Speed Racer

Susan Pratt would have been a solid Reva Shayne, better than Zimmer.

"And OMG, watching the scenes of Roger's return in comparison...the quality in the writing really nosedived. The stupid mask." Very much agreed. Having Roger hide behind a mask for weeks/months, with it culminating with him swinging in on a vine at Blake/Phillip's wedding....geez. So juvenile. IMO, Guiding Light never did a good job reintroducing major characters, either from the dead or elsewhere. Masked balls = awful. Amish = awful. When Reva was brought back from the dead, she should've just showed up in Springfield as Reva, and informed everyone that she had been gone for years because she felt like it. She had a four-year fling with some dude who ended up dumping her due to disloyalty. Josh would be pissed and declare that their love is not *always* but *sometimes* and he'd act accordingly. Her kids would hate her.

"Jordan and Robert have the best brother chemistry. " They certainly did! And that chemistry worked no matter who served as the protagonist in a given scene or story. A shame that a full-blown story was never developed for those two. Wouldn't have needed to be adversarial, either. Maybe a serious, unexpected, long-term outside threat, business or personal, to one of the brothers with the other coming to his aid.

AlwaysAMC - Your posts are a crack up; they make me laugh. Thanks. I especially like how detailed you get enthused about something, and how you curtly and flippantly you reject that which you find subpar. LOL. What's great about Annie is her increasing rooting value as time goes on. I often wanted Annie to be victorious. Watros infuses her with an energy and a vulnerability that really works, even at times when neither should. Soap viewers often remember and talk about the Big Moments, which is fine, but what I also find really interesting is the 1-2 week time frame that follows the Big Moment. Later, there are scenes between Annie and Rick involving a trip to the hospital (no way am I telling you why and what happens - hopefully no one does) that I think are as well done as the Big Moment. Astonishing stuff. Oh..and to reiterate...I ain't telling you sh*t. You'll just have to suffer! Ain't anticipation grand? LOL.

I never liked Reva, either the first time around, or the second. My issue for the first go round was that Reva dominated the show, which was a shame because I didn't like the character. Loud, insecure, narcissistic "look at me", "here I am, entertain me" individuals irritate me in real life. It wouldn't have mattered to me who portrayed the character...Zimmer or someone else. Reva is a character inherently inimical to the idea of ensemble. Post 1995, Reva was no longer a character, but a device.

Reva should have had a stroke...leaving her permanently MUTE. Not able to utter a single sound, not even the slightest blubber or gurgle.

Hey Always AMC -- am I to assume you enjoy times of colossal stupidity on soaps? If so, you might find yourself thrilled with GL for the rest of 1996. Lots of trains jumping the tracks. Off cliffs, even. Do keep an eye on Cindy Watros. She and Annie get increasingly interesting. Cindy steps on the damn gas pedal to notable effect. IMO, Annie's the only real reason to watch GL from mid 1996 through 1997. The rest is garbage.

Swift said: "But, isn't funny that they're all back in Florida, but nobody mentions this is where Reva went nuts and drove off a bridge. It seems like it might trigger some memories." Hilarious!! 'Tis a shame it didn't retrigger the same behavior as well. In a gray Volvo.

I very much liked office Cleary and the actress who portrayed her (as you say, Mary Peterson). A shame her turn didn't evolve into a contract role. BTW, does anyone know the timeframe/years that Betty Rae served as casting director? If i understand correctly, she not only led the effort for contract roles, but also for shorter 13- and 26-week roles. IMO, GL had LOTS of very well-casted, limited roles, too. I'm surprised the actors throughout the soap industry, and especially P&G actors, have not assembled a book or something similar, praising Rae. Each actor could write a few paragraphs or a page of text describing his or her experience.

Oh - PJ - regarding 1993... I understand where you're coming from, but I do think overall that 1993 was a decent year for the show. As you stated, worth watching as the Peter custody trial (culminating in the fantastic court scenes of February/March 1994). In addition, tho, I think the David/Kat/Vinny story holds up pretty well, as does Ed/Michelle/Holly. Cliff House was good. And while there are cast changes, there's still plenty of great actors present. Yet, those stories were pretty much wrapped up by September 1993. Yeah, Buzz quickly becomes a dirge, Lucy and Tangie are busts, and the revisit of Nick/Mindy is uninteresting (playing itself out in 1992). Unlike apparently everyone else in existence, I liked the actor who finished out Billy's storyline. He wasn't Clarke, but I thought he did well. I also thought Bess - Brandon's secretary who came on maybe in October 1993 - was a solid addition. Loved when Bess would give Dusay's Alex a hard time and corner Alex with her wheelchair (for example, "You liked the sex, didn't ya?", referring to Alex/Roger).

P.J. - Boy, do I ever agree with you regarding Jordan Clarke!! It remains somewhat flabbergasting to me how GL most fans don't seem to regale him with the laudatory praise earned. Yeah, I know Clarke eventually got an Emmy for Best Supporting sometime in the 2000s (I stopped watching the show for all practical purposes in 1998 once Watros left - everything else then was too insulting and insipid), but he deserved to win during that 1989-1993 timeframe you mentioned. Phenomenal effort and performance on his part. Continuously. Never phoned anything in. A request for all: the next time you watch the infamous Alex/Billy interaction at The Towers ("that viral thing was your grandchild"), instead of focusing on McKinsee and what she says, zero in on Clarke instead. He's every bit as good as she is.

That may be Henry's last appearance. William Roerick, who portrayed him, died in mid-December 1995. What a fantastic actor he was.

I hope you do, for your entertainment's sake. Lots of great actors: Beverlee McKinsey, Michael Zaslow, Maureen Garrett, Maeve Kincaid, Jordan Clarke, Jerry VerDorn, Melissa Hayden, Monti Sharp (the original David, Gilly's brother - you need to zero in on that guy!), Rick Hearst, Amelia Marshall and several others. Several umbrella stories that cross pollinate, interesting character friendships, and perhaps best of all, considerably above-average dialogue. The show wasn't perfect of course. There are some clunker stories (Julie and Hart's teen-time romance, and Daniel St John), but quite solid overall. That said, when GL was at its best, it assumed its viewers had a brain and liked to use it.

Shout out to alwaysAMC- I'm liking your write-ups and your interest in the show! Keep 'em coming. As several have pointed out, you very much need to watch early 1990s GL. (You like Roger and Bridget in 1995?! Boy, are you missing out! Go back in time.) I recommend you start August/Sept 1989 to get a foothold, then watch all the way through the end of 1994. 1989 was an okay year (not great, but better than the awful 1986-1988 period). GL really starts clicking in March/April 1990, with noticeable story and dialogue improvement happening in rather rapid fashion. The change for the better is an interesting and tangible watch, almost inspiring. As you are a first-time viewer, I'd love to get your comments and observations of that era as well.

Thanks J.P. for your info re: Evie and blindness. Your memory is astounding! Regarding Warren, Locke and Alex.....looking back, it seems rather obvious that Eric Luvonoczek (also a cash hungry cad) would have made an excellent pseudo follow-up to Warren Andrews. Whoever it was portraying Eric was wonderful in that six-month role in early 1992. And it is through Eric that Alexandra's Bohemian period and mindset could have been told. AND, it wouldn't have been at all a stretch to learn that Eric and Bess knew each other quite well via Brandon. (Wheelchair-bound Bess was great, too.) THAT should have been Dusay's first storyline in September 1993. A story that affects a soon-to-return Alan, too. Hell, you could have Eric romance then blackmail Lillian, forcing Lillian to get a big stack of cash from Alexandra, only to hand it over to Eric. With Roger looking on in astonishment. OR, maybe even better, have Eric be the mastermind behind a set up a Ponzi scheme that snatches significant cash from half of Springfield. Money that's lost forever. Has there ever been a Ponzi storyline on ANY soap? If not, why the hell not? To add to the strangeness - Eve Guthrie was on the show for three years, yet we never knew anything about her family. What were the names of HER parents? Any siblings? Aunts or uncles? Where did she grow up? Not even a mention. Nothing. It's not surprising viewers were non-committal to the character or to Edson herself. Yet both the character and actress had their fans. I'm another viewer who liked both.

Question: At one point in time, Evie Stapleton was blind. How did that occur? Who was the MD that worked on her eyes? Justin or Peter maybe? One of my first memories of GL was a scene with Ben trying to convince Evie to skinny dip off of some yacht. On their honeymoon perhaps? Must have been before Evie lost her eyesight.

Wow..that's some revolting memories! Glad I ate dinner a few hours ago. Locke must have been on hand to helm the Lujack Makes An MTV Video Prancing Around The Streets Of New York City dreck. Did that video include IQ or Gina of the Gallahads? Darcy was gone, but I think those two outlasted her.

All of this talk about Amanda is yet another reason why I'd have Ed and Amanda eventually tie the knot. It'd be an interesting question: who has the more lecherous, wandering eye? Ed or Amanda? Maybe it's time for Ed to be cheated on. How would he deal with that, given his wont to do the same? Lots of story potential in that, lots of interesting writing. (Maybe Blake is the one who ends up giving Ed the sage advice needed). If anyone needed to rediscover her sexual roots in the mid 1990s, it was Vanessa. Talk about cloistered! The new character I would have introduced - in place of Matt - would have tossed Vanessa's bra in the fireplace...with her stoking the flames. Sometime in 1993, Billy called Vanessa "uppity". A perfect way to describe her character and behavior at the time.

LOL - not to be out-confused by Wilding Jr was Adrienne Zucker as Christine Valere. She took "what the hell am I doing here?" to another level altogether. Can't fault either one. Who wasn't confused in 1987?

Simms embodied the term "sex kitten" without trying. It's who she was. And it's a key reason why successfully recasting Mindy once Simms left was quite difficult. How do you find a smarter, wiser sex kitten to follow in Simms shoes, or how do you rewrite Mindy as a "somewhat" post sex-kitten entity? Really tough to do. The writers tried that latter when they hired Hamilton. The apparent attempt was to rewrite Mindy as a wronged innocent. Wrong move. Hamilton failed because she herself wasn't anything like Simms (Hamilton may have been better as Lucy Cooper - don't know). Crampton failed not because she couldn't act, but because she wasn't Mindy. Others here have said the same, and I agree. Crampton also failed because the writers thought beating the Mindy/Nick/Alex horse to death was a good idea. There's plenty of sexy women out there, but that's not what I'm talking about here. Lenore Kasdorf and Maureen Garrett both had sex kitten qualities and tons of sex appeal, but were sexy women, not sex kittens. A shame that Alexandra Neil had already been on Guiding Light as Rose. She MIGHT have been able to successfully portray a post-Simms Mindy. A post sex-kitten. Definitely would have been worth a screen test. A very likable actress, and naturally so. No other woman on Guiding Light came close to Simms in that regard. Other women on Guiding Light were

Absolutely!! What would you propose for the Reardons here?

Kalbir said: "I am intrigued by the thought of Roger and Annie in each other's orbits. I haven't deep dived into November 1994-April 1997 to see if Michael Zaslow and Cynthia Watros interacted with each other." I am, too. Lots of ramifications here, with possible threads in all directions. For the Rick versus Josh court battle over Rick's dealing illegal drugs to then-wife Annie, for example, you could pull in the Josh-Ross-Amanda relationship from long ago (Los Tres Amigos, or LTA). Especially if Amanda now is a Bauer, and you have Ross acting as either prosecuting or defending attorney. Could get very interesting very fast. Mixing Roger into that scenario would be aces. I'll tell you what. Guiding Light never needed to bring Reva back, that's for sure. Oh- to add to my 1994 redo - just this second I thought of something Fiona Huchinson (Jenna) once said years ago...that she would have liked a May-December Jenna/Henry romance. Not a sexual one, but a romantic one. Intriguing idea. With Buzz carted off to wherever, forever, following his accidental shooting of his daughter in a PTSD fit, Jenna would need something to do with no Buzz around. It could be that Henry helps Jenna make a successful run of Lester Square lotion, and from there, the six-month romance begins. Vanessa is charmed by it, and is in la-la land herself with her new paramour (who is not Matt). Jenna and Vanessa could compare notes and be doubly charmed. With Huchison leaving GL in late 1994, there's time for a story like that to play itself out over the course of a year. And all scenes with William Roerick are welcomed by this viewer. Tremendous actor and character. Really liked him.

Mitch said: "I think that having Mo leave Ed, move in and take over the BH and take in Bridget when she is preggers...maybe she wouldn't know who the father is and either not hide Bridget of actually do so for a bit, and then adopt Peter herself so Bridget can have a life but always be close to Peter. Ed has to suffer everyone knowing and actually telling him this time he is sh*t, even Ross and Rick ("Grandma would be so angry right now" ) and then he does all he can to try to get back with her.. and adopts Peter himself then not knowing its Roger's grandson. The the custody can be between Ed, Mo vs. Roger..with Mo seeing Roger's side also, but know he can't raise a kid. " This is wonderful! I really like this. I would still have the beginnings of an Ed/Eve relationship in there. Those two together could become the new pariahs of Springfield, what with the whole town knowing of Ed's wanton ways and Eve's mental issues. Ed loses the custody battle to Maureen, and while he also lost, Roger loves that Ed now is town pariah. Add to that, the effects of it all upon Michelle. She is basically ignored throughout the custody battle (too much pain all around)....but not by Holly. Gotta keep that Michelle/Holly angle; it was too good. Hmmm....a Michelle/Holly/Maureen triangle perhaps, sparked by Michelle? Maureen gains Peter but it shunned by Michelle in preference to Holly. Holy bonanza! And where is Bridget in all this? I'd follow all this up in 1995 with my Eve dies in the sanitarium and Ed marries Amanda concept. Imagine Amanda healing the Bauers through kindness, toughness and social acumen (remarkably, the kind-hearted Spaulding opts to marry a Bauer after all that - therefore, the Bauers MUST be somewhat redeemable). And, watching Cullen and Parker spar with one another - the two kind-hearted Springfield souls - could be interesting to watch. Between us, there's easily five years of legitimate front-burner story for the Bauers. Cool.

SECTION THREE A new, married couple is introduced. Let's call them David and Amy...nice, upstanding WASP-like names for two people who aren’t. They are a solid match and deeply ionm love with each opther for some eyebrow-raising reasons! They laugh A LOT when in each other’s presence. In a break from the typivcal soap tripe, David is not after ppower or money. He is after sex. And lots of it. He is a sex addict. He also is a very successful traveling salesman of high-end medical equipment. Conversely, Amy has an average sex drive. Interestingly, she very much appreciates that David is able to relieve himself of his “tension” before taking her to bed. So why is she with him? Kicks. She likes his crafty, wily mind and thoroughly enjoys watching David take advantage of people. After all, she likes taking advantage of people herself, mainly for attention, but sometimes for money and stuff. (David taking advantage of people affords her with more opportunities to do the same. As a traveling salesman, David greatly appreciates Amy’s perspective and loyalty). Nobody – including the GL cast and viewers – know that David and Amy are married. He is introduced first, in June. Amy appears starting in September. It is David (not Matt Reardin) who rescues Vanessa in June 1994 during her boat-in-a-storm saga. Vanessa falls hard for the guy, finding him intelligent, charming, sexy and endearing. Viewers are joyfully reminded of the brazen, lustful Vanessa of long ago. She retains her intelligence, business drive and status at Spaulding. She no longer needs to prove she is desirable; with David around, it’s obvious that she is! He makes her feel likke to only woman on planet Earth… Papa Henry's reaction is particularly notable, lol. Amy is portrayed by none other than 28-year-old Toby Poser! She is told that Amy is roughly 35 years old, and will remain that age for the next decade or so.

SECTION TWO Initially, Amanda is there for Ed to lead the foundation, but also to help Ed deal with Eve’s decision to recommit herself to the mental institution in Clayton. Eve recognizes her own mental demise in November 1994. She tells Ed that she wishes to break all contact with him, which he abides by. Lillian, Michelle and Bridget visit Eve often. Annie Dutton, whom Ed has recently hired, is assigned by Ed to be Eve’s advocate and traveling nurse. Eve becomes the heroine of the show for a while. Viewers become increasingly sympathetic as they watch Eve’s sad and sometimes horrific experience while in the institution. Unlike Olivia de Havilland’s experience in The Snake Pit (whom Edson resembles), Eve does not get better and dies. GL’s PSA effort for 1995. It is Annie’s oft-proximity to Eve that spins Annie into a mental descent of her own. She becomes the nutcase we all know and love (there is no Marian Crane btw). We learn of Annie’s previous mental slips, which she masked with illegally sourced prescription and non-prescription drugs (via Rick, of course). Lillian finds this out, but Annie blackmails her. Rick doesn’t know that Lillian knows. Roger also finds out early, and in turn, blackmails Annie. He tells her to sabotage Amanda and Cedars Foundation. He also tells her to ruin Ross. Annie proceeds to do so, but as she waffles, Roger's goon provides her needed, but purposely limited quantities, of “medication”. Yes, Josh and Annie are a couple, and remain so throughout 1995. Annie is tight with Marah and Shayne. Annie is in bad shape by early 96; it isn’t until Spring 1996 that Annie’s ties to Rick and drugs becomes apparent. Josh ends up in a protracted legal battle with Rick. There are “extenuating circumstances” of course. Like Annie and Roger.