38 minutes ago, soapfave06 said:

I also didn’t realize Kelly was around until 1984, was he just hanging around Springfield for the last two years?

JWS had some time off in 83 I think.

What happened with Mike and Jennifer? No onscreen chemistry?

Geraldine Court was a Marland favorite, so I am surprised that romance was halted. Pure speculation but maybe Don Stewart wasn't happy with the pairing and spoke out. Allen Potter sided with Don. Part of the growing tension b/w Marland and Potter.

Agree that Hope and Alan were married too soon and given a dud ceremony. They could have got more out the relationship before a wedding. God knows, Alan had enough baggage to make Hope have some second thoughts before committing.

This isn’t my soap but the discussion has been of an era I am fascinated by, and Mike’s love life is confusing. Sara, Elizabeth, Jennifer, Alex, so on. Nothing consistent. Elizabeth and Jennifer I imagine have the most story opportunity?

2 minutes ago, soapfave06 said:

With all that said, were their romantic options for Peggy and Sara (outside of Mike) had they stayed on for Billy and TJ?

I don't think Fran Myers (Peggy) was interested in coming back permanently (she returned briefly during the rape storyline and I think that was it for her). She transitioned to working behind the camera as a soap writer.

They put Sara and Justin together for a while, where they had a backstory but that got dropped. She married Alan's corrupt lawyer and when he died she was briefly paired with Adam. And then she basically did little other than act as therapist for various characters.

6 hours ago, Soaplovers said:

Sounds like she was being quiet fired and so she decided to quit instead of waiting to be fired...to leave on her own terms.

In her defense, she isn't off base especially since the character of Jennifer seemed to replace Elizabeth in Mike's orbit while Jackie and Hope seemed to be handling the Phillip parenting. So I guess Elizabeth spent a lot of 1980 in a trance trying to find herself so she could be a good parent to Phillip... and than decides on a whim to leave Phillip with Justin/Jackie without even telling Phillip that they were his real parents.

That's how I take it too. A gracious way of saying she'd been let go. I could also see Potter or Marland feeling Jennifer was a replacement for her. Geraldine Court ended up being so wasted - I never will know what happened there.

8 minutes ago, DeeVee said:

I don't think Fran Myers (Peggy) was interested in coming back permanently (she returned briefly during the rape storyline and I think that was it for her). She transitioned to working behind the camera as a soap writer.

They put Sara and Justin together for a while, where they had a backstory but that got dropped. She married Alan's corrupt lawyer and when he died she was briefly paired with Adam. And then she basically did little other than act as therapist for various characters.

Wow and Fran Myers was a vet and very young still at the time! A shame!

The Dobsons created the Justin/Sara relationship but then never did much with it.

Having Sara marry Dean was a poor choice for the character. I don't know why writers always persist in marrying characters? Sara could have been in a relationship with Dean w/o getting married. it lead nowhere and just gave Sara a poor marital history.

They could also have played a renewed Sara/Justin romance as an obstacle to Justin/Jackie remarrying.

Re Fran Myers I wonder if she would have been open to occasional appearances? Especially if they decided to SORAS Billy as the new young lead.

We need a GL tell all book . Enough actors are still around from that era to spill the tea.

2 minutes ago, Paul Raven said:

The Dobsons created the Justin/Sara relationship but then never did much with it.

Having Sara marry Dean was a poor choice for the character. I don't know why writers always persist in marrying characters? Sara could have been in a relationship with Dean w/o getting married. it lead nowhere and just gave Sara a poor marital history.

They could also have played a renewed Sara/Justin romance as an obstacle to Justin/Jackie remarrying.

Re Fran Myers I wonder if she would have been open to occasional appearances? Especially if they decided to SORAS Billy as the new young lead.

We need a GL tell all book . Enough actors are still around from that era to spill the tea.

She did return in 1979 for a brief run. I have a feeling they decided the character had no use without Roger and then by the time Roger returned they would have never been interested, even though Billy would have made sense as a return.

1 hour ago, soapfave06 said:

Just a few questions as I read through this thread - was there a need for Kelly Nelson with TJ Werner and Andy Norris already tied to core characters? Couldn’t JWS just have played the flawed TJ? I also didn’t realize Kelly was around until 1984, was he just hanging around Springfield for the last two years?

Someone also mentioned Peggy’s son could have became the young teen lead in the early-80s, was he old enough?

As for Holly-what career wise could she have done? Maybe it would have been nice for Holly and Ed to platonically reconnect while Holly becomes a career woman?

After breaking up with Morgan, yeah, Kelly just kind of hangs around. He dates Claire, but from what I've seen of it, it's a little cringey by today's optics. Kelly is so forgotten, he's not even invited to Nola and Quint's engagement party....and Eve's there. JWS, imo, would've been a little too old to play TJ. TJ was still in high school when Kelly came to town, IIRC.

20 hours ago, DRW50 said:

How much longer did Joe last than Andy?

About a month. Two at the most. Diane and Joe were killed within weeks of each other.

11 hours ago, DeeVee said:

Nope, nope, nope.

He was pretty bad in the beginning. He did a lot of sketchy stuff. He treated Holly (and Hillary) horribly during the rape trial. He tried to do a Spaulding takeover using Amanda's stock and money (he was her lawyer and financial advisor). Justin (who also had a bit of a sketchy past) was frequently lecturing him about his ambition and what he did to gratify it.

It was Marland who decided to "redeem" him. Probably JVD's natural niceness made it easy for the audience to accept it.

When Vanessa comes to town, he is simultaneously using Van and Evie to break up Amanda and Ben, while trying to date Evie, being somewhat attracted to Amanda and sleeping with Vanessa. Carrie gets the credit for turning Ross around, but it was Evie who tugged at his conscience first.

1 hour ago, soapfave06 said:

With all that said, were their romantic options for Peggy and Sara (outside of Mike) had they stayed on for Billy and TJ?

If I had been writing the show, I might have tried pairing Peggy with Ross. Yes, Ross, as Roger's attorney, was merciless toward Holly throughout the rape trial; and yes, that would have been an instant obstacle for him and Peggy (and little Billy). However, falling in love with and marrying Peggy, as well as becoming Billy's newest stepfather, might've gone a long way toward redeeming Ross.

As for Sara, I think I would've created a new love interest who was 1) a dashing European, 2) younger than Dr. McIntyre, thereby setting some tongues to wagging and making Sara feel more than a little uncomfortable; and 3) not out to kill her and/or steal her fortune (although, you certainly could create some intrigue at the top as to whether his intentions toward her are genuine).

26 minutes ago, P.J. said:

After breaking up with Morgan, yeah, Kelly just kind of hangs around. He dates Claire, but from what I've seen of it, it's a little cringey by today's optics. Kelly is so forgotten, he's not even invited to Nola and Quint's engagement party....and Eve's there. JWS, imo, would've been a little too old to play TJ. TJ was still in high school when Kelly came to town, IIRC.

Thanks, I was trying to pinpoint the ages of Morgan, Kelly, Nola, Katie, Hillary, TJ, etc.

1 minute ago, Khan said:

If I had been writing the show, I might have tried pairing Peggy with Ross. Yes, Ross, as Roger's attorney, was merciless toward Holly throughout the rape trial; and yes, that would have been an instant obstacle for him and Peggy (and little Billy). However, falling in love with and marrying Peggy, as well as becoming Billy's newest stepfather, might've gone a long way toward redeeming Ross.

As for Sara, I think I would've created a new love interest who was 1) a dashing European, 2) younger than Dr. McIntyre, thereby setting some tongues to wagging and making Sara feel more than a little uncomfortable; and 3) not out to kill her and/or steal her fortune (although, you certainly could create some intrigue at the top as to whether his intentions toward her are genuine).

I love that idea for Sara, and there seemed to be a lot of international intrigue hitting Springfield so it could have been tied to many characters.

Would Ross and Peggy have been longterm?

Also, does the show go through a zillion characters between 1980 and 1982? I’m reading this thread which led me to the book and my mind is blown at how many characters are popping in and out and then so many seem to just flatline.

2 minutes ago, soapfave06 said:

Thanks, I was trying to pinpoint the ages of Morgan, Kelly, Nola, Katie, Hillary, TJ, etc.

In 1980, TJ and Morgan are finishing high school. Kelly is a first year resident (i believe). Nola is out of school, but just kind of drifting. Katie and Hillary have been in town a few years, and aren't far into their nursing careers.

5 minutes ago, soapfave06 said:

Would Ross and Peggy have been longterm?

Possibly. I don't think Ross and Peggy would've become Bruce and Meta right away, lol. Even after their wedding, there would've been bumps in the road, and maybe even a separation or two. However, almost from the beginning, JvD had a presence that screamed "future patriarch," so redeeming him was necessary; and I think Peggy deserved some happiness and stability as well after everything she and her son had been through.