10 hours ago, Mitch64 said:

That's funny as that is a line from BevAlex, she wanted Phillip, non bio but raised a Spaulding to run the company with Lujack, bio but not raised one. I think a silbing fight over the company would be great with Hearst really being able to hold his own with Phillip. Throw in Amanda as the wild card and it woudl be a refreshing spin..(though Amanda might use Roger, and screw him once in a while, she would not be manipulated by him.)

I think the sibling fight would be a good refresh because there was tension between AM/Phillip but not not any bad blood so bad that you’d think they were insane to try to still maintain a bond-it’s a much more believable push/pull than either son vs Alan. One of the problems with Alan is there’s basically no reason for the viewer to even want peace/reconciliation between Alan and any family member. But with Phillip/AM them acting like brothers is rootable for a viewer even if their Spaulding instincts kick in to sabotage things.

6 minutes ago, DeeVee said:

Can you imagine having Kevin FREAKING Bacon on your show and thinking--nah.

TJ/Tim/whatever was never going to be anything but one of the roadblocks for Kelly and Morgan. That was basically his only function. They kept him on longer after they got married, but never really did anything with him. Partly the recast was not great, but the character's usefulness had faded.

I suppose Kevin was not staying (didn't he leave for Diner?), but I do wonder if Chris Marcantel would have stayed if they'd given him more to do. He was cute and likeable, even if the soaps never knew what to do with him (I think he was moved over to an ill-fated AW role). The last TJ looked about 30 and I have only seen him once in the available episodes.

1 hour ago, DeeVee said:

1 hour ago, DeeVee said:

Can you imagine having Kevin FREAKING Bacon on your show and thinking--nah.

TJ/Tim/whatever was never going to be anything but one of the roadblocks for Kelly and Morgan. That was basically his only function. They kept him on longer after they got married, but never really did anything with him. Partly the recast was not great, but the character's usefulness had faded.

No, TJ was not killed off. He left SF to be with his girlfriend who was going to an out-of-state school. Sara might have mentioned him once in a while afterwards, but that was it.

I find it hard to believe that Anthony Call was the problem--he went on to OLTL and became very popular even though the viewers hated him at first because he was the attorney who harangued Karen Wolek in the famous trial scene. He and Robin Strasser were a great pair.

Maybe they wanted to leave Sara free for the Justin/Jackie story, but she didn't stay in that storyline for that long.

It's funny--I think one of the very first scenes I ever watched on GL was Joe, Sara, and TJ celebrating Christmas. They were so happy. And then of course soon after Joe had a heart attack and died.

I think TJ (recast with a different actor, natch) was the officiant at both of Phillip and Blake's ceremonies. Why the show chose to bring him back with a connection to Phillip, I don't know.

You'd have thought TJ would've been a better dupe in the Nola/Kelly/Morgan triangle than Floyd.

1 hour ago, DRW50 said:

I suppose Kevin was not staying (didn't he leave for Diner?),

He had already done Animal House before GL--he was never going to stay. I guess he did a soap so he had work while trying to get his movie career going. It's just funny that they didn't seem to know what they had.

It's also bizarre that of all the teen/YA characters of that era, he was the only one with a real connection to the canvas and he was treated almost like an afterthought.

1 hour ago, P.J. said:

I think TJ (recast with a different actor, natch) was the officiant at both of Phillip and Blake's ceremonies. Why the show chose to bring him back with a connection to Phillip, I don't know.

Oh wow. I never knew that. I wonder if they mentioned Sara.

49 minutes ago, DRW50 said:

Oh wow. I never knew that. I wonder if they mentioned Sara.

The 8/15/89 episode, the minister is definitely referred to as TJ. I'm too lazy to wade through the May wedding, to see if there's an explanation about a Phillip/TJ connection. But it looks like the same actor.

1 minute ago, P.J. said:

The 8/15/89 episode, the minister is definitely referred to as TJ. I'm too lazy to wade through the May wedding, to see if there's an explanation about a Phillip/TJ connection. But it looks like the same actor.

Thanks. If that is TJ, they had about 5 or 6 actors in the part and barely ever did anything with him.

4 minutes ago, DRW50 said:

Thanks. If that is TJ, they had about 5 or 6 actors in the part and barely ever did anything with him.

I'd have to check the recaps, but there's a strange subplot about TJ's girlfriend (or a girl he knew) committing suicide because she was pregnant. I don't know if it was at the end of the Dobson's run, or the beginning of Marland's. Either way, it looked like someone had something planned, but it just kind of fizzled.

9 minutes ago, P.J. said:

I'd have to check the recaps, but there's a strange subplot about TJ's girlfriend (or a girl he knew) committing suicide because she was pregnant. I don't know if it was at the end of the Dobson's run, or the beginning of Marland's. Either way, it looked like someone had something planned, but it just kind of fizzled.

Thanks. I may have a vague memory of that with the old Soapcentral recaps. I guess nothing he did went anywhere. I still wonder why they just wrote Morgan's friend Trudy out instead of continuing to build her up. The show seemed to see characters in that period as disposable.

Edited 16 hours ago16 hr by DRW50

7 hours ago, P.J. said:

I'd have to check the recaps, but there's a strange subplot about TJ's girlfriend (or a girl he knew) committing suicide because she was pregnant. I don't know if it was at the end of the Dobson's run, or the beginning of Marland's. Either way, it looked like someone had something planned, but it just kind of fizzled.

Right. He wanted to leave school because everyone was certain he had knocked the girl up and was responsible for her suicide. I think that's the excuse they came up with for him to transfer to SF. Definitely during Marland's tenure.

He seemed to really like stories about male characters being blamed for the deaths of their girlfriends. 😁

14 hours ago, GL95 said:

I think the sibling fight would be a good refresh because there was tension between AM/Phillip but not not any bad blood so bad that you’d think they were insane to try to still maintain a bond-it’s a much more believable push/pull than either son vs Alan. One of the problems with Alan is there’s basically no reason for the viewer to even want peace/reconciliation between Alan and any family member. But with Phillip/AM them acting like brothers is rootable for a viewer even if their Spaulding instincts kick in to sabotage things.

I agree, and you have the whole, raised a Spaulding, and one who was not but is a bio one ..AM came back as a teenager, so I would think Hope raised him more Bauers tryish..and he rose to the challenge of being in the Spaulding Thunderdome..loving each other but alway, was trying to dominate, with Amanda taking AM's side (mostly, but not if they interfered with her one self interest) and Alex taking Phillips. Besides Amanda and Alex (and I would tone down the animosity there) everyone loves one another but...they are Spauldings. This interfamily warefare would split AM and Lucy just like it did AM's parents..but for a twist it would be Lucy who would find "solace" with someone else first.

Yes there was so rootability in Alan.

1 hour ago, Mitch64 said:

interfamily warefare would split AM and Lucy just like it did AM's parents..but for a twist it would be Lucy who would find "solace" with someone else first.

Yes there was so rootability in Alan.

I volunteer ****.

A next gen Spaulding sibling fight, where everyone was equal (not just someone being an [!@#$%^&*], but legit concern for the business) would've worked. But I'd have wanted Kathleen Cullen for that. No offense to Poser, but MadamMandy just Say No.

2 hours ago, P.J. said:

I volunteer ****.

A next gen Spaulding sibling fight, where everyone was equal (not just someone being an [!@#$%^&*], but legit concern for the business) would've worked. But I'd have wanted Kathleen Cullen for that. No offense to Poser, but MadamMandy just Say No.

Ha...Lucy and **** were perfect for each other, as they are both the dullest part of their families! Alex is off camera so Van is back at Spaulding while all this is going on and Matt and Lucy whine about their successful driven spouses. Oh, and Ross is working at Spaulding too so Van and Ross....plus, too nutty fan bases (LAM did have one) being incensed would make me so happy!

Siblings fighting for what they think is best would be interesting without anyone being the "big bad" AM is pushing for technology and Phillip wants to absorb Lewis or something. AM is ALWAYS going to feel like the lesser to Phillip, and Phillip may resent that AM has a lot of Alan's traits... We have to agree to disagree about Amanda..I found KM dull as dishwater and loved Poser..I know the Madame backstory was all wrong, and she was too young, but with good writing it could overcome that.

On 2/9/2026 at 9:17 PM, P.J. said:

Would she have had story? Sure. Would it have been good story? *shrugs* Other than not needing to venture into the ridiculous, it's not like Reva ever let her love for Bud stop her from sluttin' it up.

I don't think Reva worked as well when separated from the Lewises. And I damn sure don't think Kim would've really been happy doing "mom Reva" type stories.

Agree. Unless it was opposite Tom Pelphrey's Jonathan. I'm happy to be corrected but the Reva/Jonathan dynamic had undertones to it that went beyond mother/son. It wasn't overt but KZ seemed to show up more in her scenes that centered Jonathan. Her other kids felt like afterthoughts.

I found a 2005 Guiding Light playlist last night and this show really did love Harley. She's in almost every episode. I generally liked Harley but jeez. The character's overexposure also extended to those pitiful last months where Harley was sleeping with her niece's boyfriend and Gus' death. Gush should've been endgame but GL had to ruin almost all their couples.

@Mitch64 you really think Lucy was more dull than Frank, Coop or Marina? I liked Lucy, they should've brought her back after Harley left again.

Edited 54 minutes ago54 min by Spoon