P.J.

Warren got enough, at least in the beginning. He stole Lesley Ann away from Floyd and married her, and he was sleeping with Alex when she first came to town. I'm not sure how long it went on, but he was not a eunuch.

In 1982, Vanessa is very much used to advance other plots. While it's not exactly out-of-character, she's markedly colder and more controlling. She does thaw a bit towards the end of the year. By the end of the year, she has mended some fences with Ross, which is nice to see. I do wonder where Marland would've taken Vanessa had he stayed. He'd reset both Nola and Ross...so he did like to give his gray characters a redemption. I've caught some more of Trish and early Trish/Ross, and can't help but think they mishandled them. It seems like Chris Bernau's exit kind of stymied the progression of their romance, as they now don't really have an outside enemy to fight against. Warren started out as a slimy user, and somehow got involved with Alan, who used him to set up Ross on drug charges. He's then involved in trying to use the Dreaming Death research as a bio-weapon, (or something, I'm not revisiting that RME story to get deets...lol) and then he's Alex's henchman who comes up with a way to force the Chamberlains out of Spaulding (or at least selling their controlling interest) by making Quint and Henry think Vanessa could still face charges over the Josslyn Electronics kickbacks. He was always trying to curry Alex's favor, hoping to become a kept man.

Who asked about the character of Gina? This is from 1984 (in spite of what the title says)

Am I wrong in remembering that Sofia Landon-Geier wanted to leave, but was surprised that Diane was killed? It might've made more sense in the end to kill off Andy for the murder mystery, which could've involved nearly all the same characters. Then again, Andy was connected to Holly and Barbara. At some point, they could've been reintroduced. And recasting Landon was bound to be difficult.

Vanessa knew Andy was married to and had abused Trish (which made her sleeping with him squeamish), but we didn't find that out until just before Trish came to town. I'm not sure when exactly Andy blew into town, but Trish doesn't show up until June/July of '81. Critiques are always of their time, but I side-eye this one more than a little. You can't let the fans dictate story. And the irony of complaining about the "younger set" when that must include Nola, who ends up being one of GL's most beloved heroine kind of proves Marland's point from that interview. I do agree with one point, which IMO really plagued GL until it's finale---the inability to create new villains with legs. In the '80's with Roger gone and Alan's running in and out---Warren Andrews is not the answer. Maybe Ted LePlat wasn't either, but at least bringing him back (and I just saw an episode where Josh mentions that Andy is up for parole) would've played on established history. And it might've given Trish and Katie something to do, and kept them in town longer. I will say, the one thing that might've given Andy a path to be redeemed somewhat, was his friendship with Hope.

Well, Carrie was a 180 degree turn from Vanessa (ambitious, calculating, controlling) and Amanda (pretty neurotic and someone he had personally wronged). I do wonder why Ross ended up believing Carrie over Justin, but I guess that's how drama works.... Yeah, thinking about it, it's a little weird that they're friends, as Josh had been holding Leslie Ann's past over her head, and intent on screwing over Floyd in the process. Not to mention him trying to bust up her friend Kelly's marriage. They had been around each other since the days of Wired for Sound, if not exactly "friends". I think Hillary was just one of those characters (like Maureen later) who is a friend to all, and accepts you if you're making the effort to be better than you were in the past. Josh took Hillary to Quint and Nola's engagement ball. That shot in the opening credits has Billy kissing her hand (in case you can't tell who it is.)

I don't think Kelly and Hillary slept together. He friend-zoned her. I think the only other woman he ever slept with on the show was Claire. '87-'88...I guess Sonni/Solita was having plenty of sex, but yeah, I think the AIDS epidemic kind of cooled things off, characters no longer just slinging it around. Harley came on pregnant, Dinah wasn't having sex, and I wouldn't have called Elizabeth Dennehy's Blake a vixen. Meredith had slept with Phillip once, but otherwise the show was filled (or filling) with good girls like Jessie, Dinah and Chelsea. I'm not sure I'd call '82 anti-sex...but other than Quint/Nola, it seemed anti-romance. Ed/Mo are together, but I wouldn't call them chemistry magnets. Ross' wife is murderous one-third of the time, Vanessa is either pathetically needy or a stalker, Amanda does the dirty in her mother's bed, but *yawn*, and Evie simply thinks about Ben and makes moon eyes.

Thanks! Maybe I'll try and pay more attention to the Martin the German teacher storyline when I go through early '83-ish. It's just a bit bizarre that what I read was so damn specific. Someone got their wires crossed somewhere.

According to an SOD recap, Josh made a pass at Vanessa when he first moseyed to town. But I've never seen it personally, and it would've been when Anna Stuart was in the role, so I'm not sure it counts. But yeah, neither Josh or Tony was letting the grass grow beneath their feet, so to speak, from '81-'83.

I didn't know that either. The funny thing is, I've never caught him in an episode of GL. Well, Josh certainly ups his down-home, whooops and square dancing game around that time. But I'll clarify---I never thought Josh was embarrassed by the fact Reva was the housekeeper's daughter, his ex-sister-in-law, or couldn't string together a sentence without putting some homespun, slightly trashy backhanded insult in it.

Even when she starts, there is a marked difference in how romances are written. The Mark/Amanda affair is scandalous, but I never really get their attraction. OTOH, I know exactly why Billy/Vanessa and Annabelle/Tony are attracted to each other. Josh and Hillary kissed, but I'm not sure if they slept together. I don't think Josh was embarrassed by Reva. I think he didn't trust her because she'd married Billy for the Lewis name and money. Then she came to scam Billy out of more money. Then she married HB.

You can always tell when a writer has no real connection to the soap they're writing about.

Constance Towers. And yes, Capitol. I think the difference here is that Constance had been in movies, but had done plenty of television through the years. Everyone and their mother knew who Elizabeth Taylor was. @Paul Raven I've been meaning to ask...does anyone remember Clay Tynan? Somewhere I read a whole (erroneous, it seems) history about how he'd been a friend of Vanessa's and somehow been around when she was dating Mark Evans. (I can guess where this was, but I can't seem to find it again...) Anyway, I've only been able to find Giancarlo Esposito credited in a 1983 episode, and his mother seems to pop up around the time Lillian does. There's something about her character being promoted and Lillian, Hillary and Lesley Ann being in consideration for lead nurse on the floor. I thought maybe they'd also been characters in The Cradle Will Fall, and like Ben Murphy, only made guest appearances. But that doesn't seem to be the case.

yep. Carrie #1 was the Carrie we knew, Carrie #2 was the murderous slut, and Carrie #3 was the original Carrie who cracked after the suicide of her husband (or lover) and giving up her child for adoption.

See...in my head the logical story conclusion for Carrie/Ross/Vanessa was Carrie's therapy failing to merge the personalities, and Ross gravitating back to Vanessa when he agrees to help her search for her half-brother. And while I would've adored a true Vanessa/Ross romance....Vanessa and Billy were lightening in a bottle. that's at least comforting to know.

Well...that's one way to interpret it. The other might be that Jane was volatile and not exactly the friendliest person from one day to the next. While I don't have a catalog of Jane's interviews over the years, she's never seemed overly chummy with former GL castmates. I believe she said something nice about Jerry after his passing though.

I don't know. The only tidbit I've ever even heard about Jane's time on GL was when JvD said something like "you never knew which Jane you were getting from day to day". I guess the fact no one really ever seems to bring up her time on GL speaks volumes. I do recall an interview Jane gave to SOD after getting fired where she insisted she was going to sign another contract. I tried looking up the '82 ratings in the '80's ratings thread. It does seem that Y&R reclaimed it's position as the number one CBS soap mid-year. Maybe that's what prompted Potter to axe Elliot.

Allen Potter fired Jane Elliot, in the middle of the Carrie story. My understanding was that Doug had created Carrie especially for Jane. Doug quit.

Hillary is always supposed to have some spunk to her, so much so that sometimes I really just roll my eyes at her spunk. She always seemed to lust after the guy who thought she was a "great friend". I do kind of side-eye how "close" the Bauers of that period are, but I just assume there's not enough out there to really judge.

While I love the Carrie story, it's hard envisioning the mercurial Jane Elliot sticking around GL for long. It's sad his leaving started a writing instability that lasted until GL's finale. Lainie, Evie and Katie are all sort of the same character. I honestly don't think Lainie ever did much on the show. Evie (who I remember liking) didn't do much after being stalked by Chet. In fact, I was surprised to realize she was still around as late as Nola and Quint's engagement ball. (she must leave sometime in the fall after Justin leaves.) Katie just seems to drift after the Andy Norris story. I mean, she never even gets to go to the parties. Hillary manages to, but Katie's the Cinderella who never goes to the ball.

It's unclear to me whether Marland meant "older" as in advanced in years, or simply characters that predated his tenure. Jackie Marler got killed off under Marland, when I'd assume Marland's instinct would've been to recast to play out the reveal of Phillip's parentage. Sara McIntyre's role certainly dwindled under Marland, where she's basically just a talk to to the sexually frustrated women of Springfield. Evie and Katie kind of fade into the background. Elizabeth Spaulding, Lainie Marler, Ben McFarren also leave town. Other than Barbara and Adam (and you could argue that Holly and Roger's exits make them expendable) and Stephen, I can't think of another "aged" actor that got let go. I'm not sure how big a presence Viola Stapleton ever was in town.

I'd always assumed that Lily's reluctance over Luke's sexuality was to facilitate another maternity leave....now maybe it was a little deeper than that. As for Byrne, I think she was a precocious child Broadway actor who fell into the trap of believing the praise she got, and that her acting never really grew after a point. Lily's basically the same spoiled princess she is in 1988 as she was in 2005, when she's ready to bring Carly down with her to save her precious Luke after Julia II was murdered. And I heartily disliked Rose, whose novelty wore off after Holden uttered those famous words "...that's your real voice?"

I guess I'm surprised he sees himself so much in the character of Kelly. I probably shouldn't be surprised he has such a fondness for the Morgan/Kelly/Nola story, but in my head, it's Doug's fondness for Nola that sticks. I just never think of Kelly or Morgan as layered or complex.

Ed had been cheated on before. Both Holly and Rita had affairs during their marriages to him. Holly slept with Roger (which is why Ed thought Chrissie was his daughter) and Rita slept with both Alan and another doctor (who I believe was named Greg, and who at some point dated her sister Eve). Rita had just received word that the child she was carrying was Ed's when Roger kidnapped her (after the chase through the hall of mirrors, hauntingly set to Donna Summer's Enough is Enough). She miscarried the child after a fire started in the cabin she was trapped in. 1993 would not have been the first time Billy called Vanessa "uppity" and/or a snob. They have a hilarious fight the night before their second wedding because he is suddenly acting like an ass over Nick's treatment of Mindy while Eve was crazy (and doesn't want Nick invited to the wedding or dating Mindy). Vanessa calls him out for being upset with Nick, but upset that Henry has called him out for his treatment of Vanessa in the past few years since jilting Vanessa at the altar after Reva's "death". While Vanessa never lost her uppercrust ways completely, in 1993 I can't think of anyone other than Nadine and Buzz she would've had issues with, and they deserved it and a lot more.

As Brandon's daughter, Spaulding was split three ways. Although honestly, I think originally, Amanda received a hunk of stock in Brandon's will.