8 minutes ago, MLH said:

I think it's horrible that there is no way to watch full storylines for a character from each year. 

This reminds me. I messaged with the poster who uploads as "Blake Marler" yesterday inquiring if she'd made any progress on getting her channel back. She let me know I was asking way too soon since this will take her many months. So, that is discouraging.

1 hour ago, MLH said:

I thought the actress that played Hope wasn't good.  She whispered so much, I could barely hear her. The storyline on the island was boring. 

LOL, the reasons I became a regular GL viewer (I watched on and off from 1976) was a combo of the Roger/Holly story and the island story.

I like Elvera. The problem, IMO, is the way they wrote the character. Once involved with Alan, she had virtually no existence outside of him. I think she actually would have fared batter if the Dobsons had remained on GL. Marland was not the greatest at writing women in general,  especially if he did not create the character. 

I've said it before: I believe the Dobsons had a much darker trajectory planned for Alan and Hope, with Hope becoming disillusioned and growing into a stronger person. You see that kind of character arc in the stories they wrote for Barbara and Margo when they went to ATWT.

Marland decided to make then one of his central romantic couples, which necessitated Hope forgiving Alan for a lot of lying and cheating. So she came off as very passive and weak.

1 hour ago, MLH said:

Reva and Alan had no chemistry.  People say that Roger & Mindy didn't have chemistry, but I thought they did.  I didn't see the chemistry between Reva and Alan.

Not going to disagree with you on that one! 😂 No way would I believe Alan would fall for Reva.

They needed a spoiler for Reva and Josh. I'm convinced that Kyle was originally intended to have that role. Larkin Malloy was gone. Maybe they couldn't settle on a recast, or it was a money thing (Newman and Bernau coming back must have been a bit pricey). Or maybe they just thought Alan and Kyle were too similar and didn't want both on the canvas anymore. 

1 hour ago, Contessa Donatella said:

This reminds me. I messaged with the poster who uploads as "Blake Marler" yesterday inquiring if she'd made any progress on getting her channel back. She let me know I was asking way too soon since this will take her many months. So, that is discouraging.

That's a bummer. But really appreciate you taking the trouble of asking. 

 

11 minutes ago, DeeVee said:

I like Elvera. The problem, IMO, is the way they wrote the character. Once involved with Alan, she had virtually no existence outside of him. I think she actually would have fared batter if the Dobsons had remained on GL. Marland was not the greatest at writing women in general,  especially if he did not create the character. 

I like her, too I did then. I do now. 

About the "Blake Marler" YouTube channel, you're welcome. I will, of course, ask her again, although I do not want to make a nuisance of myself. So I will make a point to be more patient. I told her yesterday, "Oh, no, I called myself being patient." She got a big laugh out of that so that to me is always a plus!!! 

 

2 hours ago, MLH said:

Every time Josh was with someone, Reva had to be too.  She can't be single?

Reva? GL's perpetual love goddess?

NEVER! 😂

53 minutes ago, DeeVee said:

Reva? GL's perpetual love goddess?

NEVER! 😂

If she were, single for a ny minute, she'd just head to that fountain & strip down & splash!!!

3 hours ago, MLH said:

Yes.  It wasn't looking good at all.  I would be horrified seeing myself on tv with it. However, Roger would have gray one day and then be basically all brunette the next. LOL  It was like whiplash. 

Some unpopular opinions:  

I thought the actress that played Hope wasn't good.  She whispered so much, I could barely hear her. The storyline on the island was boring. 

Reva and Alan had no chemistry.  People say that Roger & Mindy didn't have chemistry, but I thought they did.  I didn't see the chemistry between Reva and Alan. Every time Josh was with someone, Reva had to be too.  She can't be single?

Now just some observations:

It is so hard to still not get what is being said on a lot of the German dubbed videos and not hear the actor's real voices. 

I think it's horrible that there is no way to watch full storylines for a character from each year. 

I was trying to see the storyline of Blake when she first got on and noticed that they tried to pair her up with Johnny!  They were also trying to match up Mindy and Frank!  

I thought the scene with Suzanne Deveraux and Roger in July 91 wasn't done that well. It's supposed to be some mystery woman in bed with Roger. Roger might as well be talking to himself as she said nothing. No chemistry at all. That character just disappeared after Daniel is killed.  Dumb and wasted character.

I think Alex's hair was a bad perm gone wrong..I think Bev or someone discussed that.

Yes, sorry I don't get the Elvira love..she wasnt the best actress, was not that charismatic and well, as the years progressed she got heavier (I am saying that would be an issue if they brought her back.) I would have loved a recast Hope. But then again, I thought Kathleen Cullen was as dull as dishwater and people seem to love her on here.

The scab writers brought Blake back but had no idea who she was..so she was just thrown into a pairing to bide time. No matter what Long says, it was Curlee who suggested making Blake Chrissy, etc. Long didnt; even know who Roger was.

Mindy and Frank were kind of fun time fillers. I just remember him icing his chest in between chores while Mindy tried to act like she wasnt looking.

Reva and Alan never made sense but they needed someone to be the spoiler and Alan had the means to switch the results. Now Alan using Reva (and vice versa) to yank Josh's crank and somehow hurt Lewis Oil yes. They missed an opportunity during the Goshen story to ammend that, and make Alan hiding Reva to keep her in his backpocket to use someday. (I would have had Reva hiding out with Lana Reardon or someone who was hiding from her abusive husband...and was opening her home to women who needed help...Alan falls for "Lana" not Reva and vows to help her get her kids back but its in his typical underhanded way...and then she gets involved with Ed and there is triangle...) Not that I don't think that Reva could give a good one out that Alan would appreciate but not love.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I read that Marland liked writing the women characters. He created Nola and I believe Alexandra, correct?

Reading summaries of storylines from the 70s and 80s, Ed sure was a mess! He'd start drinking over everything. I wouldn't want anything to do with him.  

There are no summaries of Roger's storyline when he first got on other than being hired to date Holly.

Watching the 79/80 vids, Roger constantly needed to be with a woman.  Wish they got more into that issue. Him nor Reva could not just be single.  LOL

Only guy I would be interested in would be Frank.  Maybe, due to the show not letting people even have a relationship for at least a year before having them divorce/annul the marriage. 

@Mitch64 There are so many filler characters, I can't keep up!

Edited July 17Jul 17 by MLH

1 hour ago, Mitch64 said:

well, as the years progressed she got heavier (I am saying that would be an issue if they brought her back.)

Whatever the reason (and that certainly could have been one, they could be really mean to actresses who gained weight), she was not liked by Kobe. She was pretty ruthless in getting rid of her. By the time Wilmore took over, she had been off the canvas for quite a while. I think most viewers liked her while she was on the show, but they never gave Hope much of an identity beyond Alan's wife/Mike's daughter. So this is a case where a recast wouldn't have upset people that much.

They were free to bring her back as more mature, more savvy, and not vulnerable to Alan anymore. Tons of story possibilities. She could have even taken her father's place as his nemesis, with Alan Michael caught in the middle.

You know I love your rewrite for the Goshen story and think bringing in the last Reardon sibling to be an old flame of Alan's would have been great.

And her big secret is one of her kids is his.

And if he was older than Phillip, he would be old enough...to be Hope's love interest.

That would have been delightfully messy.

1 hour ago, Mitch64 said:

Not that I don't think that Reva could give a good one out that Alan would appreciate but not love.

Well, yes. She could have taken Elise the non-maid's place in his life. THAT I would have believed!

Edited July 17Jul 17 by DeeVee

3 hours ago, Contessa Donatella said:

About the "Blake Marler" YouTube channel, you're welcome. I will, of course, ask her again, although I do not want to make a nuisance of myself. So I will make a point to be more patient. I told her yesterday, "Oh, no, I called myself being patient." She got a big laugh out of that so that to me is always a plus!!! 

 

Thanks for asking her and letting us know! That's great you know who she is and have a connection to her. Do we know why it was shut down (assuming copyright?), and if that's the case, do we know how she would get by with uploading them again without getting in trouble? Or is it a gamble, knowing every other year or so they'll notice and remove again?

47 minutes ago, MLH said:

I read that Marland liked writing the women characters. He created Nola and I believe Alexandra, correct?

He may have said he liked writing women, but unless she was his creation he was enthused about (like Nola and Carrie) they weren't that interesting. He wrote almost all the  women as neurotic messes who needed therapy. Seriously, almost EVERY woman on the show became Sarah's patient. (Including Nola and Carrie.)

Long created Alex, not Marland.

Is there a scan here of the Soap Opera Digest article of the behind the scenes of Guiding Light in 1977?  The link on the blog didn't work.  It said that there is a picture of Jordan Clarke playing a different character named Dr. Tim Ryan!  I have to see these pictures!

38 minutes ago, DeeVee said:

They were free to bring her back as more mature, more savvy, and not vulnerable to Alan anymore. Tons of story possibilities. She could have even taken her father's place as his nemesis, with Alan Michael caught in the middle.

You know I love your rewrite for the Goshen story and think bringing in the last Reardon sibling to be an old flame of Alan's would have been great.

And her big secret is one of her kids is his.

I like the idea of Hope being Alan's nemesis...She becomes a lawyer like her dad and she advocates for workers and does pro bono work,etc. Having him turned on to, and totally repelled at the same time by this woman who actually has direction in her life that is not his..would be good. The big problem with Hope is that they aged AM too fast.

I don't know how to write yet another woman in Alan's past..but it would work much better then that dumb nun story!

If there's one thing I noticed in watching 80's GL episodes, Lillian popped up in the oddest of places. It was comforting to see Tina Sloan appear in scenes when least expected. I was so thankful when she popped up in the Cain/Reva nonsense because she was the only one who was not required to overact and/or mouth some ridiculously melodramatic dialogue.

Second thing I noticed about GL and trying to figure out the origins of various stories: you never get one answer about anything. IF there's a particular story (Roger/Mindy for ex.), there will be four or five versions of how that came to be. Once you get those versions, you'll get different versions of who was responsible for it continuing. I can't imagine an oral history and writers and actors giving their versions of who created which stories. That's just the people who are still alive. I can't imagine trying to get straight answers out of Bridget Dobson about anything she did on GL.

 

To & about various:

Marland said Lisa Brown was his muse and he created Nola on GL and Iva on ATWT for her. 

Beverlee was ready to go back to work. AW wanted her of course but so did Gail Kobe at GL. Pam Long created Alexandra for her. 

There  was something about some hair misadventure that happened. Beverlee's son, Scott posted about this a few years back on my FB soap group but I never fully grasped the details.

Edited July 18Jul 18 by Contessa Donatella

21 hours ago, DRW50 said:

After seeing some of the early 1987 clips again I'm even more horrified by Alex's hair. I assume she was aged up due to her pairing with HB, but she looks more like Harriet Oleson from Little House.

oy, don't just single out 87....there are times it's just not good from '84 to late '88, or whenever she went back to her blonde color.