52 minutes ago, DRW50 said:

You guys almost make me want to go back and watch early 1993 again but that whole period, along with a good portion of the back half of 1992, broke my heart at the time. I'm not sure how far I'd get going through it all again.

September 1992-January 1993 wasn't bad but the big cast departures of the summer (Kimberley Simms, Sherry Stringfield, Beverlee McKinsey) left a noticeable void in the canvas. Then of course came Maureen Bauer death and GL was never the same after that. Aftermath of Maureen death until Nancy Curlee left the writing team was a chore to watch, but at least we got to see Michael Zaslow finally get his long-awaited for Lead Actor Daytime Emmy.

31 minutes ago, Speed Racer said:

You're on target. Interestingly, there IS some development of an Eve/Holly/Blake dynamic coming up during the second half of 1993 (after Eve exits the mental institution). It's a logical development, especially since by then, Holly has solidly befriended/mentored Michelle after Maureen's death - which no doubt you've seen the beginning of in your current viewing. Holly longing to be with Ed. Blake wants to protect Ed from Eve. It's a passable story and a decent idea, but not fully realized. By that time, GL spends too much time and attention towards amping up Buzz, the Coopers and Lucy's intro. (An aside, there's a relatively decent, semi-frontburner David/Kat story coming your way by summer 1993. Monti Sharp is given an opportunity to step on the gas.)

It's Kimberley Simms, btw. When you say Krista Simms, I'm thinking Krista Tesreau, the first Mindy.

Marcy Walker as Mindy would be doable - I'd be curious if Walker could continue Simms' sex kitten aura, and whom Walker would have chemistry with as Mindy. What would a Marcy Walker/Jordan Clarke chemistry look like? Hmmm....

Haha I conflated the Mindys into one actress. This is what I get for trusting my memory.

I also just watched the episode where Blake/Ross have the fight in women’s lounge at the country club and it certainly solidified my belief they shouldn’t have been a long-term couple. Literally everything they argued about remained their problems on loop for years-Blake’s insecurities combined with Ross’s resistance to placate them makes them really incompatible. I feel like in most of their arguments he’s usually right about the larger issue but he goes about it making the argument in a patronizing way that fuels her insecurities. Here she wants Ross not to represent Spaulding in the Roger/Jenna takeover attempt which is too big of an opportunity for him to pass up with his fledgling practice, but he just goes on the offensive that she’s a spoiled child who just doesn’t understand needing a job. He said something about how he shouldn’t be expected to reassure her all the time, but one of the things that drew him to her was discovering her vulnerabilities. He just seemed to think he can be the white knight and it’s cured, and is personally affronted that it’s not.

I haven’t watched any Ross/Vanessa romantically but I can see that being a much more enjoyable dynamic if they’d let them get back together. Vanessa would not take being patronized to.

1 hour ago, DRW50 said:

A shame. IIRC, Crampton never did audition, which was a real mistake.

I don't think it would've mattered, honestly. JFP wanted her. She wasn't going to be overridden by a casting director, even legendary Betty Rea.

I believe Betty was GL's casting director from '75 to '95. I know it was a long stretch, and she briefly did ATWT as well. There are some misfires. Carrie Mowrey as Jackie Marler stands out as a wash out.

18 minutes ago, GL95 said:

Haha I conflated the Mindys into one actress. This is what I get for trusting my memory.

I also just watched the episode where Blake/Ross have the fight in women’s lounge at the country club and it certainly solidified my belief they shouldn’t have been a long-term couple. Literally everything they argued about remained their problems on loop for years-Blake’s insecurities combined with Ross’s resistance to placate them makes them really incompatible. I feel like in most of their arguments he’s usually right about the larger issue but he goes about it making the argument in a patronizing way that fuels her insecurities. Here she wants Ross not to represent Spaulding in the Roger/Jenna takeover attempt which is too big of an opportunity for him to pass up with his fledgling practice, but he just goes on the offensive that she’s a spoiled child who just doesn’t understand needing a job. He said something about how he shouldn’t be expected to reassure her all the time, but one of the things that drew him to her was discovering her vulnerabilities. He just seemed to think he can be the white knight and it’s cured, and is personally affronted that it’s not.

I haven’t watched any Ross/Vanessa romantically but I can see that being a much more enjoyable dynamic if they’d let them get back together. Vanessa would not take being patronized to.

The haughty side of Ross could be easily cured if you build a story around Ross that results in corruption and his disbarment. Daddy Roger would have a field day with that, and Blake conflicted. She'd have to support Ross, right?

Ross and Vanessa have long had possibilities. Do you sometime develop a Ross/Vanessa/Billy triangle? I dunno, and I'm not a big fan of triangles. You out there, PJ?

4 minutes ago, Speed Racer said:

The haughty side of Ross could be easily cured if you build a story around Ross that results in corruption and his disbarment. Daddy Roger would have a field day with that, and Blake conflicted. She'd have to support Ross, right?

Ross and Vanessa have long had possibilities. Do you sometime develop a Ross/Vanessa/Billy triangle? I dunno, and I'm not a big fan of triangles. You out there, PJ?

Ross going shady and losing his license to get Spaulding back/beat Roger, then Ross working at Spaulding as a non-lawyer could’ve been interesting. I feel like Ross being brought down a peg would've helped the Blake/Ross dynamic (though just splitting them up works fine for me). They let the crew working at Spaulding get really hallowed out.

My first soap was Y&R so I always gravitate to corporate plots.

Edited 2 hours ago2 hr by GL95

34 minutes ago, P.J. said:

I believe Betty was GL's casting director from '75 to '95. I know it was a long stretch, and she briefly did ATWT as well. There are some misfires. Carrie Mowrey as Jackie Marler stands out as a wash out.

I think in some instances she was told to go with looks or charisma over talent

eg when the recast Morgan they deliberately went with a 'California Blonde' type even though her acting was subpar and she was nothing like Kristen Vigard. Allen Potter admitted as much saying she would need an acting coach but the 'energy' was there.

Probably the same with the Jackie recast. Told to go with pretty over substance.

1 minute ago, Paul Raven said:

I think in some instances she was told to go with looks or charisma over talent

eg when the recast Morgan they deliberately went with a 'California Blonde' type even though her acting was subpar and she was nothing like Kristen Vigard. Allen Potter admitted as much saying she would need an acting coach but the 'energy' was there.

Probably the same with the Jackie recast. Told to go with pretty over substance.

Well, no one bats a thousand, and Rea had a lot more hits than misses. Variety, at the time of her death, credited her as casting director at GL from '70-'96, and ATWT simultaneously from '79-'83. That's a lot of talent found.

39 minutes ago, Speed Racer said:

The haughty side of Ross could be easily cured if you build a story around Ross that results in corruption and his disbarment. Daddy Roger would have a field day with that, and Blake conflicted. She'd have to support Ross, right?

Ross and Vanessa have long had possibilities. Do you sometime develop a Ross/Vanessa/Billy triangle? I dunno, and I'm not a big fan of triangles. You out there, PJ?

Are you asking if there ever was a Ross/Van/Billy triangle? The answer is no. Billy kind of questions what Van's feelings about Ross are after he finds out about Dinah, but he leaves town and he and Van divorce before Ross and Vanessa start back up in '87. When Van comes back in '89, she chases Ross while Billy flirts with her, but she gets pulled back into Billy's life via the Dylan revelation. And Ross doesn't really show a lot of interest in Van, as he's (mostly) got his sights on Holly. At least from what I've seen of what's available. Nadine does assert that Ross has lost interest in sleeping with her since Vanessa returned, but (and it's hard to gauge) Ross never seemed overly committed to pursuing Nadine. It seems like they were kind of just thrown together because Ross didn't have a woman at the time.

After that, it's pretty clear that Van and Billy are always each other's "someone". And that Ross is serious about Holly and later Blake.

I think it would've been easy to write a Billy/Van/Ross triangle, with both men having an equal footing in Vanessa's life.

Edited 1 hour ago1 hr by P.J.

40 minutes ago, Paul Raven said:

Probably the same with the Jackie recast. Told to go with pretty over substance.

Maybe some people will disagree, but I thought Pickett was a lovely actress. When she did over her look (I believe that was done for her movie role) she looked less conventional, but that kind of went with Jackie's boho-hippie vibe, which she always had.

I believe Mowery's casting was meant to erase Jackie's quirkiness/uniqueness. Same as with Cooke replacing Vigard.

If we're making a list of Rea's rare casting blunders, I going to put Mark Pinter on it. No way could they convince me that women would fight over that man (especially a mother and daughter).

If she was there in 1996, I suppose she was involved with Ron Raines' casting. Which is suprising, since she cast Bernau.

(Just as an aside, it's possible Rea had little to nothing to do with these castings. Sometimes producers, or even the headwriters, bring in people they want, i.e. Jane Elliot's casting as Carrie. IIRC, Marland wrote that role specifically for her).

Edited 1 hour ago1 hr by DeeVee

Mark Pinter does have a somewhat smarmy vibe about him, which probably should've worked for the role of a cold-hearted grifter who jumped from woman to woman. It's hard to know what Marland's original intent was. With Marland's departure and the revolving door of writers that fall, I think they tried rebooting Mark and Amanda as a love match, which just didn't work. And the character is gone in a little over a year.

Not to pick on Peter Simon---but I just don't think he fits as Ed.