In 1951, Bill Bauer lost his job, as an advertising executive, and was forced to sell the house in the Hollywood Hills, where he lived with his recently married young wife, Bertha "Bert" Miller Bauer. Bill and Bert then were forced to move back to Selby Flats and live with his father, the recently widowed, Friedrich (Papa) Bauer. While Bert nagged and complained, Bill went through a succession of menial jobs, drowning his sorrows at the local cocktail lounge. It was there that he met Gloria LaRue, a beautiful blond singer, with whom he had a brief affair. Herself a recovered alcoholic, Gloria convinced Bill to get off the bottle and urged him to make a go of his marriage, even though she was secretly falling in love with him. However, life with Bert was becoming intolerable, and one day Bill blurted out that there was another woman in his life and he wanted a divorce. Despite all her faults, though, Bert was steadfast in her love for Bill and refused to let him go. When she discovered she was pregnant, Bill agreed to try to save their marriage. Gloria briefly fell off the wagon, as a result, and show business manager, Sid Harper restored her confidence by launching her in a promising new radio and television career, of which Bill, who was now back in advertising, was a part. Before long, Gloria and Sid were married and the Bauers, with a baby on the way, were a family once again. Unfortunately with Bill working with Sid, Gloria would not remain out of his life.

In 1952, Bert and Bill celebrated the birth of a baby boy named Michael. Later, Bert read in the newspaper of a development that Bill had withheld from her: Bill had been instrumental in landing Gloria a television contract! Both Bert and Sid smoldered as they watched Gloria become emotionally dependent on Bill, performing at her best whenever he watched her adoringly from the wings. Bert was relieved when Gloria developed vocal problems, abandoned her new show and moved with Sid to New York.

Then in 1954, a new beginning was forced on Bill when his capricious boss fired him! He formed a new public relations company with a partner, only to lose his shirt and go back to pounding the pavement. Eventually, hopeless about finding work, Bill went back to the bottle. For months, he experienced the highs and lows of an alcoholic as he shared delusions of grandeur with the bartender at Blue Moon Lounge, only to feel shame and self-loathing the next day. Papa tried to bring Bill around gently, but Bert gave Bill a firm ultimatum: the bottle or his family. She went so far as to consider divorce until Bill battled his addiction to alcohol at Cedars Hospital where Dr. Dick Grant counseled and supported him. Enter Gloria LaRue Harper one more time, now a partner with her husband Sid in a talent agency, Gloria bolstered Bill's confidence when she offered him a job in New York. Bert was not happy about Gloria's reappearance in Bill's life, not to mention the fact that Bill would be working 3,000 miles away. However, Bert was secure in the belief that he had finally straightened out and agreed to stick by him. On Bill's part, after saving up enough money, in 1955 he was able to give up the commute back and forth to New York. As for Gloria LaRue and Sid Harper, it is unsure what happened to them, but it is assumed they are still living in New York and running that talent agency and perhaps signing new talent for some of the CBS soap operas.