55 minutes ago, DeeVee said:

I thought she was fine, just rarely got a good chance to emote. She had a warmth that was very appropriate for the character, much like Mart Hulswit.

It's funny you mentioned Sharon. I've often thought she could have been a good recast for Rita.

If it wasn't for the quickly SORASed Alan Michael issue, I was thinking how great it would have been if Marcy Walker had been cast as Hope when they brought her on the show, instead of a palid new character no one cared about.

Thank you. I will have to check that out.  Too bad the German dubbed ones are the only ones available with the most episodes.  I think a person's voice can really impact some of the scenes.

What about Tonja Walker?  Would she make a good Hope in the 1990s after Bev left in 1992? I would have had Alan return after Alexandra left. It left a huge vacuum.

Edited August 3, 2025Aug 3 by MLH

Per newspaper weekly synopses, Holly was in town until late November, 1980.

2 hours ago, MLH said:

Thank you. I will have to check that out.  Too bad the German dubbed ones are the only ones available with the most episodes.  I think a person's voice can really impact some of the scenes.

What about Tonja Walker?  Would she make a good Hope in the 1990s after Bev left in 1992? I would have had Alan return after Alexandra left. It left a huge vacuum.

I'm not sure Tonja Walker could radiate warmth. Even if Hope had returned a tougher woman, she would've needed to have a Bauer heart.

16 minutes ago, P.J. said:

I'm not sure Tonja Walker could radiate warmth. Even if Hope had returned a tougher woman, she would've needed to have a Bauer heart.

I'd have to agree with that.

Even though I see Rita as a sultry brunette, Tonja would also be better as a Rita recast.

Another thought I had for a Hope recast was Marcia McCabe, who played Sunny on SFT. I think she would have brought both warmth and strength to the character. 

Re Vanessa/Holly.

By the time Vanessa was in town, Holly's story seemed to be winding down. Doug Marland didn't seem that interested in her. The Peter/Holly marriage was aborted and after that Holly is hardly mentioned, so you would assume her appearances were fewer as DM prepared to write her out.

Holly was probably involved with Barbara, Andy and Ed.

At that stage Vanessa was mainly involved with Ross and Alan.

So it is possible that the two never crossed paths. As for Vanessa knowing about the rape case etc, she was not in town when it happened and was also the sort of character that was pretty self absorbed, so likely she wouldn't be overly interested in a ase from the year before.

24 minutes ago, Paul Raven said:

Re Vanessa/Holly.

By the time Vanessa was in town, Holly's story seemed to be winding down. Doug Marland didn't seem that interested in her. The Peter/Holly marriage was aborted and after that Holly is hardly mentioned, so you would assume her appearances were fewer as DM prepared to write her out.

Holly was probably involved with Barbara, Andy and Ed.

At that stage Vanessa was mainly involved with Ross and Alan.

So it is possible that the two never crossed paths. As for Vanessa knowing about the rape case etc, she was not in town when it happened and was also the sort of character that was pretty self absorbed, so likely she wouldn't be overly interested in a ase from the year before.

If I recall from reading old 1980 summaries, Vanessa came onto the canvas in late May/early June 1980 while Holly left the canvas in mid to late November 1980 so there was little to no opportunity for the two to interact other then Andy (who came onto the canvas in August/September 1980).

I think Holly's primary interactions between April 1980 to November 1980 was Barbara, Andy, Ed, Rita,.. with occasional interactions with Nola, Hilary, Katie, and Kelly.

So I could have seen Vanessa and Holly perhaps interacting once or twice in 1980.. but nothing significant where they would remember one another years later.   

I also viewed it as it being 10+ years that Holly had been gone from Springfield so Vanessa seeing Holly and commenting that she was actually attractive could have been taken to mean that she had hoped Holly had let her looks go over the years and was disappointed she still look good and a possible contender for Ross.

One thing I'll say about the writing team in 1989 was how the writers effortlessly weaved Holly back into the canvas even though her primary scenes partners were no longer on the show (other then Ross, Ed, and Alan).   There was one episode where Holly was at the country club where she had been put in charge of the tv station and she interacted with Rose, Ross, Josh, Mo, and Will.. and she had great rapport with all of them.

Soaps hardly do those types of interactions nowadays.

Edited August 3, 2025Aug 3 by Soaplovers

Maureen Garrett always seemed to have great rapport with nearly everyone, both professional and personal.  (I really liked the very brief two-week interaction between her and the guy who played Kirk on ATWT....Tom something.  Those two had fantastic chemistry.  He was another Sam if I remember correctly).

One thing that must be said:  Holly and Reva never belonged in the same scenes together.  Two very different versions/ideas of Guiding Light personified between them.  A dichotomy.  A schism.  A ravine.

Yuck.

 

 

 

"One thing I'll say about the writing team in 1989 was how the writers effortlessly weaved Holly back into the canvas even though her primary scenes partners were no longer on the show (other then Ross, Ed, and Alan).   There was one episode where Holly was at the country club where she had been put in charge of the tv station and she interacted with Rose, Ross, Josh, Mo, and Will.. and she had great rapport with all of them.

Soaps hardly do those types of interactions nowadays."

 

This was one of the best things about Guiding Light during its better eras.  The cross-pollination of everything.  A much easier task for the writers to accomplish when Reva was off the canvas.

I do wish that Ed and Harley had been in a story together, maybe a three-month arc.  It would have been interesting to see the two actors and characters deal with one another.   Very different from each other.

Ditto with Billy (Clarke) and Alan-Michael (Hearst).  

 

2 hours ago, Speed Racer said:

Maureen Garrett always seemed to have great rapport with nearly everyone, both professional and personal.  (I really liked the very brief two-week interaction between her and the guy who played Kirk on ATWT....Tom something.  Those two had fantastic chemistry.  He was another Sam if I remember correctly).

One thing that must be said:  Holly and Reva never belonged in the same scenes together.  Two very different versions/ideas of Guiding Light personified between them.  A dichotomy.  A schism.  A ravine.

Yuck.

Tom Wiggin, my Kirkadoodle. He and Lisa Brown had mad chemistry (to my eyes, even more than her and Michael Tylo), but Marland scuttled them for her wacky sister Ellie. RME.

It's true, Holly and Reva are two ends of the spectrum, that's for sure.

 

8 hours ago, Soaplovers said:

If I recall from reading old 1980 summaries, Vanessa came onto the canvas in late May/early June 1980 while Holly left the canvas in mid to late November 1980 so there was little to no opportunity for the two to interact other then Andy (who came onto the canvas in August/September 1980).

I think Holly's primary interactions between April 1980 to November 1980 was Barbara, Andy, Ed, Rita,.. with occasional interactions with Nola, Hilary, Katie, and Kelly.

So I could have seen Vanessa and Holly perhaps interacting once or twice in 1980.. but nothing significant where they would remember one another years later.   

There's also something about Holly going to Switzerland with Ed and Mike...so I guess they really were easing Holly off the canvas (which surprises me, 'cause Holly really seems like a character Marland would've loved to write for).

And yes, Vanessa was much more focused on Alan and Ross, not to mention sparring with Hope and threatened by Amanda and Eve's presence in Ross' life. So maybe she never did interact with Holly. 

It just seemed odd.  

I will say, it is funny to me that in '89, Vanessa immediately knows that Holly is Ross' type, and Nadine wasn't.

Edited August 3, 2025Aug 3 by P.J.

9 hours ago, DeeVee said:

I'd have to agree with that.

Even though I see Rita as a sultry brunette, Tonja would also be better as a Rita recast.

Another thought I had for a Hope recast was Marcia McCabe, who played Sunny on SFT. I think she would have brought both warmth and strength to the character. 

I've tried thinking of a Hope recast--Jackie Schultz was too much of a sad-sack as Dee (ATWT) so I can't see her working. Kate McNeil would've worked, but she was doing L.A. I don't think she did a soap after ATWT.

35 minutes ago, P.J. said:

I've tried thinking of a Hope recast--Jackie Schultz was too much of a sad-sack as Dee (ATWT) so I can't see her working. Kate McNeil would've worked, but she was doing L.A. I don't think she did a soap after ATWT.

I thought of Schultz, too, but maybe she was too young to work as Alan Michael's mother. (If we're rewriting GL history, we could have not SORASed AM so quickly, though it would be sad to lose Carl). Dee was written as a sad sack. I remember her doing a short stint on Y&R as a wedding planner and she was quite vibrant.

Another who could have worked was the last actress to play Annie on ATWT, Mary Lynn Blanks. She had that warmth and sweet blonde looks.

Edited August 3, 2025Aug 3 by DeeVee

@alwaysAMC I finally watched the full episode of that All My Children tornado in 1994 and talk about an overabundance of great actors that GL could have had! 

1994 AMC was way superior to 1994 GL. 

Would Robin Mattson make a better Hope or Amanda? 

Unless they fundamentally changed the role of Hope, it probably would've been too tame for her. Amanda, arguably, would've been a better fit.

4 minutes ago, MLH said:

Would Robin Mattson make a better Hope or Amanda?

I agree with P.J. She was so well known at that point for playing darker characters that, ironically (since she once played the character), it would have been difficult to sell her as Hope by then.