Speed Racer

GL95 said: "The web of lies Nadine is living with may rival just about any web of lies anyone has had at this point. For someone as flaky as she is, it's fairly amazing what she is capable of pulling off." PJ said: "Objectively, Nadine's insecurities aren't unfounded, but she always just goes that step too far." soaplovers said: "It really is a shame that Nadine becomes isolated in the 2nd half of 1993 aside from an occasional interaction with Holly at the diner where Holly listened to Nadine talk about Buzz/Jenna while Nadine gave her two cents to Holly about Eve." Maybe 3-4 months ago, a poster by the moniker of MLN thought that having Nadine employed as a realtor would have been ideal. I agreed. All the bases discussed here (above) are easily accommodated if Nadine is a realtor. Nadine essentially is an innocent and is fairly naive. Nadine as realtor allows her to legitimately flit from storyline to storyline, getting the goods on people via both heresay and real, eyewitness experience. Does one believe what Nadine says, or is it folly to not believe her? (And that itself would be a great internal battle for Nadine to face. Lying/crying wolf/telling the truth/keeping one's mouth shut - which is it, Nadine?) Further, Nadine as realtor affords GL writers room to stir the pot.

"but it's insulting on levels that Vanessa has to continually prove herself. Meanwhile, all a Spaulding needs is the name." It certainly is, and it's how the world works. Phillip had no acumen either - he was a writer (and Beth a painter). In any event, not having the family name likely would cause problems for Vanessa in decision making and execution. Without having anything to do with acumen or intelligence. Rather than say, "I'm just going to do this", Vanessa might ask herself, "Would a Spaulding do this?" The board may ask the same questions. The pitfalls of working for a family-owned company. It's a card that Guiding Light could have played and played well.

Lillian would have plenty to do in a secondary role in the Springfield the two of us have carved out. Imagine Lillian's role in a scenario where AM and Maureen work for Roger, where Amanda has married Ed, where Lillian tries to console/control/advise a drunk Phillip, who is now a real threat to out-of-town Beth and Lizzie. Lillian appeals to Rick, who is hesitant to help. Rick and Phillip's friendship is on the rocks. Lillian is on her own (though her past dealings with ex-hubby Bradley certainly had instilled considerable wisdom). Does Lillian press charges against Phillip? Maybe Amanda and Lillian become co-heads of the Spaulding Foundation at Cedars. That would piss off Maureen. It would also provide Roger an opportunity to screw up Ed. Meanwhile, Lillian's co-worker and friend Eve self-commits to an asylum, and Lillian tries to help her there. Ultimately, her efforts are for naught as Eve later commits suicide.

Devious is great for a soap! Like this especially: "Even better, have Roger or AM plant bait for Nick to run with and have Nick blow things up without doing enough research because his arrogance wins out." Love that set-up. Love that it's Nick who unwittingly blows things up. That's really rather fantastic. Upon her return, perhaps Momma Alex is no longer so keen to call Nick her son. That said, Nick doesn't have the chops to run a lemonade stand. Besides, having Roger run behemoth Spaulding into the ground would take a year or two. Companies can run on nothing more than inertia for a year or two easily. I could see Roger rather appreciating that, as it gives him time to destroy not only the company, but run the Spaulding name into the ground.

Whoaaaa....an idea here. Re-introduce Bradley Raines (Rebhorn) as Rogers' co-conspirator in bringing down Spaulding Enterprises. That would be aces. Then, of course, you have Bradley turning on Roger, in a pseudo replay of Alan/Roger from the late 1970s/early 80s. Have Roger be the one defending turf. Maybe have Bradley make a play for Holly.

Soaplovers' right on target here. Having Alex away for two months to "find herself" would present a window of opportunity for Roger to go after Spaulding, what with Alan, Phillip and Amanda also MIA. And, as you say, having Roger woo AM (especially after Alex hands the keys to Vanessa...why the hell would AM want to stay around?) Of course, Vanessa would slow Roger down, but maybe not stop him as Vanessa cannot always enact policy as a Spaulding would, simply because she isn't one. Vanessa's hesitancy to act would be a logical occurrence, especially in early 1993 (Maureen's death). Conversely, if Vanessa did always enact policy, and made some serious mistakes in judgment, that in itself would make for some very interesting long-term business story prospects that affect everyone in town. (There's your next umbrella story- a corporate/employment/where do my loyalties lie type of thing). I've spent zero time thinking about any of this, but man o man, it's tempting to dig in.

Yes. Guiding Light for the most part lost its community vibe and umbrella storylines by the mid 1990s. 1993 starts the wobbling with Buzz' introduction and inane, pointless WTF characters such as MacCauley West (whom you are about to run into if you haven't already). What Guiding Light never did well, IMO, is to introduce big important characters (Alex, Buzz) or bring back important characters from the past (Alan, Roger). I don't like "reveal" storylines at all, especially when done via some masquerade ball, wedding, etc. Having Alan reappear in a mask at a ball (with no one immediately being able to identify him) or having Roger run round in a mask for months on an island were really poor ideas. Having Roger swing from a vine at Phillip's wedding to usher in his reappearance in Springfield?! The Mr. Tashawa story in 1994? All were horrendous.

And look at all those Millennial babies in the X-mas closing credits of that December 28, 1992, episode!! Wow. Little tykes all over the place.

LOL - That was fast! You sure got drawn in quicky, didn't ya?! Good. The young lady opposite David in the diner is Katherine Speakes, Hamp's daughter. Better known as Kat and portrayed by Nia Long. Their conversation is great here - especially that underplayed bit where David says he got something nice for X-mas..."you came by to see me." I also like to short interaction with Lillian...she didn't just get up and leave the diner as purely background fodder. Kat and Bridget are good buddies. You're going to witness plenty of underplayed yet surprising effective/significant moments in your early 1990s viewing. Lots of friendships, too, a few of which are surprising. All with plenty of chaos and complications to go around. Perhaps you'll bring CrazySexyQ with you for the ride!

Yes, but fortunately, not always. It's a shame that Guiding Light didn't pull a Capitol. The last scene should have been a blindfolded, ex-princess Reva facing a firing squad. That would have been my happy ending.

PJ said: "RIGHT? :) Like Larkin didn't know his character was going to revolve around Reva's various moods and hairstyles?' LMAO! Perhaps Larkin thought that Reva was going to revolve around HIS various moods and hairstyles?!

Hey AlwaysAMC - Have you watched the Locher Room interview with Rebecca Budig? It's great throughout, and the second half is pretty funny. A few other GL cast members also appear. A must-see viewing for you.

Well....I cannot say what I really want to say. But it IS hilarious! (I might get sued for defamation - and no, it doesn't involve yourself or any other poster on this board.) Sadly, discretion sometimes really is the better part or valor. Such a drag.

Not sure I agree. It would have been more fun to have Reva pregnant - with the question being was Josh the father - or was it the result of some totally random hookup? THAT would be a truer Reva story than Josh or Kyle.

CrazySexyQ - I very much enjoy reading your posts and hope you continue. I cannot comment on the GL of the 2000s as I didn't watch those years. Now about all the incest - well, yeah. There was an excessive amount of it in Springfield across the decades. You'd think that some Springfield progeny might literally be pinheaded or have a multitude of personality/physical disorders. I am reminded of the 1932 movie Freaks, the excellent 1992 movie, Brother's Keeper,(highly unusual, yet fascinating), and finally, the 1960 British movie, Village of the Damned, about a hoard of maybe a dozen kids - all blonds whom, as IMDB writes, are "glowing-eyed children of uncertain paternity prove to have frightening powers."