If you had the power, what would you reset?

[TonksIsHere]

There's a sig line going around that suggests that the Bennifer marriage is going to cause the timeline to reset at 2004. Well, that made think, wonder what I would change if I had the power to. Here's my list:
- Danny Santos (Paul Anthony Stewart) is found to be a long lost Bauer relative.
- Michelle is Happy in Love with Bill Lewis & their youthful love comes to fruition.
- Olivia & Natalie consummate.
- Tammy lives happily ever after with Jonathan & Sarah.
- Ben Reade lives happily ever after & is not a suicide or a sex worker.
- No Santos family.
- No Island Principality.
- No Jeffrey O'Neill

[savytabby]

My biggest reset would be Holly NOT being the Nursery Rhyme Killer, and Fletcher not stealing Holly’s child. IMO, the baby should have been Holly’s with Ed’s.

Colin would have been Reva’s son by Josh as a result of their conjugal visit in prison.

They’re the only two that come to mind.

[TonksIsHere]

My biggest reset would be Holly NOT being the Nursery Rhyme Killer, and Fletcher not stealing Holly’s child. ...

OH! I wish I had thought of that.

[GuidingLite]

Let's see -

• Beth never would have kidnapped Gus....or had sex with Coop...and Coop wouldn't have died....
• Cyrus would not have been made Jenna's long lost son at the last minute of the show production....
• Phillip would not have tossed Grady from Mt. Peapack, making him a murderer
• Jeffrey O' Neill would never have appeared in town - I despised him
• Ava Peralta would never have existed....I despised her
• Gus would have been Rita and Alan's child....not Alan and the Nun....
• Holly not the Nursery Rhyme Stalker...it was SO wrong to do that to her....
• Lucy Cooper would never have existed.....I despised her.....
• Annie Dutton actually WOULD have been Reva's long-lost sister
• Sandy Foster would not have been Jonathan OR Sandy Foster...he'd have been Josh and Sonni's long lost child....
• Billy Lewis would not have been Roger Thorpe's shooter
• Hart would not have died

This covers back to about thirty years ago - I'm sure I can come up with more....

[Smithey]

I love you. All you said. All you said.

[GuidingLite]

You and I are usually sympatico when it comes to soap writing and character 'development'

[TonksIsHere]

Let's see -

• ...and Coop wouldn't have died....
• Jeffrey O' Neill would never have appeared in town - I despised him
• Gus would have been Rita and Alan's child....not Alan and the Nun....
• Holly not the Nursery Rhyme Stalker...it was SO wrong to do that to her....
• Lucy Cooper would never have existed.....I despised her.....

This covers back to about thirty years ago - I'm sure I can come up with more....

I'll just bet you could! I've quoted your selections that particularly resonate with me. And, I tell ya, our resets would have made one Maureen Garrett VERY happy.

I suspect that I would have put Grady & Cyrus & Sandy into the Don't Exist Zone! All of 'em!

[GuidingLite]

Buzz would not have simply 'deserted' his family in Springfield....I went back and forth liking Buzz over time, but couldn't the writers have done something OTHER than make him a man who simply let his children think he was dead?

Sebastian Hulce would never have existed - that was yet another COMPLETELY DUMB way of writing Roger Thorpe back into story....

The Barbados Spauldings would have had a more significant presence in Springfield - not just 'Vicky'....Brandon and Sharina's daughter Victoria would have come to town....that HUGE revelation in the 80s that Brandon faked his death to be with the love of his life, Sharina, was way too good to simply let it go after that.....but they did.

Hilary Bauer wouldn't have died....and the entire Bauer family wouldn't have been diminished over time.

[Beca Drags]

Jeffrey O'Neill would return after having killed Edmund and reunited with Reva and his son! One of the worst endings for a character on any soap! I would correct that!

Josh would be devastated and left town alone! I couldn't stand Josh by the end and it was unfair that he ended up with Jeffrey's wife and son!

[GuidingLite]

Let's face it though - there was absolutely NO WAY they were going to NOT put Reva and Josh back together for the ending....

I was not against Olivia and Natalia at all.....I found it an odd and yet workable pairing......but.........had the writers not wanted them together at the end....I think Olivia and Jeffrey might have satisfied some fans well enough - they did, after all, have that googly eyed daughter together......

Oh, and this leads me to another re-set.....Blake would never, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever have wound up with Frank Cooper of all people.....I absolutely HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAATED that at the end......

[HotStuff]

Blake and Frank had a one-night-stand when Sherry Stringfield played Blake....

[GuidingLite]

I can forgive that, but a relationship? No....not ever!

[Smithey]

I would have reset everything in the last 7 or 8 years of the show. The show seriously failed both the genre AND the viewers. Making Phillip insane and Alan his shooter was one of the tips of the proverbial iceberg. There is so much that could have been done, but they failed to do. I sincerely wish the show would have ended much sooner than it did because there wasn't a shred of anything good when it did end.

[GuidingLite]

Oh!!! Another great example of what could be reset....Alan as Philip's shooter....what on EARTH were the thinking??? Alan realizes something is wrong with Philip, so instead of asking for help, perhaps even from Philip's best friend RICK THE DOCTOR to get Philip to step back and see what he's doing to everyone...he shoots Philip instead and pretends he's dead? I realize they wanted to get Philip off the show, but...that was the best they could do?

If they had had more time once Philip returned for the final few months of the show, I'd have LOVED to see Blake target Philip and Rick for their roles in Ross's death.....but then again, I so wish they'd been able to get Jerry Ver Dorn back for just one scene to have him reunite with Blake at 'the end'....

[Smithey]

The show was never going to get better after John Conboy. I still get sick to my stomach thinking about what could have been.

[BrownEyedWoman]

I wish Proctor and Gamble would have agreed to sell the rights to Guiding Light when there was interest in continuing the show. I heard from a reliable source that there was an offer. I would also reset and never have had the characters of Grady, his brother and the recast of Cassie. I think they added to the decline of the show. When Betty Rea was the casting director she had a talent of finding people with charisma and the "it" factor. Whoever did casting for the last few years was not as good as her. The actor who played James was the exception. If they had him and three others related to long term characters and did a story reminiscent of the four Muskateers, Guiding Light may have attracted the younger viewers that it needed.

[GuidingLite]

I wasn't a fan of reCassie either.....she just didn't have what Laura Wright had....but I think their casting budget had been severely cut, because they weren't casting with well-known actors any longer either....I have nothing against the actors, really, but I wasn't a fan of the recasts of Cassie, Michelle, Marina, Mallet, or Daisy/Susan. I loved James, I loved Dinah, I thought Jeff Branson as Shayne was GREAT....but a lot of the recasts in the final eight years or so did nothing for me.....

[Friz4ever]

1. Krista treseu (mindy) would never have left show. 2. Rusty would have stayed true to Mindy and not gotten involved with rose. 3. Beth should get tired of Phillip controlling her life and get with Edmond for good. 4. Jenna would never have died and shed be with buzz. 5. Sonny should have stayed in springfield . 6. Reva should not be involved in every plot line. Give the other characters a chance.7 Billy would get revs out of his system and become totally loyal to vanessa. 8. Alan had affair with princess Charlotte of San christobell. Edmond is their son. 9. Writers not trashed dinah during the final run of wendy motz to prop up new character of Cassie lane.

[TonksIsHere]

The guy who was the Casting Director at the end was quite good. He was well thought of at the studio. Getting Tom Pelphrey was a huge casting bonanza. As far as Conboy is concerned he & Ellen Weston hammered in way more nails into that cancellation coffin than anyone before them or after them. He was fine somewhere a show had money. And, after he got through with them, GL had even less money & they were already broke when he came in. Plus almost all of their stories were terrible! The Casting Director, I believe his name is Rob Decima.

[soapguy64]

OK - I'll play:

The following storylines do not happen:

Clone-Reva

Time-Traveling Reva

Caroline Carruthers



Floyd Parker is killed in the explosion not Hillary Bauer


In Barbados, it is Alan & Alexandra’s mother Penelope Spaulding alive instead of Brandon.


Someone else killed Andy Ferris.


Roxie is Chelsea’s stalker not Rae.


When Alexandra leaves town after the failed wedding of Nick & Mindy, Penelope returns as the Spaulding matriarch.


Penelope’s return to SF reignites a rivalry with Meta Bauer. (They studied abroad for a year as young women.)


Hope (Bauer) Spaulding returns to keep protect her son against the Spaulding elders. Her father, Mike returns as well.


Hope and Roger Thorpe marry.


The return of their mother re-sparks the sibling rivalry between Alan and Alex.


Sonni returns and works for Penelope helping her with a stranger Penelope is harboring at the Spaulding mansion.


Distraught over Roger’s interference in the lives of the Bauers, Mike shoots Roger Thorpe.


Nadine Cooper kills Brent Lawrence in self-defense. Lucy Cooper flees town.


Nadine and Alan Spaulding marry.


At the 60th Anniversary party, Penelope reveals Maureen Bauer is alive (and was the mystery person at the mansion.). Maureen died briefly but was resuscitated and taken away from SF by Roger Thorpe who saw her as his only true friend and wanted to protect her. Fully recovered, Maureen is unable to piece together the past few years of her life.


Annie is Reva’s sister.


Amanda remains Alan’s daughter and is not his sister.


The San Cristobel SL is rewritten:

• After leaving SF, india Von Halkein married Prince Richard. She lives there with adopted daughter Dorie and the son she had with the Prince
• Reva washes ashore and is taken to the palace where India is shaken up by Reva’s appearance. India keeps her on as governess.
• Edmond becomes enamored with Reva but is puzzled about India’s behavior.
• We learn after Roger saved her, Maureen Bauer was sent to SC where she convalesced.
• Reva and Maureen interact on the island but have no memory of their previous lives.
• India admits she found out Dorie’s true parentage. She is the daughter of Ed Bauer and (Leslie Bauer?)
• India and Edmond conspire to keep her secret and Reva/Maureen on the island.
• The two women escape with the young baby but are separated - hence their “separate” returns.

Dorie returns to Springfield and adjusts to life as a Bauer.


Claire Ramsay is the nursery rhyme stalker.


Ben learns AJ Chamberlain is the serial killer. AJ is holding Dori hostage and is killed during a struggle with Ben.


Ben and Dori become romantically involved. Ben becomes the “new” Roger Thorpe.


Lorelei isn’t Beth but she still becomes an integral part of the Springfield family.


Lorelei and Edmond marry.


Penelope dies and reveals in her will that she not Sally Gleason is the mother to Billy Lewis.


Rita Stapleton returns for a visit and tells Alan Gus is his son with his first wife, Elizabeth. She admits to working with Lucille Wexler to have the child taken away and telling the couple the child had died. She admits Brandon Spaulding was behind and she was paid a large sum of money to carry out the plan.


Elizabeth returns to town to meet her son. Alan attempts to resume their relationship.


Distraught over the years lost with Gus and recalling Alan’s treatment of her during their marriage, Elizabeth shoots Philip while aiming for Alan.


Sebastian is actually Roger’s brother and reveals Danny Santos is Roger’s son.

[soapguy64]

savytabby & TonksIsHere - I have an overactive imagination.

[Mr.Sami_Brady]

Jfc, I wish I had money so I can pay to see the happen.

[GuidingLite]

You have some great ideas - although Billy being Penelope's son would mean no Bill and Lizzie at the end...cousins.....

I would have LOVED to see Penelope Spaulding show up about the time they aged Lizzie....exiled rather than dead....and have it really turn Alex and Alexandra's lives upside down to find out their mother was still alive....

They could have given her a child she had off-screen and introduced a new sibling for them...even if it was still Brandon's child but Penelope didn't know she was pregnant when she left town, and she decided to never tell Brandon out of spite.

[kyzer sosay]

Roxy Shane wouldn’t have been written off

Roger Thorpe wouldn’t have raped Rita

I watched from 1972-1991

[HotStuff]

They should have never killed off Maureen. Ben should have never been a serial killer or gigolo.

Those are my two biggies. The latter one made me quit watching.

[SquealBeale]

A lot of the ones I would do, such as not killing off Maureen or not having Alan shoot Phil then fake his death, have already been mentioned.

What I would’ve done:

1. Reva’s Stalker Storyline: 1. should've been Annie Dutton and 2. should’ve been Reva’s last major storyline until her involvement in Jonathan’s fake ‘death’: Any other of Reva’s storylines between them would be dispersed. The Psychic one would’ve been scrapped.
2. Recast Ava Peralta and not have her be the daughter of Jeffrey O’Neill
3. Coop shouldn’t have been killed.
4. This one might be controversial, but I would’ve paired up Holly with Doris Wolfe, who, in my opinion (and it might be very unpopular), was severely underused until 2009. If I remember correctly, Maureen Garrett tried to push for a same-sex storyline w/Olivia or someone else, but it didn’t happen.