That's one hell of a write-up re: Jackie, DeeVee. A big thanks for that.

I'm convinced more than ever that GL very much missed the ball by not making Phillip a raging alcoholic. His four "parents" should have all suffered considerably at his hands, at any or several points from 1984/85 forward.

59 minutes ago, DRW50 said:

The first group are Meta Bauer, her husband Joe and stepson Joey. They are worrying over Joe's daughter Kathy, who had just been on trial for the death of her husband Bob Lang in a car accident, and is also pregnant. She is now married to Dick Grant, whom she'd wanted to be with all along, and he thinks the baby is his (it's not). The second group are Dick's parents, Laura and Richard. Laura hates Kathy and sees her as ruining the reputation and future of Dick.

Thank you, DRW50. Are you interested in the 50s? I could share my 50s synopsis with you if you'd like. I'm just finishing 1959 right now. I thought about posting it on here but most people seem to be interested just in the last years of the show. Let me know if you're interested.

Just now, Reverend Ruthledge said:

Thank you, DRW50. Are you interested in the 50s? I could share my 50s synopsis with you if you'd like. I'm just finishing 1959 right now. I thought about posting it on here but most people seem to be interested just in the last years of the show. Let me know if you're interested.

I have seen some of your synopses in another thread, but I would be interested here and I'm sure others would be too. Thanks for all you share.

Thanks @DRW50

'There's nothing really wrong with Kathy except for mental and physical exhaustion'. Meta, that's a lot actually.

The Roberts need to invest in a 3 seater sofa -it was kinda squashy.

Not sure what was going on in the Grant's living room set. Were those curtains and a bamboo blind, or some sort of wall feature?

@Reverend Ruthledge Would love to read the 50's stuff. Enjoyed your summaries of TGL in the radio thread.

Edited 13 hours ago13 hr by Paul Raven

Thanks for this '53 ep. Another gem.

GL's decades of layered families within families, villains, etc. that then give way entirely to others is another reason it is so modular and mutable for rebirth IMO.

Edited 13 hours ago13 hr by Vee

11 hours ago, DeeVee said:

If there's one thing that made no sense in this story is WHY Alan did this. He didn't even LIKE Elizabeth. She was never going give him children of his own. Why didn't he just divorce her and marry a woman who could give him children? Or if he could accept an adopted child, why not mourn the child he lost with Elizabeth and then somewhere down the road adopt one?

(It's possible this was explained in more detail at the time, but this is what I remember and what I've read in recaps).

He claimed he didn't want Elizabeth to have a breakdown, yadda, yadda--but he didn't care about her. Like at all. If she lost her mind he could have parked her in an institution and divorced her. The only reasons he flipped out when she left him was because she did the leaving and she was taking Phillip away.

(It's hard to ignore the fact that he was abusive. Not is a physical way, but in an emotional way. He made her life hell. That's why I'm convinced if the Dobsons had remained, he was originally slated to do the same to Hope eventually, which didn't happen until Ryder and Long took over the show).

So the thing that was missing here, again, is what was his motivation, other than to create a long-term baby switch storyline?

I think it had to do with Brandon. If the Dobsons had stayed, it might have been revealed that for one reason or another (my guess is a trust) he HAD to present Brandon with a male grandchild. He specifically asked the doctor for a male child. Remember, Alan Michael had a trust that he tried to get hold of, and even though that happened under different writers, it not hard to imagine that Alan wanted control of a trust for his first child, too. He would have almost certainly been the trustee and would have controlled it until Phillip grew up. (I also think a possible reason he married Elizabeth is because Brandon commanded it--which would be another reason for him to hate him).

He stays with Elizabeth because he falls head over heels for Phillip--come on, Phillip was the one true love of his life; that was the ONE thing that was consistent about Alan though many, many regime changes, right down to the last episode of GL. So much so that he was willing to give up having biological children. He even told Elizabeth after Brandon died and Jackie divorced him that it was unlikely he would ever have more children. It was really Hope who wanted to have a baby, and as we see over the years, AM was never as important to Alan as Phillip was.

I don't know if there was ever anything brought up about Brandon/the will, but it wouldn't surprise me. I can see Brandon being fixated on a males (after all, Alexandra, even though we don't know about her yet, was deemed inferior for being a girl, Amanda is given to an old lover) and that for Alan, having a male heir legitimized his right to take Spaulding from his father. There's also always a fixation on men having a son (Henry even seems to fall into that trap when he searches for Quinton, and Billy is later giddy at having a boy.)

There was some talk a while back that Alan may have only married Elizabeth because she came from a rich family, and that played into his business aspirations. He rarely gives in to the concept of loving someone.

Edited 13 hours ago13 hr by P.J.

19 minutes ago, Vee said:

Thanks for this '53 ep. Another gem.

GL's decades of layered families within families, villains, etc. that then give way entirely to others is another reason it is so modular and mutable for rebirth IMO.

That's a great way to put it, and part of the unique experience of GL.

1 hour ago, Speed Racer said:

That's one hell of a write-up re: Jackie, DeeVee. A big thanks for that.

You are very welcome!

31 minutes ago, P.J. said:

There was some talk a while back that Alan may have only married Elizabeth because she came from a rich family, and that played into his business aspirations.

That's why I think it's possible Brandon forced him to marry Elizabeth, threatening to disinherit him the way he did with Alex. (Of course, the Alex part was written in much later, but seems consistent with Brandon's character).

I do believe that they mentioned Elizabeth was raised by a rich uncle, so possibly she was an heiress and/or Brandon wanted to merge Spaulding with her uncle's business. (IIRC, Phillip is named after that uncle), Which may be another reason why Alan couldn't divorce her, at least as long as his father was still in charge of Spaulding.

That thing about men wanting male heirs was all over soap operas at the time. Lots of soap men bellyaching all the time about not having a son, blah, blah, blah. (More often than not, they'd get one and completely ignore him).

It's funny that Brandon left his Spaulding stock to Amanda. It plays now as a poke in the eye at Alan because he took Spaulding away from his father. He couldn't imagine that Amanda and Alan would become close and that he would be willing to mentor her into becoming the head of Spaulding. They got the last laugh on Brandon.

Thanks, @DRW50 !

I don't believe I've seen this episode before. What nice quality!

And any time I get to Meta is always a treat.

1 hour ago, Reverend Ruthledge said:

Thank you, DRW50. Are you interested in the 50s? I could share my 50s synopsis with you if you'd like. I'm just finishing 1959 right now. I thought about posting it on here but most people seem to be interested just in the last years of the show. Let me know if you're interested.

As always, I am interested in reading any and all synopses you are kind enough to share. :)

5 hours ago, DeeVee said:

It seems as though they briefly considered pairing Sara with Alan. They definitely had a chem test scene in that one 1978 episode that's available.

I remember seeing that episode online, but I guess the show figured that she was either too 'old' or too 'smart' to fall for his charms.

I think another thing that helped humanize Jackie was her friendship/mentorship of Evie Stapleton. If a sweet individual like Evie could see the good in Jackie.. than so could the audience.

A character like Evie doesn't really exist on soaps nowadays. She was sweet and saw the best in everyone, but she also had a quiet strength and spirit that made her a unique presence in the Dobson/Marland era. It's a shame that she was phased out at the start of the Long/Ryder era especially since she'd been the only positive motherly influence in Phillip's life.

As you've said, Long really set the template for Phillip's character and direction in life when he found out who his real parents were. I think the fact that he found out after Jackie was died added to the Greek tragic element that was his character and direction.

His overly controlling and domineering personality when it came to his marriages and children made perfect sense because he had no control in his formative years and once he found out the truth about himself.. he was determined never to lose that control ever again.

And I agree that maybe Marland was less invested in the Phillip story because there was nothing he could add to the story so he pushed the reveal down the road while he figured that he could do something about the Amanda story because the mom hadn't been introduced (other than the woman in the veil) by the Dobson's before he took over.

And in regards to the Holly situation, his first order had to be to end the Roger story in his first few months and than sidelined Holly until he could figure out where to go with her... and I think had MG had another year left on her contract.. he probably would have had an idea of where Holly would have gone in 1981.

42 minutes ago, Soaplovers said:

A character like Evie doesn't really exist on soaps nowadays. She was sweet and saw the best in everyone, but she also had a quiet strength and spirit that made her a unique presence in the Dobson/Marland era. It's a shame that she was phased out at the start of the Long/Ryder era especially since she'd been the only positive motherly influence in Phillip's life.

There are a few but soaps never know how to use them and they are written out. Sasha on GH was similar to her, although Eve had stronger connections and Janet Grey was a more distinctive presence.

Edited 10 hours ago10 hr by DRW50

On 1/17/2026 at 10:43 AM, P.J. said:

And the angels SING. LOL. Join the dark side....

LOL ;) We'll see...

On 1/17/2026 at 3:42 PM, DeeVee said:

The other thing to take into consideration is which of these women would have been interested in sleeping with Buzz? Narrows the field, I think. 😂

LOL! Very valid point :P

I'm catching up - I'm on vacation this week so I'm behind, but loving all this discussion on Lucy's mother. I guess I never really knew whether or not her mother was known. I'm looking forward to see her join the show when I watch that period later (with her heavier accent haha), but I guess I assumed maybe she knew her mom all along but they just weren't close or something. So how did she not know her? Was she given up for adoption along the way? I can't believe I didn't really even think about this, especially while she was getting married, etc - not sure she mentioned a mom then.

I actually thought Lucy's mother had died. But maybe she just walked out on her and Buzz, which, knowing him, would've been the only real reason he "raised" Lucy.

28 minutes ago, alwaysAMC said:

LOL ;) We'll see...

LOL! Very valid point :P

I'm catching up - I'm on vacation this week so I'm behind, but loving all this discussion on Lucy's mother. I guess I never really knew whether or not her mother was known. I'm looking forward to see her join the show when I watch that period later (with her heavier accent haha), but I guess I assumed maybe she knew her mom all along but they just weren't close or something. So how did she not know her? Was she given up for adoption along the way? I can't believe I didn't really even think about this, especially while she was getting married, etc - not sure she mentioned a mom then.

Lucy’s mom bailed at some point when Lucy was really young, so Lucy didn’t ever know her. Nadine pretty early on became something of a surrogate mom to Lucy. I for the first time have been watching the pre-ditzy diner owner version of Nadine and Nadine/Harley, and Nadine taking in Lucy pretty fast makes a bit more sense because she gets that ideal image of a mother/daughter relationship without all the baggage of an actual mother/daughter relationship. Though it’s funny when Nadine first sees a picture of Lucy before she comes to town, Buzz tells her it’s the daughter a of a war buddy he’d raised. Then when Lucy shows up, Nadine is actually pretty horrible to her telling her that Buzz has already done enough for her and he’s not her real father even if she thinks of him that way. Since at this point Nadine wants Buzz back, she changes her tune instantly when she finds out Lucy is Buzz’s biological daughter.

They never show Lucy being particularly curious about her mom, though she and A-M are a bit of a matched set on not speaking about their moms. Watching starting in 1990 with how many times A-M is in peril and Hope never once coming is pretty wild. Exploring their relationship is such a lost opportunity because A-M’s dark side is always blamed on the Spaulding side of him, but being the son of a single mom alcoholic in and out of rehab likely contributed to that drive to be noticed/instinct to manipulate. Is it implied Mike was active in Hope’s offscreen life/A-M’s childhood?