5 hours ago, TheyStartedOnSoaps said:

Before CBS cancelled GL, TPTB were actually holding auditions for a recast Michelle Bauer. Which seems such an insult to Nancy St. Alban, as she was available to come back to the role. There was talk that Martha Madison (Belle, Days of our Lives) was the leading contender the part. But then they got cancelled, and to close things up they brought Nancy back as Michelle for the final episodes.

I remember that. I recently read that they cast a Beth Bonner as Michelle-- they had a play a small, short role instead. Martha Madison auditioned for Marah years earlier, I believe it was when Lindsey McKeon won the role.

I know NSA was technically there as a guest star at the end, it like a wake at the end with past actors paying their respects: Peter simon, Lisa Brown, etc. Michelle would've returned to town without Danny-- i wonder who they would've paired her with?

Edited 2 hours ago2 hr by Spoon

21 hours ago, DeeVee said:

I'm also shocked that Phillip KILLED his Uncle Ross?

How do you sabatoge a plane and think anyone is going to survive it? WTH?

I'm beginning to think cancelling the show was a mercy killing now. When you're doing dumb stuff like this, it's time to hang it up.

Axing the principle Bauers in the 1980s, killing off Maureen Bauer and Ross Marler in the 1990s, foisting all the sci-fi crap onto the once-erudite soap, populating Springfield with so many irrelevant and disposible faces in its dwindling years...TPTB had been making painfully atrociously decisions at TGL for a loooong time. I was ready for/expecting it to be euthanized by 1985.

21 hours ago, DeeVee said:

I would be for this. Give Stacy Nola's energy. Maybe have the story kind of mirror Kelly/Nola (without the desire to trap Rick with a pregnancy). A lively woman with a staid guy...like in the old screwball comedies. Write to MOL's comic talents (and reign him in a little bit so it's not just pointless mugging).

God, yes! Peter Simon and Nancy St Alban were dull as dishwater; Ed and Michelle were basically useless as remnants of the core family without the likes of Mart Hulswit and Rachel Miner (or even Joie Lenz) in the roles. Rick became an unnecessary talk-to as he hovered around the backburner, and O'Leary's mugging made me yearn to see a new actor take over the part.

21 hours ago, DeeVee said:

I actually thought of RVV as "the fake Ed." Or, "Dr. Chuck Tyler, who took a wrong turn into Springfield."

I always regarded RVV as "Chuck Tyler pretending to be Ed Bauer." He was totally miscast on TGL.

21 hours ago, DeeVee said:

I really think PS would have been less of a drag if they had written some decent stories for Ed. For instance, if they had done a better job with the fallout from Mo's death--have him go back to drinking, for one thing.

I liked Peter Simon on SFT, and felt he was good on ATWT, but he was abrasively lethargic and colorless as Ed. This was NOT the Ed Bauer I had watched for 20 years.

21 hours ago, DeeVee said:

And wouldn't that have been a PERFECT time to bring back Hope? To help her uncle get back on the wagon.

They never should have written Hope off at all, but particularly with Bert, Hillary and Maureen dead, we needed a beloved Bauer woman aboard the sinking SS Springfield.

21 hours ago, DeeVee said:

So many missed opportunities...

It kinda looked like TIIC were sabotaging the show right into the grave.

I thought Peter Simon was decent as Ed in the 80s episodes I watched when he was acting opposite of both Maureen's (Ellen Dolan & Ellen Parker), but I think the combination of the early 90s era of the showv and the killing off of Maureen caused Ed to fall into a fugue state that he never really shook. He seemed to have some life again in the final episodes of the show.. but seeing him in episodes in the 80s, he infused Ed with some life and personality.

And for those that say Alexandra falling for Roger was out of character, I talked to a therapist friend of mine and detailed some of her backstory... and they told me that her falling for someone like Roger was in character. And when I mentioned how she was forced to give up Lujack by her father and her brother didn't defend/help her.. they said that it tracks she wouldn't listen to people when they advised her not to get involved with Roger.. because it triggered memories of losing her son's and not having a voice in things that went on with her life.. so she doubled down on the Roger relationship/marriage.. and that was why she went hard-core against Roger and Mindy after she found out their affair (especially since she had known Mindy for years and had cared about her).

7 hours ago, TheyStartedOnSoaps said:

Before CBS cancelled GL, TPTB were actually holding auditions for a recast Michelle Bauer. Which seems such an insult to Nancy St. Alban, as she was available to come back to the role. There was talk that Martha Madison (Belle, Days of our Lives) was the leading contender the part. But then they got cancelled, and to close things up they brought Nancy back as Michelle for the final episodes.

NSA was lucky to have the job as long as she did - just beyond bland.

I am glad Wheeler didn't do what Goutman and others did and say I'm going to tell all the stories I was going to tell, now at breakneck speed, it's all about me. She was smart to not bother bringing in a recast Michelle for only a few months. And I was glad to see Paul Anthony Stewart one last time.

1 hour ago, vetsoapfan said:

I liked Peter Simon on SFT, and felt he was good on ATWT, but he was abrasively lethargic and colorless as Ed. This was NOT the Ed Bauer I had watched for 20 years.

I wish I could see his Search work. The story he had on ATWT I found extremely tedious, especially when the Dobsons arrived, but that was typical of much of the show.

I enjoyed him as Ed and I liked that he was never afraid to play Ed unsympathetically, but seeing Mart made me understand why a number of fans never accepted him. Mart just had such warmth.

I wonder if P&G ever considered hiring Jacquie Schultz as Hope.