Spoon

All good ideas, I had similar fan fiction ideas at the time. So many missed opportunities. It was so frustrating being a GL fan as TPTB didn't appreciate it's longtime viewers. There was no reason not to recast Ed, after Peter Simon left again in 2004. An aged Peter Reardon should've come to town in the final years.

I would've brought on more siblings for Bridget and Matt. One time they showed Bridget and Matt visiting home with a bunch of nameless kid siblings. Also, I would've tied more new characters into established families. Dr. Noah or even Michael the clone doc could've been Reardons- since we know that clan is big there would've been opportunities. I thought "Marian" also resembled Ellen Parker/Maureen a little bit too. I hated those "Inside the Light" episodes that Wheeler introduced. That's prob when I started distancing myself from the show. They disrupted the flow of the week, and if it focused on characters I don't care about- then forget it. Y&R likes those special character episodes- ugh.

Rauch, or Raunch as we called him then did way more harm than good. The focus shifted further away from the legacy families and more onto a revolving door of aimless random. Island Sean? Sam the cowboy? Dr. Noah?

That was speculation at the time but I think it was wishful thinking. I liked May a lot, but saw no.on-air evidence of a connection. GL had a string of newbies with no family ties at that time. The Reardons and Vanessa were all gone by that point. Speaking of wishful thinking, I so wanted Mike Bauer to ride back to town, taking out the mob in a blaze of glory.

Lots of men marrying the younger daughters of their enemies (Ross, Roger). Even the Peter Reardon custody storyline was dominated by Roger's POV

In a time before YT, I was so excited to see Nola return to the show. Quint/Nola were among my earliest soap memories, watching alongside mom. Such a mishandled opportunity with her return. We do get some solid scenes between Nola and Roger in 1996 for our AlwaysAMC to look forward to if they keep watching.

Despite that Nancy St Alban was such a drip as Michelle, I was so excited to see them finally hook up and was devastated when TPTB caved in to the MANNYacs. It all worked out eventually because Cosgrove's Bill had much better chemistry with Lizzie later on.

It still ticks me off that they never SORAS'd Anastasia "Stacey" Chamberlain and they totally dropped the ball on Anthony James- not calling him J. Stacey's bio father was Floyd Parker, did we know what his prison sentence was? It was murder, so probably a decent length.

Quint is Vanessa's half brother, Henry's son and Dinah and little Bill's uncle. Quint is why Vanessa and Nola were enemies back in the day. I think being a Daddy's girl she was jealous that Henry adored Nola and treated her like another daughter. Sean Reardon never appeared on screen until the year that you're watching and that's it for him. The Reardons also had another sister mentioned that never came on-screen.

Why do we call that character Silk Press Sheila? Is that a board nickname and why. I only watched some of last week. Thanks from a longtime lurker.

Paul Holtoyd was so stiff and wooden, no passion. The best soap acting is passionate, over-the-top and often scenery chewing.

If I wanted to watch a bunch of randos, I'd watch a primetime show. One of the two main appeals of soaps for me is the familial connections and the generational legacy. That type of long term storytelling takes decades and can't be replicated by primetime.

Y&R Michael Lauren Chloe Kevin Devon Tessa Mariah

I think it's natural for a show's true base to want to see the original (or close to it) core family thrive. Felt that way about the Bauers on GL, advocated for them until the bitter end. I would've settled for Jeffrey to be a Bauer if it meant an increased focus.

There was practically no redeeming value for the Conboy/Weston era. Yes, the lighting improved but the show didn't look like itself. I could go on about the era's faults but we all know them.

It's silly to have an "off-screen" Phillip being an elusive boogey-man. It's bad storytelling. Let other players share the spotlight, but that story was weak. They never should've revealed Phillip was alive until they were able to show him on-screen- it was so stupid. Show, don't tell.

You remember the speculation that Stuart Damon was being considered as an Ed Bauer recast? I would've liked to see Mart return in the role as that tied into GL's past. Absolutely. If they couldn't have gotten GA back, they should've made a call to John Bolger.

Nina is obviously only reporting the crime because she has a personal "agenda," that's the soapy angle.

Kelly and Joe, Santa Barbara

Scott Holroyd was so wooden as Paul, RH breathed life into the role with the appropriate scene-chewing and spirit that an offspring of Steinbeck and babs should have.

Who's CSM again? Cotlin Scott?

Yes, Nola sold them Company after the final time that Meals and Wheels burned down.

Just curious, do you hate the guiding light? That was my favorite of all time, you keep dissing it repeatedly. Why not knock some other show? You keep rubbing it in that GL never was number one, over and over again to knock it to us that GL was NEVER popular and its not cool. Plus Y&R was always the boring soap, had such a great time slot tho, my dad would watch it at dinner time. Why abc never moved amc there in the 80s to plug up 12:30, i'll never know.

IIRC it was because of the Patty storyline that they chose Paul over Brad.

GL Nola (80s) The Spaulding Maids AW Cass and Felicia (83-86) Wallingford ATWT Henry Mitzi Y&R Jana