47 minutes ago, P.J. said:

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).

That story sucked so bad. It was built around Christine Valere, who was connected to nobody. The whole idea that Alan would smuggle art was SO preposterous.

It was so unbelievable they wrote a scene where India asked Alan why he was doing it. He said for the excitement. Which was a total misunderstanding of his character. Alan's MO was trying NOT to live on the edge, to keep all his lies and secrets under control so he wouldn't get into trouble. 

If he had wanted to BUY stolen great works of art for his private collection, that would have been believable. That kind selfishness seems appropriate for Alan. But running a smuggling ring for money? PUH-LEEZ.

Johnny being the center of all that was a huge yawn. The character just wasn't interesting enough.

You could say the same about Josh in the beginning, but once his family and Reva arrived and they mined the conflicts that had been alluded to, his character started to become more interesting and layered.

That never happened with Johnny, even though they tried giving him some big storylines after they ditched his other family members. 

47 minutes ago, P.J. said:

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

There were a couple of times where they tried that, and it was always a dud. Like the time Johnny gave Michelle a pillow Bert had crocheted for him when he was a baby. It was so forced, Ed and Mo were practically rolling their eyes. 😂

It's interesting that ATWT succeeded where GL failed, with Jack Snyder. I think it might be down to Michael Park feeling like a more natural part of ATWT, whereas James Goodwin seems grafted on (the best I can say about him is he provided much more eye candy than I ever knew in those earlier years - most of what I'd seen later on had him in billowy shirts). I suppose it also helps that the Snyders were in a different place - the two most popular Snyders were likely Emma and Holden, and they were still on the canvas. 

Edited October 8Oct 8 by DRW50

8 hours ago, DRW50 said:

whereas James Goodwin seems grafted on (the best I can say about him is he provided much more eye candy than I ever knew in those earlier years

I have nothing against Goodwin. He turned into a pretty decent actor as he aged.

But, yeah, they mostly just used him as eye candy (which is not a terrible thing; they just never did much to make him more than that).

Also, in the ATWT case, the Snyders hadn't been around as long as the Bauers. Nor did ATWT do a deliberate clean-out of the characters/actors that upset the audience. So they were probably more accepting of off-shoot family members.

Also IIRC, cousin Jack basically filled the slot of Caleb Snyder who was also a cop.  Kinda how cop nephew Adam Cory replaced cop nephew Neal Cory on AW.

Now @DRW50  you know I tried hard not to bring Jack up, even though he's the only example I can think of that worked. There must be others. 

The "newness" of the Snyders might have been a factor. When they tried making that Lord whoever a Stewart in the 80s (the one who married Marcy) that didn't really fly either. 

Jack and Lainie were seen at the Bauer BBQ in July 1988, but did not show up in the clips I've seen online from the July 1987 BBQ when Alan-Michael returned. My recollection is that they first showed up in early 1988 around the time Johnny was battling cancer.

Elizabeth Allen had played Reena's mother Victoria Bellman on Texas. She played the role of Dr. Gwen Harding on Guiding Light. Gwen was Annabelle's therapist and was killed by Eli. Mary Pat Gleason also came over from Texas. She played Jane Hogan on Guiding Light and had played the Marshalls' housekeeper Doris Hodges on Texas.

I've said this before, but I wonder who Hannah Bauer was slated to be in 1987. Mary Stuart stated in an interview that she was offered the role of Hannah shortly after Search for Tomorrow was axed. I wonder if Hannah was originally supposed to be Johnny, Lacey, and Todd's mother.

@P.J.  McKinnon cousin Jake on AW, who outlasted the main family.  

Edited October 8Oct 8 by Spoon

On 10/5/2025 at 12:58 PM, TheyStartedOnSoaps said:

I just read the transcript and the ONLY time Justin Deas is mentioned is when Tina Sloan talks about how great it was to work with him. NEVER did Ellen Parker ever mention Justin Deas in that interview

Transcripts are werent  good then...I saw it and I remember her saying it, but a lot of people were talking at the time..

Edited October 8Oct 8 by Mitch64

4 hours ago, robbwolff said:

I've said this before, but I wonder who Hannah Bauer was slated to be in 1987. Mary Stuart stated in an interview that she was offered the role of Hannah shortly after Search for Tomorrow was axed. I wonder if Hannah was originally supposed to be Johnny, Lacey, and Todd's mother.

Mary as Lacey's mother would have been a stretch...

I do wonder what they would have done with Mary at that time but she was probably better off waiting to play Meta.         

On 10/5/2025 at 11:17 PM, robbwolff said:

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 Compan

Yea, that section of the Bauers came on after Long was there a while, when Johnny had cancer. If Long was going to ditch Bea ( I have no idea why she had it in for her) I could kinda see them bringing an extenion of the Bauers on that hadnt made it to the upper middle class...kind of going back to the orgins of the family. I liked the actors (I wish Lainie had been cast as Meta) and taking over Company/Boardinhouse ( I could see Meta taking over from Bea...especially since she had no children left, she could been the mother hen of all the young new characters who invariably lived at the BH first)  made sense with connection to Maureen..they just werent written for at all..and Johnny was the only son brought on, and he was kinda dull and squeeky clean. Now an actual "Todd Bauer" someone who resented his cousins wealth and prestige would have been interesting, obviously Frankie couldnt play that type of character, and a Lacey who was the same (again, another actress) with other siblings, etc...COULD have worked. Its just odd that Long created them put them on contract, and they just sat around with Hawk and Sarah. 

Edited October 8Oct 8 by Mitch64

2 hours ago, Spoon said:

@P.J.  McKinnon cousin Jake on AW, who outlasted the main family.  

I know there had to be someone somebody could think of!

Y'all - I'm doing my annual New England autumn trip and I'm seeing all these lighthouses which reminds me of GL!  I know GL was set on the Great Lakes and not the East Coast, but a lighthouse is a lighthouse  I'm still watching GL here and there when I have a minute, and I want to drop kick this Reva clone off the top of a lighthouse. I'm over it haha.

Latest reason to hate on ****. 

I torture myself skimming through '09 for Vanessa/Billy scenes. Twice now, I've caught pathetic rumblings from $$$$. First scene---Josh is venting to $$$$ about how he still has feels for Reva, but can't hate Jeff because "he's a good guy." $$$$ has the unmitigated gall to say that he understands--that every time he sees Billy with Vanessa he wants to slap (or punch) Billy in the face.

Second scene---&&&& and Rick are off in the corner at Bill Lizzie's engagement party. Rick whines about something (probably not having a woman, because this seems to be a theme at this point in any scene with Josh, Frank, Rick or $$$$) and #### goes "I know---Billy's over there with MY wife." 

It's so pathetic, I want to laugh (and there's an entire on the downlow vibe about these men whining, because they all start lusting after Liv who they don't know is a lesbian). But I really would just want to punch #### in the throat. 

At least I can be happy---Vanessa never has to act like she misses ####. 

7 hours ago, robbwolff said:

Jack and Lainie were seen at the Bauer BBQ in July 1988, but did not show up in the clips I've seen online from the July 1987 BBQ when Alan-Michael returned. My recollection is that they first showed up in early 1988 around the time Johnny was battling cancer.

Turns out, you are correct. I checked those episodes and only Lacey is there. I think that was why I assumed their parents were there, too.

Good Lord, the actress who played Lacey was worse than I remembered. She would STARE at people in the scenes with her. It's SO weird.

I realize she was very young and inexperienced, but casting for GL in general was mostly good. Someone made a big boo-boo signing off on that casting decision. 

The character also said something strange, that she left home when she was twelve. Who leaves home when they're twelve? Everything about her was weird.

3 hours ago, Mitch64 said:

(I wish Lainie had been cast as Meta)

That was Teri Keane, who played Martha Marceau on Edge of Night for many years. Clearly, they meant for her to be the Bert replacement. Casting her as Meta would have been a better idea.

Robert Newman and Kim Zimmer on Donahue (and also former/future GL stars Robin Mattson and Vincent Irizarry).

 

Edited October 9Oct 9 by DRW50