GL: March Discussion

[Dan]

As for the show this week, I'm starting to get tired of the good on this show getting sacrificed for the bad. We get a three-second Mindy and Billy scene, a three-second Alex/Alan scene, and just a smidge of Josh/Shayne/Reva, not to mention Buzz/Lillian. And what do we get instead of more depth for these potentially amazing scenes? Jeffrey acting like some obnoxious prick, Marina and Mallet celebrating their tru wuv and the new baby Mallet committed fraud to get so that his little wifie wouldn't have to go without a child more than a few mere months after their marriage, and Lizzie caterwalling about her kidnapper. Please.

I understand that the writers are starting to transition to better stuff (the kidnapping story ending, Grady dying), but seriously, PUT YOUR BEST FOOT FORWARD! You had to have known that the reunion was going to bring in viewers if done well, write the hell out of it. You had to have known that some of the little scenes between people we love (Mindy/Billy, Alex/Alan, The Lewises) would make us happy, so write them and flesh them out! We can deal with a conversation lasting longer than just one scene thank you. That's why we watch soaps dagnabbit.

[DRW50]

I did like the second Felicia, I thought she was as good as Sheri Headley, but they never did anything with her. Richard was very special and he's much missed (he never got enough credit for his soap or sci-fi work).

When the family was announced, my first thought was, "This is a stunt. Paul Rauch doesn't do stories for black people." And although I know they could have been planned as more, a big part of me still thinks that's what it was.

I didn't realize two of the returning headwriters had created the family. That does help explain why Remy has more to do, although poor Mel is still nowhere (I guess she's lucky to even appear). I wish they could de-age Leah, because now Mel is in some strange age bracket all of her own. I agree that it would be nice to integrate the characters more. They seemed to hint at Alan getting involved in their story, but that may have been dropped.

I was trying to remember earlier today...did Holly have anything to do during that awful Conboy/Weston period? Or Ross and Blake? I know Ross ran for mayor then, but I don't remember a story. I don't remember Holly having any story between the time they dropped her potential reunion with Ed and the time they gave her the Sebastian story before shipping her away. Does anyone know what Maureen Garrett is doing now? If they ever did ask her back, would she return?

I also wonder if they would have kept Ed if Peter Simon hadn't quit. Probably not, but I still get angry when I think about how his return was wasted with that Maryann Carruthers story.

Holy crap, that must have been three seconds, I don't even remember seeing it. What day was this?

You're right about too much of the poorer material. Hopefully the Jeffrey/Reva story is starting to wind down now. I felt like Friday's episode was a very rushed conclusion on what may originally have been a longer conflict.

It's good to be in a position where there's even any good material being given short strift, but that's no excuse. I did think last week's show was generally decent, but there are some big exceptions.

[Dan]

Yeah, Holly pretty much vanished after Garrett was taken off contract in late February 2003. The main story for Blake/Ross WAS the mayoral election, as well as their Christmas wedding.

By the way, the fact that they aborted the Ed/Holly reunion STILL sticks in my craw. I still fondly remember and watch some of their scenes from that time period and they had such heart, maturity, and history to them that a good story for them could have energized the show. Actually, it seemed as if they had been hinting about a story for them about dredging up Ed's time in Africa. But then Taggart left and with her all her good ideas for the show. I still miss that woman so much.

Eh. Even if Peter Simon hadn't quit just before Wheeler got there, he probably still wouldn't be on today lol. He would have gotten downsized, pissed off, or both. By the way, it doesn't look like Simon has been asked back to the show. Perhaps it's time for a legitimate fan campaign for once?? Simon back to GL!

As for Garrett, I believe I had heard that she started a spa business on a Caribbean island. I don't know if she would return, but I would like to find out lol. Ed and Holly are at the very top of my list. I'd be willing to kill off a few of the riffraff characters on this show myself to get them back.

[Dan]

I had misread a post on The Buzz earlier and assumed there was an Alex/Alan scene on one of the days I was working. The poster was referring to the PHILLIP/Alex scene in the jail cell.

[DRW50]

Thanks, Dan. Maureen's working in the Caribbean? That's like something out of a Roger/Holly story.

There were so many heartbreaking elements of what P&G did to Michael Zaslow, but I really disliked how they seemed to decide Holly was a meaningless character if Roger was gone. I think Holly, at her best, was such a psychologically complex and mesmerizing character. She's really what GL was built on. A strong yet also neurotic woman. There was and still is so much which can be done with her.

I wish we knew if he'd be willing to return. If he is, there's no reason they shouldn't ask him back. I can see why he'd be wary, given the treatment of other vets.

I wouldn't even be upset at an Ed recast, depending on the actor, as long as they return the Bauers to being a prominent family. I still miss the Bauer kitchen, and so much else which is never likely to return.

[Phoenix11]

I had heard they did ask Peter Simon back and he declined - I don't know if it's true or not, but it seemed to come from a reliable source. Funny thing about Holly for me, without Roger around, I really didn't care that much about her. I don't know why b/c they were my favorite couple back in the day - especially during the Acapulco and Daniel St. John stories.

[DRW50]

I think she became a spare part without Roger, not helped by the relationship with Fletcher and the Down's Syndrome baby both being backburnered even before MZ got sick. Holly had no story to fall back on once Roger left, since they gave up so easily on Fletcher and the baby. If they had tried, I think Holly could have survived without Roger.

I actually got a kick out of the stories Holly had after they left, because of MG's performances and the high camp level in all of her scenes with Blake and with her brother Ken, even though these stories destroyed Holly's character. Then even when she was just a reporter, or just in those very tentative relationships with Billy and Buzz, I still thought she brought something to the table.

There's still so much with Blake and Holly which could be mined, and with Ed, if they bother to bring him back. I know all this is a long way off and GL is just trying to survive, I mean if GL stabilizes enough to be able to bring some of these people back.

[Dan]

According to this week's Soaps In Depth, Simon was not asked back. Now, is that 100% gospel? Probably just spin.

But dammit, I wish he's return. I don't think we ever expected him to return the last time, so anything is possible.

[Dan]

Sigh... What could have been....

[DRW50]

I had already started to hate Michelle by then but that just sealed it, especially since Holly had been Michelle's lifeline after Maureen died.

At least they weren't murdered, like some other characters, so I guess they can always come back.

I hope all this hanging onto the past doesn't make it sound like I'm not enjoying the show right now, because I'm enjoying more of it than I have in about 6 years; it's just that some parts of the past still bother me.

[Dan]

Meh. During the darkest parts of the Weston and Kreizman tenures, the past was all that was left to keep me from swearing off the show forever. So I probably never would have started watching again...

[DRW50]

Sometimes I think that the long absences I took during some of the Weston and Kriezman eras are why I can enjoy the show now, or that most of what I really liked about GL is gone now and I can accept that and not watch with a chip on my shoulder, but I can't do any of that with ATWT even though I was in the same situation there, so I guess it's more than that which has brought me back to GL, I really am enjoying more of the show than not now. I just hope it keeps improving, GL has such a rich history and many times has been like the phoenix of daytime.

I forgot to say thanks to Phoenix11 for filling me in on some of the story with Remy's baby dying. I didn't see any of that. I think this Remy has very strong potential if they try to write for him. I know you can't rely on the past, but I'd love to see Gilly return...maybe she could be a friend of Christina's family, like a mother figure to her. I don't think they did right by Amelia Marshall in her exit story and since she's probably not hugely expensive, they could afford to bring her back and have her enliven the current cast and also give WSPR more stories. She and Vanessa (does Vanessa still own WSPR) would probably have some great conflict. They could bring Dinah in too.

[Dan]

I'm...actually not sure, lol. I know that Holly was said to own it back in 2002-3, way after Vanessa had bought it in the late 90s. I believe Josh owns it now, or or owns at least part of it.

[tanyia2]

I have to agree with you about Holly and Roger. The only reason in my opinion that Ed/holly were interesting was due to Roger.

[DRW50]

I saw a clip on Youtube from 2006 or 2007, I guess, where Vanessa was on the phone talking about stuff to do at WSPR. I just assumed she still owned it.