Do you mean by "Texas invasion" that there were a bunch of actors that came over from the show Texas? Or are you talking about all the characters on GL that came from Oklahoma? 

Edited October 5Oct 5 by Reverend Ruthledge

Gail Kobe and Pamela Long brought several former Texas actors and actresses to GL: Jay Hammer, Harley Kozak, Jerry Lanning, Lisby Larson, James Rebhorn, Michael Woods. If I'm missing any please add.

It was also rumored that Pamela Long wanted Carla Borelli for Reva.

13 minutes ago, TheyStartedOnSoaps said:

I don't think Ellen Parker was fired to pay for him. Remember around the same time Beverlee McKinsey quit, so they already had the money to pay for Justin Deas

I'm not sure I agree that she was fired to pay for him either, but in some way, I think Buzz's personality was formed in response to the focus group mentality. They didn't have to make Buzz an obnoxious con man who ran out on his kids because he couldn't stand his blue collar existence and his responsibilities. And they later softened that by giving him Lucy, who thought he was a great dad.

8 minutes ago, Reverend Ruthledge said:

Do you mean by "Texas invasion" that there were a bunch of actors that came over from the show Texas? Or are you talking about all the characters on GL that came from Oklahoma? 

I definitely mean the actors from Texas. Because truly, other than Bev McKinsey and James Reborn who I didn't realize or had forgotten, (and arguably Harley Kozak) they are washouts, IMO. 

OMG...why didn't someone tell me Jerry Lanning (who I had to look up, who played the creepy Cain what'shisname) was also Randy Twizzle from the episode of the Dick Van Dyke show?

Anyhow, while it's unfair to paint anyone who'd been on Texas! with a broad brush--given that I can't really stand Jay Hammer, Lisby Larson and Michael Woods (and this goes for his role on ATWT later too as Alec Wallace) or really Alexandra McNeil---I think they as a group were worse.

Technically (and I'll understand the objections), the Lewises were pre-Long. Josh and Trish were created by Doug Marland. HB and Billy were both mentioned before Diane Ballard's murder in '81. Even though that's pretty much forgotten.

23 minutes ago, kalbir said:

Gail Kobe and Pamela Long brought several former Texas actors and actresses to GL: Jay Hammer, Harley Kozak, Jerry Lanning, Lisby Larson, James Rebhorn, Michael Woods. If I'm missing any please add.

It was also rumored that Pamela Long wanted Carla Borelli for Reva.

I'm not sure who had significant roles or who simply appeared on the show. Bev McKinsey, of course. But IIRC, Ben Hendrickson (Silas Crocker) did as well.

In 1981 Douglas Marland introduced the Lewis family from Oklahoma that owned an oil company. To me that was influenced by Dallas. Lewis Oil was still around in the 1990s and it was so outdated by then. 1990s Lewis Oil should have diversified into Lewis Energy or Lewis Industries or something like that.

3 minutes ago, P.J. said:

I'm not sure who had significant roles or who simply appeared on the show. Bev McKinsey, of course. But IIRC, Ben Hendrickson (Silas Crocker) did as well.

Of course, Beverlee McKinsey as well. I forgot her mainly because I associate her with Another World.

1 hour ago, alwaysAMC said:

Ohh is the Texas invasion the introduction of Reva/Billy/Josh/etc or something more?

Josh and Trish Lewis had been on the show since 1981. HB and Billy and Lewis Oil were talked about quite a bit at Spaulding, as early as 1981. HB and Billy were introduced on screen in 1983.

Reva and Mindy were not mentioned until they were introduced in 1983. 

Probably one of the reasons the establishment of the Lewises was so successful is because they didn't drop out of nowhere. A lot of the tension between Josh and his father, for instance, was eluded to long before HB hit town.

52 minutes ago, Soaplovers said:

The show was a strong and solid # 2 in the summer of 1984 and the quality of the show was super strong until 1985.

The show was strong because they wrote some strong storylines (and some not so strong) to sweep out a lot of characters. 1985 is about the time they finished decimating the OG Bauers (I also consider Johnny a fake Bauer) and the Reardons. Charita passed away, and Bernau and Newman left (willingly, I assume). That left a lot of holes that were hard to patch over.

I agree it did not hurt the show in the short-term, but over the long-term is was disastrous. I don't think it's an coincidence that the show didn't really start to recover until MZ and MG came back as Roger and Holly, because at least they were a tether to the show's strong past.

Edited October 5Oct 5 by DeeVee

58 minutes ago, kalbir said:

Gail Kobe and Pamela Long brought several former Texas actors and actresses to GL: Jay Hammer, Harley Kozak, Jerry Lanning, Lisby Larson, James Rebhorn, Michael Woods. If I'm missing any please add.

Alexandra Neil (Rose) was also a former Texas cast member. 

He never ended up being cast, but Beverlee McKinsey wanted Daniel Davis, who played Elliot Carrington on Texas, to replace Bernau as Alan.

Yeah, the guy who played the butler on The Nanny. I thought that was crazy, too, at first. I watched some episodes of Texas and I could kind of see it. He played Elliot as a very urbane type, it could have worked. 

(Let's put it this way: he wouldn't have been a worse Alan than Raines).

Edited October 5Oct 5 by DeeVee

1 hour ago, TheyStartedOnSoaps said:

I don't think Ellen Parker was fired to pay for him. Remember around the same time Beverlee McKinsey quit, so they already had the money to pay for Justin Deas

Ellen Parker even said she was fired to pay for Justin Deas. 

10 minutes ago, chrisml said:

Ellen Parker even said she was fired to pay for Justin Deas. 

When did she say this?

27 minutes ago, DeeVee said:

Alexandra Neil (Rose) was also a former Texas cast member. 

He never end up being cast, but Beverlee McKinsey wanted Daniel Davis, who played Elliot Carrington on Texas, to replace Bernau as Alan.

Yeah, the guy who played the butler on The Nanny. I thought that was crazy, too, at first. I watched some episodes of Texas and I could kind of see it. He played Elliot as a very urbane type, it could have worked. 

(Let's put it this way: he wouldn't have been a worse Alan than Raines).

I've seen Daniel Davis in other roles. I'm not sure he's exactly Alan---but it's not a terrible idea. I mean, wouldn't you trust Bev's instincts? 

3 minutes ago, P.J. said:

I've seen Daniel Davis in other roles. I'm not sure he's exactly Alan---but it's not a terrible idea. I mean, wouldn't you trust Bev's instincts?

Many actors talk about how she could be very helpful to other actors. She would have helped him find the character, I'm sure. She knew him, she was comfortable with him. I definitely think it would have worked. (Though Davis probably is not sorry he wasn't cast. He certainly made a lot more money doing The Nanny).

If I was picking an actor from Texas to play Alan, I would have gone with Donald May, even though he was a tad too old for the part. I gather he was done with soaps after Texas, though.

Ahhh I didn't even think about the old soap Texas - that makes sense, thanks y'all!

21 hours ago, DRW50 said:

I generally feel the same about Buzz. I found him unbearable in his first 2-3 years on the show. After that he tones down.

The GL director told him to calm it down...Deas says he got pissed and just started sleepwalking through the scenes...which was fine by me!