@AlwaysAMC just wait until the island people take over in the summer. Oooo-boy.

I can't imagine this mob stuff with budig's Michelle. The last Michelle was one of the clandestine actors the show ever had. They actually hired a new Michelle in 2009 but scrapped her before filming because the show was canned. Also, Martha Madison (belle, days) was planned to be a recast Marah and that was also scrapped. She auditioned for the role years before, but lost out to Lindsey McKeon.

2 minutes ago, Spoon said:

I can't imagine this mob stuff with budig's Michelle. The last Michelle was one of the clandestine actors the show ever had. They actually hired a new Michelle in 2009 but scrapped her before filming because the show was canned. Also, Martha Madison (belle, days) was planned to be a recast Marah and that was also scrapped. She auditioned for the role years before, but lost out to Lindsey McKeon.

It's a shame as Michelle desperately needed a recast (and should have been recast around 2002 or 2003), and Beth Ann Bonner was a more than decent actress when she was on OLTL.

The only positive is that we got a last few glimpses of lovely and talented Paul Anthony Stewart. If they'd brought a recast Michelle back there's no way they would have kept her with Danny (understandably so)

I'm still surprised they didn't bring Marah back sooner than they did, especially after Tammy. The choice to have Kimberly Brown return for a few episodes was even stranger...I can't imagine her hooking up with Jeffrey. (I don't really want to imagine anyone hooking up with him)

Speaking of PAS, here's another chronicle in GL having no budget by the end of the run - he called wardrobe and they told him they had nothing, so he just went out and bought his own clothes.

Paul Anthony Stewert & Nancy St.Alban

For as depleted as the Bauers were by the last...decades, I am glad there was one final Bauer Barbecue.

Edited Friday at 11:36 PM1 day by DRW50

@alwaysAMC Thanks again for your recap. The twists and turns for that time feel like yesterday and yet like a century ago.

One thing I do remember well is the scene with Vanessa tempted to have plastic surgery. I still think that was a spite moment from Rauch, as Maeve Kinkead was one of the most beautiful women ever on GL. I'm so glad Maeve never butchered her face.

I also have a specific memory of the story with India selling her jewelry and Ross buying it, as it's a ripoff of Madame de... Anyway, Mary Kay Adams was perfectly suited for that type of material, that melancholy, the touching sadness.

I don't want to give anything away, but Holly's story will definitely end with a bang.

You can see how much is wrapping up as 1998 ends. 1999 changed the show forever - for better or worse.

53 minutes ago, Spoon said:

I can't imagine this mob stuff with budig's Michelle. The last Michelle was one of the clandestine actors the show ever had. They actually hired a new Michelle in 2009 but scrapped her before filming because the show was canned. Also, Martha Madison (belle, days) was planned to be a recast Marah and that was also scrapped. She auditioned for the role years before, but lost out to Lindsey McKeon.

I'm in the very beginning stages now of the mob, so I need some time to see if I agree about Budig in the role. Budig went to AMC and played a spoiled brat (eventually maturing from there), but could easily and believably stand up to people and be a b!tch. I'm guessing it's moreso that Budig's Michelle was more of an upbeat girl who pined after a man who had her mother's heart. It's almost like they got lucky to have to recast her so they could start a new story that is different from what Budig's Michelle was doing. We'll see though how I feel after a few months of the mob stuff.

51 minutes ago, DRW50 said:

It's a shame as Michelle desperately needed a recast (and should have been recast around 2002 or 2003), and Beth Ann Bonner was a more than decent actress when she was on OLTL.

The only positive is that we got a last few glimpses of lovely and talented Paul Anthony Stewart. If they'd brought a recast Michelle back there's no way they would have kept her with Danny (understandably so)

I'm still surprised they didn't bring Marah back sooner than they did, especially after Tammy. The choice to have Kimberly Brown return for a few episodes was even stranger...I can't imagine her hooking up with Jeffrey. (I don't really want to imagine anyone hooking up with him)

Speaking of PAS, here's another chronicle in GL having no budget by the end of the run - he called wardrobe and they told him they had nothing, so he just went out and bought his own clothes.

Paul Anthony Stewert & Nancy St.Alban

For as depleted as the Bauers were by the last...decades, I am glad there was one final Bauer Barbecue.

I just googled PAS to see what he's doing these days and was more surprised/interested in seeing that he's gay and married! That's wonderful, I had no idea.

34 minutes ago, DRW50 said:

@alwaysAMC Thanks again for your recap. The twists and turns for that time feel like yesterday and yet like a century ago.

One thing I do remember well is the scene with Vanessa tempted to have plastic surgery. I still think that was a spite moment from Rauch, as Maeve Kinkead was one of the most beautiful women ever on GL. I'm so glad Maeve never butchered her face.

I also have a specific memory of the story with India selling her jewelry and Ross buying it, as it's a ripoff of Madame de... Anyway, Mary Kay Adams was perfectly suited for that type of material, that melancholy, the touching sadness.

I don't want to give anything away, but Holly's story will definitely end with a bang.

You can see how much is wrapping up as 1998 ends. 1999 changed the show forever - for better or worse.

Totally agree about Maeve, she's beautiful and still is today. I also don't think Vanessa would really actually go under the knife either, just doesn't seem in her character.

Gosh, I can't wait to see what happens with that Holly tease! :)

Ugh, that doesn't sound promising re: 1999 being the turning point for GL. If I don't love it and feel like it's a different show, that'll be the point when I jump back in time and watch the better days.

I'm in late April 1992 right after A-M fires Blake after Eleni overhears Holly saying that Blake called immigration on Eleni. Right now all the "good" characters are talking about how A-M is the most devious person ever for blackmailing Nadine to hand over the Lewis Oil bid in a contract he was bidding against Billy for. Nadine had leaked to the Inquisitor that Vanessa was the anonymous woman pressing attempted rape charges against a Spaulding client-something A-M actually specifically wouldn't do even though he was in a rivalry with Vanessa. This whole thing seems rather quaint compared to later Spaulding shenanigans. A-M is now legitimately doing sketchy/amoral things, but it's funny how early they had Harley talking about how much he'd changed for the worse over things like being upset that someone had broken into the Foundation's computer that held all the accounts, wearing a suit a lot, or just taking his first job at Spaulding seriously in general.

The whole face-off with A-M/Blake/Eleni/Holly was a real powerhouse of good actors. Watching Melina K and Sherry Stringfield square off was fun.

A-M definitely was using Blake during this time and is throwing her under the bus, but it's an interesting mirror with Nick who has the DNA test saying he's not Alexandra's son but is taking the Spaulding board seat for his own purposes to find out dirt, etc. The way Nick just keeps using Alexandra's desperation to have a son again seems just as bad as what A-M was doing but the show keeps putting him in the "good category." Alex keeps scheming partly because Nick keeps staying in her orbit and stringing her along.

In this plot line I also enjoyed the Roger/A-M confrontations. I do feel like looking ahead a couple of years that they really wasted an opportunity when Roger made A-M the primary fall guy/target in his embezzlement scheme. I think if he'd just scammed Alex there would have been more room to lure A-M over to Roger in one of the many times A-M gets cast aside, and Roger while trying to manipulate A-M also very clearly recognizes his weaknesses/insecurities and largely is speaking the truth. Not that Roger doesn't eventually alienate everyone, but I feel like a period of a true Roger/A-M alliance would've had some interesting potential.

@alwaysAMC if you do go back, we'll fill you in on any loose threads for. IIRC, the first half of 1999 is really good. We actually get another location shoot during the Summer of '99, so try to stick around that long if you can.

4 hours ago, DRW50 said:

One thing I do remember well is the scene with Vanessa tempted to have plastic surgery. I still think that was a spite moment from Rauch, as Maeve Kinkead was one of the most beautiful women ever on GL. I'm so glad Maeve never butchered her face.

Just to fangurl for a moment---there were two women who didn't seem to age at all from the '80's to '00, and it was Maeve and Colleen Zenk. I'm so glad neither woman ruined their faces---and now actresses are doing it younger and younger.

3 hours ago, GL95 said:

I'm in late April 1992 right after A-M fires Blake after Eleni overhears Holly saying that Blake called immigration on Eleni. Right now all the "good" characters are talking about how A-M is the most devious person ever for blackmailing Nadine to hand over the Lewis Oil bid in a contract he was bidding against Billy for. Nadine had leaked to the Inquisitor that Vanessa was the anonymous woman pressing attempted rape charges against a Spaulding client-something A-M actually specifically wouldn't do even though he was in a rivalry with Vanessa. This whole thing seems rather quaint compared to later Spaulding shenanigans. A-M is now legitimately doing sketchy/amoral things, but it's funny how early they had Harley talking about how much he'd changed for the worse over things like being upset that someone had broken into the Foundation's computer that held all the accounts, wearing a suit a lot, or just taking his first job at Spaulding seriously in general.

The whole face-off with A-M/Blake/Eleni/Holly was a real powerhouse of good actors. Watching Melina K and Sherry Stringfield square off was fun.

A-M definitely was using Blake during this time and is throwing her under the bus, but it's an interesting mirror with Nick who has the DNA test saying he's not Alexandra's son but is taking the Spaulding board seat for his own purposes to find out dirt, etc. The way Nick just keeps using Alexandra's desperation to have a son again seems just as bad as what A-M was doing but the show keeps putting him in the "good category." Alex keeps scheming partly because Nick keeps staying in her orbit and stringing her along.

In this plot line I also enjoyed the Roger/A-M confrontations. I do feel like looking ahead a couple of years that they really wasted an opportunity when Roger made A-M the primary fall guy/target in his embezzlement scheme. I think if he'd just scammed Alex there would have been more room to lure A-M over to Roger in one of the many times A-M gets cast aside, and Roger while trying to manipulate A-M also very clearly recognizes his weaknesses/insecurities and largely is speaking the truth. Not that Roger doesn't eventually alienate everyone, but I feel like a period of a true Roger/A-M alliance would've had some interesting potential.

A-M was cutting his Spaulding teeth, as it were, when he battled Vanessa for the Presidency of Spaulding. No, blackmailing Nadine wasn't the worst thing done in the name of trying to get that power, but it was a weasel-y thing to do, as Nadine had been his mother-in-law. It was even more weasel-y that he was blatantly stringing Blake along to help him, and that he was stabbing Vanessa in the back while she was at trial.

(Nadine had earned that comeuppance, as she'd skated on betraying Billy more than once, but I digress. And it's still nearly a year before she gets nailed to the wall.)

4 hours ago, alwaysAMC said:

Ugh, that doesn't sound promising re: 1999 being the turning point for GL. If I don't love it and feel like it's a different show, that'll be the point when I jump back in time and watch the better days.

You were brave to watch episodes past Annie Dutton parachuting off the plane.

Of the final 15 years I watched MZ last episode, and clip sets of Annie Dutton psycho turn (witness stand breakdown, overdose, exit storyline).

If you go back, these are my recommendations:

1979 and 1980 episodes featuring Roger/Holly storylines, as those set in motion everything we saw a decade later in the Robert Calhoun era. I've accepted we'll never see any episodes prior to 1979.

May 1989-August 1992, the last great era. You could start with December 1988 as that will give some background. Must watch is Robert Calhoun era, June 1989 to July 1991.

September 1992-January 1993 was all right.

February 1993-March 1994 was a chore to get through. The bright spot was MZ Emmy-winning episodes.

51 minutes ago, GL95 said:

I'm in late April 1992 right after A-M fires Blake after Eleni overhears Holly saying that Blake called immigration on Eleni. Right now all the "good" characters are talking about how A-M is the most devious person ever for blackmailing Nadine to hand over the Lewis Oil bid in a contract he was bidding against Billy for. Nadine had leaked to the Inquisitor that Vanessa was the anonymous woman pressing attempted rape charges against a Spaulding client-something A-M actually specifically wouldn't do even though he was in a rivalry with Vanessa. This whole thing seems rather quaint compared to later Spaulding shenanigans. A-M is now legitimately doing sketchy/amoral things, but it's funny how early they had Harley talking about how much he'd changed for the worse over things like being upset that someone had broken into the Foundation's computer that held all the accounts, wearing a suit a lot, or just taking his first job at Spaulding seriously in general.

The whole face-off with A-M/Blake/Eleni/Holly was a real powerhouse of good actors. Watching Melina K and Sherry Stringfield square off was fun.

A-M definitely was using Blake during this time and is throwing her under the bus, but it's an interesting mirror with Nick who has the DNA test saying he's not Alexandra's son but is taking the Spaulding board seat for his own purposes to find out dirt, etc. The way Nick just keeps using Alexandra's desperation to have a son again seems just as bad as what A-M was doing but the show keeps putting him in the "good category." Alex keeps scheming partly because Nick keeps staying in her orbit and stringing her along.

This sums up one of the reasons I began to lose interest in the show at this time. Nick was such a sanctimonious ass and was always in the right, while Alan-Michael was always in the wrong. And they just put Alan-Michael into an ill-defined weasel/hapless role for years, which worked less and less. They were at a complete loss with him by 1994.

13 hours ago, Spoon said:

@alwaysAMC if you do go back, we'll fill you in on any loose threads for. IIRC, the first half of 1999 is really good. We actually get another location shoot during the Summer of '99, so try to stick around that long if you can.

Ohhh I can't wait for that, I love location shots! And I have no idea what it'll be, so that's even more exciting.

9 hours ago, kalbir said:

You were brave to watch episodes past Annie Dutton parachuting off the plane.

Of the final 15 years I watched MZ last episode, and clip sets of Annie Dutton psycho turn (witness stand breakdown, overdose, exit storyline).

If you go back, these are my recommendations:

1979 and 1980 episodes featuring Roger/Holly storylines, as those set in motion everything we saw a decade later in the Robert Calhoun era. I've accepted we'll never see any episodes prior to 1979.

May 1989-August 1992, the last great era. You could start with December 1988 as that will give some background. Must watch is Robert Calhoun era, June 1989 to July 1991.

September 1992-January 1993 was all right.

February 1993-March 1994 was a chore to get through. The bright spot was MZ Emmy-winning episodes.

Thank you!!! I definitely have 1989-1992 on my radar and will start in that era where all episodes are available. I can't wait! Once I start that, I'll watch all the way up to where I started on Feb 10, 1995.

Re: rivalries. Rauch era really pushed Carmen v Michelle. Too bad Sandra Santiago went to the "Ron Raines" school of "whiplash curling." Couldn't stand her, the execution was poor. The Alex/Mindy feud was one of the show's better feuds, even despite the recastings.

13 hours ago, DRW50 said:

This sums up one of the reasons I began to lose interest in the show at this time. Nick was such a sanctimonious ass and was always in the right, while Alan-Michael was always in the wrong. And they just put Alan-Michael into an ill-defined weasel/hapless role for years, which worked less and less. They were at a complete loss with him by 1994.

I just don't get it. Alan-Michael should have been a much more important character. He was a Spaulding and a Bauer. It's almost like they cared as little about him as Alan did, favoring Phillip even though he was not always on the canvas.

This is why I think they should have made him Mike's heir apparent, have him go to law school, and take Mike's place as the other resident attorney in SF. By making him Alan Lite, they pretty much scuttled the character.

2 hours ago, P.J. said:

Just to fangurl for a moment---there were two women who didn't seem to age at all from the '80's to '00, and it was Maeve and Colleen Zenk. I'm so glad neither woman ruined their faces---and now actresses are doing it younger and younger.

A-M was cutting his Spaulding teeth, as it were, when he battled Vanessa for the Presidency of Spaulding. No, blackmailing Nadine wasn't the worst thing done in the name of trying to get that power, but it was a weasel-y thing to do, as Nadine had been his mother-in-law. It was even more weasel-y that he was blatantly stringing Blake along to help him, and that he was stabbing Vanessa in the back while she was at trial.

(Nadine had earned that comeuppance, as she'd skated on betraying Billy more than once, but I digress. And it's still nearly a year before she gets nailed to the wall.)

Right now where I'm at I'm mostly just amused at how big of a deal they're making outbidding Lewis based on getting access to the contract including Ross/Holly trying to get Blake to turn A-M in. It's certainly not a sound moral or ethical decision, but on the scale of possible criminal matters on this show it seems pretty minor (Billy has committed assault in public twice in the last two months without consequences though Springfield PD doesn't seem particularly interested in assault charges in general haha). Billy is pretty sanctimonious about Spaulding even trying to compete to begin with and Nadine of course isn't at all sympathetic. The most interesting aspect of all this is the A-M/Alex dynamic where Alex is basically giving him tacit approval to be underhanded so long as he doesn't get caught and keeps her hands clean with plausible deniability. (Not dissimilar to her with Roger really.)

It's interesting watching out of order as I first started watching GL somewhere in 1995 and A-M was in his phase of trying to be a better man while also repeatedly in the Charlie Brown mode of getting the football yanked from under him.

14 hours ago, DRW50 said:

This sums up one of the reasons I began to lose interest in the show at this time. Nick was such a sanctimonious ass and was always in the right, while Alan-Michael was always in the wrong. And they just put Alan-Michael into an ill-defined weasel/hapless role for years, which worked less and less. They were at a complete loss with him by 1994.

What's a waste to me is I actually think A-M has some of the clearest motivations of anyone ( a lot of this is Rick Hearst's performance but it's in the writing too). The Spaulding presidency drive is pretty clearly the way he thinks he'll finally get the love and respect he's never gotten from his family before (and it's a shame the Bauer side as a mixed bag with a mom that apparently was in and out of rehab as the "good side" wasn't explored more). I think the front half of 1994 still mostly works for A-M but I think more than anything he gets lost in the Alan/Alex over the top recasts with RR's Alan dominating far too much. As much as Reva's sucking up all the oxygen gets blamed for the show's slide, I think it really begins with Alan's return and Alan just being a complete sociopath who's not even a fun villain.

It's sort of funny how unceremoniously they dumped Nick just when he was more or less tolerable after keeping him with one foot in the Spaulding fray with no real reason for far too long (Alex actually unconditionally loved him just like she did Alan).

2 hours ago, DeeVee said:

I just don't get it. Alan-Michael should have been a much more important character. He was a Spaulding and a Bauer. It's almost like they cared as little about him as Alan did, favoring Phillip even though he was not always on the canvas.

This is why I think they should have made him Mike's heir apparent, have him go to law school, and take Mike's place as the other resident attorney in SF. By making him Alan Lite, they pretty much scuttled the character.

As someone who actually liked Alan-Michael/Lucy (I had no history with the show and just started watching right when A-M was first named president and Lucy was working for him and I liked their dynamic and A-M at this point is someone who is generally trying to be a better person), I think they did a decent job with his story arc in 1995 with him fighting to free himself from the need to be loved/noticed by Alan and learning to love someone unselfishly. As far as the Spaulding dynamics, I hate more in 1995 how they pretty much permanently set up the Alex/Alan dynamics with Alex backing Alan in the end no matter what while also being weirdly obsessive about his love life. Now, did we need THREE different times that A-M is on the outs with Alan starting in 1994 and A-M decides Alan really does love him because Alan does the bare minimum and cares whether A-M lives or dies then betrays him again five minutes later? No, we did not.

A-M basically went by way of Mindy as an important character that they never recovered from a giant recasting mistake/keeping in the same stagnant dynamic. The A. Spaulding/Amanda as madam stuff was terrible but having an uninteresting actor as A-M who couldn't pull off any of the necessary saying one thing while thinking/reacting to the machinations of the other Spauldings (or show the vulnerability underneath the bluster) made it so much worse.