44 minutes ago, DRW50 said:

 

I think she was a bit "Oh Nola!" with Marland, a bit silly, and I had a hard time imagining her as a mother of 5-6 kids. I also thought the Tony/Nola relationship was tough to watch. I don't know who improved it, it may have already improved by the time Long came.

 

I think the guy who played Tony quit. I'm not sure about Harley Jane Kozak. Probably not. I think Bea was let go after Long left.

Didn't one of the actresses who played Wanda Webb Wolek on OLTL play Bea Reardon?

4 hours ago, zanereed said:

 

I'm laughing right now picturing 6'3" Jed Allen as Mike Bauer staring down at 5'11" Peter Simon as Ed Bauer!

 

But I have always felt Jed Allan would have been a good Mike. Attractive, affable, strong, a good actor, and popular within the daytime community. He was a weird choice for Edward Quartermaine, but he would have been a good for for Mike Bauer, IMHO.

 

 

4 hours ago, robbwolff said:

Falken Smith was at Guiding Light for a very short time -- perhaps late September to late November 1982. I don't really recall much of her stories aside from the introduction of Mona/Rebecca; the formation of Los Tres Amigos, a company founded by Josh, Ross, and Amanda; and a house that was being moved crashing into the Reardon's boarding house, leading to the introduction of the restaurant Tony & Company.

 

 

She continued the story with Amanda and Mark Evans as well, and added pathos to it. She had Nola experience one of her movie fantasies, this time based on Mata Hari. She had warm, touching scenes between the characters (Bert and Hillary talked about Bill and their interpersonal relationships, Sara and Mike discussed the value of enduring friendships, Vanessa confessed to Henry about her longstanding insecurities in life). It was all so great,  character-driven, and very TGL-y.

 

 

2 hours ago, Nothin'ButAttitude said:

 

 

Really?

 

From what I've seen of Long at GL, the Reardons were the last thing on her mind. I feel like her time at GL focused heavily on the Shaynes, Lewises, and Beth/Phillip/Lujack. 

 

I agree that Tony & Vanessa got story, but Nola got tossed sh-t. Jonathan the wiz kid, Nolarobeics, etc. All those stories were not that great. 

 

 

I do not think Long wrote well for Vanessa or Nola overall. She gave them a few cute scenes now and again but did not seem to know how to handle them in the long run.  The actresses said as much in later interviews. But of course, everyone has his own take on what he sees on screen, and what I dislike other viewers may adore. To each his own.

Lee Lawson was Wanda for a short period.

1 minute ago, slick jones said:

Lee Lawson was Wanda for a short period.

 

Yes, and...ugh. Marilyn Chris was one of a kind and could not be replaced.

She was the only one that could do Wanda justice. Loved MC on OLTL

 

1 hour ago, DRW50 said:

 

When saynotoursoap used to post here he'd say that she actually made the Reardons a believable family and made Bea a believable mother figure. I haven't seen enough to say, but I do think Tony was more tolerable under Long. It often seems to me in the clips of Quint and Nola up to that point (Long) Nola is clustered with two family units (Quint's and the Reardons); Long seemed to sort of focus more on the Reardon side and move Vanessa elsewhere, and shrink the Quint group (although I think some of that group, like Nola's friend, were already gone).

 

I wish I could see more of Smith's writing as I've mostly just heard about it. I know a while after they had random stories like Tony and a ballerina, but I think that was Browne. 

 

Nola's friend Gracie left Springfield to work for Joan Bennett (!!!) as her stylist. 

 

It's a shame you did not see more of PFS's work. I followed her from soap to soap. She was always great...except for her peculiar, stilted material on  RYAN'S HOPE. It just did not work. Everything felt unnatural and forced, and although there were some good scenes, some good moments, during her tenure, most of what she work was not effective for that particular show. Her DAYS was brilliant, however.

57 minutes ago, DRW50 said:

 

I think she was a bit "Oh Nola!" with Marland, a bit silly, and I had a hard time imagining her as a mother of 5-6 kids. I also thought the Tony/Nola relationship was tough to watch. I don't know who improved it, it may have already improved by the time Long came.

 

I think the guy who played Tony quit. I'm not sure about Harley Jane Kozak. Probably not. I think Bea was let go after Long left.

 

I think it was Long that did cause a shift in their relationship. They became a bit warmer I think during her time. Tony, in general, became a bit warmer under Long. He was a damn unbearable brute under Marland. I can't stand many of the scenes of him talking down to Nola. Sometimes, I wish she would've socked his ass. Thank God that Greg Beecroft was f-cking hot & charismatic b/c I would've totally hated Tony if it weren't for those 2 factors. 

 

I didn't know that Beecroft quit GL. That sucks. I always heard from viewers around that time that the Reardons (minus Maureen) were edged out until Chelsea popped up in '87. 

 

10 minutes ago, vetsoapfan said:

I do not think Long wrote well for Vanessa or Nola overall. She gave them a few cute scenes now and again but did not seem to know how to handle them in the long run.  The actresses said as much in later interviews. But of course, everyone has his own take on what he sees on screen, and what I dislike other viewers may adore. To each his own.

 

She did somewhat declaw both women. They didn't have their normal spunk under Long. Vanessa became overshadowed by Reva, the newest minx on the block, and Nola was simply made a housewife. 

 

I know many people loathed Vanessa's pill addiction/post-partum story but I found it endearing. I think the most she did give to Vanessa was b/c he was an extension to Billy, who was an extension of Reva, and all roads lead to Reva at that point. 

In the long run what she did to Vanessa was important as nothing of the Vanessa of her first few years was sustainable. I do think that Vanessa's second run was much much stronger - I don't know if it's because, like Maureen Garrett, Maeve had grown as an actress and was more mature and complex, or if it was just a more solid characterization. What I've seen of Vanessa's first run often seems somewhat formless, or empty, even when they gave her the Dinah story. 

I loved Donna and Ginger.

On December 16, 2016 at 9:24 PM, Nothin'ButAttitude said:

 

I think it was Long that did cause a shift in their relationship. They became a bit warmer I think during her time. Tony, in general, became a bit warmer under Long. He was a damn unbearable brute under Marland. I can't stand many of the scenes of him talking down to Nola. Sometimes, I wish she would've socked his ass. Thank God that Greg Beecroft was f-cking hot & charismatic b/c I would've totally hated Tony if it weren't for those 2 factors. 

 

I didn't know that Beecroft quit GL. That sucks. I always heard from viewers around that time that the Reardons (minus Maureen) were edged out until Chelsea popped up in '87. 

 

 

She did somewhat declaw both women. They didn't have their normal spunk under Long. Vanessa became overshadowed by Reva, the newest minx on the block, and Nola was simply made a housewife. 

 

I know many people loathed Vanessa's pill addiction/post-partum story but I found it endearing. I think the most she did give to Vanessa was b/c he was an extension to Billy, who was an extension of Reva, and all roads lead to Reva at that point. 

Yep. I was just going to say the same thing. Long declawed both Vanessa and Nola. I loved the rivalry between the two of them. Their cat fight over wearing the same dress at Nola and Quinton's engagement party is a classic. But, very quickly, Long neutered Vanessa through her relationship with Billy. Once Reva arrived in the fall of 1983, she indeed overshadowed Nola and Vanessa. By the following year, Vanessa was hooked on tranquilizers and a totally different character in many respects.

On December 16, 2016 at 8:20 PM, DRW50 said:

 

I think she was a bit "Oh Nola!" with Marland, a bit silly, and I had a hard time imagining her as a mother of 5-6 kids. I also thought the Tony/Nola relationship was tough to watch. I don't know who improved it, it may have already improved by the time Long came.

 

I think the guy who played Tony quit. I'm not sure about Harley Jane Kozak. Probably not. I think Bea was let go after Long left.

According to an interview I read with Kozak, she indeed quit Guiding Light. Her two-year contract was up and she decided to leave to try film and primetime TV. She was through with soaps at that point but accepted the role on Santa Barbara to get herself to California.

 

Bea stuck around Springfield through the fall of 1985. I think she left around the time of Lujack's death -- around November or December 1985. So Long was still writing the show at that time. I remember reading about the character's exit in the weekly soap recaps that appeared in my local newspaper. Sheri Anderson and Joe Manetta reintroduced Bea in the fall of 1986 around the time Chelsea was introduced. Long dropped the character in 1987 or 1988.

On 12/16/2016 at 8:08 PM, vetsoapfan said:

 

But I have always felt Jed Allan would have been a good Mike. Attractive, affable, strong, a good actor, and popular within the daytime community. He was a weird choice for Edward Quartermaine, but he would have been a good for for Mike Bauer, IMHO.

 

She continued the story with Amanda and Mark Evans as well, and added pathos to it. She had Nola experience one of her movie fantasies, this time based on Mata Hari. She had warm, touching scenes between the characters (Bert and Hillary talked about Bill and their interpersonal relationships, Sara and Mike discussed the value of enduring friendships, Vanessa confessed to Henry about her longstanding insecurities in life). It was all so great,  character-driven, and very TGL-y.

 

I do not think Long wrote well for Vanessa or Nola overall. She gave them a few cute scenes now and again but did not seem to know how to handle them in the long run.  The actresses said as much in later interviews. But of course, everyone has his own take on what he sees on screen, and what I dislike other viewers may adore. To each his own.

 

I agree - Jed Allan would definitely have been a good Mike Bauer. I still think if Peter Simon hadn't left the show in 1984, Kobe and Long might have sent Mike off the canvas for a bit and had him come back at Christmas in 1984 played by a new actor. There would have been fan outcry, of course, but I could see Jed Allan winning viewers over quickly.

 

I wish I still had some of PFS's episodes to watch. As you stated, she was very good a character interaction, plus the fact that she brought up Bill Bauer in conversation was a plus. I always wondered if PFS had a germ of an idea to bring Bill Bauer back, which then L Virgina Browne used for the Annabelle/Eli Simms storyline (that killed off Bill Bauer for good).

@zanereed I saw this a few days ago and decided to make a clip of it as I thought you might like it (if you've already seen it my apologies...)

 

 

I've been watching a good bit of classic GL from throughout the late 70s through the early 90s, which is something I've never really done that often in the past, and I'm truly enjoying seeing characters I've always read about but never actually saw plus just understanding the show's different eras.

One ep that I've ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS heard about and have seen people discuss in great detail here (with complete transcriptions) is Maureen confronting Ed about his affair with Lillian. What an amazing hour of television, and now I finally see why the firing of Ellen Parker is still seen as one of soap opera's biggest mistakes. The comparisons to Charita Bauer are spot-on - Maureen confronting Ed had a lot of the same fire as Bert confronting Bill's mistress back in 1966. It's insane that JFP thought it would be a good idea to get rid of her.

I've also watched a few from 1977-1979, and dare I say it, I think I might actually prefer GL of this era over ATWT. GL's focus was already shifting to newer characters/families, but GL seemed to go more gradually (yet willingly) into the new direction. ATWT held out until 1980-1981, and it was a complete shock to the system.

12 minutes ago, All My Shadows said:

I've also watched a few from 1977-1979, and dare I say it, I think I might actually prefer GL of this era over ATWT. GL's focus was already shifting to newer characters/families, but GL seemed to go more gradually (yet willingly) into the new direction. ATWT held out until 1980-1981, and it was a complete shock to the system.

 

So much of ATWT from this period is MIA, but what I have seen mostly suggested a lot of aimlessness, although I think it was still decent until the Dobsons came in in 1980.

1 hour ago, zanereed said:

 

I agree - Jed Allan would definitely have been a good Mike Bauer. I still think if Peter Simon hadn't left the show in 1984, Kobe and Long might have sent Mike off the canvas for a bit and had him come back at Christmas in 1984 played by a new actor. There would have been fan outcry, of course, but I could see Jed Allan winning viewers over quickly.

 

I wish I still had some of PFS's episodes to watch. As you stated, she was very good a character interaction, plus the fact that she brought up Bill Bauer in conversation was a plus. I always wondered if PFS had a germ of an idea to bring Bill Bauer back, which then L Virgina Browne used for the Annabelle/Eli Simms storyline (that killed off Bill Bauer for good).

 

I'm really curious as to who wrote the Annabelle storyline. Browne claims that Guiding Light used her bible until late 1983 though she left the show by late March/early April. Annabelle was actually introduced in April 1983, the period where Carolyn DeMoney Culliton and Gary Tomlin were serving as interim head writers. And the story with the mysterious photo kicked off when Pamela Long Hammer and Richard Culliton arrived in May.