vetsoapfan

I still do not remember her at all. She must have played a minor, relatively unimportant character.

The only one I can think of that was successful: Jacqueline Courtney and George Reinholt, hugely popular on Another World, who also worked well together when they moved over to OLTL (although GR did not last very long there, and JC had zero chemistry with any of his mediocre replacements).

LOL, no need to apologize. While I do believe that firing Courtney, Reinholt and Dwyer in 1975 was a huge mistake (akin to axing the Bauers on TGL in the early 1980s), and that trying to replace Courtney was a losing proposition from the get-go (none of the replacements could hold a candle to her), there are other stars that should not have been replaced either. Some actors are simply too iconic and identified with their roles for recasting to be feasible.

I have the feeling that the author only knew of Mac and Rachel because they continued to be focal points of the show well into the 1980s.

"...below is a list of the seven best couples that came out of Another World." I always have to roll my eyes at lists like this, which purport to announce "the best" of any TV series, when the authors are clearly not old enough to have witnessed or been able to assess the majority of the show's run. It would be better to write, "Here are the seven couples whom I personally liked best on AW from the time that I watched it." A definitive list of Best Couples which omits Alice Matthews and Steven Frame, among others, is hard to take seriously. That would be like listing the best couples of GH and choosing Sonny and Carly to make the cut, but ignoring Luke and Laura, LOL. (Not that I could ever stand Luke, but there's no denying the impact L&L had on that soap.) https://www.fame10.com/entertainment/another-worlds-7-best-couples/?fbclid=IwAR2AKHKBWFj19eA-PZ9DPzYZzPgkUX4oA13j04zMXYPQvOffx-eDKrhkOsA

During The Cosby Show's original run on NBC, Rashad appeared as a guest on (IIRC) Phil Donahue's talk show. A member in the audience made the comment that, while it was fine to see people of color portraying well-off and affluent characters on television, it was also important to reflect the reality of all the black people whose lives are mired in economic and social struggle; whose lives are not ideal. Boy, did Rashad get angry. She sideswiped his point by saying that wealthy black folks did exist in the USA (true, of course, but that was not the crux of his statement), then demanded that he sit down and made no further comment. She was so gratuitously rude over an innocent remark that actually had merit. I never cared for her after that.

Wait, what? I know that Sheffer severely diminished the vets' presence on the canvas and basically treated them like irrelevant under-fivers, but I had never heard about him being despicable enough to tell a beloved vet to "know your place." What happened there? As for fans being vile enough to call for her punishment...UGH. Younger viewers, no doubt, who did not care about the vets or the show's legacy.

I've heard this contention many times throughout the decades as well: that Kobe wanted to recreate Texas on TGL when she assumed the reigns there. The story goes that she loved Texas and was furious about losing it, and had no feelings about or loyalty to The Guiding Light, so she had no qualms about trashing TGL. This could explain why she so easily hacked away at the core of TGL and brought in people whom she had known from Texas. After all this time, and with no first-hand witnesses around to substantiate the allegation, however, we will probably never know for sure. Peeved fans may have perceived this to be true and started discussing it, so what was originally a rumor become more accepted as fact. Personally, I would say that at least, Kobe must have enjoyed working with various members of the Texas team, as evidenced by them ending up on TGL. And based on what we witnessed on-screen, it was clear (IMHO) that Kobe did not care about TGL or its history at all. Does this mean she wanted to recreate the failed NBC soap and graft it onto TGL? Maybe, but I am just as tempted to conclude that she was just not a competent producer; a bad match for TGL simply because she did not understand it or care about preserving its legacy and integrity.

All three of the actors on that SOD cover were hot as hades. Woof!

I will readily admit that Michael Gregory did not photograph well. Still images of him are usually not terribly flattering. But boy, he was striking and charismatic, and sexy as hell, "in motion." I always found Chris Robinson to be bland, stiff and boring by comparison. He was no match for Gregory! I would have dragged Michael Gregory behind the barn in a heartbeat!

Yep.😑

It was cringe-worthy. I am 100% confident that most knowledgeable fans of TGL from this very forum could out-perform Alan in these interviews.

LOL!

I'd love to ask Alan Locher, "So, who was this 'priest,' named 'Father Ruthledge' who supposedly existed in TGL's early days?🤔🙄 Also, if I had been in the interview with KV and CAC, I would have been baffled too when Alan asked, "Did you ever work with Violet?" Um..WTF was Violet? Alan first stumbled around that name (it turned out he was referring to the character of Mrs. Violet Renfield, whom nobody actually referred to as Violet) and then admitted he wasn't sure of the actress' real name or how to pronounce it. UGH! If he chooses to ask a question about a past character/cast member, shouldn't he have some, any, idea of what he's trying to talk about? Alan claims to have been a longtime fan and publicist for P&G, and yet he so often proves that he has little knowledge of major facts.

To be fair, I though Kobe's Texas was a vast improvement over Paul Rauch's. But there was very little history for her to purge, and she did not axe the majority of the existing cast. While I did not think Bill Bell did his best work on early B&B, and while many actors in the original cast were quite bad, I would say that B&B with Kobe was also better than TGL had been with her. As you say, she was probably reigned in by the Bells.

Right, PFS's tenure was far too brief. I must say, although she is one of the best daytime soap writers, IMHO, her version of RH felt stilted and forced. I wonder how much network interference and poor producing were to blame. Didn't she work on the proposed Scruples series in 1984? If so, she was probably writing RH at the same time, although I don't know for sure.

Oh, of course. I should have remembered about Kobe and Texas. D'OH, me! I must have been mixing up the timing of the producer switch with the change in writers, which infuriated me at the time. If only PFS had helmed TGL during the entire decade! Gracias for the memory jolt.

Yep, and that's what happened to many soaps, once clueless and incompetent PTB started axing veteran actors/characters and going the stupid science-fiction/fantasy route. After a brief "novelty period," the mainstream audience defected in droves.

Me too. 🤮

I think during her first stint, Long was a mixed bag. Her ignorance of history led to various problems, as did her sci-fi-ish fantasy stories. To her credit, much later she admitted that on soaps, when it came to fantasy or reality-based material, it was "better to get real." On the other hand, Long wrote for certain characters and delineated their relationships well. She needed guidance and a solid editor more than anything, IMHO, and Gail Kobe did not fit the bill. Long's stint under Calhoun was significantly better. Mimi Torchin of Soap Opera Weekly had an interview with Kobe once, in which Torchin said the characters were the prime draw and most important force on soaps. Kobe disagreed and said characters were secondary to plot. That's the sort of attitude which crippled the soap opera medium. Gutting 2/3 of the cast and going heavy on dumb plot mechanics is what crippled TGL in the 1980s.

Douglas Marland's version of Laura Baldwin on General Hospital fit the same mold: the petulant, self-involved teen with whom everyone in town concerned themselves. While I felt Vigard had a certain something, I never really understood why Kelly (or Tim) were so obsessed with Morgan. Romantic and sexual attraction don't always make sense, however, so I just went with the flow and accepted the fact that both young men found her to be both romantically and physically appealing. Truth be told, I always thought Nola would be better in bed, LOL. Okay, to be fair: my main problem with Poser as Amanda was that the character was completely and totally changed from when KC played the role, and I was one who adored Cullen's version. Similarly, I loathed Grayson McCough's grubby Dusty Donovan, Roger Howarth's hammy Paul Stenbeck, and Hunt Block's smarmy Craig Montgomery because the characters were so bastardized when those actors assumed the parts. Poser probably would have been fine as another, new character. But she was not MY Amanda, and I found her (and Dusay as Alex, BTW) untenable. ITA. Kelly becoming sexually involved with Morgan when she was so young bothered me when it aired. Of course many teenagers have sexual and romantic fantasies about older adults, but it was Kelly's responsibility to hold off until it was more appropriate for them to become physically involved. I can't remember if she was still under 18 when they first did the deed, either, but I remember having a moral problem with her age. Wasn't Kelly around 7-8 years older than Morgan?

Yes, I always figured that Susan living in the Stewart house arose from budgetary reasons. (I doubt anyone in charge cared about the historical significance of the set, but using it saved money, which was a driving factor in the show's later years.) In terms of real life, it makes sense. In the world of Oakdale, however, I have a feeling Ellen Stewart would rather die than let Susan take over her family's beloved home.

I understood (but was saddened by) the death of David Stewart, because the actor's endless and extended absences from the show left Ellen Stewart in storyline limbo, with nowhere to go. Even Henderson Forsythe commented at the time: "Honestly, I don't see what else they could have done." At least with Ellen off screen living close to Annie and the quads, she could have been brought back later on, if the show ever again found PTB who understood and respected ATWT's history. I do agree, however, that having legacy characters disappear into limbo and never be mentioned again is both disrespectful and annoying to the audience. In a perfect soap world of my creating, LOL, characters would continue to be referenced as necessary, even after they were no longer seen regularly. I might have killed Ellen off if Patricia Bruder had chosen to leave, herself, and made it clear she was retiring and would never return. As long as the actress was open to coming back, however, my preference would be to leave the situation open, with Ellen living happily and logically off-screen. What really baffled and irked me about all this was: how the hell did Susan Stewart end up living in Ellen's house? Ellen was wont to carry grudges for decades (ask Lisa, LOL); why would she sell or lease the Stewart house to Susan of all people???

Looking back at the 1980s, most of its newly-introduced characters (yes, with some exceptions) were failures, IMHO. And the ones we lost (Mike, Hope and Hillary Bauer; Sara McIntyre; Amanda Spaulding, etc.) were hardly dead wood.

I thought the change had taken place in about November of 1982, but...closing credits don't lie, LOL. Thanks for the info. Reports at the time indicated that Gail Kobe wanted Cullen to drastically cut her hair, and the actress refused, which is why she was let go. It was a terrible mistake, however. Pamela Long was actually writing for Amanda (unlike some of the other longer-term characters), and there was still a lot more story fodder for the character. Jennifer Cooke was also known for her role in the science fiction series V. She showed a bit more personality in both Friday the 13th part VI and V than she ever did on TGL.