It was probably smart of Carl Tye to not come back-I think “adult” AM became Rick and they’re very different actors and would likely have faced blowback. I’ve seen a fair number of 1989/90 episodes with him and I think he’s good, but it would’ve been a thankless thing coming back.

Going back to Alan/RR, I do think that it’s just hard to keep a more villainous character going that long without it getting stale especially where the plot relies so heavily on continually screwing over family members.

8 hours ago, P.J. said:

The real problem is that Chris Bernau had this reserved formality ( that's the best I can describe it) and way of holding himself that made him unique.

That's a really good way of describing his performance as Alan. I think the word "urbane" also fits. He gave Alan a patrician air (Bev did this with Alex, as well). It's like they were psuedo European aristocrats while still being very American when their ruthless sides came out. Either Raines never picked up on that or it was beyond his acting range.

When I read Bev wanted Daniel Davis to play Alan, at first I thought, no way, the butler from The Nanny? But then I watched some episodes of Texas where he played Elliot Carrington. He gave Elliot that same urbane air. Even though he was not anything like Bernau physically, I do think he could have pulled it off.

5 minutes ago, GL95 said:

Going back to Alan/RR, I do think that it’s just hard to keep a more villainous character going that long without it getting stale especially where the plot relies so heavily on continually screwing over family members.

That's just it. He shouldn't have been "the villain." He should have functioned on the canvas more like Victor Newman does on Y&R.

Victor started out as a really bad guy (i.e. imprisoning and feeding a rat to his wife's lover) but he eventually evolved into the show's patriarchal figure with the gray morals who stirs the pot now and then. Alan definitely could have become something like that, though IMO a Bauer should have been the patriarch.

48 minutes ago, DeeVee said:

That's just it. He shouldn't have been "the villain." He should have functioned on the canvas more like Victor Newman does on Y&R.

Victor started out as a really bad guy (i.e. imprisoning and feeding a rat to his wife's lover) but he eventually evolved into the show's patriarchal figure with the gray morals who stirs the pot now and then. Alan definitely could have become something like that, though IMO a Bauer should have been the patriarch.

Yeah, and they just had it in the same boring loop with his sons for basically RR's whole run. Step 1: Do something awful behind their backs Step 2: Secret comes out, act stunned that he's getting cut off (either sulk or plot revenge-depends on the mood). Step 3). Grand gesture or Alan is in serious peril so he is forgiven for the past misdeed. Rinse, repeat.

You can do this every few years but you can't do it every single plot cycle-the audience has to actually want the reconciliation stage to work. You pretty much always want either AM or Phillip (or Alex for that matter even though she has her own issues of course) to just get away from him forever.

I still contend they would have been better with the Spauldings to figure out an AM recast that worked and have the consistent tension be AM/Phillip push-pull with solid periods of peace so there's actual investment in the relationship. One thing that was striking in 1990 was how effective it was to have AM/Phillip really function as family because with their Bauer/Marler connections they end up linked to virtually everyone. Obviously Phillip is like a brother to Rick so he has the Bauer side link without AM, but AM accompanied Phillip to Marler family events as an extension of the family. The brother dynamic of Phillip clearly being the favorite and no matter what AM does he will always be the baby brother in Phillip's eyes is a more sustainable dynamic to play off of than how Alan always had some self-serving scheme for shallow reasons that would screw over AM or Phillip.

12 hours ago, GL95 said:

That 1991 collection is tempting-abs I never covet the cheapest thing.

Haha right?? I'm so tempted, but part of me feels like it's a scam. I wonder if @DRW50 has heard of this site/offering. He's been around for a bit :)

I’m up to April 20, 1999.

A moody Danny gets himself arrested for assaulting a cop while helping a family crony move illegal goods. Meanwhile, Carmen shows up at Ben’s place just as Blake is leaving and says she’s accepting his offer to be their family lawyer. Blake isn’t happy and tells him he can’t do it, but Carmen says this is a one-time offer and he better take it because it’s more important than his ‘little girlfriend’. Blake gives Ben an ultimatum on her way out and says if he still wants to be with her, he will say no to Carmen and meet her later. Carmen then tells Ben she needs him to get Danny out of jail. At the police station, Pilar shows up to support Danny and David Grant spills the beans to her that the Santos family is the largest crime mob in SF. She can’t believe it, and Carmen and Ben show up as they’re discussing it and Carmen tells Pilar not to listen to David. Ben is able to strong-arm Frank and get Danny off, which pleases Carmen and she proclaims to Ben that he now officially works for the Santos family. Later, Ben tells Blake he’s working for Carmen and she’s pissed off. She then sees a photographer outside and starts to fear for her boys’ safety. He tries to smooth it over and kisses her, which she plays along to, until he leaves. When alone, she calls a blacksmith and requests all her locks to be changed. Cassie comes by while the locks are getting changed and tells Blake this won’t stop Ben from getting to her because she has to emotionally get rid of Ben too. Cassie leaves and Ben eventually comes home and realizes his key doesn’t work and the lock was changed. He yells out at Blake to let him in, but she tells him to go away. He says he’s never going away and busts open the door! He tries to seduce her, but it doesn’t work this time and Blake finally stands up to him and says they are never going to work out. He keeps trying but she says if he wants her tonight, he’ll have to rape her and then she’ll make sure he rots in jail for the rest of his miserable life. He then asks if she is going back to Ross and she says it’s not his business and he finally leaves, which makes Blake proud of herself that she finally didn’t let him get to her.

Danny tries to convince Pilar that their family isn’t bad, and then forces her to go back to school by arranging her flight back. Pilar later eyes Bill at the bar and starts to flirt with him and gives him a fake name. She asks if he knows Danny and Bill says unfortunately yes, and she then lies by saying Danny tried to force himself on her and she needs Bill’s help. They go to the diner to talk and Pilar uses him to get information about Danny. Bill tells her all about Danny and Michelle’s ‘marriage’ and Carmen being the big bad head of the Santos family, ordering people to be killed, which shocks Pilar. She asks if she could stay at his place for a few days and he says yes, but Danny walks in and demands she go with him. He reveals that’s his sister Pilar and Bill is shocked. Danny forces her to go to the airport, but Bill grabs him and punches him and they start to fight. Pilar breaks it up and Danny takes her outside and finally admits the truth, that Michelle killed Mick. She gets angry and says Michelle must pay for what she did, which shows Danny that for better or worse, she’s a ‘real’ Santos. Later, Pilar confronts her mother and says she knows who she is and what she does. Pilar says she’s leaving the family because she can’t stand what they do, but Carmen says she can’t because she funds her current lifestyle. Pilar says if she has to choose between her blood money and a city shelter, she chooses the shelter, which shocks and hurts Carmen.

Harley convinces Phillip to apologize to Jim, so Phillip interrupts Jim/Beth’s date to apologize. Jim gets angry at him, but Phillip offers more money to keep him and Susan in town, which Jim accepts after Beth also encourages him to stay. Meanwhile, at the diner, Susan also tries to convince her ‘grandpa Buzz’ (LOL) to keep them in SF, and once they realize Jim decided they’re staying, they celebrate. Susan later runs into a young kid playing a video game at the diner, who btw is the guy that later played Will from ATWT (Jesse Soffer - 4/14)! We then see this kid steal money out of the cash register after Selena leaves it unattended. Jesse catches him stealing the money and confronts him outside, recognizing the kid as ‘Max’, who is from his town, Point Lester, and has spent time in juvenile hall in the past. Susan walks outside and covers for him, saying that’s her friend. Jesse lets him go, but warns him to behave before leaving. Max then pressures Susan to give him his money back, but she refuses and he calls her a little girl. She says she’s about to be 14 and he doesn’t believe it. He says he needs the money because he’s hungry and doesn’t have much of a family. He assumes she’s a spoiled rich girl because of her Spaulding name, but she tells him about her past and being adopted. She gives him the money and he leaves. She later tells Harley about this Max boy that she met and Harley realizes she has a crush on him. Susan then talks about wanting to be ‘sexy’ and grow up fast so boys will like her.

Selena and Drew discuss how happy Drew is now, and since Selena was able to easily find Drew’s mother, she wants her help in finding other relatives of Dorothy Nickerson because she could have a whole family out there she doesn’t know, which concerns Selena. Buzz and Selena try and tell her this isn’t a good idea, but eventually Buzz says he’ll help her. Privately, Selena casually kisses Buzz which surprises them both and they walk away without talking about it. Jesse later warns Buzz/Selena to stop giving Drew false hope or else he’ll tell Drew the truth. The next day, Drew continues to be so happy about the idea of a family and Jesse can’t help but tell her how beautiful she is when she’s smiling so much. He then draws her portrait (like he did with Michelle in the past), and then watches her undress from behind the folded screen. She turns on music (Cher) and wants to dance and they eventually fall into each other on the couch and they end up kissing passionately. Jesse later calls his realtor and says he’s no longer looking for a place to live and he’s happy staying where he is now (with Drew). Meanwhile, Drew goes back to her “mom’s” gravesite and gushes about kissing Jesse and how things are looking up for her. Max then walks up and asks her what she’s doing. Drew says she’s visiting her mother and he says that can’t be true, because Dorothy is HIS mother! Drew tells him how she recently found out about Dorothy, but he thinks it’s a scam and demands she leave. She tells him about Ron and he says there is no Ron, so she shows him her birth certificate but he says it’s a fake and someone is fooling her. She’s still insistent that Dorothy must not have told Max about having another child, so she offers him money to talk to her and he accepts. They go to her loft and he realizes she’s rich. He tells her a little about Dorothy and how he’s bouncing from friend and foster homes, so she offers him to stay at her loft with her so they can get to know each other better. She leaves and lets him hang out alone, and he says to himself that he can’t believe this rich girls really thinks they’re related. Later, Jesse walks in and roughs him up a bit, asking why he’s there, but Drew comes in and tells Jesse that’s her brother. She then calls Selena to come over and tells her she found her brother, which shocks Selena. Jesse tells Selena that Max now sees a goldmine in Drew and will con her, so he has to tell Drew the truth now, but Selena says absolutely not. Jesse then admits he cares for Drew and is falling in love.

Buzz finally confronts Selena about their kiss, which she tries to dodge. He corners her and says yes, he’s attracted to her, but he can’t do anything about it. Selena then says she always thought he was attractive.

Annie once again visits Holly and they discuss their similarities of loving children. They become friendly and bond over their pasts, with both of them asking each other to be friends as they hug and vow to get their lives back in order. Fletcher then comes in and Annie leaves. Fletcher surprises Holly with a day out of the facility with both him and Meg, which excites her. They go on a picnic and have a sweet bonding moment, with Fletcher saying he always thought of her and Holly saying she never moved his stuff at their house. They reminisce about their engagement and wedding, and then kiss. Fletcher then gets up to tell the nurse they’re ready to head back, but his wallet falls out of his pocket and Holly opens it and sees a picture of a woman. She asks who it is and he says it’s Meg’s teacher (Kate), who is so great with her, but he admits they got close in the beginning and he fell for her. Holly gets upset and accuses Fletcher of coming back only to clear his conscience before he runs off with this lady forever. He tells her that’s not true and his feelings for Holly all came back when he saw her and they kissed. But, he says he has to take Meg back to school and needs to come up with a plan to split his time somehow, and also figure out what he wants to do. But first, he says the priority is getting Holly better, which she then says she knows what she has to do. Fletcher and the nurse talk privately and as Fletcher turns around, he realizes Holly and Meg are gone! Fletcher runs to Frank at the police station and tells him they’ve disappeared, meanwhile we see Holly and Meg together at the park. But, as Fletcher is about to go search for them, Holly and Meg walk into the police station. She tells Fletcher that she realized running away would have been a big mistake, and Fletcher says just the hour they were gone was hard enough, he can’t imagine how Holly felt for a year. Holly tells him to go back with Meg to her school and make a life for her while she continues to get better, but Fletcher calls the teacher and tells her he has to stay in SF now. Holly asks why he did that and he said because he loves his wife.

1 hour ago, alwaysAMC said:

Haha right?? I'm so tempted, but part of me feels like it's a scam. I wonder if @DRW50 has heard of this site/offering. He's been around for a bit :)

I haven't. I'm generally wary of buying soap DVDs, with a few exceptions, but others who are more in the know may be able to help.

12 hours ago, GL95 said:

Someone mentioned it upthread, but if if the mythical GL movie/reboot ever happened modern day Rick Hearst would be a good Alan. Watching some 80a episodes here and there it’s funny how Rick’s AM was never onscreen with Berneau but I completely can see him as Berneau’s Alan’s kid and not just physically.

I think Hearst understood how to play a Spaulding from working with Bev. I would hope if she had still been there when RR was cast, he would've taken a cue from her and played it differently.

I'm not sure I see a resemblance between Heast and Bernau, but I think Rick is talented enough to pull it off.

15 hours ago, alwaysAMC said:

I stumbled across this website and curious if anyone knew about it or if it's been discussed on the SON boards before? Might be better to ask in a general soap thread since most soaps are available for purchase, but curious if this is a scam or legit. And if legit, how decent is the quality? Seems like this would be illegal to sell copies for profit, but maybe not? LOL.

https://www.soapdvds.com/guidinglight

I'd be cautious. I've never given them money but have emailed them asking questions several times and never got a response. It just didn't seem very professional so, at this point, I would not give them money even if they responded. I've been ripped off by other sellers in classic soap opera material.

Edited 3 hours ago3 hr by Reverend Ruthledge

7 minutes ago, Reverend Ruthledge said:

I'd be cautious. I've never given them money but have emailed them asking questions several times and never got a response. It just didn't seem very professional so, at this point, I would not give them money even if they responded. I've been ripped off by other sellers in classic soap opera material.

Physical resemblance wise I'm more saying that Rick and Berneau look more alike than either looks like RR. I am not setting a high physical resemblance bar haha

What's kind of funny to me is that if Rick had ever come back I feel like the person in the cast he would most resemble is PAS (who if they were deaging AM anyhow I think could've made for a solid AM recast potentially and just never bring in the mob.)

6 hours ago, GL95 said:

It was probably smart of Carl Tye to not come back-I think “adult” AM became Rick and they’re very different actors and would likely have faced blowback. I’ve seen a fair number of 1989/90 episodes with him and I think he’s good, but it would’ve been a thankless thing coming back.

I think he would have been accepted - he did a good job in his brief, sleazy role on ATWT in the early '00s, so he still had the chops. The biggest issue (and why Rick left, IIRC) is Alan Michael so often had little to do. I can't see him wanting to return for a love triangle with an angel.

Beyond Rick leaving, what were the other times he was asked? I hope it wasn't for the stupid 2007 return. Pairing him with Marina would have been even worse.

1 minute ago, DRW50 said:

I think he would have been accepted - he did a good job in his brief, sleazy role on ATWT in the early '00s, so he still had the chops. The biggest issue (and why Rick left, IIRC) is Alan Michael so often had little to do. I can't see him wanting to return for a love triangle with an angel.

Beyond Rick leaving, what were the other times he was asked? I hope it wasn't for the stupid 2007 return. Pairing him with Marina would have been even worse.

I believe I read Sonia Satra said she was in negotiations to come back circa 2003/04 but a producer changed scrapped that-I would assume the plan was to bring back AM as well. Guessing that turned into just AM whenever the Marina hookup happened.

1 minute ago, GL95 said:

I believe I read Sonia Satra said she was in negotiations to come back circa 2003/04 but a producer changed scrapped that-I would assume the plan was to bring back AM as well. Guessing that turned into just AM whenever the Marina hookup happened.

Thanks. That makes sense. I guess that was from Conboy to Wheeler. I wonder what Conboy would have planned for them. Probably ended up with Beth bedding Alan-Michael...

47 minutes ago, DRW50 said:

Thanks. That makes sense. I guess that was from Conboy to Wheeler. I wonder what Conboy would have planned for them. Probably ended up with Beth bedding Alan-Michael...

I believe Rick said he was asked back in 2001 but chose B&B so I think that’s probably another time CTE was likely asked as well. I wonder if Gus was created once they struck out on them with the idea of a Harley pairing.

37 minutes ago, GL95 said:

I wonder if Gus was created once they struck out on them with the idea of a Harley pairing.

IMO, that ship had sailed. They never put Hearst with Ehlers, right?

If they wanted to delve into the past to pair someone with Harley, it should have been Josh. (Yeah, I know).