2 hours ago, Mitch64 said:

I forgot about the Charlotte Wheaton saga....wasnt her real killer that Alicia television woman..it really was a big "who cares" as it involved people we didn't know (I do wish Charlotte would have lived to just be an annoying pain in the ass to everyone as a recurring character...)It didn't help that it was Faux Ed and as you say, VanFleet makes PS look like a live wire! 

Didn't Fletcher and Mo have a radio show at that time WTF was Long thinking during this time? I saw another clip of Maeve and she is yet again laying in bed as she is preggers..I swear LD must have had it written in her contract that she was to remain off her feet for all of her roles..(wasn't she in a wheel chair on ATWT?) 

Yes. Something about Charlotte and Alicia being sisters and a childhood with an abusive drunk father. I couldn't watch the explanation, which seems to be an orchestrated "gotcha" moment by Fletch sort of "haunting" Alicia at the tv station. (I hadn't quite realized WSPR was around before Holly.)

I think the radio thing was to make Fletch relevant. Long learned that globe-trotting peeps like Quint and Helena needed something to do in Springfield. Can't count on murder trials to keep the newspaper a-hoppin'. 

I swear the actress playing Alicia also had a role on ATWT---maybe she was Olivia Wycroft. I keep meaning to look that up.

As much as I've criticized Simon, at least you can see there's something going on within him. VanVleet just feels like an aging playboy trying desperately to play a serious person.

Yes, Leslie Dennison's Carolyn Crawford was a parapalegic on ATWT. LD's a lovely person, but a boring actress, imo.

I was surprised to realize they really did show Billy having nightmares due to his brainwashing. It's mostly the same thing over and over, but I had only heard Vanessa telling Ross after Billy had been arrested before.

I must have been on a sabbatical from watching GL during much of 1985 because most of the episodes that have been uploaded recently were completely unknown to me, so I have a few thoughts:

FINALLY got to see Locke Walls! I had heard of the character from story synopses and discussion on GL MBs, but I had never seen him before. I really liked Jeremy Slate as Locke. I know this was the height of the "Just Say No" 80s, but the hysteria over the "evils" of the music industry made me laugh out loud. Alex having a meltdown over the music industry destroying her baby boy, when he should be "safe" working at Spaulding was particularly funny. At this point in the story she thought her brother was dead in the jungles of San Rios because of his overreaching ambitions as the head of Spaulding. Also, she was a music groupie, falling for two musicians!

The scenes with Locke's death were very poignant, and made me think how badly they shafted Beverlee. She was on the show for something like five years before they gave her a real romantic story. Every character close to her leaves or dies on her. No wonder they stuck her in the stupid Simon storyline, just so she would have someone to care about.

I missed almost everything to do with the Claire pregnancy storyline. I think I started watching again after Michelle was born and she wanted to kill her baby. First thought: Good God, Maureen, you had the perfect chance to yeet Ed out of your life, why didn't you take it? Also, it seems strange how close Ed, Mo, Fletch, and Claire remained after the first shock of discovery. Especially since I mostly remember Claire turning into pratically a psycho later on. I'm not surprised now by some of the things Susan Pratt has said about what they did to the character. Were there different writers by then? 

2 hours ago, Mitch64 said:

forgot about the Charlotte Wheaton saga....wasnt her real killer that Alicia television woman..it really was a big "who cares" as it involved people we didn't know (I do wish Charlotte would have lived to just be an annoying pain in the ass to everyone as a recurring character...)It didn't help that it was Faux Ed and as you say, VanFleet makes PS look like a live wire!

My thoughts exactly...but it was nice to see Babara Garrick as Charlotte. She was really good at playing this kind of character.

2 hours ago, Mitch64 said:

Didn't Fletcher and Mo have a radio show at that time WTF was Long thinking during this time?

YES, and WHY? Fletcher at least was a journalist, but why would anyone want Mo to host a radio show?

The Reva/Kyle stuff: wasn't a fan of the latter part of their storyline and now not a fan of the earlier part of their storyline. And, ugh, Maeve. So boring. So dull. But I guess she had to be because no one could outshine you know who.

David/Suzette/Jackson: WTF is it with that David character? Is he in love with Kyle? His whole schtick is Kyle, Kyle, Kyle, Kyle, I hate Springfield, I want to go back to New York, Kyle, Kyle, Kyle, Kyle, why are we still in Springfield, Kyle, Kyle, Kyle, Kyle.

And poor Frances Fisher as Suzette! First she's begging David to pay attention to her and make love to her, but (his) thoughts of Kyle keep getting in the way of that. Then she becomes obsessed with Lujack, who is, what, 19 years old? Ew.

I kind of like Michael Wilding Jr. (he comes across as a little raw in the beginning though he improves a bit over time) but the character existed for one reason: to be in love with Beth, who was also too young for him. But I guess that's because he and Suzette are Big Bad Music Industry People.

So much time and investment in Lujack and Beth as a romantic couple. That music video storyline must have cost them a pretty penny to produce...still can't believe they killed him off just because the EP was mad VI wanted to try his luck in Hollywood. 

Finally, the Rick/Roxy/Kurt/Mindy stuff: watching Rick and Mindy pretending to be a couple so they can stay at the boarding house and keep tabs on Kurt and Roxy's faux marriage made me think one thing: please dump Kurt and Roxy, they are boring AF. Rick and Mindy were adorable and funny together and should have been a long-term love story. I will die on this hill.

1 hour ago, DeeVee said:

 

The Reva/Kyle stuff: wasn't a fan of the latter part of their storyline and now not a fan of the earlier part of their storyline. And, ugh, Maeve. So boring. So dull. But I guess she had to be because no one could outshine you know who.

David/Suzette/Jackson: WTF is it with that David character? Is he in love with Kyle? His whole schtick is Kyle, Kyle, Kyle, Kyle, I hate Springfield, I want to go back to New York, Kyle, Kyle, Kyle, Kyle, why are we still in Springfield, Kyle, Kyle, Kyle, Kyle.

And poor Frances Fisher as Suzette! First she's begging David to pay attention to her and make love to her, but (his) thoughts of Kyle keep getting in the way of that. Then she becomes obsessed with Lujack, who is, what, 19 years old? Ew.

I kind of like Michael Wilding Jr. (he comes across as a little raw in the beginning though he improves a bit over time) but the character existed for one reason: to be in love with Beth, who was also too young for him. But I guess that's because he and Suzette are Big Bad Music Industry People.

So much time and investment in Lujack and Beth as a romantic couple. That music video storyline must have cost them a pretty penny to produce...still can't believe they killed him off just because the EP was mad VI wanted to try his luck in Hollywood. 

Finally, the Rick/Roxy/Kurt/Mindy stuff: watching Rick and Mindy pretending to be a couple so they can stay at the boarding house and keep tabs on Kurt and Roxy's faux marriage made me think one thing: please dump Kurt and Roxy, they are boring AF. Rick and Mindy were adorable and funny together and should have been a long-term love story. I will die on this hill.

I watched that cow Reva tell Trish she was dumping HB in utter disbelief. When even Trish is staring at you like you are an ungrateful bitch, all because of a guy you met six months (or so) ago, you are a 'ho. How Reva and Zimmer survived this clunker remains a mystery to me. Were she and Kyle really that well received? Or did the writers realize they'd gone too far and write Reva's suicide attempt to softly reboot the character?

Nowadays, David definitely would've been crushing on Kyle and jealousy over being rejected by him after Kyle found the Lewises would've driven him to try and kill him.

Rick/Mindy FTW. I think Michael and Krista really were sparkly.  I understand what they were trying to do with Kurt, but BLECH.

On 5/19/2025 at 11:16 PM, alwaysAMC said:

I’m up to May 16, 1996.

Lucy/A-M are getting married and they were holding this big secret for weeks on where the location was… all to find out it’s going to be an ad for Universal Studios haha.  Probably was fun back in the 90s, but a bit cheesy looking back now. Although they were on a boat alone, at night, reminiscing about Brent, and A-M promised a tearful Lucy that “the worst is over, there is nothing to be afraid of anymore”… and right after, freaking JAWS comes out of the water to attack them on the ride. LOL. I’ve actually been on that ride and it was as scary in person as it was watching it, but that scene ended up being very cheesy given how serious it was supposed to be.

Rick being there in Florida with everyone makes zero sense considering he doesn’t hang out with any of these people, but he’s clearly there because Phillip has shown up. Very plot-driven, but at least I’m getting old flashbacks of Rick/Phillip during this. But yeah, outside of the nuptials, this wedding and the Universal Studios trip (ad) turned out to be more about Phillip than anything.

A few days late but this made me holler so bad and immediately took.me back 29 years when I first saw this. I still remember thinking Rick and Phillip were going hold each other and dance together LOL.

Rick being there at least makes some sense as he was A-M’s second cousin and the show still at least recognized he was half Bauer, at least until Hearst left. 

The whole Universal Studios wedding was over the top. I think someone wanted A-M and Lucy to be the next GL super couple but once Hearst left the A-M recast flopped and both were gone by early ‘97 with Lucy never appearing ever again. 
 

Love the rest of your post, summer 1996 was the first time GL left me feeing…greatly underwhelmed until it inspired righteous indignation on my behalf once we get to the Gilly twist.

I watched a Locher room with Krista and Mark Lewis. The interviews are definitely better when he shuts up and the guests take over. Krista gives a good interview. Mark Lewis was kinda boring, but very complimentary about his time on GL.

Locher really overblew the Kurt/Mindy story though. RME. You'd have thought they were Josh/Reva from the buildup he gave it.

18 hours ago, soapfan770 said:

A few days late but this made me holler so bad and immediately took.me back 29 years when I first saw this. I still remember thinking Rick and Phillip were going hold each other and dance together LOL.

Rick being there at least makes some sense as he was A-M’s second cousin and the show still at least recognized he was half Bauer, at least until Hearst left. 

The whole Universal Studios wedding was over the top. I think someone wanted A-M and Lucy to be the next GL super couple but once Hearst left the A-M recast flopped and both were gone by early ‘97 with Lucy never appearing ever again. 

Love the rest of your post, summer 1996 was the first time GL left me feeing…greatly underwhelmed until it inspired righteous indignation on my behalf once we get to the Gilly twist.

LOL - love to hear it   Ugh, I knew that Rick Hearst eventually leaves, but didn't realize it was so soon after their wedding.  Do we know why he left? I just checked his wiki page and he didn't really do much at all for 3-4 years before joining Y&R and then GH.

I’m up to June 11, 1996.

Wow, they just updated the opening music to a slower, jazz style. I actually don’t hate it, but I’ve never heard this version before! I guess it doesn’t last long. The only thing I don’t like is they removed the dramatic music at the beginning with the lighthouse and now it’s just a muted, hollow sounding whoosh of light, which doesn’t really bring excitement.

There is a new actor playing Hart, out of the blue!  No voice over saying “The role of Hart Jessup is now being played by…”, he just shows up and Dinah refers to him as Hart. This new actor is also very handsome, but sad to see the other one go.  I wonder what happened and why he left - anyone know? Also awkward because they still have the still shot of the old Hart in the ending credits during new Hart’s first few episodes haha. They also literally just put old Hart into the opening, and they haven’t played his opening since this new Hart took over, and since the new slower music just started.

Well, take that back, they just debuted the second opening with the new music on June 11th, after several days of only showing the first opening. They removed old Hart, but replaced J with new Hart… so now what happens to J??  Does anyone else get this way with soap openings, or is it just me?  Haha.

A-M and Lucy are on their honeymoon, boating around Bermuda, and they hit a storm and they’re becoming lost at sea. Honestly, this story came out of nowhere and doesn’t seem to have a strong purpose - it’s just happening.  There isn’t really a story involved in it, it doesn’t move story along and doesn’t really involve others, so it seems a little odd.  And then they’re saved by some mystery person, who they assumed was a member of the National Guard, but then the Guard says they didn’t dispatch anyone. But now they’ve been back in Springfield for over a week and no more mention of this mystery person. I really hope they revisit that and explain more, or I’ll really be disappointed because that was odd. It couldn’t have been a ghost, and it’s not Christmastime so no magical Santa Claus haha.

Back to Hart, this whole Dinah/Roger/Hart storyline is really getting terrible. They’re so far gone and just want to kill each other; the drug they keep giving each other is silly, and now Hart just got shot in a gun struggle with Roger. I really thought this was a ploy by Dinah and Hart to make Roger think he killed his son, but then they bury him literally in the park where he got shot (dumb), and Roger went to go dump his car, leaving Dinah alone and Hart’s arms start coming out of ground and he’s shown alive. Dinah is surprised and happy to see he’s not dead.  But really??  If this wasn’t some game and he really got shot, you’re ok just burying him and pretending like nothing happened, which saves Roger from being thrown in jail? You wouldn’t try and call the cops and save Hart’s life? You just slept with him and realized you’re actually liking him, why not try and help him?  So dumb.

I also noticed that Phillip isn’t in either of the new openings, so is GA not really a contract player right now? I haven’t met Beth or Cassie yet, but Lillian keeps asking Phillip about them and he seems to be vague about how they are and how long he plans to stay in Springfield. She seems concerned, so clearly Lillian has a history with this family - anyone able to tell me what their prior connection is?  Otherwise, now post-wedding, he doesn’t seem to have a strong purpose, just floating along and bumping into Annie (they seem to be chemistry-testing these two), and reliving the good old days with Rick. He does like to sit in the background at the Spaulding house and watch Alex and Amanda tear each other up.  But, what’s his purpose?

The Gilly/Griffin/Viviane story is very slow going, which is just fine with me because it’s still gross. Viviane now slept with Griffin, so she’s officially cheating on her husband yet again, just to try and prevent Griffin from dating Gilly. Just tell her the damn truth and stop this insanity, Viviane!

Nola just put a dating ad out in the paper and went on her first date, which was fun and cute. The guy was awful, but it’s good to see her get back in the game.

Otherwise, we have Blake, who is also making all the wrong decisions with these twins of hers. She now got her test results doctored to make it seem like Ross is the father of both. Ross gave her a chance to come clean and tell him everything about that night, even apologizing again about kissing Amanda. Blake would only tell him about kissing Rick, which he even accepted really well, and then asked her “Is that all that happened” and she still said yes.  Blake, that was your opportunity!  And you know Ed and Annie already know the truth, you can’t keep this in forever. I’m still interested in seeing where this goes, but hopefully they don’t tease the truth with Ross for 9 long months while she’s pregnant.

Oh and Abby came back from New York looking very cute!  She now dresses modern, got a haircut and can speak well. She’s a pretty girl and I’m glad the fake sign language days are over.

Finally, we have Reva and Buzz, who are married (blah). She’s slowly starting to actually fall in love with him and they have sex (blah). And you have Josh who is still playing house with Annie, but daydreaming about Reva (blah). Annie is starting to take more and more aspirin/pills, which Josh has just started to notice and is asking if she’s taking too many… curious if that goes anywhere.

So far, 1995 was a much more entertaining and well-rounded year than 1996.  I’m still enjoying it though, overall.

17 minutes ago, alwaysAMC said:

I’m up to June 11, 1996.

There is a new actor playing Hart, out of the blue!  No voice over saying “The role of Hart Jessup is now being played by…”, he just shows up and Dinah refers to him as Hart.

  Does anyone else get this way with soap openings, or is it just me?  Haha.

 But now they’ve been back in Springfield for over a week and no more mention of this mystery person. I really hope they revisit that and explain more, 

 

I Lillian has a history with this family - anyone able to tell me what their prior connection is?  

nuHart is Frank Grillo. Not sure why Hilliard left. Grillo and Wendy Moniz later married, but they're divorced now.

I get sentimental about the openings from both ATWT and GL. I admit to being excited when I finally found the episode with Billy kissing Vanessa (who's in a blue-edged robe) that they used in the opening credits in 1985. I could argue with myself all day about which opening is better---"My Guiding Light" or the Lighthouse opening. lol

Oh...they DO.

Lillian is Beth's mother. Phillip married Beth, but I think they were divorced when he returned. Lillian's known Phillip/Rick/Mindy (Beth's besties) forever. Oh, and Lillian and Alex are besties.

57 minutes ago, alwaysAMC said:

LOL - love to hear it   Ugh, I knew that Rick Hearst eventually leaves, but didn't realize it was so soon after their wedding.  Do we know why he left? I just checked his wiki page and he didn't really do much at all for 3-4 years before joining Y&R and then GH.

I think he left mainly because he didn't think they were doing anything with him. 

Thanks as always for your mini-reviews.

I think you have one more opening left (have you gotten to the "rock" opening)?

Lizzie, not Cassie, is Philip's daughter. 

The reason they have likely taken J out of the opening is because the actor, George Pilgrim, had just abruptly quit around this time, giving an interview in TV Guide claiming he was going to be...the new Brad Pitt? I can't remember.

There will be more to the mysterious savior of Lucy. 

33 minutes ago, P.J. said:

nuHart is Frank Grillo. Not sure why Hilliard left. Grillo and Wendy Moniz later married, but they're divorced now.

I get sentimental about the openings from both ATWT and GL. I admit to being excited when I finally found the episode with Billy kissing Vanessa (who's in a blue-edged robe) that they used in the opening credits in 1985. I could argue with myself all day about which opening is better---"My Guiding Light" or the Lighthouse opening. lol

Oh...they DO.

Lillian is Beth's mother. Phillip married Beth, but I think they were divorced when he returned. Lillian's known Phillip/Rick/Mindy (Beth's besties) forever. Oh, and Lillian and Alex are besties.

Ohh, she's Beth's mom!  That's great. I really like Lillian, but she doesn't seem to have any strong tie to the current canvas, so hopefully this changes. I don't know if Beth comes back though.  Currently they're not divorced, or I guess if they are, Phillip hasn't revealed that yet. Maybe that's why he's just floating around Springfield though, because he's on the rocks with his family right now...

I love that you're obsessed with the openings like I am. 

19 minutes ago, DRW50 said:

I think he left mainly because he didn't think they were doing anything with him. 

Thanks as always for your mini-reviews.

I think you have one more opening left (have you gotten to the "rock" opening)?

Lizzie, not Cassie, is Philip's daughter. 

The reason they have likely taken J out of the opening is because the actor, George Pilgrim, had just abruptly quit around this time, giving an interview in TV Guide claiming he was going to be...the new Brad Pitt? I can't remember.

There will be more to the mysterious savior of Lucy. 

No - I haven't gotten to the rock opening, now I'm intrigued haha.

Ok George Pilgrim was clearly delusional hahaha. I just googled him and he only did a few more things after GL. I found his website, and it doesn't seem like he's changed, as his personal bio starts with this (https://sites.google.com/site/georgepilgrimactor/home, which is funny because he wasn't there 3 years at all, but he likes to tout he was given that long of a contract haha.  He did age well though, he's pretty handsome - reminds me of David Duchovny.

 

"George Pilgrim has an extraordinarily unusual, and very colorful background that includes significant work as an actor. His credits include a three year contract as the original J Chamberlain on CBS's longest running Soap Opera of all time, Guiding Light, which was filmed New York City."

 

Ok, that's great to hear there is more to this mystery savior and Lucy/A-M, because in a bottle, it really is weird haha.

"George Pilgrim has an extraordinarily un

usual, and very colorful background that includes significant work as an actor. His credits include a three year contract as the original J Chamberlain on CBS's longest running Soap Opera of all time, Guiding Light, which was filmed New York City."

Many have said that GL hit its nadir in 1996. From what I've seen of 1996 ratings, they bottom out during the summer and early fall, and Another World even finished ahead of GL some weeks. GL was in cancel territory and it looked like B&B was preparing to expand to 1 hour to line up with the 10th anniversary in March 1997 but as we all know that didn't happen.

29 minutes ago, alwaysAMC said:

Ok George Pilgrim was clearly delusional hahaha. I just googled him and he only did a few more things after GL. I found his website, and it doesn't seem like he's changed, as his personal bio starts with this (https://sites.google.com/site/georgepilgrimactor/home, which is funny because he wasn't there 3 years at all, but he likes to tout he was given that long of a contract haha.  He did age well though, he's pretty handsome - reminds me of David Duchovny.

This may be what Pilgrim is best known for:

https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2015/10/sydney-holland-george-pilgrim-sumner-redstone

So George Pilgrim's biggest claim to fame is that he was a side piece AND he was in an episode of Red Shoe Diaries? I'm not knocking the latter as a lot of soap actors did that show, but the delusion is high with this person. Red Shoe Diaries and Skinemax shows were where former/soon-to-be soap performers went when they couldn't get hired on the soaps. And I'll take Anthony Addabbo (RIP) who also did RSD over this Pilgrim person any day. 

16 minutes ago, kalbir said:

Many have said that GL hit its nadir in 1996. From what I've seen of 1996 ratings, they bottom out during the summer and early fall, and Another World even finished ahead of GL some weeks. GL was in cancel territory and it looked like B&B was preparing to expand to 1 hour to line up with the 10th anniversary in March 1997 but as we all know that didn't happen.

It was a miracle GL was not canceled. I fully expected that it would be. The show got 13 more years (or nearly 13), which is amazing.

Just now, chrisml said:

So George Pilgrim's biggest claim to fame is that he was a side piece AND he was in an episode of Red Shoe Diaries? I'm not knocking the latter as a lot of soap actors did that show, but the delusion is high with this person. Red Shoe Diaries and Skinemax shows were where former/soon-to-be soap performers went when they couldn't get hired on the soaps. And I'll take Anthony Addabbo (RIP) who also did RSD over this Pilgrim person any day. 

Or Cris Leblanc (who did have a brief part on GL...).

1 hour ago, alwaysAMC said:

A-M and Lucy are on their honeymoon, boating around Bermuda, and they hit a storm and they’re becoming lost at sea. Honestly, this story came out of nowhere and doesn’t seem to have a strong purpose - it’s just happening.  There isn’t really a story involved in it, it doesn’t move story along and doesn’t really involve others, so it seems a little odd.  And then they’re saved by some mystery person, who they assumed was a member of the National Guard, but then the Guard says they didn’t dispatch anyone. But now they’ve been back in Springfield for over a week and no more mention of this mystery person. I really hope they revisit that and explain more, or I’ll really be disappointed because that was odd. It couldn’t have been a ghost, and it’s not Christmastime so no magical Santa Claus haha.

It turns out to be much dumber than that.

The purpose of this little side adventure was to introduce the mystery man, though I believe the original plan for the character may have been different from what ultimately ends up happening.