7 hours ago, Reverend Ruthledge said:

I think it was a way to answer the viewers' complaints that there weren't enough Bauers on the show. This was their way of saying, "Look! We have more Bauers on the show!". Uh, yeah. That's not what we meant.

TIIC never understood this. (Or much of anything else, LOL.)

7 hours ago, Khan said:

Introducing another branch of the Bauer family should've been done while Theo Goetz was still alive. You really needed Papa Bauer to explain why no one had mentioned Otto or his offspring up to that point.

Right. The introduction of all these strangers who had never existed or been mentioned before was more irritating than comforting. It was clear what TIIC were trying to do, but the audience was not as stupid or as easily duped as "the suits" wanted us to be. Faux Bauers, whom we did not know or care about and whose very existence was absurd, did not placate the longtime fans who were continuing to voice anger at the decimation of TGL's core family.

1 hour ago, zanereed said:

Meta Bauer certainly would have been more than welcomed in 1986 after they officially recognized Bert's passing on air. @Paul Raven , you might be right - Ellen Demming may have retired by that 1986. However, others on here have certainly posted good candidates who could have filled that role.

Demming was only 63 in 1985. She could have retired by then, sure, but many folks (and many soap actors, certainly) continue to work well beyond that age. I was ultimately pleased with Mary Stuart being cast in the role (it should have happened right after SFT ended, IMHO), but I would have approached Ellen Demming first, and then only cast another candidate if Demming declined to return.

1 hour ago, zanereed said:

The other "missing" Bauer who could have ushered additional Bauers onto the canvas would have been Bill and Meta's sister, Trudy. Although Trudy wasn't on screen much past the 1950's, she did marry Clyde Palmer and that they were living in New York. I think Clyde passed away in the 1970's, but I don't know that Trudy was ever mentioned again...?

I don't recall either Trudy or Clyde being mentioned in the 1970s or ever again until the show ended. When Jeanne Cooper made a guest cameo on the show in his last days, I really wanted her to show up as Trudy Bauer, to give her real historical purpose to the canvas. Alas, her appearance ended being unrelated to anything, and therefore meaningless.

1 hour ago, Reverend Ruthledge said:

You are correct. The years of 1966-1971, Meta would just make guest appearances. Much like Trudy did from 1952-1959. I was including the years where she would make those appearances. She didn't disappear into oblivion until 1974.

Your posts are always so informative and enlightening, @Reverend Ruthledge . Most sources don't even mention (or know) that Meta appeared sporadically for several years. It annoyed me to no end when she was just dispatched into oblivion in 1974, without any fanfare or closure for the character.

On 1/19/2026 at 10:19 PM, Speed Racer said:

Having AM shift business loyalties from Spaulding to Thorpe is a fascinating proposal. Yeah, I agree that Roger understood AM better than Alex ever did.

Maybe I'll swipe your idea and add it to my thought of Amanda marrying Ed, with AM shifting familial bonding attempts from Spaulding to Bauer. Amanda and AM were stated to be fairly tight...and add Matthew to it and you have something that Phillip, Alex and Alan never had.

Add to THAT your idea of AM in business with Roger, and you have one hell of a mess. Perfect!

The only thing lacking is AM progeny. Maybe AM and Gilly have some offspring. I don't think you've run across the AM/Gilly chemistry yet, which is off the charts. That's a late 1993/early 1994 thing. Lucy who??

As a long time fan it practically writes itself.

And like so many other opportunities during AM’s run, you can bring Hope back just as AM switches his loyalty to Roger/Thorpe Inc. Hell it even opens up for a bombshell return by Alan. (None of that Tangie mess, instead Alan finding out AM and Roger have teamed up?!? Explosive)

Sprinkle in a sense of longing between Gilly and AM but AM is torn because Blake (and her father Roger) hold the key to him achieving his thirst for power

"And like so many other opportunities during AM’s run, you can bring Hope back just as AM switches his loyalty to Roger/Thorpe Inc. Hell it even opens up for a bombshell return by Alan. (None of that Tangie mess, instead Alan finding out AM and Roger have teamed up?!? Explosive)"

It'd be a great reason to bring Hope back. Perhaps Amanda (a very close friend of Hope's traditionally) calls her up re: AM/Thorpe. And it is Hope, not Amanda, who goes on the offensive. Amanda can't due to her new last name - and because she's pregnant with Ed's baby. Now in GL 95s world, Maureen is alive and also working for Thorpe. If so, then instant-rivalry for Amanda/Maureen. Puts teenage Michelle in a horrible position and embitters barren Maureen further.

And as you say, it's a great way to bring Alan back without any Tangie/Toshua/Japanese nonsense. Alan just shows up at Thorpe's door with zero prior build-up, on the very day he's sprung from the slammer. And he's mighty pissed. Five years in the jailhouse kind of pissed. That'd be a great Friday cliffhanger. Viewers would lose their collective minds and it'd all be excellent. (I can just hear Zaslow say...yeah, Alan, your sonny-boy is no longer. He's mine now.)

In my GL world, Phillip comes back in 1995 as a closeted drunk. Viewers see him carrying around lots of martinis for a while, yet nothing is overtly said on the show and there's no telltale foreboding music. (We're just thinking - what's with all the booze, Phillip?) Turns out that a quietly enraged, drunken Phillip is trying to destroy Spaulding Enterprises. It's not Roger/AM, as Alan and Alex believe.

It does write itself, doesn't it?

23 minutes ago, Speed Racer said:

"And like so many other opportunities during AM’s run, you can bring Hope back just as AM switches his loyalty to Roger/Thorpe Inc. Hell it even opens up for a bombshell return by Alan. (None of that Tangie mess, instead Alan finding out AM and Roger have teamed up?!? Explosive)"

It'd be a great reason to bring Hope back. Perhaps Amanda (a very close friend of Hope's traditionally) calls her up re: AM/Thorpe. And it is Hope, not Amanda, who goes on the offensive. Amanda can't due to her new last name - and because she's pregnant with Ed's baby. Now in GL 95s world, Maureen is alive and also working for Thorpe. If so, then instant-rivalry for Amanda/Maureen. Puts teenage Michelle in a horrible position and embitters barren Maureen further.

And as you say, it's a great way to bring Alan back without any Tangie/Toshua/Japanese nonsense. Alan just shows up at Thorpe's door with zero prior build-up, on the very day he's sprung from the slammer. And he's mighty pissed. Five years in the jailhouse kind of pissed. That'd be a great Friday cliffhanger. Viewers would lose their collective minds and it'd all be excellent. (I can just hear Zaslow say...yeah, Alan, your sonny-boy is no longer. He's mine now.)

In my GL world, Phillip comes back in 1995 as a closeted drunk. Viewers see him carrying around lots of martinis for a while, yet nothing is overtly said on the show and there's no telltale foreboding music. (We're just thinking - what's with all the booze, Phillip?) Turns out that a quietly enraged, drunken Phillip is trying to destroy Spaulding Enterprises. It's not Roger/AM, as Alan and Alex believe.

It does write itself, doesn't it?

I think another fun bit of intrigue could be a non-romantic triangle between AM/Roger/Blake. She would start out ecstatic to be working with them and being integral to keeping things from imploding, but if AM starts to become the son Roger never had (since Hart never had any interest in business and was pretty consistent about it unlike Nick/Phillip) I could see Blake start scheming to keep her positioning with them both. Also if Bloss are together you have the spectre of AM always there plus I could see Roger trying to bring AM/Blake together. As I joked before this ends with Ross/AM fathered twins.

We now have our stage set for the younger generation with the AM progeny being Roger’s favored grandson and Ross’s being the also ran in a flip of Phillip/AM’s roles in the Spaulding hierarchy. In 2005 when everyone is SORASed Lizzie is in a creepy but not true incest relationship with AM’s kid (but of course it initially starts because she’s working with Alan to lure AM’s son over to the Spauldings.)

Edited 14 hours ago14 hr by GL95

6 hours ago, Soaplovers said:

A question I had was that in reading write-ups of Vanessa in 1980, it said that she remembered Andy because of how he up and left Lewis so am I to believe that she knew of Billy Lewis long before 1983?

It's a peculiar inconsistency. Billy and HB are mentioned a little under Marland, but when Long brought them to town she ignored the fact they'd been in town (and off camera) for business meetings. Vanessa clearly knew of Billy, as he was Trish and Josh's brother and they occasionally discussed him, but I've never seen anything from prior to '83 that suggests they met face to face.

I'm not sure if Vanessa had met Andy prior to her arrival in Springfield. She knew about the circumstances of Trish's marriage and abuse. I always wonder if anyone other than Sara knew Vanessa slept with him.

1 minute ago, P.J. said:

I always wonder if anyone other than Sara knew Vanessa slept with him.

OH MY GOD.

Is there one pair of pants in SF Vanessa DIDN'T get into back then?

I must have blanked this one out. I had NO memory that she ever slept with Andy and I'm wondering why, other than promiscuity, would she do such a thing.

I wonder if the retirement of long time producer Lucy Ferri Rittenburg had an impact going forward in that she may have had more respect and knowledge of GL history, having been there for decades.

Allen Potter and the Dobsons were new to the show in 75 and the Dobsons showed they weren't overly familiar with the past eg when they were asked if Emmett and Jackie Scott were connected to Peggy and they admitted they didn't know Peggy's maiden name was Scott.

Now that's not a sin I guess, but maybe someone like Rittenburg might have pointed that out and they could have changed the name, or connected the new Scott's to Peggy's family or at least referenced it.

When Bill came back was there reference to Meta and Trudy discovering their brother was alive? I'm sure viewers of 10 years or more (and cwere a lot of them) would have been hoping for/ expecting a mention.

39 minutes ago, zanereed said:

The other "missing" Bauer who could have ushered additional Bauers onto the canvas would have been Bill and Meta's sister, Trudy. Although Trudy wasn't on screen much past the 1950's, she did marry Clyde Palmer and that they were living in New York. I think Clyde passed away in the 1970's, but I don't know that Trudy was ever mentioned again...?

Not bringing Trudy back was a terrible choice.

@vetsoapfan I had never thought of it but having Jeanne on as Trudy would have been such a wonderful idea.

Instead of just having Dorothy Lyman as a store owner or whatever she did for a few episodes in the show's last months, they could have had her as a Bauer, or as Elizabeth Spaulding.

Edited 7 hours ago7 hr by DRW50

7 hours ago, DeeVee said:

OH MY GOD.

Is there one pair of pants in SF Vanessa DIDN'T get into back then?

I must have blanked this one out. I had NO memory that she ever slept with Andy and I'm wondering why, other than promiscuity, would she do such a thing.

From what I gather, she did it because she was mad at Ross. She tells Sara in a session, and describes it as "sadistic". I think it's one if the reasons Andy hated her so much and then turns around and blackmails her.

Van really had some dark tendencies when she blew into town. And between Andy, Mark and Carrie, was pissing off dangerous people.

57 minutes ago, P.J. said:

From what I gather, she did it because she was mad at Ross.

"Mad at Ross" was probably her excuse for most of her affairs back then. 😂

58 minutes ago, P.J. said:

I think it's one if the reasons Andy hated her so much and then turns around and blackmails her.

I wonder if the Diane murder storyline was originally meant to be the Andy murder storyline. Maybe when Sofia told them she wanted to leave they changed it, especially since Andy didn't click with the audience the way they hoped he would. (I think he was Marland's attempt to create his own Roger).

Edited 3 hours ago3 hr by DeeVee

17 hours ago, DeeVee said:

I do give him credit for many things. I think the way he handled the Roger wrap-up was great--he won an Emmy for it and he deserved it. He couldn't help Pickett and eventually Kasdorf leaving. He recognized Lisa Brown was special and built a family around her, a blue color family, something that you saw less and less of on soaps during 80s. I didn't mean to give the impression that I hated everything he did. GL was my show back then.

Marland absolutely handled Roger's wrap-up beautifully. No character deserved a spectacular ending more. He had the core characters who had an involved history with Roger involved (Holly, Ed, and Mike), which added to the impact. Where I think he failed was not really having a good plan of what to do with Holly, post-Roger. Maureen Garrett just seemed to be hanging around for most of the spring and summer.

And you're right - Cindy Pickett was apparently never sticking around past the end of her contract in 1980, so Marland had zero time to focus on the Phillip parentage situation with her in the mix as Jackie. I assume Marland had eventual plans to reveal to Phillip that Jackie and Justin were his biological parents, but I'm curious as to how far out that was going to happen. A few of the key players in Springfield knew by early 1981 (such as Hope, for example), so I always figured it would have been in play by spring or summer of 1981, but that never occurred.

11 hours ago, Paul Raven said:

When Bill came back was there reference to Meta and Trudy discovering their brother was alive? I'm sure viewers of 10 years or more (and cwere a lot of them) would have been hoping for/ expecting a mention.

Now that is a great question. I don't remember that at all, unless it was done in passing. @vetsoapfan or anyone else watching during this time, do any of you recall this?

6 hours ago, DRW50 said:

Not bringing Trudy back was a terrible choice.

@vetsoapfan I had never thought of it but having Jeanne on as Trudy would have been such a wonderful idea.

Instead of just having Dorothy Lyman as a store owner or whatever she did for a few episodes in the show's last months, they could have had her as a Bauer, or as Elizabeth Spaulding.

Sadly, after years of being totally ignored and her absence during all of Phillip's trials and tribulations unaddressed, the show did acknowledge on screen that Elizabeth had died some time before. Lyman should indeed have played someone more pivotal to the action, however. TPTB failed the show in so many ways, alas.

6 hours ago, DRW50 said:

nstead of just having Dorothy Lyman as a store owner or whatever she did for a few episodes in the show's last months, they could have had her as a Bauer, or as Elizabeth Spaulding.

Dorothy Lyman was on GL for the last few months? Was it like Linda Dana who played Harley's cell mate that who did it favor of Wheeler and to keep her union insurance ?

Speaking of..I wish they had brought Dano back as Elizabeth Spaulding at that time. In my scenario it would have been an alter of Beth shot Phillip (to protect Harley who she thought was being attacked by Phillip, it was the same alter that killed Professor Rayburn that Beth created after the Bradly rape) Alan would think that Harley did indeed kill him, so instead of framing her in his mind he was seeing justice was done.) Elizabeth somehow had the docs declare Phillip dead and sent him to be cremated(or so everyone thought) and then brought him to her estate for him to get well and to protect from Alan (who SHE think is the shooter.) Anyway I think Dana could play a woman who waws previously a victim and who is a bit...still nutty herself.

1 hour ago, zanereed said:

Now that is a great question. I don't remember that at all, unless it was done in passing. @vetsoapfan or anyone else watching during this time, do any of you recall this?

Nope, I do not remember the sisters being notified about Bill at all. I did not see every second of every episode, so I could have missed a momentary reference about Meta and Trudy at the time, but I doubt the writers included one. They didn't refer to Trudy when Papa Bauer died, either (again, unless I missed a nanosecond comment).