it would flash to that thing with the dead leaves?"

The Ritounelle theme is the best music GL ever had, IMO. I also think it's synonymous with the show's very best eras.

I think GH fell apart during the latter half of 1998 to be honest, and never found its footing again (and that was WITH Riche).