5 hours ago, SoapDope78 said:

I found a few clippings and pics online but full access to old soap magazines would be a better source to dig deep. He comes across as a bit conceited in what little I find.

Thanks for posting these!

It's funny to me (kind of) that there is an article about him almost dying while he was flying because I remember him complaining that they wouldn't let him fly a helicopter during a location shoot. Of course they wouldn't, because of the insurance and because it would be kind of inconvenient if one of the major stars of the show was injured or killed during a shoot.

I got the feeling he wanted Mike to be more of an action kind of hero--and some of his comments here seem to confirm that he was like that in his private life. Marland did write some stuff like that for him. I recall a big fight to the death on a ski tram during another location shoot.

He suffered what a lot of soap actors who were stars during the 60s and 70s went through during the 80s. That kind of hero went out of fashion for a while and like others in his age group he didn't like it much. They were aging out of the romantic hero role as well. 

That doesn't mean there was no place for Mike on the show. I feel like they needed the character to ease into becoming the major patriarch figure. I don't think Stewart was interested in that kind of role.

6 minutes ago, DeeVee said:

Thanks for posting these!

It's funny to me (kind of) that there is an article about him almost dying while he was flying because I remember him complaining that they wouldn't let him fly a helicopter during a location shoot. Of course they wouldn't, because of the insurance and because it would be kind of inconvenient if one of the major stars of the show was injured or killed during a shoot.

I got the feeling he wanted Mike to be more of an action kind of hero--and some of his comments here seem to confirm that he was like that in his private life. Marland did write some stuff like that for him. I recall a big fight to the death on a ski tram during another location shoot.

He suffered what a lot of soap actors who were stars during the 60s and 70s went through during the 80s. That kind of hero went out of fashion for a while and like others in his age group he didn't like it much. They were aging out of the romantic hero role as well. 

That doesn't mean there was no place for Mike on the show. I feel like they needed the character to ease into becoming the major patriarch figure. I don't think Stewart was interested in that kind of role.

Yes, it seemed like he didn't want to accept the fact he was aging into patriarch territory and made waves behind the scenes when he didn't get his way about whatever.

 

Well, in his defense, he was only 45 (and younger than Eileen Fulton) when Alan-Michael was born on screen. Given the way grandfathers on soaps were portrayed (gray-haired, escorting other older ladies to restaurants and never having romance again, I can understand his point of view.

What he probably should've done is asked for Mike to have an unknown son dropped into his life.

Regarding Josh and Vanessa, the only time I can see them as a couple is their first few years on the show, when they were rich, catty bitches alienated from most of "good" Springfield, to the point where I remember one 1982 episode in Wired for Sound (wasn't that the name of the disco?) that has them both prowling the place, being judged nonstop by all of Marland's morally righteous creations. 

(I wish they'd kept some of that designer-sunglasses aspect with Josh later on but I suppose "good" characters aren't meant to luxuriate in their money)

If Marland had stayed with GL, I could see them eventually circling each other the way Joe Bradley and Diane did - amoral people who couldn't trust each other as partners in crime or in bed, maybe with a less fatal outcome. 

If Marland had introduced HB and Billy, I imagine they would be very different, and Billy wouldn't have been paired with Vanessa. 

In a story where Vanessa found out Quint was Henry's son, I could see her convincing Josh to try to break up Quint and Nola (promising him some kind of business help or whatever), only to become jealous at seeing Josh wooing a woman she hates instead of her. 

Edited October 14, 2025Oct 14 by DRW50

Oh, God, I can't ever see them having sex, much less being a couple. It gives me the heebee geebees. At any point. They just aren't each other's types. When they're younger, Josh isn't ambitious enough (or apt to let himself be "molded") for Vanessa, and Vanessa is clearly too high-strung and demanding for Josh.

When they're older, the friendship is too established. Besides, each knew the other was too hung up on Billy and Reva.

The only kind of story I can see is Nadine manipulating Billy to believe somethings going on, with disastrous results.

4 minutes ago, P.J. said:

Oh, God, I can't ever see them having sex, much less being a couple. It gives me the heebee geebees. At any point. They just aren't each other's types. When they're younger, Josh isn't ambitious enough (or apt to let himself be "molded") for Vanessa, and Vanessa is clearly too high-strung and demanding for Josh.

It's not where I'd see them going either, but the show was very plot-led at that time and so were the romantic pairings. If I could believe Vanessa having to humiliate herself for the deadly dull Mark, I could probably believe her having something with Josh.

27 minutes ago, DRW50 said:

In a story where Vanessa found out Quint was Henry's son, I could see her convincing Josh to try to break up Quint and Nola (promising him some kind of business help or whatever), only to become jealous at seeing Josh wooing a woman she hates instead of her. 

Nola was one of the ones they chem tested him with. I think Nola was pregnant at the time, too!

I'm not a big fan of rushing romantic pairs into marriage. The minute Nola and Quint were married, all the energy went out of their pairing. (Same happened with Kelly and Morgan). So I think elongating their courtship with a story like this would have been much more interesting. They had him as the spoiler in Kelly and Morgan's marriage, but this would have been more layered, as it would have involved Vanessa and Josh not doing it just to put another notch on his bedpost.

5 minutes ago, DRW50 said:

It's not where I'd see them going either, but the show was very plot-led at that time and so were the romantic pairings. If I could believe Vanessa having to humiliate herself for the deadly dull Mark, I could probably believe her having something with Josh.

I see what you're saying about the plottiness of it all (ugh...I'll see your Mark and raise you Tony on the useless humiliation scale..) 

 

3 minutes ago, DeeVee said:

Nola was one of the ones they chem tested him with. I think Nola was pregnant at the time, too!

I'm not a big fan of rushing romantic pairs into marriage. The minute Nola and Quint were married, all the energy went out of their pairing. (Same happened with Kelly and Morgan). So I think elongating their courtship with a story like this would have been much more interesting. They had him as the spoiler in Kelly and Morgan's marriage, but this would have been more layered, as it would have involved Vanessa and Josh not doing it just to put another notch on his bedpost.

I was surprised when I realized that shot in the disco credits of Josh eyeing up a woman and her sexy legs was Nola. I agree that more could have been done to delay Quint and Nola. 

At least with Kelly and Morgan it was presumably meant to be a cautionary tale of marrying too quickly, but the intense dullness of the recast took away the message. 

I wish I could see more of what you've all described when Morgan finally dumps his ass. 

1 minute ago, P.J. said:

I see what you're saying about the plottiness of it all (ugh...I'll see your Mark and raise you Tony on the useless humiliation scale..) 

Oh yes...Tony was even worse. 

How any woman could ever choose him over Derek - honestly, I think I would have preferred finding Steven Jackson, wherever he was by that time, for a quiet evening over dealing with Tony.

41 minutes ago, DRW50 said:

In a story where Vanessa found out Quint was Henry's son, I could see her convincing Josh to try to break up Quint and Nola (promising him some kind of business help or whatever), only to become jealous at seeing Josh wooing a woman she hates instead of her. 

LOL...in some ways, I think Vanessa was still a little put off she'd been dumped for a grandma (Jennifer), and a double murderess (Carrie).

Just now, P.J. said:

LOL...in some ways, I think Vanessa was still a little put off she'd been dumped for a grandma (Jennifer), and a double murderess (Carrie).

When you add in that Ed was so stressed over their relationship that he regenerated, she really was going through it.

1 minute ago, P.J. said:

I see what you're saying about the plottiness of it all (ugh...I'll see your Mark and raise you Tony on the useless humiliation scale..)

From the little I've seen of Vanessa in the 90s with "he who shall not be named," it was the same vibe in the beginning with them, wasn't it? Kind of a throwback to the way Vanessa was with Tony. At least, at first.

1 minute ago, DRW50 said:

Oh yes...Tony was even worse. 

How any woman could ever choose him over Derek - honestly, I think I would have preferred finding Steven Jackson, wherever he was by that time, for a quiet evening over dealing with Tony.

Tony is one of those characters that just doesn't age well. Macho without a Cause, if you will.

Hillary had really bad taste in men. Even Kelly is a bit iffy, if you know what I mean.

4 minutes ago, DRW50 said:

How any woman could ever choose him over Derek - honestly, I think I would have preferred finding Steven Jackson, wherever he was by that time, for a quiet evening over dealing with Tony.

I was shocked when I heard Harley Venton, the actor who played Derek, was thisclose to getting the male lead role in the show Moonlighting before Bruce Willis was cast. And apparently, he was way more popular than TPTB realized because there was pushback when he was written out.

Maybe they missed an opportunity here. Unfortunately, Derek was, you know, one of those sanctimonious male characters Marland was fond of writing. If they had made him a little more complex, and given him more of a story beyond moping after Hillary, it's possible he could have been developed into a strong male lead.