chrisml

I thought the Falconer season was the best (although I did like Teddy and Simon) and Sela Ward did win the Emmy for it. The next season was terrible. It's as if the writers had amnesia. Georgie's story with her psychiatrist was so unpleasant and ruined the show for me. I don't think it ever got back to what it was. I didn't watch the last season. I was so turned off by Georgie.

Ellen Wheeler produced the show into the grave, but GL had died by a thousand cuts by that point. JFP did immense damage to the show. She robbed the show of its heart; there were firings/exits that did immeasurable damage, and she dumbed down most of the characters. I don't remember the Laibson era (not sure I even watched). Rauch did some things right (the Annie Dutton stuff), but he created too many storylines that did not fit into vibe of GL. They fit into the OLTL era he produced. Conboy was a mess, but on an episode to episode basis, I found the show watchable.

It is so depressing to see the last few months of SB. It had little to nothing of what made it so special. Long and Rauch really did their best to make the show so ordinary.

Jack and Vicky were just plain icky considering he raped her sister. Jake should have been written off when he was shot. Someone else posted it, but Judi Evans would have been a better Nancy. I much prefer Cali Timmins's version of Paulina. I never really cared for Paulina until she got with Joe.

Dack Rambo and Anna Holbrook had so much chemistry. The Sharly/Sharlene storyline was one of my faves, and I especially when Taylor was involved. It's a shame what Rambo went through and how he died within a few years of leaving the show. Such a talented actor, and so good as Grant.

I don't think Kim Zimmer was destructive to GL the way Maurice Benard is/was to GH. I also was not watching GL when she first came on. For me, the problems with Reva came about after Zimmer's return and it was more about the writing than Zimmer or the character. The writing/producing impacted every aspect. Of the decisions made the last 10 years of the show, Reva is not even in the top ten. I don't know about these GL fans mentioned above. If they're not acting improperly and illegally, more power to them. Life is hard enough, and if it brings them joy to feel like family with Zimmer and Newman, let them. re: Lucci and Zimmer. Zimmer's worst storylines (Amish/painting/clone) had better writing that a majority of Lucci's stories and scenes. Lucci's Erica was usually written with the maturity level of a high schooler so that she rarely had anything to submit that would have worked. I know some people don't like Zimmer or Reva, but for the most part, Reva was never written as someone half/three quarters of Zimmer's real age.

JFP's attempts to distance herself from the Fax Newman storyline make no sense to me because she loved storylines where women are brutalised and humiliated. She did these stories on every one of her soap tenures. At her tenure on YR (her last one I believe), she again told a rape story, but this time the character was going to lie about it. The outrage was so immense that it was quickly rewritten. I can't think of a more misogynist producer, but I suppose there must be as the soap world is full of misogyny. Rauch probably is up there especially with his bts behaviour.

The writing for Courteney Evans was just so appalling. Someone at NBC loved the rape and/or murder storylines with the female characters. I also confused the initial serial killer (pulling the plug) with Fax's murders. I think I blocked it out as I hated both. JFP loves taking credit for stuff, but then passes the buck when it comes to the disasters. Killing off Bridget?? Is she going to use her "I was already out the door" excuse on that one? I have no doubt that Alice Barrett was written off for financial reasons, but if JFP had not wasted so much money on that idiotic ER knockoff set, it might not have happened--something Linda Dano mentioned in an article at the time.

Wasn't Bunim also accused of bad behavior on SB? If I recall correctly, Linda Gibboney came out in the press about bad treatment at the hands of Bunim. Maybe why Bunim had to move into the reality sphere.

The contracts are never there to protect the actor. That's why the Beverlee McKinsey situation was so shocking for the execs. I can also see it would be a logistical nightmare to manage people's time off to make movies while producing a soap opera. This is especially true on something like SB where the same family dominated the show until Long came along. Plus, it's not as if Wright did much for a few years after she left the show. She was known primarily as Sean Penn's girlfriend then wife.

I like Liz Keifer as an actress, but I don't think she was right for Blake. There was a through line between Dennehy and Stringfield, but Keifer felt like a completely different character. Blake lost so much verve. It reminded me of Barbara Crampton taking over as Mindy. She's a fantastic actress, but she was not right for Mindy.

I agree that the writing did not do Liz Keifer any favors. I actually like Dennehy over Keifer's Blake. IT was a huge mistake to recast her at such a crucial part of the Ross/Blake/Maureen story. It ruined most if not all of the momentum. I understand it's a nightmare if people want to leave, but most of the problems were ones JFP created. re: Susan Lucci. If I remembering correctly, didn't her husband pick her reels? Her reels were often so terrible with a lovesick Erica acting as if she were a teenager. She has a few good reels leading up to her win (the drug storyline/the kidnapping of the baby). I really wish Erica has been written as an adult (wasn't Erica becoming a showgirl when Lucci was in her sixties?!?!)

Long and Zimmer seemed pretty chummy at the Emmys in 1990 around the time Zimmer left (she references her goodbye party in her speech).

The Dobsons and Rauch made a lot of idiotic decisions during the Dobsons' return, but firing Garland was so ridiculous. Along with firing Sorel and Gocke. The Dobsons didn't understand that they had to appeal to the people who kept watching the show. Instead, they insisted on changing so much that it alienated a lot of those viewers. I also wonder how much of it was Rauch and the backstage shenanigans that was going on.

I think this goes for all the people who work on daytime. They either don't legitimately remember or they create a false version of what happened if their tenure was not met positively. Long also was not reliable when talking about her stints at SB and OLTL. I can imagine she might want to rewrite history about her time on SB since it was pretty much hated at the time (save for Sydney Penny's performance).

Thank you for that. There has been no mention of her at all so I was confused why she kept appearing in the credits.

I've been watching some episodes from 1988, and I see a character named "Lainie Bauer" listed in the main credits. This character has not appeared and I have no memory of ever hearing about a "Lainie Bauer."

JFP created a lot of sexist stories. The women were always desperate for a man (the worst is when OLTL's Nora lost every brain cell because she suddenly had to give Bo a child), or helpless and pathetic. She loved telling stories that involved women getting beaten up or raped. Happened on every show. I wonder if she blames Margaret dePriest for that happening on all the other shows since it's DePriest's fault what happened on AW according to JFP.

MDP and JFP were a terrible combo much like JFP and Megan McTavish on GH. The whole Fax murder storyline started off with the rape and abuse of Courteney. Once she had been victimized sufficiently for those two, they killed her off. It's disturbing.

Terrible story. Horrible acting. The show became so dark and violent that they had to make changes because of the complaints in a post-9/11 environment. If there's one thing JFP loves, it's violence against women. It's a constant theme in all of her work. She can blame MDP all she wants for Frankie, but JFP did the same thing on every show she was on.

I never realised how much I missed from AW's last years. I guess I really did give the show up once Frankie was killed off. I don't remember any of the characters or plots except for Lila getting together with Cass and Alice Barrett coming back as another character. I know of Lumina but couldn't tell anything about it. JFP was upset about having to use RKK, but then hired him on GH which was a disaster for many reasons.

How long did RKK last on his return? A year? I wasn't watching then, but I know his return didn't go over well for obvious reasons. I'll never understand hiring a so-called big name and not mapping out a story for him/her. Interesting how JFP was outraged that RKK was "forced" on the show, but she forced her friends on the viewers for decades.

That would make sense then because I can't imagine another soap not wanting to snap him up. He's charismatic and while not the best actor, you can't take your eyes off him. It's so odd that Tyler and Christine Tudor (after her electrifying performances as Loving was winding down) didn't show up elsewhere when most of their castmates did.

In watching the 1991 episode above, I'm reminded Robert Tyler was such a gorgeous man. Don't know why he didn't have a bigger career.

I always liked Fletcher on GL. I didn't know so many people disliked him. I thought there were many missed opportunities with the character (following through with the Maureen/Fletcher relationship as an example). I think the only character I actively disliked was Buzz because of the damage the actor and the character did to the show. I would also say Johnathan but I had given up GL for the most part by then. I know it's fashionable to bash Kim Zimmer and Reva but I don't think the problem was ever Zimmer. It was the writers and exexs who didn't know to balance the show or the storylines were just not appealing. I think it's telling that I wanted Michelle Forbes and Cynthia Watros's character to succeed in making Reva suffer. That seems to be less about Zimmer and more about their talents especially Forbes.