More GL talk with my mother. My mother stopped watching regularly in the late eighties (she has no idea when) and only watched periodically after that. It was mostly catching fragments as she worked as a nurse in a doctor's office at the point.

Alan: "I liked the Alan who was with Alexandra. He was so good. There was the dark-haired man but I don't remember too much although he looked like an ex-boyfriend I liked." (She has no memory of Ron Raines)

Explained the Marvel stuff to my mother: "What kind of f*ckery was that?!!? Who wants that kind of crap? Thank God I stopped watching years before." (I edited out a lot of profanity and a side trip to talking about OLTL).

Last time she watched GL: "Only had it on as background noise while working. Reva walked through the damn painting and that was it. Never watched again. Too stupid for words."

Fletcher: "What happened to Fletcher? Did he end up with Maeve? He was so sexy. My favorite man on GL." (I tell her they killed off Maeve and she was not happy. I also tell her I have no idea what happened to Fletcher and she's even more annoyed.). "They kept Josh but not Fletcher? Figures!"

 

 

Edited June 27Jun 27 by chrisml

9 minutes ago, chrisml said:

Alan: "I liked the Alan who was with Alexandra. He was so good. There was the dark-haired man but I don't remember too much although he looked like an ex-boyfriend I liked." (She has no memory of Ron Raines)

Who is this dark haired man? Did you ask to see a pic of the ex?

9 minutes ago, chrisml said:

Explained the Marvel stuff to my mother: "What kind of f*ckery was that?!!? Who wants that kind of crap? Thank God I stopped watching years before." (I edited out a lot of profanity and a side trip to talking about OLTL).

Don't leave us hanging, we know about OLTL, too!

9 minutes ago, chrisml said:

Last time she watched GL: "Only had it on as background noise while working. Reva walked through the damn painting and that was it. Never watched again. Too stupid for words."

 

9 minutes ago, chrisml said:

Fletcher: "What happened to Fletcher? Did he end up with Maeve? He was so sexy. My favorite man on GL." (I tell her they killed off Maeve and she was not happy. I also tell her I have no idea what happened to Fletcher and she's even more annoyed.). "They kept Josh but not Fletcher? Figures!"

Edit to Add: New Hashtag #TooStupidForWords

 

Edited June 27Jun 27 by Contessa Donatella

19 minutes ago, chrisml said:

Fletcher: "What happened to Fletcher? Did he end up with Maeve? He was so sexy. My favorite man on GL." (I tell her they killed off Maeve and she was not happy. I also tell her I have no idea what happened to Fletcher and she's even more annoyed.). "They kept Josh but not Fletcher? Figures!"

Fletcher left town with the daughter he had with Holly. She later ended up in a special school, I think. About a decade later, Fletcher returned briefly in the finale to leave with Alexandra. 

(I'm still surprised the show remembered him by that point)

I'm glad to know there were other Fletcher fans. I never really felt an attraction to him, but I do laugh at the memory of Pam Long saying he had great buns (this was in an interview - before they split up...).

Edited June 27Jun 27 by DRW50

8 minutes ago, Contessa Donatella said:

Who is this dark haired man? Did you ask to see a pic of the ex?

Don't leave us hanging, we know about OLTL, too!

 

She was talking about Daniel Pilon or at least that was my assumption based on the time frame and what I know of her taste in men.

As for OLTL, she mentioned their musical episode (Lindsay was in prison) as a one-time stunt that made her tune in to watch with my grandmother (which I didn't know happened).  She said she watched for a bit based on just that one episode. She said GL should have done something like that instead of the Marvel thing.

 

4 minutes ago, DRW50 said:

Fletcher left town with the daughter he had with Holly. She later ended up in a special school, I think. Fletcher returned briefly in the finale to leave with Alexandra. 

(I'm still surprised the show remembered him by that point)

I'm glad to know there were other Fletcher fans. I never really felt an attraction to him, but I do laugh at the memory of Pam Long saying he had great buns (this was in an interview - before they split up...).

Thank you for this. I will let my mother know. I may just tell her he left the show with Alexandra and leave out the Holly bit because if she asks questions I won't be able to explain the Fletcher/Holly stuff in any detail. I'm sure my mother would agree about the buns. She still remembers him quite fondly after all these years. 

16 minutes ago, chrisml said:

As for OLTL, she mentioned their musical episode (Lindsay was in prison) as a one-time stunt that made her tune in to watch with my grandmother (which I didn't know happened).  She said she watched for a bit based on just that one episode. She said GL should have done something like that instead of the Marvel thing.

Thank you for this. I will let my mother know. I may just tell her he left the show with Alexandra and leave out the Holly bit because if she asks questions I won't be able to explain the Fletcher/Holly stuff in any detail. I'm sure my mother would agree about the buns. She still remembers him quite fondly after all these years. 

I don't blame you there. His returning for Alex made more sense anyway. 

I don't think the Marvel episode was a big deal, but I can see where a musical episode might have gotten more attention. I kind of wish they'd tried a live episode. I guess that was too difficult for most of the soaps to bother with by then, aside from OLTL.

25 minutes ago, chrisml said:

Thank you for this. I will let my mother know. I may just tell her he left the show with Alexandra and leave out the Holly bit because if she asks questions I won't be able to explain the Fletcher/Holly stuff in any detail. I'm sure my mother would agree about the buns. She still remembers him quite fondly after all these years. 

Just FYI---Fletch did marry Maeve. Maeve died in a helicopter accident in '88, shortly after they married.  If she didn't remember that, I'd speculate that she was talking about Chris Bernau's Alan, not Daniel Pilon's.

2 hours ago, P.J. said:

They didn't put a lot of effort into any of Rick's romances after Mindy. Sometimes, the way he seemed to gravitate to older women, it was like he was either looking for a mother or looking for his own version of Maureen.

I think they tried some buildup with Abby and Rick, and I think it worked, but mostly gave up on them after a few years. 

6 hours ago, DeeVee said:

They put SO little effort into this pairing. They met at a bar and talked about movies, next thing you know they're getting married. Might happen in RL, but this is a soap. So they invented a heart condition to create some drama (which was really done to give REVA a story, not Rick).

At the time this story, and the show in general, was getting a lot of praise and push, but I found it all extremely manipulative, extremely hollow. They were trying to set Rick up as having everything so we would be upset at the thought of him dying, but none of what he had felt earned (this was also undercut by Rick already having his first child not even a year earlier) and it was clearly he wasn't going to die.

Choosing to just do a knockoff of a story GH and St. Elsewhere had already done just made GL feel generic.

I tried with Rick and Mel, I really did...more than the show did. The show was more honest about their relationship when they split up several years later, but that was marred by the pathetic, toxic relationship with Beth.

1 hour ago, DRW50 said:

I'm glad to know there were other Fletcher fans. I never really felt an attraction to him, but I do laugh at the memory of Pam Long saying he had great buns (this was in an interview - before they split up...).

The actor himself went on and on about Fletcher's cute "buns" Okay, Jay, we get it, you like your ass!

53 minutes ago, P.J. said:

Just FYI---Fletch did marry Maeve. Maeve died in a helicopter accident in '88, shortly after they married.  If she didn't remember that, I'd speculate that she was talking about Chris Bernau's Alan, not Daniel Pilon's.

She mentioned Chris Bernau as the one with Alexandra! And Holly/Fletcher is easy. Meg was a Downs baby.

12 minutes ago, Mitch64 said:

The actor himself went on and on about Fletcher's cute "buns" Okay, Jay, we get it, you like your ass!

It's odd to say "mother approved" but the phrase fits in this instance. I had no idea before all of our GL talks that she was so into Fletcher. Or that Fletcher was so popular with mothers as I think think there were a couple other mothers on here that admitted they were Fletcher fans.

It was Daniel Pilon my mom remembered. I facebooked her his photo and she said, "That's him! He's the Alan who reminds me of XXXX."  @P.J.

Edited June 27Jun 27 by chrisml

1 hour ago, DRW50 said:

Fletcher left town with the daughter he had with Holly. She later ended up in a special school, I think. About a decade later, Fletcher returned briefly in the finale to leave with Alexandra. 

(I'm still surprised the show remembered him by that point)

I'm glad to know there were other Fletcher fans. I never really felt an attraction to him, but I do laugh at the memory of Pam Long saying he had great buns (this was in an interview - before they split up...).

 

1 hour ago, chrisml said:

She was talking about Daniel Pilon or at least that was my assumption based on the time frame and what I know of her taste in men.

As for OLTL, she mentioned their musical episode (Lindsay was in prison) as a one-time stunt that made her tune in to watch with my grandmother (which I didn't know happened).  She said she watched for a bit based on just that one episode. She said GL should have done something like that instead of the Marvel thing.

Neat! I wonder if she watched their upside down show. You know, K. Alderson played Rae. All the kids played adults. All the adults, .. you get the idea. 

1 hour ago, chrisml said:

Thank you for this. I will let my mother know. I may just tell her he left the show with Alexandra and leave out the Holly bit because if she asks questions I won't be able to explain the Fletcher/Holly stuff in any detail. I'm sure my mother would agree about the buns. She still remembers him quite fondly after all these years. 

 

I’m up to January 20, 1997.

The ending credits have changed, for the worst IMO. They removed the character pictures and just left the lighthouse in the background. Rauch put his EP credit first now, followed by the writers, then director, and then rest of the producer team (previously it went writers, director, EP and then other producers). That’s telling…

Company went back to its old design, but looks smaller in size. Meanwhile, the diner just got a new design and looks much larger. I kind of miss the old diner, it was cozier.

Dylan is back!  He and Reva have a nice reunion, and casually discuss how he never wanted her to visit while he was at his blind facility (dumb, but at least they acknowledged it). His laser treatments allow him to see again, but the lights are still harsh and give him headaches. He just met up with Bridget who is so happy to see him. I really hope this helps Bridget get over Hart because that was cringe how desperate she got over him.

The Jan 3 episode is the first time I personally could tell a difference in Zaslow’s speech, during his scenes with Hart. This is so sad to see, I feel horrible about the whole situation.  Leo then tells Roger that Vanessa is in Lucerne and he goes to visit her. These scenes were so good, but man it’s hard watching Vanessa tell Roger how her body is failing her, while Zaslow himself is just about to go through that in real life. It’s like he’s watching his near term future and that’s so sad/scary/chilling. Maeve really nailed these scenes, I really enjoy her acting style here.

So Jenna came with Buzz’s son Coop, but he doesn’t know he exists. She’s now crying alone in an empty house because Buzz is with Reva and she keeps bouncing around this ball like it symbolizes something. She did have a couple of episodes with Eleni, who has lost her Greek accent completely now. But, that’s nice to finally see Eleni be involved in anything. Lots of flashbacks here with Buzz/Jenna and it’s obvious that she’ll be his storyline to get him out of Reva’s orbit, who are now basically just playing roles in a marriage because they both know they’re waiting for Josh to be ready to get back to Reva. Well and now, Reva broke up with Buzz and he left to the airport to leave town for a while, but runs into Jenna on the tarmac. She lies and tells him she’s the nanny to this baby he just met and then asks the real nanny to fly him away to Chicago, and she and Buzz go back to Springfield. I’m questioning her decision to let her baby just leave like that. Jenna does sound like a posh, strict yet distant, British stepmother on a Disney movie when you listen to her.

Now Reva is officially out of the diner and the ‘Buzz and Reva’s Place’ is over. Very happy about that.  I also think Buzz is much more tolerable with Jenna than anything I’ve seen throughout 1995-1996. Buzz seems way calmer, slower and not so spazz, I’ll take it!

Aw, Rick just told Abby that he loved her, by using sign language. That was such a heartfelt scene. I really do like this couple.

Michelle is obsessed with Zachary and wants to go away with him now that she’s 18. Zachary keeps kissing her and then pushing her away and telling her he has to leave town. They get into a little car accident in the snow and are left to freeze, but J shows up and saves them because J was so concerned for Michelle. Zach is told by his what, mentor/guide?, that he must leave in order to save Michelle, unlike Mary back in the day who I guess wasn’t saved. Michelle is heartbroken. I found it odd that Michelle was begging for sex in the trapped car so she wouldn’t die a virgin. I’d be using that time trying to figure out how to survive, although I guess sex might warm them up a bit haha.

So Nick/Susan showed up at Christmas to get Alex out of the ‘Spaulding mess’, yet it’s really Lucy and A-M that decide to leave Springfield to get out of the ‘Spaulding mess’, I guess. Lucy just told that to Buzz and they had what seemed to be a preemptive heartfelt hug goodbye. Its really sad for me, because I was so invested in Lucy/A-M throughout 1995 and into their wedding in early 1996, but once the A-M recast came and his feud with Phillip was the main storyline, my mind changed immensely. Lucy barely had anything to do and they made A-M pretty unlikeable. I wish the folks in charge would have given this couple attention so they could survive post-wedding vs. ship them off the show because they didn’t know what else to do with them. Do we know the real reason why they left? Fired by the new EP, fans didn’t like the recast, actors wanted to leave…?

And now, just a day after Buzz hugs Lucy, enters Harley on Jan 17. Frank/Eleni surprise Buzz at the diner and he gives her a big hug…

I’m looking forward to this big 60th Anniversary ball that everyone is now getting ready for! I guess this is why there was nothing at all for NYE this year, with this ball happening only a few weeks later.

1 hour ago, chrisml said:

It's odd to say "mother approved" but the phrase fits in this instance. I had no idea before all of our GL talks that she was so into Fletcher. Or that Fletcher was so popular with mothers as I think think there were a couple other mothers on here that admitted they were Fletcher fans.

It was Daniel Pilon my mom remembered. I facebooked her his photo and she said, "That's him! He's the Alan who reminds me of XXXX."  @P.J.

sorry...I must've missed that.

I can understand having fond memories of Fletcher. Honest. If you had asked me before I started rewatching, all I probably could've recalled about him was his humor and the fact that he'd raised Ben. 

23 minutes ago, alwaysAMC said:

I’m up to January 20, 1997.

The ending credits have changed, for the worst IMO. They removed the character pictures and just left the lighthouse in the background. Rauch put his EP credit first now, followed by the writers, then director, and then rest of the producer team (previously it went writers, director, EP and then other producers). That’s telling…

Company went back to its old design, but looks smaller in size. Meanwhile, the diner just got a new design and looks much larger. I kind of miss the old diner, it was cozier.

Dylan is back!  He and Reva have a nice reunion, and casually discuss how he never wanted her to visit while he was at his blind facility (dumb, but at least they acknowledged it). His laser treatments allow him to see again, but the lights are still harsh and give him headaches. He just met up with Bridget who is so happy to see him. I really hope this helps Bridget get over Hart because that was cringe how desperate she got over him.

The Jan 3 episode is the first time I personally could tell a difference in Zaslow’s speech, during his scenes with Hart. This is so sad to see, I feel horrible about the whole situation.  Leo then tells Roger that Vanessa is in Lucerne and he goes to visit her. These scenes were so good, but man it’s hard watching Vanessa tell Roger how her body is failing her, while Zaslow himself is just about to go through that in real life. It’s like he’s watching his near term future and that’s so sad/scary/chilling. Maeve really nailed these scenes, I really enjoy her acting style here.

So Jenna came with Buzz’s son Coop, but he doesn’t know he exists. She’s now crying alone in an empty house because Buzz is with Reva and she keeps bouncing around this ball like it symbolizes something. She did have a couple of episodes with Eleni, who has lost her Greek accent completely now. But, that’s nice to finally see Eleni be involved in anything. Lots of flashbacks here with Buzz/Jenna and it’s obvious that she’ll be his storyline to get him out of Reva’s orbit, who are now basically just playing roles in a marriage because they both know they’re waiting for Josh to be ready to get back to Reva. Well and now, Reva broke up with Buzz and he left to the airport to leave town for a while, but runs into Jenna on the tarmac. She lies and tells him she’s the nanny to this baby he just met and then asks the real nanny to fly him away to Chicago, and she and Buzz go back to Springfield. I’m questioning her decision to let her baby just leave like that. Jenna does sound like a posh, strict yet distant, British stepmother on a Disney movie when you listen to her.

Now Reva is officially out of the diner and the ‘Buzz and Reva’s Place’ is over. Very happy about that.  I also think Buzz is much more tolerable with Jenna than anything I’ve seen throughout 1995-1996. Buzz seems way calmer, slower and not so spazz, I’ll take it!

Aw, Rick just told Abby that he loved her, by using sign language. That was such a heartfelt scene. I really do like this couple.

Michelle is obsessed with Zachary and wants to go away with him now that she’s 18. Zachary keeps kissing her and then pushing her away and telling her he has to leave town. They get into a little car accident in the snow and are left to freeze, but J shows up and saves them because J was so concerned for Michelle. Zach is told by his what, mentor/guide?, that he must leave in order to save Michelle, unlike Mary back in the day who I guess wasn’t saved. Michelle is heartbroken. I found it odd that Michelle was begging for sex in the trapped car so she wouldn’t die a virgin. I’d be using that time trying to figure out how to survive, although I guess sex might warm them up a bit haha.

So Nick/Susan showed up at Christmas to get Alex out of the ‘Spaulding mess’, yet it’s really Lucy and A-M that decide to leave Springfield to get out of the ‘Spaulding mess’, I guess. Lucy just told that to Buzz and they had what seemed to be a preemptive heartfelt hug goodbye. Its really sad for me, because I was so invested in Lucy/A-M throughout 1995 and into their wedding in early 1996, but once the A-M recast came and his feud with Phillip was the main storyline, my mind changed immensely. Lucy barely had anything to do and they made A-M pretty unlikeable. I wish the folks in charge would have given this couple attention so they could survive post-wedding vs. ship them off the show because they didn’t know what else to do with them. Do we know the real reason why they left? Fired by the new EP, fans didn’t like the recast, actors wanted to leave…?

And now, just a day after Buzz hugs Lucy, enters Harley on Jan 17. Frank/Eleni surprise Buzz at the diner and he gives her a big hug…

I’m looking forward to this big 60th Anniversary ball that everyone is now getting ready for! I guess this is why there was nothing at all for NYE this year, with this ball happening only a few weeks later.

Always enjoy reading your reviews. The 60th has some good moments - the returns are well-done, mostly, especially since GL never did this as well as they could have through the '80s and '90s. 

There was a good amount of talk at the time about what Rauch did to the diner, as well as the garish lighting (which is still spoken of on here). Rauch did not do poverty or class differences. 

I never could remember if Buzz was the one who decided to end the marriage to Reva. I do remember Deas giving some nice performances in that period. 

Michael Dietz was almost definitely fired. Sonia Satra had been on the show for three and a half years so she may have wanted to leave, but it was also clear they had lost interest in Lucy. Did they tease Zachary/Lucy early on? I can't remember. 

Getting fired was probably the best thing that could have happened to Dietz, as he got a lead role on Port Charles, where he only lasted a few years, but he also met his wife who was also on an ABC soap at the time (she played That Kit Fisher Person), and they are still together.

Lucy and Harley meet soon, and it's a real passing-of-the-torch moment, as Lucy was brought in as such a blatant Harley replacement (she debuted in the very same episode Harley left in, I believe - they did not interact at that time). 

I don't even know if Lucy is mentioned after she leaves Springfield. Maybe once or twice.

I was so mad when they got rid of the cast photos in the closing credits. I adored them. Whatever the quality of the show in those years, there was something special about that Friday (IIRC it was on a Friday) where you saw the shots one by one. I remember I used to look at them and count which characters I liked and which characters I couldn't tolerate (Lillian rarely escaped my bad list at that time...).

Edited June 27Jun 27 by DRW50

3 hours ago, P.J. said:

Just FYI---Fletch did marry Maeve. Maeve died in a helicopter accident in '88, shortly after they married.  If she didn't remember that, I'd speculate that she was talking about Chris Bernau's Alan, not Daniel Pilon's.

So both Maeve & Ross died in commercial air accidents. That seems to hit too close to home. 

3 hours ago, Contessa Donatella said:

 

Edit to Add: New Hashtag #TooStupidForWords

 

Yes, I know I'm replying to myself. All I was going to say is that there's this really old film with Jennifer Jones in it that reminds me so much of the "Travel Through Time via Portrait in Attic" that I feel like that must've been where they stole it from. 

This is a non sequitur but do you recall DAYS, Reilly and the Paris underground? Found it described as a serialized foreign graphic novel, European.