4 minutes ago, Khan said:

Reading an article that @Paul Raven posted in the Y&R Classic thread has me thinking: what about Kay Alden?

I mean if it's in a totally hypothetical world, where she didn't write Y&R during the years when GL most needed rescuing, she wouldn't be so bad. Her tenure was the last when I regularly watched Y&R; after she left I fell off as a viewer.

I just see her as Bell's protege who was meant to take over when he retired. I connect her so strongly to Y&R. But she was a good HW.

12 minutes ago, Khan said:

Rita Lakin was a wonderful writer. I think she and Rick Edelstein were the best writers TD ever had. If she had been willing to take on GL, I think she would've done amazing work there, too. But I also think she told some interviewer once that writing for soaps was hard work and that it never allowed her to spend enough time with her family.

From what I recall, Rita was the only writer on The Doctors writing every episode for over a year. I think Rick Edelstein was added in order to give her some help because she was burning out fast.

I recall Edelstein was the one to write that creepy gothic kidnapping story on The doctors, perhaps he could have been a good fit at GL. I always viewed GL as more gothic in the 70s/80s.

I wonder how GL would have been if the Dobson's had returned to write after SB was cancelled?

54 minutes ago, SoapDope78 said:

I wonder how GL would have been if the Dobson's had returned to write after SB was cancelled?

That would be interesting, by that time the Dobsons were so different from their 70s material. One would never guess that they were the same writers. They would have fun with characters like Buzz, Nadine, Bridget for sure. Their Spauldings would become wackier and they might turn Alan-Michael into their Mason Capwell. Their Blake would probably not become boring and domesticated, she would have a fascinating dynamic with Holly. It would be fun to see what they would do with Roger.

2 hours ago, Sapounopera said:

That would be interesting, by that time the Dobsons were so different from their 70s material. One would never guess that they were the same writers. They would have fun with characters like Buzz, Nadine, Bridget for sure. Their Spauldings would become wackier and they might turn Alan-Michael into their Mason Capwell. Their Blake would probably not become boring and domesticated, she would have a fascinating dynamic with Holly. It would be fun to see what they would do with Roger.

I wonder if they would have brought back Elizabeth and Jackie (from the dead)?

Kay Alden was good for the Bell soaps, but they are a bit "stuffier" than the other soaps. Perhaps with a co-writer that can focus on lot while she focused on the character work.

4 hours ago, SoapDope78 said:

I wonder how GL would have been if the Dobson's had returned to write after SB was cancelled?

They left soap writing after SB ended. They had so many problems with NBC, I think they were just disillusioned with the whole thing.

But, again, if we're talking about a hypothetical world--let's say it was offered to them: I wonder if they would have wanted to come back. If almost every character I had created had been booted from the show I had won an Emmy for, I'd be pretty ticked off.

Sometimes soap writers returning works, sometimes it doesn't. Henry Slesar couldn't save EON when he returned, same with Claire Labine on RH, but Douglas Marland returned to ATWT twice and did well both times.

If I had my dearest wish, the Dobsons would never have been switched to ATWT. They would have stayed on GL, presumably until they left to do Santa Barbara in 1984. Marland would have been kept on at ATWT.

Marland did not care about the stories they left behind (which is understandable; writers are going to want to focus on their own ideas and characters) but SO MUCH had been set up that was NEVER really paid off, with the exception of the Roger Thorpe storyline. I'd want to see how they would have resolved the Phillip paternity story, Alan and Hope's relationship (which, IMO, would have gone in a vastly different direction), Amanda's mother, who I suspect would not have been a noodle-spined character like Jennifer, Mike & Elizabeth's relationship, where Holly's character would have fit in after Roger was gone, and so on.

Sure, we would not have had the Reardons. But you don't miss what you never had. I think the show would have been in a stronger position to face the many shake-ups to soaps during the following years if they had stayed.

The Potter/Marland era held its own against massive pop culture phenomenon General Hospital but it was also helped by Y&R being in their post-expansion slump. Remember pre-expansion Y&R was challenging General Hospital and All My Children for #1 but the expansion derailed all its momentum. Y&R rebounds in the second half of 1982 and that overlaps w/ the post-Marland fall.

4 hours ago, SoapDope78 said:

I wonder if they would have brought back Elizabeth and Jackie (from the dead)?

Elizabeth as their Pamela Capwell once Phillip was back? I could see that.

They would probably bring Hope Bauer back as well.

I’m up to July 20, 1999.

The prison guards surprise Josh and tell him he’s free to go. They escort him to the airport, but demands to know if Reva will be there. When he starts realizing she isn’t showing up, he attacks the guards and tries to make a run for it, but they catch him and arrest him again on the tarmac. At the palace, someone slips a note to Reva under the door telling her that Josh is at the airport and if she ever wants to see him again, she needs to go there now. The note has directions which leads her through the palace, but she comes across the big grand doors that she had in her prior visions. She realizes she must go through those doors to understand her past, but we see a gloved hand with a gun pointing directly at her from behind a corridor. Just as Reva is about to open the doors, a very decorated man in uniform yells at her to stop and we finally see Prince Richard (7/15)! He thinks she’s pretending not to remember her and says she should be on her knees begging for his forgiveness. Reva stands up to him though and says no one talks to her that way, being a prince be damned. They yell at each other and Richard manhandles her and pushes her back into the main room of the palace she was originally in, away from the mystery doors. Richard finds Edmund and says even though Reva doesn’t remember the past, she must still pay for what she did. He sees Reva once again and says she robbed him of the greatest love of his life, which she realizes must be Catherine.

Meanwhile, Michelle is worried about Reva/Josh and insists she at least pick up the ring from the jeweler. She hands over the receipt to the jeweler and he gives her a bracelet. Michelle knows that’s not the ring she’s supposed to pick up and gets angry with the jeweler who is insistent that’s the piece to pick up. The jeweler leaves and Danny tells Michelle to forget it, but Michelle says something isn’t right so they leave to figure it out. They arrive at the palace, find Edmund and ask why he never called them back to let them know how Reva/Josh are doing. Edmund says everything is fine, the ring was returned to its owner and he asked the jeweler to be discreet. Michelle then asks to use the phone so she can call Reva at the hotel, but Edmund says no, he’s already personally escorted them to the airport and they’re on their way back home. Michelle still finds it all to be odd, and as Edmund escorts them around the palace, Reva hears Michelle’s voice and yells out to her, but Richard covers her mouth and hides her in time so Michelle/Danny can’t hear. They all finally leave and Reva yells at Richard that she’s an American citizen and he can’t treat her this way (haha), but he finally tells her that she took his only son away from him, which shocks her. He says she was the last person seen with him before both she and his son disappeared, and he hasn’t seen him in 6 years. Meanwhile, Edmund is ominously watching them on a grainy CCTV in a palace office. Reva apologizes and pleads to him that she doesn’t know what happened to his son, and then recounts the story of driving off the bridge and remembering waking up in Goshen, without a clue what happened in those three years in-between. She tells him about the dreams she’s recently had about the door and baby. Olivia then walks in and tells Richard to let up on her because she really doesn’t remember. He takes Olivia away and talks privately, saying she will eventually remember and he must know where his son is. Olivia cries that she thought he was ready to live again and put everything behind him, but Richard said he can’t now that she’s back. Richard says it’s best that they postpone the announcement of their wedding. He then goes back to Reva, who is hiding a knife in her pocket that she found earlier, but he finds it and disarms her. He then drags her to the mystery doors and finally opens it to reveal what Reva couldn’t face in her dreams: a large painting of Reva in a white wedding dress and tiara! Reva faints, but then comes to and Richard reveals that Reva is Catherine and they were married, and once she left him, he locked these doors and no one has ever gone into that room since. Reva then flashes back to that time when she was wearing the dress and tiara and is shocked. Richard then tells her the story - there was a fisherman from San Cristobel working off the coast of Florida that spotted Reva. He pulled her out of the water and she had no form of ID on her so they took her to a hospital in San Cristobel where she woke up 7 days later with no memory of her life. Richard took care of her and tried to find out where she came from, but as time went on, it didn’t seem to matter anymore because they were happy. They got married on August 22nd and it became a national holiday, and still is today, and that’s why that date was inscribed on her ring, which was his gift to her on their wedding day. Reva cries and says she doesn’t remember anything about their wedding day and she’s married to Joshua Lewis! He then asks how she can’t be concerned for her own son, and she realizes she’s the mother of that baby. She flips the script and says he must have done something awful to them to make her want to take the baby away, but he then leaves her without saying a word.

Edmund tells Olivia that even though he doesn’t like her, Reva is still a bigger problem than Olivia, so he will still plan a surprise engagement party so Richard is so overjoyed by the occasion that he forgets about Reva, knowing that while Reva is alone, Josh will try and get back to her.

Josh is now back in Springfield and calls Ross for help. Cassie and Blake then walk in and Ross tells them that Reva is being detained in San Cristobel. Ross tells Blake he understands now why she wanted to help Cassie get there and they reconcile from their previous encounter. Ross then gets a call and is told Reva’s official charge is treason, for kidnapping the son of the Prince who is the heir to the throne. Ross then says the penalty for treason is death, which shocks everyone. He says there is no US embassy in San Cristobel, so there isn’t much they can do. Later that night, Olivia secretly calls Josh and tells him she wants to help get Reva back home to him. She tells Josh to come back to San Cristobel by tomorrow night and arranges a secret key for him to use to get into the palace so he can take her away and back to SF. She makes him promise that he won’t tell Richard she’s helping him.

Jesse finally has an engagement ring that he bought and formally proposes to Drew, which makes her cry and she says yes. Drew is so excited and starts envisioning their wedding in her head. Meanwhile, Selena and Buzz continue to spend time together and as they’re kissing at home, little Coop (slightly older now/new actor, 7/15) walks in and calls out ‘Mommy’, because he had a dream about her and misses her. This is hard for them to hear and Buzz privately talks to him and comforts him, which was sweet. He decides he needs to go on a trip to England with Coop so they can bond and see where Jenna was from. He asks Selena to watch Company while he’s gone and she says of course, but after she leaves, she cries to herself and says she wishes he loved her like he loved Jenna.

Phillip and Harley can’t find Lizzie and engage Beth and Jim to help them find her. Alan comes home, realizes the safe was emptied and they assume Annie must have taken Lizzie. They call Frank and the police over, and Annie eventually calls and they try to trace where she’s calling from. Annie tells Alan she’s using his cell phone that she swiped, so it won’t do any good, but that it wasn’t her idea. Lizzie begged to go with her so she had no choice, and she lets Lizzie talk to Alan, who says she’s having the best time with Annie. Annie hangs up and Beth crumbles in Alan’s arms, but then starts to lay into him saying it’s all his fault because he strung Annie along. India then randomly shows up to show her support, as Alan says Beth is right and that he’ll never forgive himself if Lizzie gets hurt. He then leaves, saying he will find a way to get rid of Annie forever. Phillip runs out after him and sees a gun under Alan’s coat which surprises Phillip. He tells Alan he can’t do this because he loves him through thick and thin and he can’t kill someone, so Alan hands over his gun. Frank then gets a call that Annie and Lizzie have been spotted near Chicago. Alan and India stay back in case she calls again while everyone else leaves to go find them. We then see Annie and Lizzie walking into their hotel room after shopping and loving life, but Lizzie starts to wonder if she’s missed back at home. While Annie is in the shower, Lizzie calls back home and India answers. India tries to get her to say what hotel she’s at, but Lizzie doesn’t know and hangs up, saying they’re off to the ranch tomorrow to ride horses. Alan is able to trace the call and knows where she is, so he leaves to rescue Lizzie once and for all. Lizzie tells Annie she called home and talked to India, which makes Annie panic, but she tells Lizzie she isn’t mad at her for doing it. But Annie gets her to start packing their things so they can head to the ranch that night, as we see Alan and India driving to the hotel. Alan and India arrive at the hotel room just as Annie/Lizzie are leaving and India takes Lizzie as Alan blocks Annie from leaving the room. He starts to strangle her over the balcony, but the ranch hand that was visiting them earlier comes in and stops him. Annie manages to run away and the ranch hand tells Alan he’s called the cops. Lizzie and India come back out and Alan hugs her and says Annie is gone for good (7/20). I can’t believe that was Annie’s final scene, how lame. I get that they wanted to wrap up the storyline and they fired Signy Coleman, but at least give her a better, more dramatic exit!

5 hours ago, DeeVee said:

Sometimes soap writers returning works, sometimes it doesn't. Henry Slesar couldn't save EON when he returned, same with Claire Labine on RH, but Douglas Marland returned to ATWT twice and did well both times.

Henry Slesar returned to EON? Marland to ATWT twice?

8 minutes ago, Paul Raven said:

Henry Slesar returned to EON? Marland to ATWT twice?

Oh, dear, I was wrong about both. With Slesar, there here was a break in his tenure, but that was ony the 1981 writers strike. I misread it.

I didn't realize Marland wrote for ATWT continuously once he came back in 1985. I thought there was a break in there. He only returned once, after the initial 13 weeks he wrote in before he was moved to GL.

Sorry about that.

@DeeVee No worries! Just wanted to clarity. In fact Henry Slesar did make a return of sorts to EON. He filled in for Lou Scofield and then took over as full time headwriter.

he TV Book, Sunday September 21, 1986

Film and stage actor Keir Dnllea is joining the cast of the CBS daytime soap “Guiding Light" for a two-month run. Dullea, best remembered for his work in “2001: A Space Odyssey," will portray Dr Mark Jarrett, a splashy publicity seeking doctor who cures “‘critically ill” patients and then leaves town. In the storyline, Claire will have a relapse and turn to Dr Jarrett Dullea was most recently seen on Broadway in the production "Doubles." he starred in the movie " David and Lisa,” was in the sequel to “2001,” and appeared on stage in “Butterflies Are Free." This is Dullea's first work in a daytime drama.

“Guiding Light" has replaced head writer Mary Munislteri with Sherry Andersen and Anderson's real life husband, Joe Manetta. Anderson was most recently head writer with " Days of Our Lives." We understand Anderson is going to give a younger look to the show, using “love-on-the-run” storylines. Look for some gradual changes starting in October, when Anderson’s work first begins airing. Word is that that some of the older characters will be exiting the show.