The ballad of Diane Ballard

I always loved her character!

I feel like two actresses from that time period have morphed into Donna Love. Sofia Landon with very big hair during one of her two stints as Donna. She would have been fabulous over Philece Sampler, but nobody can do Donna like Anna Stuart!

I totally forgot about that character. She was fantastic

Back in the good ol' days where you could expect a character like this to stir shit up for a while and then get their just desserts.

"Guiding Light" had a lot of very good actors on at the time. I was a teen, but not so much into Kelly & Morgan (him yes, her eew.....). Around the same time that Diane was killed off, they wrote out Barbara, Adam, Andy & right after Diane, Joe. I believe that Adam simply faded into the woodwork even though still being married to Sara who remained on for another year (in a minor capacity, supporting Carrie Todd's story). But Geraldine Court was phenomenal as Jennifer Richards, almost topping her performance as Anne Larimer on "The Doctors".

I was REAL into Kelly Nelson!

Was Diane Ballard a resident of Bay City or Springfield?

She was Alan Spaulding's secretary on Guiding Light.

Thanks, r8. That was before my time (1988 or '89).

R7 Actress Sofia Landon crossed through Bay City twice, first as Jennifer Thatcher, who thought that her son Kevin was actually hers by birth. Her husband David (Lewis Arlt) impregnated both her and Sally Frame at the same time and when Jennifer's baby died, switched it with Sally's. This all took place during a time when Sally was out of town. Jennifer and David moved to Bay City in mid 1983, Jennifer befriended Donna Love who had found out about what happened and arranged for Jennifer to meet Sally, then cruely told Sally that Jennifer's son, Kevin (who was with her in the Love mansion) was actually hers. Jennifer found out about David's affair and the baby switch and sped off with David, hiding out at a relative's. They killed her off in a quick, unexpected car accident. I had hoped that Jennifer would be a long-term character. Years later, when Sofia was writing for "AW", they needed a sub for Anna Stuart who had to take off a month for medical issues. Realizing that they highly resembled each other, the casting directors convinced Sofia to step in, and she was very good. She returned once again two years later, and it was not jolting at all, especially considering the Philece Sampler fiasco.

I started watching in '83 (I think?) when Quentin McCord (?) and Nola were a thing. I really missed out...

"Back in the good ol' days where you could expect a character like this to stir shit up for a while and then get their just desserts."

Yes, R4, redemption can be a good thing on a soap, but somewhere in the Nineties they started taking it too far. Pretty soon you had at least one rapist running around every soap town planning romantic dinners with the heroine or gushing about the life-changing birth of his first child.

But maybe I should have said "somewhere in the Eighties" because when I think about it, it was really Josh Snyder/Rod Landry on ATWT that got the ball rolling. No one loves Marland more than I do, but that redemption was disturbing and wrong.

[quote] it was really Josh Snyder/Rod Landry on ATWT that got the ball rolling

Um, hello? (from The Netherlands)

You are of course correct as far as ALL soaps, R13, but I referred to the first redeemed rapist on a P&G soap because this is a P&G thread. (Now here's the part where we argue about whether and when John Dixon and Roger Thorpe were redeemed.)

With John Dixon, I can almost see a redemption, because it was marital rape, and you could perhaps say it was a misunderstanding between two married people (not at all to minimize the violence and ugliness behind that).

But the thing about Roger was that 1989 GL forgot that Roger hadn't just raped Holly. He also raped Rita and Peggy. They swept that under the rug, unfortunately. (And that was probably a big reason why Rita was never brought back to the canvas.) I loved Roger and Holly (and Zaslow and Garrett) but that story was more disturbing for what they omitted.

Darlings, we're not behind The Wall already, are we?

Oh, ORD. It's that darned Lucinda Walsh. She started a thread entitled "Celebrating the holidays in Bay City, Oakdale and Springfield" later the same day that you started this one. We are not behind the paywall—I would not be posting if we were—but five will get you ten not as many of us are as familiar with Diane Ballard as we are with that old Lucy.

Thanks, Lisa. Had no idea.

That damn ole Lucy!

Since the other thread is paywalled, I thought I'd see about rebooting this one.

Oh, that's an idea.

It would help if a paying member linked this thread on the celebrating the holidays thread.

Diane had a big ol’ schnozz.

^ Ugh...did I unmute spicen?

I ain’t Spicen, just layin’ out the facts.

Her big schnozz always distracted me. Good actress, though.

Dumb dylan is stupider than rocks. lolololol what a dummy

R23 Let's just continue to shun That Thing, shall we?

From the end of the last thread.....we were talking about Tangie Hill.

Whatever for? Not sure! But we were.

I was so bored by both GL and ATWT that year. GL was so bland and ATWT was stumbling after Marland died.

Casting big stars so closely identified with their roles on other networks’ shows was a big mistake. I never saw Paul Stenbeck, I only saw Todd Manning from OLTL.

[quote] I never saw Paul Stenbeck, I only saw Todd Manning from OLTL.

Podd

Vee facilitated Howarth’s jump from ABC to P&G. He’s in the biz, you know.

1993 was the beginning of the end for P&G soaps. That's when Ed Trach retired as the P&G executive who oeversaw their soaps.

Kenneth Fitts initially replaced him as head of production, but he did a poor job. Then in 1996, Mary Alice Dwyer-Dobbin was hired and she did an equally poor job.

Also in that same 1993ish time frame -- Marland died, AW changed HWs (after several stable years of Donna Swajeski writing from Harding Lemay's Bible), JFP killed off Maureen Bauer and brought in Justin Deas to eat the show.

So true, Liz.

And that had an immediate impact - all the things you mentioned, plus GL was shoved into morning timeslots in several markets in the country, the first of several cuts that would eventually kill it.

ORD - fuck off! You annoy the fuck out of us.

PG soaps started to die when they stopped wanting to be PG soaps. PG soaps were always in their own little bubbles. They were the last soaps to abandon organ music and always were a little old fashioned and less glitzy than the other shows, which was part of the charm. Then some executive in Cincinnati saw an episode of GH and did a bunch of changes that wrecked those poor shows. "Remove the "the!" "Give our guys perms!" "Shorten those scenes!"

R34 Yup.

[quote]PG soaps were always in their own little bubbles.

That McKinsey interview is so fascinating to me.

And a bit sad. She was clearly hoping for a career reboot - not without good reason, as she'd had lead billing in a show and was featured in Bronco Billy.

Then her husband became ill, and she had to give that up and get back to work. That's heavy stuff.

[quote]And that had an immediate impact - all the things you mentioned, plus GL was shoved into morning timeslots in several markets in the country, the first of several cuts that would eventually kill it.

And New York City was one of them, IIRC. That had to hurt especially since that was where they actually taped it.

Wie auch immer....

My heart bleeds for McKunty. She had to work 3-4 days a week and only get 8 weeks of vacation a year. Wah wah wah. She was an entitled bitch. Karma sure as fuck got her! To top it off, between AW,/Texas and GL, she worked about 15 years with that entitled schedule. Think about the actusl hard working people who work an actual 5 day work week with 2 weeks off a year for 40 plus years. It doesn’t compare to the whiny bitch.

As if you have a heart, nutbag.

ANYWAY, the grownups are speaking.

Sofia Landon looks like both Anna Stuart and Victoria Wyndham. She could have played Pammy Davis or a long lost Love daughter.

Pam Davis would have been a great character for the show to revisit.

It's one thing for Rachel to act all high and mighty around the Frames, but it would be quite another if her own sister - loud, brassy, gum chewing tart - was under her nose constantly.

Sort of Hyancith vs Rose, if you will - lady of the manor who's forgotten her beginnings and her slutty younger sister.

Justine should have been Pammy, but known as Pamela. She should have been Spencer Harrison's wife and Carl's obsession... all of this should have been unknown to Rachel. Miss opportunity, but I get that most writers don't like to delve too deeply into the past.

There's also supposedly some monetary thing if a writer uses a character created by someone else.

I've heard conflicting bits about whether this is true or not. But that would explain the reasoning sometimes behind using or not using a character.

Philece Sampler would have been a good Pamela.

I love it!!! Deflect when you idolize the dead bitch. Facts are facts and you can’t handle them so you deflect. The entitled cunt was never over worked. Ever. After leaving Texas because she was over worked, she knew god damned well what she was getting into at GL. Compkain complain complain. The bitch was never happy. There is a pattern there with her compkaining about working too hard but any commoner would jump at the chance to have her work history. Fucking cunt.

And then using the system to get health insurance. She’s a piece of work.

Philece is in the same category as John Bolger re: Philip at GL.

I liked Philece, she's talented, but she was just not Donna.

I would have loved what John was doing on GL, he had chemistry to burn with MKA, and in some ways he captured the sort of arrogant richie-rich vibes that the Spauldings have very well. But Grant had made Phillip his. John should have been cast as some Spaulding cousin. Or Alan's lover. LOL

Philece was great as Renee on Days, as Donna it just didn't work. Does anyone know any behind the scenes info about why Anna Stuart left the show? It's probably been discussed and I missed it.

R51 According to her We Love Soaps interview with Damon Jacobs, she left for the reasons so many NYC based actors did: to try to land TV or film work in California.

Damon's interviews were always really good. There are multiple parts to this one, and most of the others.

[post]I would have loved what John was doing on GL, he had chemistry to burn with MKA, and in some ways he captured the sort of arrogant richie-rich vibes that the Spauldings have very well. But Grant had made Phillip his. John should have been cast as some Spaulding cousin. Or Alan's lover. LOL

I would have loved to see John Bolger as a recast Dr. Rick Bauer. Rick Bauer should have been a stud, not a doughy wimp like Michael O'Leary.

Rick was just such a meh, limp character.

He was the grandson of Bill Bauer and son of Ed, and should have been more than he was. But he ended up just being Phillip's shadow. I can't think of a single thing about Rick, beyond him chasing Mindy, that really stuck out over the years.

I loved Michael O'Leary as Rick, though it is true to say that Rick was usually in Philip's shadow. I know others hated this pairing, but I absolutely loved Rick and Abby and desperately wanted Abby to step into the matriarch role. But the actress had other ideas.

My”sources” tell me that McKunty averaged 100 episodes a year on GL. Overworked, my ass. Imagine having to work 100 days a year!!! Blasphemy! Oh for us mortals to be over worked for 100 days a year.

Diane Ballard? Which Supreme was she? The bitch who sang lead and went solo or the one who got fired and then died?

The cunt who was NEVER over worked.

Rick and Mel didn’t exactly set the show on fire, either. I agree about Bolger. I think Rick should have been studly like Philip so there would always be more of an even playing field between them. Of course that was the intent with the first Rick but unfortunately a purse dropped every time he opened his mouth.

Hey! I worked hard, too!

I was the better Alex.

I worked the longest days and hours as Alex.

We work the hardest in all of Springfield!

[quote] Of course that was the intent with the first Rick but unfortunately a purse dropped every time he opened his mouth.

I can't remember ever seeing him. Is there a YT clip featuring Pursealina?

I liked Phil MacGregor as Rick a lot. I wouldn't say there were purses falling out of his mouth, but he never projected a macho man image either

Phil was cast as the SORASed Freddie Bauer (renamed Rick) around the same time they cast Grant as the SORASed Phillip.

Just from the casting of those two alone, Rick was always going to play second fiddle to Phillip. And all the subsequent writing held that up too.

Phil MacGregor was only on the show for six months before they recast him with Michael O'Leary. I've never stumbled across GL episodes from that early 1983 period before.

In fact, the only GL video I've ever seen that included MacGregor was the poor quality Christmas 1982 episode that was posted on a P&G thread not too long ago. The show featured the entire cast celebrating Christmas. MacGregor was in the background in a few scenes and had a few lines.

I must commend people on reviving a two-year old thread. Very smart.

However, since the thread watcher no longer works, you have to search for this thread to find it. But the thread is so old, even when you search by the exact title, you still get a message saying "no recent post found."

The only way I'm find this thread is by going to the previous Rachel thread and clicking on the link provided to this one.

We're sneaky like that, Liz!

R65, McGregor was brought on at EXACTLY the same time as Aleksander. Both boys had been expelled fron Lincoln Prep and shipped back to Springfield.

OK, maybe he wasn’t all THAT nelly but he was certainly a totally inept actor. Now Sean whatsisname, one of the Harts-a whole platoon of purses fell out whenever he opened HIS mouth.

Phillip had the more interesting story to play. Maybe a way to make Rick more interesting was to do a repeat of the Ed/Bill story and have Rick/Ed constantly at odds. Ed was a drunk and used to beat his mom.

That’s not the backstory I chose to use!

R68 yes, I was about to mention him.

I was crashing with an older friend and coworker for a while at the time he was on, and watched a scene with him one day - Hart and Julie I think. My friend roared with laughter.

"Are we supposed to believe Miss Mary is into HER? He's a big girl!"

“You can’t own someone you don’t have, Dylan” was one of Nelly Hart’s lines. So funny.

I want that Dylan Lewis in me quite deeply.

And his uncle Jarsh too.

Sean McDermot's nelly Hart was only on the show for two months in Aug-Oct 1993 to finish up the Hart storyline after Leonard Stabb's hang gliding accident. After that, they wrote Hart off for two years.

Marj Dusay logged about 130 episodes on GL in 1994 as Alex. 30 ish more than McKunty. I don’t recall Marj complaining about being over worked. Some people complain about everything! I loved Marj as Alexandra. She even got an Emmy nomination as Alex, where as the cunty cunt who complained about everything never got an Emmy nomination.

And if he wasn’t so nelly he might have stayed a LOT longer.

Phil MacGregor/Grant Alexsander scene.

Purses fell out of MacGregor’s mouth.

The dialogue the scene at R77 sounds like bad gay porn.

I have thoughts. I had never seen that Rick before. Maybe my gay spidey senses are off, but I didn't hear any purses in that particular clip. That actor actually looks the part, better than O'Leary -- more believable as the Ed and Leslie's son.

Finally, what was that thing Josh was typing on?

In my fantasy world, I wanted to be Diane and Alan’s love child.

R80 That was my thought too. He looks like Peter Simon's Ed's son, anyway.

Interesting to see a pre Reva Josh.

Josh was a bad guy pre-Reva. An ambitious bastard, sort of what Ross was like before he got de-fanged.

Will you Vee in da biz trolls just FUCKING STOP ALREADY. It was never fucking funny now you're getting on my last nerve!

Was the set in that clip the same that became the carriage house that Ross lived in?

R84 It's mentally ill - just FF and block. Speaking to it or engaging it in any way is useless.

[quote] Was the set in that clip the same that became the carriage house that Ross lived in?

I thought that was the set that used to be Reva Bend.

That definitely looked like the carriage house set that Ross and Carrie Marler lived in.

Ross, Josh and Amanda were business partners in LTA (Los Tres Amigos), so perhaps they were working out of Ross's house. Don't recall what kind of business LTA was, but they were all partners.

The Reva Bend set didn't even debut until late 1985 or early 1986.

I didn't notice any purses falling out of Phil MacGregor's mouth in that scene either.

Vee will not be ignored! He’s in the biz, you know.

[quote]Was the set in that clip the same that became the carriage house that Ross lived in?

Wasn't it originally the carriage house that Ben and little blind Evie moved into on the Wexler Estate?

I may be confusing Ross and Carrie's carriage house with the house where he and Blake eventually lived.

Thanks for setting us straight, Liz!

I did miss a lot of the 80s sets. Reva Bend always seemed so homey and so Reva. And that was the era where I really felt the Spaulding Mansion was at its best.

Since we're on GL. I came across the Hall of Mirrors/Enough is Enough episode on Youtube last night. What happened to Rita? Did she leave town or was she murdered or something? Was the character dropped when the show switched focus to become Texas?

[quote] Was the character dropped when the show switched focus to become Texas?

Huh?

No, Rita left well before Pam Long came on as head writer and brought over her friends from the show Texas.

Rita was written out not long after Roger "died" - Holly was, too. That was 1980.

Pam Long arrived in March 1983.

Rita last appeared on June 30, 1981 when she boarded an airplane for parts unknown,

So, Marland wrote for the character for her final 18 months on the show.

I didn't understand Rita. Was she a bad girl turned good girl? Was she a floozy? The show revolved around her for a bit.

Rita was a sexy beast.

Yes the carriage house was on the Wexler estate and Ross lived in it with Carrie and the Blake up until his death.

Rita was a slut.

See from 18:00 for my heart to heart with her!

For the Soap Opera Network sluts: whoever Kirk B is ——— Thank you thank you thank you thank you! Soapsuds is a FAT pervert in his 50’s who lives with his parents. He’s fugly. And lives off his parents tit. Thank you Kirk B. I love you.

[quote]Bert Bauer's Good Leg

Best name ever. 🤣😁😂

R103 I use it as a signature every so often.

It was the name of a thread a while back. It just fits!

I don’t think some of you realize how hard it can be on a soap, especially back in the days where they had big budgets and could afford tons of overtime.

Actors would get their scripts a few days before taping. If you’re heavy in the day, that’s a lot to memorize. (And if you’re heavy in multiple successive days, it’s that much harder because you’re juggling multiple scripts.)

Your call is around 7, and you block the first scene, run it once, then block the second, etc. Then after hair and makeup you get on the soundstage and run through your first scene then shoot it, then second scene, etc. It’s not so bad if you’re a minor character but a lot for those carrying major story.

A major character like Alex will typically shoot both morning and afternoon sessions and the pm session often extends until 8 or later.

It’s actually pretty grueling just to get through it, let alone deliver a great performance.

R105 That poster is mentally ill. They've posted over a dozen posts about the overwork comment. Ignore them and FF/block.

Most of us do know and understand the challenges (since some of us have actually worked on shows or been on sets).

[quote]I didn't understand Rita. Was she a bad girl turned good girl? Was she a floozy? The show revolved around her for a bit.

Rita was ... complicated. In the best way. She definitely wasn't a floozy. And she wasn't altogether bad or good. She was just full of human foibles, good and bad. She was an awesome character.

The writing on GL during the Dobson era was exceptional. Marland was great too (although better on ATWT). There weren't a lot of dud stories or characters back then.

Rita definitely wasn’t a bad girl. She was just bored with being fabulous in a dump like Springfield.

She was with Ed, but it always like he was the default choice. It was as if she was looking for someone else or someone more exciting to show up and take her away. And Ed was always getting involved with women who I thought were using him as a safety.

Why did Alan pick a dumpy frau like Hope when he could have had Rita?

Wasn't Hope like 18 or 19 when she and Alan got together?

No, she was older by then, more like 22 or 23. Elvera Roussel was in her mid 20s.

I still find it amusing that the Alan and Hope on the beach story apparently had many a female viewer's loins ablaze.

R105 Don’t go on a soap if you can’t memorize lines.

Alan wasn't exactly the most masculine guy in the world, but I can see why the ladies at home ate this stuff up.

Vee, who is in the biz, blocked Hope’s return during GL’s final years.

STFU r116.

Chris Berneau had presence, gravitas, that made him a believable leading man.

Seeing those Chris Bernau clips leaves me scratching my head wondering how they could ever cast Ron Raines as Alan.

They were playing two completely different characters who both happened to be named Alan Spaulding.

R118 he did, in the same way James Mitchell did. It's just hard rewatching now to not see his occasional bitchy/queeny moment.

Bernau came across as a queeny queen. He had the aids.

One of Grant's stories is about tormenting Chris - Grant came into a rehearsal and some actor (it may have been O'Leary) asked where he'd been last night and he said, "Oh, I was at [name of NYC gay bar known for muscle men and/or leather)." I guess Chris almost passed out right then and there, until he realized it was a joke.

I just watched the Philip/Rick youtube video. Phil was cute as Rick, but way under performing opposite Grant's screen presence as Philip. Not sure about the purses though.

I remember the scene where Phillip gave Rick a teddy bear or something....we all thought they were gonna fuck

No, R122, Bernau was standing with the actors Brian Murray and Ben Hendrickson (it was during the Tanquir storyline). All three actors were gay. Aleksander strolled by and said to Bernau “I’ll be napping in my dressing room, Chris. Had a hell of a night at The Anvil.” And he walked away leavimg Murray and Hendrickson with their jaws dropping and Bernau with a knowing smirk on his face-this wasn’t the first time Aleksander said stuff like that.

R125 thanks for the correction. I knew it was something along those lines.

I am being completely serious when I say this, but when I watch Chris Bernau I get Ben Masters as Julian Crane vibes. Ben was playing comedy and camp, but maybe Julian Crane was an homage to Bernau's Allen Spaulding.

I often got Chris Bernau vibes off of Ben Masters as Julian on Passions, too.

r125

that is funny!

So many homos and lezzys on GL.

Who's had Ben Masters?

He actually would have made for a far better Alan recast. The list of good Alan recasts was a long one, and Ron Raines was never on it. I somewhat enjoyed him with Cynthia Watros' Annie, and he and Grant had some sort of chemistry, but in most other storylines, he had one performance level - foghorn. Incapable of subtlety.

Vee, who is in the biz, signed off on Ron Raines’s casting.

Vee, the show runner of all remaining soaps, has a PR nightmare at GH these days. What will this Jewish guy do? Oye vey!

anyway.....

I was never a big fan of Ron's Alan.

I suspect Ron Raines was capable of better performances if only the directors had reigned him in. Just like Marj Dusay. By the final decade of the show, his Alan was almost a cartoon character.

But the first couple of years he was on the show, especially when paired with Cynthia Watros, he was decent in the role.

I think Ron Raines was way more a Billy Lewis or a Mike Bauer than an Alan Spaulding.

Ron was a musical theater actor and never adjusted for TV. Ben Masters woud have made for a great Alan. Nicolas Coster would have been an interesting choice. Beverlee lobbied for Daniel Davis after Chris's death.

I also thought Mark LaMura would have made for an interesting Roger Thorpe recast if one was necessary, though by the time Zaslow died so many of us were so furious w/TPTB that any actor would have had an uphill battle.

I’d never have accepted LaMura as Roger. He was way too identifiable as Mark on AMC.

Maybe to you, but probably not to most CBS viewers.

You're probably right, R138. But strictly from an actor's perspective, I think LaMura had some of Zaslow's ethnic looks, and the emotional complexity needed to play Roger.

(Not that Dennis Parlato was a bad actor....actually he would have made for a better Alan than a Roger!)

I seriously doubt that, R139. And he would have been very bad casting as Roger. LaMura was in no way right for that character.

“I’d never accept Jed Allan as CC Capwell. He was way too identifiable as Don on DOOL.”

“I’d never accept Robin Strasser as Dorian Lord. She was way too identifiable as Rachel on AW.”

“I’d never accept Cady McClain as Jennifer Horton. She was way too identifiable as Dixie on AMC.”

And on and on and on and on....

I think "Roger" was unrecastable (which may not be a word).

What about Larkin Malloy as Alan?

I said what I said. You are free to disagree

R143 He was too young, but interesting idea as clearly he had some of the same sort of qualities as Bernau.

Malloy would have been fine, I wish he played that part instead of the other one.

Kyle was such a weird role. Clearly a victim of writing changes and you could tell about halfway through that he no longer gave a fuck. Apparently he wasn't well liked on the GL set.

But he remains the only actor Zimmer ever had that really deep chemistry with on GL other than Newman. (Well, she and Grant had great chemistry too - if only they had done Phillip/Reva instead of Phillip/Harley, though Reva was inconveniently dead at the time.)

I bet PG probably wedged Malloy on GL and Gabet on AW in some way. Maybe they had pay or play deals on their Edge contracts or something.

I always thought Peter Brown would have been a good recast for Alan.

Ron Raines always reminded me of someone and now I realize it's Drake Hogestyn and his I Smell A Fart school of acting.

Gabet said on Alan’s show that P&G was the reason she did AW and she really ended up regretting it.

Larkin Malloy said he enjoyed playing the part of Kyle, the first year. But he didn't like the second year when they saddled his character with Maeve Stoddard to do the Maeve/Kyle/Reva triangle

For the third and final year of his contract, (and Pam Long was long gone by this time) TPTB lured Robert Newman back and planned a Kyle/Reva/Josh triangle - with his character being the odd person out

Larkin Malloy wanted no part of a storyline like that, as asked to be released from his contract. TPTB agreed, and Larkin had only one scene with Robert Newman before departing and never seen on Guiding Light again,

I remember that, R152. The change was SO abrupt.

I know Josh and Reva had some great scenes with the fountain, etc. but when he first came back, they were so, so boring. I think Digest named them worst reunion or most boring. It took Pam Long's return to change that.

It remains one of those times where literally, you could tell the second a new writer's work hit the screen. Within a week or two we had the "old" Reva back. We had Kyle playing a role in breaking up Josh and Reva without actually being there (since Alan was pretending Kyle was Marah's father). And then we got Sonni, and bitch, it was ON!

[quote] Within a week or two we had the "old" Reva back.

When Reva put on her old red dress, you knew Pam Long was back

Yes. And that was before all that red dress/fountain stuff became a lazy parody of itself.

I’m still shaking my head over the Mark LaMura is Roger Thorpe idea.

One of the reasons that shows like GL and ATWT sunk so badly in their final years was that producers cast actors from other network’s shows (most of them hugely identifiable with their show), to play characters we had already watched for years. And this, as a result, diluted the identity of Oakdale and Springfield. To the one upthread-a LOT of the GL viewers also watched other shows, believe it or not, especially AMC.

Good thing Beverlee McKinsey hadn’t played a character of note on another soap before being cast as Alexandra.

What kind of NUT would want Mark Lamura on GL? Fuck NO

Vee told Dylan to go watch All My Children if he was going to talk about the Pine Valley reboot ha ha ha ha. What a dummy. He keeps crossing Vee, who is in the biz.

I think it's different when a P&G actor goes from one P&G show to another.

But then again, I loved Jane Eliot as Carrie...

R156 I think you're interpreting my suggestion as a ABC actor to P&G thing. You may disagree with my suggestion, but that wasn't my motivation for suggesting him.

I just thought that lookswise, I thought there was a similarity, and LaMura had acting chops.

The other actor who always reminded me of Zas in terms of physicality - name escapes me but he briefly played Carla's husband on Cheers.

Obviously looks are only a part of the picture, of course.

Jane Eliot is a difficult actress. Total complete bitch. Alan Potter fired her for being such a cunt and gay Marland had a hissy fit and stomped his stilettos and left GL. Marland had issues with women because he didn’t like women. He hated Monty, he hated Agnes. He hated anything that had a pussy.

Wie auch immer....

20+ years later and it's funny how often recasts for Alan and Alex come up in conversation.

But they really should have never recast Roger, anyway. Zaslow really was one of a kind. He was eccentric but brilliant and it was impossible to duplicate his energy, I think.

Zas became a wizened old man.

she's on her bullshit again this morning

oops sorry wrong thread

40 years ago. Chris Bernau pretending to eat out Geri Court’s snatch!

Holy shit, I actually remember that episode!! I must have been home sick from school.

Jennifer Richard’s cooter was revealed 40 years ago.

Santa Barbara was canceled in the fall of 1992 and off the air by January of 1993, leaving Pam Long and the Dobsons out of jobs. Doug Marland died in March of 1993.

What if Pam or the Dobsons had taken over AW or ATWT (returning to ATWT in the Dobson’s case)?

What do you think they would have done with those shows.

I’d guess that the Dobsons would have introduced a bunch of strong male characters to either show-that was one of their hallmarks. I could see them really enjoying writing for Donna and Cass on AW, and Kirk and Lucinda on ATWT.

I think Pam would have done a good job with Lucinda and the Snyders on ATWT, and Vicky/Lorna on AW. What are your thoughts.

[quote] It remains one of those times where literally, you could tell the second a new writer's work hit the screen.

Interesting. Can people think of other such examples? I remember the transition from scabs to Harding Lemay being really noticeable when SoapNet aired AW fifteen or so years ago. It went from being mindnumbingly stupid to pretty compelling in the blink of an eye.

Pam at AW would have actually been quite interesting.

Pam Long would have never written AW, you dumb fucks.

anyway.....

According to an AW account on Twitter, the You Are My Way opening for AW was last used 25 years ago today.

The versions of "You Are My Way" that came before that version:

Thank GOD that JFP got rid of that stupid theme! I love, love, love that final theme.

R177, watching that reminded me of how annoyed I was by that single shot of Stephen Schnetzer making that stupid right arm/hand movement. What the fuck was that?

Vee ordered JFP to get rid of that AW opening. He is in the biz, you know,

[quote] It remains one of those times where literally, you could tell the second a new writer's work hit the screen.

[quote] Interesting. Can people think of other such examples?

When Claire Labine returned to Ryan's Hope - they immediately fired the actor playing Pat Ryan, after luring the original Pat Ryan (Malcolm Groome) back to the show

Whatever long-term storyline was created, got scrapped immediately. Christine Jones had just been hired as the matriarch of the Kirkland family, but instead Claire used the character to usher the entire Kirkland family off the show. With the character announcing the entire family was moving back to Switzerland.

I think when Lorraine Broderick went back to AMC toward the end.....I didn't watch it regularly by then but I watched her first week back and was so pleased I kept watching for a few more weeks.

I wish those two first weeks of Pam's 1987 return to GL were on YT. It's literally one of the only stretches of time that never made it to YT.

Some queen who was a teen gay in that era has to have it SOMEWHERE on carefully labeled VCR tapes!

[quote] I wish those two first weeks of Pam's 1987 return to GL were on YT. It's literally one of the only stretches of time that never made it to YT.

You are in luck - someone has uploaded the entire 1987 year of GL on Youtube - Link to the entire 1987 playlist below

Start at episode 2113 for Pam stuff to start (at the end Reva puts on the red dress)

Now the BAD NEWS - it is entirety in ITALIAN - so unless you understand Italian - you can only watch and not follow along

I can't believe it took me up until today to not see a slight resemblance between Michael Zaslow and Jay Thomas. They absolutely could have played brothers.

And bravo to whomever came up with the idea of Ben Masters as a replacement Alan. What could have been!

R184 NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

That old pimp Chad Rollo really aged well.

R184 thank you for finding that. Been looking for that for....well, since it was first on.

BTW that's German.

R189 - thanks for clarifying

[quote]BTW that's German.

Damn. I've been studying Italian for the past two years. I was all excited.

Diane Ballard was such a cunt.

R191 I'm no language expert but heard a few German words and was like oh, wait. And then the RTL network ident on screen confirmed it.

I believe GL was caled Sentieri in Italian.

Trying to remember if the AW theme was written for the show, or if someone decided it would make a good theme and licensed it?

Out of all the PG soaps, the first AW theme was the best of all of them, following by The Edge of Night themes. The second Texas theme was pretty good. The worst was the GL disco theme, wrong tone for the show.

I loved both the GL themes that followed the disco themes, though. Well, the slower version of the one that followed (not the Let's Do Aerobics version with the blue sky background that came later). And then "Hold On To Love."

[quote] Out of all the PG soaps, the first AW theme was the best of all of them

Thems fightin words.

I do love the 70s AW theme.

And still chuckle at whoever said that when Victoria Wyndham farts, it sounds like that tune.

“You Are My Way (to Another World)” was written for the show. I remember ET running a segment on the recording session at the time.

Gail Kobe’s first GL theme was its best ever.

I agree, R200. It was absolutely beautuful. Sweeping, a little mournful but ending on a triumphant note. I know-MARY! But I really loved it. Those later bastardizations of it were ghastly. Fuck you, Joe Willmore.

Enough Is Enough!

Was that the episode that eventually won the Emmy?

STARRING

CHARITA BAUER

as

Bert Bauer's Good Leg

Ver over at SON needs to fuck off!

Go there. Tell them, there.

[quote] Those later bastardizations of it were ghastly

What, you didn't like the Let's Do Aerobics version?

R204 is so tiresome.

The funny thing about that Enough is Enough episode is that I remember as so much bigger and scarier than it actually is upon rewatching it. I was probably 8 when I saw it the first time. You could tell that it was done in the era before big soap budgets, or at least big soap budgets on NYC soaps.

When will Vee, who is jn the biz, get Dumb Dylan banned from SON?

Geoffrey Scott, who played Krystal's ex husband Mark Jennings on Dynasty and played Billy Lewis for about a 6 months (1993-94) on GL, has died.

Sorry, R208. I was poking fun at the DAYS poster who did that aaalllll the time.

R211 RIP... he was quite fuckable back in the day.

Just dawned on me that both he and Joan Collins were on GL for a while. Both as recasts too.

Has Joan Collins commented yet?

Joan Collins and Marj Dusay commented and said they were the best and most hardworking Alexandra Soaulding portrayers.

Marj was always breathy. Hyperventilating. She must have smoked.

Has almost 90 year old Joan Collins commented about losing Bert’s leg?

We found the leg, it had been shoved up your ass.

That's why I always loved Bert. She knew how to kick ass!

I didn't really get into soaps until the early 80s when I discovered AMC, but my mother, brother, and cousins watched GL and I totally remember a lot of these characters from GL in the 70s. I think a lot of it went over my head (I was born in 1969) but I remember Diane. Also Rita, and that drip Eve. Ben made me tingly. And of course the summer of Morgan, Kelly, and Nola. I lost interest around the time of Beth, Phillip, Rick, Mindy...and REALLY lost interest when Reva came on, and so many of the old characters were written out.

I had the same experience as r220. Luckily we got a VCR right about then and Marland took over ATWT.

I was a baby gay living in a miserable little town and getting bullied every day.

My escape was visiting Oakdale and Springfield every day for two hours. I burned a hole in more than a few of my VHS tapes back in those days, just from taping those shows every day!

R222 - hope you kept those VHS tapes somewhere - they are worth gold now

Vee sabotaged Beverlee McKinsey behind the scenes of GL and made JFP force her out. But he got his when MADD and Paul Rauch assigned him to scrub the residual poo from the bottom of Joan Collin’s exclusive dressing room toilet bowl. Vee is in the biz, you know.

Unfortunately no R223 - I taped over them over and over

like P&G did lol

I just stumbled on to this Youtube Clip of Somerset. You guys have probably already seen it, but's wonderful.

That link has a link to another episode, featuring one of our favorites Lois Kibbee, plus recently dearly departed Christopher Pennock.

Wow. Thanks r227 for sharing that Somerset episode.

I never watched Somerset. It didn't air where I lived. But it was great to see Lois Kibbee in a a different role and Jordan Charney as Sam Lucas, a character that started on AW and returned to AW.

But I must say, the most amazing thing was hearing the announcer's voice. He was the same guy who announced Another World each day, so very strange to hear him say "This is Somerset" rather than "And now, the continuing story of Another World."

But at the same time, it brought back fond memories hearing him say "We'll return to our story in just a moment" before the commercial break.

Hold up! Is that DL Bulge Fave Gary Sandy around 7:53 in the link at r226???

Vee, who is in the biz, can fuck the fuck off! He’s an asshole. Fuck you Vee and take dumb Dylan with you. Two fucken morons. Keep scrubbing shitty toilets Vee. That’s your life work asshole.

Thanks, R226. Damn, I’d have drained Ed Winter’s throbbing dick dry. I’m sure the chorus boys in Cabaret were all too eager.

Marie Wallace replaced Lainie Kazan as Crystal Allen two years later in a Broadway revival of The Women.

Hello my dear lovelies! I am having a glorious time playing the new, but definitive Katherine Chancellor on THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS, television’s number one daytime drama. I, Scoche Marin, will be sweeping the Daytime Emmys for this wonderful Bell creation. Cheers for now!

That is indeed bulgetastic Gary Sandy, who played Randy Buchanan on Somerset from 1970-72.

We LOVE you, Scoche!!!

Next, on most of these CBS stations.

In the 60s and 70s, Orbach's did the clothes for most of the New York Soaps. Days used The Broadway. Y&R used Giorgio Beverly Hills and Buffums. At some point the New York soaps switched to Barneys and Botany 500. ATWT and GL used Suzy Perette and Lillie Rubin a lot.

It’s gotten to the point where the majority of the posts on P&G threads are from the psycho trolls now. Sad 😞

Somebody tell Errol to ban Vee and Dumb Dylan from SON!!!

Add fucking pervert Soapsuds (ugh - he’s old and lives with his parents!!!!) banned from SON and I’ll start posting again. And fuck you to Victoria Foxton - a male pervert named Michael. They have ruined the SON boards. Completely ruined those boards. Vee, Dumb Dylan, Soapsuds pervert and Victoria Foxton need to be banned now. Add in Carl the loser later. SON is a mess!

Tell us how you really feel, R239. Come on now, let it out!

R237 You have to block that person. He's severely mentally ill.

We all enjoy it when we shun them like the absolute socially awkward lunatic they are, and just read the sane comments.

The P&G threads, and all of the soap threads for that matter, got much more pleasant after I hit the ignore button. If you block the two worst posters by hitting ignore, 99% of the crazy junk on the threads disappear.

Those SON posters ruined the ATWT discussion thread. Add in DramasDreams and that virgin who writes TGL instead of GL! And those dummies John and Raven! Vee, who is in the biz, got every good poster banned.

Wow r241 and r242. I blocked him. You’re right. I really can’t believe that was all one troll. A bit akin to Eileen Davidson playing 5 different roles on DAYS.

Why can’t I block that loon? The buttons gone!

I can only see the block buttons, W&W, etc, when I’m on a PC. I have none of those options on my new iPad...

The problem is....... they never block! The asshole, Vee, tells you to block but he never does! Welcome, Vee, you asshole!!!!!!

[quote]I can only see the block buttons, W&W, etc, when I’m on a PC. I have none of those options on my new iPad..

Same thing happens when I surf DataLounge on my phone. Must be something about the smaller screen.

So, block/ignore the people on your PC and then it should carry over to all your other devises. It did mine.

However, I am a paying member, so the info carries over from device to device when I log in. Don't know if it will happen if you're not a member.

What was the name of the guy who fell to his death? Dean Blackman or Blackford or something. I think he was married to Sara. We used to recreate his falling by dropping our dog onto the couch.

Fuck you Vee! Yup. We’re talking about you. Fuck the fuck off, Vee!!!!

I'd forgotten about Camille Paglia, of all people, discussing a favorite of ours. (Scroll down, lots of other content before the relevant part comes up.)

From Paglia:

[quote]As her father's goody-goody wife Rachel lies in critical condition on the verge of losing her baby, rich and idle Iris Carrington causes trouble in the hallway outside the hospital room: "Really--Rachel's servants are becoming as rude she is."

That's the first time I've seen Rachel described as "goody-goody."

I can almost hear Bev reciting that dialogue.

[quote] Two years later, while attending a Lily Tomlin show in New York with my friend Stephen Feld, I spotted the actress who had briefly played Loretta on "Another World" and had acted in that very scene. I leaned over the hapless two patrons sitting between us and (to her astonishment) enthusiastically recited both parts of the Saint-Tropez dialogue.

LMAO!

Loretta was played by a friend of mine, E. Katherine Kerr, who went by Elaine Kerr back then. She died of cancer two years ago.

Where’s Penberthy's gay homo nephew? He needs to get her on here and share stories about Connie Ford touching Geri Court’s titties.

I'm sorry about your friend, R254. Did you ever discuss the backstage happenings at the show with her?

Has anyone else here ever been friends with an actor or crew person? I know a few of the costume people and a few writers, some very casually and some relatively well. And I mean know as in met them face to face, have socialized with them, etc not just "I follow them on Twitter"

That idiot perv at SON thinks that he’s friends with Rick Hearst and Jacob Young because he’s ‘chatted’ with them on twitter. Rick Hearst follows tens of thousands of people for chrissakes. He’s not friends with all of them. Soapsuds perv is delusional.

anyway.....

Eat me.

Eat me! I know you all miss me!

I know it's stupid to respond to the madness, but why not address these grievances with all these people you have problems with on the board where they all post. What is bringing this shit here going to solve? We don't know who these people are.

Silly r261, trying to use logic with spicen.

R256, no, we never discussed it in detail. She was only on AW for a bit. She had a lot of great stories about being directed by Tommy Tune for the Off-Broadway hit Cloud Nine, though. I think she won an Obie for her performance. A really good actress but too many excellent ones in her age range so she had trouble getting good roles in film and TV.

R261 I have no idea why that loon brings it here because N O N E of those people post here. From what I gather, he thinks some of the posters here are his enemies from that board, but there are like six or so of us that post here, and none of us are the people he mentions all the time.. I never could post at SON as my profile was never approved, but never much cared for it anyway.

Thank you, R263.

Gil Rogers - who played Hawk Shayne on Guiding Light - has died.

Wanted to add: Marie Wallace was cast as Crystal Allen in the 1973 Broadway revival after both Tammy Grimes and Lainie Kazan were fired.

Do we have a Marie Wallace Troll now?

There was a photo posted somewhere of the young actors on GL circa 1995 which included Little Billy, Michelle and Ben Reade.

The guy who played Ben as a teenager grew up to be handsome and looks not terribly unlike Matt Bomer, as well. Guess he's busy on the production side now.

Thanks r270. Wow. He really does look like Matt Bomer.

I was disappointed when they SORASed those young teens. We'd been watching Michelle, Ben and Little Billy grow up for 7 years, I wanted to continue watching those actors in the part.

Rachel Minor, Bryan Buffington and Gregory Burke were all so good in the parts, so personable. They were one of the many highlights of those glory years of the early 1990s.

Was a shame the show threw that all away by recasting and SORASing.

I certainly wish they hadn't killed off Ben.

He would have been a great character to continue since he was connected to several families but related to few characters. And how hard could it have been to find a Black Irish actor who was handsome with blue eyes once Bomer left?

But by then we were already in the era of burning the frame of the house to keep warm, hoping every time a character was killed off it would goose those ratings.