15 minutes ago, chrisml said:

I also adore Xanadu when they are singing and dancing. How do you create that fantastic rock/40's mishmash and then direct those painful dialogue scenes? When the dancing and singing stops, it's not good. I know Xanadu is not GL related, but it does remind me of how a soap can have something that works beautifully and then everything else is just a mess (GL 1986-1988). 

XANADU is marvelous beyond compare! Or alternately, me, three!

15 minutes ago, chrisml said:

I would agree the Sonni story was dragged on for a long time, but it was the only story that had any life to it especially (as you note) compared to other stories. I think they knew the viewers loved Michelle Forbes and just kept playing that up. It would have been interesting to see what Long would have done with the character, but she may have just turned Sonni into a supporting character for Reva's upcoming stories. 

That's where I was. Loved Forbes!!!! 

15 minutes ago, chrisml said:

I remember when Alan Locher asked Dennehy about her favorite stories, and she looked at him like he couldn't possibly be serious. 

I love it!!! Alan is only on firm ground when he has some real life reason to KNOW THAT MATERIAL. He'd do so much better if he really did research when he doesn't already have intel on a who or a what!

1 hour ago, chrisml said:

I think Pilon was sexy and that he could have stayed longer. He didn't get the best material (a common theme back then) but he did the best with what he was given. He had more chemistry with other characters. He had potential. I don't get the decision to fire him. 

I think Pilon is head and shoulders above Raines..I don't get that people on Facebook GL pages seem to love Raines, but I think if they put a hot turd on their TVs some people would love that hot turd, not that I think Raines is a turd...I think Pilon looked like he could have been the father of the guy playing AM at that time, and he had a least an air of gothic mystery to him, Raines had NO mystery to him..he practically had thought bubbles over his head with "Creating EVIL plan"

Off topic on Xanadu..it didn't help the ONJ can only play herself, which could have worked if she only had a leading man who could have sang and dance, and acted.

1 hour ago, chrisml said:

. He had more chemistry with other characters. He had potential. I don't get the decision to fire him. 

The plan was always to replace him or write Alan out. Maybe if he had been a hit with the audience, they might have kept him on. But the audience was expecting Bernau back, because they lied about how ill he was, so he really didn't have a chance to win them over.

I will say that he and Jean Carol had a nice vibe, MUCH better than with KZ. If they wanted to do Alan in a relationship with a lower class woman, IMO, that had more potential. 

13 minutes ago, Mitch64 said:

I think Pilon is head and shoulders above Raines..I don't get that people on Facebook GL pages seem to love Raines, but I think if they put a hot turd on their TVs some people would love that hot turd, not that I think Raines is a turd...I think Pilon looked like he could have been the father of the guy playing AM at that time, and he had a least an air of gothic mystery to him, Raines had NO mystery to him..he practically had thought bubbles over his head with "Creating EVIL plan"

Off topic on Xanadu..it didn't help the ONJ can only play herself, which could have worked if she only had a leading man who could have sang and dance, and acted.

Hmm, agree to disagree. I put Pilon way down below many bars. 

I understand the critique of Raines, although I personally think he suffers as badly as he does among so many fans because he followed someone who was so dayum good!!! I find the same to be true of Marj. Bernau & Bev, superlatives, beyond the best that one could be, etc. I know I'm biased but to me GL's Best & Brightest were, in no particular order: Bernau, McKinsey, Zaslow, Garrett & Kinkead. (Apropos of nothing in particular.)

 

4 minutes ago, Contessa Donatella said:

I know I'm biased but to me GL's Best & Brightest were, in no particular order: Bernau, McKinsey, Zaslow, Garrett & Kinkead. (Apropos of nothing in particular.)

Agreed on you putting Kinkead in with the greats. I never understood why we needed a recast Alex as we had SF's original ice queen already there.

I didn't mind how long Roger was behind the mask, because he was grooming Alexandra. 

Sonni was one of the most interesting characters of all the years I have currently watched. Eve was a poor copycat. 

I thought Pilon did a better job than Raines in being different than Roger and still be intimidating. Also had a gothic vibe. 

The problem for me with Alan was that he had all this power behind bars and then nothing for years.  Soap storylines started to go faster and faster. By the time a character is recasted viewers  have no reason to be excited. That's why they should have laid the groundwork for a character returning like they did with Holly and Roger. 

Cassie and Hart (somewhat Amanda) never worked for me was because there was no history behind them. 

Nola didn't work for me, because she wasn't needed. IMO. 

Anyone know why Will was written out? I thought the actor that played him did a good job. 

 

 

 

Edited July 31Jul 31 by MLH

4 minutes ago, MLH said:

I didn't mind how long Roger was behind the mask, because he was grooming Alexandra. 

I think that we the audience, knew it was Roger, so I was fine with them keeping the mask on for Alex, they just didn't need the weird accent.

 

5 minutes ago, MLH said:

Cassie and Hart (somewhat Amanda) never worked for me was because there was no history behind them. 

Amanda had history, they just never really used it, besides having Alex throw out a "They should have kept you locked in that attic," which was funny, but too mean spirited for Alex.  Cassie didn't work other then to rebuild Reva's family, and by that time she had enough airtime. I always wished they made Cassie dislike Reva from the start and be the one person in town to tell her to go to hell.

 

7 minutes ago, MLH said:

Nola didn't work for me, because she wasn't needed. IMO. 

I love Nola and the Reardons so I think she was needed, especially with Van marrying her nephew and sharing Peter with Bridget,(and who couldn't love the small bit of sniping between Van and Nola, Van had become St. Van at that time so it was nice to have someone ring her beads)   but not in the way they used her...which was, "Oh look, we have Nola back!"  The show needed to get away from the Coopers and 5th Street and it needed some levity at that time...Nola should have been the ATWT Lisa, connecting everyone and going from place to place providing exposition as she noses into everyone's business. They also could have used her to intro a new Chelle recast, and have her spend the summer with Nola and coming back and being more rebellious (not the cheerleader boy crazy character they brought back.) She could have clashed with Ed over Chelle, etc.  Again, they didn't do any of that as they brought back a dour Nola who hung out at the Boardinghouse bitter about her husband cheating on her.

At very least brought her back for a few months to give Van a pain in the ass and call Ed out for his cheating..I don't understand why soaps don't bring back old characters for short arcs like that.

1 minute ago, Mitch64 said:

... I always wished they made Cassie dislike Reva from the start and be the one person in town to tell her to go to hell.

That would have been fabulous. Mitch's AlternaLight continues to grow ... 

1 minute ago, Mitch64 said:

... I love Nola and the Reardons so I think she was needed, especially with Van marrying her nephew and sharing Peter with Bridget,(and who couldn't love the small bit of sniping between Van and Nola, Van had become St. Van at that time so it was nice to have someone ring her beads)  

Personally loved Nola, Bridget, sharing of Peter, Van ... 

 

28 minutes ago, Mitch64 said:

 

I think that we the audience, knew it was Roger, so I was fine with them keeping the mask on for Alex, they just didn't need the weird accent.

 

Amanda had history, they just never really used it, besides having Alex throw out a "They should have kept you locked in that attic," which was funny, but too mean spirited for Alex.  Cassie didn't work other then to rebuild Reva's family, and by that time she had enough airtime. I always wished they made Cassie dislike Reva from the start and be the one person in town to tell her to go to hell.

 

I love Nola and the Reardons so I think she was needed, especially with Van marrying her nephew and sharing Peter with Bridget,(and who couldn't love the small bit of sniping between Van and Nola, Van had become St. Van at that time so it was nice to have someone ring her beads)   but not in the way they used her...which was, "Oh look, we have Nola back!"  The show needed to get away from the Coopers and 5th Street and it needed some levity at that time...Nola should have been the ATWT Lisa, connecting everyone and going from place to place providing exposition as she noses into everyone's business. They also could have used her to intro a new Chelle recast, and have her spend the summer with Nola and coming back and being more rebellious (not the cheerleader boy crazy character they brought back.) She could have clashed with Ed over Chelle, etc.  Again, they didn't do any of that as they brought back a dour Nola who hung out at the Boardinghouse bitter about her husband cheating on her.

At very least brought her back for a few months to give Van a pain in the ass and call Ed out for his cheating..I don't understand why soaps don't bring back old characters for short arcs like that.

I thought Bridget should have been living with Vanessa, etc. from the start.  Nola didn't bring anything to me but some comic relief a bit here and there. The boarding house occupants started ok, but then it just fell apart and was very boring. Dinah should have been forced to live there, not married to Roger. Then it would make sense that Nola is around.

 

 

47 minutes ago, Mitch64 said:

I love Nola and the Reardons so I think she was needed, especially with Van marrying her nephew and sharing Peter with Bridget,(and who couldn't love the small bit of sniping between Van and Nola, Van had become St. Van at that time so it was nice to have someone ring her beads)   but not in the way they used her...which was, "Oh look, we have Nola back!"  The show needed to get away from the Coopers and 5th Street and it needed some levity at that time...Nola should have been the ATWT Lisa, connecting everyone and going from place to place providing exposition as she noses into everyone's business. They also could have used her to intro a new Chelle recast, and have her spend the summer with Nola and coming back and being more rebellious (not the cheerleader boy crazy character they brought back.) She could have clashed with Ed over Chelle, etc.  Again, they didn't do any of that as they brought back a dour Nola who hung out at the Boardinghouse bitter about her husband cheating on her.

Me, too. I love the Reardons and hate how they were diminished. They never should have gotten rid of Bea. There's your missing matriarch.

If you're going to bring back Nola, have her BE Nola! Yes, she's older, been through some stuff, but the thing about her was she always saw herself as the heroine in a movie. She would NEVER go after Buzz! That's like going after an older version of Floyd!

I think you were the one who said she should be a romance writer. That is PERFECT. She could have her fantasies again, only now they would be from her books (and would be WAY more entertaining than that dull novel Phillip wrote).

Wouldn't it be wild if she was successful? And that the problem in her marriage wasn't infidelity, but that Quint disparaged her work?

So many possibilities...

6 hours ago, MLH said:

 

@vetsoapfan @P.J.  In 1989 I liked how they had Billy and Nadine first meet via her talk show interview with Hamp.  I liked how they handled the whole WSPR atmosphere. Although, they dropped the ball with the newspaper.  In the mid-90s WSPR was totally wasted and the newspaper too focused on.  Only weak spots were Johnny/Chelsea and Fletcher.  They didn't know what to do with them. 

WSPR was the more interesting work place, that's for sure. That's due to the Holly/Roger conflict, where the Journal was always a snoozefest with no interesting characters. It was more like "anyone who doesn't have a story works at the Journal."

49 minutes ago, DeeVee said:

... I think you were the one who said she should be a romance writer. That is PERFECT. She could have her fantasies again, only now they would be from her books (and would be WAY more entertaining than that dull novel Phillip wrote).

Wouldn't it be wild if she was successful? And that the problem in her marriage wasn't infidelity, but that Quint disparaged her work?

So many possibilities...

Truly, Nola, as a successful romance novelist would have been a dream vehicle for that character!!! And, actually, even if she were struggling, to get established, if she had writer's block, hey, it would all be great story fodder. 

I think sometimes that our soaps came to be failing from impoverished imaginations. So many characters in tiny, bland boxes & only able to do or not do certain painfully proscribed things & not anything other. 

1 hour ago, MLH said:

I thought Bridget should have been living with Vanessa, etc. from the start.  Nola didn't bring anything to me but some comic relief a bit here and there. The boarding house occupants started ok, but then it just fell apart and was very boring. Dinah should have been forced to live there, not married to Roger. Then it would make sense that Nola is around.

Nah, I liked that Bridget was taking over the family business, and they did have the boardinghouse be the refuge of "misfits" as Roger called them once. THAT is where Nola comes in, taking care of and cultivating the misfits of bland SF encourage them to be themselves (as now she has cash and can tell the world to go to hell..) And yes, in fanmind, boring heroine Dinah met Nola and Quint in Morocco and Nola introduced her to...the boys and the, refreshments, encouraging her to be herself and rebel against society Van...hence she turned into MonizDinah. I would have Dinah favor Nola and of course, Nola backing D against Van..just ot bug her.

 

1 hour ago, DeeVee said:

I think you were the one who said she should be a romance writer. That is PERFECT. She could have her fantasies again, only now they would be from her books (and would be WAY more entertaining than that dull novel Phillip wrote).

Wouldn't it be wild if she was successful? And that the problem in her marriage wasn't infidelity, but that Quint disparaged her work?

So many possibilities...

Yes! The original goodbye scenes of 85 have Nola relunctantly leaving, and Quint really pressuring her to go. Henry says he will send her his typewriter (God knows many a mash note and letters attached to hush money was typed out on that from Henry to the waiters, bartenders and pool boys at the Lakeland CC.) and Nola says, "Yes, maybe I will write a series of Nola Adventures." So I would have her do it, imaging herself as the flamboyant heroine of each, and she becomes successful. Maybe her latest is a prequel, "Boardinghouse Blues" where the plucky heroine goes up against the town snob who doesnt want her to marry into the family. Van sees Bridget reading it (no one knows it Nola) and says, "I didnt know you read trash like that...its like it was written by a moron!"

10 hours ago, vetsoapfan said:

Sorry I got too personal.

No worries

10 hours ago, vetsoapfan said:

Calhoun and then Nancy Curlee, it made a remarkable comeback. Unfortunately, the renaissance was short-lived

I loved the Calhoun era but sadly the momentum didn't last.

28 minutes ago, Mitch64 said:

... Yes! The original goodbye scenes of 85 have Nola relunctantly leaving, and Quint really pressuring her to go. Henry says he will send her his typewriter (God knows many a mash note and letters attached to hush money was typed out on that from Henry to the waiters, bartenders and pool boys at the Lakeland CC.) and Nola says, "Yes, maybe I will write a series of Nola Adventures." So I would have her do it, imaging herself as the flamboyant heroine of each, and she becomes successful. Maybe her latest is a prequel, "Boardinghouse Blues" where the plucky heroine goes up against the town snob who doesnt want her to marry into the family. Van sees Bridget reading it (no one knows it Nola) and says, "I didnt know you read trash like that...its like it was written by a moron!"

And, next I suppose you're going to tell us that Van does stand-up.