Khan

Ironically, as much as Ellen Wheeler had touted that the new production style would help to make Springfield feel and look more like a real city ("I want to see which plants Cassie is planting in her garden!"), I think the move did the very opposite: it made Springfield feel and look LESS like an actual city than ever before. Springfield might have been a mythical city located somewhere in the midwest (but most likely IL); however, even a REAL midwestern city has an altogether different vibe or atmosphere than an East Coast town like Peapack, NJ (and vice-versa). Factor in the shoddy camerawork and editing, and you have just an unbelievable (and unwatchable) mess. Frankly, if cancellation still wasn't an option at that point, then I wonder whether P&G/CBS would have been better off relocating GL's production to Stamford, CT, or even to L.A., like ABC would do with AMC.

Yes, Lisa did run a book store (with a hospital annex). IIRC, Neil Wade opened the store sometime back in the '60's; then, after his death, Penny took it over. At some point, the bookstore came under Lisa's control, although I know little-to-nothing about the specifics of how that transpired.

At the end of the show? Damn. I guess I hung in longer than I thought.

IIRC, there was a "Next Time on GL..." at the end of the last entirely studio-bound episode that gave viewers their first glimpse of the "new" GL, as well as a combination musical montage / soft re-introduction at the start of the first Peapack show. But...yeah, pretty much. (I think I stayed tuned until the first commercial break. That was all I needed to know the change was a disaster.) ETA: I forget which soap journalist said this, but one of 'em said the biggest mistake that Ellen Wheeler and David Kreizman had made in the Peapack transition was not kicking it off in a bigger way, either w/ something momentous occurring in the final moments of the last pre-Peapack episode, or at the end of the first Peapack one, to get viewers to stick with the new production style beyond their initial curiosity. And yeah, I'd have to agree. GL really needed to exploit the "Peapack experiment" by devising the kind of story that could show off the new prod style and prove why that kind of change was needed. Instead, nothing of any real significance happened in the first Peapack episode, which made the whole thing look exactly like what it was: a last-ditch effort, by a dying soap, to cut costs and stay on the air. I think it was the day of Maeve's death. Again, IIRC, when she returned from the strike, they were so behind, and they were so busy salvaging everything that the scabs had ruined, there wasn't even any time to write a proper funeral for the character. (Plus, the day of Maeve's death was also the very last day on Leslie Denniston's contract, so forget about giving her even deathbed scenes to play.) For some reason, I'm recalling an interview Long did (maybe w/ Brandon's Buzz?) where she talked about working w/ Rauch at SB. Early on, she said, there had been a clash of sorts between the two over...something. However, when she confronted him, he backed down. Apparently, Rauch was caught off-guard by the fact that Long was not the type to be steamrolled, which he had been used to doing with other writers. (I might have confused Long and Rauch with another regime at another soap, but it definitely fits with Harding Lemay's description of Rauch as a producer who was okay to work with, "but you had to bully him.")

Yep, it's John Callahan. JC, in an anti-sexual harassment training film. As a friend of mine would say, there's an irony in there somewhere.

I wouldn't be surprised to learn he's completely bald these days.

Honestly, there were so many companies floating through Oakdale at one point: BRO, Simply Barbara, Walsh AND Worldwide, M&A (for Montgomery & Associates?), Kingsley Malta, Cabot Motors, and wasn't Carolyn Crawford a "cereal heiress" or something? And that's all off the top of my head. As much as I loved Marland's work, I feel like he went a little crazy on the business stuff.

I seem to recall Barbara Ryan Originals, or BRO. Am I wrong?

And the Trumpists will start their boycott/smear campaign of Lebron in five, four, three, two....

IA. I wouldn't encourage any current CBS employees to speak on this matter. It's not worth potentially losing their jobs. If anything, it gives Moonves and his supporters a "win," which I don't want them to have. In case you couldn't tell, this latest scandal pisses me off on a deeper level than even Weinstein's long-deserved fall from grace. For years, I had respected Moonves for his business acumen, because I felt that he, more than any other network exec, seemed to know what made for good TV. (He also seemed more willing to hire women in key decision-making positions. Of course, given everything that's come to light, who the hell knows how much those women had to degrade themselves just to get those jobs.) TBH, I didn't even get that upset when he declared that "Trump is bad for America, but great for CBS" and that "soaps have had a long run, but their days are over," because, deep down, I knew that he was right. Fleetwood Mac was right: heroes are hard to find.

If people outside of CBS want Moonves to go, there's only one thing to do: boycott. Boycott the hell out of everything that has anything to do with CBS, or with Paramount. If enough can organize a strong enough boycott, then I truly believe the board will eventually have no choice but to force him to go. Even if it means Moonves gets to leave with a "golden parachute," and they label it as a "mutual decision," it's better than keeping business as usual. (Seriously, I, for one, will accept that trade-off. I mean, I'd rather him go to jail and/or end up penniless, but I realize that that's not being realistic.) As they say, money talks; and in the end, CBS' audiences for its movies and TV series are where their money is.

But what about the homeless? What about the underaged, the disabled; the ones who work and STILL cannot afford healthcare (because, believe it or not, they do exist), or the ones who simply cannot find work (with OR without employer-provided healthcare, they exist as well)? What do you suppose we do about them? Say a prayer and pass them the aspirin? Julia's right: there IS no perfect health care system. But what we had before Obama even attempted to remedy the situation -- and what we'll have again, if we keep allowing the GOP to chip away at the ACA before there's nothing left -- was, and is, downright criminal. But, you know, I have this sneaking suspicion that if George W. Bush, let's say, had proposed a nationalized healthcare system that was EXACTLY like Obamacare, or even what HRC had tried (and failed) to make happen during her husband's administration, the GOP would have been crazy for it like it was the last banana split at an ice cream shop. Executive orders, eh? And without Congressional input? Isn't that one of the GOP's chief complaints about the previous administration? Don't look now, GOP, but it looks like your hypocrisy is showing.

Or, as Rocky J. Squirrel would say, "HOKEY SMOKES, BULLWINKLE!"

You think that's something? I was only five!

To this day, I wonder what happened to Joey Thrower. What is he UP to these days? Because, obviously, he's no longer acting.

It's Kirk Geiger. Or the Unabomber.

Visually speaking, BMH was not at all what I would expect one of Joe and Viki's sons to look like. Jack Armstrong might have been a better fit as Dan Wolek. Who knows? If he had been successful as Dan, then it might have been a good way to keep Larry on the canvas.

And in retrospect, it was. It isn't everyday when a writer hands me an argument that is persuasive enough to make me reassess my previous opinions on a subject. However, Mr. Krasker did just that with his blog, particularly in regards to Ann Marcus and how she turned around KL in both seasons 3 and 13. But, having said that, I'm still unconvinced that the final season was all that, if only because I think Joan Van Ark's absence, the shortened episode order, and the restrictions on the show's budget kept Marcus and her team from telling the best stories possible.

Who is the man in the photograph with Mia Korf, Krista Tesreau and Carmen Thomas? He reminds me of the guy who played Bob Georgia on AMC, but I can't be sure.

"Laura English, Timmy Dillon and CARRIE GENZEL"?? Wow, we're not even gonna acknowledge she once played Skye Chandler, are we, SoapCentral?

Have you read any of the analyses that Paul Raven has linked upthread, @DRW50? The guy who wrote them is CLEARLY a fan. IDK whether I agree with all his assessments, but I love how meticulous they are.

Damn, he got replaced by a six-pack and a sparkly-looking thong. That's rough.

I always attribute that to Paul Rauch's exit as EP, and Linda Gottlieb's arrival.

I really lay the blame for Long's failure at OLTL on JFP, who (IMO) was never enthused about collaborating with her.

...Huh? So, when we pull off the mask, who will we find masquerading as Rudy? Chrissy Snow? There is truly no honor among thieves.