Mitch

I would have wiped any traces of San Crap out...with Wright leaving that would have been a good time. Olivia was firmly in the Spaulding sphere so she woudln't count. I would have used Coles' money to bring back Phillip and play that out over the months. After 6 months of Phillip back then I would have killed off Alan for real and bring back AM and Amanda to start a new generation of siblings fighting for power and have Alex recurring to come in and intervene occasionally.

I would have put both Frank D and Justin on recurring. I would have simply gotten rid of Brad Cole..nothing against the actor..the character of Jefferey was a mess.. I would have also gotten rid of Edmund...again, the character was too convoluted by that time.

Actually, Mille Taggert really "created" the idea of Jonathon as the angry forgotten son. He was originally going to be Reva's stalker but then Conwest did the dumb Alex stalking Reva thing. Putting the longest running cast member/patriarch of the show on recurring shows Wheeler bad judgement. Period.

I dont even remember her...I kind of remember her going out with Frank, but really, the only women Frank worked with was KT's Mindy..and Melina's Eleni..and that's just because they both had spark, and poor FD was dull and not the greatest actor. Wasn't Dana a sketch artist..I thought that Will killed her? I just remember Mo being a red herring..."Oh, I had to take care of all those kids, and when Chelsea came along it was almost too much..." and then Rae poisioning Chelsea's soup at the Bauer house, (which Mo brought to her) which for some reason, we thought was hilarious, which I don't think was the point

God..how we loved to HATE on Rae. I remember her "comedy" act where the poor actors had to sit there and act like they thought the material was hilarious! And of course she is the stalker..she is the only new character in the storyline.

Why was Miranda using a German accent in those scenes? Was she trying to be a Wonder Woman villain? Her scene there does not jibe with the storyline later, where she was just trying to gain access to kill Big and avenger her lovers death. Princi doesnt show any ambivilance there. Ellen was kind of being a bitch to Dee, and..Dr. Joyce???

Wasnt this the Jan/Feb where Tom and Margo were stuck in Mr. Big's castle??? I can see why those ratings made them think they could do another one in the summer and other GH kind of stuff but it didnt work long term.

Too bad about Eplin...a sexy guy doing unsexy behavior. I can also think of a lot people who would have been happy to have GA appear at their door naked, but if he was trying to be an ass..I can see he and O'Leary being assholes together in their younger days..I wonder why Krista was left unscathed..I think she knew how to handle them, and Evans was an only kid right???

I always thought Eplin, on ATWT seemed to give a relaxed, "guy" vibe..neither super stud, nor villain nor nice guy...just a normal guy...(on AW it was a different story..) I liked him on the show and thought he worked well with everyone..( I thought he was a better fit then Scott Holmes Tom but...) I know he had a run in with the actor who played "Eddie-Man" but that was because the Eddie actor was being an ass...sorry to hear his other issue...but now can understand why he was never on another soap. I can't believe Rauchie (GL ) never had a "Me-Too" issue.

These Fulton columns are hilarious!!! I can't believe someone called her a pig!!! I love Fulton promoting her line of clothes from "J.C.Penny" and her bitchy responses...she might be closer to Lisa then we thought!! More Kitsch please!!!

LOL..she was the inspiration for GL's Amanda..the "Malibu Madame!"

Yea, Runyon had gotten a big ego (which he even admits) and thought he was the "star" of the show (I think during Bunim's time she told an extra that he couldnt actually touch Runyeon during a fight as he was "the star" of the show...) and with that ego and a producer pushing it I can see where they thought magic could strike again with another actress, but it didn't . Runyeon was fine in a ensemble as Steve but he thought he was Fulton/Lucci/Zimmer roled into one overacting man. They underestimated what Ryan brought to the role though her fidgety tics got on my nerves.

Oh my God...I thought I remembered every bad episode from that era ATWT but I do not remember this one! Jay was hot and it was funny that he looked so natural and skinny. Now the "hunk" would have huge pecs and abs and be totally cut. It was kind of nice that Jay, Frannie and Kirk looked like cute normal young people.

Forsyth is sex on a stick...my first TV crush in high school where I would watch Texas just to see him...(and all my fellow jocks wondering why I watch a soap...) and still have a thing for tall dark haired guys in suits..(which he wore on Texas.) Mathis...is...an acquired taste I think..she is a bit too precious for me..(but of course if I was her the storyline would end as I would have pounced on him under that tree!_

Great episode..unfortunately the creeping in of Buzz mania was starting but the rest of the show was tight. I didn't think Barbara Crampton was bad as Mindy and I hated her as Mindy at the time. I think Lewis Arlt who was subbing for JVD would have made a good Ed recast.

Hated Hunt as Lizzie but I liked the chemistry with her and Marj. Marj never had the "young person" maternal thing that Bev had as Alex, who could be ripping Roger apart in one scene and then calmly having a discussion with Phillip or A-M or whomever, the next.

I thought Jean Carol's Nadine and Simon's Ed would have been interesting! She would bring the warmth and fun to Ed. Actually, I would have recast Simon, I thought he was a cold fish, but Ed and Nadine would have been fun and took Nadine out of Buzz (EWWWW) orbit.

Actually, there was Lyla dating Bob at the time that Kim was dating Nick..Miranda came after. They must have been thinking Nick and Lisa as there is a scene where you can tell they were chemistry testing. I think putting a delay in Kim and Bob was good but yes they should have been end game. A bit of jealousy on Nick's part of Kim always going to her "pal" for advice and that they just plain have fun together(Nick is the kind of guy you could see would not have ever thought of a woman as a friend) especially if buttinsky John dropped their past history on him! Nick and Lisa would have been fun for a few months...they are fighting, all the time and Nick is drawn naturally toward Kim and her stability...but Kim is still grieving, finally Nick and Lisa break off and Lisa, showing her wordliness is not jealous.."Kim, date him...it was a great time but we don't work out..it was fun , it was fine, we are freinds now and that s it...oh, and the sex is great!"

I was in high school at the time and loved Mr. Big..though I knew it was stupid. The drug storyline was started before the Dobsons came back and the writers were referring to a Mr. Big so they decided to make it funny. I thought it would have been more interesting to make Karen a guy..(it is revealed later that Karen has a gay brother who is a teacher and James tried to blackmail Karen with revealing that to make him loose his job..ahead of its time and an interesting plot point.) who looks up to David as a father figure and David looks at him as a son to fill the space of the two sons he already lost. The character would still be "grey" and that would have caused tension in the Stewart family as David could not cut him out of his life. It would have been interesting if they developed that more. At this point I would have recast Don and, after Mary dies, he comes back to Oakdale with the kid and gets involved with Ellen again..instead they threw some boring new doctor at her. The end game would be David and Ellen remarrying of course but it would be nice to see it dragged out and to explore their characters on their own right. I missed the days of John being the outsider..I loved that he would always turn up like a bad penny at just the wrong time and every character would open the door with a "Oh..hello John" and annoyed look on their face. Fulton was looking her best at this time..they just had the Lisa "look" down. I hated when she went a bit nuts and tried to get attention by dying her hair that hideous shade of red with that bad Nancy Reagan do. Loved their chemistry and their friendship one of the most underated in soaps..and its also the most real one. They are both "edgy" women who love each other and both annoy each other at times but always have each other's back. One of the high points of Nancy Hughes death episode is Barbara going looking for Lisa at Fashions (did Babs still own Fashions with Lisa?) and Lisa hiding from her. Babs calls her on her cell and at the end throws in a "I love you," that you could tell Zenk added as it seemed so natural. And even more natural would be if they were arguing the next episode...it woudlnt have seemed weird. I hated that damn cottage. During that summer they were in that set every damn day. It just was weird that Tom would live in the house her married lover gave to her and that Margo who had changed so much, would still be there. Margo was a weird character at that time and its really only due to Collin's talent and her chemistry with Deas that the character became so invaluable. Speaking of, was their ever a big reveal of James and Margos realtionship.? I don't remember that. it seems they were sneaking around and poof everyone knew what was going on. Did Babs and her ever have one of those great..."You BITCH!" scenes??

It was a good idea...but by that time, sad to say, Rick needed to be recast..not necessarily a boring soap hunk but someone who had some charm and warmth..by this time O'Leary had relied on schtick and if it was a dramatic scene he YELLED. They should have transitioned O'leary into production as that seems to be what he likes, and recast Rick. Of course, I would have made Mel a lawyer to begin with, a lawyer dedicated to representing underserved populations who would have been a contrast to the Bauers and their affluent friends and enemies.

Oh my...boring Sophia...(why are Nick and Kim taking care of her..she is his wife who he hated daughter right???) It looks like they were going in an interesting direction where she was hating on Kim..they could have had her be a bad influence on Betsy..so that could have been good, but the Dobs, who created her, got rid of her when they came back. Too bad. Boring Hayley and Eric...shows when good actors are stuck in bad roles. This was the start of the drug syndicate storyline that the Dobs turned into Mr. Big. Poor Bruder..they were trying hard to turn her into Nancy Hughes (Wager left during this time and the Hughes were totally obscured..) when she wasnt in the same generation. Dee's slight Jersey accent is annoying for someone who grew up in Illinois!

Cricket was an nonentity during most of her time on the show. She started out as an Erica wannabe who was competing with boring SD's Betsy for boring Eric and once that ended...I think Bunim kept her on just because she was young and pretty. Considering that and Loring's less then dynamic acting and her background...(wasnt her husband in bi porn too, which would have been CRAZY for CBS at that time...) it is no mystery why Cricket never appeared again.

Lisa wasn't just daffy at this time, she acts like she is on something with her forgetfulness and her jittery hyperactivity, while Betsy acts stoned. (does Betsy..go to school at all, have a job, just sits around and sighs all day.) It was actually Fulton's decision to play Lisa this way...(this was a few episodes before she left the show..) She said they weren't writing for her...(which they were) so she had to go dead down inside, to find something to play..."so I came up with a ditz..." which Lisa never was. She is obviously trying to get attention in those scenes and her red hair!!! Loring is cuter and better then I remember her. I love when she tells that guy..."I trust you!" Uh, cause he is FLAMING!" (Note: I forgot all about Ernie, who now is a pretty successful interior designer in NY...so yea, Cricket..you are safe with Ernie.) The dark haired girl was Bilan who was cute...but what was the point...the Dobs were wasting time and insistent on bringing in young people, (Cricket, Ernie, Bilan) who don't do anything. I forgot Colin's Margo was so harsh and annoying and I can't believe Deas is not chewing the scenery. Agreed on loving Ariel and her eye roll at the dullards. She was fun and she should have been kept on just to sit in Fashions and roll her eyes at everyone.

Agreed, and it was a good idea to have Jeffie be her partner in crime..but then they dropped that and it was nasty Dinah and heroic Jeffie. I wish they had used that as starting point to get rid of Cole for good, to expose what an ass and nut Jeffie was...I would have had it Dinah was blackmailing him to get her money, etc...and when she came to town she would taunt him all the while letting him go after Cassie to give the Big C what she deserved. Dinah has a change of heart and exposes him (including his rape of O which was dropped) and he goes nuts and kidnapps him and they kill him in good old fashioned Soap Dish way..."His head was chopped off, he can't come back cause he doenst have a head!" Who the hell was Cole's protector on this show?

I would think he was complaining about the Dobson's era where they brought on Lyla and Cricket and then there were Montogomery's falling out of trees, (Margo, then Maggie, who oddly enough started sleeping with Tom when they were in Switzerland where unbeknowest to her, her sister Lyla was dating Tom's dad back in the midwest..) and then Craig. I don't think it was the amount of Montgomerys but just that every storyline was told from their point of view..even the Tom/Margo thing...( and we never got Lisa pissed off that Johnny Dixon's daughter was after Tom..I would have loved a Fulton/Colin bitch scene...)