Mitch64

Great history, thanks! This works in with the earlier posted scene of the dull Bauer BBQ where Ed says, "I grew up on it" and the last one where Rick says, "Grandma started this." I wish they would have done an Oktoberfest with an odd to their German heritage.

The original Tad Channing was hot if I remember..I never knew why they put Larry Pine in as you could see the first one getting away with manipulating women...Iva looked even more of a sad sack then usual. But Marland (besides his farm boys) never really cast for looks or charima...(anyone who would replace Greg Marx with Scott Holmes does not care about that..)

God I LOVE XANADU..(I guess I can keep my gay card!) Where else can the lead actress be in dance numbers and she just stands there and sways and smiles while everyone else works their ass off, but she wins the audience over just by being..pretty and nice!

I don't know why JFP didn't do that..but she wanted Mo..DEAD..DEAD. Easy enough after their fight, Ed begs her to stay the night at the cabin, he wakes up and hears her care going..he goes after her..she slides off, but the old reliable hitchhiker who dies in a flaming wreck. Also, Mo would have to be in a coma to make that work, she would never let her daughter or the rest of her family (no matter what other writers tried to do..the Reardons of Marland and Long were tight...) believe she was dead.

The Bauers should have been as involved with them as the Spaudlings. I would have written Mike back in secretly investigating Roger being alive...with him crashing on the island with Alex. Mo moving back to the Boardinghouse (and kicking the fake Bauers and Shaynes out) and actually friending Roj to bug her husband but then liking him (I would have Roger admit the rape to Mo to start his redemption) and Rick feeling his old issues with his dad (instead of once again being screwed by proxy by Phillip..boys boys, just do each other and leave the third party out of it) and Blake manipulating his familial affection in her schemes. And beef! LOL..Thanks Donna!

The whole thing is so underwritten and boring..its like Long was dying to get back to...Jeva and Reva bellowing to her family at RevaBend. (at least the Shaynes had the good sense to skip the BBQ this year.) Ed's ex-wife who had had a super complicated relationship with is back in town..its should have happened slowly, with Ed back in protector mode (well, I can't see PS Ed as a protector but) of both him and "Chrissie," but its like "Oh hi, want to move in, my current wife moved out..and ya wanna start banging again?" This should have brought back Ed's addiction issues, Rick who was on standby during the original drama should have been on Mo's side, but he is Mr. Sadsack again, coming in and telling people that he is separated (I wanted Johnny and Chelsea to ask "Who,, you're married? Oh yea, we forgot.")EVERYONE at the BBQ should have been giving them the side eye and making Holly feel like an intruder...(thus making her decision to leave the house) Mo should have immediately been friendly to Roger just to bug the crap out of those two. The only person besides Chelle who seems to care is Chelsea, but she is all "Well, at least we have a BBQ to go to." I wish Tony or one of her brothers were around to beat the crap out of DickEd. You can tell Long did not care unless Reva suddenly became a marriage counselor and is involved..but then Ed and Mo would have to go on and on about how they wish they had their "Always"! Those two actors were put on contract too! I kept expecting Lacy Bauer to return! Lol on Johnny and Chelsea I noticed there make out session in front of everyone and I wanted to someone to yell, "Get a room!" The BBQ was so boring that year I think everyone was half asleep. This definaltey seemed like more of a Marland written party, where everyone there is too polite to say how bored they are and "Let's go to the lake and watch the fireworks!"

Wow...besides Roger and Sonni..the show was so bad and boring. I didn't realize they were so desperate to make Frank viable that they throw poor Sam at him! I love AM wearing a tennis sweater, on the 4th of July in the midwest, just to offset him from Dylan (which reminds me, no one ever comments on the heat or bugs at the BBQ) The older couple were Johnny's parents, who for some reason Long got rid of Bea and had them and the Shaynes running the boarding house...(no one paid attention to them as no one knew who the hell they were) The Lainie actress would have made a good Meta Bauer. Guess what Rick, no one cares that Meredith left you or that she exists. Ed is such a dick here. Holly is living with him, and he is screwing her, but he is going to marriage counseling and he says he loves Mo? (I love that Ed's latest mistress knows where the number of his future mistress, Lillian is..) Mo is a real wimp here...she is moaning on her love of Ed and not kicking Holly's ass out of her house? Forget sad sack Ed, I would want the big ass house with the pool and t that cool fireplace..) But then Mo was horning on Fletcher (she has terrible taste.) Everyone but Chelsea thinks it is aokay that Mo moves out and Ed's ex wife who he hasnt seen in years moves in and he is banging her? I really didn't realize that Long's second tenure was so bad..I guess I was too into Sonni/Solita and Roger to see how boring and odd it was.

I always thought Reva should have a gay brother, or son, who would be as man hungry as she was. It would never happen at that time or with P & G...(didnt that boring Nuke on ATWT never kiss???) but how hilarious it would be and set TV's across the south and midwest on fire... Promo voice over "Look out...there's a NEW slut in Springfield!" and then show Rusty eyeing up Phillip's banana hammock!

There was absolutely nothing going on at GL at that time, so of course they were popular with whomever was left watching that train wreck of a show (I have to admit I still tuned in out of habit.) For the dumbed down audience watching it...it was a typical bad boy with a heart of gold with the good bland girl, and that coupled with people think TP was the next Pacino...was enough the for soap mags to push it. The fact remains that Jonathon tricked Tammi to have sex with her own cousin, to do damage to her family. If they had ever had a scene where Tams confronted him for that and he admitted his wrong doing okay. But Kriezman had such a hard on for TP and Jon, that he never had to accept any consquences and he always came out on top.

That's a very good take on things. I agree, but I wish the show had taken the time to show that, Van approves of Bridget in the way that Maureen would, and it very much mattered to Bridget what Maureen thought, and then she and Dylan go off into the sunset. But again, they were taking too much time with Annie/Reva and then setting up that dull ass Jeffrey scam storyline and putting poor Jenna back with Buzzard and..Harley and Phillip, which was just..weird.

You can tell that Rauch just has no use for Bridget...part of it, is that she is not blonde "hot" and I am sure he thought Nola and Bridget were interchangeable as he thought Alex and Amanda were (and later writes off all because, they just aint Reva...) This was the perfect time to if they chose to write Bridget off over the months with Dylan coming back to town now that Billy is out of prison and there is yet another endless Reva drama going on..and have the two of them get closer over the course of her trial and then get married and attempt to leave town when bam Vanessa returns. At least give her a couple weeks with Peter before she sees that he needs to be with Bridget and that she needs her own life...it would be good scenes with Maeve and Melissa and put a cap on a things nicely. But soaps didnt do that anymore and Rauch was too into the Reva/Annie story (which I can see them jumping on, but it was lazy that they werent building anything up on any part of the canvas to take over once that was done, so we got endless cycles of DumbRevaDrama. Peter returns with Dylan for H.B.'s funeral (which I can't belive anyone thought to do) and Van says "Peter!" but acts like she is an aunt or family friend not his mother.

Thanks..boy Phillip was being a real DICK and I can't believe that Rick and Mo just stood there. Meredith is...what was the reason for her? Johnny is a big black hole of boredom, and what was the thing with Chelsea's robe? Why was Rusty's girlfriend handing out with Ed, and Fletcher never fails to annoy, though you can tell Hammer thinks he is as cute as can be...(are there ANY locks at the Spaulding mansion?) Speaking of mansions, I never thought that H.B. would live in that house, though I love the set. I love that there is a thunderstorm...there is never a thunderstorm on a soap that does not mean something bad is happening.

These scenes and the relationship don' t make sense. I remember stopping around this time as it was All Buzz, and then, all of a sudden, Holly and Roger are a happy, and boring couple? Holly jumping into the man who beat and raped her arms...(and I love be some Roger/Holly, but the sexy, push pull love and hate Roger and Holly, not this...) But then again, the whole episode didn't make sense...Vanessa's boat trip is filmed and sound tracked as if she is at Camp Crystal Lake or there is a bomb on the boat.. NotAlan is talking to Tangie about revenge (does she know who he is?) Jenna and the BORING ass cosmetics storyline. The only saving grace is Bridget and Dylan, and I can't help it, I love them together. Englund is a piece of ass but it works that he would be in love with this not model looking girl. I thought that the son of Billy and Reva should have been a bit more..wild, but they wrote to the actor's strength and its kind of sweet. So much so I will admit when they brought that weird NuDylan on and he had dumped Bridget to chase after, who else, but Harley, I was kinda pissed!

I remember that one..thanks for posting it! Agree that Tom and Lisa having a complicated dynamic makes sense (she let the Hughes raise him for a good bit of his youth, kind of like on GL, Shayne and Marah act like their mother was Carol Brady and not Reva...) I can see Deas playing that out, which is why I would like to see any scenes with Wagner. His scenes with Chris are mostly talking law case exposition, but there is a layer or respect and warmth there, which makes sense. Deas Toms' reaction to his iron fisted grandmother would be interesting. I think Fulton acted her way into the dotty mother role. I thought the Dobson's wrote her correctly, she wasnt the STAR anymore but she was Lisa, and Fulton went over the top with the...eccentric act, to get attention and it kind of stuck.

I get why they did Brent/Marian at this time...it was, as the mags said, the time to "Beat the drum loudly" and do something outrageous to get attention. But you are right...this should have led somewhere. My idea was to focus less on Lucy and more on the rest of the canvas, particularly Holly and Roger. I think I wrote this before but I would have Fletch investigating Alans' ties to Brent, while Holly supports Lucy as a rape victim. Alex, to get the heat off of Alan and Spaulding, plants evidence on Roger, and Fletch, knowing Holly still has those conflicted feelings, is ready to believe it is him, and goes after him to finally put him behind bars. There is a confrontation between the two of them in public when Roger lets looses to his violent side, and the classic soap, "I could KILL you!" and Holly remembers what it was like to be beat by Roger. Roger is arrested for battery and gets bail and Fletch still pursues it..Blake and Ross argue over Roger..(giving Amanda a chance to take advantage of the rising tension) with Ed and finally even Alex warning Fletch to drop it. Fletch gets evidence that leads him to Marion and instead of Nadine Fletch gets killed. Brent plants evidence from Roger on the body and everyone is ready to blame Roger..except Blake (maybe Ross is the D.A. at this time) and suprisingly Ed, who sees medical evidence that makes him question Roger could do it. Holly goes full out neurotic grieving widow (Holly and Fletch argued about her feelings for Roger right before he ran out and got killed) and is on the hunt for evidence against him, but finally sees it was not Roger, and they work together to smoke out the real killer. So while Marion would still stalk Lucy the rest of the cast would be involved and at the end Holly might find her dark side working with Roger..not that she would hook up with him, but that would lead into Blake's babygate (not twins or Ricks.. I would make the baby Matts) and Holly uses Ed to access the records and change the paternity test to Ross, etc.

There is a clip of them delivering the news to Margo at her shower that John "died." But its brief, and I havent seen any others. I get why they cast Deas as he has some of her "manic energy" but he wisely tempered that down and had enough Hughes in him to make it work. I just would love to see if he had any scenes with Wagner, but knowing the Dobsons, they probably didnt write any.

"It was just a foam rubber pillow" Eileen really knew how to give an interview and land a one liner. As others have said, how dumb was it not to use her more during the last decade of the show.

Yea...and it never made sense that Ms. Piper lived in midwestern SF..she made Nola and Reva look low key. The only thing I can think is that she wanted to blackmail Brandon, but how she found out about it who knows. I didn't have a problem with the story besides Hillary dying, but if you are going to change history you better make it count. Why bring Brandon back, in sweet old man mode, to just kill him off? Why not have Sharina, his only tether to good, die and he come back to SF to take what is his. He could have tried to get Phillip under his control, used India, gone toe to toe with H.B. setting it up to be a murder mystery six months later. I liked Chelsea too, once you got over her twange, her name, her being the youngest...I think that the actress gave her a Reardon spunk that worked. And yes, I would have used her as a reporter, and dumped Johnny, the black hole of GL. With a recast Rusty I could see her getting invovled with...(sorry, the actor playing him was so damn cheesy.) Chelsea saw a picture that maybe Blake had, of Christina, Rick and Phillip in the Bauer back yard, as the fence matched the current fence. As soon as she found out who was in the pic she put two and two together and confronted Blake. I dont know if they connected Roger to Malik though.

I can just imagine Bev having to work with him and what she would do ( I imagine an icy stare at his antics.) I remember a scene where he is at the Bauers for Thanksgiving, and Selena had run off, and Deas was getting into the windmill arms and spitting and Mary Stuart as Meta just gave him a glare as Meta says, "Dont you start with ME, Buzz Cooper!" and Deas seemed to stop in his tracks more then the direction told him to do. We needed more of Aunt Meta ringing Buzz's beads! "Now Buzz, I did NOT invite you over to have you spit all over my counters!"

LOL..I wonder how Walker and Deas got along..when being interviewed by Logan, when we were still at the stage where soap press were practically blowing him...Logan goes on and on about Deas just "going out there and doing it and everyone else had to catch up" and Walker says, "Well, that could also be self-indulgent in an actor" which I think was the most realistic thing I every read about Deas time on GL at that point. I think the twins was not only a jump the shark but it hurt all characters involved for the rest of their time on the show. First they played it for laughs (or isnt it funny that Rick is screwing the woman he thought was his sister, and is now the wife of his dad's best friend who has been like an uncle to him) they made Ross a sap, Blake a dumb slut, Rick an ahole, and it was, in the words of Abby, "Just GROSS!" Then they really tied Ross and more Blake down to be a mom of twins, which limited her storylines and she just had to keep repeating screw ups. Terrible idea.

Agreed, and not only that, they needed Mike for a balance of power on the good side...Ross was tasked to that alone..Buzz for all his bellowing was not able to do it, Ed was too weak and passive (at least Simon's was) they needed a strong male patriarch. When Simon left in 95 it was a perfect time for Mike to come back to take care of the family, but McTavish was too busy with Lonatrat and Angel boy. I always thought that as well. a crusading trust busting attorney...or at least go into something non-profit..the Bauer Foundation would drive Alan nutso. We did NOT need another Spaulding fighting over stock or the presidenancy... (why the board and the investors did not kick that family out earlier...)

LOVED Joan as Alex...she gave off a Bev vibe, or course mixed in with her seductive, playful self. Most of what Joan plays now is "I'm in on the joke" so I was surprised that she got Alex so well. She also had Bev's niceness with younger people and the people Alex liked. It was a hard go to go back to Marj bellowing and stuttering and rolling her eyes.

I think Lisa has moved past the villian stage long before Lucinda entered. She was town eccentric busybody a biting tounge, who Marland used to a great way to spread exposition to the rest of the town..creating a community feeling. I never understood how Sheffer and Gautman did not know what to do with her...they needed someone in that role as everyone was so oddly isolated.

Totally agree, I always thought he would have made a good Mike Bauer..he had a formality but innate warmth that would work. When you see Raines working with younger people he seems protective of them, but unlike BevAlex (who lost a son and was always kinder toward younger people) it did not work as Alan. I could see him in the courtroom. As for his Alan..he would be eaten alive by Bev. He did have great chemistry with Joan Collins, but she always gave off the vibe that she was just playing with him and Alex did not see him as the forminable adversary he should have been.

I would love to see some of her "hey day" of bitcheness, specifically of her seduction of Michael Shea and their marriage..that seemed to be Lisa's height of bitchiness and then they defanged her a bit and made Joyce the bad girl. I love a lot of what the Dobson's were doing with Lisa before Eileen went a bit...overboard with her ditziness and left the show. Sure Lisa wasn't a front burner but she was always there and the wrote her with the perfect blend of knowing slyness. There was one funny scene when Joyce was feigning a brain tumor to marry Grant, that Lisa goes over to her apartment, goes into her bathroom and searches her medicine cabinet to find any meds...as she leaves (Joyce is cleaning, when do we see a soap character clean) and Lisa swabs a finger over the woodwork and says, "Needs work" ..seems goofy but Eileen played it off well. I also loved when Lisa had a family built around her, the McColls, and the night before Steve's trial for Whit's murder begins she has them all over for dinner. It turns into a big fight and Lisa walks around the table verbally bitch slapping each of them..."Do you know what it's like to testify in a murder trial? I DO..and they will tear each of us apart on the stand so we need to stick together." Lisa rarely got to play a matriarch but I liked it when they let her do it. Edited to add another Joyce/Lisa scene...its during the drab Dee Rape Trial, and a ice storm hits Oakdale and their is a blackout hits some areas (take that JFP) Lisa, the long suffering Grant, and Joyce are stuck at the Hughes law firm with only candles...Lisa and Joyce get into it (if I was Grant I would dive head first out the window) and Joyce "accidentally" drops her candle on Lisa's skirt setting it on fire. That might be a better Joyce scene tho as she just smirked.