News & Gossip from the mid-1980s per The Soaps of Yesterday

[vetsoapfan]

 

I agree: although I had a great many problems with how the show was being run while Long was there originally, it became significantly worse once Ryder was on his own. Bert Bauer's memorial service was a travesty.

 

Simon was similar on SFT: quiet, not much energy, somewhat morose. But I had no one to compare him to there; he was the only Scott I knew, so I could accept him much easier on that show. On TGL, he was following in the footsteps of the warm and wonderful Mart Hulswit, and Simon just did not cut it. He may be a fine actor, but he was miscast in this role. (To be fair, Richard Van Fleet was worse.)

[zanereed]

 

The Bert Bauer Memorial Service was indeed a travesty. You have an original character of the show - someone who had been with it for 32 years in Charita Bauer - pass away, and it took almost 2 years and a heap of viewer mail for the show to finally address it on air. To top it all off, they never even showed the funeral. Ed mentions in passing that Mike was there and sang at it - good grief, that is what the audience wants to actually SEE!  TGL should have rolled out the red carpet and brought back everyone they could for it: Mike, Hope, Meta, Trudy, Clyde (if alive), as well as other friends of Bert's over the years. Where was Peggy Fletcher? Adam Thorpe? Sara McIntyre? Barbara Norris Thorpe? Even if the friends were not possible, the family should have been there. This would have been the perfect opportunity to have the fan favorites make an appearance, or roll the dice and recast the roles and bring the characters back, long term.

[Mitch]

I can undestand them wanting to fit Poser in somehow..she was great..but not as Amanda (and yes, I prefer her A then Cullen's dishwater dull Amanda..but the age thing was hard to get over.) Why not just give Alan a daughter that he had in San Rios as Poser was slightly younger then the AM actor so it would fit in that way. Plus she was one of the few sparring partners who had chemistyr with  Marj..and her Amanda made Marj's Alex less mean as she just rolled her eyes and flipped her hair at her.

 

Regarding Simon...yes, I really do think the Bauer family was stalled with him in the role of Ed. He really had no chemistry with anyone, even MOL he seemed cold and distant from. His deciding to leave in 96 was the perfect time to bring back MH..with Parker gone they needed his warmth...so what if he had gained weight..its not like Ed was a himbo like Tony Santos or Grillo's Hart. A big warm guy is what the Bauer kitchen needed and I would have loved to see if MG and he could pick it back up..and save her from Fletcher Reade stepping over her lines.

 

Someone suggested Roscoe Borne for a recast Alan..(at least during RR's time.) I think he would make a really good, sexy Alan and I wonder if he would have had chemistry with Zimmer? I know Borne had his issues though so don't know how long he would have lasted.

[zanereed]

Pondering it now, I think I would have cast Poser as Alan's love child...with Rita Stapleton. I can't remember if the show hinted at Rita being pregnant when she fled Springfield in 1981, but having Rita be pregnant with Alan's child, and Poser's character finding out later in life that she was a Spaulding and then wanting her share of the pie would have made that character more interesting. Timewise, she still could have fit, as she still would have been younger than A-M (although by months versus years). Poser's character could have found out from Rita because Rita was dying off camera, or finding out from a still-living Rita, and Rita could have been brought back to Springfield later on if needed.

 

I think Hulswit and MOL would have visually looked believable as father and son. I never saw Simon and MOL that way at all.

 

I thought Born would have been an excellent Alan, as well. Born was a decade younger than Bernau, but just grey the temples - it works every time

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[vetsoapfan]

 

It's always interesting to me how different viewers have such vastly opposing feelings on stories, characters and actors. There's nothing wrong with different opinions, of course, but sometimes they make me scratch my head. I thought Cullen's Amanda was absolutely wonderful, and adored her so much, whereas I loathed Poser's version. I must say, this sort of divergence of opinion must make producing soaps difficult for TPTB, who have to balance all the fans' conflicting demands. Personally, I would eagerly wipe Sonny, Jason, Carly, Sam, Franco, and various other degenerates from the canvas of GH, yet...there are fans on the internet who seem devoted to these characters. I just don't get it.  Decades ago, someone said to me that she wished the soaps would stop showing long-time veterans so much, because "these old people are so boring." EGADS!!! (I do think she held a minority opinion.)

 

 

Right. God knows where the idea came from, that the audience wanted everyone newly cast to be a gorgeous hair model. Most  viewers were fiercely loyal to beloved veterans like Chris and Nancy Hughes, Jo Gardner and Stu Bergman, Steve and Audrey Hardy, Tom and Alice Horton, etc., etc., etc., regardless of their physical appearance. I am sure that the audience would have continued to accept Mart Hulswit's Ed because of his warmth, appeal, and the continuity he brought to the show. No one cared if he had a "dad bod." So did most of our fathers and grandfathers, and we loved them anyway.

 

 

Borne, like Reinholt, had his issues, but I think either of them might have fit the role better, and brought some interesting qualities to it, that Pilon or RR did.

 

 

I always love your ideas, but for decades now, I have wanted Rita to have been pregnant when she left town, but with ED'S baby. She might not know for sure who the father is, but in the end, I wanted more blood Bauers to replenish that family, which had been so decimated in the 1980s. I even wanted Hillary's brother, Paul Kinkaid, to be outed as another of Bill Bauer's children. 

 

 

 

I remember thinking that Phil MacGregor, who played Rick before M O'L, could have passed for the son of Simon's Ed and Leslie Bauer, but he was not the most charismatic actor in the world, so I did not mind him being replaced. I ended up becoming impatient with M O'L's mugging, and wished the show had cast a better actor in that should-be-vital role, however.

 

 

I'm ancient enough to remember when the show put little gray "wings" in Aunt Meta's hair, waaaaay  back when, to make her appear older. They could have done the same with RB.

Edited April 6, 2021 by vetsoapfan

[Mitch]

Its not that I was wedded to Toby as Amanda...I just loved her and thought her vampy campy but not OTT take was fun. She played the humor and the pathos well. I do think they needed to bring back Amanda but not boring Cullen (all I can remember is her in an attic and not able to get it on with HotGayBen and the constant talk of her being "frigid." in bed) I would have someone age appropriate, classy, smart who could hint about her bad past (Poser's Amanda would NEVER be locked in an attic or not able to get it on with her hunky husband..but then, she would have figured out Ben was gay..) but that she came out of it. I would have had her replace Alex and her anger would be by being supplanted by her two younger brothers in her fathers' eyes. Then phase Alan and Alex out for the next generation as you can only watch round 280 of Alan vs. Alex.

 

I like the idea zanereed, but she comes to town thinking she is a Spaulding, she is bad, she is greedy, she is sarcastic and fun..but then she finds out she is actually a Bauer!!! I wanted Ed to have a kid with Rita, who Roger found and adopted, or took under his wing to learn the wicked ways of Thorpe.  He lies to the kid and tells him Alan is his father who abandoned him to and raises him to get revenge on the Spauldings.  Rog was playing a long con though and the kid is actually Ed's. I thought of it as a boy but Poser would have been great..trying to fit in and have dinner in the Bauer kitchen smoking and rolling her eyes "No Michelle, I don't care about your love life, and Rick, your impressions really suck!" I could kinda see MOL and Poser as siblings with their curly dark hair.  That time in 95 when  they brought Poser on and Alan is off with Reva in Amishville woudl have been perfect for a fake illegitimate to come back and claim her piece of the puzzle all to find out she too was fooled by Roger. 

 

Agree. And despite his annoying schtick..MOL did come off as a warm nice guy.

 

God, I hated his mugging, and when he did the Bill Murray Caddyshack impression during a dream episode I could tell he thought it was hi-LARIOUS. They needed to reign him in and also, stay away from the drama. Rick should have been a nice, stable guy who had his act together instead of this looser in love.  However, when he was low key he was right on target.

[zanereed]

I love your ideas for Poser, @vetsoapfan and @Mitchespecially this one above. I would have taken it a step further to make it more "soapy", with Poser's character coming to town thinking she is Alan's love child with Rita. Roger becomes suspicious of her claims and decides to have blood work done. To his shock (and delight?), Poser's character isn't a Spaulding, but a Bauer. Not only is she a Bauer, but the bio daughter of Ed! And only Roger knows this. I wonder if Lenore Kasdorf could have ever been persuaded to return at Rita? I think they wanted her to return in 1989 when Zaslow and Garrett came back, but she declined.

[vetsoapfan]

 

 For me, it's precisely BECAUSE the "new" Amanda was so completely different and foreign to the character we had known and loved (well, some of us, LOL) that I rejected her thoroughly. I probably would have warmed up to Poser in a completely new role, but not pod Amanda. I wanted my Amanda back.

 

Grayson McCouch's faux Dusty Donovan, Hunt Block's faux Craig Montgomery, and Roger Howarth's dreadful, faux Paul Ryan revolted me in a similar fashion on ATWT. Once-beloved characters were suddenly bastardized to conform to new actors and new writers' whims. Yuck. No thank you.

 

 

These ideas are great. It would be icing on the cake if LK could have been persuaded to return as Rita, and if MH had been rehired as Ed. The two of them and MG as Holly working with Zaslow would have sent me into Nirvana as a die-hard TGL fan.

 

 

The problem was, while he was tolerable in low-key scenes and as a minor character, M O'L was just not leading man material. As the only Bauer male remaining on the canvas who could be groomed as a lead, it was hard to watch the character be so wasted and generally...pointless.

 

 

I swear to God, so many soap fans and viewers could have written the shows better than the ((ahem)) writers who actually got hired and paid to do so.

Edited April 7, 2021 by vetsoapfan

[Mitch]

I love that idea! She comes back to find Alan who has left to go find Reva...(I would have had it that Alan didn't just happen to be driving thought Goshen and literally run into AmnesiaReva but a private eye firm found someone who may be her and he went to see for himself) and she is left dealing with Alex. While AM was all obsessed with the dullard Lucy she undermines him..Alex demands blood tests, Roger, of course, sees the results and fakes them, and while marrying Dinah for her trust fund ...with a hidden clause that he gets her money if she cheats...begins to ignore her and focus on the new girl in town, who he seduces to actaully get back at Ed...(eventually she would have a Bauer/Thorpe hellspawn as even intelligent sexually active people in SF never heard of birth control.)  I would even recast Rita if they needed to...and maybe LK would come back for a short term or sporadic appearances. Or just have her lie on her death bed and say she was not "sexually active" with Ed but was with Alan so it was his.

[j swift]

In the absence of updates from Soaps of Yesterday, I took to The Soap Opera Saga Tumblr for this week's clips (also I wanted to refocus the thread on gossip, not just GL).

 

Some GH tea that I never knew

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She told Variety before Gloria Monty?  I'm sure that did not go over well backstage.  Meanwhile her co-stars were like, "don't let the door hit you on the way out..."

Given the popular lore about how Monty saved GH and grew the ratings (which is indisputable), it is interesting to note how quickly they fell off

 

Your guess is as good as mine (for context this was from 1984, and it must have been an east coast soap)  Even Datalounge back in the day never had tea this scalding (lol)

 

Finding love was hard for everyone (remember when David Letterman and Howard Stern would ask him why he couldn't find a nice girl to settle down with?)

Even in the early 80s, this journalist worked hard to avoid gender pronouns when discussing Mr. Simmons's love life.  In the article he notes that he made a fortune working for Federico Fellini, but he spent it all on Italian fashion, so I guess that's a lesson he never learned...

 

AW couldn't keep the names of their characters straight

 

Who knew?  In the 1980's every senior citizen elected this one woman to speak for them.  She prioritized Mac & Rachel as a "vital interest" over the financial issues of the time.  While these Boomers were fretting about infidelity in Bay City, the federal government got away with dipping into Social Security to cover the deficit.  Which is why MIllenials won't be able to rely on those funds in order to retire, they'll work later in life, leaving GenZ without the opportunities gain upward mobility in the workforce.  Damn you Mitch Blake...

 

That's it for now

 

 

 

 

Edited April 9, 2021 by j swift

[victoria foxton]

Love all this. Way better than what played on screen.

[AbcNbc247]

It does make sense for them to be annoyed though lol

 

After everything that happened the year before, people had to believe that Rachel actually had real feelings for Mitch and would leave Mac for him? It doesn't seem likely to me either.

Edited April 9, 2021 by AbcNbc247

[will81]

Hey everyone, sorry for the long absence. Easter break vacation and assignments got me busy. I will be updating the blog from tomorrow.

[BoldRestless]

 

Awesome! 

[j swift]

Today's Tumblr posts include a fun story about Joan Crawford actually slapping Ken Kerchieval when she subbed for her daughter Christina on Secret Storm.  

 

Along with this bit of casting news

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Those were different times when soap fans didn't bat an eye that the same year Kristina Wagner was cast as Aztec princess Felicia, we got Finn Carter playing South American Sierra, and five years later Cali Timmons was hired as the daughter of Mac Cory and Maria Hernandez DeSilva.  Obviously, some people living in South America may have pale skin, blond hair, and blue eyes.  However, I would hope today's audience would see it as a missed opportunity to cast a Latinx actor.

 

I read this blurb and thought it would be a fun read

Until I went on Amazon, and found out that I've already bought it (twice)

 

My favorite OLTL BTS story of all time has come full circle in a just a couple of months

Meanwhile, was the name change from Blair to Spiritas ever explained?

 

 

And filed under "fake fan questions"

 

as well as this one

 

I refuse to believe that there are any soap fans unaware of "Soap Opera Rapid Aging Syndrome" (although Connie Passalacqua Hayman didn't name it that until the 90s) and "returns from the dead" as staples of the genre.  These questions are opportunities to comment on the stories, but I doubt their veracity. 

 

If anyone reading this post has ever written a letter, mailed to a soap magazine (pre-email), and it got published then I would be shocked and amazed.  I was going to offer one million dollars, but taxes are due so I wouldn't be able to pay up.  Especially, given the slight chance that someone on these boards who audio taped soaps and collected old magazine actually got a query posted.  However, if anyone has actually bet a relative about a soap question, then mailed the story of their bet to a soap magazine, and waited for a reply, I will eat my left arm.

Edited April 17, 2021 by j swift