Mitch

It was Simon, and yes.. I think it was moving the shows towards a more plot driven focus and away from character driven that changed that. I don't mind that the plot continues to move forward, as whatever we are dealing with in our lives continues during the holidays...its just when the plot completely dominates that it is a problem. A good example is a GL episode where Beth comes home to Lillian on Christmas Eve and the fallout of Dylan being Reva and Billy's kid is dealt with. The simmering hostilities at the Spauldings is going on at Alex's party, and at WSPR you have the rest of the cast renacting the Christmas story and small issues and problems being healed (Ed and Fletcher make up...) All in all a good example of plot and sentimental Christmas celebration..(as only Pam Long could do.) As I have said before..Marland is a colder writer so his family celebrations always seem stiff and formal compared to GL..but he actually seems to stop the plot more then GL did.

All the Reardons except for Mo were gone when she was on, so she interacted with the Bauers the most and was considered one. Bea was on for her intro, but she never worked with Lisa Brown, Melissa, or the Matt actor. I just watched the reunion and it was great! Whatever faults Alan may have with not knowing some things, I do think he really did love the shows. It was great to see everyone...(though I did feel like a bit weird finding Little Bill attractive) and that they obviously really like each other. I agree that Evan seemed a bit standoffish but she has had a hell of a year so the fact that she even did this was great..PAS looks damn sexy now and I never thought one way or the other about him on the show, and Nancy looks great too...though, the weird musical interlude from SS was..weird...

Oh my...Kristi sounds like Granny Clampet now. I couldn't tell what she looks like. Funny for someone who did under fives she, while not a great actress brought a lot of charm and life to that role. Krista looks great, and Kimmer looks happy and fun. Please, Mikey, no more impressions!

Liz Hubbard would have to be on it.(though I don't care to hear about her acting "processes" just break bad Liz..).Beth Ehlers (just let her rip on Zimmer for writing about her in that book..) Maureen Garrett seems to not have a problem dropping a bomb or two in her laid back way..maybe Lisa Brown..Fiona actually stood up for Zaz and got backlash for it..who else?

Oh, yea, have Susie Pratt join in along with the others..."The Divas of Soaps Grab TPTB's Balls and Rip Them Off for Good" would be streamed time and time again!

Can you imagine Alan trying to reign Fulton in..even just a few years ago, and even more now if she is starting to "not give even more damns," what people think. due to age. The only thing to add to the surreal would be Collen Zenk and Kim Zimmer joining at Happy Hour...

I know when Beth Ehlers was portraying Irna for the GL anniversary show...(and a great job she did..she was better as Irna then as Harley at that point) she mentioned that she went and talked to Hastings and Fulton, and that he was great on her mind set and Fulton gave her tips on how she spoke and her body language...so it would be great to hear from both of them in dept about Irna.

God I remember this..I was in college and I still thought it sucked..Alan and India vs. Sour Kyle to find the "Andoran Gold," or whatever, everyone at that damn summer camp...(don't forget the lake monster) chemistry testing Billy Lewis with Roxie of all people, big hulking Dinah...the only saving grace was Reva spent a good part of the summer "snorkeling" at that camp and Zimmer was at her peak..she looked great. Weird, as Marland was getting ATWT together and it was at its peak then...(before it became an overlay sincere morose show.)

He would have been a good fit as one of Carmen's henchmen (conspiring and then knocking her off) and NOT Roger's son. I also never noticed the southern lilt in his voice and I can never forget his..flirty scene with Josh of all people...weird but interesting casting.Things could have come together, Blake joining forces with her brother, Ross caught in the middle but having antogonistic relationship with him and I love Togoni's tough street version of Dinah..."Well, hello Manners, did ya forget yar talkin to the mayor?"

Every show needs someone like that..and Lisa was the perfect fit for it...knowing everyone by being the town's glam busybody and her mothering of all the young people and the lost souls. Gautman and MADD never got that she was important in that role (or that a role like that was important) and its to Diva Fulton's credit that I didn't hear her complain about it at that stage of the game.

I don't know that Long tried all that hard..after they were married and Eli Simms was over...they were sidelined. I have no idea why they didn't get the Cabin Mystery...(I would have had Nola and Quint move into the cabin) or at least be more involved. A mystery and ghosts and Nola wasn't all over it???

The problem was the magic was gone...Brown and Tylo didn't have much chemistry when he came back. I think Quint is a problematic character...almost more a plot point then a real character and he really didn't flourish outside Marland's gothic storyline. Though, they never wrote well for him after Marland left so he could have returned more adventerous and rough hewn on his second run. If it didn't work then he and Nola split up as he wants to travel the world on digs and she is tired of it. "Quinton, I really cannot stand to be kidnapped one more time by one of your rivals..I am getting too old for that!!!"

I respectfully never get it when someone says that a character would NEVER cheat on someone...when it happens all the time to get people in real life...(hmmm Chris Hughes never cheating on Nancy..Tom Horton never cheating on Alice..okay, I will go with that.) I think the problem with Nola and Quint is that they made him so much a pr*ck about it, even bringing her to Henry's funeral, and Nola being a sullen mope. That was out of character. However, yes, I would have gone with Quint being presumed dead..(I would have it that it happened off screen during the Van/Bridget custody battle and why no one could go to her...and it would allow the character to search for him and go through a greiving process off camera) Henry goes and brings Nola back to Springfield for a visit while the kids are at school and then she promptly sees a void at both the Boardinghouse and the Reardons and at the Bauers..where she makes herself a lovable pain. I was not wedded to Quola and think there was no where to go but to kill him off the first time around, and I thought Brown had great chemistry with Josh Evans and I would have brought him in as someone else..Chief of Police who always has Nola getting into his business...and then bring Quint back.

The show was so good even with character's I could care less about..and even with yet another sweaty Snyder making over Lily (and thank God MB got those eyebrows under control) with so many characters and the moving around it is hard to get bored or annoyed by characters you don't like. If you watch the same day episode of GL there are about 8 characters and the pace seems so slow, even with Zimmer doing her best to keep the energy up. I gotta say I am with Bob (plus I hated Dan) and really dislike the soap trope that being single means you are "lonely" as Tom says. (uh no Tom, she was grieving its different you ass.)

I really think this caused my dislike for PS as they wrote Ed like a total pr*ck...(but it was JFP's GL..the "star" of the show became selfish Buzz...) and it wasn't his fault, he just played what they wrote for him. He said in one of the reunions that he kept looking for Ed's redemption but it never came. Maybe a recast would have worked that could seperate the character from PS's Ed.? Nola did confront him later but her anger was more directed towards Lillian and they wrote her as bitter from her own husband's affair. They missed a great opportunity to have Nola come back and try to take over for Mo...in the kitchen (not Ed's bed) and trying to mother Chelle and hand out advice and screwing it up as only Nola could do. When she finds out what Ed did, the man she always thought of as a big brother perfect husband kind of guy her anger would be justified and having Ed use that to actually tell the audience how guilty he feels..would have been great.

Oh my God..with Zimmer, Wright, Collins and Carrol of Bassey GL would be diva heaven...and hell for TPTB I am sure. I always thought it funny that Zimmer didn't have a scnene with Alex until Collins was gone and Marj was back. I do think it would be cool to have a "star" play Victoria and no, she didn't need to die to give Vicky motivation. Her agreeing to let Alex have Spaulding would be enough..Vicky would think it was bending knee to the white relatives but for Victoria it was just not wanting to deal with the crazy ass relatives in SF. Come to think of it, Perry's Madea as Victoria would get me turning in each day! "Cassie, someone needs to wrap your skinny ass around a lightpole..oh yea, you used to dance on those dont you..Alex..look at the cracker getting all snooty with us!"

That is what I wanted from Vicky...being annoyed that her side of the family was not given legitimacy and that Victoria gave up her claim to Spaulding..it might have gotten a bit edgy for P & G and GL at that time (especially with the stuck in the 80s vibe Rauch and MADD seemed to want from GL at the time) but interesting. I always wish they had brought Vicky back instead of Amanda during the McTavish time. She could have been angry that she felt Alex talked Victoria into a settlement and the whole Brandon is Amanda's daddy could have been that since Brandon was alive, all other trusts and wills were revoked and he had created a new will giving all of his assets in Spaulding to Victoria and then to Vickie. Alex and Victoria knew about it but when Victoria dies Roger finds the real will. Instead of a replay of Roger and Jenna Vickie would not trust Roger and as soon as she got it all she would only give him table scraps, making him work with Alan and Alex against her. That was so stupid..why not just going into the wedding say Harley found a higher level job in Florida and they were moving there? And say, "Oh I have to get boxes together as Harley and Mallet are coming in this weekend to get their stuff. " As weekends seem to not exist in soap time.

Vicky Spaulding..what a wasted character. Why even bring her on?? I remember E & B in one of their endlessly dumb interviews saying that bringing back Alex was important to Vicky's story...and then Alex had one fight with Annie in the attic and disappeared and then so did Vicky. Also it was fun when Van got back to some bitchiness when she was pissed at Vicky..but also wasted opportunity.

Phillip was back..but in disguise...as Frankenstein's monster..yes, the wedding was THAT dumb!

No Hurst was still playing AM for the wedding...Dietz first scenes...(and I remember this clearly) was later on with the ridiculous Alan vs. 5th Street and he (Alan) is trying to knock down a building and is arguing with Buzz and AM walks in and is so wooden..you can even almost see Zimmer kinda of laughing like.."What the hell are you going to do with this?" McTavish must have been wedded to the whole "Who is A Spaudling story" to keep AM and Lucy around after Hearst left as it was the perfect time to just right them off ala Phillp and Beth. It took Dietz to show just how bad SS was and that RH was pulling all the weight.

Ha..on another thread they said Soap Opera Digest of 96 gave that its "worst wedding," and one so richly deserved. I just remember an interview where somehow McLaiby thought Universal would be a great place? It had to be a promo and Universal covered all the costs..so really, really dumb. AM had the money to close down Universal, pay the staff to sit around and cater to his guests but he couldnt fly his own mother in for it..(was she even mentioned.) This would have been a great time to reintro Hope and Mike actually.

Being honest is not being negative...(for some reason the dead soaps are now like dead people, you have to overlook their flaws and act like they were perfect.) I was watching the Fresh Prince reunion (I have no idea as I never watched the show and found Will Smith grating but the world is the world now and it was on...) and while the majority of the show is exactly what Alan is trying to do..warm memories and camaraderie...Smith had the balls to tape a segment with the woman he had publicly dissed who played his mother...I guess she was offered a smaller contract with more restriction and because of Smith, found it hard to work again. Smith admitted his fault, he was young and dumb and didn't understand until he had kids, and she didn't just let him off the hook, she did call him on the fact that he had a great career and she didn't. Again I never watched the show but it was amazing to see a level of honesty with any actors and especially one as big as Smith. It would be refreshing to let the actors be honest,,,not bitch about the past..but MG talking about ageism...Zimmer talking about her weight, and yes, even corporate screw ups and mistakes. Besides some of the uh..wide eyed fans..like on the GL FB page..we were there and saw it all happen so it would be interesting to hear what the actors thought. And yes, Zimmer, Zenk, Hubbard and Pratt would be great moderators but no one would get a word in edge wise.

Because Alan is still working and people who were the decision makers are still working , even if they are not with P & G and egos are egos. PR is, like HR, there to protect the company. I am sure Alan still feels loyal to those people (is MADD alive still.)? What would be interesting is if Alan let them talk and then gave his perspective...(such and such was going on at the network, the focus groups said this, the budget was limited,..etc.) However the best thing would be if someone else besides an ex-corporate P & G..did these.. if they could shut up a minute, Zimmer and Zenk would be hilarious moderators...(especially around happy hour..)

Duncan and Shannon kind of remind me (at their most fun) of Quint and Nola. They were getting the kind of stories on ATWT that Quola should have gotten, but for some reason Long could not or would not write for them ..they should have goten the cabin mystery or been more involved in it.

God that song is so hokey with the split screen, but it is a hokey that makes me feel good..only ATWT at this time would do this. But really, what kind of song is that to play at a high end place..this is the first time I heard this song as opposed to Lyla's caterwalling of that dumb song of hers that hit the charts and capulted her to fame!!! Which characters are you referring to..the group of the really stupid McKechnie Castle thing...(you know the one which got moved, brick by brick and all the furniture and tapestries and also, carried the ghost with it? Marland didn't do camp???) or the Mona Lisa gang? I never really noticed before but the Duncan actor is really out of place in Marland's ATWT, he is sexy, masculine, not bad, and despite Marland doing his best to wussy him, not a wuss. He was fun when he was a rogue guy screwing Babs and causing problems for Shannon, and yes, typical Marland, he does get boring and blander when he and Shannon get together..they always should have been the fun couple going on adventures and solving mysteries, not the typical Marland bores spouting off about intimacy and "honesty" in a relationship! I wonder what the actor would have done on GL which was more adventurous and campy. And thanks..I love watching these old commercials and now I can't get that damn "Soft and Dry" song out of my head!