Mitch64

The infamous Datalounge posted a link to what seems to be a rough draft of Megan McTavish book on being a soap writer. Its mostly AMC (oh does she call Lucci out and sorta outs Geary from GH...) but there is a section on GL, mostly about Laibson and Garret's issues (while also outing Maureen, but I think MG has been out for a while now.) McTavish seems..quite the character herself!

Yea...I still don't get how an actor, writer, director..someone on the set didn't say, "They met when he came back to town, it was on screen, the audience saw that..." (its like Whoopi Goldberg in Soap Dish..."He was decapitated...I looked it up..he DOESNT HAVE A HEAD!") but maybe they did and as you say, they didn't give a crap it was someone's bright idea that they did and they said "Screw it, those dummies will eat this up as long as we show Mike showing his abs in the next scene." It kind of like Amanda is Bradon's kid...which COULD have worked if they actaully watched the video and read the scripts back then (Jane Marie Stafford was her name at the time she gave birth and they said in a million times so it would be on the birth certificate) so a potentially good storyline ( Alex protecting Alan from the truth back fired and made them enemies again, Amanda the feral child of Brandon being the outsider in the family, not a kid of Alans' but totally cut off from the sibling dynamic Alan and Alex have, even when they are at each other's throats) was ruined from a write and producers laziness. Well all of them were miscast..Lizzie should not have been a cheap Paris Hilton knock off, but the last actress, who seemed more like Mindy's illegitmate kid then a child born of the angsty Phillip and Mindy, and who killed a man to protect her mother...

James is so interesting as a villain..he came on under the Dobsons as this fantasy prince until he was unmasked for what he was, but even having the affair with Margo didnt put him into the cartoon super villain hold...it was when the Dobs were fired first and the strike hit and they made James run over John, (which is stupid, he wouldve jsut dumped Margo if John was a pain) and then the stupid drug ring. When the Dobsons came back they doubled down on him being a cartoon villain and the dye was cast. When Marland first brought him back he was more brutish and a bit scary, and you can see why Lucinda had a sick hots for him. I loved the scene where James is in the Hughes kitchen and he tells Paul, "Son I want you to have these values" as tries to b.s. his way back into good graces...but he has a hold on Paul's neck as he does it and Nancy gives him the side eye that she is not buying it. Later runs dumped that (even as he ordered murders) which was too bad, Herrar hit his stride as this brutal guy who had a veneer of aristocracy to him. (which made sense James was raised as a Stenbeck but was really a bad seed changeling.) If they insisted on bringing him back, each time he should have been more and more insane..where you could see his mental deterioration each time..instead of the cartoon villain who never changes. Roger is anther character that went thorugh so many changes..but for the better until McTrash tried to revert him to being just a sociopath. John, was never a villain..he was a very complicated, selfish, but loving guy who always felt the victim against the "Hughes/Steward axis " as he said before.

I couldn't stand Bruno...Wheeler had a habit of hiring these sweet young things like Bruno, the woman who is on BTG's now (lets hope she got better) and the Lizzie actress (who I thought was good but totally miscast as Lizzie...who should have beena bit more intense and darker) Bruno was so damn sweet that it made my teeth hurt, plus, we didnt need another Cooper on screen. I liked her as Dollar gave her a sarcastic teen vibe, and the good ole, blue collar girl trying to get ahead (I wanted a scene where she finds the N.R. loves K.N. carve in the wall in Nola's bedroom..."It looks like the girl who lived her wanted to get out too") but then Bruno made her this sweet young thing who vied with Harley in giving all the men in town the hots.

Your're right, he can play an easygoing guy or someone more instense..that is probably why I think he would have made a good Rick..a nice sweet guy but has some of his dad's issues. And of course his appearance as the gay boxer in Oz..and his quote on what he likes do and how he does it well... LOL..and they think the dialouge on soaps is bad..but at least that was hot.

Then you werent around on the forums when GL was pushing them as a supposed super couple..the fans were referring to them as LAM and we referred to them as LAME. I remember people would be posting, "Ohhh, there is a five minute love scene with LAM." which I thought was so weird, who tunes into a show to just watch their favorites in a five minute fake love scene? Oh weel I think probably that sweet young thing the Marah actress he married is keeping him close at home...she knows full well he can't keep it in his pants! I like Bogue, and thought he was sexy...but yea, I just thought he was another character, which he could have been. I thought he worked well with Gina but they paired them too late. In a far fetched world, I could see him as a recast of Rick Bauer...wholesome, with a wry sense of humor (and kinda sorta resembles Simon) but not mugging or a simp like MOL played him.

Totally agree..it was like Babs on ATWT,,I don't care how many time Marland trotted out his rules...her turn to bitch was on a dime, but well worth it to cause trouble in the Hughes family. Julie was cheaper entertainment, as she was not part to the core and you didn't have an investment into her rivals like you did Babs vs Margo, but it was just as much fun seeing her hate on Lucy, cause who the hell didn't..and cause trouble with uh "Nero divergent" Frank!

I agree..my favorite example of this was Deas...one of the veteran directors told him to "tone it down," (obviously after JFP left that anyone could tell her overacting favorite something..) and he got p*ssed and just went through the paces. The funny thing is, Buzzard was more enjoyable then so Deas needed the direction! I also remember when Simon returned in 2000..Ed was a war prisoner so there his attitude made more sense..Taggert was using him properly as a Judge Lowell kind of listeing person, and Zimmer was having a scene with him. It started off with Kimmer's little tricks for attention and the more the scene went on the more she toned it down to meet him and viola..Reva became more real (and tolerable.) and they had a good scene.

Why did his later years on GL turn Ed into a sourpuss? I can see why they thought he woudl work as Ed looking at this clip...and I remember him having a sense of humor in his early GL days, was it later on he just hated the material and it showed?

I loved orginal recipe HB, who was a complicated man at a loss on how to deal with his kids without their mother. He was a total a**hole sometimes and was mean to Josh, and vied with Billy on hating/lusting after Reva. The family was much more complicated and interesting then, (Mindy HATED Reva, Reva wasn't much inclined to like Mindy, Van was a wild woman who Billy was turned on by, until she became a boring housefrau) and I have no idea if it was Jeff Ryder or who, but they became cartoon and buffonish while being the main family in town NO ONE could beat. I get why turned HB into the sage patriarch (I am sure he was headed that way and Bert would have been the catalyst) as there was no older person to take the mantel..Henry was...Henry. The problem was, HB was more fun as a crotchey old codger and he was fixated on the Lewis family (like Sarah was with Reva) and could not be that community center the show needed. Julie was just an out and out biotch, while Bridget was a bad girl with a heart that we were supposed to root for (there was no rooting for Julie, even though I loved her nastiness.) Julie seemed the prototype for Dinah, but we were supposed to feel for Dinah, and well, you just couldnt.

I read the book, "Unscripted, the Epic Battle for a Media Empire..(yadayada) having no idea that good ole J No Dot would be a supporting character. He probably thinks its a badge of honor! Speaking of, the GL writers could have used a book like that to maybe give them an outline of a real family fight over a corporation...instead of, the, "Oh, Alan Michael, you have drawn up papers to own all of Spaudling..." or, "Let's vote for Harley Cooper as CEO, sure, she totally unfit for the role with no experience...but gosh darn it she is good gal!" Long was planning it. There was a scene where H.B. goes to talk to Bert, but she is out of town(Charita's illness) and he ends up talking to Maureen about his family and his estranged kids, that you could tell was written for he and Bert. When H.B. first came to town he wasnt the jolly Santa/Col Sanders figure..he was a bit more edgy and earthy and world weary...it wasnt until later that we got the "YeeeeHaww," everytime he came into a room.

Oh, I had a horrible vision of Bert, marrying H.B. and then becoming a "Lewis" and that would solidify them as the "core" family, and i would not put that past Kobe. Erickson wanted to leave..Rauch told him they had story for him..(i.e. with Drew) but he wanted out. I don't blame him they wrote more for Pilgrim (who didn't know his claim to fame was going to be as the boytoy of Sumner Redstone's mistress! )and J. just stood around following Chele around who was running after that weird angel character. A good intro for Stacey and an exit for Quint would be for for her to write to N & Q that she is seeing an older man. Nola is suspicious and they find out the older man is actually Quint's old enemy Silas Crocker...(maybe BH could be borrowed from ATWT for a bit) who is out for revenge..and eventually he and Quint struggle fall of a cliff and Quint dies a hero's death instead of just disappearing.

Curlee always wanted to write for a Nola type character...and I think that Stacy, a Chamberlin with a rich archeologist father (odd, on her return they always acted like Nola was..not rich...) who traveled the world, would be too sophisticated. Instead of Drew (brought on with that dumb music producer storyline, connected to no one) they brought Stacy as Chele's rival. She would be a couple of years older and more wordly then Chele, and she has the Nola genes for subterfuge. That was stupid..she cheated herself out of a career....(I actually don't think she could handle the acting challenge of playing a drunk.) Well, he did become "J...no dot" under the acting of soon to be infamous George Pilgrim, and they threw him into a relationship with his (adopted) cousin...really Chele, the world is that small? Then they recast with that bland pretty boy and there was a kinda triangle with him, his cousin, and an angel..so the character was doomed.

Agreed...a great format to have a twisty mystery that leads into another one (and as a viewer, if you not THAT into the current mystery, you could check in once in a while to keep up and wait for another good mastery.) They could also set it in a urban area with a mix of ethnicities and economic levels ( I think that is what BTG's is missing, a mix of different economic levels...and the setting is way too bland. I think do think every soap needs a Spaulding or Whitney family..pulling the strings behind the scenes.. and what a great way to get rid of a problem actor or someone asking for too much money...kill em off or send them to jail.

The should have brought Floyd (hardened and tougher) back for a short run during Lisa's second run and have Stacey return. Did Stacey even know Floyd was her dad (probably never discussed as she was a kid when she was on last.)

Yea, the Dobson's created him, an he had a quasi- Three's Company thing going with Hillary and Katie (well, he was Katie's bro so he was not perving on her...)

Ha..when they had Lisa doing her Dolly Valentine gossip column it should have been in the "Key Hole" (great name for a rag...) which she secretly bought.

A news anchor posted on his FB page about meeting her during this, and he fanboyed out! Mentioned that he and his mother would watch GL over dinner, and how it was not just meeting a star but the good memories that came back of watching the show with his mom..it was really kind of sweet and I think really is spot on how these shows bring back those memories more then any other genre. When I hear Bob, Kim, Lisa or Nancy's voices I think of my Mom and grandmother. I didn't know she had cancer? She looks really good. The Gates need to bring her on as the matriarch of a working class family

I think the younger actors in that scene were jazzed to be part of it. The thing I liked about the Meta character is that she didn't really have a family of her own...(i.e. kids) so it made sense she would want to come back to her hometown and adopt these nephews and niece and the whole town. As someone really without a "family" to take sides with it made her more accessible to the rest of the characters. I also like that she had a past and would understand people's slightly left of the moral center. But they kind of threw it all away (and Stuart became ill.)

Well, there was a reason that their relationship was just going to events..etc..Henry was a big ole QUEEN! (watch some clips where he is just rolling his eyes at Vanessa, or Billy, or Alex, or Jenna, or the new curtains at the Towers...) I can see Bert more with H.B. then Henry. Henry was old money (and I always presumed lots of it) and of the manor born...H.B. was new money (as Alex would sniff her nose and say) and worked his ass off for it. He was more down to earth and also raised a family. I think Bert would accept that ..and unlike Bea, she would be on to Henry, but respected the facade...: ) Alex and Mike I could see as they would challenge each other and there was more story then being with that drip Lillian. For a maternal prescence I would have just brought back Bea, but write her stronger...( the woman raised 7 kids and ran a boarding house, she should have been tough stuff.) The perfect time to expand the Bauer family was when Simon left during McTrash...Mike should have come back and maybe he is married and has an entire new family which would be close to AM 's age. Have a young earnest son just going into law enforcement, I can see Poser's vampy, horny Amanda going for it much to the concern of both father's reginiting the Spaulding/Bauer feud. Edited to add..if they brought Mike back then..it would have been interesting to have him married to Jennifer (they could still have had kids off camera) so she comes back and resumes her contentious relationship with Amanda (who actually finds Mike to be a more supportive father figure causing conflict with Alan, and Morgan could come back...resuming her conflict with Nola (now this time Morgan is the bad girl, going after Quint for revenge...or maybe a recast Kelly returns.) Of course a Mike/Jennifer thing would cancel Amanda going after Mike's son, as even Poser's Amanda would find that an issue. Meta did talk about her past, during one of Vanessa's Shady Ladies of SF support group thing she talked about it, and it actually was well written.

Of course, the "dead gays" trope comes out again. But also it shows a naivety on writing for gays that these two guys in their 20s or 30s or going to ride off together and stay together their whole lives. But I think that is the problem with soaps, they have this silly ideal that the end all and be all is to be in a relationship, and each relationship on the show has to be geared toward the soap money shot of a wedding...only for them to break up six months later. I would have been happy for Reid just not to die (and of course say, "Luke, your a nice kid and a great lay, but that's all it is, your a silly little man dive and your annoying to spend more then the night with")

I could not stand Hansis or Luke. But he was the token gay, the gay audience was so desperate for representation that they pushed "Nuke" as if they werent the dullest couple on the face of the earth (like with Otalia on GL...) I also think they kept him around as he was totally bland and sexless..I never saw any passion between him and the first guy (granted, he was an uncharismatic block of wood) and any sparks were totally generated by the Reid actor. Too bad they didnt make Casey bi, and if Reid was somehow related to John, reignite the Hughes/Dixon tension..(and of course they gay audience would go nuts over the Casey actor shirtless.) and I could totally see Scott Holmes Tom as a homophobe Dad with Bob and Kim being supportive and especially Lisa getting involved (come on , you know Lisa had a gaggle of Queens around her from her restaraunt staff, etc.) I can't believe GL kept Frankie D and other nonentities and not kept Brown's Nola around. She should have been running Company and getting her nose in everyone's biz and mothering the young characters as the eccentric landlady bar owner. Or ATWT didn't bring her back to constantly have it out with Lucinda.

Your right, they were gearing up for an Alex/Mike/Lillian triangle, and there were scenes heading into that...(Mike taking Alex up in his plane, Lillian mistaking the intentions when Mike asked her back to his place for "dessert") Then it was dropped. It wasn't that Stewart didn't get along with Bev, it was that she was "too old" for him, and he could be, as most actors are, a pain. That must have been when Kobe fired him( and I don't blame her...I would have just recast him immediately.) I have a feeling that the long game was for Mike and Alex to be together when Alan finally came back. I think Long had every intention on continuing to use the Bauers...Mike with Alex and Bert with H.B. (and I think that Bert would have been in the thick of things no matter with H.B. or not...Kobe felt that as long as Charita was there she could fire the entire cast and people would stay tuned.) But it was Kobe the driving force (and Charita's death caught them by suprise.) But there were many times that producers could have restored the Bauers, (Kobe could have recast Mike right before CB came back...but I think she was hesitant because FauxEd was not working out at all.)

He is handsome..I wonder what kind of actor he is and if they could have recast with him when Don left.

I thought Luke/Reid was way more interesting then Luke, and that other guy, who couldn't act, but agree that Reid was more interesting on his own..the weakness was Luke, who was as annoying in his "perfectness" as his mommy was, but also the actor was annoying on his own. MB was talented enough to make Lily sometimes sympathetic while being whiny and spoiled an having everyone worrying over her, this actor could not. But how interesting it would have been if Reid was created earlier in the shows run, to have a gay character who was smart, professional, arrogant and shady...like John, not a villain, not an anti-hero (on soaps they all have to wear leather and drive a bike) and not a hero.