Mitch

The problem was Kurt was Rick part 2...and there really wasn't anywhere to go with them unless you make Mindy the shallow selfish bad girl again, which they had made her be again to break up her and Rick to make way for good ole gal Roxie...uggh.

They should have brought Pratt back in 95 after Fletch married Holly. She could have tried to mother Chelle, caused problems for Ed, and had a triangle with Fletch and Holly..maybe hooked up with Roger to bug Ed...she could have tied all those storylines together and we would have skipped baby Meg, and Roger and the screeching Dinah.

Agreed..plus she looked sexy as hell in that leather. Too bad the whole thing was so stupid..but that was a hallmark of Rauch/BE..there was a good storyline hiding in there somewhere but it becomes cartoony and over the top. If they kept it like Sayers "Gaudy Night" where there are letters going around accusing, threatening and an "accident" or two to keep it interesting...and pitting everyone in. town against each other with suspicions..while Holly sat back and watched. But that may have been too subtle for the GL audience at that time which must have been primed for a the mob and a dumb island.

Ahhh...see B & E is on to something...the first indication of the Nursery Rhyme Stalker....("Well, that didn't work out, okay, Ill work on it..maybe I will go after the mothers!") I would have to agree with Leslie..if someone took my kid on a picnic and they ended up on fire...

And we were getting a great Patricia Bruder behind the scenes story of her surprised they were going with a 20 something screwing a 16 year old... and Alan comes in and tells us who she is on the show..we know Alan, and Melanie just told us but it stopped the flow...he did that in the Eileen Fulton part where it was just them talking about her and it was cool and natural and he inserts himself. He must be a real pain in the ass at a party. Ohh..oh, remember I am here!!!

The ladies look great...Ming looks fantastic and there has to be an angel looking over all Emily Stewarts that they turn out looking great and normal and successful with families. Though Colleen, I am sure it was the lighting and the angle..looked like Krammer's landlady in the episodes he is in Hollywood. And I feel kinda pervy that I now find little Paul Stenbeck kind of sexy. I was surprised how completely smart and charming everyone was..Ming has a great laugh and I loved how she loves the word "Oakdale" and the exchange..."That wasn't legal...well maybe in OAKDALE!" and then Melanie "It was..I have the Oakdale book of laws right here!!!"

If only they let him not wear that bad toupe on GL and go bald. Alan woulda looked more bad ass bald. RPG really does purse his lips in real life too!

I always thought maybe Ed and Nadine could have been fun..for a bit. She might have made old sour puss smile...(and I would love for Rick to come down to the kitchen in the morning and Nadine is there in a leopard skin nightgown trying to fix toast!)

Matriarch...I think we had our matriarchs...Aunt Meta...Grandmother town matriarch...Van...no nonsense firm matriarch..and Reva..well, she can't really be one, but she is more Crazy Aunt. I think maybe JFP had to give Simon story, and she was on the hot seat for the death of Mo..so she thought she would throw everyone a bone...("See, I have a new younger Bauer matriarch.) I love the idea of bringing Claire back..I thought they were going there when the brought Nola back (talk about Crazy Aunt) that she would try (and fail as only Nola can do) to be Chelle's mother figure..but they never focused Nola's relationship to Chelle (even having Chelle call her aunt "Mrs. Chamberline" Having Chelle spend time with Nola and become a bit more offbeat.( I would have had her spend a few months of camera with Nola and then when she comes back it would give us a transition from mourning dour daddy's girl Chelle ) it.would give Ed even more reason to purse his lips but bringing Claire back and Ed dealing with her, and Nola and Claire going at it..would be fun. The end result would be the only person who understands Chelle is the one who doesn't talk down to her..Holly. Speaking of Nola, I was always sorry they let Brown off contract. Being in the boardinghouse would give her the perfect opportunity to counsel the young people arriving in town (plus give Brown, who was their acting coach, actual scenes to work with them) kind of like Marland had Lisa be the mother hen of all the young people and especially any bad girls who came to town. The problem with the show postMADD is that all they were worried about was the A story (which always had to be Reva) and not the B and C stories and the supporting players.

Unfortunately, it was one of the writers at the time who LOVED Buzz and really (the writer admitted it) worked out some of his daddy issues with the character..so no way would they have cast him as Ed..which would have been weird, to say the least. (Funny they cast him as Papa Bauer in the anniversary show.) I like that Marcy Walker kind of called him out as being self indulgent in his acting on GL, and that was a good word for it. I liked him better later as support in later years when he calmed the hell down...(I read that a director told him to do just that and he got pissed and started phoning it in.) GL started out as a patriarch led show with Papa, and it would have been interesting if in later years they used that as the theme, with Ross (good patriarch) Ed (conflicted patriarch) Buzz (jaded patriarch) and Alan (bad patriarch) which what Mary Ann Caruthers...kinda sorta did but it was a mess.

I actually like Buzz at first when he was a pain in the ass, stuck out like a sore thumb oddball conman...that was what he was and people called him out...(I remember him working at Lewis and acting like he was on a business call and Van calming walking in and plugged the phone into the phone jack..."This might make your call clearer!" It was when Buzz was this great romantic lead , with poor Jenna being grabbed constantly (Fiona would call an ape romantic if it ensured her airtime..)that I did not get at all. I also thought Deas worked as a tired older guy who had was a bit jaded but wanted to help other people and Deas was good with the younger even terrible actors...(Jesse Blu,,thats who...) But when budget cuts came and they cut Ed and Ross to make Deas the patriarch...totally wrong choice.. Its too bad that they didnt bring RM back as a jaded Hope ready to battle Alan..though I think RM would walk all over RR.

Hahahaha.... Why did JFP never lure her great love Deas to another soap. I know he didn't want to leave NY but OLTL???

I think they were thinking of recasting him during JFP days...but Oleary got a bunch of his fans to write in and say they needed Rick to be play by MOL. JFP was under fire about Maureen and then the Eve actress quit and they killed her off so she played it up to the press "Yes we killed an almost Bauer but we brought back a real Bauer." Too bad they didn't recast at that time.

Just throwing out "types". MA never did anything for me and McKinney...well, he wasn't the strongest actor and the Van/Matt storyline had nowhere to go...as long as the Mattessa's held sway...( Van should have assumed the Alex role battling Alan for control of Spaulding but keeping her moral center, and that would turn off Matt who just wanted her sit at home and sigh all day.) I think Matt and Beth would have been hot, or Matt and Blake (they should have had the one night stand not Blake and Rick..wow..woudlnt the Mattessas and Blossies go nuts) but never at the expense of making Van look like an old crone. Agreed on bringing KT back, but after Alex/Rog/Mindy it would be hard to go back to KT...a good recast Mindy who looked like she had a past and could go toe to toe with Alex would have been good, but Rick still loves her.

Hmmm, while I agree that O'Leary is not as funny as he thought, and apparently the rest of the cast and crew who let him mug it up on camera, but Tuc Watkins??? I never saw him in a role where he did not come across as gay and his humor was more bitchy then actually being funny. No, Rick needed an all American nice guy and if you wanted him sexy (and straight) I would have gone with that guy who played Mike on DH..(Tuc Watkins made me think of that..) James Denton, who always plays the quite parts but comes across as a nice solid guy you can count on... And I never want to see Rick Bauer in a thong...and they always have to parade Watkins around in one. Good description, that is why MH was a good contrast..he was a nice guy who would keep you warm and night..and besides the booze problem, was pretty much not neurotic. So that made sense that Holly would gravitate towards that. Did MG and RG have chemistry when he returned?

That is why I think its sad what TPTB and O'leary himself turned Rick into..some looser goofball and O'Leary leaned into that playing his..uh. "comedy" and mugging for the cameras. I actually was okay with O'leary getting chubby and older..(though it looks like he tried something with his face ) while GA and BC alternately looked like they didnt age (or in the BC's case got hotter..) Rick was someone like the rest of us, who got older and ...well fatter...(its why I loved Zimmer not going on a crazy diet...Reva should have had all her good living catch up to her) and was relatable. They should have tied up Ed and Holly's story..(do a three month arc they get together,,marry leave town and return for big events) and moved Ross to patriarch role and Rick as the town shoulder to cry (okay...town matriarch) who is everyone good natured friend, and a perfect opportunity to do so as town doctor. He wouldnt even need a female partner...(I thought MOL had chemistry with KT and the Abby actress and that was it in terms of women.) Its kind of nice to see "normal" looking people on your soap.

Yes, their backyard's were adjacent, that is how Alan and Rita got up to their..canoodling! But it was supposed to be the "smaller" house boring Hope wanted.(sorry but ER's Hope was dull as hell, no man wouldnt choose to get with Rita instead of her..) .but later just became the mansion...as late as JFP the yards connected...(Alex is trying to find out info from dimbulb Lucy at the Bauer BBQ and suggest she could show her the mansion, they just needed to go through those hedges and they would be in her yard.." During Long's time the Lewises, Chamberlins and Spaudlings all lived on "the Hill." I am not sure if the Bauers did as the backyards connected...and I can't believe I am writing about the georgraphy of a fictional town.

I refuse to believe Peapack was part of "continuity" and as such never happened.

I think it all started with Pam Long's first run..surprising enough..the Eli Simms story had all the patriarchs knowing each other and Brandon in town, and then Alex herself is a revision as Alan mentioned no sister...(though on this count it was worth it and they did mention that they were estranged and had spoken for years so...) then we have the Cabin Mystery and the Founder's Day ball and the Spaulding "always lived in the castle." The show then morphed the house Alan bought next to Ed';s house (to appease the dull Hope who didnt like the mansion) into the mansion property adjoining the Bauers.. Its is forgivable as it makes more sense that the Spaulding were always there so I consider just like other families who are friends with the Bauers, Lewises and Spauldings that you never hear about but have to"exist" in their fictional world. I think they could have just said "I remember when Five Points and Selby Flats were towns on their own that the Reverend would take care of along with this town, until Springfield annexed them." (despite Selby Flats being in California..right?)

The only person I know who called her that outside of Roger was oddly enough Joan Collin's Alex, and it was more derisive. I don't have a problem with two characters of the same name being on a show...if the characters have history and are needed..like John Dixon and John Edlridge (though only to kill him off) But that characters was such a throw away character and I think she was just created because Wheeler had a thing for chipper, rather vacant cute young girls (not sexually, but casting them) like the Marina actress.

Great clips!!! One thing they got right was that they wrapped up the Lucinda/Lily thing (realistically, you know that it would still continue on and off until Lucinda makes an overally dramatic exit from this life...) got Lucinda and John together..etc. The wrong part was it should have been Martha..we deserved that. Love the Babs/Lucinda clip. I do like that they let Lucinda grow and mellow but she was still Lucinda and have can light a fire under someone's ass when needed. I love the John line..."Well what did you think, we still have blood in our veins." If Gautman and the writers would have known that about the vets!

I never thought of Bev as chewing up the scenery...now Marj on the other hand.

Agreed..I loved the AW of 82 up to that time in 85...and never understood why it suddenly..sucked. Now I know.

Yes..wrong Cooper killed...(and really GL, could you have quit killing Moms?)

I think a bad deaf girl is kind of cool, as long as they said she just was "bad" and not bitter because of her hearing impairment, but your right, the 80s were a different time. It was weird watching SG come off such an iconic role to be a lil nobody. I don't know why GL instead of making the dour and boring Kyle Sampson, have Sky come to town to do biz with Spaulding and fall for Reva, and then Raven comes back to face off. Now that would have made the really boring era of GL memorable.