23 minutes ago, DRW50 said:

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...).

Happy to hear it  

Kit Fisher! Wow, I haven't thought of that name in a long time. How funny the soap world truly is. I'm glad they're still married and doing well!

I don't think they really teased Zachary/Lucy. He was brought on to save A-M/Lucy on their boating honeymoon, but after that, it was mostly just Lucy being friendly to him. I never got flirty vibes. Once he set eyes on Michelle, Lucy was never really in his orbit again. Zachary's mentor occasionally reminds Zachary that his job is now done since he saved A-M, but that's about it.

I guess Rauch thought hey, we got Harley back, Lucy is now redundant. I wonder if Hearst had stayed in the role, if things would have been different. 

I love that you kept a running list in your mind like that with the ending credits/characters  I always love seeing them and how they occasionally change the pictures out. They actually played the credits and pictures more often than just Fridays. There are some days where they don't play any credits at all, but there never seems to be a rhyme or reason to it. 

 

9 minutes ago, Contessa Donatella said:

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

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. 

So did Jackie Marler. And Bill Bauer's original death was in an airplane crash.

2 minutes ago, alwaysAMC said:

Happy to hear it  

Kit Fisher! Wow, I haven't thought of that name in a long time. How funny the soap world truly is. I'm glad they're still married and doing well!

I don't think they really teased Zachary/Lucy. He was brought on to save A-M/Lucy on their boating honeymoon, but after that, it was mostly just Lucy being friendly to him. I never got flirty vibes. Once he set eyes on Michelle, Lucy was never really in his orbit again. Zachary's mentor occasionally reminds Zachary that his job is now done since he saved A-M, but that's about it.

I guess Rauch thought hey, we got Harley back, Lucy is now redundant. I wonder if Hearst had stayed in the role, if things would have been different. 

I love that you kept a running list in your mind like that with the ending credits/characters  I always love seeing them and how they occasionally change the pictures out. They actually played the credits and pictures more often than just Fridays. There are some days where they don't play any credits at all, but there never seems to be a rhyme or reason to it. 

 

At least from what I've observed from '89 to '93, if they start playing the actor's pictures, they run the cast list.

2 minutes ago, alwaysAMC said:

Happy to hear it  

Kit Fisher! Wow, I haven't thought of that name in a long time. How funny the soap world truly is. I'm glad they're still married and doing well!

I don't think they really teased Zachary/Lucy. He was brought on to save A-M/Lucy on their boating honeymoon, but after that, it was mostly just Lucy being friendly to him. I never got flirty vibes. Once he set eyes on Michelle, Lucy was never really in his orbit again. Zachary's mentor occasionally reminds Zachary that his job is now done since he saved A-M, but that's about it.

I guess Rauch thought hey, we got Harley back, Lucy is now redundant. I wonder if Hearst had stayed in the role, if things would have been different. 

I love that you kept a running list in your mind like that with the ending credits/characters  I always love seeing them and how they occasionally change the pictures out. They actually played the credits and pictures more often than just Fridays. There are some days where they don't play any credits at all, but there never seems to be a rhyme or reason to it. 

Thanks. So I just remembered the Fridays...

They had finally given Hearst more in his last year, but I'm not sure they would have if he'd stayed. The A Spaulding story clumped the whole family together. 

Similar to Fiona, Beth Ehlers originally just has a guest appearance. Rauch convinces her to return in the summer. 

Thanks for the reminder about Zachary. That story never really did much for me, although Brody Hutzler was certainly pretty. I am still half-surprised they didn't try to keep him around as I had vague memories of them implying he could come back as human. 

15 minutes ago, DRW50 said:

Thanks. So I just remembered the Fridays...

They had finally given Hearst more in his last year, but I'm not sure they would have if he'd stayed. The A Spaulding story clumped the whole family together. 

Similar to Fiona, Beth Ehlers originally just has a guest appearance. Rauch convinces her to return in the summer. 

Thanks for the reminder about Zachary. That story never really did much for me, although Brody Hutzler was certainly pretty. I am still half-surprised they didn't try to keep him around as I had vague memories of them implying he could come back as human. 

Ahh interesting, ok - so Harley is just here for the ball and then back full-time in the summer. Good to know. I just realized that Dylan's return was also short-lived. 😕 

That would have been interesting with Zachary. You're right - Brody is VERY pretty, and I'll be sad when he leaves because my eye candy is gone haha.

Maeve died in a helicopter crash. I believe it was just her and a pilot. I think she was doing a story because I think I remember her talking into a tape recorder at the time. And I believe Rauch fired the Alan Michael, Lucy and Zachary actors/actress. I remember him saying he wanted to reduce some of the Spauldings, which is why he fired Dusay. I also remember Rauch saying angels will no longer exist on the show. When he was fired, Brody (can't spell his last name), said there had been talks that Laibson might've turned Zachary into a real person before he was fired.

11 minutes ago, bboy875 said:

Maeve died in a helicopter crash. I believe it was just her and a pilot. I think she was doing a story because I think I remember her talking into a tape recorder at the time. And I believe Rauch fired the Alan Michael, Lucy and Zachary actors/actress. I remember him saying he wanted to reduce some of the Spauldings, which is why he fired Dusay. I also remember Rauch saying angels will no longer exist on the show. When he was fired, Brody (can't spell his last name), said there had been talks that Laibson might've turned Zachary into a real person before he was fired.

Thanks. That must be what I was remembering. 

I think I remember Rauch saying the Spauldings were all the same, which was true at that time, but wasn't how it ever should have been.

4 hours ago, alwaysAMC said:

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.

In MZ last episode (April 23, 1997) it is clear that something is not right health-wise. From what I've read over the years, the whole situation was not handled well.

26 minutes ago, DRW50 said:

I think I remember Rauch saying the Spauldings were all the same, which was true at that time, but wasn't how it ever should have been.

What Rauch said was that Amanda Spaulding and Alexandra Spaulding were too similiar - so one had to go. He felt Amanda had more opportunity for story and romance, so he let Marj go.

Later when Rauch decided to send recast-Roger off in the sunset, he decided Amanda should go with him as they were a couple, and it made sense. With a hole in the Spaulding family, that is when Rauch decided to bring back Marj. In Rauch's mind, you can have Amanda or Alex, but you can't have both at the same time.

15 minutes ago, TheyStartedOnSoaps said:

What Rauch said was that Amanda Spaulding and Alexandra Spaulding were too similiar - so one had to go. He felt Amanda had more opportunity for story and romance, so he let Marj go.

Later when Rauch decided to send recast-Roger off in the sunset, he decided Amanda should go with him as they were a couple, and it made sense. With a hole in the Spaulding family, that is when Rauch decided to bring back Marj. In Rauch's mind, you can have Amanda or Alex, but you can't have both at the same time.

Yes, I remember him saying this when he fired Dusay, that they served the same function. But then he actually made them the same with the rewrite of Amanda being their sister, which was dumb. In my mind, I always felt like it was an age thing (getting rid of the older actress). I liked Poser, and didn't want her gone either. But when he let go of Alan Michael and Lucy, I do remember him saying he wanted to pare down the Spauldings 

35 minutes ago, TheyStartedOnSoaps said:

What Rauch said was that Amanda Spaulding and Alexandra Spaulding were too similiar - so one had to go. He felt Amanda had more opportunity for story and romance, so he let Marj go.

Later when Rauch decided to send recast-Roger off in the sunset, he decided Amanda should go with him as they were a couple, and it made sense. With a hole in the Spaulding family, that is when Rauch decided to bring back Marj. In Rauch's mind, you can have Amanda or Alex, but you can't have both at the same time.

Thanks. 

He barely did anything with Amanda after Marj was written out, so I suppose he just wasn't interested. 

Alex had story for a brief period before Marj went to AMC, and they never really tried to replace her, unless you count Vicky, who was barely on.

The only Spauldings he seemed to want to write for were Philip, Lizzie and Alan.

I don’t remember the year, but there was a time when he dropped Ron Raines down to recurring, then at some point put him back on contract 

Question, after Philip was "killed off" and then the show wanted him back, anyone know what they planned to do with him had Grant returned? I always wondered if they planned on having him do a lot of the villain stuff they had Alan do, and if Alan would've been on the backburner. Didn't they first try and get him to come back before the reveal that Philip was alive, Grant said no, so the mystery dragged on? Anyone have any idea? 

54 minutes ago, TheyStartedOnSoaps said:

What Rauch said was that Amanda Spaulding and Alexandra Spaulding were too similiar - so one had to go. He felt Amanda had more opportunity for story and romance, so he let Marj go.

Later when Rauch decided to send recast-Roger off in the sunset, he decided Amanda should go with him as they were a couple, and it made sense. With a hole in the Spaulding family, that is when Rauch decided to bring back Marj. In Rauch's mind, you can have Amanda or Alex, but you can't have both at the same time.

This is such an odd decision to me, because I really love the Alex/Amanda rivalry. I also didn't know they fired Dusay, how awful. But, my personal gain as I LOVED Dusay on AMC as Vanessa. Being Vincent Irizarry's mother again, plus Josh Duhamel's mother... it was so good. 

6 hours ago, chrisml said:

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."

So your mom was the one person who liked Pilon as Alan! LOL.

I'm just joking. The guy was in a tough spot. I think I read somewhere that he was doing both Ryan's Hope and GL at the same time (must not have been on contract at either show at first). Which would help explain how low energy his performance was. And I could never could get used to Alan having a French Canadian accent. (I still prefer him to Raines).

4 hours ago, Contessa Donatella said:

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. 

You are thinking of the movie Portrait of Jennie. Ironically, a film made by David O. Selznick as a vehicle for Jones, who was his lover at the time.

Soaps were frequently stealing from old movies back then. Gloria Monty did it a lot on GH, with ideas taken from movies like It Happened One Night and The Maltese Falcon. They stole from newer ones (at the time), too. Quint was GL's version of Indiana Jones. Ryan's Hope stole from Jaws and The Godfather.

1 hour ago, DRW50 said:

I think I remember Rauch saying the Spauldings were all the same, which was true at that time, but wasn't how it ever should have been.

Gee, did it never occur to anyone to WRITE them differently?

I'm not a fan of having too many rich people on a soap canvas (a big problem with them today, IMO) but GL actually had a pretty great balance when it came to class. You had the old money Spauldings and Chamberlains, the new money Lewises, the aspirational middle class that was one or two generations from being immigrants, the Bauers and the Marlers, and the working class, also first or second generation, the Reardons and Coopers, with the Shaynes likely being on this continent a few generations longer.

Characters like the Spauldings are needed to drive story. If you can't differentiate them, that is a lack of creativity on the part of TPTB.

33 minutes ago, bboy875 said:

But when he let go of Alan Michael and Lucy, I do remember him saying he wanted to pare down the Spauldings 

This was a huge mistake, IMO. By yeeting them (and Nick and Susan) they made almost all the Spauldings on the canvas Phillip's progeny. (And Phillip was not even biologically a Spaulding). Not to mention Alan Michael was also a Bauer, which was another way they were diminished.

 

3 minutes ago, DeeVee said:

I'm not a fan of having too many rich people on a soap canvas (a big problem with them today, IMO) but GL actually had a pretty great balance when it came to class. You had the old money Spauldings and Chamberlains, the new money Lewises, the aspirational middle class that was one or two generations from being immigrants, the Bauers and the Marlers, and the working class, also first or second generation, the Reardons and Coopers, with the Shaynes likely being on this continent a few generations longer.

This is why I love GL, which is something I saw/felt way more in 1995 than I did in 1996.

1 hour ago, bboy875 said:

I don’t remember the year, but there was a time when he dropped Ron Raines down to recurring, then at some point put him back on contract 

Question, after Philip was "killed off" and then the show wanted him back, anyone know what they planned to do with him had Grant returned? I always wondered if they planned on having him do a lot of the villain stuff they had Alan do, and if Alan would've been on the backburner. Didn't they first try and get him to come back before the reveal that Philip was alive, Grant said no, so the mystery dragged on? Anyone have any idea? 

For some reason I think Ron was dropped to recurring several years earlier and then put back on but I may be wrong about the dates. 

Grant said in a recent interview that he was first asked back within weeks (I think it was weeks) of his exit.

1 hour ago, alwaysAMC said:

This is such an odd decision to me, because I really love the Alex/Amanda rivalry. I also didn't know they fired Dusay, how awful. But, my personal gain as I LOVED Dusay on AMC as Vanessa. Being Vincent Irizarry's mother again, plus Josh Duhamel's mother... it was so good. 

Marj is asked back to GL in late 1998, on recurring. Her material is better than a good deal of what she got the first time around, but she left within a few months because AMC was offering her a contract. She made the right choice as Vanessa was the perfect role for her. 

1 hour ago, DeeVee said:

This was a huge mistake, IMO. By yeeting them (and Nick and Susan) they made almost all the Spauldings on the canvas Phillip's progeny. (And Phillip was not even biologically a Spaulding). Not to mention Alan Michael was also a Bauer, which was another way they were diminished.

After the show finally managed to make Nick likeable, I do wonder what might have been (Susan, sadly, probably would have been killed off), but getting rid of Alan Michael was the really big mistake. 

I wonder if they even had him in any scenes with Rick in his flop late '00s return.