1 hour ago, DeeVee said:

There was SO much to pull from the past and they didn't do it.

The last year before Amanda was written out the first time, Alan ruthlessly stole the Spaulding presidency from her. She founded LTA, which ultimately failed and was absorbed by Spaulding. Then when she wanted to raise Jennifer's kid, Alan actually plotted to take him from her and put him up for adoption.

When she briefly returned in 1987, she handed over her proxy to Phillip and didn't even ask him what he needed it for. She was all Christmas smiles, but it was obvious she was still p!ssed about the past.

It was unnecessary to make her a madam or Brandon's daughter. That's just using shock value instead of composing an actual story. She had PLENTY of reason to go medieval on Alan and even Alex, who as far as I can tell, never reached out to her over those missing years.

(By the way, did they ever acknowledge that she and Josh were once partners and friends back in the day? I don't recall it, but I wasn't watching that regularly then).

Totally agree that Amanda had more then enough reason to screw over Alan and Alex and even Phillip (to give her some depth I would have her actually like AM as her "baby brother" and her old friend Hope's kid, and for AM to like her back as I would have him feel "not part of the Spaulding fold" either) . Alex could have brought out the Lucille older woman animosity in Amanda...especially since they had Alex throwing up the infamous attic in one scene. I wanted her to go to Ross with plans to get back what she deserved from Alan and Alex, and for him to be in on it and support her, kind of brining back his old power lust side. This he woudl have to keep a secret from Blake , who of course would be jealous. Alan really only threw her a bone when he signed his shares over (which never made sense why he left SF in the first place except for plot to find Reva.) so I can see her making the most of it.

She did mention LTA to both Ross and Josh, but by that time the show was so cartoony and the good guys so self righteous with the "bad" guys that he didn want anything to do with her.

34 minutes ago, Mitch64 said:

(to give her some depth I would have her actually like AM as her "baby brother" and her old friend Hope's kid, and for AM to like her back as I would have him feel "not part of the Spaulding fold" either) .

I was going to say this, too! Of course it was kind of screwed up because of AM's accelerated aging and Amanda's de-aging, but AM should have meant a great deal to her. They alluded to Amanda still being close to Hope during the 1987 return.

Both had good reason to resent Phillip, who, no matter who was writing the show, was the only kid Alan truly cared about. They should have HATED his non-Spaulding @ss.

No-brainer. So much good potential drama left behind.

There's a point where Alan and Henry step away from Spaulding and give their voting rights to their daughters.

B.ut no. There was some kind of joint venture (as best as I can understand it) where they were drilling for oil off the Spanish coast when a massive storm hit. The rigs were lost. Because Lewis didn't have enough insurance, (which is hinted at as being Billy's fault), both companies are going to go down. The only way to save them is through some kind of deal where Spaulding takes on Lewis' portion of the insurance. Amanda won't do it, which leads to a shareholder fight. both Henry and Alan takes their voting rights back. Vanessa tries blackmailing Quint for his proxy so she can get a VP position, from either Alan or Amanda. Quint gives it to her, and she promises it to Amanda. Quint then blackmails Vanessa over the Jocelyn electronics deal, (where she and Henry took a kickback) and takes it back. Quint votes for Henry's side, and Vanessa gets the VP from Alan, because it looks like she swayed him to vote for Henry/Alan.

Whatever it was, exactly, it wasn't a Lewis-Spaulding merger.

Later, in 1988, Phillip uses the Lewis's and the promise of a merger to kick Alan out of the company.

Around 2000, Phillip does acquire Lewis Oil, but I'm not exactly sure how. The Lewis's then concentrate on construction, I guess.

4 hours ago, DeeVee said:

Both had good reason to resent Phillip, who, no matter who was writing the show, was the only kid Alan truly cared about. They should have HATED his non-Spaulding @ss.

No-brainer. So much good potential drama left behind.

Well, it could have been interesting drama, so of course they didn't touch it.

I would have given AM imposter syndrome..as if it wasn't Alan or Alex he had to impress, he had shadow of Phillip, not even a bio Spaulding, hovering all over him. Add to that his Bauer which was rarely mentioned, and he would have felt..less then his backstabbing family. When Alan was trying to steal the presidency from him during the Brent storyline, I wanted him to have a scene with Ed where he tells AM to fight for the role..."Your great grandfather was an immigrant, and he would have been so proud of you being in charge and all the good you can do to help the people who work for Spaulding and the community. He was the exact opposite of Brandon and that should be your role model." So we find out AM wants to change some things, running up against Alan and Alex, and Amanda actually taking his side..."Out with the old and in with the new, nothing personal Alex when I say...old."

2 hours ago, P.J. said:

There's a point where Alan and Henry step away from Spaulding and give their voting rights to their daughters.

This is not exactly relevant to the conversation, but I was watching some of Summer 1982, and the whole "Alan and Henry step away to start their own company with Hope" thing was a real low point for Marland, IMO.

First of all, Hope was an interior decorator. It was as if she had to be part of the company to make sure Alan didn't slip back into his old ways. Or maybe Marland couldn't think of anything to do with Hope so he put her in the middle of that so they could fulfill her minimum appearances per week in her contract.

I believe it's around the time that Marland steps down that the new writers do the whole struggle over Spaulding story, as you outlined. Having Alan and Henry sitting by the fire and talking about cutting back on the cutthroat atmosphere of the corporate world was a major blunder, IMO. I have no idea where Marland thought he was going with that. Having it cut short by Marland leaving was an immediate improvement to the show.

Though why the oil rig was called the "Madrid Project" I will never figure out--Madrid is in the MIDDLE of Spain! It's not on the coast! You can't have off-shore drills in Madrid! Did any of these people own a MAP? (Yeah, I know, it's not really a big deal but my family lived in Spain for a while and it bugs me).

1 hour ago, Mitch64 said:

I would have given AM imposter syndrome..as if it wasn't Alan or Alex he had to impress, he had shadow of Phillip, not even a bio Spaulding, hovering all over him. Add to that his Bauer which was rarely mentioned, and he would have felt..less then his backstabbing family. When Alan was trying to steal the presidency from him during the Brent storyline, I wanted him to have a scene with Ed where he tells AM to fight for the role..."Your great grandfather was an immigrant, and he would have been so proud of you being in charge and all the good you can do to help the people who work for Spaulding and the community. He was the exact opposite of Brandon and that should be your role model." So we find out AM wants to change some things, running up against Alan and Alex, and Amanda actually taking his side..."Out with the old and in with the new, nothing personal Alex when I say...old."

Yes to all of this. It would have been great if they worked the fact that AM was a Bauer into the story. And have it really drive Alan mad! The Bauers were his nemeses for a very long time.

Yeah, I'm a broken record on this, but I'll say it again:

Amanda should have married Ed and become a Bauer. The legitimate story possibilities are nearly endless. You could have Amanda's Spaulding resentment bloom after she becomes a Bauer. Then have Hope return.

Yes, AM is Amanda's natural ally. All the more reason for Amanda to marry Ed...move a chunk of the Spaulding influence and money into the sunken living room.

I remember that back in September/October 1982, there was a hurricane somewhere near Venezuela that led to the deaths of several Spaulding employees (and contractors) working on oil rigs. This was while Amanda was president but was all too focused on Mark/Jennifer.

I'm sure I have some of those details wrong, but I distinctly remember the hurricane.

An event like that surely could have been used by Alan to undermine Amanda in front of stockholders and the board.

12 hours ago, TheyStartedOnSoaps said:

In a new interview with Monti Sharp, he says the role of David Grant went down to the wire between him and actor Flex Alexander - below video of Flex if you are curious about how he would interpret David Grant

Thanks. This may also be good for the They Almost Became thread.

19 hours ago, Soaplovers said:

Also, Nadine had a visible change in how she was written by Long vs Curlee. Nadine was more a schemer and social climber hosting the Love Bug and having a fling with Billy under Long while Curlee presented a more desperate Nadine trying to keep a hold of Billy instead of cutting her losses and focusing on her next prospect/scheme.

Nadine shifts under Long. Before Vanessa's arrival, Nadine is an social climbing opportunist who's ambitious enough to go at Alan. She's not going to win, obviously, but she's also gaining Ross' sympathy, and his bed. After Vanessa returns, Nadine is completely self-absorbed, and 3/4 nitwit.

2 hours ago, DeeVee said:

I believe it's around the time that Marland steps down that the new writers do the whole struggle over Spaulding story, as you outlined. Having Alan and Henry sitting by the fire and talking about cutting back on the cutthroat atmosphere of the corporate world was a major blunder, IMO. I have no idea where Marland thought he was going with that. Having it cut short by Marland leaving was an immediate improvement to the show.

While I agree it's a bit of a head scratcher, and I'm sure the conclusion would've been different had Marland stayed, it gives Amanda and Vanessa something to sink their teeth into.

I wonder if it also wasn't a way to cut back Chris Bernau's workload. We don't know how his health was at the time.

1 hour ago, Speed Racer said:

I remember that back in September/October 1982, there was a hurricane somewhere near Venezuela that led to the deaths of several Spaulding employees (and contractors) working on oil rigs. This was while Amanda was president but was all too focused on Mark/Jennifer.

I'm sure I have some of those details wrong, but I distinctly remember the hurricane.

An event like that surely could have been used by Alan to undermine Amanda in front of stockholders and the board.

I'm not sure what they call those storms in the Mediterranean, but that's where the storm was. Mark and Amanda go there, and Mark is washed overboard and feared dead.

They had a very deadly storm in Spain last year that caused severe flooding inland, which you don't really think would happen.

1 minute ago, P.J. said:

I wonder if it also wasn't a way to cut back Chris Bernau's workload. We don't know how his health was at the time.

I don't think so, because once Marland left, he was mostly front burner until he left the show the first time, in early 1984.

Nah, I think Marland just painted himself in a corner. He decided to go the redemption/happily married route for Alan and it diminished his usefulness on the canvas. Maybe he had a story planned to shake that up that didn't get a chance to happen. For instance, Rita hitting town with a kid, which would have blown up both Alan/Hope and Ed/Maureen.

37 minutes ago, DeeVee said:

I don't think so, because once Marland left, he was mostly front burner until he left the show the first time, in early 1984.

Nah, I think Marland just painted himself in a corner. He decided to go the redemption/happily married route for Alan and it diminished his usefulness on the canvas. Maybe he had a story planned to shake that up that didn't get a chance to happen. For instance, Rita hitting town with a kid, which would have blown up both Alan/Hope and Ed/Maureen.

I feel like they must have been setting up Alan taking over for Amanda as even under Marland's pen, Amanda was being pushed as overly focused on Mark, but a part of me does wonder if Marland was setting Alan up for the same permanent redemption he later gave John Dixon. Marland did often believe in healing (religious elements aside he would have been a good fit for Another Life).

As I think you've said before, the biggest misstep in that period was his lack of interest in Philip. I suppose that was done to take the time to recast Philip, but it just makes those few years seem even more like Alan being placed into someone's fan fiction.