Mitch

Would P&G allow them to write a new script with an "episode" following up in present day. Bob and Kim missed their family and friends (plus, its do dull without a kidnapping a week) so they move back..what are Tom and Margo doing, etc. Lucinda and John bickering..and they would have a good reason why Fulton is not partcipating..."I had an email from Lisa...she and Grant are sheltering in place in the South of France and loving it!" That why they could dump Juicy Janet and Liberty dullness.

Yes, I dont get Alan's reluctance to let the actors say what they will. I know he doesnt want to get a reputation as a p.r. guy who then bad mouth's his former employers, but having actors recount their own experiences in not the same thing. God, I would love for someone to have JFP do one of these, Gail Kobe, and of course, Curlee and Long. The Dobsons are still kicking around arent they...would love to hear what crazy ass Bridget would say.

I will still like to know why P & G and CBS allowed a change of tone to happen. It started earlier in the fall of 84 and into 85 with Beruit thing and the Bauers and Reardons being obscured. The show was getting great ratings and then the floor fell out. I would love to see Susan pop up on all of Alan's videos, just for him to get that sour poo face he does when things go a bit off the rails..(she even says to him "Oh I know that you CAN'T say anything") Her face could pop up in a bubble, like Tabitha would on Passion's to make rude comments about what was going on..."So I had to reach deep down inside myself to find the anger to play that"...Susan in a pop up bubble, "Was it McTavish, who wrote it???? Was Frank the grip guy on set..he was all kinds of handsy and his breathe always smelled like onions..") I forgot to mention Jay seeming to be dismayed with working with Marj after Bev. Her nervous stuttering made her the Eileen Fulton of GL and was totally wrong for iron willed Alex.

They both look great...I remember in college thinking he was the shits...he looks like he aged naturally and he comes off so calm and "normal" Krista is so sweet and she is a calmer Mindy. Just watched the Jay and Susan reunion..holy [!@#$%^&*] that woman is great! Jay was trying to be polite and would talk over her...(something he did as Fletch all the time that was annoying..) to interrupt and Ms. Susan would not let it go! She looks like she would be a fun neighbor..ready to have a few drinks and let it fly!I hope McTavish never bumps into her..Megan is going to be missing some hair! I did like that she was alluding to GL going into a dark time with those two characters, but it was really the whole show that was going dark..and going into a very bad period..she was kind of alluding to it and trying to find out who was responsible but kept being derailed. Its interesting that even the actors were mystified what was going on. I forgot about Jay and Pam and he writing for the show. He was a lucky man, Long is a beautiful smart woman and she looks like the type who would not take anyone's crap so he must be a nice guy. I like that he says she was always late .."and still is!"

LOL..okay, I am beating a dead horse... I guess I should have hung it up after I (supposedly) made Frankie D's wife cry about what I had to say about the Coopers. I remember not believing how much misogyny was in Westen's writing...she was an older woman..and she has Cassie screwing the man who tired to kill her sister and her nephew, Reva supporting it, Jeffery O'Neil acting like a woman hating ass and it was supposed to be HOT..The Garden of Eden plot line where Marina, who at that time was a tough cookie, had to be saved of course by little twink Shayne...and the worst, Alex turned from the savy Joan Collins ball buster, into a drug dealing woman in bed with the mob who drugged her own brother (instead of using her brains to keep her power) who ultimately was beat by something stupid (a camera she would have know about) and forced to whimper while Alan gloated..then became this annoying shrew that no wanted to be around.

I love KT as Mindy but she just never aged..physically (good for you KT) or mentally as a character..(When she came back and JC's Alex had compromising pictures of her all I could see was her being rude to a sales girl..now Sims I could see in some pics.) I was a big Rick and Mindy fan and they should have been end game but earlier then the last episode.. I would have had them get together after Abby left instead of boring Mel and they could have been the nice kind of normal non drama couple in town. Butch Hillary HAHAHAHA Fletch got annoying in later years with Holly when he was walking all over her lines. However, he worked where Buzz didn't as a guy not in the core families but connected to them all. McTrash shoulda killed Buzzard for her start of the Marion story, that would have had the soap press in a tizzy "Acting LEGEND Deas let go"

So another one we can blame on Buzz/JD!! Not that I liked Fletcher any better but he was tied to the Bauers and around a long time so I was used to being annoyed by him. Maybe it was when GL started budget cuts and it was up to Deas and Jay..Deas has to thank his lucky stars that somehow the soap industry thinks spitting, arm flapping and yelling are signs of great acting!

The part did indeed need the recast...KT was basically the nice, but spoiled princess, every "bad" thing she did was due to a spoiled fit, where KS was more mature in her "bad girl" persona so it had more mileage.

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.