Mitch64

8 hours ago, Darn said:

Reva had a string of stupid storylines with diminishing returns and after a point they never seemed to help the ratings yet there was. On every single day in one of her stupid outlandish stories chewing up every set in Springfield.

Reva's Amish. Reva the clone, Reva the princess, Reva gets stalked, Reva saves the refugees, Reva the mercy killer, Reva travels through paintings and amidst all that nonsense her most successful story was her conflict with her rebellious long-lost son. A tried and true soap staple. 

I just wonder why soaps continue pushing the same characters frontburner despite ratings reflecting either disinterest or viewer revolt. GL was at the bottom of the ratings for it's last decade with Reva in A story constantly YET they stuck with her. I do not get it.

They were under the delusion that Zimmer and to a lesser degree, Newman, were the end all and be all of GL. Zimmer had her fans bombarding the studio and the boards every time she came on set that she "Knocked it out of the ballpark again!" etc, and both of them went to the press and cried if they had two straight days off.  The ratings went up during the Annie trial (more Annie and Watros more the draw, plus there was a lot of stuff going on with other characters then..) and then the Clone got a lot of press, (believe it or not MADD chalked that up to their greatest success) and the ratings subsided a bit when they gave Josh and Reva a much needed rest after the clone..(all of those lookey lous were not going to stick around for anything as they were not interested in GL..just the Clone freak show..) .so net execs being lazy and dense from there were afraid to give Jeva a break. Rauch believed in a super couple to be the face of a show so with Roger and Holly gone it was Jeva.

On 4/21/2022 at 7:01 PM, j swift said:

I don't quite understand what you mean (except for the double entendre about the back gate).

Are you saying that Hope made Alan buy a new house so that they didn't have to live in Brandon's house, and then retroactively that house became known as the Spaulding Mansion? 

Because I thought Alan grew up outside of Springfield, somewhere closer to Chicago, and moved there to start the computer division of Spaulding.

Or, did you mean that Hope made Alan buy a new house after his marriage to Elizabeth was over?  And she unfortunately shared a backyard with her Uncle.  Which leads to the question of why the Spauldings didn't participate more often in the Bauer BBQ?  I know Phillip and Alan-Michael attended, but one would think that the Spauldings would have more a historical association to the backyard shenanigans, given that they were neighbors for more than thirty years.

Alan lived in a mansion...one that Rita..even though she lived in a cool house with a pool, etc, and was married to a doctor, lusted after...(also, the Spaulding lifestyle...) Since this was Marland writing, Hope was a sappy bore and didn't want to live in the mansion (where it came from, either Brandon or if Alan bought or built it, I don't know.) as she wanted to leave the trappings of uber wealth behind...(though she did not seem to mind living an upper middle class lifestyle...) and they bought the house behind Ed;s house..which Hope actually liked (bad move to live behind your sexy and always wanting more aunt..)  It later was retroed during Long that it was the Spaulding mansion (and the Spauldings being there all along) which shared a boundry with the Bauer house, and Alex was at several BBQ's etc. Oddly, during Taggert's time with Joan/Alex and the start of Marj/Alex it is mentioned that the Spaulding lived in Chicago again.

1 hour ago, j swift said:

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think that I learned on this thread that the Spanish-style Bauer house was purchased by Ed during his upward mobility period while married to Rita, as it was in close proximity to the Spauldings, and thus explained how Phillip and Rick became friends.  It certainly would have stuck out like a sore thumb among the tutor mansions of Springfield, but it had that 70s orange glow that was so popular on daytime.

As I recall around the same time, on One Life to Live they started weaving in some Spanish architectural elements into the sets. 

The house was actually supposed to share backyards but it was actually the house that Hope made Alan buy so they were not living in the mansion. Rita liked that the back gate (haha) made it convenient for Alan to.."stop by."  It was later retro written to be the Spaulding mansion, but they kept that pretty consistent to the end.

1 hour ago, MichaelGL said:

Left off that you also had Harley being pregnant with Rick's baby, and it being revealed at the Bauer BBQ in 2001. I found that particular story fascinating, as O'Leary and Ehlers played very well off each other. 

I know the Pharley's (another CRAZY fan group) hated that story, but I think O'leary and Ehlers brought out the best in each other...O'leary did not get quite that much mugging in and he was written to mostly be a good guy who wanted the best for everyone (as opposed to the Blake situation where he was practically stalking her and could care less about his practically uncle Ross' feeling about the situation) as Rick/Harley/Phillip were stuck in a bad situation with no villains (a first for a Rauch GL "triangle") and Ehlers was not the love goddess or the shrill shrew yet. I am sure Ehlers wouldn't be thrilled but I think she would have worked well if they choose it, a long term Bauer matriarch, with a return of Mallet later to spice things up, but I never liked Gus so...I just liked Rick and Harley loving each other as friends and no great "romance" as I was so tired of the great "passion" ALL soap couples were supposed to have..(it would be exhausting to be a soap character.)

16 minutes ago, Khan said:

I applaud Lloyd Gold - at least, I think it was Lloyd Gold? - for introducing a new, African-American family, the Boudreauxes, to GL, but it was clear almost from the beginning that that was not high on the list of Paul Rauch's or P&G's priorities.

Yes, he did..and I do think it was interesting that Rick was in love with a woman of color and I liked the actress but they made Mel so boring.  O'leary needs someone with a snappy energy like Tersau or Ehlers to offset his either making Rick a sadsack or "comedic" (which he failed miserably when doing schtick,,) I thought it would be great to have Mel have a grandmother who lives in a neighborhood effected by the Santos crimes and maybe a lawyer who would be instrumental in bringing them down.

I also think it was a mistake not to use the earthquake and Alan and Olivia's misdeeds to finally end the San Crud storyline and bring everyone back and of course, the dumb time travel crap. Beth's split personality was a good idea to explain her odd behavior since her return but it reeked of typical Rauch influenced crap, with Chamerline showing her cleavage and everyone in SF too dumb to figure out its really Beth.

7 hours ago, Tonksadora said:

What they had come up with before Paul told them to stop & said that it was not going to happen & everyone knew that it was not going to happen & why.

So why didn't they pursue it? Were they afraid.....had to have room for two Zimmers to chew scenery?  I can see why they had to recast at the last minute but it should have been temporary to write Roger out until they could figure out what to do with Zaz and the character.

On 3/3/2022 at 2:19 PM, Soaplovers said:

Mr Lindsey: Holly's 3rd husband during her Switzerland years.  Blake and him didn't get along..and the marriage caused friction between Holly and Blake.  Shame no writers thought to bring him on during the late 90s/early 2000s for Holly.

I forgot all about him...who could play him? Always trying to fit in Roscoe Born in at GL at that time maybe a Holly/Lindsey/Alex triangle...(ah Alex could have brought him back when Fletcher and Holly were together but her plans are fouled by the return of Claire..(throw in the "Chele might actually be Fletch's.and an Alex/Dietrich/Holly/Fletch/Claire/Ed thing would have been much better then the Meg storyline (never disliked it, just should have been Frank and Eleni's storyline.)  Can we see Marj making the moves on Born???

39 minutes ago, Joseph said:

Before i forget again, Soaps Past Has recently uploaded a number of 1979 episodes in good quality

 

The good old circular Bauer Spanish style fireplace, which stuck it out almost to the end..( I just watched a Inside the Light on Rick and Mel and she is having her family over to the Bauers and somehow the fireplace ended up in the kitchen..) I have ALWAYS wanted a fireplace like that and most likely why I love Spanish style. This is a good, though odd set. Most soap homes were generic, the Bauers has the Spanish element and they even mimiced plaster in the walls.

Maybe I just grew up on a faster pace but I do have to say, some of this is SLOOWWWW... "Viola called..." (pause)..."Did she say anything?" (pause)..."No," (pause) "Well I better call her back"  is a bit tedious..people in real life don't talk like that.

Bernau is a piece of a** in his younger days, MG is ageless...Hope is dull (they needed the character back, but Rousell was like watching paint dry) and Charita was younger then, then I am now!!! No ego on her playing an adult woman's grandmother and such a comforting feeling watching her.

2 hours ago, NothinButAttitude said:

I just got home and heard the news. 

 

ATWT (along with GL) was my grandma's favorite soap and Kim was her favorite character. Early on, I remember watching soaps with my grandma  and just becoming enamored with Kim as she mirrored my grandma in many ways--loving, strong, but no nonsense. 

 

The final years of World Turns (and my grandma's life), I'd schedule my college classes around the show and we'd sit and watch the show along with her reminiscing about her old favorite stories on the show (as she had watched from the inception). My grandma died a few months shy of the final episode, but I'd remain watching to the very end. 

 

Sorry, y'all. This death just conjures up old feelings about my grandma, Kathy Hays, and missing ATWT. This death might be soap related death that hurts the most. 

 

RIP, Kathryn. Thank you for all the great memories you provided. 

You hit on something intangible about ATWT and probably soaps in general..that shared experience between the generations. I remember watching ATWT and GL with my grandmother, (who I lost more then 25 years ago) my aunt (lost about 20 years) and my Mom...(a bit over a a year) and talking and laughing and making fun of and watching these goofy shows together with the same characters and actors...no TV show are ever going to come close to that again. So instead of seeing an actress you like pass, you are seeing all of those good memories of the people you lost also. It was really weird and personal when I found out Hays passed, and I am not a weird celebrity fan..it IS like you lost someone in your family.

2 hours ago, victoria foxton said:

 

Ewww...the aimless Anderson and Manetta era...whatever happened to Manetta?  And Rusty is so damn cheesy! I wonder why they never brought a teenage or early 20s Dorie back, she would have been a funny addition to kick Moniz' Dinah's butt. 

42 minutes ago, victoria foxton said:

Pam gave her characters heart. Doug showed what made these people tick. It would've been an awesome combo. 

 Bridget was way too young to be used like Jessie Brewer. It was bad enough. Jessie was used in that capacity. I loved Bridget. At least she wasn't brutally murdered or character assassinated.

 

 

Well,  since Rauchy didn't think she was "hot" enough (as looking like an actress in a Skinemax flick from the 90s) she wasn't going to get anything..so having her survive as a talk to until someone with more taste came on board..(though I wish they had chemistry tested with MOL...MAYBE Bridget could light a fire under Rick..Abby was way too perfect..)  Did they ever say she and Dylan got together? I know when they brought that Friend of Babs Bloom actor on he was head over heels for Harley (yawn..) They went from CuteDylan to DopeyDylan with that recast.

Speaking of..I was watching an episode on You Tube where Nick and Mindy attempt to get married for the 8th millionth time (they really beat the Alex/Nick/Mindy thing to death, poor Marj..Bev got out in the "nick" of time) and Real Dylan is going to support Bridget in the custody battle and Alex breaks in on the wedding....Vanessa tells them both to "Get out of her house" and man...does Maeve give out the ice in those scenes! She goes from slightly frentic (she wants the wedding to go well as all this crap is hitting the family fan) to loving of Mindy, to Ice Cold BIOTCH to both Alex and Dylan..all with over acting. Maeve never really got the credit she deserved and its a shame that Van got wasted in Mattessa. Its also the JFP era where everything is off the rails but its SO much better then anything we saw since then..Ed and Bridget are fighting/talking over Eve, like real people, Henry and H.B. have a great " old man" scene smoking cigars..Vans trying to keep it together, AM is trying to get what he deserves and Gilly is backing him for her own interests, the only weak part is the Nick and Mindy and Alex part which should have been OVER by then. Sorry Jilly, compared to McLaiby, Rauch and everyone else, you werent half bad.

On 4/3/2022 at 6:40 PM, Khan said:

Similarly, if anyone in SF was equipped to run her own exercise or dance studio, it was Reva.  And KZ's scene rehearsing with the Sugarbaker girls on "Designing Women" proves my point, lol.

Ha..I am suprised Wheeler didn't rent out the Peapack Anytime Fitness...but it might have been a tad too expensive for the GL budget. But I COULD see Reva in her later years embracing positive body imaging and running a health studio. "Come on girls, just because we aren't skinny anymore does not mean we can't be healthy! I know Joshua still likes to climb up on this every chance he gets so get agoing!"

On 4/3/2022 at 6:40 PM, Khan said:

But could you really see Nola running a business like those?  I know they had her and Bridget running Company for awhile, but that just felt like a step down to me.

Well after all these years of Company being run by..whomever...I think that it kind of ran itself. I would have kept Bridget at Company (I would have kept Bridget around as the GL version of GH's Jessie Brewer, except instead of a nurse's desk it would be a bar she would sit behind and be a talk to..) and had Nola run the Tower's redone as a 1930's 40s Art Deco mold and have her be in everyone's business like Lisa.  Anything would have been better then Buzz at Company and the Coopers stinking up the Boardinghouse! But I do like the idea of Nola writing romance adventure novels where the hero always was just another version of Quint.

On 4/3/2022 at 6:40 PM, Khan said:

t's been suggested here and elsewhere that Pam Long and Doug Marland might have made a good co-HW'ing team, and I would have to agree

I would have loved that..Marland brings his story structure (sometimes Long's stories just ran off the rails) love of history, and Pam brings her sense of humor, family, sex and community to a show. I saw an interview on YouTube where they were both up for Emmy's and they seemed to really enjoy and respect one another. What is Long doing now?

1 minute ago, victoria foxton said:

From everything I've heard. It was probably Gail Kobe. Who got rid of the Reardon clan. Along with other characters. Pam seemed to get many of the characters she inherited. From the Dobson's and Marland.

I am sure Kobe was the leader of it...(we went from the Reardons and Bauer kitchen scene to EVERYONE flouncing around town with big hair, shoulder pads and sparkly dresses )but when Long returned..previous writers were starting to build the Reardons back...Chelsea (as dumb as that character was) and Lee Lawson was back on recurring, and she stopped that and Bea disappeared and she created the Coopers. I can see creating another down on their luck family, but why not introduce them through the Reardons...(i.e. Bea knows Pops...) It just seemed odd. 

6 minutes ago, victoria foxton said:

The late great Lisa Brown. Did her very best to make the Nolaerobics bs work. I just rewatched the Nolaerobics clips last week. One of the things. I did like was that PL wrote the Reardon's better than DM. The scenes of the Reardon's bowling were cute.

I agree..I think Long wrote quite well for the Reardons...they suddenly became Catholic (a no brainer but waspy Marland had them protestant which made no sense) they would be loud and argue but always had each others back...I don't know why she suddenly "turned: on them!

16 hours ago, Khan said:

From what I've heard, Marland's original plan was for Kelly to end up with Nola, but when the whole storyline with her and Quint took off, he changed his mind.

interesting..I thought it was the opposite, as the scab writers were going for Nola actually marrying Kelly, but the strike ended and Marland had to throw the quick unraveling of Nola's plans together as the first priority. While we would have been cheated the classic Kelly and Nola scenes in the Bauer patio...it would have been much more interesting to see Nola having to keep up her ruse while married to Kelly (and throwing it in Morgan's face) and for it to unravel from there, and then Thornway Road would be introduced once Kelly tossed Nola out on her ass. As it was, Nola got a great storyline and Kelly and Morgan's ended because..who cared about them?

11 minutes ago, wonderwoman1951 said:

in 1996, i looked through marland’s original longterm and can confirm that his original plan was for kelly and nola  to end up together.

i loved the idea and always wondered why the change — thought it might have come from p&g or cbs since nola was not the typical soap ingenue.  

Interesting...though Nola deserved better than Speedo Boy.  

Speaking of typical soap ingenue..I always thought it was sad that they threw away Bridget during the Rauch era (and actually, during JFP's and Mclaiby also, when the soap ingenue role went to boring and annoying Lucy Cooper.) I fell down a rabbit hole this week watching episodes during the transition from McLaiby into Rauch and up to the Annie falls down the stairs start of E & B and see how dated the show looks compared to during JFP or even Laibson's time. The bright lights, the pastels...there are very funny scenes of Vanessa in the convent and there is constant hymnal music and nuns singing in the background.  Rauch's time really took a turn from a show being about families with several quircky characters involved who looked "real" to a show where even interesting looking people start looking plasticky and everyone is obsessed with "romance"  Poor Nola and Bridget didn't stand a chance with Rauch's obsession with sexy skinny blondes desperately fighting for men. I notice that anyone who isnt in a romantic relationship is tossed off, even Alex. The show really lost that feeling that it was a community with people who had other things going on besides romantic entanglements. The show just got so flat, I don't understand the critics raving about the turnaround. 

17 hours ago, TVFAN1144 said:

I was never a fan of the Kelly Morgan storyline. I thought it was shoved down our throats. And I’m sorry but I thought Morgan was the homeliest thing. 
 

I love Anne Murray but if I heard “You Needed Me” one more time I would not be responsible for my actions 

Ha....yes on that damn song. Morgan was just weirdly asexual which always made me think that Speedo Boy (which we used to call Kelly) was going to turn out gay..its also weird that both of them have..asexual names...what was Marland going for?  I know Marland was weird about sex scenes but the whole thing was dull as dishwater, except for Nola! Yes, Lisa seemed to muddle her lines but she reminded me of Lisa on ATWT....maybe it was on purpose as both of them were jittery schemers with a lot of lies to keep straight in their heads?

And yes, Marland trotted out the "young model" storyline on ATWT also, featuring another..uh, plain model (Courtney)who everyone RAVED about!

8 minutes ago, Soapsuds said:

The funniest...post....EVER!!!! 

His heart is in the right place, I just wish he would shut up!!

Patricia looks great and more vibrant and full of energy then they let her show at least during the 70s...(I think Marland let her have more zip but by that time she was a talk to only.) If only they had let her have that smile as Ellen (my Mom always said she and David looked like they both at hemoroids all the time.)

I always wish they had brought in a man who was toying with both Lisa and Ellen, and it turns out to be Michael Shea...(courtesy plastic surgery...) back for revenge. I think Lisa finding out who he is when he kisses her...("YOU!!! A man's kiss is like his fingerprints, I should know, I have both all over me!") but he blackmails her to shut up so he can marry widow Ellen and find his way into that Lowell money once and for freaking all! Then both Lisa and Ellen unite for once to take him down...Ellen," Oh, Michael, you should know never to mess with an older woman, we are much smarter, and much more ruthless than poor young things!"

On 3/16/2022 at 11:18 AM, Khan said:

It really broke my heart to see how certain fan bases held GL hostage in the late '90's and throughout the 2000's.  In times past, you could have counted on GL being one show (with Y&R being another) that wouldn't cave to pressure like that.

Yes, the fanbases proved to be the downfall of GL...even know, on the GL Facebook pages...there are people who constantly post about their fave "couple" and its so weird how invested they are in making that fantasy a reality STILL.  And I have to say, most of them don't seem like..uh, they are all that bright...or even sane..one poster just keeps posting over and over again that "Kim" and "Robert" are her faves, they are like "family" and always will be though she has never met them (luckily for both actors! I think that was part of the it all, not very intelligent people were writing in about their fave couples, and accepted the sloppy and repetitive storytelling as long as their couple is onscreen and will eventually end up together to do it over and over again. Smarter viewers..( you know the ones that want coherent storytelling or at least attempts at it) just left as it was all..repetitive crap.

13 hours ago, ClassicSoapsFan said:

Without a doubt, writing in ALS to Roger Thrope's story when Michael Zaslow became ill and making it an end story for Roger and Holly on GL. Instead of recasting Roger and having MADD make that disrespectful statement about him.

Agree with everything you say about this, particularly the statement from MADD which would set Twitter on fire these days and most likely have gotten legitimate negative press. I particularly am annoyed that they dropped the ALS story to focus on..."the Clone"!  However, I do agree that having an ALS story with someone who was actually suffering from it would be problematic for production. The disease progresses differently from person to person in terms of its progression some faster then others, and some days are worse then others. It would difficult to plan a long term storyline and expect Zazz to be "on" every scene, the only alternative would be to film all his scenes in the matter of weeks to have in the can, but would you really want Zaz to film his own death? I watched a scene on You Tube off Rog visiting Van as she thought she was dying. Their conversation on Van's impending death sends shivers down your spine in light of what was going to happen and Zaz is visably suffering from ALS at this point, he is stiff, and is working very hard to speak..(it comes off well, as old nemises call a sort of truce at one's death bed, and Roger comes off as being more gentle with Van then he would, and Zaz can stil work those eyes but...its hard to watch) I agree that producing it would be hard, but how they handled NOT doing it, was all on them and terrible.

So, to rewrite two storylines, Roger leaving AND Amanda's paternity. Going back years I would have it that Bradon blackmailed Jennifer to sleep with him to punish Alan. She becomes preggers and does not know  who is the father and confides in Alex, who spirits her away to have the baby. Alex doesn't know that Brandon found Jennifer and sends his trusty secretary Bess Loweel to talk her and force her to put HIS name on the birth certificate and he would arrange for the baby to be adopted by a "good mother" Lucille Wexler (who was decidely NOT a good mother. Flash backs would show Bess browbeating a very pregnant Jennifer, who lives in a hovel, "We can make this all go away and you can have a life if you just agree to one small thing." At Brandon's death in Barbados Alex finds the birth certificate for the baby and a will that IF Amanda was indeed his daughter, all of Spaulding went to her, cutting out Alan and Alex to punish them both. The will is unsigned (as Brandon under the influence of Sharina, later had misgivings of his treatment of both Alan and Alex... so Alex destroys the document, as Alan thinks he is the father and Alan was presumed dead at that time anyway. Its Roger who investigating Bess' old documents, finds finds a copy of the document of the will, forges Bradon's signature and arranges false DNA tests to prove Amanda is Brandon. Once the reveal Alex still agrees to leave town but on the condition that Amanda remains Alan's daughter in public and Alex gives her share of Spaulding to Amanda, to avoid a long and lentghy court battle and bad publicity.

So Zaz last week would be his wedding to Amanda , but Alex returns stops the wedding at the cliche part of the ceremony and produces evidence that Rog was forging docs all over the place (she gets a signed confession from Bess on Bess's death bed)   Alex, being Alex, dramatically brings her own doc for the DNA test and the cops to arrest Roger, who runs.  Of course he runs to Holly and the last scenes are he and Holly discussing their history as Roger tries to convince her to pack up Meg and disappear with him forever. Holly almost goes, but remembering their inherit dysfunctions sends him on his way. Later, the fact that Holly helped Rog escape makes Fletch pack Meg up and leave.

This ending as convoluted as it is, at least fixes Amanda's parentage and give Roger a reason to not be on screen with no recast. It would also leave him open to returning if he could and would be a bit more respectful of the actor, the character and the fans.

1 hour ago, Forever8 said:

Not to mention when Danielle had appeared for like a month. Instead of her and Craig hooking up it would've been nice to see Ellen with her and possibly Betsy too. 

I cannot BELIEVE they would go there...and this is from someone who thought Steve/Betsy/Craig was kind of boring.  Did they think they were being "cutting edge"???

I have no idea why the show didn't just keep a floating roster of recurring characters like Ellen, Lyla, especially since those two had reasons to not be around every day in Oakdale.  It would not have cost that much and would given the show greater depth.

20 hours ago, vetsoapfan said:

My principle quest would have been to re-establish the Bauer family and give it all the support and opportunity possible to become the core, central family it was supposed to be. Hence my desire to see Courtney as Hope. That being said, it was frustrating how TPTB simply discarded Elizabeth so easily, when there was still a great deal of story for her to play, and then left the character's fate totally up in the air. For years, we had no idea where she was; if she was alive or dead. I would have been fine with Courtney in the role of Elizabeth, particularly if TGL cast Reinholt as Alan. This on-screen coupling would have made my loyalties shift from Alan and Hope reconciling, to Alan and Elizabth being paired long term. Maybe Robin Mattson, who had been tepid when she originally portrayed Hope, but who had grown tremendously as an actress since then, could have returned to that part.

That would be good.  I never understood why they got rid of Elizabeth with no mention

Instead of Marj as Alex I always thought Elizabeth would have been a great antagonist of Alan (I had thought Collins could have been cast instead of as Alex)  maybe Alan has been blackmaiing her for years to stay away from Phillip. My fan fiction would have been that Elizabeth took Phillip out of Springfield when he was "killed" and got him better and then she returns to make Alan pay...) Maybe she comes back with Mike, and its a Mike/Elizabeth/Alan/Hope storyline.

On 3/23/2022 at 5:54 PM, DramatistDreamer said:

I think you mean Julie, no?

No...Courtney, with her 40 year old hairdo..had her pictures taken by Andy, and an agent saw her and just HAD to have her as a model...for what..I don't know...Walmart fashions? Andy was not obsessed with her as he was with Julie.

15 hours ago, lilyredd said:

Thanks for posting this, I hadn’t seen this uploaded before. The episode in some ways epitomizes what I loved and hated about Marland (especially 90s Marland) -layered stories, clearly planned stories, community, but awful couples and too much politeness. 

So true...all of the above...Marland, like Long and everyone else had their strength and their weaknesses...talk about chemistyless couples..Andy and Courtney, who looked like a 40 year old but was supposed to be a hot early 20 model..Iva and John..(the only other character who had less chemistry with him was Mama Snyder..).and while they have their fans...Dolan and Holmes always made Tom and Margo..dour and dull, not the fun they were before. Watching old clips when Iva first came on she was more interesting...fiesty and damaged and she and Mama Snyder (who I must admit I disliked) had a bit of a more contentious relationship..so this whole "I realized Mama loved me as much as her bio kids" seems like a rewrite of their relationship. I liked Iva the gubby fighter who felt an outsider in her family more then the sad sack dope she became. 

Thought I love his names...Gavin Krueger (who I must have been the only one on earth who say him as sexy... ) and Phillipe VanDoren!!  

13 hours ago, Spoon said:

I would've had a Mike Bauer recast come on in '99 to take down the Santos clan.  Mike would get shot, possibly killed bringing Hope back to town with Alan-Michael who just split up with Lucy off-screen.  2001 I would've  given Rick a teen son from his Chicago days forming a new Musketeers group with Lizzie, Bill and either a SORAS'd Marina or another character.

I like all your ideas except for Mike being killed by the Santos. Mike and Alex would need to get together and leave town together but visit sporadically to help, or in Alex's case, sometimes hinder the rest of the cast.  I do like the ideal of Hope coming to town with AM. I would put Hope with Ross, and AM after Blake to form a weird triangle, with the end goal being that Ross and Hope would be the new matriarch and patriarch of SF. Could never happen, the Blossies would go nuts and the problem was that the fangroups had TPTB so in their hands that they eventually would rather write characters off (Ross) then move in a new direction.

5 hours ago, Soapsuds said:

Sean McDermott. I don't recall to much of him. So he came off gay? I don't recall his buff looks either.

I just remember him being shirtless on a rock for some reason..(well I know the reason I remember it, I just don't remember why the character was doing that..) I just remember thinking..."Who is the new gay Hart,"  I have to watch myself as on a ATWT FB page I was called homophobic for suggesting that Henry was gay...I really do undestand now why the nets were reluctant to have any gay characters...even now people acting like they are being progressive, are really thinking "gay" is an insult. And really, Henry???

10 hours ago, Soapsuds said:

 

I remember that actor, a Sean someone...cute muscle guy but, uh not convincing as straight. The scenes were obviously on two different days right.

Hayden is looking good here. I know they made her a frump to up play Dinah's glam. I always wondered how Bridget would do paired with Rick...kind of moving in to take Mo's place. MOL and Melissa look like "normal" people but not sure if they would have chemistry.

5 minutes ago, MichaelGL said:

And there was plenty of discussion about Reva's stalking being connected to the publicity she got after she went on trial for taking Richard off life support, so yeah it seemed like Jon would've been the likely suspect instead of Alex. 

The only saving grace in this whole thing, was when Reva finds out and goes up to Alex bitching and moaning MarjAlex just laughs, and waves her off...(GO Alex!) Though isnt it funny Zimmer had no scenes with JoanAlex???