Mitch64

I remember that time when the internet was just coming into its own and at the old GL dicussion list someone found Laiby's home number and posted it...which was a step too far. ("Sure, stranger who somehow got my phone number I would love to talk to you about what a sh@t job I am doing!") But actually Laiby was so in over his head, he actually was asking fans for suggestions. I don't get it, he worked under Marland and ATWT during its golden period, why was he so lost? HE brought back Brown as her iconic character but had the character written like she was Iva Snyder (Nola mopping around the boarding house because her husband cheater on her....she would go snatch that b*tch bald and kicked Quint in his nuts...) Maybe it was more McTavish but that was an era that really could have turned GL around.

He was good on Edge...at first.....but then he did fall into the Shatner acting syndrome (LOL) I couldn't stand Kyle and Malloy's nostril flaring acting but they were somehow popular. The only thing I could think of is that they were trying to fill in the CB Alan void with a kind of Gothic type guy. The trouble was that he came on at a time of radical change, he was tied to the Lewis and Reva and no one else, and his intro was stupid and creepy (not in a good way) with talking to pictures and the worst part...Mindy thinking she was in love with him, only to rejected and then out of characte shooting him. After his first year on Edge I found Malloy to just come off so unlikeable . Tho I do think he really nailed the crazy Doctor with the aging serum on ATWT!

I know you and others like Otalia( Olive and Holly would have been hotter..Natalia was a bore) but "world's great and engaging love stories"??? If only they would have focused as much on the rest of the show and characters. Come on...you didn't agree with putting the actor with the most longevity who was the defacto patriarch of the show on recurring, then having Rick and Phillip unwittingly kill him? All for non stop Jami, Gush, Coopers and freaking Jeffery all over the place?

Thanks...I think this time is a very interesting time for ATWT...setting the table for Marland. I would love to hear more about Lemay and why he didn't stay and work with Marland. I think he has more of an edge to him, and as I mentioned, you could see him keeping Nancy true to her domineering character and edging Lisa back to manipulating things.

Gotta be right after the anniversary a Bob and Kim's wedding. Wagner wasn't on contract yet and Frannie was still pining over Kevin and not back from school. April 85? I LOVE meddlesome stern Nancy! This is before Marland wussed her out and had to be when Lemay is consulting as he loves him some meddling matriarchs. I can see her softing as the years go by and they wanted Kim to be the one dispensing love in one hand and "kiddo" with the other, but I wish she hadn't become quite so bland a grandma. Wagner seems to enjoy this and is a better fit for it as she was never as warm as Charita Bauer. Added fun, this is when Lisa still had a thing for Bob, so she subtly tries to drive a wedge between Kim and Nancy and tells Kim to make kindney pie to get in with Nancy when she knows full well she hates it. Love bitchy Lisa but that didn't last long either when Marland comes and does tend to bland everyone out.

Oyyy..what did Watros do to her face???? Between her and CM;s face, (well and his pecs) there was so much plastic to keep a recycling factory going for 50 years! Agree with the rest besides Harley, the shrew years, Buzz any minute he was on screen, Jonathon after he started taking hints from Zimmer on relying on "little tricks" to get you by (his was his annoying laugh) and when Kreizman started blowing him in his writing, and Otalia and Jami...but to each their own!

No, I was clearly talking about the Reva/Zimmer situation and how she had the show under a barrel...all because they let her. LW just annoys me so whomever wants to yank on her all the good...(I think you posted a clip or pic of her and that Cameron Mathieson guy and they both looked like an aging Barbie and Ken doll set...okay, CM annoys me even more, he looks like his is made of weird plastic. )

And it makes no sense..TPTB especially in these cost conscious times should be able to let an actor go if they demand too much. GL let Kimmer's ego and Rauch's stupidity make Reva the "star" so she could write her own check. They should have done as ATWT did in the late 70s..slowly reemphasize Reva (like they did Lisa) so she is not the center of the universe. Lisa was always important (well until the time of the Gautman) and in the mix, but not the star. Anyone who wants to dis LW either on GL or GH is good with me!

You may be referring to the Rauch years where he blazed lights at the actors, had the women in pastel pantsuits and loved the women being blond...that always made the show look so washed out and "fake" but the critics raved about it..saying he made GL looks like a Reinassaince painting..lol!

A really good interview and Caso is on top of his game with his memory of things. I don't agree with Caso that the depressing stories of Margo's rape and the incest thing and the pulling the plug was stuff women could "relate to," but it was good drama if a bit much all at once. Interesting that Ann Sward suggested the Casey plug thing and wonder how she felt about Dolan getting it instead. Caso seems to be a rare person in that business, he was savvy, knew how to run the business to make money, but still invested in quality and support of the actors, writers, staff AND respected the audience! Why he wasn't chosen to take over instead of the MADD cow. Is she still alive? An interview with her would be.....interesting!

Parker seems to have confirmed that in the Locker Room one on Mo's death..."I think they needed money to pay for Justin" and was not throwing any shade on Deas...(must be an actor's life) Total agree Mo initiating divorce, moving back into the boarding house...having to reluctantly take sides with Bridget against Van when the truth came out about Peter...(would be great scenes between MK and EP.and pave the way for a reunion with Ed when he too supports Bridget.) I do think a romance between her and Roger would have been too much...I always thought it made sense, Mo had so many brothers that she was used to taking care of bad boys, would have an affinity to both Ed and Roger. And then Claire returns to light a match on the whole thing (I think during Ed and Holly's affair Mo mentions she never legally adopted Chelle, which made no sense as Chele always called her Mom..) it would finally give Fletcher a reason for existence to have them question Cheles paternity. Much better then Buzz screaming at the top of his lungs but we could have had both..they could have freed up money by getting rid of Nick whose story was long stale..

There is much worse acting but since he is ALWAYS being propped as THE actor of daytime, my good old friend Justin Deas on GL...both in finding out Nadine is dead and her body rotting away in the lake all winter (that's McTavish, you sick old bag) and when Reva finally dumps him and ends their dumb marriage (again, thanks McTavish.) His reactions are nothing close to what a normal person would do, when he should be dealing with shock and sadness that this woman who somehow stood by him for so long was killed and no one knew it, or simmering anger at Reva for once again, dragging an innocent bystander into Java hell...he simply YELLS and flaps his arms and moves all over the set, leaving his acting partner standing there dumbfounded...poor Frankie D is as usual lost when there is something more then "Hiya Pop" to say, Zimmer fairs better as she is an old vet of the scenery chewing upstaging Deas made his first few years of GL all ab out, but even she looks a little...lost ("Wow..RN knows his place to stand there and let me do it all, this guy doesn't")

As a kid I caught some of GL during school breaks and then in high school got caught up in Nola and her shenanigans and watched it ever since. I love the Dobson's more sophisticated characters and Marland's time...(more Nola and gang than anything else..) and really loved the first few years of Long/Kobe. The Bauers were the center of it all still, Reardon's provided warm working class action, Spaulding's were the rich and troubled families, the Lewis brought eccentric zest to the town (LOVED H.B. and Mindy) and Reva was great...earthy, sexy, full of heart and still could cause trouble..Zimmer was on fire then. The changes didn't bother me so much but even then it all fell apart, it was unnecessary to write out Hope and Mike, kill Hillary (all could have been recast if the actors were problems) recast Ed, obscure the Reardon's make Van a boring housefrau (which she never really recovered from) and make the show all about Reva and the Lewis family. The changes could have worked with the backbone of the Bauers and Reardon's in place to offset the OTT of Reva and the Lewises. The show never recovered from there. Sadly, in 1985 the show could have used Bert's death as a turning point and bring back Mike and Hope (especially since Alan was lurking in the background) bring back Aunt Meta or at least Bea Reardon to provide a matriarch (but no, we get Sarah Shayne cause of course...Reva...) The show bumped along until Curlee really took over a lot of the writing. Had a few great years, and then all went to crap again (and I dumbly watched to the end..cause I loved this goofy show and saw the potential.)

On GL..who is "A. Spaulding" who framed Phillip. It was supposed to be so smart with everyone in the Spaulding family's name starting with A (besides Phillip) and it might have been good if it lasted a few weeks, but it went on for months..and everyone was rewritten to act as if they did not want Phillip back in town (Alex loved Phillip, Alan of course thought he was the golden boy, and AM and he were getting along when Phillip left town...the only person that would have a motive would be Amanda who conceivably could have an issue of being the oldest but overshadowed by Phillip) but the audience figured out that it was actually Blake...(get it "a" Spaulding..) which, since she was already suffering another bad plot twist (having twins by two fathers) could have been interesting to see Phillip get revenge on the mother of both his uncles and best friends kids. But McTavish got p*ssed that people figured out and made the villain....Alan...which again could have been a turning point in their relationship, but soon Phillip was calling Alan "dad" and acting like everything was hunky dory. Okay, Brandon is really Amanda's father was right up there.

Katie (with EddieMan) found the tape of Margo offing Casey..and they were like, "Oh, that's sad...but she did what she needed to do," and that was the end. It could have been dramatic but..no. I didn't mind Katie that much either, though I enjoyed her best in her early trouble making days. She held her own with Hayes that great scene where Kim told her to walk away from Chris now if she isn't totally onboard...but I wasn't a regular watcher through most of Sheffer and beyond to really understand why people were annoyed with her.

I thought I was the only one..that stupid ass mug that the actor would put on so you knew he was Stuart was annoying and offensive.

I can't believe McTrash screwed Gilly up by taking her out of Roger and the Spaulding's and having her chase after her own father..then McTavish tries to disguise it as a discussion on race by making her hot daddy a civil rights leader, when then shoots himself to frame Alan. Damn, McTavish was just begging to get that show cancelled. I know that they wimped out on pairing AM and Gilly (or is that what JFP wants us to believe so she could put him with her pet Sonia Santra...) but instead of this storyline, they should have paired her with Nick (did they have chemistry) and her Mom would be torn between her snobbery of having her daughter involved with a Spaulding with an issue of her daughter in a mixed race relationship. Alex could have accepted the mixed race thing ("I did live in Paris in the 60s dear...") but given the past antagonism with Gilly, be wary....but realizing that she had to let her son live his life (and gasp, show some growth.) England his still a piece of ass. I wish instead of Bridget and he getting together off screen they had them reunite during the Reva trial and then leave town happy. The begging of Bert's pathetic farwell....(funny that the last clip of the intro, which was Bert, is not Miss Sally, it really says a lot of what GL became in a short time.) I love that in the 80s..all of Mindy's boyfriends were matching her hair pouf for pouf!

God..I love that theme and the cheesy lyrics..I have a weird friend who if I ask how she is is will say..."Fine.....just living circles of ending strife..." and if I don't shut her up with go on with the whole song..then I have the damn theme in my head for the rest of the day. Ha...Zombie Mo breaking in the kitchen door to eat Lillian! It is weird...when other soap characters die its a "Oh, I will never recover " and next week everyone, including their lover has moved on...even when real people die their characters like Bert, Henry, H.B. its an episode or two and then move on, but this one was like real life...Nadine tells Bridget that the mayor was their, etc... So yea, I think they made it so intense that they were screaming "This is permanent, like in real life." I was watching a few scenes after the funeral...Blake telling Holly to get her ass together for this, Van forcing Lillian to get her ass inside so people won't talk and it would be all about the scandal and not Mo...and Bridget and Nadine in the attic...everyone had a brain and a heart (even Nadine is not acting as goofy as she did when Buzz returned...) and I forgot GL was so damn good at that time...plus I love Bridge's line to Nadine in her funeral dress "Nadine, my God, what happened to you, did you get hit on the head and suddenly get taste?"

I loved Hold on to Love...I am such a dork when I hear it in that slow version I kinda get..."verklempt" Whatever you say about JFP she knew music and there are some great scenes of Hold being played over a montage...a great one with Hamp on horn playing it...I just think it's GL...hold on to love is not just romantic love but for family or community or whatever. My second is whatever the theme is over the iconic Van/Nola coming down the stairs opening..but I HATED the cheap them and opening they replaced it with. The late 70s theme was so damn depressing!

I never understood why TPTB didn't do more with the 7th and 5th Street neighborhoods. Obviously 7th street was an inner ring area with the hospital across the street, and 5th street along with it. The most we saw was a bunch of cliched white characters in the diner and when Alan wanted to knock down 5th stteet....all proclaiming Buzz the King of 5th steet in really bad Greek accents. The first Hispanic family should not have been a mob family but a new family moving into the area with the Reardon's and Coopers reflecting on the changing neighborhood. Or instead of Mel...pairing Rick with a Latina who is fighting the Santos family for all the bad that they had done the community...(i.e. brining in drugs, prostitutes, strong arming biz owners...if your going to do a mob do it right.) and waking Chele up and putting Danny on the offense.

Yea, I think he felt about soaps like we all do about our jobs sometimes...its a way to keep a roof over our heads, we give total commitment even if it does get to be monotonous sometimes, and hopefully we can do something good and contribute once in a while. I will always like LB as during the height of the Dobson's obsession with having John on everyday, and moving Chris and Nancy to the side, so much so Wagner left and MEB put DM on recurring..he accepted his Emmy and thanked both Wagner and McLaughlin for lighting the torch for daytime excellence and showing him a good work ethic. It was WEIRD the John, who was connected to everyone just disappeared....no mention from Margo to Kim that John went to see Andy...weird.

I thought another interesting thing about GL that could be brought into the present day was that its core families, much more then say ATWT, were comprised of generations coming from immigrants, The Bauers, the Reardons, the Coopers and yes, unfortunately the Santos (which coulda shoulda been so much more of a latin family trying to make its mark in this country.) That was such an interesting premise which was basically ignored...the Bauer family should have been aspirational for immigrants as would Cooper and Reardon (who retained some of their blue collar background) with a new family coming in and mixing it up...the Spaulding's can stay as an example of WASP privilege "We have ours and we are damn well going to keep it" and well, I am sorry, dump the Lewis...they just don't fit into the theme (well Alex or India would say, "hillbillies" but...)

With a husband who was a broadway producers and years on the show..I don't think she really cared about the money, but more that she wanted to still contribute and be productive..so your right...work is important to us all and that is really humiliating if HS said that...making someone feel old and worthless....but from all reports Wagner was salty to the end so I am surprised if the next time contracts came up she didn't just tell them, "Uh..no!: Which reminds me when JER wrote Alice being killed (by choking on a donut no less)and someone said he was getting rid of all the "old people" FR reportedly s said something along the lines of "Who is he kidding, does he think he is a teenager himself.." and a disparaging comment on his weight. You do not screw with these old pros who have seen it all and have nothing to loose!

I do think Bob and Kim and Lucinda were written well until the end...( I would have brought back family members but...and I would never gotten rid of John, he and Lucinda would be the Bizzaro Bob and Kim...totally committed to each other and their families but sarcastic, caustic and not above making trouble for others) much better than GL wrote for anyone other than Java. But I disagree on Lisa....she would have been very easy to write for as she loved getting involved with everyone....she would be another greek chorus making catty remarks on what was happening and helping, in her own eccentric ways, the wayward youths of Oakdale. I do think that Lisa is more interesting without a romanctic involvement but she could still be in the action.

Now Sheffer was not my favorite but my memory of this is that in an interview he says he bumped into Wagner in the hallway and she said "You haven't been writing for me much!" and he admitted it and said, "She is our matriarch, she needs to be written for"..so maybe it was a different interview but he was not being rude here.