21 hours ago, Soaplovers said:

Jenna was much better in her first year on the show circa 1992-1993 before she became watered down in her final months in her first stint.  She was more like India then the weird soccer mom they turned her into in her 2nd stint.

I was shocked when I saw India in 1998 or so.  She looked so ordinary!  In 1990, she looked like a rich socialite. 

Jenna was great in the beginning, but then she ended up with Buzz.  I still don't get what the big deal was with them. 

You know the writers are stuck with a popular couple, because they had to think of any way for major characters to be yapping about their personal lives in a freaking diner for anyone to hear.

@P.J. To me Holly has always been all over the place.  Maureen did a great job, but I got whiplash with Holly. She deserved to be fired and yet the show acted like Roger was in the wrong. 

Edited August 24Aug 24 by MLH

2 hours ago, Lujack4Ever said:

 

Regarding Amanda...anyone remember the article somewhere that Toby Posner was taken aback how the writers were taking shots at Amanda's hair having Alex make jokes about clogging the tub and wooly mammoth and Posner was to paraphrase" its the Amanda character but its MY hair." The timing is right that this would have been around the time MZ was disrespected as well. Not their best era.

Was that the joint interview with Liz Keifer and Wendy Moniz? I recall Liz mentioning in some interview that she didn't like having to say those things as Blake. I think that's also the interview where one of them says how out of touch the writing was surrounding Van's memorial service, with everyone so blase about the fact they thought she'd burned to death in an accident.

2 hours ago, MLH said:

I was shocked when I saw India in 1998 or so.  She looked so ordinary!  In 1990, she looked like a rich socialite. 

Jenna was great in the beginning, but then she ended up with Buzz.  I still don't get what the big deal was with them. 

You know the writers are stuck with a popular couple, because they had to think of any way for major characters to be yapping about their personal lives in a freaking diner for anyone to hear.

@P.J. To me Holly has always been all over the place.  Maureen did a great job, but I got whiplash with Holly. She deserved to be fired and yet the show acted like Roger was in the wrong. 

Jenna was one of those over-the-top characters that just never quite fit on the canvas, no matter how hard they tried. I know the writers tried selling Van and Jenna's friendship, but not even for Henry's sake would Van have befriended that woman. Not been a complete bitch to her....sure. Support her over Nadine? YEP. But more? Nope, not 'Nessa.

Re Holly: I can't recall the particulars, I'm guessing this is the fallout of her exposing Ross and Blake? The thing about Roger was that even if he had some justified position or concern, he just couldn't help but twist it to his advantage. He was only in the position to fire Holly because he deceitfully became her and Ross' "silent partner". 

@alwaysAMC you're going to have to tell me if people ever find out that Roger visited Vanessa. I kinda doubt it.

Edited August 24Aug 24 by P.J.

2 hours ago, P.J. said:

 

@alwaysAMC you're going to have to tell me if people ever find out that Roger visited Vanessa. I kinda doubt it.

So it was quick and unfortunately didn't have any legs after an episode, but they did find out. Here are my notes from July 1997:

Later, Michael tells Matt/Dinah/Hart that Roger knew about Vanessa being alive, which pisses them all off. They confront Roger about it and he confesses that Vanessa is alive. Roger tells Matt she wants nothing to do with him. Dinah then uses WSPR to air breaking news of her pleading to Vanessa to come home, and that Matt/Dinah are not together and they all love/miss her.

5 hours ago, P.J. said:

Was that the joint interview with Liz Keifer and Wendy Moniz? I recall Liz mentioning in some interview that she didn't like having to say those things as Blake. I think that's also the interview where one of them says how out of touch the writing was surrounding Van's memorial service, with everyone so blase about the fact they thought she'd burned to death in an accident.

It could well have been. Its been so many years I don't recall exactly just that it stuck with me that the writers went there. Speaking of Vanessa and funeral services with poor writing the one that stuck out to me was the reading of Henry Chamberlain's will. The horrid version of J no dot Chamberlain actually groaned out loud saying, "Can we get on with this!" The Vanessa I knew and loved would have tore him a new one for being so disrespectful to her father instead of sitting there silently saying nothing.

2 hours ago, alwaysAMC said:

So it was quick and unfortunately didn't have any legs after an episode, but they did find out. Here are my notes from July 1997:

Later, Michael tells Matt/Dinah/Hart that Roger knew about Vanessa being alive, which pisses them all off. They confront Roger about it and he confesses that Vanessa is alive. Roger tells Matt she wants nothing to do with him. Dinah then uses WSPR to air breaking news of her pleading to Vanessa to come home, and that Matt/Dinah are not together and they all love/miss her.

Oh...I guess I missed that. Damn, the one time I wished Roger's lie was true (Van not wanting anything to do with **** , LOL)

Otherwise, I'm not sure why they were that surprised. Roger swore up and down that he saw Van leaving Springfield after she supposedly died. Only he'd just had shock therapy or something.

thanks for letting me know!

6 minutes ago, Lujack4Ever said:

It could well have been. Its been so many years I don't recall exactly just that it stuck with me that the writers went there. Speaking of Vanessa and funeral services with poor writing the one that stuck out to me was the reading of Henry Chamberlain's will. The horrid version of J no dot Chamberlain actually groaned out loud saying, "Can we get on with this!" The Vanessa I knew and loved would have tore him a new one for being so disrespectful to her father instead of sitting there silently saying nothing.

Well, didn't we know Nola would raise a brat? There are so many times I wanted Van to tear people new pieholes, but she'd become too much of a lady for that. 

I had just remembered that HB's funeral was just after Vanessa returned home and thought he had died thinking she had died. HB's funeral was better. Good grief, I watched some of Phillip's funeral, and they had a 5 minute sad montage of Phillip clips with a melancholy version of Hold on to Love in the background. 

37 minutes ago, P.J. said:

Oh...I guess I missed that. Damn, the one time I wished Roger's lie was true (Van not wanting anything to do with **** , LOL)

I don't think that was a lie, really.  Vanessa thought Matt and Dinah were a couple and wanted to leave town without telling anyone she was alive.  I think Roger believed Matt and Dinah were together as well.

If I recall correctly, Roger was actually talking to Vanessa on the phone when Matt, Hart and Dinah confronted him, and Matt ended up grabbing the phone and hanging up on her.

17 minutes ago, SadPim8696 said:

I don't think that was a lie, really.  Vanessa thought Matt and Dinah were a couple and wanted to leave town without telling anyone she was alive.  I think Roger believed Matt and Dinah were together as well.

If I recall correctly, Roger was actually talking to Vanessa on the phone when Matt, Hart and Dinah confronted him, and Matt ended up grabbing the phone and hanging up on her.

LOL...**** always was an idiot.  *sigh* if only they'd freed her from him, I'd have been so happy.

54 minutes ago, P.J. said:

 

I had just remembered that HB's funeral was just after Vanessa returned home and thought he had died thinking she had died. HB's funeral was better. Good grief, I watched some of Phillip's funeral, and they had a 5 minute sad montage of Phillip clips with a melancholy version of Hold on to Love in the background. 

LOL and he wasn't even dead! As far as fake funerals go when they thought Beth was dead they turned in a pretty decent one as I recall as they even brought back I.Q. and Tanya  We even had Jackson showing up telling Phillip if Beth had gone with him she'd still be alive.

27 minutes ago, SadPim8696 said:

I don't think that was a lie, really.  Vanessa thought Matt and Dinah were a couple and wanted to leave town without telling anyone she was alive.  I think Roger believed Matt and Dinah were together as well.

If I recall correctly, Roger was actually talking to Vanessa on the phone when Matt, Hart and Dinah confronted him, and Matt ended up grabbing the phone and hanging up on her.

I don't think so - the only people that thought Matt and Dinah were a couple was Michael and Vanessa (because of Michael). Roger didn't think that, but he didn't really care either way (and this was very nuRoger and I honestly think his POV got lost because of the recast). That scene did happen, where Roger was on the phone with Vanessa, but Matt hung up the phone because he thought Roger was lying and being "Roger". It was annoying because had Matt just believed him or took the two minutes to say something on the phone, then he would have realized Vanessa was there, but of course storyline needed to continue and we got what we got. 

1 hour ago, P.J. said:

Well, didn't we know Nola would raise a brat? There are so many times I wanted Van to tear people new pieholes, but she'd become too much of a lady for that. 

That version of J was awful, played by Pilgrim. Once the recast came, the personality of J switched and he became a much more mature, kind and caring guy. It's a shame the awful J was during Henry's funeral/memorial. That J was also upset at the time because his father came back with that 20-something girl that broke his parents up. Just a bad decision to put that during Henry's final moment.

19 hours ago, P.J. said:

Oh...I guess I missed that. Damn, the one time I wished Roger's lie was true (Van not wanting anything to do with **** , LOL)

Otherwise, I'm not sure why they were that surprised. Roger swore up and down that he saw Van leaving Springfield after she supposedly died. Only he'd just had shock therapy or something.

thanks for letting me know!

LOL very true - he did mention he saw Vanessa with a bunch of nuns and people thought he was crazy, except Leo. They never really did acknowledge that after the fact, but again, I think the nuRoger recast might have had something to do with that. I really feel like Roger would have been used way more during May-July 1997 had Zaslow been there. 

Edited August 25Aug 25 by alwaysAMC

17 hours ago, alwaysAMC said:

LOL very true - he did mention he saw Vanessa with a bunch of nuns and people thought he was crazy, except Leo. They never really did acknowledge that after the fact, but again, I think the nuRoger recast might have had something to do with that. I really feel like Roger would have been used way more during May-July 1997 had Zaslow was there. 

That scene was so STUPID to me. The writing was horrible!  If Michael was healthy, he wouldn't be able to save that whole stupid storyline. Could you see him pretending to fix the stupid house for her?  Seriously so dumb. 

Like I told you, it was like the show had an agreement where Amanda and Roger were barely in a scene together and yet were engaged to be married. I think it was to save money. 

BTW, what was the obsession with this show and Switzerland?  Couldn't even get enough money to film there once! Has this show ever filmed overseas?

@P.J.  Liz brought that up in one of those Zoom interviews. 

The way Blake was acting, that was the least of her saying something stupid.  What grown woman would see Ross kissing Amanda and not just not walk right in and bust it up?  No, she goes and sleeps with pathetic Rick who she never acted attracted to. 

@Lujack4Ever  Phillip got a huge funeral and Roger got yet another out of the blue son that didn't sound or look anything like him!  Always pissed me off when Blake and Holly acted like he sounded like Roger and he didn't sound anything like him let alone look like him.  Roger had the worst funeral ever.  

BTW, did Hart have a funeral? 

Edited August 25Aug 25 by MLH

2 minutes ago, MLH said:

Has this show ever filmed overseas?

There was a period during the late 70s through the mid-80s when soaps shooting in foreign locations was pretty common.

I think the first soap to do it was when Ryan's Hope went to Ireland in 1977. (Strangely enough, I don't think they ever did another one, though they did a lot of local location shoots in NYC).

You have to remember that during this time period, soaps were the networks' cash cow. Daytime made so much money it literally paid for their nighttime shows. It became extremely common for soaps to do foreign location shoots at least once a year, sometimes twice.

Some of the location shoots for GL during this time were St. Lucia, Santo Domingo, Jamaica, the Virgin Islands, and the Canary Islands. There might have been a shoot in Switzerland. I seem to recall Mike fighting some villain on a ski tram. I'm not quite sure where exactly that was shot, though.

By the late 80s, the trend was ending because soaps' fortunes were beginning to sink. More women were going to work, more people were getting cable TV, younger audiences acquired during the heyday didn't stick around as they aged up.

By the mid-90s, the O.J. trial had dealt a death blow to soaps. Networks slashed budgets and it spiraled from there. Some soaps might have still done a location shoot now and then, but it was too expensive to do it regularly. 

It really was an amazing time when they did them. I think one show even went to Hong Kong. But it all ended due to money problems. 

18 hours ago, alwaysAMC said:

I don't think so - the only people that thought Matt and Dinah were a couple was Michael and Vanessa (because of Michael). Roger didn't think that, but he didn't really care either way (and this was very nuRoger and I honestly think his POV got lost because of the recast). That scene did happen, where Roger was on the phone with Vanessa, but Matt hung up the phone because he thought Roger was lying and being "Roger". It was annoying because had Matt just believed him or took the two minutes to say something on the phone, then he would have realized Vanessa was there, but of course storyline needed to continue and we got what we got. 

Hmm, I'm sure I remember Hart talking about Roger asking him if Matt and Dinah were together, and Hart saying he had just said yes to blow Roger off.  I had also been thinking that Matt accused Roger of threatening Vanessa to stop her from revealing herself, and Roger had retorted it was because she was upset about Matt/Dinah, but now I'm realizing that conversation was between Matt and Michael, not Roger.