GL now joins some illustrious company in the cancelled soap thread.

Let's share memories and ask questions here.

The one thread I noticed about Long and her stints was that she was all about the forbidden love aspect from a class perspective.

Alan and Vanessa came from the same world so it made sense that the two would start to officially date in 1983 after his marriage to Hope finally exploded because she was from his world. Even though Billy came from a family with money, it was a less refined/classy world that Billy had come from so naturally Vanessa was drawn to him because he offered something different and did play into her natural instinct to rebel against the world that she was raised in.

CB leaving in the spring of 1984 cut the triangle short, and going against popular opinion... I think Vanessa becoming a parent, suffering from post-partum, and feeling stifled by this new environment did drive her to become addicted to pills.

When Long had come back, she didn't seem keen on Ross/Vanessa as a couple hence her deciding to go to Alan due to need someone more dependable/powerful that was familiar to her.

However, Alan became drawn to Reva because she was different and exciting for him and he did have a history of going for women that were different from the women in his world so I could see why he and Vanessa didn't last yet again (also, Maeve was quitting so they had to 86 that story).

I think Pilon having to take over suddenly and during the writer strike cut short whatever story Long had planned for Alan/Reva since she seemed really committed them as a couple before the strike and before CB had to vacate his role.

@DeeVee I remember that Chelsea/Phillip were still a couple until at least May or June 1988 (knee deep in the writer strike). It seemed the scab writers were trying to make things up as they went along with the show kind of teasing Reva/Johnny during the strike and also Johnny/Blake as well post Roxie leaving.. before putting Phillip with Blake and Chelsea with Johnny.

Kassie Wesley Depriava did say that during the writer strike, without warning.. Blake suddenly had her love interest and her story in a blink of an eye.

To this day, I still love the interview Long did as a part of a post-1988 writer strike follow up article where she freaked out at the show deciding to use her newest creation Blake without any outline or plan... and then trying to figure out how to carry forward with the character once the strike was over.

I also forgot all about Johnny's cancer story and the 40s style melodrama where naturally funny Roxie was forced into the grieving girlfriend role that fit a 40s style movie instead of an 80s style soap opera. I don't recall if Roxie having a nervous breakdown post Johnny going into remission happened before the writer strike, or during the writer strike.

All this recent discussion is interesting to me as I didn't watch much of GL (at all) during 1987 and 1988. (The Paul Valere/Alan/India art scam was so bad that I had to ditch the show. That and everything Reva.)

IMO, no triangle GL could dream up during that period could surpass the story opportunity/clash presented by the following pentad: Alan/Vanessa/Ross/Holly/Roger. The dynamics of those five operating off each other makes any triangle superfluous.

Did Vanessa and Holly have scenes together prior to MG's departure in 1981? I assume not. If not, they certainly would have been aware of the other's existence.

And, yeah, I realize that Roger didn't resurface until 1989. He shouldn't have been reintroduced as Adam Malick, but as himself. Seeing Zaslow running around in a mask for seemingly endless months pretty much sucked.

It would have been much more fun to see Roger suddenly inserted into an already hot quartet.

1 hour ago, Soaplovers said:

However, Alan became drawn to Reva because she was different and exciting for him and he did have a history of going for women that were different from the women in his world so I could see why he and Vanessa didn't last yet again (also, Maeve was quitting so they had to 86 that story).

I can see Alan wanting to get with Reva....while not the sex on the stick that she was during her first year, she was pretty damn hot still, and Alan, like his daddy, liked to play with the forbidden fruit..but he would have never fallen in love with her...( I remember them writing him saying he never felt love like this, apparently forgetting Hope, and I have to forget her pathetically marrying her in a coma, in a hospital room he decorated in Victorian Lace...uh, more like a bordello for Reva but...) I hate that soaps can't show sexually infatuation or attraction without it turning into huge love. An Alan and Reva dynamic which they were both using each other, and both knew it would have been better. Alan likes Reva's ass and Reva likes Alan's money and power is more than enough. It got worse when Raines played Alan falling for Amish Reva.

It's a funny thing about Ron Raines...I envisioned him as Justin Marler, not Mike Bauer. Raines seems like a doctor.

Raines most resembled Alan in 1994, right after being cast in the role. Horrible writing and GL's non-commitment to the character took its toll. It was clear that no one knew who Alan was and didn't care to know.

Reva was back and that's all that mattered.

2 hours ago, Soaplovers said:

I think Pilon having to take over suddenly and during the writer strike cut short whatever story Long had planned for Alan/Reva since she seemed really committed them as a couple before the strike and before CB had to vacate his role.

I'm going to have disagree a little. I think Alan's purpose during this time was to be the spoiler for Josh/Reva. Josh and Reva were always Long's endgame. Even after she left, it stayed that way, mainly because fans wanted it that way.

If Larkin Malloy had chosen to stay, he would have functioned as the spoiler. (Even off-screen he kind of did function as the spoiler, because of the whole DNA switch thing--that Alan engineered). I believe someone here said one of the reasons Malloy left even though he could have stayed was because he knew he would end up being the loser in the triangle.

I don't think Bernau cared about that kind of thing (if he did, he was REALLY quiet about it, I don't remember him complaining about storylines he was in). But to me, it was a waste of his character. If a Alan/Vanessa/Ross triangle had happened, he would have been an actual contender. It would have come more from character. He and Vanessa would have been on an equal level and would have understood each other in ways that Ross never understood her. Even when Alan was with Hope, he was never her puppy dog, like he was with Reva. He definitely would not have been Vanessa's puppy dog.

30 minutes ago, Speed Racer said:

Did Vanessa and Holly have scenes together prior to MG's departure in 1981? I assume not. If not, they certainly would have been aware of the other's existence.

I'm pretty sure they didn't. I'm not even sure if Ed and Vanessa's affair had started before MG left.

18 minutes ago, Mitch64 said:

I can see Alan wanting to get with Reva....while not the sex on the stick that she was during her first year, she was pretty damn hot still, and Alan, like his daddy, liked to play with the forbidden fruit..but he would have never fallen in love with her...( I remember them writing him saying he never felt love like this, apparently forgetting Hope, and I have to forget her pathetically marrying her in a coma, in a hospital room he decorated in Victorian Lace...uh, more like a bordello for Reva but...) I hate that soaps can't show sexually infatuation or attraction without it turning into huge love. An Alan and Reva dynamic which they were both using each other, and both knew it would have been better. Alan likes Reva's ass and Reva likes Alan's money and power is more than enough. It got worse when Raines played Alan falling for Amish Reva.

I recently watched the whole Reva in the hospital thing on the German channel. It was SO stupid. (It's likely the scabs wrote most of this). The thing with Alan decorating the hospital room and taking over a whole floor of the hospital is something they got out of Dynasty. SO out of character.

I would have LOVED watching Alan and Reva using each other for their own purposes. That would have been fun, and believable. This crap about her being his one true love was an insult to the audience.

The funny thing is, if Lenore Kasdorf had stayed with the show, I bet that's exactly how Rita and Alan's relationship would have been. She wanted the lifestyle from being Mrs. Spaulding, he had the hots for her and liked that she wasn't judgemental about things he had done. Oh, yeah, they had Rita write Alan a letter confessing she was in love with him, but that could have been calculated.

26 minutes ago, Speed Racer said:

It's a funny thing about Ron Raines...I envisioned him as Justin Marler, not Mike Bauer. Raines seems like a doctor.

Some were also saying he would have been a good Ed.

27 minutes ago, Speed Racer said:

Raines most resembled Alan in 1994, right after being cast in the role. Horrible writing and GL's non-commitment to the character took its toll. It was clear that no one knew who Alan was and didn't care to know.

Yes, he just became the bombastic cartoon baddie. All the naunce and layers of the character were gone.

When it comes to Ron Raines, I could look past the cartoonish bombast and utter inability to generate heat with any of his female co-stars, but you know what I couldn't look past? His stout-ness. Call me shallow, but he was entirely too fat to play Alan Spaulding.

Edited 3 hours ago3 hr by Khan

3 minutes ago, Khan said:

When it comes to Ron Raines, I could look past the cartoonish bombast and utter inability to generate heat with any of his female co-stars, but you know what I couldn't look past? His stout-ness. Call me shallow, but he was entirely too fat to play Alan Spaulding.

I still can't figure out how a musical theater actor was cast in such a pivotal role and not a Friend of Jill or even a soap name. I think the friend Jill wanted was either not available or not interested, thus those in charge of casting going the new to daytime route.

Just now, kalbir said:

I think the friend Jill wanted was either not available or not interested, thus those in charge of casting going the new to daytime route.

That's always been my theory as well.

However, I've always believed that any Alan recast (after Christopher Bernau) needed to be British and/or classically trained. Someone like Jeremy Brett, for example, or Edward Woodward (even though Woodward would've been too old and Brett passed away in '95). He didn't have to have dark features, but he needed an ability to project a quieter sort of menace than Raines was CLEARLY incapable of.

And even if GL had to go the musical theatre actor route, for whatever reason, they still could've done a lot better than Raines, lol

I don't think Raines was all that horrible, at least not to the extent that others here think. The guy had more talent than what we typically saw. Much of any skill he had was held abeyant.

My problem with Raines is he was simply willing to go with the cards he was dealt. Pure supposition on my part, of course. I suspect he didn't spend much time watching Bernau. I suspect he never complained to the brass about character assassination. I suspect he didn't complain about the eradication of the Spaulding brand.

A twirling mustache persona is light years away from who Alan Spaulding was. Dope-peddling is light years away from who Alexandra Spaulding was.

55 minutes ago, kalbir said:

I still can't figure out how a musical theater actor was cast in such a pivotal role and not a Friend of Jill or even a soap name. I think the friend Jill wanted was either not available or not interested, thus those in charge of casting going the new to daytime route.

IMO, the "new to daytime" route was the right way to go, I just don't understand why they landed on him.

Other "new to daytime" hires were usually at least in some way known to daytime audiences: people like Eric Braeden, Phil Carey, David Canary, etc. They weren't BIG stars, but they had a familiarity to the audience. No one knew who the hell this guy was.

Even that wouldn't have been a problem for me if he had had some of the qualities that Alan needed.

Bernau's Alan could be funny and charming. Manipulative and mean. Cold and calculating. Sometimes all at the same time.

Even Pilon could handle some of that. Raines was just too one-note.

GL desperately needed a character like this. The first years Raines was on it might not have seemed so bad because the show still had Zaslow's Roger. Once he was gone, that left a big gap in the show. They should have realized this and either done another recast or written Alan out and created a new character to take that role.

Heck, they could have killed off Alan much earlier and had Phillip fill that role on the show. I'm sure Grant could have handled it.

18 minutes ago, Speed Racer said:

A twirling mustache persona is light years away from who Alan Spaulding was. Dope-peddling is light years away from who Alexandra Spaulding was.

Well, yes, you are so right, he can't be blamed for everything. The writing for the character was definitely a big part of the problem.

21 hours ago, DeeVee said:

Oh, DEFINITELY. The funny thing is, as soon as Marland left, everyone forgot that there was a period when Alan and Ross were good friends (mainly while Ross was married to Carrie). Ross kind of wanted to BE Alan.

If they had pulled on the threads of  Ross and Vanessa's history, and Alan and Ross's erstwhile friendship, it could have been very interesting. 

We're talking about a show where a woman slept with a father, his two sons, and the half-brother of one of the sons. That had a guy romance a girl who he once thought might be his daughter. Not to mention the cousin sex way down the road.

The family connection between Rick and Chelsea is pretty mild in comparison. 😂

Well, Ross' ambitiousness kind of got buried after Carrie. It seems to me that as Mike's role diminished, other people suddenly found reasons to hate Alan. Alan and Van had never really gotten along, Billy and Ross both feel screwed over by him, and then Alex comes to kick him out of the kingdom.

Well, there's a clear difference between Spaulding (or Lewis) awkward and what's awkward for the Bauers. LOL.

I don't think Van and Holly interacted when they overlapped in '80-'81ish. Van certainly knew Andy and Barbara. Holly would've been in prison for shooting Roger during some of that. When Van returns in '89, she doesn't recognize Holly, and mistook her for Nadine. There were definite story bubbles back in the day.

I never got the sense that Alan really "knew" Vanessa. He saw someone of his class, who was supposed to abide by certain "rules". And that was enough. That he ever expected her to turn a blind eye to his attraction to Reva says to me he had no clue how territorial or jealous Van could be. He wasn't going to be able to control her any more than he could really control Reva.

11 minutes ago, P.J. said:

I never got the sense that Alan really "knew" Vanessa. He saw someone of his class, who was supposed to abide by certain "rules". And that was enough. That he ever expected her to turn a blind eye to his attraction to Reva says to me he had no clue how territorial or jealous Van could be. He wasn't going to be able to control her any more than he could really control Reva.

I got the feeling that the reason he got bored with Elizabeth and Hope was because they were very easy to control. Hope forgave everything (which was SO anticlimatic, after years of all the secrets Alan kept from her). So it's not unbelievable that he would be attracted to both Van and Reva. (Trish being so much like Hope was the one thing about that storyline that seemed off to me).

He knew Vanessa during her "vamp" years. Maybe he thought they were both cosmopolitan enough to turn a blind eye to any flirtations. I doubt he expected a dutiful, faithful wife like Elizabeth or Hope.

The thing about CB's Alan was that he could be just at home in an upper crust establishment, yet also had a warm down to earth aura about him. He seemed like he could be someone you would run into if you ventured into a more high end department store and/or neighborhood.

Ron Raines was too much of a cartoon and too Broadway to play Alan properly.