2 hours ago, Spoon said:

Best Headwriter or EP that never worked at GL that you wish that they'd got a shot?

I was also going to say Sam Hall and Gordon Russell (though Russell died relatively young in 1981). They didn't just do Dark Shadows, they wrote OLTL during the 70s--that was a golden period for that show, I was just talking about it in the Iconic Soap Moments topic. I think they would have done well on GL, if Russell had lived longer.

Henry Slesar did not just write for EON, he also wrote for SFT and Somerset. He wasn't just good at writing mystery stories; my mom and I practically swooned over Adam and Nicole's love story on EON and he wrote some really interesting, complex characters. I could see him writing GL.

Then there's Harding Lemay, who I think wrote for GL for a while but not as HW. I don't know what the deal with him was; once he left AW he never was quite as good again. But maybe he could have got back some of his mojo writing GL.

EPs, I'm having a problem coming up with someone--if I didn't have 20/20 hindsight, I'd have thought that Rauch would have been a good EP because I loved AW when he ran it during the 1970s. I had no idea back then what a you-know-what he was.

What I wish more than anything is that Kobe had never been EP. I wish that Pat Falken Smith had been given a fair shot after Marland left. Unfotunately, Allen Potter had retired; I wish he had stuck around longer, too.

40 minutes ago, SoapDope78 said:

Lynn Deerfield did a week of Match Game in Sep 1976.

Thanks, I found it! That's very much how I remember her. I started watching shortly before she left the show. She had that short bob hairstyle (most GL promo stuff shows her with long hair).

She married news anchor Bill Beutel. I remember him very well because I grew up in New York and he worked on one of the local stations for many years. I guess she quit acting.

That "handsy-kissy" stuff was unfortunately extremely common on game shows back in the 1970s. Dawson was even "famous" for it.

12 hours ago, Spoon said:

Best Headwriter or EP that never worked at GL that you wish that they'd got a shot?

Wendy Riche or Linda Gottlieb as EP.

Michael Malone.

I liked Susan Bedsow-Horgan both as a writer and as an EP.

Edited 9 hours ago9 hr by Sapounopera

9 hours ago, DeeVee said:

Thanks, I found it! That's very much how I remember her. I started watching shortly before she left the show. She had that short bob hairstyle (most GL promo stuff shows her with long hair).

She married news anchor Bill Beutel. I remember him very well because I grew up in New York and he worked on one of the local stations for many years. I guess she quit acting.

That "handsy-kissy" stuff was unfortunately extremely common on game shows back in the 1970s. Dawson was even "famous" for it.

Yes, I remember Richard Dawson kissing all the women/girls on Family Feud. In the 70's/80's men thought women found it flattering for them to come onto them.

According to info on Bill Beutel he was married before Lynn and had 4 children. He and Lynn married in 1975 and must have been over by 1976. In 1977 he had remarried briefly for a third time for few months before divorcing again the same year. He remarried again for a fourth time in 1980 and was married to that wife till his death in 2006. He was 20 years older than Lynn when they were married.

Was Roger's mother ever referred to as being deceased ? If not she could have been brought on canvas at some point.

There are a lot of characters from the late 60's and early 70's that could have been revived or children of those characters. Like Janet and Ken Norris daughter Emily.

16 hours ago, DeeVee said:

What I wish more than anything is that Kobe had never been EP.

Which EP do you think caused more long-term damage, Kobe or JFP?

56 minutes ago, SoapDope78 said:

Was Roger's mother ever referred to as being deceased ?

Since Roger lived with Adam and Barbara when he was a teen, I always assumed his mother was dead.

I can't recall anyone mentioning his mother.

28 minutes ago, kalbir said:

Which EP do you think caused more long-term damage, Kobe or JFP?

It's Kobe. She decimated the Bauers, along will almost every character created by the Dobsons and Marland. Even though they had that shot in the arm for a couple of years (which, honestly, I think anyone could have accomplished because Marland got too caught up in his pet storylines at the end) over the long term it caused a lot of problems.

Killing Maureen was definitely an idiot decision, maybe we would have gotten better Alan and Alex recasts with a different EP, but compared to dumping most of the Bauers, Reardons, and Marlers, it was not nearly as bad.

I often find that being a good head-writer doesn't automatically mean you'll be like that on every soap.

Wendy Riche I could see being a good EP for GL because she would have focused on the emotion and idealism about finding your own individual light.

In terms of head-writer, it would need to be a head-writer that could specialize in gothic overtones that got established back in the Dobson era (and possibly earlier), and continued on through the Curlee era of the early 90s. Perhaps, Agnes Nixon could have come back to right the ship and trained someone on the writing team to step up to continue that tone.

34 minutes ago, DeeVee said:

It's Kobe. She decimated the Bauers, along will almost every character created by the Dobsons and Marland. Even though they had that shot in the arm for a couple of years (which, honestly, I think anyone could have accomplished because Marland got too caught up in his pet storylines at the end) over the long term it caused a lot of problems.

Killing Maureen was definitely an idiot decision, maybe we would have gotten better Alan and Alex recasts with a different EP, but compared to dumping most of the Bauers, Reardons, and Marlers, it was not nearly as bad.

Kobe and JFP both got the ratings up initially but eventually caused long-term damage. I say Kobe gets more of a pass than JFP because Kobe set in motion characters and storylines that carried GL through its final 25 years whereas JFP decisions lead to GL limping along in its final 15 years.

3 minutes ago, kalbir said:

Kobe set in motion characters and storylines that carried GL through its final 25 years

That was Long and Ryder, who created the expanded Lewis family and Reva. Kobe insisted they write out a lot characters, but when it comes to creating characters, IMO, the writers get credit for that. Maybe Alex was created because Kobe (or the network) were able to get Bev to sign on. But, still, it was the writers who made her memorable.

40 minutes ago, Soaplovers said:

I often find that being a good head-writer doesn't automatically mean you'll be like that on every soap.

This is very true. I'm sure some will disagree with me, because they loved the show, but I couldn't stand Santa Barbara when the Dobsons wrote it. Claire Labine is someone who was spotty from show to show. Like I said before, Harding Lemay never hit the heights he had with AW.

42 minutes ago, Soaplovers said:

Wendy Riche I could see being a good EP for GL because she would have focused on the emotion and idealism about finding your own individual light.

She could have saved GL, but she was too busy saving GH.

I’m up to July 14, 1999.

Cassie calls Josh and Reva’s hotel in San Cristobel, but is told no one by that name is staying there which confuses Cassie and she’s now very concerned. Meanwhile, Josh is thrown into a third world looking prison cell and told he was arrested for grand theft. Confused and angry, he pushes back and says they stole nothing, but the officer says the ring they took to the jeweler was stolen. We then see a handcuffed Reva taken to the palace, screaming about, when Olivia walks in and Reva demands to know who she is. Olivia tells her to drop the act about not knowing who she is, but Reva says she doesn’t understand. Olivia demands to know why she came back after all these years, telling her she made a grave mistake. Olivia starts to realize Reva really doesn’t remember, so she leaves and vows to get to the bottom of this before Prince Richard comes back from his trip. She then calls Reva’s house pretending to be with the kids’ school and Cassie answers. Olivia says she’s doing a survey and prods Cassie into knowing how long they’ve lived there. Cassie eventually says there was a period of time Josh and the kids lived in Italy while Reva was missing, which is exactly what Olivia wanted to know and then hangs up. Cassie realizes that was a suspicious line of questioning and is even more worried. Jim is there with her and they try to *69 (haha!) to call back, but isn’t able to because it’s not a local number. They call the operator and are able to get the area code, which makes Cassie realize it was a call from San Cristobel! She calls Blake and asks her to watch RJ for a few days because she’s going to San Cristobel to find Reva. Meanwhile at the palace, Reva finds a love letter hidden in a book that Prince Richard wrote to a woman named Catherine. Olivia comes back and Reva asks to see Richard, but Olivia says no, she’ll never get to see him. When Reva asks why, Olivia surprises her by saying if he ever sees Reva, he’ll kill her.

Danny calls Edmund to help and Michelle shows him a picture of Reva and Josh, saying she’s known them her whole life and they never would have done something illegal. Edmund noticeably recognizes Reva, but hides it and says he’ll see what he can do. Edmund leaves and says to himself there is no way Reva would come back after what happened last time. Danny then says he’ll try to get an invite to the royal wedding and explains to Michelle that he’s closer to Edmund, who is the younger, wild and more casual brother. He says he doesn’t know Richard as well, who is more formal and reserved and spends a lot of time behind the castle walls, becoming a recluse after something happened years ago, of which he doesn’t know the details.

Back at the prison, Josh wrestles with the guard and knocks him out, steals the keys, but Edmund arrives and knocks Josh out with a pipe. The next morning, Edmund introduces himself to Josh, who is snarky and very angry about getting knocked out. Edmund apologizes and mentions that he knows Danny Santos and just met Michelle, which surprises Josh. Edmund says he wishes he can help Josh, but the judicial system has to run its course, and he then leaves. Josh overhears the guards talking about a Catherine and her baby and how Prince Richard won’t like knowing Reva is here, which perks Josh up. At the palace, Olivia says she will help Reva leave San Cristobel if she promises never to come back, but Edmund arrives and stops her. Reva assumes he’s Richard, but Edmund corrects her and Olivia tells him that Reva doesn’t remember being in San Cristobel or who anyone is, which surprises Edmund. He pulls Olivia aside and lays into her for not telling him about Reva being back. Olivia says she believes her amnesia act and they can’t tell Richard she’s here. Edmund says he’ll take charge from here and sternly warns her not to forget who is in charge while Richard is away. He goes back in and talks to Reva, where she tells him about the dreams she’s had about the baby and how she wants to reclaim her lost years. Reva asks what she did to Richard to make him want to kill her, but Edmund laughs and says Olivia is melodramatic. Richard just insists they don’t speak of this matter and Olivia wants her wedding to go off without problems. Edmund says Reva left San Cristobel under very unusual circumstances and she will have to answer to Richard for what she did. We then see the guards take Josh out of the jail and he arrives at the palace where Reva and Josh reunite and hug. Josh tells her about what he overheard in prison and Reva thinks maybe she was a caretaker for Richard and Catherine’s child. Edmund tells Olivia he doesn’t trust Reva, no matter what name she calls herself. The guards then grab Josh and take him out of the palace.

The next morning, Michelle and Danny meet the president of the bank that the Santos family owns in San Cristobel. Michelle gives him the chocolates that Carmen sent, and after he leaves, he calls Carmen. Carmen tells him that was a trial run, but next time she will send Michelle with bearer bonds.

Cassie and Blake get to the airport, but Cassie realizes she doesn’t have a passport and panics because they won’t issue her a plane ticket. Blake comes up with an idea to paste a picture of Cassie over her own passport photo and pretend to be Blake to get on the plane. Of course it doesn’t work and the gate agent calls over the police and tells them they’ve broken a federal law. The police then escort Cassie and Blake out of the airport. At the police station, Blake calls Ross to help them and Cassie calls Jim. Both men get there and Cassie tells everyone about the San Cristobel ring, the strange call she got and why she has to get down there and find Reva. Ross gives Blake a hard time about making bad decisions yet again and she accuses him of being too sanctimonious, so she loudly talks about the bathtub sex they recently had, which everyone there could hear. Cassie is impressed with Blake, but Ross is slightly embarrassed. Ultimately they let the ladies go, but they confiscate Blake’s passport for 6 months and they’re not allowed to leave the country for that long too.

Phillip and Harley surprise Rick and Abby by saying he talked to the hospital board and got Rick reinstated thanks to some Spaulding money pull. Color me shocked, but they finally just brought up the Bauer BBQ and Phillip says traditions can’t die and you can’t let a July 4th go without it. He brings out hamburgers to grill and puts a chef’s hat on Rick and they celebrate a late July 4th amongst the four of them (7/12 - very short scene only).

Drew notices how happy Selena is and they are giddy together as Selena recounts her date with Buzz. Jesse tells Buzz about proposing to Drew, but he didn’t get to do it properly because he didn’t have a good ring.

Phillip tells Alan that if Annie ever comes back to the Spaulding mansion, he’ll be forced to move Lizzie and Beth out, which Alan thinks is extreme and forces him to choose between Annie and his family. Alan says he doesn’t do ultimatums, but Phillip says he’s serious and then leaves. Annie shows up and wants to make amends with Alan, hoping it’s not too late. She starts massaging his shoulders and talks about how they can be better parents to Lizzie than Beth and Phillip. She goes on and on and Alan flips out on her, saying he would never choose her over his own family. He then says Phillip was right, she doesn’t belong in his house and she never will. Alan says he’ll continue to support her financially, but she needs to move far away from Springfield and never come back. He then opens the door and makes her leave, effectively ending whatever relationship they had left. Meanwhile, Phillip finds Beth outside and tells her about the ultimatum he gave Alan, but Beth thinks there has to be another way instead of moving them out. Phillip then says they need to get rid of Annie for good, which Lizzie overhears. Phillip and Beth go back inside and Alan tells them that he gave Annie her walking papers, which makes them both happy. Outside, Annie vows to get revenge, but Lizzie runs up to her and says her dad is planning to kill her. Annie tries to convince her that she misunderstood and he would never do that. Lizzie then tells her that Phillip plans to get her back in prison, which annoys Annie, and Lizzie cries that she’ll do anything to help her. Lizzie sneaks them back into the house and Annie realizes the code to the safe hasn’t been changed, so she opens it and takes the money inside. Lizzie is sad because she doesn’t want Annie to leave, but Annie tries to convince her that it’s for the best. Lizzie begs Annie to let her go with her because they’re each other’s favorite people. It finally gets to Annie and she agrees and they walk out of the house together.

Frank and David have lunch at Company and want to build a case against Carmen. Pilar walks in and they think they could use her to help them. Bill walks in and tells Pilar about being fired from SanCorp and he’s not happy. Pilar lets it slip that she pulled strings and got him the job originally, which makes him upset because he thinks he could have gotten the job on his own and walks out of Company. David goes over to talk to Pilar and tries to be overly friendly with her to earn her trust, which seems to work for now.

Bill goes to the Santos mansion and confronts Carmen and Ben about being fired from SanCorp. Bill says she made a big mistake because he’s developed a new program that would have saved them millions of dollars. Ben said it was he that fired Bill, not Carmen, but Carmen then says Vanessa came over and demanded it. Bill says he’s applying for a patent on the program and Ben realizes he’s a very smart guy, so he rehires Bill with a bigger salary. Ben wants Bill to report directly to him, and Bill agrees and rejoins SanCorp. He runs into Pilar on his way out, who apologies, and the two make up.