Gloria Monty's Santa Barbara is a wild idea on so many levels, given that show's already turbulent history.

1 hour ago, Vee said:

Gloria Monty's Santa Barbara is a wild idea on so many levels, given that show's already turbulent history.

Truthfully, even though she goes way back with soaps, I can’t imagine her on another show successfully after that first GH tenure. Maybe if Edge of Night had survived? I can’t see her on any of the CBS soaps. Maybe if she and Al Rabin swapped roles between GH and DAYS?

I remember the rumors of Wendy Riche landing at ATWT or Y&R, and I could see her working out very well on ATWT or GL, not Y&R though. Now maybe, since it’s been stripped bare of glamour and is just another show, but not back then.

I remember the Curlee and Alden ABC rumors too, and I don’t think either of them would work at GH either. But it would have been interesting. Now Curlee at OLTL? Stellar. Alden at AMC? I can see it.

1 minute ago, titan1978 said:

I remember the rumors of Wendy Riche landing at ATWT or Y&R, and I could see her working out very well on ATWT or GL, not Y&R though. Now maybe, since it’s been stripped bare of glamour and is just another show, but not back then.

I remember the Curlee and Alden ABC rumors too, and I don’t think either of them would work at GH either. But it would have been interesting. Now Curlee at OLTL? Stellar. Alden at AMC? I can see it.

I don't see why Curlee wouldn't have worked at GH tbh. I am no GL scholar, but what I have seen of her work there seemed very much of a piece with a lot of Labine/Riche to me. It always struck me as a choice that would be staying very much on brand and tone. Guza was a very distinct departure, and a strong one in the first years. For me Curlee is the road not taken, and possibly one that might've been better for the show in the long run (and I say that loving a lot of Guza I stuff, flaws and all).

Alden I never heard of going to GH. I did hear she was approached for AMC, I think. And I think Riche arguably could've saved ATWT or GL.

Edited Monday at 06:35 PM4 days by Vee

7 minutes ago, Vee said:

I don't see why Curlee wouldn't have worked at GH tbh. I am no GL scholar, but what I have seen of her work there seemed very much of a piece with a lot of Labine/Riche to me.

I just don’t see her being able to work with the character of Sonny in a way Riche or ABC would have wanted. The reason Maurice was allowed to dominate is because the audience was there for it, even if I was not. I do see her being able to handle Todd though.

Her Guiding Light was complex but even with Roger and Blake as main characters the anti-hero wasn’t the rooting character. They had to lose a lot, and grow in a way folks like Carly, Jason, Sonny and Luke didn’t. Maybe I’m selling her short.

Edited Monday at 06:47 PM4 days by titan1978

3 minutes ago, titan1978 said:

I just don’t see her being able to work with the character of Sonny in a way Riche or ABC would have wanted. The reason Maurice was allowed to dominate is because the audience was there for it, even if I was not.

I think the Sonny of '94 or '95-'96 is a very different issue to handle vs. the Sonny of '99-onward. But YMMV.

37 minutes ago, Vee said:

I think the Sonny of '94 or '95-'96 is a very different issue to handle vs. the Sonny of '99-onward. But YMMV.

I don’t disagree, but I do think the propping that later becomes malignant starts during the Stone storyline.

1 hour ago, titan1978 said:

Truthfully, even though she goes way back with soaps, I can’t imagine her on another show successfully after that first GH tenure. Maybe if Edge of Night had survived? I can’t see her on any of the CBS soaps. Maybe if she and Al Rabin swapped roles between GH and DAYS?

I think she would have been better off trying her own soap, which I know she wanted at one time.

Santa Barbara probably wouldn't have worked out but the show was in such dire straits by then and she couldn't have been much worse than what they had.

Curlee was very producer-dependent so I'm not sure what would have happened with her at GH.

Speaking of Sonny, this is one of my favourite scenes with Alexis. Going through his history whilst trying to seek custody of Carly's unborn-later-dead-child.

Found on Facebook today, a cast photo taken in December 1980. By my estimation, the only people missing are Renee Anderson (Alexandra) and Jeff Donnell (Stella).

On 12/31/2025 at 5:28 PM, Vee said:

Maule is a Texan IIRC, and has a real eccentric streak beneath the surface

Brad Maule started a podcast about interesting characters from where he lives in Texas. Debuted last week of November 2025.
https://www.youtube.com/@MadeinNacogdoches/videos

The Decline and Fall of the Monty Empire

Week Two (Jan. 6-10, 1986)

Dimitri Cassadine: "Praise the saints! This is a miracle."

Sean: "No, no, it's just business."

Laurelton -- I should probably divide this section into two parts. We've got the search for Bobbie in Laurelton itself and back in Port Charles, there's Terry taking truth serum. The former should keep my attention, but it's mostly scene after scene of Laureltonians being evasive with Anna, Buzz, or Jake. I wonder if there was any interest in a genuine fakeout over whether Bobbie was buried alive, like the PCers initially think -- these episodes aired two months before Lauren's burial on Y&R and seven-and-a-half years before Carly on DOOL. Bobbie and Jake's reunion at the cemetery is nice, if not as memorable as you'd expect.

Meanwhile, the one-two punch of learning about Bobbie's disappearance and Jennifer being away (to further the cover-up in Laurelton) causes Terry to have a panic attack. She cries, avoids questions, and bares her teeth like it's going out of style! We also learn that Terry's nightmares include running down a street, apparently in Laurelton. After learning about her having sleepwalked with a knife before Neil Johnson's murder, Terry agrees to be dosed, and we learn what happened on Feb. 15, 1983: Jennifer banished Terry from Laurelton after an incident where Terry stopped being a good girl. Grandmother and granddaughter insist they're on good terms again and the mystery's been solved. Uh, no, it's not. We still don't know who killed Neil, or what happened to Earl Moody. Anyway, Terry is bold enough to say she and Kevin will get married in Laurelton. Patrick's uncomfortable with this. Hmm ...

Sean and Monica's Affair -- I didn't expect to be so taken with the idea of Monica wanting a date night. Monica brings it up on Monday while telling Alan that she wants to rebuild their relationship step by step from the beginning. On Thursday, Monica is especially excited about setting a date for Rio with Sean after they've completed their revenge on Edward, Alan, Celia, and Jimmy Lee. Between those and Leslie Charleson's voice crack on the line about "Sean Donnelly merging with the Cassadines," Monica is giving Robin a run for her money in the adorability department. I also got a small kick out of Celia & Jimmy Lee's excitement over breaking into Sean's office (which was set up for them by Sean & Monica). That's one way to keep the magic going in a marriage.

Mike's Paternity -- This storyline's not quite an afterthought for the week, but it comes close. I appreciate that at this point, Derek's not moustache-twirling over how to achieve dominance over Rick & Ginny. It's Mike who's the closest thing to a villain right now, with his lying to Derek and Lorena about not having to go to school, having the obligatory "I hate you all!" outburst with his parental figures, and being pushy while filming in Bryan & Claudia's kitchen. This comes late in the Wednesday episode, which makes it feeled shoed-in, like someone on staff realized they needed to fulfill somebody's episode commitments. On Friday, we also get some filler about Buzz and Rick convincing Lorena to give makeovers to terminally ill patients. I guess it's there to give some shading for Lorena, to make it clear that she's not outright evil, either.

Frisco & Felicia -- They're in sitcom mode this week, with Felicia insisting she's not jealous of Sam. The two ladies nearly have a catfight outside Burt's hospital room, which is another strike against Frisco in Sgt. Lewis' book. The week ends with Felicia preparing to see a very ill Maria in Texas, and fearing what will happen between Frisco & Sam while she's away.

Other thoughts:

-- C'mon, GH writers, independent women weren't that new and unique as late as 1986. Somebody keeps wanting to make a sociological point:

Mayor Ken Morgan on Anna: "That woman's arrogance is unbelievable. I tell you this. It is women like her that set back the women's movement a hundred years."

Medford cabdriver on Bobbie: "I'm here to tell you, she is one independent lady. ... I knew I should have let her get out of the cab, but women are so damn independent these days."

-- I spent nearly nine years as a reporter in southwest North Dakota. My introduction to one community ended up happening while I was covering a scandal. Let's put it this way: at least a dozen people (including eight members of a nine-person board) were out of work or office within a year. I'll never forget a time when I was in that community for something not directly related to the scandal, and was recognized at a gas station. "What are you doing here?" I didn't fear for my safety. My attention was caught by the blend of apprehension, fear, and hostility in that townie's voice. That's what's missing so far from the Laurelton storyline.

-- Today I learned Bert gets at least one death threat a week. Who knew?

-- Robin makes a bid to keep the adorable crown when she encourages Sean, Buzz, and Frisco to play with pediatric patients.

-- Today in Jack Wagner being wacky: Frisco wearing his police cap backwards when visiting Sean & Felicia.

-- Chris Robinson and Don Galloway aren't homely, but Rick and Buzz are "hunks" to Lorena? Hunks?!

41 minutes ago, Franko said:

Mayor Ken Morgan on Anna: "That woman's arrogance is unbelievable. I tell you this. It is women like her that set back the women's movement a hundred years."

I wonder if this was at all deliberate to build up to what happens later in the year with Burt Ramsey?

Laurelton was such a mess. It has promise. Both when I was a kid and rewatching Terry is entertaining but not really suited to the position of the story hinging on her so much. She was a perfectly acceptable B/C player soaps used to have in stories that played on a Tuesday and Thursday. More tolerable than Amy but not as valuable as Felicia at the time.

Laurelton was one of the handful of times Bobbie was in the more action oriented stories too.

If you watched GH from the early 1990’s on, you see a very different Monica and Alan. Edward too actually. David Lewis was wiley and bitchy and always scheming. Ingle played him more like old money that wasn’t above using his influence to get what he wanted, even if it was underhanded.

Monica and Alan had so many affairs and fights that viewers that met them later would have no idea how much subtext often existed in their scenes because they had so many layers to play almost all the time. They were passionately and toxically in love with each other, hated each other, having affairs with other people they also sometimes had feelings for, both respected doctors, and loyal to the Quartermaine family when it came to outsiders while also plotting within or against the family at several turns. A lot of the time there was humor involved, but it was a fine line to walk and Stuart and Leslie do not get enough credit for what they did all the time. They should never have been reduced to just worrying about their kids.

Edited 10 hours ago10 hr by titan1978