Mitch

LOL as Reva the portly sex goddess! I actually liked it that they showed a middle aged woman with a little meat on her as being able to attract guys. I could take that over Harley, the shreiking twig as a love interest. And we all know Reva knew how to please a man in a way which had nothing to do with her weight if you know what I mean and I am sure you do! The only problem I had with it is that I wish someone would have said something to Josh or Island Stud or whomever..maybe India when she returned "Well, Reva is certainly looking HEALTHY these days" and for Josh and Reva to just laugh and Josh saying "She keeps me warm at night darling!" But I agree, Reva eating the show was too much. And I did like the mob as dumb as it was, over San Cristoble which was like a bad ABC soap from the 80s fell into SF and had nothing to do with what was going on. It was so dissociated with the show later writers could have made it Springfield's favorite soap "San Cristobel" and act as it was never real.

LOL..I was going to post that there is NO WAY Warren was really interested in Lesley Ann..except for a beard! I never thought that he and Alex were really anything other then friends, actually, he was her lackey who made her laugh and in way was her beard as she could have someon on her arm as she went around terrorrizing her enemies. I really wish they had recast Mike Bauer and put them together..Alex needed a MAN to deal with her and neither Warren or dumb Fletcher could do that. If the Clone made the ratings drop so bad, why the hell did that idiot MADD consider it their last great "success."??

What was going on in 98/99 for that big of a drop?

I loved the Long/Kobe GL up until the fall of 85 when it all fell apart. All the families played off of each other, etc. Reva hadn't taken over and the camp was kind of kept to one storyline at a time...(Susan Piper was fun at first until it just didn't make any sense...) after Charita's death and the axing of the Mike and Hope, the recast of Ed, and this dissolution of the Reardons, it all camp apart..Kyle Sampson and Infinity, Reva jumping out of planes in her fur coat and big hair, Roxie Shayne's badly written and acted split personality, it ALL became camp ALL the time! When Long returned she did bring the show back to earth so that was a plus. When Long wrote family and friendships she was on fire and really GOT what GL was. I wonderhow she would have written ATWT with its strong core after Marland died???

It is too bad that they did not see it that way...that would have been great but it also would have been the flavor of old GL which was an ensemble where everyone was important and got things to do. After the 90s all the shows forgot or couldnt balance things out so we got the Reva Show, the Harley Show, The Brad Cole Show, the Cooper Show. Reva was much more tolerable as part of an ensemble and Zimmer did her best work bouncing off of people as good as her and long term characters..( I always remember a Bauer BBQ small scene with her and Mary Stuart which was really good, you could tell Zimmer respected Stuart and Stuart didnt fade into the wallpaper.)

I understand what you are saying, but original version Van was much nastier then Alex, and they would conveniently forget that after she reformed. However, I think Van could have filled the Alex void, not becoming the same character mind you...just as the poweful complicated woman you should NOT cross. In some ways when Van would get cold she was scarier then Bev/Alex in you knew she meant business. I like my complicated villaness with a core of decency, which is what made Alex interesting under long and Curlee and got ruined under JFP and the of course, Marj/Alex was a cartoon. I would have killed off Matt and have Van go darker...maybe he died at a Spaulding contruction site that had made cuts to save money and that inadvertantley led to his death. Van blames Alan, and without the influence of Henry or Mo around she goes dark. She is sick of what the Spauldings had done to the company as remember it was her legacy almost as much as theirs. It could have been Van doing the "Ex Wives Club" instead of Joan/Alex. Van then gets half of Spaulding under her control and the push and pull with Alan goes on (I would need to recast Alan and actually maybe get them together later on then have him drop dead, leaving all of Spaulding to Van to fight off the various Spaulding heirs.) It seemed they were going that way under Rauch when Van got pissed that her doctor died in the lab explosion and she unmaske Vickie as a Spaulding, but then it went nowhere. She just didnt work as the simpering wife and as even Reva said, "Ive ALWAYS been a little afraid of you!"

I love the Spaulding living room, I hated that they got rid of it for showing that damn study all the time. But it also makes me laugh when I remember the Rauch years and Beth would lay around in her Chanel suits and as they said on the boards "hump the Spaulding couch and molest the liquor cart." Vanessa was so good at being a being a bitch when she needed to be "After your BLUNDER with Spaudling Pharmacutical.." they didn't need to bring in Marj/Alex, Vanessa should have been the rich biz conflicted sometimes bitch in town. I hated when she just simpered after Matt. Derwin and Mallet were sexy as hell and Ehlers was still a bit plump and not annoying at this time. This clip reminded me why I really, really hated Eleni and her fake accent, and AM being a puss over her. I liked Henry's dismissal of her. This was also the last time I liked Jenna..after they brough Buzz in I HATED her and she became another boring heroine.

I wish there were episodes of the late 60s and early 70s available. The Lisa/Michael Shae stuff seems great! I know I said before that ATWT was my "nap time," so my Mom could watch ATWT and see "What that damn Lisa is up to today!" Eileen Fulton, Hastings and Helen Wagner's voices always made me feel like everything was okay and I was a kid wrapped up in a blanket...(stupid as hell I know!) That had to have been the time of the Shae storyline where Lisa was at the height of her bitchiness and about to start her redemption to a grayer character (i.e. taking the rap to save Tom.) I wish Marland had gone ahead with his plan to have Chuckie Shae return from the dead, and knowing Marland, Dr. Shae would be close behind...that would have been much more interesting then boring Scott.

Interesting, at that time they wanted to do a Nola/Ed thing but PS refused. I think it would have been interesting and would have given him some airtime. Also, I think it would have been funny to see Nola tangle, work with Marj's Alex. I wonder how Brown and Dusay's uh, sometimes over the top Alex would have worked.

It was Charita who proposed the story right? Having grown up watching her it was nice to see, they handled it, very well. Bert was a trouper but they allowed her to be scared too...she tried to be strong for everyone else and then during her party she dropped and broke a plate in the kitchen and couldnt pick it up and broke down and Mo was there for her. Nice scene and one of the last of the good Pam Long family storuy stuff as then the show became all Reva and the Lewis and Reva jumping out of planes in fur coats, and Infinity, etc.

God the show sucked at that time. Though I had to laugh at Miss Sally's nightgown being devored by a feathered boa. That and Zimmer's overacting in that clip looks like a parody of soaps. I don't remember Miss Sally going after H.B. (I know she was Billy's real mom) but she looked pretty damn good...(I thought of her as an old broad at the time.)

Thanks..good to be seen..even if I have to admit my hidden lust for, as my sister used to call him..."the fat Ed.." !

LOL..I always though MH was kind of sexy for a normal dad kind of guy. I wish they had kept him. PS was an appropriate Ed in that he played him as weak and edgy but he never had any warmth and after Mo died it just didn't work for him to be a tentpole figure. However, his return under Taggert was really good. They used him as a Judge Lowell figure and PS played him as an older wiser, Ed. It was a nice change (and who couldnt love him threatening Carmen and her being afraid...) I remember a scene he had with Zimmer and she was doing all her tricks and PS quietly didnt let her steal the scene and she brought it down to HIS level and it was a really good scene..reminded me that Zimmer could be great when she wasnt playing to the rafters. PS brought a quiet authority to Ed which the show needed at that time. Then it all went to hell with Conboy and Westen and Ed became a drunk and smacked Chelle, and PS said shove it to their offer to be recurring.

That was always my dream team in my head Marland and Long, just for the reasons you stated. Plus Long would bring her characters down to earth as Marlands, no matter if they were blue collar or upper crust, all talked the same. I wonder if Long is still writing? Despite what she did to the Bauers (which I believe was out of her hands) and her intro of the Coopers (and that is just because I hated Justin Deas' scenery chewing Buzz Cooper which she had no hand in...(I can imagine Marland being horrified at Buzz...) Plus, as I have said before, Long didn''t shy away from sex, Marland was a prude and his love scenes were as cold as hell.

Irna was an interesting person to say the least! Beth Ehlers during her last five years on GL grated on my nerves...she just lost it, got really skinny and shrill and it didnt help that the show made her this romantic heroine which Harley never was..but when she did Irna on the 70th anniversary she just rocked it...I never saw Irna on tape but just from her acting Ehlers hit it on the head...(maybe she was channeling a frustrated, cranky middle aged woman having to deal with the suits around her as it hit close to home...) and she said she met with Hastings and Fulton to get her mannersims and what she was like. Fulton and Helen Wagner have said that Irna would address the actors by their character names and did not want them to do other things as it detracted from the characters. Maybe that is why on AW she kept Mary Matthews around so long as unlike Helen Wagner, according to Lemay, the actress totally believed she was the character and a fabulous cook though she wasnt! I wish they would write a book about the PG soaps behind the scenes, what a bunch of characters.

That was always Ed's house. When Mo and Ed broke up when he was mooning over Holly she said something like.."This was never my house, it was always the house Ed lived in with his WIVES." which is weird as that kitchen later never lost its association with Mo.

That was that whole weird writing at that time. Alan, who was mostly a toothless villain in the last decade of GL..finally does something that actually has an impact, and they have this wussy guy who is falling all over the dreaded Gus...suddenly be heartless. I thought they were going to write him as being remoresefull but hiding it...you know, in a justfied Alan thing, it was the dumb hired killer' fault or Jonathon. I just thought it was weird that Alan who took on Roger and Alex, Billy, Vanessa, H.B. etc. not figuring out another way to get rid of Jonathon. It was also weird that Alex had no reaction about this. This would have been the perfect time to re ignite Alex, who lost her own ealry 20s son, who sees Alan is responsible for Tammy's death, sees that he is power mad and takes every effort to punish him in her own Alex way. They had Beth be upset over Tammy for 2 seconds and then she is trying to get it on with Alan. Just weird writing, good ideas but they were afraid to actually have any implications like having Alan jailed, his family against him, etc. So it took the bite out of it.

What the hell was Nancy's talent? Cooking, coffee serving, working "dear," into every sentence, meddling, or ringing the town tramp's beads every now and then? It couldn't have been Wagner's singing? Just kidding, love them both! The both look the same as in the mid 80s. What is with that ageless cast?

I think DP would have made a great Alan...though a bit young ..I can't see him as anything then Marj's MUCH younger brother. I remember watching at the time and thinking why they didn't just write out Roger at the time and wait to see with Zaz..as it was ALAN that needed to be recast. Okay, Alex was gone at that time so I would have recast some coldish blonde woman as Alex and kind of bring them back to their glory...kind of a Jessica Langish actress (I thought that her character during "Coven," mixed with her character from Asylum (without the evil from one and the uh, nun of the other) would make a great Alex type an older woman who was not going to take any crap off of any man.

During the 79-80 time where they didnt know what to do with Nancy and Chris they should have had his great niece from the farm move in with them and she would be a Lisa type/Meg Snyder/Carly kind of trouble maker...especially if they had given Lisa the Scott storyline earlier it would have been fun to see Lisa having to deal with her own trouble making daughter in law and she and Nancy going head to head over her. "Now Lisa, remember when you used to be the town slut...."

LOL!!!! Bridget can really be a big b*tch but funny too. She was spot on with that!

God those credits remind me of ATWT's opening during the end of the Marland era, with those flying geese or whatever and the seasons...enough to put you to sleep (at that time ATWT was boring so the credits matched.) Its not wonder they changed the opening here to be more upbeat..I can imagine people tuning in from ABC and being met with this snoozer! Sorry YRBB but I always think its going to be a commercial for a feminine hygene product! I love reading old credits...I can't believe that Laibson was a producer during this era and he made such a piss poor executive producer, its as if he didn't know the show at all.

LOL..thanks for giving me the coffee spit up of the day! The show was a real mess with this transition, but I never liked any of the Dobson's work on ATWT...they just didn't get this show. I know tastes are different in the late 70s but I could never understand how anyone thought the Brad actor would be the hot leading man of ATWT! Especially since he was such an ass (not a smart move to have your supposed leading man rip off Nancy and Chris Hughes!!) It seems the Joyce story was started with Marland...(he has Nancy and Chris going to SF...so I could see him having Joyce hiding around corners and following them..) and the Dobsons ddint know what to do with it...it started as Joyce disruping Don and Mary's life and then they just disappear and its Joyce vs. Lisa for Grant round 6,000. Then Joyce faking an illness to catch Grant...(this right after another woman had done the exact same thing..) and then...Joyce just leaves town and Grant disappears. Weird stuff. Then the Dobsons turn around two months later really and have Nick discover that his wife is really alive so then we have Kim battlling a bitchy ex wive..again! I never got where the Dobsons were supposed to be such genius..they just seemed to keep things afloat. The only time ATWT jelled under the Dobbies was when they focused on their limited amount of characters...(Tom/Margo..Babs/James...Betsy/Steve...John/Dee....) everyone else just stood around and did nothing. Interesting idea of having the Snyders low level hospital employees. Kind of interesting to see that other people then docs and nurse work at hospitals..Emma could have been head housekeeper. To tie her in with people and the Hughes family.

The only good thing about that kitchen is that in the first year or two it actually had a bathroom with a toliet we could see..meaning someone actually took a crap in Oakdale..(excuse me Luthor's Corners..was that supposed to be a town or what??Sounded like hell to me...) I wanted someone to actually be taking a big mean dump in there, while someone comes in the kitchen and starts telling who the baby daddy is, who they have been sleeping with, all you would see is the voice over with a close up shot of the dumper with the patented "Oh MY GOD!" look on their face. A twist on a Marland cliche.

I hated the Snyders at that time..(we knew as soon as we saw that kitchen the pace of the show would stop..) It DID seem another show when they came on and it looked goofy to see the rest of the characters waltzing around that kitchen (Lucinda did it to be overbreaing...) there is one clip of Lisa in full Lisa Make Up and Spangeld Dress walking around and it like WTF. ATWT didn't need a rural family it needed a more low income urban family to connect to most of the viewers and Marland wrote his farm family like they were from a bad 30s movie...(I grew up in farm country and most of the farmers were super rich...) Hated them and Marland's worst move with the goofy incest, etc. Having Emma be Lucinda's maid or cook would have worked better in pushing the Snyders and the Walsh together. Didnt they plan on burning down the farm at one time? I think the incest reveal thing happened as he draaaggged it on and on and think viewer reaction and TPTB told Marland to "just get it over with," so he did. It almost seems he did it in a bit of a huff.