1 hour ago, Maxim said:

Annie has gone single white female on Reva again.

LOL - Yes she has... bad to her good old days! Love that GIF.

57 minutes ago, P.J. said:

@alwaysAMC Jenna came to town and stole some of Alex's jewelry. Then Roger used Jenna to get a hold of Spaulding. (way too long a story) while Alex was out of town.

And part of the reason I loathe **** is his self-righteous [!@#$%^&*] nature. ANYONE who knew Vanessa knew her work was important, and that she had a tendency to "bury herself in work" when she was upset. Aside from whether or not Jenna was "Vanessa's best friend", the fact that &&&& wants to ream her for how she reacts to someone's death, when we know how hard she took Maureen's death and Henry's, he can go STFU. From the way you described it, Vanessa wasn't expecting Vicky. Yet **** assumes the worst. UGH.

You're not wrong, very good point! Yep, she wasn't expecting Vicky, or said another way, she just forgot about the meeting because of the funeral and wasn't expecting her. So I agree, I think Matt assumed the worst in that situation and 100% overreacted.

Thanks for the Jenna/Alex background. :)

@alwaysAMC Jenna's dad was an inventor and Spauldings cheated her father out of the patent rights. Henry knew this and lied that he was Jenna's father (as a cover) which is what caused conflict but eventually a sisterly bond. Roger married her and with the fortune that her dad was cheated out of- she (and Roger who was using her) had control of Spaulding. There was a document that Brandon's old secretary, Bess had and it was inserted into a teddy bear that was being sought after.

33 minutes ago, Spoon said:

@alwaysAMC Jenna's dad was an inventor and Spauldings cheated her father out of the patent rights. Henry knew this and lied that he was Jenna's father (as a cover) which is what caused conflict but eventually a sisterly bond. Roger married her and with the fortune that her dad was cheated out of- she (and Roger who was using her) had control of Spaulding. There was a document that Brandon's old secretary, Bess had and it was inserted into a teddy bear that was being sought after.

Ohh is that the teddy bear you mentioned that someone was throwing to Lucy (or something like that)? What was Lucy's role in all this?

Jenna's father wasn't cheated. Brandon had paid for the patent. Alan Michael even found the agreement. AM lost it because he was chasing after Eleni who was chasing after Frank who was looking for Alex in Bangladesh or somewhere. That's what caused Spaulding to lose the case. Jenna got Spaulding, lock stock and barrel, and kicked the Chamberlains and Spauldings out. (Jenna met Roger during the infamous blackout, and they eventually became lovers. Roger financed the lawsuit, and knew there was an agreement, but paid off Brandon's old secretary to disappear so he could get his hands on Spaulding.)

Vanessa goes back to Lewis, and helps Billy poach clients left and right. A-M gets Jenna to exchange the Springfield Journal for the Spaulding mansion, Nick goes back to print journalism in the hopes of exposing Roger. Vanessa authorizes a line of credit for them from Lewis funds, on the condition that Fletch is the Editor in Chief.

1 hour ago, DeeVee said:

This was a TERRIBLE misstep. I adore Carl, but let's face it, if he had never been on the show we wouldn't miss him. They could have SORASed Alan Michael only a few years or parked him in a boarding school while Hope returned. They did that with Rick and Phillip and it was fine, their parents didn't seem overly young. Basically, they made it impossible to bring Hope back without aging the character like 20 years. Which would have made her around Ed's age.

It has been suggested that instead of bringing in Ed's sudden godson Kelly, they should have brought in Peggy's son Billy Fletcher. Well, they could have done that at this point, too, with Peggy sending Billy to her good friend Ed, and he could have taken AM's place in that teen story. (Although they would have had to do something about his name--they couldn't call him Bill or Billy or even Fletch, LOL). Or they could have brought in Dylan sooner.

They could have still had a young AM involved in stories with the Spauldings--feeling like the afterthought compared to Phillip, Alan still trying to find a way to mess around with his trust fund...he didn't have to be 18 years old. Yeah, that would lose the Harley romance, but maybe they could have involved her with Phillip sooner.

I didn't know he was fired, I thought he left because he wanted to. There had to be some good will left because did come back briefly.

TBH, I was never a big fan of Stewart--it was so obvious he was reading a lot of his lines off the cue cards. I think it would have been much easier to recast him than Alan or even Ed. Yes, bring him back married--sure, with a stepson, there's someone else who could have taken AM's place in the teen story. And have a biological child with the new wife, to beef up the Bauer presence.

Oh, I had the most WILD idea the other day--we all were talking about the possibilities if Holly's ex-husband Dietrich Lindsay had been brought on the show as a regular character. How about if Hope returned--with the news that she was engaged to Dietrich! Of course she would be attracted to another rich, powerful man. She could have met him while visiting Holly in Switzerland. Maybe...she could have even been one of the reasons Holly and Dietrich split? They could have recast Alan sooner and had him fuming in jail about it. 😂

I completely agree - they should have brought back Hope back in 1987 before an 18 year old Alan-Michael, whether played by Elvera Roussel again or by someone new. Eventually A-M could have been brought back to Springfield, but they could have brought Hope to feud with Alan first. I would have finally put Ross and Hope together, for instance.

Even though I have Stewart as my avatar, I agree that they could have recast Mike Bauer back in 1984. I am assuming that the issue was that Stewart was still massively popular with the audience, since he and Charita were the longest running cast members at the point. Plus, Pam Long did want to write for Mike, since he was an older leading man in Springfield that was single! Long had planned out a love triangle for Mike, Lillian, and Alexandra that would have had repurcussions for Beth and Lujack. Stewart and McKinsey didn't apparently get along, so that story didn't progress the way it was supposed to. I was told that Kobe had enough, and informed Stewart while he was out playing golf that his contract wasn't being renewed. I thought that was just hot air, but I seem to remember Roger Newcomb verified that story in this very thread years ago! I think Stewart came back for the 60th Anniversary in 1997 because Paul Rauch was the producer at that point.

I wish both Peggy and Billy had returned to Springfield, especially once Roger was back in 1989. I think having Billy Fletcher back (although you are absolutely correct- he would need to have a new first name!) versus introducing a new son in Hart would have had a much bigger impact.

1 hour ago, zanereed said:

Long had planned out a love triangle for Mike, Lillian, and Alexandra that would have had repurcussions for Beth and Lujack.

I think that was potentially a good story. Especially since once Alan came back, it would have put Mike and Alan back in the same orbit.

How odd that they paired Alex with two of Alan's most dire enemies and he wasn't around for either storyline.

1 hour ago, zanereed said:

Stewart and McKinsey didn't apparently get along, so that story didn't progress the way it was supposed to.

I don't know how much of the murmurings are true, but seems like Stewart groused a lot about who he was paired with. It was probably only a matter of time before someone was going to get annoyed enough to let him go, so this story does not surprise me.

2 hours ago, zanereed said:

I wish both Peggy and Billy had returned to Springfield, especially once Roger was back in 1989. I think having Billy Fletcher back (although you are absolutely correct- he would need to have a new first name!) versus introducing a new son in Hart would have had a much bigger impact.

Definitely. Billy and Roger were fond of each other while Roger and Peggy were married. So there was history already built into their relationship that some viewers would have remembered. It's too bad they never took advantage of that.

14 hours ago, DeeVee said:

I think that was potentially a good story. Especially since once Alan came back, it would have put Mike and Alan back in the same orbit.

How odd that they paired Alex with two of Alan's most dire enemies and he wasn't around for either storyline.

I don't know how much of the murmurings are true, but seems like Stewart groused a lot about who he was paired with. It was probably only a matter of time before someone was going to get annoyed enough to let him go, so this story does not surprise me.

Definitely. Billy and Roger were fond of each other while Roger and Peggy were married. So there was history already built into their relationship that some viewers would have remembered. It's too bad they never took advantage of that.

From what I gleamed, the set up was Lillian dating Mike to start. Alexandra was to become fascinated with "Mr. Law and Order" by the late spring/early summer of 1984. You can see Alex and Mike's relationship developing on some of the June and July episodes available on YT. Alex would even use Lujack as leverage to keep in Mike's orbit, trying to get Mike to help free Lujack from The Galahads. Mike was still dating Lillian at the time of the Founders Day event in August of 1984, but shortly thereafter Mike Bauer was gone from Springfield, completely. I don't remember Mike ever having an exit scene at all, despite what has been written on some sites. I wish more episodes from late August and early September 1984 would become available to actually confirm when Don Stewart's last appearance was.

I have never seen the original story outline for Mike/Lillian/Alexandra, but Mike was supposed to eventually go to Barbados to help rescue Alexandra from Susan Piper and to legitimize Brandon Spaulding's surprise return from the dead (though I don't believe Mike had ever actually met Brandon Spaulding previously). I don't know if this was to be the event that finally brought Mike and Alexandra together or not...?

48 minutes ago, zanereed said:

(though I don't believe Mike had ever actually met Brandon Spaulding previously).

Hang on.

I believe they MIGHT have.

In fact, it's possible that it was Mike who helped Brandon with his will, where he left his Spaulding stock to Amanda.

There was an episode from late August 1979 recently uploaded which had scenes that implied Ross knew Amanda was the Spaulding heir before Brandon died. He was really sneaky back then, and possibly found out by snooping around Mike's office.

I can't say this is correct with absolute certainty, as this is over 45 years ago and I wasn't watching the show regularly at the time (had to fight my sister for the TV because she watched GH). Also, not much survives today of scenes with Brandon before he "died" the first time.

But if Mike was his lawyer when he wrote that will, then him being involved in the Barbados story would have made sense.

I could have seen Mike being involved in the Barbados story based on the scenes/interactions between him and Alex... plus he had some interactions with Susan Piper as well during the summer 1984 episodes I believe.

I have a feeling what Long had mapped out for that story had to be altered drastically due to Kobe and her tendency to fire performers. It sounded like another umbrella story that would have involved Bauers, Reardons, and the Spauldings... and I recall Reva having a scene with Susan Piper about real estate so perhaps the Lewis family was also going to be tied to the story for some reason.

Had a male or female Spaulding family member had stayed on past the Barbados story, I think it would have been a better story... although I do remember Susan Piper was a great short term villainess and the way she was disposed of was pretty memorable. It's a shame that Alan still wasn't on the canvas during that time because of his complex relationship with Brandon.

2 hours ago, Soaplovers said:

Had a male or female Spaulding family member had stayed on past the Barbados story, I think it would have been a better story...

Yes, and I'm guessing that was Long's intention, but she was thwarted by higher-ups. It was a perfect opportunity to diversify the cast by creating characters who were part of one of their central core families. All these decades later and only now do we finally have a soap about wealthy Black characters, so it's not hard to imagine there was pushback at the time. The same thing happened when she wanted to introduce a Jewish family. I believe she ultimately quit GL over that when they didn't let her see it through.

I give Long credit for trying, even though I thought that Barbados story was kind of terrible. Maybe it would have played better with what she originally planned out.

3 hours ago, DeeVee said:

Yes, and I'm guessing that was Long's intention, but she was thwarted by higher-ups.

She was. Well, she and Jeff Ryder were.

21 hours ago, DeeVee said:

Hang on.

I believe they MIGHT have.

In fact, it's possible that it was Mike who helped Brandon with his will, where he left his Spaulding stock to Amanda.

There was an episode from late August 1979 recently uploaded which had scenes that implied Ross knew Amanda was the Spaulding heir before Brandon died. He was really sneaky back then, and possibly found out by snooping around Mike's office.

I can't say this is correct with absolute certainty, as this is over 45 years ago and I wasn't watching the show regularly at the time (had to fight my sister for the TV because she watched GH). Also, not much survives today of scenes with Brandon before he "died" the first time.

But if Mike was his lawyer when he wrote that will, then him being involved in the Barbados story would have made sense.

You may be absolutely right! I'm trying to remember who actually interacted with Brandon before his death in and around September of 1979. I do remember Lucille being with him, but was anyone else? I honestly can't remember, other than Lucille. I assume Alan was...? I was very young at the time, so I can't recall.

Regarding 1984 and the November Babados storyline - all I was able to gleam years ago was that Mike - still apparently upset with Alex at that time (for whatever reason, that wasn't clear) decides to go to Barbados to both help rescue Alex and to get some type of revenge for the death of Hillary. Lillian doesn't want Mike to go, but he does it, anyway. The point of this was to bring Mike and Alex back together and to legitimize Brandon's sudden reappearance. And you are correct - if Mike helped Brandon with his will, it would tie him in some way to Brandon besides just Alex accepting his return.

I never found out if Pam Long had anything else planned for Mike Bauer beyond 1984. I've been told that Mike was going to have to make a tough choice at Christmas, whatever that meant. I assumed it would mean being with either Lillian or Alex. Hell, it could have meant choosing between regular and decaf 😆.

Edited January 8Jan 8 by zanereed

Hilary being killed off was pretty sudden and unexpected in the fall of 1984 so I wonder if that was a last minute decision due to the issues between Kobe and the actress playing Hilary?

To me, watching the summer 1984 episodes.. the show seemed to be hinting at a possible pairing between her and Fletcher.. and the two had a good rapport with one another. It was probably being done because the actor that played Jim probably had indicated he wouldn't be staying beyond his contract (I know the actor said he signed a shorter contract of a year or so and he opted to leave after that expired) and the September 1984 episodes did seem to indicate a Jim/Annabelle bond that both Tony and Hilary had taken note of.

1 hour ago, zanereed said:

You may be absolutely right! I'm trying to remember who actually interacted with Brandon before his death in and around September of 1979. I do remember Lucille being with him, but was anyone else? I honestly can't remember, other than Lucille. I assume Alan was...? I was very young at the time, so I can't recall.

I only remember Brandon having scenes with Lucille. There's a scene when Alan and Hope were on the island where he tells her his father is in a nursing home but he never sees him. Possibly they had phone call scenes? Seems to me Alan must have kicked Brandon in the teeth once more to get him to leave everything to Amanda. But I don't know for sure.

44 minutes ago, Soaplovers said:

It was probably being done because the actor that played Jim probably had indicated he wouldn't be staying beyond his contract (I know the actor said he signed a shorter contract of a year or so and he opted to leave after that expired) and the September 1984 episodes did seem to indicate a Jim/Annabelle bond that both Tony and Hilary had taken note of.

This is the kind of thing that really aggravates me. WHY create a core family member with no plans to keep him or her on the show more than a year?

They could have created a character to play that dopey Dreaming Death story who had no connection to anyone on the show--it was completely unnecessary that he be a Reardon.

Not to mention that having a Reardon who was a doctor pop up after two years of hearing Tony bash educated people and Nola sneering at her family for having little ambition was bizarre. Not that it wasn't possible, but you'd think Bea and Nola would have bragged about him all the time.

Crazy lack of thought there.

1 hour ago, Soaplovers said:

Hilary being killed off was pretty sudden and unexpected in the fall of 1984 so I wonder if that was a last minute decision due to the issues between Kobe and the actress playing Hilary?

Exactly. Take these things with a grain of salt. I've heard that Hillary's death was Kobe's call to add more weight/excitement to the story (she said something along those lines). But by the time of Hillary's funeral, Ed was recast, Mike was written out, and the only anchor they had was Bert being there. So, was Mike supposed to go to Barbados for Hillary as well as rescue Alex? I really would love to see Long's actual story projections for all of 1984.

48 minutes ago, DeeVee said:

I only remember Brandon having scenes with Lucille. There's a scene when Alan and Hope were on the island where he tells her his father is in a nursing home but he never sees him. Possibly they had phone call scenes? Seems to me Alan must have kicked Brandon in the teeth once more to get him to leave everything to Amanda. But I don't know for sure.

Supposedly the P&G video archive began in September of 1979, which should have all the episodes with Brandon Spaulding and his death. I was hoping when that first German "Guiding Light" DVD set came out a few years ago that it would begin with those September episodes. Instead, it began in November of 1979. Maybe the September episodes are no longer in the archive.