Mitch64

I LOVE this..but I love Spaulding history and their dark secrets which always get screwed up by bad writers (Amanda is Brandon's kid...Alan is an opera queen, whose bad daddy doesn't like that, so he has an affair with some never mentioned woman with no ties to the canvas and she pumps out Gush and becomes a nun, and Alex knows all about this..blah,blah..) To tie it in to my story, I would continue with NotLana (totally agree a Reardon would not be named that unless Bea was a big Lana Turner fan..) be the owner of the farm NotAmish Reva ends up on, and Alan comes a sniffing around after her (again, I would have a private eye find her for Alan and he is intent on using her for his advantage over Josh and again, just for [!@#$%^&*] and giggles and he knows it will bug the crap out of Alex to have Reva back...) Alan somehow has an accident and Amnesia Reva brings him to the house and NotLana is "Oh crap.." when she sees him. At the same time I would have brought back Bea (even if I had to recast her) to come ring Nola's beads as she is causing havoc all over town with Van and Matt and Ed (again, finding out that he is basically responsible for her sister dying..) I loved the idea of Mary Stuart as Meta, but Meta was stuck in the Bauer kitchen when they were already obscured...Bea would bring a comforting matriarch back who, situated in the BH and Company would provide the whole town to come in and cry over their coffee or beer to her.

I never saw the resemblance either. I was actually surprised during the Locher show that JFP looked very attractive and seemed very pleasant...(and I realize she was b.s. through half of it.) Yes, that was the main cause..Fiona vocally supported Zaz and went to the events for him including the OLTL events. Also, she got bored when they turned her into a soccer mom by once again sacrificing a good female character on the altar of Buzz Cooper. Now which came first, who knows, did Rauch retaliate by putting her in the back of scenes "Blowing up balloons for the Bauer BBQ" as Fiona put it. I have no idea why they just did not write both Buzz and her out then, other then to get that weird soap writer producer thrill of taking out what you think of the actor on the character...(okay, well I admit I would give Buzz an hilariously long death so that Deas could chew his last pieces of scenery..."gahhh, ha..." are waving, spit flying..."Im going...going..Im not gone yet..bahh, gahhh!" and then he would float to heaven and Nadine and Jenna would be there look at him and say..."Uh, not so much.")

We never saw Tony and Annabelles kids, or even knew how many there were...there must have been a lot as Bea just moved there and never came back. I would also have recast Sean Reardon with a more uh, conventionally attractive guy..(maybe that guy who played John on AW) and made his less of a sleaze and a cheap knock off of Buzz. I also think Michael the Clone doc could have easily been Jim Reardon, well known medical experimenter. I would have brought back the missing Reardon sibling, which some people call Lana for some reason..(maybe that was said on screen?) They could have had Lana be the mother of Abby (non Amish) who is hiding out from her abusive exhusband. So she buys a farm in Indiana and puts them both up as a fortress kind of thing, but since she is a Reardon, she takes in all of the worlds lost strays, especially women fleeing domestic abuse. Along comes amnesia Reva (I would totally have written a different back story of her missing years then the crappy schlock fairy kingdom) who she finds wandering around covered in blood ( she was hitchhiking with her radar back to Josh's peen, but is attacked and she fights her way out and Lana finds her dazed...) which she takes in. "Lana" would have the heart of Mo, but be tougher and more savy and maybe an ex-alcholic herself, which is why she has not communicated to her family since Mo's funeral. She would eventually get with Ed, but it would be a long road to that, as she would cut him if he cheated!

Well as JFP said, the whole fire story was to give Deas a one man show...(he was supposed to be the only actor on for one episode...that would attract ratings..people tuning into to see a sloppy middle aged loud mouth chewing the scenery and crying about his past..) I loved Nola but hated her fantasies too. I hate very special episodes geared to win Emmys but bringing the stories to a hault.

The show needed some comedic lightness, what with Brent concking Nadine on her head, rape, stalking, no matriarch..Josh being downright nasty to Reva when she returns, etc. McTavish did do good stand alone comedic scenes, Marj and Hawk (as dumb as having Alex using Hawk to spy on people, Marj and Gil were great at comedy..though it did get a bit AMC'ish) and a short one with Marj, Hawk and Nola when Nola was trying to get the use of the Spaulding Greehouse for Mattesa's wedding, and she tricks Alex into it..(by tripping Hawk into dumping something on Alex so he woudl have to drop his lawsuit against her..."Your work quick honey, I will say that" We just needed more of that...more Nola and less Iva Snyder.

I think Parker even said," After all those cups of coffee, your writing me out NOW?" i.e. just when there is something interesting to do...(and JFP well knew this.) I think that having Mo leave Ed, move in and take over the BH and take in Bridget when she is preggers...maybe she wouldn't know who the father is and either not hide Bridget of actually do so for a bit, and then adopt Peter herself so Bridget can have a life but always be close to Peter. Ed has to suffer everyone knowing and actually telling him this time he is sh*t, even Ross and Rick ("Grandma would be so angry right now" ) and then he does all he can to try to get back with her.. and adopts Peter himself then not knowing its Roger's grandson. The the custody can be between Ed, Mo vs. Roger..with Mo seeing Roger's side also, but know he can't raise a kid. Anyway, I would have Mo stand up and take her life and then Ed can see, as Curlee said, "What its like when friends dont stop byw with a caserole.") I still wish they had Nola find out about Ed and Lilian and for her to go on a rampage against both...leading Ed to finally show the audience his guilt over Mo's death, but not before we got Nola to berate him and hopefully slap the crap out of Lillian, hopefully in the middle of the Bauer kitchen. Speaking of, I would have brought Nola back as a best selling writer of "romantic adventures" which of course, would all star a plucky girl from the wrong side of the tracks, (maybe she would come back to write a book on Mo, doing some digging finds out about Ed the horn dog) with Gracie Middleton being her assistant... Gracie would once again be Ethel to Nola's Lucy, going undercover as a maid for the Spauldings to snoop on them for new material.

Ha..I never thought of that!!! I wonder if McTrash had a thing out for Brown and Tylo on how horrible she wrote them. From her book outline, she is obviously someone who never forgets a slight and likes to use her writing for revenge. God, I wish she had wrote a cameo for herself, to see her squeeze into those tight pleather pants at that age!

Well, remember, she is screwing Tony too, a funny scene has Bea walking in while Van is doing her "fur coat but naked underneath thing" (and really Van ,what if you got caught in a car accident...) I never understood why Nola of all people didnt bring that up when she was nudging Van in 95. Van was so much more fun then she was when she became town Matron. While I don't think Reva orginal recipe fundamentally changed GL on her own, Long's obsession with her nullified both Van (for her vixen role) and Nola (for the fun loving live wire) and that didn't need to happen( Van had the added issue of BevAlex coming in and becoming the business aristocratic ice queen.) Nola and Van I can see as Frenemies...the first to call the other out but hell to pay if anyone else messes with the other, but I never saw Van giving Reva the time of day, despite what they wrote. I wish they had Van reexamine her life after her dumb disease goes into remission and return to some of her old ways, kicking Matt our to the street, and loosing the matron hair and clothes, rejoining Spaulding and kicking Alan's butt. The disco...Josh was a "woman killer" when he first came on, Nola was preggers but went with Gracie to the SF disco despite that and Josh was coming on to her. She has a funny line when some guy she is not into comes on to her..."Im pregnant" and her runs away!

Bev and CB's Alan had an incestuous vibe, but it was more gothic , these two powerful people raised by an abusive father cut off from other people their age growing up. Marj's was more annoying and pathetic...like she actaully wanted to get it on with RR's Alan..it WAS weird. I think Borne would have been a good Kyle recast, or the man who met Reva when she had amnesia (a Richard replacement but there woudl be no stupid island royalty..it would be more gothic.)

Parker wasnt in on the budget discussions (I have no doubt she wasnt, but as with every work place, people talk and know things...) but you were? I agree that the Coopers were Greek by name only, because of FD. It was like Marland making the Reardon's Irish but they were protestant...(Long thankfully changed that.) I think that Long made her blue collar family Greek in answer to the Irish Readons of which the blueprint of siblings she stole (Frank-Tony-Harley-Nola.) In typical soap fashion they were as generic ethnic the toss in of Baklava, the Parathon picture in that ugly ass diner set, and Melina's..not great Greek accent

It was pretty much confirmed in the Locher room episode on Mo's death, when Parker said, "I think Jill had to free up money for Justin,". The focus group we know was just an excuse for JfP to dump Parker to bring in her beloved scenery chewer..(of course viewers who didn't even watch GL thought her character was boring, there was no context...) I do love whomever came up with the idea up thread of having Buzz PTS come back and shoot Lucy in the head (would it matter, the bullet would pass through air) That is one hell of a dark way to go!!! I just thought that they should have used Jenna to write Buzz off..they reunite they fight Jefferey then they leave town happy. Simple.

I would have LOVED that storyline. Unlike other's here, I really like HB (can understand their aversion to his Craig.) But he does give that Ivy League Privileged aura that GA gives, which might be good or bad (my conception of the heir would be a guy brought up in poverty, that really, really WANTS everything the Spauldings can give him..and finds Phillip a fool...he would be hungry and ruthless in ways the Spaudlings could never understand in that they had their wealth and power at all times..) A recast Alex would have been great, especially since at this time Marj was off so there was room for a new actress..(I always thought Lara Parker would be great..she gives off the elegance but will cut you vibe) but I don't know if you could recast Alan and Alex at the same time. I never understood the Vickie story dropping..I know GL had its head up Reva's ass the whole time, but they needed to develop other stories characters and Vickie would be the one, but they cast such bland actresses and the character should be playing everyone against each other as the insider/ousider.

I always wanted Nola to buy it and turn it into an Art Deco 1930s/40s film fantasy club thing...I loved the Towers and CC bar set. Love Hamp and love Gilly (so sorry for what incestuous crap McTrash is about to throw her way..) was this one of his last appearances...( I know he is at the misquide Holly/Fletch wedding.) Loved GL's music montage and this particular version of the theme...classy, sexy, a bit morose, a bit cheerful, all GL. Lord, they ruined it with Mattessa...why did they put that Mom hair on MK when they were putting her with him? What was with them having people screw while the BBBQ takes place, they had Rick and Abby once and here.." Ed, sorry I'm late, here is the potato salad..oh, uh Van when you done going down on Matt could you tell me if there is another bowl to put it in""

I like that idea....she is the toast or Europe and Phillip could be angry at her for not ever contacting her but the reason was, she was afraid of her craziness coming back and she feels quilt over abandoning him. They could have played on the old Alexis returning plot in publicity (which is fine thought it would play differently) It would have given Joan more meat then just unnerving Alan (which was fun as hell just the same) and they could have followed some of the same points including the ex wives club (instead of her taking over I would have her get a major investment in Spaulding and seat on the board to bedevil Alan. I just think Alex without Bev, just doesn't work so leave her off camera. My old rugby team mates (GL would play at the clubhouse do to me watching it once in a while ) thought she was "Hot as f*ck" and had no interest in Reva!

And Elizabeth..whatever happened to her..did they ever say she died? I always wish she came back, more confident and ready to take on Alan (she had money of her own, right?) I would have loved Collins as Elizabeth, but her hyper confident self would make it a stretch. Speaking of stretches, I wish they had left wiggle room for the real Spaulding heir to be alive....(some cockamany storyline where a crazed nurse took him and brought him back and then raised him as her own...and of course ole Rog would have found him)and comes back. He would be Alan on steroids and then watch Phillip squirm...(I love GA/Phillip but he ALWAYS was so entitled, even crying about that entitlement. )

Oh...and don't forget he was a rapist as well..and wasnt it cute how he called Harley "Terrier" and our big mouth gal said nothing, and don't forget him screwing Beth over Alan's breakfast croissant ! Ohh, but that longish hair and that guitar playing got the over 40 fraus estrogen levels back in place!

And actually it would have been a good storyline..either Nola or Reva's kid should have been gay with the most obnoxious gay supporting mom on earth "Now Jay, I am closing Company to have a Pride party just for you and the rest of the boys..I hired 5 strippers..." And Ethan sure was PERTY ...Maybe GA and MOL were visionary head writers. LOL I agree, that was good and they both were solid in it. MOL no mugging. I didn't mind Mel and thought it was cool that the next Bauer matriarch was black, but by that time being a Bauer matriarch meant nothing (cause you know, its all about Reva and Cassie) and a triangle with Beth would have made sense ( Phillip "dead" ..Rick clinging to the memory of the 4 M's) but by that time Beth was so..weird...was she good, bad, vixen...she made no sense. I too think Mel had no definition, married, baby...then Conboy put her on recurring. Those Weds shows did no one a favor by having people off camera for weeks and their whole storyline in one day.

That is all fine and good, but don't bring that on screen. I don't care to see your dumb impression of Bill Murray in Caddyshack...I am sure it is HI-larious with your work mates but onscreen..no. I think it could get away with some of that when he is younger and cuter..through Abby past the end MOl was very cute and in his break up scenes with her, shirtless as he no doubt lost weight and was working out, he was a piece of a**, but, when he let the fat kick in he just looked like a tired old fool, that no one could take seriously and that should not be a Bauer. That would NOT have flown nowdays, but he and GA convinced, what must have been Ethan Erickson, to try on some soccer shorts and he is going to be in gay love affair...yea, funny, but filled with a bit of gay panic, "Gay..GROSSSSS!" so I can kind of see JE being warry of those two and Krista throwing it back at them and able to deal with them.

Very interesting! I think a recast was called for when JFP brought O'leary back (in another effort to avoid being fired...) I never thought of Rick being way too "normal" after being raised by Ed at his most turbulent but you are right..(though I do think they can attribute that to Bert really raising him, and it helped the MOL had chemistry with Charita, but she had chemistry with EVERYONE) The problem was...MOL works great in a limited capacity, but its a capacity that was much needed..the normal, nice guy with flaws who supports others. He is not great at romance or drama or despite his efforts, comedy. I thought they hit the good spot with Rick and Abby being the normal nice couple, but soaps arent interested in that anymore, everything has be overwrought drama and MOL sucks at that. But a Rick more like Mike, who has an uneasy relationship with his dad...(this is where the recast would have come in,) after he comes back and Mo is dead, he finds out what happened, and it makes him angry that Ed once again, ruins another woman, a woman that was the closest to a Mom he ever had. This would actually have tied into PS' more emotionally distant take in his later run. Rick and Ed would have a new, more tense relationship as this brings up memories of his childhood. Rick would seek a wife and family but also be worried that he is going to ruin it all like Ed. They could have done that with MOL (as long as it didnt get too heavy) and they did do a nice scene during Conwest, where Rick and Frank commiserate that they did not have a dad like Ross growing up.

While I agree they didn't work as either, the scene itself is good. Marj gets to play her one note Myrna Clegg (her Alex was always too shrill, mean or wimpy, depending on the writer that day) which she excels at, and Signy just got to play a hard girl...if you pretend they are on another soap playing other characters it is quite good in a cheesy way! Lets put Frank and Deas on recurring, AND totally get rid of Brad Cole! Which, by the by, what was the deal with him...why did they think he was SOOOO popular, talented, charsimatic hit the demo, whatever they thought that they had to keep him over JVD and GA? Just saw this..looks interesting: https://www.wbez.org/perspectives/2025/04/03/soap-opera-daytime-tv-chicago-irna-phillips-black-women-wbez-podcast-natalie-moore

By the time that 9/11 rolled around JVD/Ross had become the patriarch of the show, the closest thing to a Bob Hughes voice of reason there was. (Should I throw in my usual complaint that dumb*ss Wheeler put him on recurring when he was the longest running cast member, the glue of the show, and the patriarch? Dumb, dumb, dumb.)

Love it..thank you!!! I love Sloane and LK in the front, and how Sloane grabs Chamberline's hand for comfort (I read that the are close.) Sad that JVD is talking about warmth and comfort (which GL and soaps shoudl be) while the Santos and Island people are standing there....

Your welcome..I remember being home and seeing it in real time. If only Ellen Parker was till on GL....a message from Maureen from the Bauer kitchen would have been very calming...(Reva just doesn't cut it when it comes to things like that...)

It was a taped presentation after an episode, where Hastings (out of character, but come on, he's Dr. Bob) talked about them being filmed in New York area, praised the first responders, and said the cast, crew and PG were there for New York, and just gave a very calming presentation that...this too shall pass. I remember it was on a day that the PG soaps had prominent American flags displayed and I don't know if JVD had a speech on GL.

Bob, Nancy and Lisa's voices were very soothing..from childhood through high school, college, young adulthood and not so young adulthood! I remember when Hastings gave a 9/11 speech after the show, immediately a friend called me up and said, "Everything is going to be all right because Bob said so!"