Mitch64

Funny that Holmes was 35 when he started..he seemed about 48!

It would have made Reva that much more interesting and "rootable" if she struggled with connecting with her kids..always a shadow over her but she couldnt stop doing her crap all the time (like Blake,,,.trying to be a good person but always screwing up..)and when she finally does make a connection, its with her bad seed Jonathon. But I totally agree, Rauch wanted her to be a sexed up Vicki from OLTL but it just made the character intolerable.

So true...as we discussed, why were Shayne and Maura so bland and boring..you would have thought they were raised by Mike and Carol Brady instead of Reva (who was presuemed dead during their early childhood and erratic during the rest of their time) and Josh(who, when not obsessed with Reva was marrying psychos or vixens.) Annie would have made a big mark on them...(Especially since McTavish spent so much time with those toothsome child actors going on and on about "MommyAnnie" and LOWHAD.

I remember as a little kid who could care less about Mom's "show" would pay attention when Colson was on..and I looked at pics and he was cute. Speaking of Natalie...that terrible recast/version the Dobson's brought back, with that dumb movie being filmed in Oakdale by her "greek tycoon" movie producer husband was such a waste of a potential good character.

So Dea's Tom does have some connection to the character's past. I always thought they should make more of Chris and Nancy (well especially Nancy) being a bit shocked at Deas Tom..but they had sidelined them so bad I have no idea if she ever had scenes with him.

Your right..there was uptight lawyer Tom, played by Tom Tammi (who I though would make an interesting Alan Spaulding) who then morphed into "hippie" Tom (who I thought was an interesting combo of Lisa and Bob) then you have warm, clean cut, but not uptight Greg Marx (my personal fave but then I thought he was hot) to glowering, angry, petulant Tom with Holmes. Someone had a funny idea for Tom and Margo's annivesary episode to start with Deas and Colin, move to Marx and HBS and then end with Holmes and Dolan, with no explanation or comment from the characters, but I think it would really point out how terrible Holmes and Dolan were in their roles.

That is why it was weird when the placed him with Mel, the actress was beautiful (maybe too much so to realistically be interested in Rick at that uh, stage in his life) but she was bland as hell. Mo and Ed worked as Ed had his problems and Mo was the comforting Mom, but still had a backbone...Rick and Abby just blanded the hell out and Mel was even worse. It would have been interesting to give Rick a partner of color, who actually had fire and really disliked what the Santos and to a lesser extent the Spauldings did the community and that would cause problems with Danny and of course, with Rick's true love Phillip.

I get why they cast her as she comes off as a typical suburban soccer mom, which would have been fine but they aged Michelle when they cast her and Chelle had her own inner demons which Lenz played (even if the writers were not writign that) and lost her fire the Lenz played (I know it is dumb but I just love her stamping her feet and tossing her hair when Carmen threatened her and how annoyed Carmen would be with her having a backbone.) I think if they had cast her as a new character, and paired her with Rick she could have played out warm kitchen scenes, but Labine wanted Chelle to do that and be like Mo and Lenz was a perfect combo of being raised by Mo, but having an edge like Ed and Claire. I wish Lenz would have stuck around to work more with Pratt.

He didn't have chemistry with ANYONE! A major problem is if you can't conjure chemistry with Don Hastings..who had chemistry with the weird beaded curtains in the Mona Lisa, and he is your dad. The same with Fulton and Lisa , who he just seemed to nag and be annoyed with, (Deas would throw up his hands and laugh at her, Marx acted sweet and caring as he did with everyone but Holmes just glowered.) He had no chemistry with his kids, his brother..and really, you go from Marx, sex on a stick nice guy to short, glowering doom Tom? The rumor was that Sheffer wanted to recast him as Tom (for once I agree with him) but MADD wouldn't let him. I always thought DAM from GL could have played a nice guy and made him fun and interesting, but then, I don't know how he would work with Doom Margo played by a sour Dolan.

I wonder if these pop ups would have helped the shows when they were on the air? Instead of exposition...which really, only Marland did well at..it was always disguised as "gossip" or as much gossip as Marland would allow the uptight overly polite Oakdalians...I know it would take a creative team and more time and money to come up with them.

No apologies..I LOVED that time right before Marland...the show was going in the right direction, putting Kim and Bob together as the tentpoles, bringing back Nancy and Chris...etc, but it still was fun, campy and more lighthearted and "messy" then Marland's work. That is most likely why I enjoyed Marland's first year the best, he was working tieing up old storylines and working with the "feel" of the show at the time. After that it became a bit of a depressing 'slog" (oh look, another "whos' the daddy story, oh..formerly fun and adventurous Margo gets raped, oh she mercy kills her step dad...and stay depressing! Oh here comes unpleasant version of Tom")

Your right, as I was typing that..it didn't seem very Marlandish to have Lisa snooping around for laughs like Lucy Ricardo but you never know.

Lisa WAS sure that Lucy killed Whit, (remember, Lucy blamed Whit for Martins' suicide originally and took over his media empire to see it off bit by bit) but I think the snooping in the closet thing was during Tad Channing murder mystery..I remember her hiding under Lucy's makeup table and just looking very annoyed at Lucinda humming.

I think Wagner was a bit..vinegary...she was no Charita Bauer...I think that is why Nancy, up to Marland was a bit of a pain (and maybe why the Dobson's used to Bert..found it difficult to write for a good grandma that could be imperious at times.) Did she mention how she and Fulton got along? This is at the point they defanged Lisa and introduced Joyce so I wonder if there was resentment that she got to be the sh*t stirrer?

I still wonder if it was McTavish who came up with this, or if it was changed by the interm writers. The original scene has an exchange between Roger and Van that for some reason, Alan always cowtows to Alex...Van says that Henry knew of some papers that Alex has that could bring down the Spauldings..which means that Alex told Henry at least about the papers, and that Alan knows about it as she uses that to keep him in line. I know Rauch wanted to get rid of Alex, which he could have done without the Amanda thing. They could have made it dramatic by having Brandon rape, seduce or blackmail Jennifer into have sex to hurt Alan and take his "first love" away. Jennifer is pregnant (from Alan) and tells Alex that she fears it could be Brandons. Alex know it would devistate Alan helps Amanda flee, and Brandon names Amanda as his heir (as he did during Marland) and then Roger just ties it all up with some faked documentation...a stretch (as if the Spauldings coudlnt afford a DNA test) but better then the idiocy we got which amounted to nothing (It would have been fun to see Amanda throw everyone out of the mansion and start selling off Spaulding piece by piece to get back at everyone.)

I always think who would have been a good age appropriate recast for Alan, RR was such a miscast...oddly, I think he would have made a good Mike.

I would have brought him back to stay after the anniversary....I wonder how he and Marj would have worked together? He could have investigated the Amanda is Brandon's daughter, found out it was a hoax from Brandon to keep Alan and Alex fighting (manipulating beyond the grave still) and Roger kept the hoax going long enough to marry Amanda and drain Spaulding's assets before he disappears with Mike on his trial. The AM actor looked much younger then the previous one, but he was weak and AM played out entirely by then. But I think Mike as patriarch and a constant foil for Alan with Rick and Abby as tentpoles to take the place of Ed and Mo would have brought the Bauer back to center. It was almost as if Ross took over for Mike after he left but Ross still had some bedroom drama going on with Blake so he was too busy to be patriarch. That was always such a missed opportunity. Even more so then Phillip AM should have had a huge identity crisis, being a Bauer and raised by his mother far from Alan's influence. When they brought back deaged AM he would mention hanging out with Rick and Mel but you never saw it...(the idiots who came for San Crud and the Mob and Jeva more then likely didnt even know they were related.)

I think she was available in 2000, it would have been a good time to bring Hope back as the show was flailing along. Though it would have been interesting if they brought back Hope when in 85 for Bert's funeral and then maybe she would fall into the sack with Bolger's Phillip (he always played older to me then GA) instead of attempting a Beth reunion (he and Evans had no chemistry) just in time for Alan's return. Maybe a bit too Revaish...but I could see the net suits biting on that storyline to bring her back.

I think Aubrey was so busy trying to keep from laughing at Marty's pitiful attempts at straight seduction that her mind was elsewhere! Supposedly there was a scene where he "accidently" showed it and supposedly that was what got Conwest kicked to the curb but I don't think those two incidents were connected. I never heard her being traumatized.

Barr as Hope and Roscoe Borne as Alan would be hot...(imagine Alan being sexy again...) but was Barr ever available?

Pam Long wanted to write a War of the Roses type story with Hope and Alan....I can't see ER up to that...so it wasn't her choice to get rid of Hope (maybe ) I think they could have brought back Hope as a more jaded type, like Marland wrote Barbara, and it would work. Despite the uh, odd OTT choices for Poser's Amanda (come on, Malibu Madame) I think they could have made that work as a woman who found her own power while in Califoria (God knows I did not want to see wishy washy Marland Amanda)

I think that would have made a great way of bringing back the Bauers with "new" actors that they were falling all over themselves writing for. Since Ed was not around Mike would make a great "good" patriarch and having his niece married to the mob was the perfect intro. (I would have had him married off camera with another family and kids to make more Bauers..and pair him with Alex.) They could have brought them back right around the time they split Ross and Blake up when she is chasing Ben and have Ross with Hope instead of the totally devoid of chemistry thing he had with India....(I LOVE India but just no on this, ) and they had brought back Alex at that time so pair her and Mike. JVD always said that he attributes his survival at that time for them "forgetting I was there" in a half joking way. That bad sweater I think was handed off to Alan when he was in the wheelchair..just no to Ross or Alan wearing Chris Hughes/Jim Matthews sweaters.

Denise's sexuality should have been used more..in a positive way..moving on from her back story and seeing her melt this uptight great looking guy (I know, a story done a million times but its a good one) and not just to "catch or trap him" but because they really like each other. I mean Jessica is totally a Marland type...professional and cold..(while men would fall over her) and Denise was a great counter point in a good way. The McColl kids I like just because it gave Lisa a family, and I actually think that the writers at that time wrote Lisa better then Marland did..she was flamboyant and fun and eccentric and loving..the first time she started picking up the problem children of the world (Marcy and then mothering Diana) which granted Marland wrote..but she just seemed more colorful without the restraints of a colder writer like DM.

I think Hope should have been brought back as a recast...but, it was difficult as they aged AM up so much..(I still can't believe they could not have had her attend any one of his 50 million weddings or mention her once in a while) and then they had Ron Raines Alan perving on all the younger hotties running around.

I always thought it should have been Matt and Blake who slept together and he should have been the baby daddy (no twins please...) Amanda should have been manipulating Blake into once again feeling vulnerable when Ross and Van put their heads together about Dinah (I would have them exclude both of their partners as they both couldn't stand her...) knowing full well Blake is going to be Blake and screw up...and Matt should have felt the same way and over his head with his sophisticated rich wife. I actually would have had Van not wanting to get married to Matt and fine with the arrangement as is, not wanting to complicate things (can one soap character not want to rush to the altar for once...) So much to use and it wasn't.