10 minutes ago, MLH said:

I can't believe Vanessa and Ed had an affair!  Why would Maureen want to be friends with Vanessa?

It was over before Maureen and Ed met.

TBH, I never bought Vanessa's friendship with Maureen. Van didn't like the Reardons and looked down on them. (Yes, she eventually married one and had a good relationship with his sister, but that was later). Her friendship with Trish was only believable because they were sorority sisters. Van is the type of woman who doesn't have deep female friendships, she's much more interested in the company of men.

14 minutes ago, DeeVee said:

I believe Roger, involved with Alex, is a huge reason why they should have brought back Alan way sooner. And I think it would have been a GOOD thing if Alan wasn't always so focused on Phillip for a change.

Which is another reason AM should not have been stuck in the Spaulding musical chairs game about who would run the company. It's tedious. As discussed earlier, he could have become a lawyer. Perhaps mentored by Mike, and could have even taken Mike's place as Spaulding nemesis, getting back at the father who valued his biological son less than his adopted son.

Considering she had an affair with Ed while he was still married, that would have been just a tad hypocritical. (Yes, Ed and Rita were pretty much done, but Vanessa did tend to flirt with lots of men regardless of marital status, so...)

Which reminds me. I've been watching the German episodes that include her affair with Ed. Did Ed and Van EVER recall or refer to their former relationship after that? It seems to me they totally memory holed it after it ended.

(I still don't quite get why they were ever paired up in the first place. Can't imagine why Van was so keen to catch him).

Maybe if the Bauers had been a stronger presence when he arrived , A-M could've been a lawyer. I'm fine with him being at Spaulding. And had Chris Bernau been able to continue, I think they would've developed Alan and A-M's relationship more. Phillip was already in the position of being the thorn in Alan's side. (or nemesis, I guess).

I'd have been fine with Van being colder to Lillian, in light of the affair. But it would've been hypocritical to not treat Ed the same way. And I don't think the show wanted to bring up those kind of issues and "divide" the town after the fact. I'm not even sure who knew about the affair other than Van and Eve.

And yes, Van's past was not spotless, and she ceased being the person who'd throw someone's past in their face circa 1984. While the affair with Ed was practically prehistoric history, her sleeping with Billy while he was married to Nadine wasn't.

The only vague mention of their past I can recall is after Maureen's death. It might be the morning after---but at some point, Ed says "you must hate me."  And Vanessa reminds him that they had known each other before Maureen, that he'd known her when she "confused" (I think that's the word she uses) and that he'd never thrown her mistakes back in her face. 

I think the Van/Ed pairing was a combination of things. It drove plot (giving Van access to a way to blackmail Alan, getting her close to Rita's ex) and it seemed there was some lingering ill will between Ross and Ed (I guess in light of Holly's trial). After Vanessa OD's, in the recaps, Ed encourages her to move on from Ross, that she can do better. That's why she keeps up the pretense that it was a serious suicide attempt, and not just a miscalculation on her part. That plays into Andy's hand, giving him a way to blackmail her.

It's also a bit of the hero doctor/patient trope, and giving Vanessa a glimpse of a man who will treat her better (she and Ross were using each other, she'd slept with Andy in spite of knowing he beat Trish). Early Vanessa seems desperate not to be alone. She and Ed break up and less than two months later, she hits town with Mark who is a user practically from the word go. 

It's a lot of supposition, as there's not a lot of Maeve and Mart scenes available to watch.

 

3 minutes ago, P.J. said:

And Vanessa reminds him that they had known each other before Maureen, that he'd known her when she "confused" (I think that's the word she uses) and that he'd never thrown her mistakes back in her face. 

I seem to recall Ed throwing a lot of it back in her face back in the day. Typical Marland scenes of a Bauer lecturing others about their imperfections. 😂

But maybe she meant later on, after they moved on from each other.

39 minutes ago, MLH said:

I can't believe Vanessa and Ed had an affair!  Why would Maureen want to be friends with Vanessa?

It's very brief, and honestly, it's like both Van and Ed forgot they were lovers. They both quickly moved on, and there were no hints of lingering feels. Vanessa's probably the first woman Ed didn't let complicate his next relationship. He always seemed to be mooning over his former lover when the next one popped up on his doorstep. 

And Van and Mo aren't "friends-friends" until like '89-'90. I think Billy jilting Van at the altar kind of kicks it into gear. 

4 minutes ago, P.J. said:

Vanessa's probably the first woman Ed didn't let complicate his next relationship.

Ed was still eating his heart out over Rita when he started dating Mo. She was also getting over a divorce, so they had that in common. 

Vanessa was definitely a minor blip for Ed.

Edited August 5Aug 5 by DeeVee

10 minutes ago, DeeVee said:

I seem to recall Ed throwing a lot of it back in her face back in the day. Typical Marland scenes of a Bauer lecturing others about their imperfections. 😂

But maybe she meant later on, after they moved on from each other.

It's just hard to judge. I don't remember them at all. I couldn't find the breakup scenes between Anna Stuart and Peter Simon (at least that I recall). The only kinda moment I saw in the German episodes was at Ross' bachelor dinner, (which is nonsensically held at The Hideout that Vanessa owns) where she kind of stomps in and basically wishes Ross "the best", and Ed and Ross give each other a look like "that woman will mess you up if she has her way". (Before showing up at the ceremony in what looks like widow's weeds....OMG, hilarious!_)

6 minutes ago, DeeVee said:

Ed was still eating his heart out over Rita when he started dating Mo. She was also getting over a divorce, so they had that in common. 

Vanessa was definitely a minor blip for Ed.

She almost seems like a way to ween Ed from Rita. Just sub in one dark-haired schemer for another, and let the story continue.

Van really dodged a bullet, 'cause I don't think she'd have put up with three affairs before threatening to divorce his ass.

51 minutes ago, DeeVee said:

It was over before Maureen and Ed met.

TBH, I never bought Vanessa's friendship with Maureen. Van didn't like the Reardons and looked down on them. (Yes, she eventually married one and had a good relationship with his sister, but that was later). Her friendship with Trish was only believable because they were sorority sisters. Van is the type of woman who doesn't have deep female friendships, she's much more interested in the company of men.

I never bought Mo's and Vanessa's friendship. The female friendships were never as good as the men, which was surprising. 

 

 

Edited August 5Aug 5 by MLH

48 minutes ago, DeeVee said:

It was over before Maureen and Ed met.

TBH, I never bought Vanessa's friendship with Maureen. Van didn't like the Reardons and looked down on them. (Yes, she eventually married one and had a good relationship with his sister, but that was later). Her friendship with Trish was only believable because they were sorority sisters. Van is the type of woman who doesn't have deep female friendships, she's much more interested in the company of men.

Not an unfair assessment. But with few exceptions, women were friends with their sisters or sisters-in-law. (I can only think of Jackie/Eve and Hillary/Katie around that time that don't fit that paradigm.) Van isn't necessarily seeking out friendships with men either---not the way Reva buddies up with Fletch, Phillip, or even Hamp, say.

Overall, it's either Josh or Mindy who's Vanessa's "best friend". Although I do think she and Mo were friends. Van's dsilike of the Reardons hadn't been a thing in years at this point, and she and Mo had a fair amount in common. Their children were about the same age, they were married to alcoholics, and they were working women.

Help!  This Archive thing-a-ma-jig....how does one get there to watch old GL eps?  I'm a bit thick-headed.  Thanks.

"I seem to recall Ed throwing a lot of it back in her face back in the day. Typical Marland scenes of a Bauer lecturing others about their imperfections." 

LMAO!  Boy, is that ever accurate!!  And the lecturing wasn't just limited to the Bauers, either.  Think Bea Reardon and Henry Chamberlain (the latter of whom often would lecture people when he wasn't busy ambushing them alongside Vanessa - LOL!  Henry was one cool dude).  Kelly Nelson, Katie Parker and Hilary Bauer were not beyond lecturing either.

How I despised Mike Bauer!  A sanctimonious, fussy, prima donna if there ever was one.  Typical lawyer.  He needed a half dozen upper left cuts to the jaw.

 

2 hours ago, Speed Racer said:

How I despised Mike Bauer!  A sanctimonious, fussy, prima donna if there ever was one.

I liked him much better when the Dobsons were writing the character. He wasn't sanctimonious at all. He was pretty flawed and human, stringing Jackie along and  jumping into bed with the married Elizabeth, later terrified Jackie would out them to Justin. His hatred of Alan was totally understandable vindictiveness because Alan ruined his relationship with Elizabeth. 

Fast-forward to the beginning of Marland's tenure, and he's suddenly lecturing everyone on honesty and values and wants to bring down Alan for truth, justice, and the American way. Like he hadn't just been banging his friend's wife in a hotel room and desperately trying to cover it up mere weeks before. 😂

Mike and Justin were friends? The Dobsons had such  Bob/Carol/Ted/Alice round Robin going on, it's hard to keep track of who was zoomin' who when and who they were really in love with. 

And was Mike leading Jackie on? It sounds from recaps that Jackie was using Mike to make Justin jealous.

Edited August 5Aug 5 by P.J.

14 minutes ago, P.J. said:

Mike and Justin were friends? The Dobsons had such  Bob/Carol/Ted/Alice round Robin going on, it's hard to keep track of who was zoomin' who when and who they were really in love with. 

And was Mike leading Jackie on? It sounds from recaps that Jackie was using Mike to make Justin jealous.

Maybe not as close as he was to Ed, because they were colleagues, but they were friends. 

No, Jackie was not using Mike to make Justin jealous. After her divorce from Alan she was very much after Mike. She caught Mike and Elizabeth together because she decided to "surprise" Mike by showing up unexpectedly at his law conference. 

She was furious and hurt because they were betraying Justin, yes, but also because she had built up her relationship with Mike as more than it was, at least from his perspective. Mike knew she was interested in a relationship with him but didn't discourage her, even though he was still crazy about Elizabeth. 

Edited August 5Aug 5 by DeeVee

Are there any really good interviews with the writers of Guiding Light after the show was cancelled?  

Anyone else think Henry and HB were not used enough in the 90s?  Was it due to their contract?  I just think they could have been used more at the time. Even the actor who played Dylan really didn't get to interact with the actor who played his Grandfather!  

I know that Henry was part of Roger tricking him with the rigged poker games. After that, all he did to me was warn people and show up to events. It was getting good with the Jenna angle, but then Buzz came around and that basically became a very small part of Jenna's and Henry's interaction. Heck, Jenna worked with Alan Michael after breaking up with Roger. 

Even the Dinah part wasn't done well. I would buy him faking an illness to get Dinah to help take care of him and her driving each other crazy.  LOL 

I also don't buy that Adam wouldn't want to visit/see his Grandchildren and meet Hart.  After Blake's wedding, it's like he dropped off the face of the earth again. Was he ever mentioned? 

For all the harping Hart did about the farm, he sure never mentioned his maternal Grandfather. 

Both actors were in their late 70's-80s in the 90's. (Gates was born in 1915, Roerick in 1912). At some point, Gates began suffering from memory issues, according to Robert Newman. And Bill Roerick doesn't look well in '93 at Van and Billy's wedding where he's zipping around in a golf cart.