SamanthaKitCat

I was surfing the internet and found an old online article/post on Guiding Light from 2009. I got on my soapbox and wrote a response to one post, re: Pam Long and the Bauer family. I know my opinion isn't a popular one, but, I'd like to post my response here, as well. I apologize in advance for the length.

1) Scott Bryce stated in an issue of Soap Opera Digest, back in the 1980s, that his father, Ed Bryce, had wanted to retire. Yes, maybe they could have re-casted the part of Bill Bauer. But, then, Peter Simon actually got a lot of flack for replacing Mark Hulswit and Simon's replacement in 1984 also got flack. 2) According to the Gail Kobe interview for GL's 50th anniversary in Soap Opera Digest, Peter Simon chose to leave. The show couldn't do anything about that. 3) From the same interview, Kobe lumped Don Stewart in with the group (actress who played Hillary Bauer and the actress who played Hope) that had storyline disagreements. However, Don Stewart later stated in a Soap Opera Digest article that he was getting burned out worked on a daytime soap and wanted to leave. That it was his choice. Before he left, the show was clearly playing with the idea of an Alexandra/Mike/Lillian triangle. He was put in multiple scenes with Alexandra. Also, his character, as a lawyer, probably would have been the one to defend Lujack, if Stewart had stayed. 4) Charita was ill. There was nothing that the show could do about that. What they could and did do was treat her better than the TIIC who were running the show in the 1990s treated Michael Zaslow. They told her that she could work as much as she wanted to. 5) Hillary and Hope's exit were definitely over storyline disagreements. The actress who played Hillary had writing aspirations. The actress who played Hope didn't want Hope to be an alcoholic. 6) Anyone could have brought the character of Hope back. But no one, especially not Curlee and Demorest, brought her back. They also did nothing to expand the Bauer family, but, instead, expanded the Cooper family. It was ultimately the Cooper family that supplanted the Bauer family in the 90s and 00s. I think Curlee and Demorest were top tier soap opera writers, but, they didn't do the Bauers much good other than writing the few Bauers that were on the show during their stint as head-writers, well. Expanding the Cooper family helped bring about the demise of the Bauers. I have read that David K. was a fan of Curlee and Demorest's work with the Coopers. Not to mention, Maureen being killed off by Curlee and Demorest due to a focus group finding her boring. Maybe there was nothing that Curlee and Demorest could have done, that would have made Maureen more interesting to that focus group, but, maybe they could have written better stories featuring her. With Another World, the character of Frankie Frame was another case of "death by focus group". It is unlikely that the Swajeski-era Frankie would have been deemed "boring". 7) During the Pam Long-era the Bauers were the "fun" core family. Frequently, the actors talent at humor was utilized and showcased. She also put her significant other, Jay Hammer, in scenes with the Bauers and the Reardons during his first two years on the show. Fletcher was in love with Hillary in the beginning of his run. He later became best buds with Maureen. He was involved with Claire while she was pregnant with Michelle. The show even played a little with the idea of a Maureen/Ed/Fletcher triangle during the late 80s. 8) Pam Long created a Bauer, Michelle. 9) She developed/co-developed two of the younger generation of the Bauer family (Rick and A-M) into big fan favorites. As long as I live, I will never understand why her long-term contribution to the Bauer family, via her development of Rick and A-M, isn't even acknowledged by her critics. 10) Pam Long didn't create the character of Johnny Bauer. He was introduced in 1986, after she had left the show. But, she did write the Johnny Bauer/Chelsea Reardon romance. 11) So, while it was a mistake to write off the characters of Hillary and Hope and they should have wrote Bert's death into the show sooner, I have never agreed with the Bauer purists (whose fandom apparently doesn't include Rick and A-M) feelings on Pam Long. It was pretty standard for TIIC at various shows to pressure head-writers to create new characters who could be played by cheaper new actors vs. the more expensive veteran actors. Pam Long, in terms of her GL run, just happened to be a more successful character creator/co-creator/developer/co-developer than most head-writers. Curlee and Demorest created a bunch of new characters during their run. 12) I loved Doug Marland's era of ATWT. However, even he had his faults. He wrote the character of Roger Thorpe into a corner. Long's human and well-developed characters mantra from GL helped make the character viable again. When Marland redeemed the characters of Alan on GL and Craig on ATWT he softened them too much. Craig, on ATWT, went from town scoundrel to the guy who wouldn't even tell a white lie --- per a soap opera magazines criticism of/commentary on Craig's reformation. Marland created the very large Snyder clan on ATWT. Who ended up supplanting the Hughes family as the core family. Even during the Marland era, when Chris Hughes died on the show, the Snyder family farm was heavily featured in those episodes. The viewers didn't get to see Tom and Margo find out about Chris's death. But, pretty much everything going on at the Snyder farm, we got to see. Actor Brian Bloom was not happy with the way his character was written out. He was getting a lot of fan mail, but, was barely ever used in storylines. He was basically phased out.

I remember that quote. I wondered at the time what 50-something Deidre Hall, the network's most popular and highest-paid daytime performer, thought about it. I also remember that, as a young teen, I was fascinated by AW's Mac, Rachel and Iris, and had no interest in the show's teen stories. I hear the same thing over and over again from AW watchers of my generation. Have young people really changed that much over the years?

I just heard about Charles Keating's death today.

I started watching AW back in late 1990/early 1991 when I was a high school student and I immediately found Keating's Shakespearean acting fascinating to watch. As a high school student I loved the relationship of John and Lucinda on ATWT and the relationship between Alex and Fletcher on GL. I also didn't have much interest in teen stories. The exceptions being, the Pam Long-era GL teens, Dusty, Andy, and Paul on ATWT, and Sarah Michelle Geller's AMC character. Long (during her GL stint) was my favorite character creator/co-creator/developer/co-developer on soaps. So, for the most part, I found teen characters boring, when I was young.

Back around Christmas 2008, I decided to turn in to Y&R just to see a Christmas episode of a soap opera again. I had quit watching soaps for years. I was thrilled to see Jeanne Cooper in a major storyline. So, what was meant to be a one day thing, ended up being taping the show for months in order to see the denouement of the Katherine Chancellor storyline (her wedding, Jill finding out that Katherine really wasn't her mother, etc) because I had been a Katherine fan as a kid, as well.

Andrea looks sad in that photo.

I still wonder why GL never brought Mike back, even for a visit, before those few early 1997 appearances.

Do you remember anything about GL mentioning Hope or bringing her back in 1986 or 1987? Or did they just mention her when Alan Michael arrived?

They did have what was supposed to be Mike's voice for the Roger returns storyline from 1989. It was via phone conversations.

They mentioned Hope every once in a while. But, I don't remember if they ever mentioned anything about bringing her back.

Lisa Brown left Guiding Light around April 1985, a good six months before Marland took over as head writer of World Turns. I believe Marland was still at Loving at that time, so I'm not so sure about the mag's claim that Marland had created the ATWT role for her while she was still on Light.

It wasn't the mag's/book claim. It was Lisa Brown's. I'm fairly certain of that. I have always remembered that because I thought that it was cool that he did it.

I tried looking for it, the interview, several months ago. But, I couldn't find it. It could have been from between 1985 - 1994. Which was way too many magazines to thumb through. Especially, since I don't have them in order by date.

Marland approached her before he started on ATWT.

I saw an ATWT end credits clip from 11/11/85 on YouTube. Marland is listed as HW in the end credits.

I actually think it was the weakest it was ever until Wheeler and Kriezman, with Charita sick then dying, and Simon, Stewart, the Hillary actress, Newman and Aleksander and Brown etc, all leaving, either of their own will or being fired, the sudden emergence of the Reva show, and the Lewise/Shaynes obscuring the Bauers and the Reardons and an upbrupt change of tone.

Aleksander left in 1984 because he wanted to try Hollywood.

There was a Gail Kobe interview in a GL 50th Anniversary article in a 1987 SOD. She mentioned that Peter Simon chose to leave and they had to recast. That they told Charita when she was ill that if she ever wanted to work, they would have work for her. And that they would try to make her as comfortable as possible on the set.

She lumped Stewart, Marsha Clark (Hillary), and Elvera Roussel in the "disagreed over the direction of their character" group. However, in a "Where are they now" article in SOD from years ago, Don Stewart states that he left GL to spend more time with his daughters. That he had gotten burnt out and that there had been days when he never saw the daylight. The issue's cover features Don Stewart and other actors from that article.

Before he left, GL had: 1)the Bauer BBQ, 2) Reva's slut of Springfield speech at Billy and Vanessa's party, 3) the hospital hostage standoff with Darcy, and 4)the Founder's Day party all within a few months. So, there is a chance that he was nervous about possibly having to do more long-hours event shoots. After all, if he had stayed, Mike possibly would have defended Lujack. They were putting him in scenes with Bev before he left. They seemed to be possibly playing with the idea of a Mike, Lillian, Alexandra triangle. It could have been a combination of disagreeing over story and wanting to spend more time with his kids.

Elvera may have had an issue with Hope's alcoholism storyline.

Lisa Brown had a baby in 1984. Her real life son, James, played her son on the show. So, she would have been on maternity leave for part of that year. Years ago, I read in a book or a soap magazine (SOD or SOW) that Doug Marland had approached Lisa while she was still on GL and told her that he had created an ATWT character for her and asked her if she would be interested. Of course, she was.

Tony and Annabelle were frontburner throughout most of 1984. They may have just been giving the actors/characters a break, when Greg Beecroft announced that he planned to leave the show. Pam Long said in that 2009 podcast interview that she had wished that Greg and Lisa had stayed. But, that it was their choice to leave.

Jim Reardon was a Pam Long character.

Katie Parker - there was a news blurb in a summer 1984 SOD issue that the actress was planning on leaving GL in September. However, she was around to do Christmas 1984 scenes. Maybe they asked her to stick around for awhile longer to have her character be there for Floyd.

Floyd - He didn't intend on killing Andy. He just wanted to use the gun to scare Andy into confessing. But, when the lights went out, he was startled, and the gun had a hair-trigger. So, it was more an accident or manslaughter. 2nd degree at worst. He could have been brought back at a later time. He was trying to find a way to clear Lujack, without confessing himself. When Lujack was on the run, Floyd panicked. He was worried about what could happen to Beth and Lujack, and decided to try and force India to write a confession saying that she had killed Andy.

Phillip - He didn't hire Andy to "blow up" Lujack's club. He hired Andy to sabotage it. He thought Andy would just create building code violations to prevent it from opening. When he found out that Andy had rigged a gas explosion he was horrified and furious. He decked Andy and ran off in an attempt to stop it and/or warn people. After Phillip took Beth to Cedars, he told Andy, "This wasn't a war, the stakes weren't that high!" He also refused to pay Andy (which resulted in the infamous blackmail tape that various people were looking for).

Ross - during the Pam Long years - Had the relationship with Trish. The various battles with Alan (and later Roger). Was a parental figure to Phillip (and later Samantha). Helped Alex find Lujack. Was named President of Spaulding Enterprises. Gave Gina a place to live for awhile. Calla was brought on for him. Had to deal with the idea that his daughter was dating the son of his worst enemy (At that time it was Dinah dating A-M). Then later on, he dated Nadine and Holly.

Rick and A-M were two popular characters that were heavily developed/co-developed by Pam Long. So, I disagree with those that say that she didn't do anything to strengthen the Bauer family. She created their personalities, if not the actual characters themselves. Plus, she created a new Bauer in Michelle.

She tied both Rick and Johnny to Roxie. In 1985, they had Ed, Mo, Fletcher, and Claire down in a war zone. With Ed sleeping with Claire. Mo and Fletcher had a radio show together. Ed was accused of murder. Fletcher helped clear him. Mo found out about the affair. Rick was dealing with his relationship with Roxie, her disappearance, medical school, etc. Michelle was born. Mo was trying to deal with it all. etc.

In 1989 - Ed and Mo fought over Fletcher. There were some great scenes between those three from around A-M and Harley's wedding. They referenced the past (from 1985) in the scenes. Ed and Mo broke up. Ed got involved with Holly. Roger returned. Mo became friends with Roger which shocked Ed. Ed and Mo got back together. There was the conclusion to the big Rick/Phillip/Meredith story and the aftermath. Months later, Rick had to deal with his best friend seemingly going off the deep end, only to discover that Beth was actually still alive. Got involved with Ray (1989 or 1990), Chelsea's friend and eventual stalker.

The Bauers were the "fun" core family under Long (and maybe also under Curlee and Demorest). Partly because of MOL's and Peter Simon's ability to do comedic scenes. As well as, all those Bauer BBQs. The focus group that found Mo "boring" may not have found the Long era Mo boring.

Jay Hammer's character heavily interacted with the Bauer and Reardon families for his first two years on the show. To me, that points to her valuing those characters to some degree.