vetsoapfan

MINE! (Just so there is no confusion moving forward.)

While I originally found fault with Long's camp fantasy plots and disinterest in history and factual reality, she drastically improved over time, and I do believe she would have gotten a handle on Rita and written the character effectively. Long's insight into characters deepened as she went on. Marland tattled to the press once that Kasdorf hated working with Mart Hulswit, but they had wonderful chemistry on-screen. I cannot say that I would have loved to see her with Peter Simon's E, who was always so morose and listless. Rita needed someone with some passion and fire, who could give back as good as he got. Could Simon have risen to the challenge? I know. At GH, he was great at capturing the essence of legacy characters like Lesley Faulkner, Jessie Brewer, Monica Quartermaine, etc. So why did he stumble at TGL with some of its most iconic female leads? For the most part, I liked the characters he created, himself, for Springfield, but it hurt the show to lose people like Holly and Rita. Marland later said in an interview that axing a bunch of the older characters was a direct mandate from P&G, who wanted him to youthify the show. Adam and Barbara Norris Thorpe also got the heave-ho along with Steve Jackson. Marland said he regretted that order, because if he had been able to keep them, he "would have found something for them to do." (This quote sticks in my mind because it suggests he may have been wondering how to write for them.) For the record, Marland also said that when he took over GH, he happily wrote for the vets like Jessie Brewer, but ABC told him to stop it, to backburner them and concentrate on the younger characters and on the few older characters whom the teens in the audience wanted to see, like Edward Quartermaine. When new writers take over, they often have different perceptions of various characters, and sudden personality changes can be quite jarring for the viewer. When Harding Lemay arrived at AW, he imbued pre-existing characters with traits they had never had before. Sometimes it worked very well, and made the characters more three-dimensional and realistic, but in a few cases, it left me scratching my head. Mary Matthews, for example, who had been a warm, protective matriarch with a wry sense of humor, suddenly became somewhat shrewish in her domineering behavior over her adult-children's lives. I was able to justify this by saying that by then, Mary had watched her children suffer so much, she had just HAD ENOUGH, and gone into Mama Bear mode. But it happened quite suddenly. Alice Matthews had always been a charming, capable young woman until Lemay started writing her as a sad and fragile Dresden doll who would fall apart and run away at the first sign of stress. Again, I eventually justified it in my mind by saying that years of pain had finally worn Alice down to the point where she was exhausted and unable to find much strength to fight anymore, but the Agnes Nixon version of of Alice and the Harding Lemay version of Alice were quite different.

Actually, Steve Jackson vanished without explanation in 1981, two years before Bill Bauer died. While I agree with your point, I look at it from reverse: With well-established characters on the show who already served specific purposes, why dump them in order to use NEW, unfamiliar characters to then serve the exact same purpose? TGL had Rita to go against Alan, so why bother with Reva? The show had spent years weaving Jackie into Phillip's story, so why artificially insert Alex (who had never existed before) into the mix? Why eliminate characters whom the audience already knows and cares for, with strangers whom viewers may or may not ever accept? What reason would the show possibly have for firing Charita Bauer, for example, only to cast a new, older woman named Gert Lauer (LOL) who buys the Bauer house,. starts volunteering at Cedars, and dishes out advice to the people of Springfield? Would viewers of Y&R understand the mentality behind firing Jeanne Cooper, and then introducing another semi-bitter reclusive matriarch to Genoa City, one who lived alone in a mansion, hated Jill Foster, and made it her life's goal to make Jill miserable? Why throw out what you've already got, when it works so well, unless there's a valid reason like an actor's quitting or dying?

I think he was great everywhere except at OLTL where he lasted less than a year. But his endless creativity at TEON impressed me big-time.

ITA. Morgan and Kelly on TGL were strikingly similar to Laura and Scotty from GH, a show which Marland had written with great success before moving to Springfield. He certainly understood and wrote better for his own creations like Nola than he did for characters who .existed before his arrival. His work on ATWT was significantly stronger., however. Try as I might, I cannot think of a single legendary writer who was consistently excellent on every single show s/he penned. Even Agnes Nixon stumbled somewhat on Loving, Pat Falken Smith on RsH, Marland on TD, Claire Labine on OLTL and TGL, the Dobsons on ATWT, etc.

Not all writers "get" all characters, which ends up being unfortunate in a medium such as this, because so many different scribes end up taking over and being responsible for the core characters over the years. I do think Long and Curlee would have gotten a handle on Rita, if given the chance to write for her.

More than likely, the principle reason was that LK quit. Marland in general was not adverse to carrying on and improving stories began by previous writers. In any case, Rita was a complex, interesting and viable character who could have provided the show with storyline potential for years. It's a shame we lost her, no matter what the reason was.

Yes, Alan and Rita had sparks galore. If she had set her sights definitely on Alan, think of the fireworks that a longterm Rita/Alan/Hope triangle would have engendered! Yikes! Shades of AW's Rachel/Steven/Alice! Right, we were lucky to have Ross Marler and JvD for as long as we did. Somewhere along the line, he truly was TGLs elder spokesperson, and the actor clearly loved the show. TPTB were idiots for taking him, of all people, off contract.

Holly and Rita were somewhat prickly, which made sense because at the time, Holly was still in love with Ed. Eventually, however, even Holly admitted that Ed was in love with Rita. To me, it looked like Ed and Holly would be the end-game in the writers' plans, but after a long, multi-year story of many complications first. Back then, soaps actually tried to layer and extend stories, keeping popular couples separated for many years.

Initially, she fell in love with Dr. Tim Ryan (played by Jordan Clarke, who later returned to the show as another character, Billy Lewis), not knowing that the scoundrel Tim was also pursuing Rita. When she found out about Tim and Rita, Evie was furious, but she needed to be in Springfield when her mother became ill, so after discovering what a piece of work Tim was, Evie eventually reconciled with her sister. She started to become interested in Ben McFarren, but worried that he was not over his feelings for Hope Bauer. Tim Ryan veered off into a relationship with Pam Chandler and Hope got involved in Alan Spaulding's orbit, so Ben and Evie were free to pursue each other, much to Amanda's chagrin. It was a disappointment with Evie disappeared from the show, with an off-hand remark by Justin Marler, "Oh, Eve has left Springfield to be with Ben." After seven years, the character deserved an actual send-off and goodbye scene.

Killing off Suzy: another inexplicable, bone-headed move that further decimated Jo's family and ultimately led nowhere.

Right. Without any build up, without allowing newer/current viewers to get to know Bill Bauer and who he was, his death was irrelevant. It was upsetting and a waste to veteran viewers, but it meant nothing to anyone else. Actually, even the Bauer family got over and forgot about him in a heartbeat. For those of us who had known and watched the character struggle for three decades prior to his demise, his brutal death was sickening. Many of the core families got gutted within a few years, which made the show feel unfamiliar and alienating. This was probably not all Long's fault, for she seemed willing to write for some of the vets, like Mike Bauer. Gail Kobe and P&G suits probably helped cripple the show too. My favorite Lewis was Trish, and as you point out, SHE was the one to get the axe, LOL.

Yes, from what we had already seen ON-SCREEN, it was literally impossible (and painfully STOOPID) to make Amanda Alan's sister. On his deathbed in 1979, Brandon ACKNOWLEDGED that Amanda was Alan's daughter. So did Jennifer Richards a few years later. So you think that if Brandon and Jennifer had had a sexual relationship, AT LEAST ONE OF THEM WOULD HAVE KNOWN ABOUT IT. Apparently, Amanda was the world's second case of immaculate conception!!! I hated Paul Rauch for that story. (Actually, I hated him for many reasons, but THAT could be an entirely new thread of its own.)

Maybe I was being too hard on SFT, but I never felt they used Jo enough, or effectively enough, towards the end. I was tired of all the strangers parading through Henderson. Even Patti was a stranger (and half her actual age too!) when she returned. As you say, the best, indeed the ONLY acceptable way of ending the show was a quiet moment between Jo and Stu, the only two characters on the show who still made SFT feel like home. If Christopher Goutman and, say, James Reilly had been in charge, we would have gotten a final scene of the McCleary brothers doing a group strip tease to Village People music, and being chased around by an inflamed, love-starved gorilla. ((Roll eyes)) The final scene we got was appropriate, poignant, and lovely.

To me, with Hulswit playing Ed, Ed and Holly were the end-game and I longed for them to get back together and raise Chrissy and Freddie as a family. The show let that slide for many years, but I was pleased to see them come together as the light dimmed in 2009. The stupid retcon about Amanda being Alan's sister rather than he daughter drove me insane. Of all the idiotic, history-trashing mistakes TGL made in its final decades, this was the one I most wanted to be fixed. Having Elvera Roussel return at the very end of the show as Alan's life was ending would gave been a wonderful move. Hope had become, by default, the new matriarch of the Bauer family. Frank Cooper was sexy as hell back in the day. As an experiment once, I wrote to several actors from the show to see if I would get a response (polite, short notes, telling them I enjoyed their work and would like to havean autograph). Frank was the only one who replied. He laughed about one of my comments: that he looked hot in the tight blue T-shirt he used to wear. Apparently, it was a running theme in his fan letters, LOL. LOL! Various other actors chosen to play Mike did not look so Sicilian. I am sure that if our Bert had been carousing and cheating on Bill, we would have heard about it. The truth would have been revealed decades ago. Are you referring to Holly's brief, off-screen marriage to Dietrich Lindsey in the 1980s? We never saw him. I don't recall is he had a title, himself, or bestowed one upon Holly. Maybe other members will remember.

I think Ed initially fought to make a success of himself in order to differentiate himself from his father, whom Ed always regarded as a loser. Then he turned into a mean drunk and lost the full use of his hand after being shot, which seemed to give him some perspective on life. I wish the final weeks of TGL has focused more on Ed and Holly's relationship so that we could have seen them working their way back to a place where would consider running off together. It seemed kind of sudden, almost thrown in as an afterthought, but as a veteran fan, I was happy to see the show's two longest-running characters finding some possible closure, together. If only Mart Hulswit had been playing Ed! I would have been sooooooo happy. I miss my Bauers. Bauer Power forever!

SFT viewers, like all soap viewers, tend to prefer seeing beloved characters at the core of the action. When a show becomes a sea of newbies floating around, it's harder to maintain interest. Fans wanted to see "our" Jo, but when she was shoved onto the backburner yet again, we turned off the SFT stove.

Justin and Jackie Marler arrived in 1976; Alan, Phillip and Elizabeth Spaulding showed up in 1977. Sara was beautiful. I always found her to be regal looking. She was quite popular during her day, although towards the end of her run, she had been backburnered and used mainly as a talk-to. Soaps represented viewers' fantasies, and nobody wanted to see frumpy, unkempt people in curlers and flip-flops, LOL. On ATWT, Nancy Hughes was known to do housework while wearing black velvet and pearls. It was amusing. Yes, Diane Ballard arrived in 1977, when the Spauldings did. As the show geared up to expand to 60-minute episodes, many new people arrived. I was hoping they would bring Meta Bauer back to town at that time, the way they did when the show expanded from 15-minutes to half an hour. Ed had a telephone call regarding her, and when a soap starts mentioning departed characters out of the blue, it usually means they will pop back up shortly. Alas, no Meta, but we did get some great new additions to the cast anyway.

Jo's abduction made the ratings rise a bit, as I recall.

Back row, left to right: Tim Werner (adopted by Joe and Sara Werner), Dr. Justin Marler (Phillip's biological father), Dr. Steve Jackson (Rick's maternal grandfather), Evie Stapleton and her sister Rita Stapleton (Ed's ex-wife), Roger Thorpe, Barbara Norris (Holly's mother), Adam Thorpe (Roger's dad). Front row, left to right: Dr. Sara McIntyre (in blue), Dr. Ed Bauer, Frederick/Rick Bauer, Bert Bauer, Mike Bauer, Jackie Marler (in dark green, sitting behind Holly), Holly Norris, Christina/Blake Bauer. I hope this helps.

Here's a picture of young Frederick from shortly after Leslie's death. At that age, having memories of her would be possible.

Yes, Clarke had previously appeared on TGL as Tim Ryan in the mid-1970s. When we saw him on the show again after a long break, my first thought was, "Now, what's Tim doing sitting there in Alan's chair?" LOL. Generally, I do not like actors being cast as different characters on the same show. TGL toyed with the idea of having Michael Zaslow play Alan Spaulding (!!!) at one point, which would have been absurd. He was iconic as Roger Thorpe, and the only Roger viewers wanted to see, IMHO. I'll never adapt to Chris Kositchek playing Roman Brady on DAYS. Yikes. Both those scenarios would have been great.

Yes, unfortunately, the shows do have to work within the confines of the actors' availability and willingness to sign contracts. Mary Kay Adams was worth making the effort for. I wanted her to appear consistently on the series, but at least we did continue to see India from time to time. What bothered me about the actors/characters who made cameo appearances towards the end of TGL was...it looked like the show had only sprung into existence in the 1980s. Characters from before that, who had been on the series during its halcyon years, were under-represented. Couldn't they have asked Elvera Roussel back as Hope Bauer, to interact with Alan one last time? If she had been able and interested, I would have loved to see Helen Wagner pop up in Springfield as Trudy Bauer, a role she had played decades before. Or if that did not work out, why bring on Jeanne Cooper as an irrelevant, anonymous nobody for a few scenes? Why not cast HER as Trudy Bauer, as a nod to TGL's roots? And why did we not see any flashbacks or tributes? I thought at the time: Wheeler and P&G do not want to remind viewers how stellar the show USED TO BE, compared to the drivel it is now. It's too bad that the show went out with a whimper rather than a bang.

While the show failed in many, significant ways under Wheeler, TGL was lucky to find and cast some actors who were perfect for their roles, like Pelphrey and Branson. Earlier than that, you are 100% correct: the show brought us brought remarkable talent among the younger set. Good casting can help override weak scripts in some cases. William Roerick had been on the show previously in another role. He was the last actor to play Aunt Meta's third husband, Dr. Bruce Banning, in the 1970s. When he reappeared as Henry Chamberlain, it was a jolt to me at first, but I quickly adjusted because he was so perfect as Vanessa's father. No other performers would ever have been accepted as the show's most iconic figures: Bert Bauer, Roger Thorpe, Nola Reardon, Reva Shayne, etc., and I'm glad the show never tried. ATWT attempted to replace Penny Hughes and Lisa Miller a few times, without success. I like Lee Merriwether, but she simply felt wrong for the part when she took over for Mary Fickett as Ruth Martin on AMC.

It sure is.