Bill Bauer

LOL. Right? What was he doing? It's hard to believe a courtroom would have a big window like that. Especially one so flimsy.

I agree with you. I think Robert Gentry gave the most quintessential portrayal of Ed Bauer. Mart's portrayal of Ed surely made him more likeable but, problem is, I don't think Ed was supposed to be that likeable. Irna and Agnes's Bauers always had an edge to them. Later writers always made the Bauers too "nice". Agreed! I wish we could get vetsoapfan to interview the old-timers. Alan has always been the king of missed opportunities but especially with the actors that were before his time. He just doesn't know history.

I don't even consider Melanie's Emily and Kelly's Emily as the same character.

I prefer Sudrow but I liked Bryce a lot.

Bill Bauer, as you can tell by my name, was probably my favourite. Although with such a long run, there were lots of favourites. I would have to really sit and think about it.

I think there was one with Maree Cheatam but it was audio only (something was wrong with her video) and she didn't stay for long. I'd like to see her together with the others you mentioned but especially Maree since Marie Horton was my favourite Days character.

That's so great! I'm really looking forward to that! I've been wishing he would go back to the 60s and 70s stars! Thank you very much for bringing it to our attention, DRW50!

LOL. Very spot-on and funny guesses there in a nutshell. I would add for DOOL that it was also the beginning of all the fantasy and far-out storylines and, for GL, it was when the Bauers started to get decimated. Yes, like GL in 1983, AW in 1975 was when the core family started to be decimated. I guess it matters why you like soaps and I personally don't care about romance, fantasy or focusing on a female heroine (all aspects of soaps). One of the main aspects I like about soaps is that I like familial sagas. Once you start getting rid of the core family, I lose interest. Of course, not everybody would have that same view because everybody likes different aspects of soaps but it is interesting to note that the decline in the writing and production quality of a soap usually coincides with the decimation of the core family and the neglect of history.

For my five favourite soaps, I can pinpoint the quality decline mark for each (give or take a year or two): GL: 1983 ATWT: 1994 DOOL: 1983 AW: 1975 Y&R: 1986

I don't think that had so much to do with it as much as it was about Agnes Nixon's departure (even though that happened in 1966). So, I probably should have said 1966. I think that's when the writing started to slip but, to be generous and fair, I'd probably extend the glory years to 1973. I just don't think the writing was consistently great after Nixon left. I think that, except for a few bad years in the mid 40s, the writing was never as good as it was under Irna Phillips and Agnes Nixon. Such a difficult question. The only thing I can say for sure is that the show went off the rail in 1983/1984 and, if I could only watch/listen to five years of TGL, it would be the first five.

In my opinion, the best period for the show was 1937-1943, 1947-1968. That's a VERY long, consistent run of good material (except for 1944-1946). Although there were certainly some good spots in the 70s and early 80s, I think it went off the rails in 1983 and never quite recovered except for some good years there in the early 90s.

There was no proper funeral. They did just get together in a bar to remember Hal.

I went to the 50th anniversary fan gathering for ATWT and met a lot of the cast members, past and present(at the time), and she seemed the coldest and least friendly. She comes across that way in the interviews I've seen her in as well. I think it might be a personality thing. By contrast, the friendliest, by far, were Helen Wagner and Colleen Zenk.

Thank you for the link! It was great to hear a segment from a radio episode I don't have. People sadly have no idea what they missed. I think Guiding Light was at its best on radio.

Deidre Hall used to be a very good actress.

ICAM

This was great. Thanks for posting it, Victoria.

I don't think I'd ever seen Pam Long before. She was quite attractive but delusional if she thought she was as good as Marland. I kind of blame her for the beginning of the long, slow demise of Guiding Light.

Is Maggie off the show?

I looked up who was in charge when she was on the show and, sure enough, it was Goutman. From everything I've heard and read about the man, he sounds like a right prick.

I agree. I sampled most of the soaps from the 70s on and I strangely never could get into any of the ABC soaps. I say "strangely" because I don't know why all the soaps I never liked just happen to be on the same network. I have nothing against the network and they all had different writers. storylines, actors, etc. The only one I sort of, kind of got into was Ryan's Hope but it was never one of my favourites. I just had an aversion to ABC soaps and I don't really know why.

I don't think so. I think it just looks like her a bit. I could be wrong though.

Not sure of the actual airdate. Sometime in July, 1987. Here it is: https://youtu.be/xags8fpJndY

Wow. I thought I was pretty knowledgeable about ATWT history but I've never heard of those characters before. What year is that from? Do you know?

No soap will beat Guiding Light's 72-year run. Maybe The Archers. But, of the shows still on the air, the last one I'd like to see still standing would be Days. Even if I can't personally stomach it currently. It's a sentimental favourite.