Mitch64

Instead of Alex, I wanted Joan Collins to play Elizabeth..back to reclaim the son she raised and this time, more then capable of taking Alan on. I know it would be a stretch that fragile Elizabeth would be self confident Joan Collins, (can she play anything but supremely self confident?) But I remember watching as a kid and Elizabeth was OBSESSED with Phillip( actually everyone in town was, he was the forerunner of Lily Walsh) so for her to just be like, "See YA!" and never mentioned is weird.

Bridget was a very difficult person, who did not suffer fools, so I can imagine how she and JFP got along (JFP prefered her difficult people to be men...) I would love to hear some of the backstage stories there.

It is pretty good. Despite the victim being less then compelling..if it wasnt McTavish I would have thought that the writer was trying to say something about violence against women, as the villain dresses up as of course, an ugly woman (mirroring his views on women) but it was just a twist on a back from the dead disguise but it was a good one. There was one scene in particular where Brent reveals himself on a desktop screen, that is a cross between the Wizard of Oz and a Meta comment on soap's recasting.

Well, GL patterned Marion's "look" after Jilly, so that says a lot about the feeling she left at her old place.

People can criticize whomever they want, its all subjective. And we know how JFP won those Emmys..she was smart and knew how to play the game. Kudos for her but that doesn't mean the material deserved it.

Yes, it was the set for Kim and Nick...though when Marland came in they redesigned the living room to have that big entry way and stair case and as Kim helpfully explained, a door to seperate from the living room so "People can have private conversations" which other characters could eavesdrop on despite the door (actually it was a good production move as two characters could use the same set to talk about who the babydaddy is, I hate it when soaps show characters step two feet from other characters to have a private convo, and the other characters don't notice. The kitchen came during Marland..I remember Hays saying in an interview that they loved the direction the show was in and mentioned "they gave me a big beautiful kitchen set" I also remember only Kim would have plates that matched the wallpaper I believe. I don't know if it was just for Katie (I actually liked Katie...duck...) but because New York Gautman could not believe that anyone spent so much time in a kitchen..(he mentioned that he had a hard time with ATWT "midwesterness.")

I loved their old living room (which was the house Kim and Nick lived in redecorated, which was kinda weird) where everyone would just "walk in" and start talking about their problems or doing exposition on the plot (mostly everyone's favorite buttinsky Lisa who had a hand in everyone's plot) ..it was unrealistic but I loved it and I always thought that a soap should have one center, main house where everyone felt comfortable and at home at..I am sure the Gautman's and JFP's of the world would disagree. Anyway, Bob and Kim seemed to loose their whole house, during the producer before Gautman their living room got redesigned and shrunk and would not have contained the marching band of characters that Marland had coming in and out, and then their kitchen became a set of WOAK, and Bob and Kim had to hang out at Lisa's hotel all day, Kim wearing the same damn pink pantsuit...SAD!!!!

I would have rather seen Kim and Bob's kitchen (as Gautman seemed to think the show only needed on kitchen set...) the show started at the Hughes and should have ended at the Hughes home. But yes, they should have burned down that farm, there were always weird logistics going into getting the characters out to "Luther's Corner" where even Lisa would drop by in her fur it was getting nutty. The show actually needed an urban family to offset all the wasps the show centered on...(and believe me, I love that Kim and Nancy cooked in an apron and pearls..)

Man, Kimmer was looking..HARD then! And Rauch had Van contemplating plastic surgery while Reva looked she just spent a week on a Tulsa dive bar walk..which is how Reva should look but still, she was the center of the show and the goddess of love??/

In the interview she did with Alan she came off as much more charming and warm and clever then I thought she would (with her long list of misdeeds.) I can see people liking her but just shaking their heads at her decisions, and I can see her barreling into disaster even when people tell them she is wrong, and her ego just saying "They don't have my VISION!" When my source is Datalounge I try to put that in the post, cause you know those bitoches just come up with some sh*t!!!

His vision of farm life was a bit outdated and romanticized. I come from a farm family and many of those are not living in modest homes like the Snyders. By the same token, the Snyders are never actually in the fields, talking about crops, worrying about weather, rain, etc. The Snyders were the Spauldings of farm families..what the hell did they actually do/produce? I remember one scene when a character (a european character obviously a Walsh client, most likely trying to seduce Holden) talking to Emma about all these small little houses with small fields close to each other, and Emma says, "Oh, yes, a lot of our friends had to sell pieces of their land and someone else bought it to start a farm of their own, it happens a lot" Uh, no it doesnt Emma, corporations were buying farms, (which would have been a good plot...) i

You can be friends and not agree with each other professionally. Life experience matters as well.

Why the f*ck would I bother or care enough to make a quote up? Typically headwriters write..(with constant interference that is true) and execs produce. Curlee I am sure had enough clout at that time to at least push back on somethings...maybe not big things (she lost out on saving Maureen) but she had t totally different percpective the JFP, who wanted to move the show over as Deas as the lead, focus on the Coopers and 5ht Street, and over the top characters screaming, and away from kitchen scenes etc. Why do you think JFP hired that Douglas whatshisface as headwriter after Curlee, etc. Did you notice a change in the show then?

Or do what ATWT did...give her a stroke and send her to rehab. Everyone knows she is alive and they could have played the same beats (Matt pining away, Nola trying to hook him up, Dinah lost without her punching bag, Bill angry) until they talked her into returning. At least we wouldn't have those dumb scenes of made up backstory like "Rember, Mother always said..." or the worst, "We would read poetry to each other every night," (uh, Matt, no one earth ever did that, least of all you and least of all Vanessa..I can see her wanting her own space to read a historical biography but reading poety with her boring placid husband???) Even if they wanted to give her that stupid soap disease, she would have got everyone together, and said, "I am dying, and I am going off so you don't have to see me suffer, please don't look for me." She would have enough money to hide herself away. That interview she did years ago with that fawning fan boy was really bad..and I like her. When questioned about the Bauers she denies she did anything to obscure them and then said that if she did her coheadwriter whats his face who was terrible, would have stopped her as he was a "GL history expert." This was the guy who wrote the crappy Bert memorial episodes. I would just love to hear a real version of what happened in 85, as she really did write well for the Bauers and the Reardons even as the show changed.

What was the quote from JFP when Curlee left..."Now we can do things MY way!" That tells you all you need to know about where the quality came from.

True, but he wasn't around to see Blake's grief, as opposed to Chele's and he would have hindsight knowing what his "death" did to screw up Blake for good. If they laid the groundwork of him knowing about Ed and Lillian beforehand and her devastation .."All I am to people is the person who can solve anything, someone that will listen to them, but who will do that for me..I sometimes wish I could disappear and start over again." then I can see it. And yes, Mo woudl need to be in a coma, and then wake up with her brain still scrambled with amnesia...but please, not like Vanessa, whiling away in that Swiss Convent with the nuns singing in the background.

It was in Allan's episode about Mo's death with Parker, Sloan, Kincaid and the Chele actress.

The thing is, I don't think Mo would allow her friends and family, especially her daughter to believe she was dead. Now the good old fiery car crash Mo gets thrown out and is unconscious and Roger spirits her away, yes, kind of, but would Roger let Michelle think her Mom was dead? I love that Sloan knew that the [!@#$%^&*] was going to hit the fan so she had a hard time filming the writing of the letter, so Parker had to go on set and say, "Would you just write the f*cking letter and we can get this over with" (maybe she said damn)

I read an interview, and I believe it was Zimmer, slightly defending Rauch (cause he was handing the show over to her) talking about that they had big plans that they had to scrap with Zaz gone, something about the black Spauldings and I think she might have mentioned an Ellen Parker return? If that was true and not something I dreamt up (and it might not have been Zimmer) God only knows if they were planning on having Mo be alive hidden by Roger or the story E & B wanted to do was to have a down on her luck woman getting her heart and then having her face redone to look like Mo. As dumb as it sound it would be interesting to see Parker play a tougher character and intereact with Zaz.

During that time with the revolution (which was "bad" and prompted by Edmund...not that any of the citizens of SanCrud were tired of being ruled by white quasi-British people) I wish they had made it a real revolution led by the people and have a sexy actor play the leader of the rebellion (which I would have Eddie tap into for his own selfish reasons) and him and Cassie form a common bond/attraction..I don't like LW as an actress but she knew ho to generate chemistry with a table to generate story..so it would have been interesting to have her in triangle with dull Prince and a sexy new comer while the show could subversively comment on how the whole island storyline/princess fantasy crap was outdated and elitist. I love how the Spaulding are always looked down on for there money and power but island royalty were never questioned so the hausfraus could get off imaging they were Cassie being sexed up by the bland Ken doll. Regarding Zaz, I would put the blame on MADD/Rach..Moonvees disdained soaps and a particular actor was beneath his attention. The writers were coming up with a story but were stopped by Rauch who said, "We all know how that story was going to end"

It think the actress was just a bump for Rick and Roxie (who I didnt like together..) and wasnt meant to stick around. Rick was getting addicted to pills, that character was in his class and knew about it and helped him and as in typical soap character's mind set he kept it all from Roxie and his family. I think the last scene was him throwing the pills out for "Grandma" (ooohkay GL, Bert's death is a plot point in a C tier storyline) and Roxie finds him hugging that character....I think she goes on to sleep with that weird Jackson Freemont (Roxie does, not the other girl.) I think this was way past Long's material as the were floundering with the Cain stuff trying to decide what to do with him..(I would have loved to see what Long planned, all I know was that it was supposed to be a Tarzan/Jane story which made no sense but that was GL at the time.) Louie stuck around for a year or two more, he played a key role in covering up that Ben was Kyle's kid..and then he just disappeared I think. Yea..GL was hitting a real low..which was sad as it had all the elements and actors they needed to make it work (even the Quint actor was back but he had nothing to do, as did Nola) but they buckled down on Roger being EVIL, Bridget being pathetic trying to catch Hart, even going as far as letting Roger ruin her grand opening and maybe buring down the place, and then Blake being knocked up with Rick and Ross'g kid, Lonatrat, Holly lost in Fletcherville with the baby, and Dinah being the heroine and Hart outsmarting Roger. Its too bad that Hayden, Brown, Tylo got bumped when Rauch came back. If only...I always wanted it to be shown more of a pub to contrast with the diner, which they could have kept (and let Buzz stink up the joint over there.) They could have just had Nola at the bar, nosing into everyone's life, handing out bad advice and being the eccentric Lisa ATWT character getting in everyone's business. Though I do think at this time, it should have been Nola opening up a club instead of changing Company. I wonder what she had wanted to do..I know to get out of the island, but didnt she stay there and it was Gold who got them out?

Company changed so many times without explanation. I know the original set had a fireplace in it, and it changed throughout the years..I liked JFP's Company with its staircase to the presumably upstairs of the Boardinghouse, and actually like Wheeler's set design for it. One thing that was consistent to at least the Rauch period was Nola's movie posters on the walls. The most infamous change was that McLaiby took the old Company and had Bridget and Nola turn it into...some kind of NY Lounge/Nightclub looking thing? It was part of the storyline and had a grand opening. Rauch wisely changed it back to a more traditional (though typically Rauch bland...) set overnight with no explanation. I can see Nola running a lounge/nightclub (but hers would be ArtDeco out of a movie) but not changing a family bar/restaraunt to that.

Even the name sounds like its a "Real Housewives" show..not a soap. It would have been interesting for them to center this in an urban neighborhood going through gentrification and show the push and pull with a multiethnic cast.

I disagree here...they have known each other for years, she was always in and out of his house, and the whole thing with Peter, the underlying current was, who is Ed going to support, Bridget or Vanessa? There is even a scene where Van confronts him and he explains why he supports Bridget "She is one of the last things I have left of Maureen"...Van "I AM one of the last things you have left of Maureen" (going back and considering things and how bad GL had faltered without Mo and the invasion of Buzz yelling at the top of his lungs..the storyline is really good..Ed siding with Bridget, then Dylan finally doing it and Van kicking him out of the house on Christmas Eve for doing so, Ross having to grill Van about giving up Dinah for adoption...I mean really people let that go, she didn't leave her on the side of the road) Later on Van is sitting by herself during a break in the trial and Ed finds her and they have a discussion about how Bill and Van should be at Ed's house, having dinners with he and Michelle, and Van says "But not of that is having...THIS is happing." After the smoke clears Van when having a dinner at the CC,(before she sees Matt is Bridgets brother) "We really are one big extended family, Chamberlin, Bauer, Lewis and Reardon," I blame McTavish for dropping all of that, Ed and Michelle barely interact with Bridget (who is too busy being forced into the ugly girl chasing after the hunk role) and Chelle acts like Vanessa is practically a stranger. I really have to chock that up to Wheeler and Hurst...they could have just forgotten Van and Matt existed, and this was the first realistic storyline the couple had..Matt would have no clue how to handle money...when Van was "dead" the Spaulding are trying to get his "vote" in the war with Roger (the show never did any research on how large companies were ran or controlled) and Matt has a hissy that he doesn't care about the struggle and leave him out of it..and it of course was meant to show good guy Matt not being pulled into the Evil Spaudlings, but it just showed how stupid he was not to worry about Dinah, Bill and Peter's futures(and really would Van leave control of the trust to dumb Matt and not Ross?)

I just watched that last week. Both actresses are good with the material they are given (Van is stoic and immovable, Reva is emotional and throwing any punch that would land) and both actually have a point. For once, it wasn't Reva's fault that she was away (well, slinking around SF spying on everyone was her fault but...McTavish writing so..) and Van has every right to question her (I love when she opens the door and sees Reva alive and well and in beige...why the insisted on dressing Reva in beige... and Van pauses and then says simply "Oh, Reva" ) Kimmer was really good in these first months of her return...it was later that she started to fall into her patterns and not committing to things like she used to. It is interesting...what the hell does Matt want out of life? Even when Annie and Dinah are cartoony and pathetic you know what they want..but Matt? He just has very shallow relationships with Bridget, Nola and Josh, etc. I would think people would forget he was even in the room. I watched a scene when Ed returns and Van is coming for Jeva's wedding, and stops by the Bauer house to talk to Ed, worried that Rick's condition would send him back to the bottle. Both are really good and subtle and got me thinking that they might have made a good match at the end...but too much history I guess, his dead wife's best friend, his nephew's ex-wife, his best friend's ex love. I know they were together earlier but that might be too weird even for SF. But they both really give off the vibe of longtime friends, no OTT just two old friends concerned about each other that GL was missing during the Mob/San Crud crap.