Mitch64

His vision of farm life was a bit outdated and romanticized.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.

I was and thank you, what a great early Christmas present! I remember watching this on my good old VCR at the time, after work with a glass a wine and spitting it out at the line and Reva's reaction! I liked Moniz but the one note they wrote her was tiresome. I wish after her accident she grew up a bit and became a force to be reckoned with like Van, who by the way they dress and makeup to look so frumpy here. I really do now understand Kimmer bitching that they were trying to make her the new Bert Bauer (except Bert was never sanctimonious) I would have loved old Reva to resurface here go after Dinah, which would make the old Van resurface to put her in her place, and it would be Shayne and Chamberline blow out with dumb Josh as usual sitting on the sidelines trying to protect what was left of his balls. The show was dumbly entertaining at the time but we are gearing up for the clone. What was up with Matt and the doctor guy giggling together so much? It was supposed to be male bonding but it came off more like Matt was flirting. MOL was actually good before he got fat and started mugging, Beth needed to go to the Bauer house and get her old storyline back from Chele, I know Jesse was dumb but ..really? Chamberlin is good as an ice queen..which could have been a natural progression for the character if they hadn't made her manhungry pathetic while they were at it.

Lord...the screw ups that Conboy and Weston (and MADD has ultimate responsibility) had when the show was just getting its legs back. Taggert was the one who came up with the idea of Jonathon (he was going to be the real stalker..though perhaps they were going to have Alex do a fake stalking to distract Ace Reporter Reva, which they ultimately did, but then there was really no stalker at all...) and they screwed that up with Sandy and the sock puppet, putting Cassie with her former tormenter (who also tried to kill her sister and her nephew) bringing back Cole, the MaryAnne storyline, changing Alex from a calm cool manipulator who had good intentions, to a crazed drug dealer (supposedly picking up on Marjs' frentic energy ) Ben Reade serial killer (blaming it on being molested by his teacher) Mac n' Cheese Alan and Gus a Spaulding, Ed slapping Michele in the Bauer kitchen of all places...I think they take the prize for most destructive in such a short time! You could also tell Kreizman was practically cosplaying he was big bad Jonathon and that he was figurately wacking off as Harley being his girlfriend. But that all comes down to Wheeler as the producer, she should have reigned him in...all of it comes down to producers watching day to day writing and Wheeler was in over it.

Ha..it always reminds me of the woman who got almost got hit by a car as she was crossing the street, she was so worried about Prince Richie kicking the bucket, she almost did herself. And you are creating content for THAT audience?!?? But throw in the Zimmer fans she whipped up into a frenzy whenever she was off for two minutes...LW sucking up to the writers and taking them out for drinks to suggest stories, the Manny/Mattessa/Gush fruitcakes, producers like Wheeler who may have cared but did not invest enough time to research the show's past..its amazing that anything remotely lucid got aired!

I thought he was there to the end, but maybe he was just like a fart that wouldn't dissapate and he kept stinking up the place. Having Reva, marry a guy who looked like her exkindahusband, who screwed both her sister and her daughter, and who was a rapist...was really OTT. Whatever you say about the Reva character, her being molested by Preacher, or whatever his name was..was a big thing about the character (and some of Zimmer's best underrated work, with the confrontation of molester...) Anyway, Conboy brought him back with big money...God knows why, he was a very niche taste.

But the sad thing is that should have all been done before.....Ed and Lillian should have had a discussion on Mo's death, their responsibility, their guilt and their grief, and that bad mojo hanging over GL might have lifted a bit...also, Alan used up his usefullness years ago and was nothing more then an ineffective mustache twirling grump. He should have died at least 5 years before (finding out Phillip and Liv were getting it on and he croaks would cause angst for the former golden boy now patriarch...) Hell, when they had Buzzard buy Company Nola should have been there to say goodbye to the place (and give her usual sass..."It looked better when we had it," ...indeed...) Maybe with some small touches of care..the last years woudlnt seem so..BAD! This alone was a testament to her bungling...but keeping Cole on and continuing to push him as the answer to every women in SF's dream...(and he cost a pretty penny for some reason) pushing the Coopers as the wholesome core family. I don't blame the budget on her, but the material I do. This was the problem with their thinking, Brad Freaking Cole is too hot a property to let go but not the patriarch?

Agreed. But I always thought of the Reardons of the extensions to the Bauers, via Mo, and they had plenty to bulld on there. Bea should have been brought back on contract when Bert died...(instead we got Ms. Sally and Sarah who was cut off from the rest of the cast and fixated on Reva. JFP put a knife in it by killing Mo, but they still had Bridget and Matt referring to "Uncle Ed." But then McLaiby came on and cut all ties with Bridget never interacting with Ed or Michelle who she loved, and even having Chelle call Nola "Mrs Chamberline"...uh, that;s your aunt you big dummie. I would have liked to have Rick and Bridget have a kind of friendly sibling thing that slowly turns into something more (MOL never gave off passion vibes so its okay for them to have a companionable thing) which freaks them both out (maybe Peter is sick and Rick takes care of him and things devlope..with Roger not liking that at all.."I guess Bauers like to take everyone else's kids as their own."

She does, pretty high level I thought too. During one of those reunions (Cooper, I can't believe I would watch a minute of it...) she said that Frank D's kid was at a presentation for scholarships or something, and she was like "Are you Frank D's kid?" so it seems they don't keep in touch that much. Good for her for finding another life out of soaps and acting. She always seemed pretty smart and sometimes smart people are, difficult.

Was she still alive(Sylvie)? I think Colin is the only actress who can make Deas palatable (or maybe its just that he was younger, not so full of himself and played a nicer character) but she never let him step over her lines, and as much as you can see she adores him to this day (God love ya Colin) which I think is very cool (as annoying as he is on screen I really like that they are kind of like Tom and Margo in real life, these strong headed people who somehow make it work) she doesnt seem the type to let him run over her like Fiona did.

Actually ratings fell as Kobe/Long made a sudden change from their own formula. Up to the fall there were all the families firmly in action, with the addition of the Lewis' and Reva...it really was a good example of how to bring in a. new family as everyone in town seemed freaked out by them and their..."yes-HAW" ness. The Bauers had Ed, Mike and Long was creating a triangle with Mike and Lil and Alex, the Reardons were expanded by Long...(She never got Nola after they married her off) the Spaulding's were the same with the addition of Alex and Lujack...there were cracks starting that summers as the Lewis and Reva were taking more and more of the airtime and Van immediately quit Spaulding and became a housefrau with no explanation, but they had a great formula..and then for some reason, they just threw it all away for shoulder pads, Lewis Oil, Reva 24/7 the 4 Ms all skipped college and basically broke up, Hillary killed off, Mike written off, Ed recast and the Reardon's dismantled. I would love to know the backstage story of that time and who hopefully paid the price when the ratings tanked.

I do agree that Harley and the Coopers as this fringe family worked well..Harley and Frank only had each other (and poor Pops) and Beth at that time was totally different then any soap actress. Maybe make them be next door to the Boardinghouse or something to intro them. It wasnt until later that the Coopers became the "Super Dooper Coopers" who were better then any other family in SF.