Mitch

I am not saying Bryce isnt a good actor, or even a better actor then Block...perhaps the problem is in his character of Craig more then him. When they first brought him on it was as this kid who wanted money and power..first involved in Dee Stewarts stupid perfume thing that last one month (dont ask) and then as Whit's driver and then lackey. He went after Betsy for her trust fund and then made him just in lurve and possesive of Betsy. Everthing after that, good or evil was about him obsessed with a woman and in LOVE...Byrce has a ...more sensitive quality about him that in Craig made him appear weak or on the verge of tears! That is why I think Block should have played someone else.

I liked Hunt Block very much, he just would have worked better as a different character..he was just playing his GL character..(who should never had been killed off..he and Beth Chamberlin had smoking hot chemistry and the character finally worked as a woman who found out it was okay to not be a golden girl all the time but show some of the edge) The other problem is that with Block' s cocky, annoying persona..a good writer was needed to show some heart underneath, on a daily basis, not just when your kid is killed. Block was sexy as hell you have to admit,he was one soap opera actor who didnt act like an underwear model or uh....trying to act straight. He looked like he really, really liked sex..with women. Bryce's Craig I never liked, as even in his bad boy days, he was weak and kind of sniveling. He was the villain that would not be "this is what I want because I deserve it," but would sneak around and snivel to get it. An interesting character but not a major villain or hero. As someone up thread posted...during the Marland years Craig practically turned into a bad 70s heroine...crying at the drop of a hat, and living for LOVE! No wonder he got along with Lily so well. Lee Bryant's Lyla was just like Swards...boring and useless. Lyla was the Lillian of ATWT which fine, if they had kept her at the desk ala Jesse Brewer...but having romances and a personal life, I just didn't give a damn...and as soon as she put on a sequin dress and started wailing those bad songs...UGGGHH.

Yea...Dolan and Holmes had the sexual chemistry of a dried up apple. That could be okay as they were now middle aged and in a relationship for a long time...but they never exhibited any warmth to each other their kids or the rest of their family. Bob and Kim and John and Lucinda did generate more heat then those two and with Bob and Kim you could see they were best friends and why everyone would go to them with their problems even if Kim was going to kick your ass. Lucinda had warmth with all of her TV family and her allies even if it was different then B & K. Dolan and Holmes...no. I think Colin worked perfect for her time as a rebellious, sometimes annoying and shrill Margo..HBS worked great as a more mellowed Margo who became part of this big family but still retained her independence and feist. (I cannot see Colin's Margo calling Nancy "Gram".) And well, if you didn't have chemistry with Marxx you were dead. He had great sexual, friendship and family chemistry with everyone and it just workd. Holmes was a sour boring grape.

I am sure it played differently but that synopsis was almost like a parody of a soap...those NAMES!!!

Would have loved it if our show had been innovative enough to do a nice middle aged coming out story and combine with GL tradition by making them a tentpole couple who everyone comes to with their problems. I don't think I could handle a romantic scene between those two though..but really, we never saw a romantic scene between Nancy and Chris Hughes, we just knew they loved each other..good enough for me! GA would have played it well, as Phillip being jealous, not sexually but as usual with Phillip not being the center of attention, especially Rick's attention! A funny scene of Harley coming over to talk to Rick and then Frank comes out shirtless..."Uh, what the hell is going on!!"

She never had a good thing to say about ATWT..not that she dissed it, she just wouldn't talk about it. She probably was embarrassed but it should have been for her performance..it was all jittery, stuttering (it made Fulton look calm) and running hands through her hair..watching clips now of her she looks like a "nerve patient." She, as most young actors are, was better with vets like Hays and Forsythe and Bruder...but once she was with the Steve or Craig actors she is jittery and jumpy and damn annoying.

FD basically played himself... a nice guy, family man, maybe not too "deep" but solid. Agree he was fine as supporting but when they had him try to act ..as in cry, etc, it was embarrassing. When they made him a private eye and then a cop it was ridiculous...Frank didn't have two brain cells to rub together. He was like Rick..a mensch..sweet guys who took care of everyone else...(woulda been funny if they made those two a gay couple..living in the Bauer house, helping all the morons who made stupid decisions..but Frankie D would be too uptight to play that and Oleary woulda made it all a bad joke..) The thing is, soaps need characters like Frank and Rick who arent having constant drama but who could still have air time. Derwin had one thing that vaulted him into leading man territory is that he was sexy as hell. I never thought guys like Frank with highlights and feathered hair were hot no matter how tight the t-shirt. Mallet looked like he just rolled out of bed...sexy. I know different people were playing them but Mallet and Mindy should have come back to town and had a Harley/Mallet/Mindy/Rick thing...(maybe Mallet saved Mindy from some bad characters she made a biz deal with and they got together.

I totally agree with you and it so weird that ATWT had such a rich history with tons of kids and grandkids that could have been brought back in the fold and gotten hot stories going with the vets supporting. Especially since our vets were all so vital and colorful and varied and played by the same people we grew up with. None of them were sweater knitting grannies..can you see Bob and Kim butting heads with John and Lucinda, who of course would be butting heads with Lisa, who would do things in her own way which would conflict against Bob and Kim's ideas...("Well of course I knew Hope secretly opened that S/M shop on Main Street, I gave her the loan, the girl has a business head on her!That old Lucy has an account there didn't you know! I didn't tell you as I was too busy fighting with Adam's new boyfriend who I think is QUITE the hussy gold digger, and I of all people should KNOW!") Instead we got the two you mentioned and then Pelphery wasted as Faux James with a youth serum!

I think John was always needed...but I think that all the vets (and I know this is not popular and I love my vets) should have been supporting at this time...not that they disappear or only come out for weddings, but they have seen it all and done it all, good bad and the middle. They should have been constantly involved in the younger people's lives (i.e Lisa should have always been in Carly's orbit) but they didn't need to be front burner. I think GL's biggest problem was that it would not let Josh and Reva and Alan etc be supporting...they just kept repeating the same boring beats over and over. I would have loved and I have no idea why they didn't do this, but hook John and Lucinda up again, and they could have been the shady versions of Bob and Kim..cackling at everyone' s mistakes and stupid soap opera decisions. John and Lisa shared grandkids...why the hell did they ever have not have scenes fighting over their direction, etc? Though if you watched during the Dobson's time I think we all had enough of John Dixon..until Marland came along and gave the show balance.

Was Nels James' lackey, who I swear, was madly in love with him? I wouldnt say I was a FAN..but..he was funny! I would have loved to see Nancy react to Miranda! "No Nancy I do not know where Zee BIG SPOON is you speak of..constantly...Merde...why are all ze people's eating at our house all ze time????"

The problem with the actor playing Brad..he was not sexy even in a...70s cheesy sexy way, and he was supposed to be with... Lisa, Dee, Annie and Kim's niece all HOT for him (forgotten note on the actor, he was a dayplayer on GL when Reva first was introduced and he was the owner of the Beauty Salon that Reva had worked in...he was written and played as obviously gay,.though they never mentioned it and the actor was funny and good in it and I can't believe they never brought him back to open a salon in SF and hang out with Reva...she needed a gay bestie who would bring her down a notch...) I think the Dobbies thought that having guys be aholes was sexy and "modern," compared to the overly clean cut and stiff guys that populated Oakdale at the time. The guys on ATWT were all business suit types and they were hard to tell apart but there is a middle ground. I think Brad might have been their idea of a kind of Roger Thorpe character "sexual" and a user of women, but then they brought James on (at first he was a perfect prince so I wonder if they changed things..) They really were invested in the character, trying to tie him to Bob.. (he was the son of Bob's never heard of best friend) etc. I think they were going for a guy who used women (Lisa) but was turned around by the "goodness" of boring Annie but still couldnt stop the sexual attraction of Dee from obsessing him. It was just written sloppy and it made no sense, they needed a really sexy guy to make it work. Yes it was a silver mine. By 1981 Lisa was running a tiny book stand at the hospital, which always seems sad to me. They had Lisa mention that the bookstore "annex" at Memorial was making a profit, so Chris would be happy. And then they burned down the bookstore, and she said she would rebuild but they dropped it. I can see having an excuse to have Lisa at the hospital getting into everyone's business, but they should have redone the original bookstore too and turned into a coffee shop, bookstore as those were just starting to get "hip" then., it would have been a good excuse for people to drop by..etc. The last time the bookstore was mentioned was during the horrible summer of 81 when Annie took it over (there was a funny scene posted here I believe where Lisa hands Annie a lock box of cash and then says.."here are the books there is the cash." Okay writers, you really didnt give a damn did you and Fulton is practically rolling her eyes at it.) "Don was written out when his contract was up and Bob was given the awful Miranda romance." An interesting note was that Wagner blamed Bunim and P & G for McClaughlin's health. She always said the minute he was taken off of contract he got sick and started failing. I know from Hastings and Hays there were comments on Bunim regime so if all these pros broke bad I think she was the JFP of her time.

Yes, there were rumors years before their cancellations that they were under orders to dismantle the shows so that no one was watching and no one cared anymore so there would be no backlash. P & G wanted CBS to be the bad guys so they wittled the shows down until they made no money, or at least an alternative would make more, and CBS said goodbye. As for Lisa, I always thought her happy ending should have been her just being happy with her businesses, her family and her friends. I would love to have had some guy pursue her and she would be "I'm in it for the friendship and sex, but I have had my fill or romance..thanks!" I think Lisa (and Fulton) was at her best when she was on her own being a buttinsky out of her big heart, when she had the McColl kids and all the other young people she took under her wing. She was the anti-Kim, and earth mother in sparkly clothes who wasnt above lying and subterfuge to get a positive outcome for hers. I HATED when Fulton played the dewy eyed romantic and threw back her had swooing..UGH. She was always best bitching at someone or taking care of someone. I thought way back during the Dobsons time that they had brought back Don as Ellen's love interest, back when David came back with amnesia. They brought in a boring non entity doctor for Ellen and it went no where. It would have been fun to see a widowed Don come back with Mary's son and Lisa and Ellen, who were both engaged to him, form a triangle, but the Dobson's HATED the Hughes so there was no way they were going there.

With that actor..how could we tell the difference between dead and alive? Bob taking Luke sputtering head off of Noah's chest..."Son, Noah is dead, he is gone, he lives no more!" Luke "NOOOOO, Noah cant be DEAD..I am going to have SUCH a hissy on this its going to take up SO much screen time of me sputtering and tossing my head around" Chris" Yes Luke, Noah is DEAD, he breathes no more, or has any facial expression..er, he breathes no more."" Lily, "Oh my God, my poor baby, I just heard Noah is DEAD..dead..dead..dead..not asleep mind you but dead." Kim to Luke..."Kiddo, Noah is DEAD! Listen Bub, you need to get out there and get some more action, as Noah has been DEAD for 10 minutes which is a LONG time in Oakdale...Noah is DEAD!"

Chappell would have made a great Amanda. I loved Poser and her Amanda (Thought Cullen was as dull as dishwater. ) but she should have been cast as Vicky Spaulding instead. That list did not include one name...Wheeler herself was considered.

Regarding Chelsea and Johnny Fake Bauer....Good God..where was Ray Rooney when you needed her!!! What was up with Weber...why was he doing a bit part and why was he acting like it was a bad skit?? That promo ....Raines acting...what...the....hell....and again, I love Marj..but it was not fair to her to have to try and match Bev. They should have written Alex off and brought in Marj as an ex "show girl"(soaps love them) who married H.B. (I would have killed him off before this...) and through him got a TON of Spaulding stock and was a perpetual thorn in the side of EVERYONE particularly Alan and Reva.

Great pic!!! While they don't have the ATWT vets aging genes...Grant/RN looked great, and PS always looks the same age, 30 or 60, and Hammer looks the same also. MOL looks good with the grey (they should have let him go like that instead of that black ink they put in his hair) and JVD just always looks like a nice guy. I don' t know who the baldies are but most likely behind the scenes? LOL..I hated the Santos but I never minded the Danny actor...despite his..petite frame he never came off as super silly when he acted tough...(I always thought Underwear Model Tony was more ridiculous...) its just too bad they made Danny and Carmen cartoon mobsters..they would have been so good as foils to the law and order suburban Bauers..and if I did write a gay storyline for Danny it would not involve any character played by Brad Cole....UGGGH!

LOL..the frame that comes up on that shows Danny as the Big Spoon and Richie as the Little Spoon. Now THAT would have been a more realistic storyline!

LOL....What da hell???? No one took a look at this and at any point, said..this is really stupid!!! I do love that the tint on this is orange, to match SC's skin tone! Agree, Mike gets much, much, hotter as the years go by, though no less gay, (though in more quiet, sexier way.)

I thought Beth and Matt were hot but the Mattessa FREAKS had a fit (of course, E & B never knew how to write a traingle unless there was a bad person so Beth had to be a bitch to Van, I never liked Van and Matt together and thought she would have quickly gotten bored by his tight, uh body and wanted to move on with someone who challenged her more. It would be much better if Van cooled her feelings for Matt, he was drawn to Beth, and she him..but they fought there feelings as Van also felt quilty that her feelings for Matt have changed...and everyone in SF thought of them as the golden couple..etc. Kyle coulda/shoulda taken over as the Big Bad once Alan was retired....Alan dies (or actually goes to prison again..) and Phillip takes over. Kyle aborbs Lewis..and targets Spaulding..so Kyle, the Spauldings and Josh/Reva are all dukeing it out.. Instead of the fairy prince crap I would have had Kyle unhappily married to social climbing Olivia...who sets her sights on Phillip, while Kyle falls in love with Cassie, and Reva battles her jealousy AND we find out Marah is really Kyle's kid AND Reva knew several years ago the truth but decided to bury it. I remember Zimmer, who got her back up when they brought Cassie on..saying they were turning her into Bert Bauer as she had a line like "Now Cassie...really tsk, tsk." While Zimmer and Newman had their huge egos...and TPTB fed into them...they also had a point. Soaps "used" to be about the generations and Grandpa Hughes, Nancy Hughes, Bert, etc were not front burner but vital parts of the show, and all the changed. As soon as characters were back burnerd they were in danger of being cut, especially people seen as old and boring. Look at Maureen. So I don' t blame them as much as that is how the "industry" worked.

I don't know, Matt and Reva had a real quick scene in the Bauer Kitchen during a BBQ..she was drying off her tank top after a water balloon contest...(lol) and Matt walks in with a innuendo and it was kind of natural and sexy for a brief moment. I never understood why they didn't bring Kyle back to go after Reva and also take over for Alan who had run his course right after the Annie thing. I think the problem was really with the actors who, if they werent in a front burning storyline for two minutes would BOTH bitch to the soap press. Its too bad too as RN had great dad chemistry with the younger actors,,(my fave imaginary storyline would be that Shayne was a flaming no apologies man chaser and like ATWT, it was Josh that accepted it but not Reva until she became the most obnoxious PFLAG mom on earth.) Not that much for a soap character... she was went from being a nurse aid to a photographer during her first run..then she worked in the Diner when she was with Buzzard, she was on the Lewis board and then she was a talk show host..so not that much really.

If they wanted to get rid of Steve, and believe me, Runyon's ego did him in...they should have just had Steve sacrifice his life to save Betsy. After a mourning period she could move on, or yes, write them off together. I HATED the Rod storyline, I really can't believe Marland was so tone deaf as to make a rapist a "hero" and have him go under the name..."Rod." Freaky [!@#$%^&*] all around and was really the time that Marland himself was wearing out as a writer and became more morbidly self indulgent...(Oakdale just got more depressing the more he stayed on.) I agree also that Marland, who everyone raves about his respect for history...sacrificed Betsy and Kim's relationship for Frannie and Kim....when you coulda had both.

I think at that time viewers, like myself, were just happy to see an "old" face after JFP decimated the show, with killing Mo, moving the focus on the Coopers, and with Buzz eating the show alive. Unfortunately McLabby screwed us all over by paring with Reva with Buzz...( I think Logan called it "Two dogs trying to chew the same bone.") and having Reva actually beg that little troll for sex!..I would take the clone anyday over that. Reva could have made a great addition to GL if she had stayed part of the ensemble...(I actually think McTavish did better with that then any other writer) and if they could have just put Jeva to rest once and for all....) I would have had them kind of like Bob and Lisa, always in each others lives, maybe occassionally hitting the sack in between others. I actually think Reva and Matt would have been kind of hot...(and send both the Jeva nuts and the Mattessa nuts in a head spin..)

They look great, even O'leary looks kind of normal there. Regrading Sniveling Lily..there are just some characters you hate, and there are some characters you love to hate, and there are some characters that you still have a sentimental attachment too through that hate. Lily was one of those especially when they let people dis her finally, (I actually liked it when Rose didn't like her.) When they recast her it was just pure boredom hate. No one could be as annoying as MB as Lily. I don't understand the diss on MH's looks. Sure he is not soap opera..he looks like a normal cute guy who could keep you warm all through the winter. I was working out at the gym and they had GH on one of the TV"S and I just thought..."There is no one who looks "Real" on that show anymore...and all the middle aged people..as there are no old people anymore...they all had horrible plastic surgery...that guy with the big nostrils...looked almost as terrifying as poor Jackie Zeman! Regrading Lemay and Marland...Marland gave an interview about his time working on AW and the execs proposed a murder mystery. Lemay in his queeny snobby outrage got up and said..."WE don't do murder mysteries...." and walked off to the elevator making his staff follow. Marland said he wanted to run back and say..."I DO murder mysteries...I DO!"

I heard that also, but what I meant was..why did TPTB keep him around??? He was "old," not particularly attractive (disclaimer I thought his Tom Hughes was hot..) and his character was annoying as hell, and he was a big pout (he told a story about the director telling him to "tone it down," and he just really read the lines after that...) PS was "My" Ed but he was so cold...Hulswit was the Ed when I was a kid and "my Moms" Ed and he was much closer to Charita Bauer interpretation of Bert...warm, a bit chubby, normal, a calmness where you would see why people would look up to them but a back bone when it was needed. He also looked more like he could have been O'leary's dad...(at his best O'leary had the same thing that Charita and Hulwist brought to their roles, but he insisted on his "comedy" and his mugging, when Rick should have taken over from Bert as being the go to Bauer.) Van Fleet always came off as too weak. Also, he came on during a HUGE change (when I think the show hit bottom...until Peapack came..) with Charitas's death, the decimation of the Bauers..(Hillary killed off, Mike written off..) the obscuration of the Reardons, the rise of the Lewis as the 'core" family and Reva ate the show alive. He might have worked at another time but GL just became a totally different show overnight and it did not work at all. It was just typical Rauch and E & B bullshitting that they were going to focus on the core with all the complaints. They were boasting they were going to show flashbacks of him and Bert which would impact the story but never did. They actually had a good story built in there with him...Ed was the doctor for Jesses' Mom and his dad blamed Ed for killing her (hence getting Mo's heart to Jesse...) It was a good "GL" story with the dad coming between Chele and Jesse and the economic disparity. But it wasnt "cartoony" enough for them so they got bored. I always wanted Nola to get involved with Jesse's dad as she buttinskied her way into trying to help Chele, and have her caught in between Ed (in a sisterly way) and the dad too, and if they gave Jess a bad girl social climbing sister to go after Bill Lewis, so there would be Jesse/Chele/Bill/Bad Girl thing going. With the adults having problems, the kids having problems, and it all tied together, with Aunt Meta drinking a bourbon and handing out sassy advice, it would have been good. The most frustrating part of Rauch and E & B tenure was the "What coulda.shoulda been" they demonstrated they had some good ideas and could actually write some interesting stuff. And then it would go back to being a shallow cartoon.

I hated her by the end but by that time she was so tied to Buzz that I was ready to get rid of her. I did think she was funny when she was mixing it up with the rest of SF....(Frank of all characters had one of my favorite lines..."Nadine's idea of a family meal was letting us stay up late to watch Johnny Carson and eat Fried Chicken out of the bucket!") I think they didn't know what to do with her with Nola on the scene..but the two of them would be wacky Lucy and Ethel fun or competing with each other for a man (in a comedic triangle...) I don't like the violent way she was killed..that was deserved for Buzzard..(God I would have loved to have Brent say. ..."Have some diner food Buzzard..as he threw his body in a dumpster.) Speaking of which I know Deas was a FOJ but how in God's name did he hang on all those years after she was gone? Pics of MADD in a Chinese brothel? Through McLaiby to Rauchie on down to Peapack, he clung on and was given material.