17 hours ago, GL95 said:

I don't even know what I want, but this Roger/Jenna Spaulding takeover is weirdly just a bunch of client poaching between Lewis and Spaulding and not a lot of fun. It coming in the immediate aftermath of Maureen's death with no Alex on the scene just makes it so there's really no true adversary for Roger to lord this over at this point. AM and I guess Henry are about as close as it gets, but AM is such a sad sack between the divorce and having only Nick as Spaulding family that there's not much fun in Roger lording anything over someone who never had power in the first place. Vanessa just moving back to Lewis Oil and Henry hanging out with her just makes this thing feel so low stakes right now, though I actually like the scrappy upstart Journal stuff as I think Rick Hearst/VI are both talented enough actors that they play the push/pull of AM/Nick well and have a good chemistry.

I had a feeling that had Bev not quit a year earlier then expected, that Alex would have been around during the fight for Spaulding.

To me, some of the elements were being put in place during the summer of 1992 (after Fiona opted to extend her stay past the initial 3 month stint she was hired for) with Jenna meeting Roger, Jenna blackmailing Alex to drop the charges against her, and Jenna's immigration situation came up.. which set up her quest to find her father.

I think Alex being gone for the original 6 to 8 weeks would have made share-holders nervous about the future of the company.. and that would have been the opening for Roger to take advantage of.

I'm sure that once Bev officially quit, the show had to work to rewrite/plan certain things... but I truly believe that Alex's next story would have been her fighting Roger/Jenna in the Spaulding take over story.

5 minutes ago, Soaplovers said:

I had a feeling that had Bev not quit a year earlier then expected, that Alex would have been around during the fight for Spaulding.

To me, some of the elements were being put in place during the summer of 1992 (after Fiona opted to extend her stay past the initial 3 month stint she was hired for) with Jenna meeting Roger, Jenna blackmailing Alex to drop the charges against her, and Jenna's immigration situation came up.. which set up her quest to find her father.

I think Alex being gone for the original 6 to 8 weeks would have made share-holders nervous about the future of the company.. and that would have been the opening for Roger to take advantage of.

I'm sure that once Bev officially quit, the show had to work to rewrite/plan certain things... but I truly believe that Alex's next story would have been her fighting Roger/Jenna in the Spaulding take over story.

I can see that-I feel like they were setting up her being distracted/blinded by Nick to lead to something bad happening. She was both distant from the company and also she was creating a ticking time bomb with AM as I think she was simultaneously underestimating what he might do while overestimating how far she could push him.

18 minutes ago, GL95 said:

When I first started watching 1990 eps it was striking how much more integrated the Spauldings were to the community as a whole. Maureen was the heart for sure, but Bev’s Alex was the ultimate insider who ran the town in many ways. The Spaulding mansion stopped being the center of “high society” after she left and it really impacted how the town felt like a community too.

Yes. Guiding Light for the most part lost its community vibe and umbrella storylines by the mid 1990s. 1993 starts the wobbling with Buzz' introduction and inane, pointless WTF characters such as MacCauley West (whom you are about to run into if you haven't already).

What Guiding Light never did well, IMO, is to introduce big important characters (Alex, Buzz) or bring back important characters from the past (Alan, Roger). I don't like "reveal" storylines at all, especially when done via some masquerade ball, wedding, etc. Having Alan reappear in a mask at a ball (with no one immediately being able to identify him) or having Roger run round in a mask for months on an island were really poor ideas. Having Roger swing from a vine at Phillip's wedding to usher in his reappearance in Springfield?! The Mr. Tashawa story in 1994? All were horrendous.

10 minutes ago, Speed Racer said:

Yes. Guiding Light for the most part lost its community vibe and umbrella storylines by the mid 1990s. 1993 starts the wobbling with Buzz' introduction and inane, pointless WTF characters such as MacCauley West (whom you are about to run into if you haven't already).

What Guiding Light never did well, IMO, is to introduce big important characters (Alex, Buzz) or bring back important characters from the past (Alan, Roger). I don't like "reveal" storylines at all, especially when done via some masquerade ball, wedding, etc. Having Alan reappear in a mask at a ball (with no one immediately being able to identify him) or having Roger run round in a mask for months on an island were really poor ideas. Having Roger swing from a vine at Phillip's wedding to usher in his reappearance in Springfield?! The Mr. Tashawa story in 1994? All were horrendous.

Not quite the same but similar, I couldn't believe how long they dragged out Nick being "revealed" as Alex's son. It is a pretty consistent theme-I remember Dinah thinking Hart was a private investigator for a really, really long time. And of course the Reva Amish storyline that still somehow dragged out for months even after Reva comes to Springfield where she is "revealed" at a ball.

It's actually kind of amazing that they didn't have Lucy just hang out with AM for months before she linked up with Buzz. They even had Buzz fully admit she was his daughter immediately when she showed up at the diner without dragging it out, though I suppose she was both there for AM and to try to soften Buzz so him lying about her would not achieve the second purpose.

14 minutes ago, GL95 said:

I can see that-I feel like they were setting up her being distracted/blinded by Nick to lead to something bad happening. She was both distant from the company and also she was creating a ticking time bomb with AM as I think she was simultaneously underestimating what he might do while overestimating how far she could push him.

Soaplovers' right on target here. Having Alex away for two months to "find herself" would present a window of opportunity for Roger to go after Spaulding, what with Alan, Phillip and Amanda also MIA. And, as you say, having Roger woo AM (especially after Alex hands the keys to Vanessa...why the hell would AM want to stay around?) Of course, Vanessa would slow Roger down, but maybe not stop him as Vanessa cannot always enact policy as a Spaulding would, simply because she isn't one. Vanessa's hesitancy to act would be a logical occurrence, especially in early 1993 (Maureen's death).

Conversely, if Vanessa did always enact policy, and made some serious mistakes in judgment, that in itself would make for some very interesting long-term business story prospects that affect everyone in town. (There's your next umbrella story- a corporate/employment/where do my loyalties lie type of thing).

I've spent zero time thinking about any of this, but man o man, it's tempting to dig in.

Whoaaaa....an idea here. Re-introduce Bradley Raines (Rebhorn) as Rogers' co-conspirator in bringing down Spaulding Enterprises. That would be aces.

Then, of course, you have Bradley turning on Roger, in a pseudo replay of Alan/Roger from the late 1970s/early 80s. Have Roger be the one defending turf. Maybe have Bradley make a play for Holly.

6 minutes ago, Speed Racer said:

Soaplovers' right on target here. Having Alex away for two months to "find herself" would present a window of opportunity for Roger to go after Spaulding, what with Alan, Phillip and Amanda also MIA. And, as you say, having Roger woo AM (especially after Alex hands the keys to Vanessa...why the hell would AM want to stay around?) Of course, Vanessa would slow Roger down, but maybe not stop him as Vanessa cannot always enact policy as a Spaulding would, simply because she isn't one. Vanessa's hesitancy to act would be a logical occurrence, especially in early 1993 (Maureen's death).

Conversely, if Vanessa did always enact policy, and made some serious mistakes in judgment, that in itself would make for some very interesting long-term business story prospects that affect everyone in town. (There's your next umbrella story- a corporate/employment/where do my loyalties lie type of thing).

I've spent zero time thinking about any of this, but man o man, it's tempting to dig in.

The Nick "I'm on the board as a reporter!" thing could've come into play if Vanessa either made a mistake or did something that Nick decided was sketchy. Even better, have Roger or AM plant bait for Nick to run with and have Nick blow things up without doing enough research because his arrogance wins out. Vanessa quits in disgust since Nick's journalism career is in flames and he has a sudden interest in pursuing being the heir apparent.

With the AM element, not only was Van in charge which AM for a hot minute was at peace with learning/waiting when he thought Nick wasn't Alex's son, but they laid the groundwork that Alex's plan was basically to have AM work alongside Nick for awhile to groom his eventual replacement as the heir apparent (which is a bit funny again with the timelines of the ages because Nick should be what, at least 15 years older than AM?).

Edited 6 minutes ago6 min by GL95

16 minutes ago, Speed Racer said:

Whoaaaa....an idea here. Re-introduce Bradley Raines (Rebhorn) as Rogers' co-conspirator in bringing down Spaulding Enterprises. That would be aces.

Then, of course, you have Bradley turning on Roger, in a pseudo replay of Alan/Roger from the late 1970s/early 80s. Have Roger be the one defending turf. Maybe have Bradley make a play for Holly.

It would certainly invoke the specter of Phillip as well, which even without Phillip it would give Lillian something to do. Though this does really fit into the thoughts of a Spaulding Next Generation with no Alex/Alan on the scene at all and Phillip/AM being the central figures.