Mitch64

You hit on something intangible about ATWT and probably soaps in general..that shared experience between the generations. I remember watching ATWT and GL with my grandmother, (who I lost more then 25 years ago) my aunt (lost about 20 years) and my Mom...(a bit over a a year) and talking and laughing and making fun of and watching these goofy shows together with the same characters and actors...no TV show are ever going to come close to that again. So instead of seeing an actress you like pass, you are seeing all of those good memories of the people you lost also. It was really weird and personal when I found out Hays passed, and I am not a weird celebrity fan..it IS like you lost someone in your family.

Ewww...the aimless Anderson and Manetta era...whatever happened to Manetta? And Rusty is so damn cheesy! I wonder why they never brought a teenage or early 20s Dorie back, she would have been a funny addition to kick Moniz' Dinah's butt.

Well, since Rauchy didn't think she was "hot" enough (as looking like an actress in a Skinemax flick from the 90s) she wasn't going to get anything..so having her survive as a talk to until someone with more taste came on board..(though I wish they had chemistry tested with MOL...MAYBE Bridget could light a fire under Rick..Abby was way too perfect..) Did they ever say she and Dylan got together? I know when they brought that Friend of Babs Bloom actor on he was head over heels for Harley (yawn..) They went from CuteDylan to DopeyDylan with that recast. Speaking of..I was watching an episode on You Tube where Nick and Mindy attempt to get married for the 8th millionth time (they really beat the Alex/Nick/Mindy thing to death, poor Marj..Bev got out in the "nick" of time) and Real Dylan is going to support Bridget in the custody battle and Alex breaks in on the wedding....Vanessa tells them both to "Get out of her house" and man...does Maeve give out the ice in those scenes! She goes from slightly frentic (she wants the wedding to go well as all this crap is hitting the family fan) to loving of Mindy, to Ice Cold BIOTCH to both Alex and Dylan..all with over acting. Maeve never really got the credit she deserved and its a shame that Van got wasted in Mattessa. Its also the JFP era where everything is off the rails but its SO much better then anything we saw since then..Ed and Bridget are fighting/talking over Eve, like real people, Henry and H.B. have a great " old man" scene smoking cigars..Vans trying to keep it together, AM is trying to get what he deserves and Gilly is backing him for her own interests, the only weak part is the Nick and Mindy and Alex part which should have been OVER by then. Sorry Jilly, compared to McLaiby, Rauch and everyone else, you werent half bad.

Ha..I am suprised Wheeler didn't rent out the Peapack Anytime Fitness...but it might have been a tad too expensive for the GL budget. But I COULD see Reva in her later years embracing positive body imaging and running a health studio. "Come on girls, just because we aren't skinny anymore does not mean we can't be healthy! I know Joshua still likes to climb up on this every chance he gets so get agoing!" Well after all these years of Company being run by..whomever...I think that it kind of ran itself. I would have kept Bridget at Company (I would have kept Bridget around as the GL version of GH's Jessie Brewer, except instead of a nurse's desk it would be a bar she would sit behind and be a talk to..) and had Nola run the Tower's redone as a 1930's 40s Art Deco mold and have her be in everyone's business like Lisa. Anything would have been better then Buzz at Company and the Coopers stinking up the Boardinghouse! But I do like the idea of Nola writing romance adventure novels where the hero always was just another version of Quint. I would have loved that..Marland brings his story structure (sometimes Long's stories just ran off the rails) love of history, and Pam brings her sense of humor, family, sex and community to a show. I saw an interview on YouTube where they were both up for Emmy's and they seemed to really enjoy and respect one another. What is Long doing now?

I am sure Kobe was the leader of it...(we went from the Reardons and Bauer kitchen scene to EVERYONE flouncing around town with big hair, shoulder pads and sparkly dresses )but when Long returned..previous writers were starting to build the Reardons back...Chelsea (as dumb as that character was) and Lee Lawson was back on recurring, and she stopped that and Bea disappeared and she created the Coopers. I can see creating another down on their luck family, but why not introduce them through the Reardons...(i.e. Bea knows Pops...) It just seemed odd.

I agree..I think Long wrote quite well for the Reardons...they suddenly became Catholic (a no brainer but waspy Marland had them protestant which made no sense) they would be loud and argue but always had each others back...I don't know why she suddenly "turned: on them!

interesting..I thought it was the opposite, as the scab writers were going for Nola actually marrying Kelly, but the strike ended and Marland had to throw the quick unraveling of Nola's plans together as the first priority. While we would have been cheated the classic Kelly and Nola scenes in the Bauer patio...it would have been much more interesting to see Nola having to keep up her ruse while married to Kelly (and throwing it in Morgan's face) and for it to unravel from there, and then Thornway Road would be introduced once Kelly tossed Nola out on her ass. As it was, Nola got a great storyline and Kelly and Morgan's ended because..who cared about them? Interesting...though Nola deserved better than Speedo Boy. Speaking of typical soap ingenue..I always thought it was sad that they threw away Bridget during the Rauch era (and actually, during JFP's and Mclaiby also, when the soap ingenue role went to boring and annoying Lucy Cooper.) I fell down a rabbit hole this week watching episodes during the transition from McLaiby into Rauch and up to the Annie falls down the stairs start of E & B and see how dated the show looks compared to during JFP or even Laibson's time. The bright lights, the pastels...there are very funny scenes of Vanessa in the convent and there is constant hymnal music and nuns singing in the background. Rauch's time really took a turn from a show being about families with several quircky characters involved who looked "real" to a show where even interesting looking people start looking plasticky and everyone is obsessed with "romance" Poor Nola and Bridget didn't stand a chance with Rauch's obsession with sexy skinny blondes desperately fighting for men. I notice that anyone who isnt in a romantic relationship is tossed off, even Alex. The show really lost that feeling that it was a community with people who had other things going on besides romantic entanglements. The show just got so flat, I don't understand the critics raving about the turnaround.

Ha....yes on that damn song. Morgan was just weirdly asexual which always made me think that Speedo Boy (which we used to call Kelly) was going to turn out gay..its also weird that both of them have..asexual names...what was Marland going for? I know Marland was weird about sex scenes but the whole thing was dull as dishwater, except for Nola! Yes, Lisa seemed to muddle her lines but she reminded me of Lisa on ATWT....maybe it was on purpose as both of them were jittery schemers with a lot of lies to keep straight in their heads? And yes, Marland trotted out the "young model" storyline on ATWT also, featuring another..uh, plain model (Courtney)who everyone RAVED about!

The funniest...post....EVER!!!! His heart is in the right place, I just wish he would shut up!! Patricia looks great and more vibrant and full of energy then they let her show at least during the 70s...(I think Marland let her have more zip but by that time she was a talk to only.) If only they had let her have that smile as Ellen (my Mom always said she and David looked like they both at hemoroids all the time.) I always wish they had brought in a man who was toying with both Lisa and Ellen, and it turns out to be Michael Shea...(courtesy plastic surgery...) back for revenge. I think Lisa finding out who he is when he kisses her...("YOU!!! A man's kiss is like his fingerprints, I should know, I have both all over me!") but he blackmails her to shut up so he can marry widow Ellen and find his way into that Lowell money once and for freaking all! Then both Lisa and Ellen unite for once to take him down...Ellen," Oh, Michael, you should know never to mess with an older woman, we are much smarter, and much more ruthless than poor young things!"

Yes, the fanbases proved to be the downfall of GL...even know, on the GL Facebook pages...there are people who constantly post about their fave "couple" and its so weird how invested they are in making that fantasy a reality STILL. And I have to say, most of them don't seem like..uh, they are all that bright...or even sane..one poster just keeps posting over and over again that "Kim" and "Robert" are her faves, they are like "family" and always will be though she has never met them (luckily for both actors! I think that was part of the it all, not very intelligent people were writing in about their fave couples, and accepted the sloppy and repetitive storytelling as long as their couple is onscreen and will eventually end up together to do it over and over again. Smarter viewers..( you know the ones that want coherent storytelling or at least attempts at it) just left as it was all..repetitive crap. Agree with everything you say about this, particularly the statement from MADD which would set Twitter on fire these days and most likely have gotten legitimate negative press. I particularly am annoyed that they dropped the ALS story to focus on..."the Clone"! However, I do agree that having an ALS story with someone who was actually suffering from it would be problematic for production. The disease progresses differently from person to person in terms of its progression some faster then others, and some days are worse then others. It would difficult to plan a long term storyline and expect Zazz to be "on" every scene, the only alternative would be to film all his scenes in the matter of weeks to have in the can, but would you really want Zaz to film his own death? I watched a scene on You Tube off Rog visiting Van as she thought she was dying. Their conversation on Van's impending death sends shivers down your spine in light of what was going to happen and Zaz is visably suffering from ALS at this point, he is stiff, and is working very hard to speak..(it comes off well, as old nemises call a sort of truce at one's death bed, and Roger comes off as being more gentle with Van then he would, and Zaz can stil work those eyes but...its hard to watch) I agree that producing it would be hard, but how they handled NOT doing it, was all on them and terrible. So, to rewrite two storylines, Roger leaving AND Amanda's paternity. Going back years I would have it that Bradon blackmailed Jennifer to sleep with him to punish Alan. She becomes preggers and does not know who is the father and confides in Alex, who spirits her away to have the baby. Alex doesn't know that Brandon found Jennifer and sends his trusty secretary Bess Loweel to talk her and force her to put HIS name on the birth certificate and he would arrange for the baby to be adopted by a "good mother" Lucille Wexler (who was decidely NOT a good mother. Flash backs would show Bess browbeating a very pregnant Jennifer, who lives in a hovel, "We can make this all go away and you can have a life if you just agree to one small thing." At Brandon's death in Barbados Alex finds the birth certificate for the baby and a will that IF Amanda was indeed his daughter, all of Spaulding went to her, cutting out Alan and Alex to punish them both. The will is unsigned (as Brandon under the influence of Sharina, later had misgivings of his treatment of both Alan and Alex... so Alex destroys the document, as Alan thinks he is the father and Alan was presumed dead at that time anyway. Its Roger who investigating Bess' old documents, finds finds a copy of the document of the will, forges Bradon's signature and arranges false DNA tests to prove Amanda is Brandon. Once the reveal Alex still agrees to leave town but on the condition that Amanda remains Alan's daughter in public and Alex gives her share of Spaulding to Amanda, to avoid a long and lentghy court battle and bad publicity. So Zaz last week would be his wedding to Amanda , but Alex returns stops the wedding at the cliche part of the ceremony and produces evidence that Rog was forging docs all over the place (she gets a signed confession from Bess on Bess's death bed) Alex, being Alex, dramatically brings her own doc for the DNA test and the cops to arrest Roger, who runs. Of course he runs to Holly and the last scenes are he and Holly discussing their history as Roger tries to convince her to pack up Meg and disappear with him forever. Holly almost goes, but remembering their inherit dysfunctions sends him on his way. Later, the fact that Holly helped Rog escape makes Fletch pack Meg up and leave. This ending as convoluted as it is, at least fixes Amanda's parentage and give Roger a reason to not be on screen with no recast. It would also leave him open to returning if he could and would be a bit more respectful of the actor, the character and the fans.

I cannot BELIEVE they would go there...and this is from someone who thought Steve/Betsy/Craig was kind of boring. Did they think they were being "cutting edge"??? I have no idea why the show didn't just keep a floating roster of recurring characters like Ellen, Lyla, especially since those two had reasons to not be around every day in Oakdale. It would not have cost that much and would given the show greater depth.

That would be good. I never understood why they got rid of Elizabeth with no mention Instead of Marj as Alex I always thought Elizabeth would have been a great antagonist of Alan (I had thought Collins could have been cast instead of as Alex) maybe Alan has been blackmaiing her for years to stay away from Phillip. My fan fiction would have been that Elizabeth took Phillip out of Springfield when he was "killed" and got him better and then she returns to make Alan pay...) Maybe she comes back with Mike, and its a Mike/Elizabeth/Alan/Hope storyline.

No...Courtney, with her 40 year old hairdo..had her pictures taken by Andy, and an agent saw her and just HAD to have her as a model...for what..I don't know...Walmart fashions? Andy was not obsessed with her as he was with Julie.

So true...all of the above...Marland, like Long and everyone else had their strength and their weaknesses...talk about chemistyless couples..Andy and Courtney, who looked like a 40 year old but was supposed to be a hot early 20 model..Iva and John..(the only other character who had less chemistry with him was Mama Snyder..).and while they have their fans...Dolan and Holmes always made Tom and Margo..dour and dull, not the fun they were before. Watching old clips when Iva first came on she was more interesting...fiesty and damaged and she and Mama Snyder (who I must admit I disliked) had a bit of a more contentious relationship..so this whole "I realized Mama loved me as much as her bio kids" seems like a rewrite of their relationship. I liked Iva the gubby fighter who felt an outsider in her family more then the sad sack dope she became. Thought I love his names...Gavin Krueger (who I must have been the only one on earth who say him as sexy... ) and Phillipe VanDoren!!

I like all your ideas except for Mike being killed by the Santos. Mike and Alex would need to get together and leave town together but visit sporadically to help, or in Alex's case, sometimes hinder the rest of the cast. I do like the ideal of Hope coming to town with AM. I would put Hope with Ross, and AM after Blake to form a weird triangle, with the end goal being that Ross and Hope would be the new matriarch and patriarch of SF. Could never happen, the Blossies would go nuts and the problem was that the fangroups had TPTB so in their hands that they eventually would rather write characters off (Ross) then move in a new direction.

I just remember him being shirtless on a rock for some reason..(well I know the reason I remember it, I just don't remember why the character was doing that..) I just remember thinking..."Who is the new gay Hart," I have to watch myself as on a ATWT FB page I was called homophobic for suggesting that Henry was gay...I really do undestand now why the nets were reluctant to have any gay characters...even now people acting like they are being progressive, are really thinking "gay" is an insult. And really, Henry???

I remember that actor, a Sean someone...cute muscle guy but, uh not convincing as straight. The scenes were obviously on two different days right. Hayden is looking good here. I know they made her a frump to up play Dinah's glam. I always wondered how Bridget would do paired with Rick...kind of moving in to take Mo's place. MOL and Melissa look like "normal" people but not sure if they would have chemistry.

The only saving grace in this whole thing, was when Reva finds out and goes up to Alex bitching and moaning MarjAlex just laughs, and waves her off...(GO Alex!) Though isnt it funny Zimmer had no scenes with JoanAlex???

Agreed...he should have been introduced early in the storyline as a random friend of Shayne's from school. Now I know the world renowned Pelphery ( I'm sarcastic..I like him, I just think like Deas and Zimmer, the directors let him have his way and the audience thought yelling and screaming was acting ) would have been too old for that role (at least for the actor playing Shayne at that time..) so you would need someone a bit younger (and more subtle) to pull it off. Some clean cut kid we wouldn't suspect who could play ice cold when needed. Plus, I think the intro of Jon without his siblings around kind of lessened the impact..Marah and Shayne should have had huge abandoment issues what with Reva disappearing constantly and their MommyAnnie, turning into a psycho..but they always acted like they were the Brady Bunch. Pelphery could play any, "bad boy" role they wanted to pull out of their butts. But yea, Jon was supposed to be the stalker, with that crazy guy they caught a red herring and Alex taking advantage of the situation to redirect both Reva and Holly's investigation into the Spauldings (and Gus being Alan's kid) instead of Alex being the main stalker which made no sense at all. Weston was going to make Sandy the stalker and introduce him talking to a sock puppet..( I kid you not..)

Thanks, I was going to bring that up...Also, that uh, larger girl who was Doris's daughter (I stuck through hell and back with GL but the part of Peapack I could not take so I forget a lot...) was supposed to be Ricks' kid from back when he donated sperm in college...dumb plot and I guess supposed to be funny but I could actually see her as a Bauer..she was always getting into people's business and had a dumb sense of humor (aka he must be Rick's kid..) Anyway, it leaked and out it went. To follow that line of thinking...I would have had Brent be Rita's son by Ed. Instead of sacrificing him on the alter of Cooper, namely to make the audience feel for Lucy by using the oldest, and most distasteful soap trick there is, by having her be raped...I would have had AM and Brent vying for Lucy and power in Spaulding..to Brent Lucy would just be spoils as he will think AM is his brother..(Rita will lie to both he and Alan) and Lucy will actually be into him, so there is a triangle there (believe me I would ship Lucy out of town but...) no rape, and as much as I would hate to loose her...no Marion Crane. Anyway, it all comes out that Brent is actually AM's cousin as he is Ed's kid with Rita which would bring a "bad" Bauer on board. Roger would sink his claws in him to keep him on the dark side and the Roger/Ed/Alan circle of rivalry would continue.

I liked Sean..despite his muscle boy Island Hunk thing, he had good chemistry with Reva and believe it or not Dinah. He reminded me a bit of Fletcher when he first came on and he had loads of friendship chemistry with all the women, from Hillary, to Maureen, to Reva (I actually liked both Reva and Fletcher best at that point..they were working together and were friends..the show stunk at that time but got that right) this was of course before they started shoving Fletch into romances with all the divas and Hammer started chewind scenery and stepping on everyone's lines..I wonder why they didn't put him with Holly..she needed a hunk in her bed and she would be okay with his rather ambiguous vibe. Was he really named..."Sugar"? That sounds like a pimp on Starsky and Hutch...anyway, I HATE record producing storylines and GL has a bad track record with them..(remember the Infinity storyline when Lujack became a hot recording talent???) But I can't imagine dippy Jesse would have anything on Tye but.. I remember Pam Long saying it was going to be like a Tarzan and Jane thing, but really, what was the direction she was headed in? How far could that have gone? I was glad they just made him a pyscho and loved the hilarious scene of him holding equally crazy bitchy Claire hostage on the bridge. Wasnt he also wanted for his wife's murder? Dano I think just did that as a favor for Wheeler and to keep her union credentials? We had enough ladies of that age, Alex, Holly, Van, who were on recurring and they didnt know how to write for. Anway, speaking of Selena I think she would have fared better if they kept her in the Bauer sphere...she was living in the garage apartment and I think she would have made an interesting romance with a recast Ed. Instead they suffled her off to Coopertown and she began competing with Deas on scenery chewing and PDA tried to manufacture a super couple of the two of them with the unlikely name of Suzz! What a waste. Ethan Erickson was of course, good looking and seemed to have some talent. He had at least more talent then the guy playing Jesse, but the problem was that Chelle was the only one in his age range, and as try as she might, McTavish could not make people swallow cousin love..even if they werent bio cousins...this was of course before Jonathon and Tams revolted a lot of the audience. I never understood why they just didnt follow his Uncle Matt and go for an older woman..I would have much rather watched Reva have a sexual thing with AJ then..Buzz. Imagine Nola finding out that Reva was doing her little boy.

Charita and Mary Stuart passed away on the same date..if so, that's weird. What I can't believe is that she was only 63! She truly died way too young, and she somehow must have always played older then her age as as a kid I thought she was "old" (in a good way) and she must have just been in her 50s!

Actually, if I remember that interview, this was before Zaz got sick..and I really think the "Amanda is Brandon's kid" thing originally really had something to do with the black Spauldings. I know they were tied to Roger somehow, I slightly remember an interview with Zimmer during that time where she said Zaz's illness made them reshuffle a lot of things, the Spauldings and something about Ellen Parker. What that might mean who knows why flashback Mo would have anything to do with them, but maybe they were going to actually resurrect her on that island and Roger was hiding her? It would have been a total ignoring of what we saw on screen but when did that stop them. Susan was one sick chick..she just did it for sh*ts and giggles! If I were her I would have kidnapped Tony Reardon and taken him to my secret evil villain lair..you know she had a round bed, leopard skin sheets (from real leopards) and mirrors.

It need to effect family with ripples in the community involved. I think the Spauldings work as: it had to be big stakes for Ms. Piper to be involved, and it had to make a big impact on the entire community...a battle for Spaulding (before they started happening every year) the town, and I would guess the regions biggest employer would be that "big" Take into account that the artistocratic Spauldings would may be embarrassed by this, there is a lot of money involved, and it makes sense that it would be them. But I do agree that no one in the family was involved until the reveal. Henry could be the stand in here. Again, I would have had this be Nola and Quint's story and give Tony and Annabelle a more meat and potatoes story with his brother that does not need to be ignited by the cottage. Say Nola feels that they need to have their own home, and she always loved this old cottage few blocks away from the BH..it reminded her as a kid of a fairy tale (Cue Nola Fantasy part 3,000th) Remember, it was on a tract of land that Alan owned to knock down for a mall or something so Quint buys it from Alex and surprised Nola with it...and as soon as Henry hears he tries to stop Alex from selling it..."That house needs to be destroyed." but he wont come clean to Alex (lets say Sharina was Henry's maid, not the Spauldings..) but he knows the whole story of Brandon's affair but can't tell anyone. Nola starts seeing the ghosts...(no one believes her because..its Nola...) etc but Nola, being Nola shoulders on. Henry is very upset by it all and we can be lead to believe that Henry was the one who was in love with Sharina, etc. I do think it was stupid to introduce Brandon and then just have him drop dead. I think having Sharina die, then having him come back home as an supposed reformed invalid, secretly manipulating Alex and his other kid would be much more interesting...(imagine Henry seeing his old business partner again..working on crafting Phillip in his mold while secretly despising him as a bastard but not as much as he despises Lujack) then what Alex got which was the sideshow to Andy Ferris. They needed to cast a really, really good old theater actor who could go toe to toe with Bev.) I think just because we saw him die on screen, does not mean evil mastermind Brandon could not have staged it all. Sorry, I am doing anything but the remote work I should be doing!

I grew up "watching" it (as it was always on in the background with my Mom having it on..) so I would say the earliest that I can remember would be the Dobson's (I remember Jackie I think climbing up on a latter to hang a Christmas star on a tree and falling off and having a miscarriage.. I remember thinking..its really not that far up..) and Phillip as an annoying brat that EVERYONE was concerned about (he was a diva even as a kid and beat both Morgan and Lily out as a young character the town obsesses over..) and Chrissy as a brat living with Ed while Holly was in prison and hating Rita. It never struck as much as ATWT which was my Mom's FAVORITE..but I always liked GL the best. But yes, it was during Marland and Nola (Go Nola...GO) that I started watching...watching. It could still have been Brandon...but he didn't have to be alive for the story to be told....come to think of it, this was during Alan being off camera..instead of Victoria why not a male black Spaulding..one who totally took after the rotten to the core Brandon..to take on Alex? True,,but when I think of GL..I think of Pam Long's /Curlee's GL..warts and all. I think she just brought the right amount of heart and heat to the show (as I said before, Marland's good male characters were all wimpy and he never wrote sex well..) I loved Long/Curlee writing of guys, of friends, and how EVERYONE in town was a big gossip!