I was amazed at just how bad the writing got after Maureen's death. It's as if that was the big event and they had no plans for afterwards. The dialogue and the character motivations suffered greatly. 

Beth Ehlers is a prime example of how one interview can really sink your career. She came off so badly and unlikeable. 

9 hours ago, alwaysAMC said:

I stumbled across this June 1989 episode and I'm so glad I did. First, I've always enjoyed Rick and Philip's friendship, and Philip has a face that sometimes needs to be smacked, so watching Rick getting some licks in is satisfying.

But more importantly, Beth Ehlers left a bad taste in my mouth with her stint at AMC, and I haven't been that interested in her on GL in 1997, but this episode makes me actually interested in Harley. She and Dylan have some strong chemistry here and the background music of Peter Gabriel's "In Your Eyes" enhances this for me 1000x over. I love strong, emotionally charged scenes that are enhanced by good music, and this episode did it for me. I assume Harley and Dylan don't last long at all, based on what I've seen in the 90s, but gosh they had some chemistry here. Starts at the 1:00 mark. And LOL at her starting the same song over again on the jukebox at 21:30. She really reminds me of Jennifer Grey in this episode, definitely from Dirty Dancing with the curls.

Also, bonus watching Billy and Marah making cookies together, very cute.

 

Yes.  I really enjoyed 89/90. The Alan-Michael/Harley/Dylan triangle is really well done.  Nadine is introduced, Billy returns, Holly is setting up her life with WSPR, Roger is revealed to be alive, and it really kicks off!  

Little Marah is one of my favorite characters. She is so adorable and a good child actress. So cute and lovable. That scene with the eggs is hilarious! 

Billy to Marah-What do you do all day? Marah-Nothing 

Billy- Oh, you take after your daddy.  

LOL! Too funny.

I like how back then the storylines of the families were more grounded and real.  I liked how they showed the Shayne family dynamic. 

I like that beginning in 89/90 we start to see the buildup of what the end of the Four Musketeers will be. 

Edited August 9Aug 9 by MLH

18 minutes ago, MLH said:

 

I like that beginning in 89/90 we start to see the buildup of what the end of the Four Musketeers will be. 

I hadn't realized (or maybe I forgot), but all four Musketeers lived at the Lighthouse. Rick/Meredith, Phillip/Beth, and then Mindy/Nick.

It's so weird, in an interview, Grant says that they said "blue skies and Palamino ponies" so much they got sick of it, and I remember it, but I couldn't find them saying it in any of the episodes that are up.

Edited August 9Aug 9 by P.J.

9 hours ago, alwaysAMC said:

 

Also, bonus watching Billy and Marah making cookies together, very cute.

 

Billy and Marah are honkin' adorable. It's really hard to believe that that was scripted.

13 hours ago, MLH said:

I wonder if Amanda was to be the fauxAlexandra like Phillip became the fauxAlan-Michael, but the backlash with Michael being fired caused them to write Amanda off the show. 

I still don't get how Buzz became so dang popular that he won several Emmys!

Rauchie thought there were two many Spaulding's (as they wrote them interchangeably) and he thought Amanda could take the place of the (older) Alex. There were big plans for Holly/Roger/Amanda and something about the black Spauldings but Zaz being fired and the hullabaloo over that stopped that when they couldn't write for his replacement (they found out that the actor helped make the part) so Amanda got thrown out too (they fired her the day she found out she was pregnant.) 

 

12 hours ago, P.J. said:

I see how good Melissa Hayden was and how the show should have focused more on Bridget.  Bridget should have had a full-blown love triangle going.   She seemed more attractive than annoying Dinah to me.

McLaibey had a hard on for Moniz...even JFP allowed Bridget to stand her ground with Dinah, but as soon as McLaibey....they treated her like a drab second ran. The triangle with Hart was made up with her to be the spoiler and to look pathetic next to Dinah, and they regressed her character in doing so.

15 minutes ago, P.J. said:

Billy and Marah are honkin' adorable. It's really hard to believe that that was scripted.

That's the kind of stuff GL did so well that no one else was doing...I love Billy about to tell Marah about Josh's porn stash! Imagine Marland writing that!

 

20 minutes ago, Mitch64 said:

McLaibey had a hard on for Moniz...even JFP allowed Bridget to stand her ground with Dinah, but as soon as McLaibey....they treated her like a drab second ran. The triangle with Hart was made up with her to be the spoiler and to look pathetic next to Dinah, and they regressed her character in doing so.

100% agree, it was unfortunate. Then Rauch just threw her out with barely a goodbye. So sad.

1 hour ago, Mitch64 said:

That's the kind of stuff GL did so well that no one else was doing...I love Billy about to tell Marah about Josh's porn stash! Imagine Marland writing that!

 

I was so mad when Newman decided to leave for 2 freaking years!  We lost Harley/Little Marah's relationship and Little Marah came back aged up with another actress that didn't have 1/10th of her charisma. 

@kalbir  I don't blame you with the FF.  I try, but there are so many new characters that I don't care about and Harley returning without AC Mallet didn't sit right.  Nadine murdered and it's treated with a yawn by Harley.  

@Mitch64  I have to slightly disagree with you about Roger/Holly/Amanda's storyline changing.  I don't get why TPTB had such an issue with Michael, but that storyline we saw is what they wrote for when Michael was still on as they were very happy that Michael asked to be reduced to 2 days per week. Before that agreement, I agree that there was going to be a bigger storyline for Roger/Holly/Amanda. 

For example, we know that Amanda is jealous of how Roger drops everything for Holly and Blake/Chrissy. Roger finds out during the Reva trial that Amanda was the one that gave that tabloid reporter the inside scoop about Ross possibly getting to be the new DA. Roger gets really mad at Amanda. Amanda gets on the stand and ends up basically apologizing to Roger of her wanting to make him jealous was how the whole thing got to happen.  

We see Roger be always around Holly when Holly needs support.  Her giving her kidney for baby Maureen, etc. Same exact storyline I believe they planned for Michael Zaslow. 

At the same time, Amanda takes the place of Alexandra as only being around to give some comedic one-liners and then disappear. The show was planning to focus less on the Spauldings, period, IMO. 

The backlash delayed their storyline with the black Spaulding, but I don't believe it was ever going to be a major storyline for Roger. 

Toby Poser said in an interview that she only told her fellow studio roommates and not the producers that she was pregnant when she was let go.

Edited August 9Aug 9 by MLH

GUIDING LIGHT characters who never made it into the storyline.

Some characters were name dropped suggesting they would eventually be on the canvas but didn't show. Hamp's wife Tia made a body only appearance once but never came to town. Neither did son Joe. Kurt Corday had a brother mentioned but he never showed up. Then of course there was the mysterious 7th Reardon child we never got to meet.

Cassie's father and Sarah's one night stand never made a splash. Fletcher was adopted but thankfully never turned out to be a Spaulding, Bauer or Chamberlain. They made a big deal about Alan being nursed back to health during his time in the jungles of the San Rios by  "The Enchatradora"-clear set up for her to appear at some point as his live interest but nothing ever materialized.

I'm sure there were more that were set up but never showed. One does wonder what their stories and interactions would have  been.

1 hour ago, Lujack4Ever said:

Cassie's father and Sarah's one night stand never made a splash. Fletcher was adopted but thankfully never turned out to be a Spaulding, Bauer or Chamberlain. They made a big deal about Alan being nursed back to health during his time in the jungles of the San Rios by  "The Enchatradora"-clear set up for her to appear at some point as his live interest but nothing ever materialized.

Someone had suggested that Cassie's dad be Bill Bauer...traveling salesman and well know cad!  I think the Encantradoro or whatever did appear when Alex and Johnnie were in San Rios and she was kidnapped by a cliche South American general?

2 minutes ago, Mitch64 said:

Someone had suggested that Cassie's dad be Bill Bauer...traveling salesman and well know cad!  I think the Encantradoro or whatever did appear when Alex and Johnnie were in San Rios and she was kidnapped by a cliche South American general?

It's so long ago...don't remember the character and a kidnapping...but she might have gone there with Simon? Maybe looking for him. So hard to say now.

3 hours ago, MLH said:

Before that agreement, I agree that there was going to be a bigger storyline for Roger/Holly/Amanda. 

That's what I meant, before Zaz started showing symptoms there was a storyline planned...Rauch even said Roger/Holly were GL's signature couple (no doubt sending Kimmer into a fit..) Someone dropped that Ellen Parker would be involved (Mo alive in the Caribbean?) Anyway, who knows. I get why they wanted to get away from Spaulding Enterprises as it was so shittily written....but dumb move just the same...a solid writer could have had Springfields factor of evil as a great backdrop...and I would have merged Lewis so all the infighting could take place on one set. 

Just now, Lujack4Ever said:

It's so long ago...don't remember the character and a kidnapping...but she might have gone there with Simon? Maybe looking for him. So hard to say now.

Yea, it was some dumbass thing like Simon...I just remember Alex being knocked out in the jungle and the Encontra whatever killing a snake with a rock and nursing her.  Then Alex escaping central casting's South American General on a bike!

1 hour ago, Lujack4Ever said:

GUIDING LIGHT characters who never made it into the storyline.

Some characters were name dropped suggesting they would eventually be on the canvas but didn't show. Hamp's wife Tia made a body only appearance once but never came to town. Neither did son Joe. Kurt Corday had a brother mentioned but he never showed up. Then of course there was the mysterious 7th Reardon child we never got to meet.

Cassie's father and Sarah's one night stand never made a splash. Fletcher was adopted but thankfully never turned out to be a Spaulding, Bauer or Chamberlain. They made a big deal about Alan being nursed back to health during his time in the jungles of the San Rios by  "The Enchatradora"-clear set up for her to appear at some point as his live interest but nothing ever materialized.

I'm sure there were more that were set up but never showed. One does wonder what their stories and interactions would have  been.

Fletch was adopted? 

The Lemays (Daisy/Susan's) adoptive parents have another child in '89. But when Jim shows up in  the late '90's, I don't think they ever mentioned it.

Vanessa's first husband, Gerald something-or-other, never stormed into town. Neither did the mysterious Dietrich Lindsey, yet Holly kept his name.

45 minutes ago, P.J. said:

Fletch was adopted? 

The Lemays (Daisy/Susan's) adoptive parents have another child in '89. But when Jim shows up in  the late '90's, I don't think they ever mentioned it.

Vanessa's first husband, Gerald something-or-other, never stormed into town. Neither did the mysterious Dietrich Lindsey, yet Holly kept his name.

Yes, about Fletch. It was revealed during the time Meredith his sister was on the show. Good calls on Vanessa having another husband I did not know that. Dietrich Lindsey...that is a good call...one never played that could have been interesting!