30 minutes ago, TheyStartedOnSoaps said:

Fun fact - Gail & Pam wanted to cast Jerry Lanning as Billy Lewis. However it seems the network & P&G felt there were too many ex-Texas actors on the show, and told Gail Kobe & Pam Long to put a halt on hiring anymore former Texas actors

Oh, sweet baby Jesus. Granted, I really haven't seen Jerry Lanning's acting. But it's hard to imagine anyone being Billy other than Jordan, or having that chemistry with Maeve.

I was just thinking that as much as I love Doug Marland, I don't think he would've scripted Billy that way, or even envisioned Jordan in the role.

@P.J. What are your thoughts on the rumored casting of Reva with Carla Borelli? I can't imagine anyone other than Kim Zimmer as Reva. There's also the age and looks difference between the two (in 1983 blonde Kim Zimmer was 28 and brunette Carla Borelli was 41).

40 minutes ago, kalbir said:

Pamela Long created the Coopers with Harley, Frank, Pops, Nadine and Nancy Curlee expanded the family with Stavros and Eleni. JFP watch saw the intros of Buzz and Lucy and the Coopers being elevated to a main family.

I asked this before but which family expansion/elevation did more damage, Lewis or Cooper?

I know peeps are going to point at the Lewises and the decimation of the vets and say them. 

I thought both families were initially integrated well (the Coopers replacing the blue-collar Reardons; the Lewises to give the Spauldings some rivals, which they hadn't really had since the earliest days of Henry and Vanessa).

Buzz and Reva (imo) are the only members of either family who really eat the show. So I guess it's dealer's choice?

27 minutes ago, kalbir said:

@P.J. What are your thoughts on the rumored casting of Reva with Carla Borelli? I can't imagine anyone other than Kim Zimmer as Reva. There's also the age and looks difference between the two (in 1983 blonde Kim Zimmer was 28 and brunette Carla Borelli was 41).

I did check out like half and episode with Carla Borelli, and generally wasn't impressed. It was some strange scenario where her character was preparing to ride a horse, and ended up hitting someone with a riding crop. I guess it was supposed to be zexy, but just came off as weird. 

To me, she came off as too much like Vanessa. I can't see her selling Reva's background as "the help's daughter". Her being that much older than Robert Newman would've put a whole other spin on the Josh/Reva affair. Robert is younger than Kim, iirc, so I can't see Borelli being portrayed as younger than Josh.

Did anyone posting like Borelli in her role? Thoughts?

Edited October 6Oct 6 by P.J.

29 minutes ago, P.J. said:

Oh, sweet baby Jesus. Granted, I really haven't seen Jerry Lanning's acting. But it's hard to imagine anyone being Billy other than Jordan, or having that chemistry with Maeve.

I was just thinking that as much as I love Doug Marland, I don't think he would've scripted Billy that way, or even envisioned Jordan in the role.

I haven't seen Jerry on Texas! but he has always seemed a little cold and manic to me, the opposite of Billy. 

I agree that I can't see Marland making the Billy I loved. Billy was a very layered character and that isn't something I can say about most of Marland's new characters - although I give Jordan a lot of the credit.

If you ever want to see Jerry in a different setting, here's an infomercial he did with a L'Oreal lady.

 

4 minutes ago, DRW50 said:

I haven't seen Jerry on Texas! but he has always seemed a little cold and manic to me, the opposite of Billy. 

I agree that I can't see Marland making the Billy I loved. Billy was a very layered character and that isn't something I can say about most of Marland's new characters - although I give Jordan a lot of the credit.

If you ever want to see Jerry in a different setting, here's an infomercial he did with a L'Oreal lady.

LOL...uhm...he's definitely more conventionally handsome and wears a suit well. If he and Jordan both tested with Maeve, I'd love to hear what she remembered.

Re Marland---like I said, as much as I love him, he didn't write larger than life characters (other than arguably Lucinda, and he didn't create her, IIRC.)  All I can really imagine is his version of the Snyders with his Billy being very Seth-like, the responsible oldest son with Josh as a blend of Caleb/Holden. While that worked for the Snyders, I can't imagine the Lewises without Billy's soul.

Two other Texas actors who joined Guiding Light in 1983 were Elizabeth Allen and Stephen Joyce.

And I’m pretty certain Sheri Anderson had nothing to do with Jack and Lainie Bauer. Pam Long ditched Bea Reardon in the fall of 1987 after the character had returned the year before. Long then introduced Jack and Lainie to run Company.

22 minutes ago, robbwolff said:

Pam Long ditched Bea Reardon in the fall of 1987 after the character had returned the year before. Long then introduced Jack and Lainie to run Company.

I'm pretty certain they were introduced earlier. I seem to remember they (along with Lacey) were at the 1987 Bauer July 4 BBQ when Alan Michael came back to SF by parachuting in.

It says in Wikipedia Long came back July 1987, but it doesn't specify if that was when she started writing again, or if that's when her scripts began airing. 

Edited October 6Oct 6 by DeeVee

Who was Elizabeth Allen? Wasn't the actress who played Jane also on Texas?

6 hours ago, robbwolff said:

Two other Texas actors who joined Guiding Light in 1983 were Elizabeth Allen and Stephen Joyce.

And I’m pretty certain Sheri Anderson had nothing to do with Jack and Lainie Bauer. Pam Long ditched Bea Reardon in the fall of 1987 after the character had returned the year before. Long then introduced Jack and Lainie to run Company.

 

The Journal News White Plains, New York Sat Jan 4 1975

5 hours ago, Paul Raven said:

The Journal News White Plains, New York Sat Jan 4 1975

Thanks for sharing, Paul. That was a really good article and Fran seems to be a bit of a prophet mentioning, in 1975, that Bill Bauer could still be alive. Unless they were already planning that back then. Bringing characters back from the dead was not very common in those days. 

Edited October 6Oct 6 by Reverend Ruthledge

2 hours ago, Reverend Ruthledge said:

Thanks for sharing, Paul. That was a really good article and Fran seems to be a bit of a prophet mentioning, in 1975, that Bill Bauer could still be alive. Unless they were already planning that back then. Bringing characters back from the dead was not very common in those days. 

I guess this wasn't too far after that ill-fated story about Leslie's mother.

Thanks @Paul Raven

On 10/5/2025 at 8:14 PM, P.J. said:

I thought both families were initially integrated well (the Coopers replacing the blue-collar Reardons; the Lewises to give the Spauldings some rivals, which they hadn't really had since the earliest days of Henry and Vanessa).

How both families were introduced is what made them integrate so well into the show, IMO, and why they had staying power while the "new" Bauers flopped. 

In the Lewis case, we already had Josh and Trish on the canvas, they were talked about for a long time, they did an exceptional job of casting the new characters, and they filled needs on the canvas. There hadn't been much happening in the business storylines since the Mark Evans story wrapped, and Mindy was needed to build up the teen faction. 

In the case  of the Coopers, they gave Harley a dramatic entrance, which immediately set up the kind of character she would be. They didn't introduce Nadine until there was a storyline reason to do so (Harley's wedding). When Buzz was introduced, it was also dramatic (catching Nadine taking off her fake pregnant belly). Not to mention, he was long thought to be dead, setting up instant conflict with his kids.

Johnny was on the canvas a while, and like Josh in the beginning, he wasn't much more than the hunk of the moment. But unlike Josh, his family did not get an interesting introduction, nor were they plunged into major storylines right away. They were just THERE, you know what I mean? The casting for his parents was fine, but the girl cast as his sister was a bit of a disaster. 

I contend if Frank had been introduced without a well conceived, well cast family member like Harley following very soon after, the Coopers would likely have never taken hold on the GL canvas. 

So even though Long had no interest in the new Bauers when she took over, I think they were doomed from the start. Viewers wanted the real Bauers, and there had been little done to make people invested in the new ones.

Edited October 7Oct 7 by DeeVee

On 10/5/2025 at 7:57 PM, kalbir said:

@P.J. What are your thoughts on the rumored casting of Reva with Carla Borelli? I can't imagine anyone other than Kim Zimmer as Reva. There's also the age and looks difference between the two (in 1983 blonde Kim Zimmer was 28 and brunette Carla Borelli was 41).

Carla would’ve been great, but we’ll never know. 
 

Too bad she refuses to speak to author Tom Lisanti about her tears on TEXAS and AW. We could find out!

13 hours ago, DeeVee said:

How both families were introduced is what made them integrate so well into the show, IMO, and why they had staying power while the "new" Bauers flopped. 

In the Lewis case, we already had Josh and Trish on the canvas, they were talked about for a long time, they did an exceptional job of casting the new characters, and they filled needs on the canvas. There hadn't been much happening in the business storylines since the Mark Evans story wrapped, and Mindy was needed to build up the teen faction. 

In the case  of the Coopers, they gave Harley a dramatic entrance, which immediately set up the kind of character she would be. They didn't introduce Nadine until there was a storyline reason to do so (Harley's wedding). When Buzz was introduced, it was also dramatic (catching Nadine taking off her fake pregnant belly). Not to mention, he was long thought to be dead, setting up instant conflict with his kids.

Johnny was on the canvas a while, and like Josh in the beginning, he wasn't much more than the hunk of the moment. But unlike Josh, his family did not get an interesting introduction, nor were they plunged into major storylines right away. They were just THERE, you know what I mean? The casting for his parents was fine, but the girl cast as his sister was a bit of a disaster. 

I contend if Frank had been introduced without a well conceived, well cast family member like Harley following very soon after, the Coopers would likely have never taken hold on the GL canvas. 

So even though Long had no interest in the new Bauers when she took over, I think they were doomed from the start. Viewers wanted the real Bauers, and there had been little done to make people invested in the new ones.

It's odd when you think about it. On paper, Trish isn't the strongest character to build a family around. Or the member most would choose first to introduce. Contrast her with Nola, who's the first Reardon we meet. But both came in with purpose. Nola is mixed up in Roger's scheming, and Trish is out to get Andy. Both quickly sketch out family and a family dynamic (Trish married against her family's wishes, Nola is the troublesome baby sister). Josh and Tony are introduced soon after.

Like you said with Johnny, he just plops into town. Other than being the town hunk, he doesn't seem to serve much of a purpose. The Valere murder case is tied to a bunch of newcomers (save Alan...although I don't watch enough of it to remember most of the story). If there's any real mention of his family, it's to assure us Johnny's a Bauer. To my recollection, Johnny was probably on a year before they cast Lacey or his parents. And they just plop into town.

What is something to think about (as long as Frankie D was cast as Todd) is whether adding Frankie D and Beth Ehlers (as a recast Lacey) would've saved Johnny's Bauers. 

Viewers always seem to end up resenting "fake" family history, so I doubt it.