Wow. I didn't recognize Mark Lewis at all! I had seen him on GL, but he seemed a bit more round-faced there, and didn't use that accent. I only know Mary Ellen's outside work from those Rooms 2 Go commercials she did for years with Ed Fry (I miss those). I'm glad she found happiness. Watching these episodes again I realize even more what a difficult job she had as Frannie, not only replacing a popular actress, but also in playing a character who could easily be called a big fool, yet somehow managing to make her trusting nature and empathy believable.
Thank you for the in depth synopsis of the story with Kim, John, Jennifer, and Bob. It sounds incredible. Do you have any idea of when Irna's material ended and when the Soderbergs began? The Daytime TV Stars obit on Irna said that she had been working heavily on ATWT (due to the writers strike) a month before her death. I always wonder what plans Irna would have had for Kim and Bob, and for their baby. I also wonder if the show had Kim gradually fall out of love with Bob, and then in love with Dan (I know she first connected with Dan through Betsy). It's interesting though because the show still had Bob and Kim connected through story, so clearly the viewers did have some need for the two of them to share story.
Did Kim and Rick have any type of bond or did he mostly just see her as a means to an end?
I guess Nancy's reservations about Jennifer continued for some time; a few years after this they had the story where Nancy and Bob disagreed with Jennifer's wishes to go to college.
I'd especially love to see the moment where Bob tells Chris about the affair.