6 minutes ago, P.J. said:

To get us back on track, today marks Jerry verDorn's debut as Ross. One of my favorite Ross moments starts at 1:14

@alwaysAMC it's been a blast having you! As they say, "welcome to the tribe!"

Thank you! I love being part of it!

Love that Ross scene - that will be me this weekend celebrating my 1-year

I love these versions of Reva and Vanessa here... dare I say... it makes you realize how watered down their personalities have become by the late 90s.

1 minute ago, DRW50 said:

@alwaysAMC Happy anniversary! I haven't replied to your recaps as much lately as I have less to say about that period of GL but I still appreciate reading them and will try to pop up more. I appreciate all the time you take and your passion for a show that was a stranger to you.

Really kind words - thank you

In regards to BTG, the 3+ month filmed ahead schedule and the 5+ months of scripts pre-written make it difficult for the show to do course corrections if something isn't working (i.e. Ashley/Andre were designed as star-crossed for the first 150 to 180 episodes.. the show even did the standard jealous partner keeping secret their ability to walk in order to keep the star crossed lovers apart. Around 180 episodes into the show, the jealous partner was exposed, Ashley went to Andre to confess her feelings, being turned down by him, and now Andre/Ashley haven't interacted in a few months nor hardly mention their past connection).

Had the show been written and filmed closer to air-date, the show would have 86'd Ashley/Andre, broken up Ashley/Derek, and focused on Dani/Andre as an actual couple with her ex Bill jealous she's moved on even though he left her for a younger woman.

If you look at episodes of Guiding Light from 1989, you'll see various character interactions and characters/couples tested (i.e. Nadine/Ross, Holly/Johnny, Frank/Sam, Sonni/Roger, Fletcher/Alex, Ross/Vanessa/Billy/Nadine teased,). If a dynamic wasn't working, the show would course correct and/or if an actor decided to leave.. the adjustments could be made without it feeling like whiplash (i.e. Michelle Forbes quitting thus ending the Roger/Sonni dynamic.. and moving Roger into Alex's orbit).

6 minutes ago, alwaysAMC said:

Thank you! I love being part of it!

Love that Ross scene - that will be me this weekend celebrating my 1-year

I love these versions of Reva and Vanessa here... dare I say... it makes you realize how watered down their personalities have become by the late 90s.

Really kind words - thank you

LOL...well, Van's a little over the top and Reva (surprise) is WAY over the top....but I consider it an homage to screwball comedies, so I just roll with it. Van and Reva would've been so much more fun as straight up rivals.

@alwaysAMC Happy Anniversary! I just realized I'm coming up to my one-year anniversary here, too! April 5. Wow, I can't believe it. I have to say, I'm REALLY looking forward to your reactions to the San Christohell story.

3 minutes ago, Soaplovers said:

In regards to BTG, the 3+ month filmed ahead schedule and the 5+ months of scripts pre-written make it difficult for the show to do course corrections if something isn't working (i.e. Ashley/Andre were designed as star-crossed for the first 150 to 180 episodes..

I thought it was 6 months. (Or is that DOOL's schedule?)

As you point out, it makes it really hard to pivot when something isn't working out. OR, to take advantage of something that takes off that they weren't expecting. For instance, I wouldn't have married Andre and Dani off so fast.

I understand the financial reasons for it, but it does undermine one of the advantages of soap storytelling, which is the ability to try things out without committing to it until you're sure it's clicking.

When you watch old episodes of GL you see lots of chem testing. They even chem tested Alan and Sara McIntyre. They were chem testing him with Rita for quite some time before that storyline took off. The same with Mike, although after Elizabeth they never found a strong pairing for him.

15 minutes ago, Soaplovers said:

In regards to BTG, the 3+ month filmed ahead schedule and the 5+ months of scripts pre-written make it difficult for the show to do course corrections if something isn't working (i.e. Ashley/Andre were designed as star-crossed for the first 150 to 180 episodes.. the show even did the standard jealous partner keeping secret their ability to walk in order to keep the star crossed lovers apart. Around 180 episodes into the show, the jealous partner was exposed, Ashley went to Andre to confess her feelings, being turned down by him, and now Andre/Ashley haven't interacted in a few months nor hardly mention their past connection).

Had the show been written and filmed closer to air-date, the show would have 86'd Ashley/Andre, broken up Ashley/Derek, and focused on Dani/Andre as an actual couple with her ex Bill jealous she's moved on even though he left her for a younger woman.

If you look at episodes of Guiding Light from 1989, you'll see various character interactions and characters/couples tested (i.e. Nadine/Ross, Holly/Johnny, Frank/Sam, Sonni/Roger, Fletcher/Alex, Ross/Vanessa/Billy/Nadine teased,). If a dynamic wasn't working, the show would course correct and/or if an actor decided to leave.. the adjustments could be made without it feeling like whiplash (i.e. Michelle Forbes quitting thus ending the Roger/Sonni dynamic.. and moving Roger into Alex's orbit).

Granted, we as viewers don't really understand how hard it is to course correct, especially at the beginning, when you don't have a "B" story for a character to lean into if their "A" story isn't working. It still feels very rough, but at some point, they need to make hard decisions on the casting side, imo.

And you're right, '89 GL is kind of figuring out who and what was working and what wasn't. And they had the benefit of working with characters that were fully established and in many cases, had been played by the actors for years.

Just random question, as long as we're also talking JvD's anniversary...when did Maureen Garrett take over the role of Holly?

58 minutes ago, P.J. said:

Just random question, as long as we're also talking JvD's anniversary...when did Maureen Garrett take over the role of Holly?

We know it was in 76 and I would assume maybe Oct/Nov as she would have signed a 3 yr contract which expired in 79. She then signed for a further year and departed in Nov 80.

However earlier in 76 Holly left town for California, and seemed to be off air for several weeks. So was this Lynn Deerfield's departure?

Holly then returns.

BUT it was reported at the time that reports of Lynn departing were wrong and she would continue so another possibility is Lynn's contract was up-she was getting married- so she planned to leave, but agreed to appear until a replacement could be found?

Maybe other posters have a definitive timeline.

9 hours ago, DeeVee said:

@alwaysAMC Happy Anniversary! I just realized I'm coming up to my one-year anniversary here, too! April 5. Wow, I can't believe it. I have to say, I'm REALLY looking forward to your reactions to the San Christohell story.

Thank you!!! And wow, I assumed you've been around SON awhile, you're just natural here :) Happy early 1-year anniversary!

8 hours ago, Paul Raven said:

We know it was in 76 and I would assume maybe Oct/Nov as she would have signed a 3 yr contract which expired in 79. She then signed for a further year and departed in Nov 80.

However earlier in 76 Holly left town for California, and seemed to be off air for several weeks. So was this Lynn Deerfield's departure?

Holly then returns.

BUT it was reported at the time that reports of Lynn departing were wrong and she would continue so another possibility is Lynn's contract was up-she was getting married- so she planned to leave, but agreed to appear until a replacement could be found?

Maybe other posters have a definitive timeline.

My first memory of watching GL was Ed and Deerfield's Holly having a confrontation about Christina being Roger's child. I clearly remember Ed lamenting that things had been so much better between them over Christmas, so I assume this was fairly early 1976.

Then I remember sometime after this, Holly (still Deerfield) trying to get in touch with Ed to stop the divorce before it was too late. (IIRC, it was RITA who, possibly unwittingly, didn't get the message to Ed in time).

The next memory I have of Holly is MG's first appearance. I remember thinking, "She's different." But somehow she quickly became Holly. There was this scene (not sure if it was that first scene or sometime later) that seemed like a throwaway--she had made Ed some banana bread. She was saying the texture was wrong, and Mart was so cute, he made this funny face when he ate it. They had a really nice chemistry right away.

Unfortunately, I can't remember the exact dates, but I'm fairly sure this all happened in 1976.

Edited 55 minutes ago55 min by DeeVee

46 minutes ago, alwaysAMC said:

And wow, I assumed you've been around SON awhile, you're just natural here :) Happy early 1-year anniversary

Thanks! It helped that everyone here was so welcoming. 😊