JarrodMFiresofLove

Conboy and Weston seemed to want Marj to camp-up Alex, which didn't work for me. If you look at Marj's credits on the IMDb you can see how many different series she did over the years. You don't get cast that often if you're not good. In old episodes of Barnaby Jones and the original Hawaii Five O, she's very subtle, very good. And she was fantastic on Capitol. In fact I thought she was better than Carolyn Jones and Marla Adams who both played Myrna before she was hired. But her stint on Santa Barbara was over the top, just like her stint on All My Children. Somewhere along the way she lost that subtle approach to the characters she played. And she became more difficult to enjoy watching on screen.

I loved Marj as Myrna on Capitol. But she was terrible as Alex on Guiding Light. I think when she came back at the end of 2002, she had just finished playing a cartoon villain on All My Children and she carried some of that over to Alex. It was dreadful...she butchered the character and Conboy let her do it. Wheeler didn't even try to reign her in. She should have been written off.

Yes, this is what didn't work for me with Keifer's portrayal. She did not come across as a woman with a background in business. In some ways she felt miscast. When they did the Wives Club episode in late 2002, where all Philip's ex-wives showed up to help Alex (now played by Joan Collins) regain control of Spaulding, having Keifer in that boardroom meeting just felt off. Like she didn't belong there. We never would have felt that with Dennehy or Stringfield in the role. There was one episode in either 2000 or 2001 where Claire Labine had Blake baking scones for Ross and the boys. That's how much the character had changed from her days in the corporate sector. Esensten and Harmon Brown tried to give the character a bit of zest by having her become a romance novelist but that never really went anywhere and mostly felt like filler material. Weston used Blake in some of the detective agency stuff with Harley which was mostly fluff. And Weston had Ross and Blake remarry at Christmastime in 2003. But when Kreizman and Wheeler took over they scrambled for her to be meaningful. She had maybe one good episode (when Ross died) but other than that the character was relatively useless the last five years. They didn't even age her sons or her daughter. In fact Blake and Ross' kids were hardly ever shown during Kreizman and Wheeler's regime, that's how unimportant Keifer's version had become, with no real purpose or story line of her own. She was signed to a six-month contract by producer Paul Rauch in the summer of 2002. She started airing in mid-to-late September. It was a big deal at the time. She was meant to boost the show's sagging ratings. I am sure she was quite expensive. Plus they were paying for all the publicity related to her arrival. But she was dropped after three months, in late December. The official word was she had some book launch to do (she was still writing and publishing books like her sister Jackie Collins). But I think it's because her cycle was up (cycles are 13-weeks) and instead of continuing to pay her for the full six month period they just cut their losses and got rid of her because ratings had not gone up. They brought Marj Dusay back who I am sure was much less expensive. I liked Collins in the role, at the time, but looking at it now, she feels miscast. Marj was miscast too. There was only one real Alexandra and it was Beverlee McKinsey.

It was not the best recast. Keifer got better, but it was Stringfield who owned the role.

Thanks. I will try to find those clips/episodes when I get a chance.

I think the character from the 70s that Long would have done well writing for (if she hadn't been killed off before Long started) would have been Jackie played by Cindy Pickett. It was exactly the kind of self-empowered female Long specialized in writing. By the way I was just looking up the recast Carrie Mowery and found an obituary. Is this the same person? https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/latimes/obituary.aspx?page=lifestory&pid=173136020

Yes, someone could (and should) write a book about the failed revivals of AMC and OLTL. That's a whole subject by itself!

And Jerry Ver Dorn also addressed the camera at the end of the episode in 2002 that acknowledged Mary Stuart's passing. So he helped with the send-offs for two of Procter & Gamble's most beloved leading ladies.

Malcolm was the one who died. The one who was actually still alive (and had been away in Ireland) was Matt McCleary, the estranged husband of Kate McCleary and the father of the three McCleary brothers. They had all thought Matt died and their uncle Malcolm was in Ireland. The ending of the story felt a little rushed, probably because Long and Walsh wanted to facilitate a reunion between the two parents and give all the McClearys a happy ending. Didn't realize they divorced. I see on his wiki page it says their marriage ended in 2016. They were together for over 30 years.

None of them were ever frumpy. Even the older women, such as Bert and Barbara, were presented as classy and "with it." Yes. Though Roger's wife Peggy and Mike's daughter Hope should be included, unless they were temporarily off screen at this time. As I stated in previous posts the Dobsons kept things fairly basic. The show was still in the half-hour format in 1976. In 1977 the cast expanded when they went to an hour. The Spauldings were added, including Alan's assistant Diane Ballard. Ben McFaren (Steve Yates) was added. Lucille Wexler and her daughter Amanda would be added. Bill Bauer would resurface, which paved the way for his daughter Hilary to be added. Etc.

His wife Marcia McCabe played Sunny from 1977 up to the very last episode in 1986. She would definitely have a lot of insider knowledge. Both of them should write a book about the soap industry, with a focus on Procter & Gamble. Yes, and I think the logic was you have to go "big" in order to attract bigger audiences. They were going all the way, pulling out all the stops to make the show must-see. I'm actually glad they did that because the last year has incredibly good production values. Whereas shows today that keep cutting back on the budget are just stalling out their demise and dying a painfully slow death.

Interesting comment about Roerick's previous turn on the show. I think Jordan Clarke had also been on GL in the 70s as a different character, before he appeared as Billy Lewis in the 80s. There must have been enough of a gap so fans didn't mind. Roger actually was recast in 1997 with Dennis Parlato. He was fine on OLTL as a similar character (Michael Grande) but he felt out of place on GL. And of course, Zaslow cast a long shadow. I guess after Rauch, Esensten & Harmon Brown chose not to write Zaslow's illness into the show and dropped him, they needed Parlato to finish out the current storyline and wrap things up. But it just didn't feel right.

None of the actors ever talk about the end of the show (except for Mary Stuart who did some interviews later on). A lot of the cast from the 80s is still living. It would be nice if someone interviewed a few of them to get their behind-the-scenes impressions of the last year. As we know the production underwent a major overhaul in '86. I'd like to know more about what the atmosphere was like on the set. What was it like when they were told the show was being dropped by NBC, etc.

Yes, I wanted to make sure I had a few on my list from the last decade. While I think Wheeler was a dreadful producer, and the writing became increasingly abysmal some of the new cast members in those last few years were certainly way above average and they gave us some memorable characters. I did like Gina T's version of Dinah but I think Wendy M felt more believable playing Maeve Kinkead's daughter. And while I mostly loathed late '86 and the first half of '87 (before Pam Long's return) we did get the introduction of Dinah during that period, and she became a legacy character. I really think this show did a good job of casting the juvenile roles, especially in the late 80s, all through the 90s and early 2000s. The kid who played Little Billy was great; I loved watching little Hayden Panettiere as Lizzie; and as you said Rachel Miner was certainly good as a very young Michelle. In the 2000s, I liked the kid who played Cassie's troubled son Will-- can't remember his real name, but he was another compelling child actor on the show. Good casting goes a long way towards creating memorable characters. Some roles, thank goodness, were never recast. Nobody else would have played Reva as well as Kim Zimmer during those five years she was away (1990-95). Similarly William Roerick was aces as Henry Chamberlain. I sincerely doubt anyone would have done justice to that part after Roerick died. I was glad they did not recast it but wrote his death into the show. Lisa Brown's Nola was another one who never could have been played by anyone else.

Female characters I loved: HOLLY (my fave); VANESSA; JACKIE (played by Cindy Pickett); BERT; REVA; ALEXANDRA (Beverlee McKinsey's version); SALLY (Patricia Barry was an excellent actress, loved her voice); CASSIE (played by Laura Wright); MICHELLE (played by Joy Lenz, definitely my most favorite younger actress); CLAIRE (Susan Pratt was always feisty and never played a doormat); HOPE (Elvera Roussel); ANNIE (Cynthia Watros); GILLY; NOLA; DINAH (played by Wendy Moniz); HARLEY; LILLIAN; MARAH (played by Laura Bell Bundy); LIZZIE (Hayden Panettiere) and SARA (McIntyre not Shayne). Male characters I loved: JOSH (my fave); ROGER (Michael Zaslow); ROSS; ED (Peter Simon); ALAN (Chris Bernau & Ron Raines, loved both interpretations); H.B.; HENRY; FLETCHER; JUSTIN (Tom O'Rourke); MIKE; PHILLIP (Grant Aleksander); ALAN-MICHAEL (Rick Hearst); BILLY (Jordan Clarke); RICHARD; JIM (the adopive father of Harley's daughter, played by Anthony Addabbo, he was refreshingly decent and honest); KYLE; DAX (loved Thom Christopher's acting); FATHER RAY (the one Santos with a conscience); TONY (played by Jordi Vilasuso); HAWK; LITTLE BILLY (Bryan Buffington); JONATHAN (Tom Pelphrey was always entertaining) and SHAYNE (Jeff Branson).

Incidentally Long wrote a character for Tesreau on Santa Barbara. Re: Reva's love interests outside of Josh, I liked her relationship with Richard, though ironically most of that (her having Jonathan) occurred off camera. I was always hoping for elaborate, newly constructed flashbacks of her as Princess Catherine, married to Prince Richard. It captured my imagination but we never really saw that because Richard was used more with Cassie. I liked Josh with his Venezuelan wife Sonni (before all the Solita nonsense).

Okay thanks for clarifying. We should indicate the dates you gave are when her material started airing on Search and on GL (when she returned in 87). So she was probably already working at Search in April 86 and her material started appearing on screen around June. In order for her material to start airing again on GL in August 87, she would have written a new bible and started taking charge of the daily writing back in May or June. 87. My guess is she had a long-term contract with P&G since her days as a head writer at Texas. And the company would move her around and put her where they needed her to fix things. I should say that I had a slight personal connection to her. She was my favorite writer when I was in high school. As luck would have it, a girl in one of my elective classes who was two years older than me (she was class of 87 and I was class of 89) graduated and went east. We went to high school in Colorado. Anyway, the girl left town and I assumed she went off to college. We were acquaintances not really close. About a year later I got a letter from that girl who had found a job as a nanny in Connecticut (Ridgefield, CT to be exact). She told me she was the nanny for Pam Long's two sons. She remembered my talking about Pam Long being my favorite soap writer in high school and she said she told Pam about me. I wrote my old school mate back and asked her what it was like. She said Pam was fun to work for and sometimes my friend was able to go into NYC with Pam and visit the GL studio. She said one day when she was on the set it had been announced Krista Tesreau was leaving the show. So Pam decided to have Mindy marry Will Jeffries and write Mindy out that way. I guess that was big problem at the time, how to write Mindy out since Tesreau wanted to go west and try her luck in L.A. Flash forward to 1991. I had since graduated from high school. And I had gone west to attend film school in L.A. I took a soap writing class and our professor encouraged us to try and get internships on the various shows, you know, to "get our foot in the door." So I decided to send a letter to Pam Long who was at that point the head writer of Santa Barbara. I sent it to NBC, because I wasn't sure if she and her sons still lived back in Connecticut and had lost contact with the girl I went to high school with. Pam sent me a very nice letter saying she remembered her nanny telling her about me. It was on Santa Barbara stationary. In one of the paragraphs she made a point of telling me to make sure I stayed in college and graduated. It felt like advice a mother would give. It had just been announced that Santa Barbara was going off the air. So I ended up getting an internship and production assistant job at General Hospital instead.

THANK YOU. What a great looking guy. Wish I had seen him on Love of Life.

So how many different soaps was Chandler Harben on? I don't think his credits on the IMDb are complete.

I completely agree with what you wrote above. Bert was a sufferer. She was valiant, and yes, a martyr. That's why she was so popular with viewers for several decades. Bad things happened to her, the family was devastated by Bill's many indiscretions. But Bert kept things together and persevered in the face of hardship, putting her sons first. Having Bill come back and experience some sort of redemption would have robbed Bert, Mike and Ed of their identities. They were defined by the life they made for themselves during Bill's absence. Bill had to reach a tragic end, that was the nature of his character.

No it's the other way around. Jeff Ryder is the one who named her Bert Bauer Ramsey, and they had Claire call the baby B.B. Pam Long was on maternity leave. When she came back she changed the name to Michelle. There was some interview where she said the name was changed to reflect the baby being named after its uncle (Mike). Also they wanted the child to have the Bauer name, and B.B. Bauer (Bert Bauer Bauer) was redundant.

I don't think you're seeing the whole picture. In another post you go on about how much you like Reva. But if Kobe/Long didn't get rid of some people there would not have been room to bring Reva and her family in, expand Josh's family, expand the Spauldings and add the Raines family, or the Cooper family later. It's unrealistic to expect a new producer and new head writer to continue using all the previous regime's characters. It just does not happen in soap land. They have been hired to bring a new vision to the show and that means cutting the deadwood and introducing vibrant new characters to carry the drama forward. And I don't think you were really paying attention to the storyline where Bill Bauer was killed off. The point of that story was there was someone (Eli Sims) who wanted revenge against the patriarchs because of what had happened to his wife years ago. Someone had to die as he carried out his vengeance, otherwise the story would have had no gravitas. And having Eli kill someone important like Bill Bauer gave it a long-term lasting effect. You are still affected by Eli's murder spree years later, almost a decade after the show went off the air. So that tells me Kobe & Long crafted a very strong story and it made a huge impact if we're still discussing it in 2018. Other writers would have just forgotten about Bill Bauer and never mentioned him again. But Kobe & Long gave us so much more than that.

You are borrowing my phrase 'played out' and I think you are misappropriating it. Played out does not mean a character has grown old. Technically a young character could be played out too. Played out means they have outlived their usefulness having gone beyond the point where they can be logically used in the framework of existing storylines. Villains tend to be played out the fastest. When a character ends up doing the same thing again and again, or recedes into the background because there aren't any new ways to present the character, then he or she is played out. Sometimes if a writer and producer temporarily rest a character, by putting them into a coma or sending them to jail or out of town for awhile, they can come back later with renewed purpose and storyline. Then they have something to play again. As for Lisa, she was a beloved presence on As the World Turns for a long time, but Hogan Sheffer probably felt she was played out and that's why he didn't use her. He couldn't fire Eileen Fulton so she just became a glorified extra during those years. This happened to Jeanne Cooper on The Young and the Restless. They reached a point where Katherine Chancellor was played out (around 2008). So they gave her a new storyline where an impostor named Marge came into the picture and took over Katherine's identity for awhile. Now Cooper was playing a new character with all these new story avenues. And while Katherine was kidnapped and kept off screen it created all these new problems so that when Katherine returned and exposed the impostor as a fraud, there were all these messes she had to clean up, which gave Katherine a renewed purpose. Besides impostors and twins, another trick soap writers use to give played out characters a renewed purpose is they bring in a long-lost child or long-lost parent, so there's something else to play. Marland did this with Lisa in the 90s when he revealed to viewers she had another son named Scott Eldridge. However subsequent writers botched that story. If they hadn't, then Eileen Fulton would have had a lot more to play in the 2000s with Lisa involved in her second son's life. Anyway played out has nothing to do with a character's age. It has to do with whether or not they remain relevant in the show's ongoing storylines, and that can happen to a character of any age.

I don't think I agree with the point that recycling a name means a writer is not respecting the canon of the show. Bill Bell who created and head wrote The Young & the Restless had John Abbott and John Silva both as regular characters on the show in the late 80s and early 90s. Silva was sometimes called by his last name but when they gave him a love story his girlfriend called him John. So there were two Johns on the show at the same time and nobody seemed to have a problem with it. In fact it is unbelievable that on soaps there are not more repeated names, since some names are very common in real life. On GL, Long reused other names. Besides Bill Bauer there was Billy Lewis and Bill Lewis. Michelle was originally named Bert Bauer Ramsey by another head writer but was renamed by Long as Michelle Bauer, after her uncle Mike. Estensten & Brown gave Danny Santos a brother named Mick that Michelle killed. Estensten & Brown also introduced a brother for Ross named Ben Warren when there was already a character named Ben Reade. I don't remember anyone complaining about the name Ben being reused.

As your post indicates there was a slightly different spelling. Sara McIntyre was another character that was played out. Kobe/Long came in at a unique point in the show's history when some of those holdovers from the 70s had run their course and in order to refresh/reset Guiding Light those people who had basically run out of storyline had to be let go. Reusing a name might have occurred because Long had a relative or friend named Sarah she was basing Sarah Shayne on...or else the meaning of the name corresponded to Long's idea and conception of the character and what she was supposed to represent. There could have been a number of reasons this happened. The name Michael was reused...I believe the doctor in the clone Reva story was named Michael. Also Edmond was a variation of Ed. During the Conboy-Weston era, Ed Bauer and Edmond Winslow were both regularly featured characters.