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One of my favorite episodes from 2004 features Eden's apartment in the beginning and end of the episode: This episode is about two months into Ellen Wheeler's run when the scripts are still being credited to Ellen Weston. In this period, the show is telling about four or five interlocked storylines that you can see playing out here: 1) Phillip has been released from the sanitarium and has returned to play out a "War of Roses" style marriage to his new bride, Olivia. To secure her daughter's birthright, and to achieve her quest for power that she has been on since she has arrived onscreen, Olivia is looking to take over Spaulding Enterprises. Spaulding is under scrutiny as there is suggestions that the pharmaceutical division is being used to traffick drugs, which has led to a mad stock dump by characters fearing financial losses. Someone has been buying up the stock and Olivia is desperate to know who. 2) Danny's mob past has come back to haunt him when it comes out that the mayoral election he won has been rigged by the mob. To finally cut ties, Danny is working with the mob to be free. Eden August, Gus's sister and Bill's girlfriend, has also decided she needs to be free from her former lover/partner-in-crime Vinnie Salerno. Both are working with Jeffrey to bring down Salerno and free themselves of their ties to organized crime. Escalating the emotional conflict, Bill has proposed to Eden and they have begun to plan a wedding that is never to be. I believe at the end of the week, we have the warehouse bombing where Eden is "dead" and a nosey Michelle is left with brain damage. 3) Tammy's romance with Joey Lupo has been complicated by her sexual attraction to her mother's boyfriend, Edmund. Meanwhile, Lizzie is sniffing around Joey wanting him for herself. Tammy's mother and Edmund are aware of Tammy's infatuation, but Joey still is in the dark (I believe). I believe Sandy's "idea" that he speaks about is the Spaulding internship contest. 4) Sandy has developed an infatuation with Marina, even though Marina is involved with Sandy's brother, Shayne. Shayne is blissfully unaware. The highlights in this for me are: a) Alexandra and Philip's scenes at Spaulding Enterprises. Probably some of Dusay's finest, understated work. Also, there's a Lujack reference. b) Olivia crashing Bill's bachelor party to Daniel Beddingfield's "James Dean" which is basically the beginning of the Olivia / Bill pairing. c) Billy's presence as the host of the party. d) The general cast integration at the bachelor party with interplay between characters who don't interact like Gus / Edmund.

That isn't the country club. It is Eden's apartment where she initially ran her escort business and then appeared until Deborah Zoe was let go in May, 2004. After Zoe departed, the set underwent reconstruction on air and became much smaller. I know the younger set (Ben, Remy, Marah, Bill?) moved into the carriage house at some point. Did the carriage house become Orchid Manor? Because Orchid Manor looks just like the set...

I'm struggling to figure out the time period of the sets. Two of my guesses are pretty obscure. The lower purple set I believe was the base of operations for Garden of Eden, Eden's escort business. I'm also thinking that the more gothic looking set might have been Danny and Michelle's place from the same era, the Orchid Manor. My guesses, though, may be wildly off.

"Thanks for Tomorrow" is a bit of a mystery. The doesn't seem to last that long. I've seen it described as a summer replacement and the number of papers listing in in their listings definitely seems to drop around mid-September, 1949, though some places list it well until the end of 1949. There is a Teri Keane article that floats around during this period claiming her character on "Thanks for Tomorrow" has recently married. In 1950, there is some publicity regarding a revival of the show that NBC is shopping around as a West Coast recorded serial starring Charles Boyer in the lead role. I don't think this proposed soap ever occurred. Also, there is a play by a Roy Bailey from 1937-1938 called "Thanks for Tomorrow" about a spoiled young man who gets involved in crime and has a blind sister. I can't help wonder if that wasn't some of the source material. Articles at the time suggest that TfT was also a bit of a version of the film "Enchanted Cottage." The conversations in "The Guiding Light" thread have me intrigued about the first years of the new "Guiding Light" so I've been looking into 1947-1950. Basically, the material leading up to the long stretch of episodes available. The show seems to move through a lot of story in the first year. The opening plot involving Roger Barton's decision to reinvent himself as Ray Brandon after fifteen years in prison for a crime he didn't commit is intriguing. Ray's decision to build a legal career puts him in an interesting position. It gives him insight into both sides of the law. The need for connection with the life he was forced to leave behind (his wife, Julie, and his son, Roger Barton (now Collins), Jr. ) shaped Roger/Ray as a character in the vein of many Phillips' complicated heroines, young women who have had lost access to their children. In my opinion, it would seem that the Ray story borrows the most from the earlier Frances Holden/Frederika Lang plot. Frances had been in a bad marriage and abandoned her child with Rev. Rutledge to give her child Ned a life while she was on the run because of her involvement in a crime her husband committed. Ray was forced to give his child up under similar circumstances; he was implicated in a crime he didn't commit, except he was taken from his child rather than being given a choice. I imagine, like Frederika, that Ray and Roger must have met eventually. And while Frederika's murder of her duplicitious husband Paul nearly landed her on death row, Ray's revenge plot against Martin McClaine (who set him up for embezzlement) threatens to destroy his son's love for Susan, Martin's daughter. There are deviations. Instead of Ray on trial, it is Julie Barton Collins, Ray's former wife, who ends up on trial for the murder/accidental death of her second husband, Frank Collins. I imagine that it is Ray who helps Julie get off. Julie gets off in the spring of 1948, just about the time that Ray Brandon has married radio sensation Charlotte Wilson, which would seem to set the next stage of the drama (a Julie / Ray / Charlotte triangle with a newly single Julie going after a life she never had). Though, maybe this angle wasn't explored as much as the show also quickly married off Susan and Roger (by no later than June, 1948) with Susan soon having a baby, Betty Ann Collins (also voiced by Mary Lansing). I could definitely see Julie being a utility player who could have been the link to Ray's past that he never completely gotten over as well as potentially the meddling mother-in-law/grandmother given her own two children, Betty and Michael, had died in 1947. It's also possible that none of this was as complex as this. The Bauers arrive in the show's second year. Jan Carter/Meta Bauer first around June/July, 1948. Eve McVeagh is said to be Jan Carter #2 so I'd be curious who she repalced. Her roommate Mary Leland was also introduced. I'm curious how Leland fit into the bigger story initially. Potential romantic interest for married Dr. Jonathan McNeill? Or replacement as Lurene Tuttle (Mary Leland #2) was earlier Clare Lawrence McNeill? Anyway, the rest of the Bauers are introduced in the fall. I suspect that Jan Carter might have been a career rival for Charlotte Brandon, who's successful program "Radio Stardust" was occasssionally the focus of entire episodes. I am also curious if Ray's prior experience with being forced away from his own child had any impact on how he handled himself during the custody trial for little Chucky, who it hadn't dawned on me was named after Dr. Charles Matthews. Ray could have gone either way on this issue. He could have understood Meta's pain given his own experience or been fueled by animosity towards a woman who gave up something he had been deprived of. In the end, I know Charlotte was more sympathetic to Meta, but I imagine her drug problem (that was being stoked by her involvement with her old flame, Larry Lawrence, in late 1949) would have eventually played into Meta and Ted's favor. The "guiding light" figure seems to switch from Dr. Charles Matthews to Dr. Paul Keeler around February, 1950. Matthews is listed in ads for the beginning of February and sometimes beyong, but Keeler is mentioned by the end of the month. Keeler, I believe, fades out in 1953 and I don't think there is a replacement.

I think it's been said Raunch was planning for a new opening sequence in 1993 had the show continued.

We talked a bit about Lemay's 1981 run in the SFT thread. His on-air run is very short. I want to say the last week of March until whenever the strike episodes hit (probably the second or third week of May). Due to his love for meddling mamas, Mignon Sentell returned to Henderson fresh from the asylum and became obsessed with her new adopted grandson, Roger Lee. Mignon showed up during the strike, but it seems pretty clear that she was a return planned by Lemay. Lemay's bible was most likely used through at least July, but I think it was more than likely picked through until at least early August when Suzi and Brian are both introduced properly. Don Chastain told the press that he (Chastain) had been writing for the show during the strike, but didn't submit a story bible until September/ October, 1981, and was basically fired immediately afterwards. His bible included a plotline involving Travis Sentell going to outer space; Chastain was quoted as saying he had the NASA footage he was going to use for it in his hallway closet, or some closet. Mulcahey came to soaps through "Search for Tomorrow." The Corringtons knew of his work and invited him to write for them. This was stated in his Locher Room interview.

In the original run, the role of the "guiding light" evolved. Arthur Peterson went to war so the character of Reverend Rutledge was written out of the series with Dr. Richard Gaylord taking over. Peterson returned from service and temporarily returns, but ends up leaving again. Gaylord may stay on for a bit, but he wasn't the final "guiding light." That role belongs to Phil Lord's Reverend Frank Tuttle, who was introduced in the fall of 1945 (most likely October). I think a lot of the show's "old guard" disappears when Rutledge goes off to War. I don't see many references to Ned and Mary Holden, Rose Kransky, or others. I think Mrs. Kransky sticks around because her son Jacob is sent off to War and she is around later when Clare Lawrence is around as is her adoptive son, Ricky, and his mother, Nina, who was the first wife of Clare's then husband, Tim. Another thing to remember is that the first time "Guiding Light" is cancelled (October 13, 1939) the Kranskys are launched into a new serial, "The Right to Happiness," which premiers Monday. When "Guiding Light" returns in early 1940, the Kranskys are transferred back and "The Right to Happiness" has to alter its story structure.

Dr. Jonathan McNeil and his wife, Clare Lawrence McNeil, were also in the original series. Jonathan had been on since the early 1940s being played by Arthur Kohl and then Sidney Breese. The prison story that @Paul Raven referred to is the Roger Barton. He had spent several years in prison for embezzlement, a crime he hadn't committed. Upon returning, he learned his wife had married another man and that his son was a college student romantically involved with the daughter of the man who had set him up. In order to integrate himself back into his old world without the baggage, he rechristened himself Ray Brandon.

It's possible, but Phillips has a history of claiming ownership over things that aren't hers. Orin Tovrov created "The Brighter Day," but she eventually usurped the show from him and proclaimed she had created it so this wouldn't have been unusual. Do other genres have as many issues with the issue of creator credits as soaps do?

It is very upsetting to hear that Bridget Dobson has passed. She was a very talented woman. "Santa Barbara" is by no means the show I know the best or have loved the most, but it is always a show who's foundation is the most intriguing. I find the initial set up of the work of the first generation Andrades, the blue collar Perkins, the eccentric old money Lockridges, and the wealthy and haunted Capwells a fascinating group of people. Santana Andrade's aborted run as the show's central anti-heroine willing to do whatever it takes to reunite with the child she had been coerced into giving up should have been told for years and years as Brandon was forced to choose between the mother who he loved and loved him and the woman who brought him into the world. I know many have explored Irna Phillips' writing through the lens of her desire to be someone's mother stemming from the child she lost and the children she adopted, but I have to wonder if Dobson doesn't have her own noteworthy story arc. Through her work at "Guiding Light," "As the World Turns," and "Santa Barbara," there was always a story about someone being switched at birth (Phillip, James/Gunnar, Brick). I can't help but wonder if Dobson wasn't working through her own desire to be someone else's daughter. In thinking about the Dobsons' final run in 1991, I cannot help but notice that Brick was one of the few originals that didn't return, which makes me consider the missed opportunity on not only the part of the Dobsons but on Pam Long, who wanted integrate a lower class family. While Brick was Sophia's son, he grew up in the circus and was surrounded in the dwindling middle class world that existed when he was on the series. I think that he should have come back in 1992 in place of the creation of Reese Walker. Brick Wallace returning to Santa Barbara with his new wife Jodie and their brood of his, her, and their children.

I don't think it would have stayed in Five Points. Legally speaking, Irna Phillips isn't the sole creator of "The Guiding Light." Emmons Carlson won a court case in the mid-1940s where he was given a significant share ownership of the original series. I believe the show originally folded in late 1946 in part because Phillips wanted a show that was her own. I believe the court case declared that the intended production move to Los Angeles was halted. As you probably know, the show is off the air for about seven months between the end of the Five Points era and the start of Selby Flats setting in June, 1947. Phillips had been very enthralled with Hollywood and shifted several of her shows to California as she had relocated herself. "The Right to Happiness" also introduced a stroy involving an actress and her daughter which was set between Hollywood and the midwest. I'd be curious if the shift back to the midwest had anything to do with "Another World." Like did Irna and Agnes decide to change the locations in order to facilitate easier transition for Mike and Hope Bauer and potentially other visiting guests. I'm also sorry to hear Bridget Dobson has passed.

On the topic of short lived cable soaps from the 1980s, I've come across a couple of clips in my search This has a little under 6 minutes of "33 Brompton Place." This was a Canadian production that aired on Showtime in the States. It was technically aired under the umbrella of "Romance," the soapy anthology series that pre-dated "A New Day in Eden" and "Loving Friends and Perfect Couples" by a few months. There were probably 5 or six stories. "Brompton Place" aired in June-July in place of one of the usual "Romance" stories. A young Roberta Weiss has a pretty substantial part in this clip. I also learned that Marilyn Chambers' soap/anthology "Love Ya' Florence Nightgale" about a sex surrogate Kelly Carson was cut and sold as a soft core film several years after the production ended. It was renamed as "My Therapist." If you look the title up on YouTube, you can easily find the film. I'm choosing not to link because it is basically porn with a bit more plot. David Winn (Steve Williams, "Young and the Restless") plays her boyfriend and they have some romantic scenes. Winn's butt appears at one point.

@Khan In response to your question about the writers, here are the script writers for episodes 49-66 (missing 59 & 60): Script #125 (Parts 49 & 50): Patrick Mulcahey Script #126 (Parts 51 & 52): Doug Marland Script #127 (Parts 53 & 54): Linda Hamner & Gary Hamner Script #128 (Parts 55 & 56): Patrick Mulcahey Script #129 (Parts 57 & 58): Linda Hamner & Gary Hamner Script #130 (Parts 59 & 60): No information available Script #131 (Parts 61 & 62): Linda Hamner & Gary Hamner Script #132 (Parts 63 & 64): Patrick Mulcahey Script #133 (Parts 65 & 66): Linda Hamner & Gary Hamner

@DRW50 Thanks. It´s always great when anything ¨A New Day in Eden¨ pops up. The blonde man is Grant Wilson (who played the role of Biff Lewis on ¨Eden.¨) Biff was suppose to be the young antagonist who bedded all the women in Eden. In the scripts I have, Biff is typically the source of the R-rated material. In this preview, I believe his female blonde companion is one of the murder victims (Penny Landis maybe). The creepy guy offering to show the woman around Eden was Emmett Claybourne (Jeff Severson). He was the controlling, manipulative lawyer who worked for the Lewis clan (the central family) and was also sexually assaulting his college age daughter. The woman he is offering to show around Eden is Gail Lee (Victoria Tan), who worked for AURIC, the government agency funding part of Eden´s revitalization project which had ties to Lewis Electronics. Emmett will attempt to rape Gail in a future episode. I was a bit surprised to see a big deal was made out of Miranda Stevens´ (Maggie Sullivan) past with Clint Masterson (Jack Wagner) so early in the show. This was a detail that was reiterated later in the show. Melvyn Masteron was the name of Clint´s father and Miranda´s former fiance. I´m still amused that the show used a picture of actors Grant Wilson (Biff) and Wendy Barry (Shelley Novack) to promote the show. By the end of the show, Biff is in love with Francie Richardson (Dana Halsted) and Shelley has been off in the hospital for months (the downside of the show was that the scripts were written as if it was aired daily so Shelley is in an explosion in March and is still in a hospital room in August as the show wraps up). From what I can gather, Shelley was initially the poor working class schemer, but the decision was made to declaw Shelley and have her softened. Part of me wonders if they blew Lori up so they could recast. The above mentioned Emmett Clayborne was written out and the setup in scripts suggest he would be recast (it states that his daughter Cynthia will look at his picture but they are not to show the actual picture). Though the fact that Shelley´s cousin Lori Novack arrives in the final days of ¨Eden¨ and it looks like she might be taking over Shelley´s mantle now that Shelley was in love with one of the Sowolsky boys. So maybe they would have kept Wendy Barry.

From CurlyQGrl´s site The site is sometimes a little bit harder to find minor supporting roles. The last reference I can find to Sly Eckert is If anyone else remembers seeing him beyond this, please jump in.

Coulson was David Cherrill. How did people enjoy his writing on "The Doctors" with Linda Grover and later with Elizabeth Levin?

I am glad to know you are also just Mitch. I found your commentary very amusing. The more I think about it, I think you proposed that the call boy situation was a cover for some spy ring too. I thought it definitely would have made the fanbases lose their minds. I think Marah took Reva's prison stint hard. There was a rather noted confrontation where Marah really laid into Reva, but I don't think Lindsey McKeon was very good in it. Truthfully, I try not to remember too much of McKeon in 2002 because I had the misfortune of watching the "Rape Me Tony" scene at a neighbor's house with their 8 year old grandchild (my neighbor was a GL fan as well). The first round of Jonathan/Tammy (September-November, 2004) was wonderful. When it was all about Jonathan enacting revenge, it was quite good. There was just something deliciously twisted about that being the angle that Jonathan took to hurt Reva. There was the added element that Tammy had been raised by Richard that I don't remember being mentioned too often. I also wish they had explored what actually happened on the mountain when Sandy left Jonathan for dead because they had two different versions of the story. I thought Sandy became interesting as the imposter son, but that they needed to explore that background. What motivated him to do that? There was a comment made by Frank DiCoupolous of all people at some event around December, 2004, that the audience would be shocked to learn who Sandy's mother really was. The general thought was they were going to try to make him Annie's son. The stuff with Ava later on was half baked at best, but I wasn't watching much by then. The crazy thing about the Twu Luv stuff was they didn't make any strong attempts to repair any of the harm done, and then they leaned into it even harder. I remember Jonathan saved Tammy from a fire and that was it redemption moment. Maybe a single episode in the summer of 2005. I thought the most insane thing was having Jonathan being the one to try in Sandy for the bigamy charges. I get Jonathan wanting to make Sandy suffer, but it humiliated Tammy. I was curious about Justin Klosky's return in 2006 so I watched just Jonathan/Tammy/Joey/Lizzie scenes from March, 2006. It was wild seeing them bring Joey back for a few episodes, play up a very nice (as well as rushed) reunion between Joey and Tammy and still have Tammy choose Jonathan. It was also wild because they had Lizzie comment how if they hadn't drugged Joey than Jonathan/Tammy wouldn't have happened. I think if Tammy and Jonathan were portrayed as the toxic couple they were and how Jonathan ultimately was playing on her insecurities and how Tammy enabled Jonathan's violent impulsivity there would have been something to explore. Instead, Love Conquered All until Tammy died. I remember that happened a lot during that time period and, occasionally, it would be revisited randomly. I remember Russ Anderson talking about how his character, Christopher Langham, had a secret but he was never told what it was. I don't remember if Carmen was offcanvas after Danny's "death" in November. I had forgotten about that story until I was looking through clips. There might have been a gap which is why you thought she was off earlier.

I've seen it listed as 2 DVDS with 21 episodes on each DVD for a total of 42. However, it's entirely possible it is 21 episodes on 2 DVDs and the person wrote it wrong. I imagine that the source would probably be the same source for the "Guiding Light" episodes from the same period so it may be more likely that it is only 21 and the other DVD is actually the GL episodes.

There are about 40 something episodes from summer 1966 in the trading circles. I'm not sure if they are online.

Wheeler and Kriezman undid Sandy as Jonathan. Sandy appeared on screen in August, 2003. The anti-climatic reveal that Sandy was Jonathan came in late October, 2003, when Reva caught him stealing from the Lewis safe. If I recall, Sandy meandered a bit playing a supporting role in the younger set storyline (he was directing "Romeo & Juliet" which was like a C-story for the then younger set Joey, Tammy, and Lizzie (who were all recurring as I recall until a few week before John Conboy was bounced. It wasn't until they decided in April, 2004, that they were going to do a Shayne/Marina/Sandy. Kit Pacquin (the very brief Marina) was in the role at the time. I seem to recall Pacquin's Marina having a conversation with Olivia while Sandy was talking to Buzz. Sandy basically got all angsty wanting Marina, but it was pretty one-sided from what I recall. This played out until Shayne was written out in June (or early July), 2004. Shayne was shipped off to Bosnia I believe to teach kids how to play baseball. It felt very much like they were resetting Shayne to be a more huminitarian/do-gooder type when he would return down the line. I think it was around this time that we were getting the previews of Kriezman's first stories so it was clear they were setting up Shayne as the good brother, not that he wasn't already, but more bland with Marty West in the role. I figured Shayne would be back within a year, but I was clearly wrong. I never thought Kay would come back, but he certainly was good in the role. Once Shayne was gone, I don't think they did much with Marina and Sandy, but I might be forgetting. Kriezman was headwriter in In late August, 2004, the bigger hints were being dropped about Sandy being an imposter. He was working for Reva at the time, I think, and Hawk Shayne popped up and suggested that he might not be who he claimed. I cannot recall the exact reasons. Anyway, the hints continued until Jonathan (calling himself JB) first appeared in September, who I believe was initially selling Lizzie a drug to get Joey Lupo into bed. It was the Lizzie/Joey "hookup" (they didn't have sex but Lizzie led Tammy and Joey to beleive they had had sex) that led to Phillip paying off Joey to leave town and for a depressed Tammy to decide to go trolling for sex. Initally, she propositioned Tony Santos before becoming prey for JB. Then in October, 2004, JB started taunting Sandy I think. It looked like JB was the one who was trying to run down Tammy with a car and Sandy jumped into the way to save her. This led to Sandy's coma and Reva learning that she couldn't be Sandy's mother. JB and Tammy were hanging around while Sandy was on life support. When he was finally able to speak, Sandy told the truth to Reva about Jonathan because Jonathan had made it clear his plan was to deflower Tammy to hurt Reva. This all happened (surprisingly) before November sweeps.

I vaguely rememer the voice of the Mole being someone else. I don't think Weston figured out her direction for Sandy until October or so. As I recall, he was revealed as Jonathan in late October and then they had him doing the play with Tammy, Lizzie, and Joey. I had forgotten Kay was also in one of the "Halloween" films. I don't remember much of what Marah was doing during this time. I remember there was an attempt to build some animosity between Marah and Reva. Marah as the stalker under the circumstances you stated (either blacking out or some other psychological issue) might have been compelling especially if Jonathan was blamed first. The only issue is that Lindsey McKeon couldn't have handled that. Carmen was trying to run off with Robbie on New Year's Eve because he was the only person who still loved her at that point so she appeared for a couple episodes under Conboy, but I imagine that was already in motion. Then again, Weston reversed other things. Now that I think about it, John Fiore's Vinnie Salerno basically replaced Carmen as the mob heavy even though he didn't have the connections to the canvas, though I do think Eden turned out to be one of his former mistresses. Yes, Bailey dated all his co-stars (Crystal Hunt, Kit Pacquin) but couldn't generate chemistry with anyone onscreen. I really wanted him and Tammy to work given the story setup, but I've never seen a chemistry test fail SOOOO badly. I still would have invested in Tammy and Sandy over Tammy and Jonathan. Sandy/Jonathan having a sexual backstory would have made sense. I remember Jonathan mounting Sandy in the hospital after Lizzie ran Sandy over (which was never really resolved) and thinking that Pelphrey was definitely leaning into the potential sexual backstory. @Mitch64 did you use to use the other handle of just Mitch? If so, I remember you had some wickedly delicious campy story suggestions involving Jonathan/Sandy and I think Jeffrey O'Neill. I tried finding them over the years, but cannot seem to locate them.

@Paul Raven I think the source of the Allens appearing in 1966 is actual episodes. I believe they are part of the set of episodes from the summer of 1966 that have been circulating. If not, I think it's a summary of episode available at the Paley Center. Prior to that episode appearing, I don't think any of the Allens had been mentioned or if they had been no time period had been assigned to them. So Kitty Allen appeared in 1966 and 1967. @FrenchFan Thank you for sharing these. I appreciate seeing how the pacing works in individual episodes. It seems like these episodes are lots of repetition of exposition even though they are so short. What are your thoughts on the episodes?

I agree and disagree regarding the Reva stalker story. Reva was recently released from prison for turning off Richard's life support because Richard's living will had been discovered back in October/November. I want to say Cassie (or was it Edmund?) who found it and there seemed to be a question whether or not they would use it to free Reva. While the living will exonerated Reva legally, she still had to deal with the lingering ill will attached to her decision. Per her normal modus operandi, Reva had acted impulsively in a situation, which ultimately hurt others. Cassie, Tammy, and Edmund all had the right to be angry with her. Marah told her off a couple times, but I believe they had reconcilled by then. I don't remember why Holly was suspected other than she was connected to Reva and she had been unhinged during the Nursery Rhyme Stalker plot (which was also referenced in this time frame as Ed babysat Robbie while Michelle and Bill went out on a date, and Michelle expressed concern about Ed allowing Holly to be around Robbie). Holly may, and this may completely be wrong, have been suspected because Reva had "abandoned" Jonathan, which may have been how they were working Jonathan back in. Ultimately, it is how they introduced Jonathan when he was came back to Springfield to seek revenge against Reva and Sandy. Maybe @Dan or someone else would remember better. I know John Conboy hired Scott Bailey because both Bailey and Marty West auditioned for the same role (I feel like it was Jonathan). West was given a contract as Shayne Lewis, but the previous actor, Billy Kay, had been on recurring. I don't know if Kay was offered a contract, but the general consensus was a) he wasn't conventionally attractive enough for Conboy and b) he was developing some minor street cred with indie film work (he had recently appeared as a teenage hustler in "L.I.E."). I think Bailey was originally hired as Jonathan Baynes, the stalker and Reva's son. Then, Conboy and Weston changed their minds so they kept him as the voice on the radio. I actually think he had ANOTHER name before Sandy Foster in the credits, but that was something I am just recalling now. When he first appeared in the summer (I want to say August/September at some sort of protest), I don't think they had figured out yet what they were going to do with him. He was definitely presented as a love interest for Marah, but it was mostly on Marah's side. So it was left ambigious whether or not Sandy would actually be Jonathan until Reva caught him stealing from the Lewis safe and Sandy revealed who he was. I'm trying to remember, did Marah play much with Stephen Martines/Colton Scott's Tony? I remember that change occured around the same time. I feel like September 2003 was a big change month. Eden and Tony were recast. Nico was introduced. There was that brief Spaulding missing intern story with Michael Swan (and later Mark Pinter) and Linda Cook as the young woman's mother. lol The puppet appeared like one time. I remember it was "Sandy and the Mole." I don't even know if I saw the episode that puppet was in. God I loved Scott Bailey. He was by no means a great actor, but as a closeted teen I definitely found my type, attractive socially awkward guys. I loved the MyNetworkTV novelas. They were (are?) on Tubi or at least a couple of them are. It's funny. Annalynn McCord who is popping up on another show soon (I won't say for spoiler reason) was in the vignettes that were filmed for one of the unproduced novelas, "Rules of Engagement." Dylan Bruce was the male lead in the filmed scenes. It was set to begin filming when the novela projects were scrapped, but I don't remember if Bruce or McCord were still attached. The shippers were bad. I remember thinking Claire Labine was killing the San Cristobal setting with the tea cup story that led to the revelation that Richard wasn't the legitimate son of King George (or whoever) and was the son by his mistress. Instead, they ended up holding elections. Ugh! At least Michelle was a Bauer and it kept her front and center, but ultimately I'm not sure if that was a good thing. By the time GusH took over, I was one foot out the door so I don't remember their nonsense. I liked Gus and Harley's aborted wedding, but, yes, I can see how that was really the mark where it was leaning into a very black and white view of the Coopers and the Spauldings which I don't think did anyone any favors. Culliton definitely seemed like the missing piece. I think the Conboy produced episodes definitely showed the potential if the writers wrote and Conboy was kept out of the writers office. I will say I like those type of scenes or playing minor story beats that don't contribute to the overall story but provide a moment for self reflection (the above mentioned Michelle fears Holly around Robbie). I remember that seem to happen a lot in early Wheeler as well. There was a rather nice moment between Alexandra and Phillip at Spaulding Enterprises about May, 2004, when Alexandra just reflected upon how lonely her life had become. There was also a nice moment where Billy gave Little Bill a piece of jewelry belonging to Billy's great grandmother (or some other relation) who was Native American as they were building up to Eden and Bill's (non)-wedding.

The Rassies and the Mannies were well organized. I´ll give them that. I thought Cole´s return was a blunder for sure and felt someone had needed to sit Conboy down and explain that the Internet had changed the fanbases. When was the Cassie effigy in the form of a demented Big Bird that the Mannies sent to the set? Was that still with Raunch in the office? I don´t remember the flowers, but I do remember Conboy saying he was dumbfounded how the show could have let him go given the number of fans he had. You can almost imagine the Rassies making a video collage of Marty West´s oil wrestling videos intercut with horror movie clips ending with a Rassie smashing a twinkie as the ultimate threat to Conboy´s harem. The original culprit in Reva´s stalking was Jonathan Baynes, Reva´s son by Richard who was later renamed Randall. Scott Bailey was hired to play the part, but then they made him Sandy, the radio show DJ. Bailey appeared as just a voice for months and I don´t think he first appeared until August despite being on contract in like February or March. BTW, Raunch and Labine were never going to work. I´ll agree on that. I don´t think Labine was a bad fit though, but she was certainly hired for the wrong reasons. Given her track record at ¨General Hospital,¨ it appeared CBS and P&G wanted her to continue to turn GL into CBS daytime´s answer to ¨The Sopranoes.¨ I think early 1990s ¨Guiding Light¨ tonally is something that Labine could have worked within. Also, if the woman could bring life into ¨Love of Life,¨ than I don´t think GL was too conservative for her lol. That´s how I remember it. I remember them suspecting it was Annie and us seeing Annie in the mental hospital that Alan had designed to look like the Lewis living room (correct?). Jonathan was missing at the time. I believe it was Olivia who informed Reva of this.

As a friend of Conboy, I believe she also wrote for his Euro soap, Secrets. For some reason, I had associated the start of Weston with the new opening credits, which are in the February 24, 2003, episode. I remember the bombing being the last episode as well so I was surprised to see Taggart and Culliton credited in the post-bombing episode March 3, 2003. This is their last credited episode. I know that the show was still on a delay or maybe these are misnumbered. A lot of uproar started when it was announced Taggart was replaced. Didn´t Culliton stay on for a few more months before being replaced by Donna Swajeski in the fall? Then, the new opening sequence brought out more groans. In reflection, I think one of the reasons I didn´t completely deride Conboy/Weston because I enjoyed what they did with Phillip and Olivia, even if it wasn´t as strong as it was or would have been under Taggart and Culliton. Chappell and Alexander just ran with whatever they were given and the script writers seemed to make it work. I agree that December 2002-February 2003 was incredibly strong. I felt that energy was similar in the early months of Wheeler (April - June 2004). It was probably because they were just cutting heads and stalling the rest of the stories, but I enjoyed that period as much (if not more than) Culliton/Taggart/Conboy. I would be curious who was script doctoring because I´d believe it was Weston´s work over Swajeski (who couldn´t do much in the lengthy term she had with Kriezman). I´d offer up the suggestion that Swajeski might have cooked up bits of the Maryanne Carrouthers plot. Carrie Nye was supposedly a friend of Ellen Westonś according to Wikipedia. I don´t remember that personally. I do remember Weston´s college roommate was Lanie Kazan and she appeared in a single episode as Joey Lupo´s mother, Shirley(?) Lupo. Mrs. Lupo was mentioned afterwards until I want to say Joey departed in September, 2004. On this board, I remember the general consensus was that the show was running on all cylinders at the time. In context of the greater soap landscape, it just wasn´t enough considering Guza had returned to ¨General Hospital¨ in June, 2002, Hogan Sheffer was still being praised for ¨As the World Turns," and Paula Cwikly and Peter Brash had started at ¨Days of Our Lives¨ in early 2002. Add in the impending return of Michael Malone to ¨One Life to Live,¨ the happenings at ¨Guiding Light¨ were registering with the general soap audience. Also, the ratings didn´t move, from what I recall. I know Weston hit a new low fairly early into her run (March or April, 2003) but the number she was beating was from several weeks earlier (or maybe months) under Culliton and Taggart. Conboy´s version was very flashy. In hindsight, I probably wanted it to work much more than it actually did. Even when people were being dropped from contract we usually saw them (Holly, I think may have been the exception who I think appeared only twice after August, 2002, for Blake and Ross´ Christmas remarriage and a one-off in Febraury, 2003, to tell Ed she was there for him during the tailend of the Maryanne Carrouthers tale. Kriezman had an incredibly strong fall with JB´s arrival, Roger´s death, Phillip´s downfall, and just a plethora of interesting character interactions. By January, 2005, it was clear how Kriezman/Wheeler´s run was going to be. The fascination with Tom Pelphrey quickly grew old and switching from a Manny overload to a GusH overload only meant less prominence of the Bauers (even though Manny tended to be a problem to everything rather than a solution). I appreciated that Wheeler liked the veterans, but she was always trying to create a show she didn´t have the money to produce. That´s why I am curious if Tomlin could have salvaged it, but it was probably too far gone. 2002 started with Lucky Gold and Christopher Dunn, right? I think Taggart was added as a headwriter around March/April. Carolyn Culliton replaced Lucky Gold sometime in the fall September/October. Then Raunch left in November with Mary Alice Dwyer Dobbins acting as defacto EP for the brief time before John Conboy started. The show got some goodwill from the 50th anniversary episodes featuring Josh and Reva yet again with guest appearances from Maeve Kincaid, Krista Terseau, Rebecca Hollen, and some others. Ed Bauer and Bill Lewis were both brought back around then too. For me, though, it was still very messy. I remember being excited Bill was back and then remember watching them reveal he knew Lorelei and being like, yep, I´m out. Taggart still struggled a bit into the fall of 2002. I was not a fan of Marah Lewis screech at Tony Santos to basically rape her or for Cassie Winslow to be stripping for Danny Santos because she owed him money and this was suppose to lead to romance. I liked Bill and Michelle, but I´m not sure what story could have been told with them in the long run. The stalker story was fun and Alexandra Spaulding wasn´t the best choice. The Gus parentage story was complicated because Gus had been introduced with the implication he was Miguel Santos and Selina´s son, but that quickly got squashed. I don´t think Gus as a Spaulding worked or as a Bauer (wasn´t the original ending Gus was Rita and Ed´s son or was it Alan and Rita´s?)