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It was all of the above - he knew Angel from Europe and his travels where she had worked as a private detective or something, and IIRC she had worked to help Kristina find her birth family. It was so convoluted.

It was pretty obvious she was going to be short-term for this story and that Ned and Olivia would reunite. I never expected anything else. It's highly unlikely Rena would play a reunion.

Jake literally went by 'Jake Spencer' for a number of years as a child. I'm not loving it, not that Charlotte the rape test tube child should exist at all. Why is Charlotte doing any of this?

Jake called Lucky Dad for a lotta years growing up. Is it not weird to anyone else that they're testing him with that mutant??

I think it's all true what you two have said. Once Ingo left the first time and Jaxis was off the table, Guza lost all prior interest in him. Ingo was brought back by Jill and Megan after Titans flopped and it was clear even before Guza returned that he was a spare part without purpose. He had an embarrassing off-brand cat burglar/Bond reintroduction doing goofy low-budget wire-fu acrobatics trying to steal something, and then they clumsily tested him with Angel and it was just awful. Then came trying to put Skye over with him - very very quickly. I will say I always liked Tava Smiley as Chloe, and felt she never got a fair shake. I thought she had chemistry with both Stephen Nichols and Ingo, it just wasn't enough compared to NLG or Vanessa Marcil. I hated that they killed her off.

The Ric strike story with his foreign wife in '08(?) was hilarious, lol. JFP was let out of the closet with Guza gone and suddenly all her faves and ideas were running rampant and it was Rick Hearst all week long like GL 15 years before! It was so blatant. She even re-used the 'mysterious lady into colors' schtick from the Angel story and some of the vibes of the Tangie Hill story from GL when she was left to her own devices doing some of the introduction for Claudia, something Guza and possibly Sarah Brown allegedly blamed her for after the fact (not creating the character, but how she handled the initial material). I think she would've finally gotten Kale Browne back onscreen during that time if she could've, supposedly she got a firm no from the network on that over the years. I do think Rick Hearst is an excellent actor and I always enjoyed him on the show, especially early on. But yes, he was always the goat, always a Guza loser character and it's not like his grotesque initial storyline (or throwaway C-list pairing with Liz at the time, sorry but that's what it was) was a setup for longevity even though it was often gripping to watch. I seem to recall it climaxing in Sonny and Jason taking his new half-brother out to the house where they used to live and short-ass Sonny getting his revenge by just kicking a wounded and bound Ric down the stairs over and over, lol. Ric did always give great schemer, a real snake, and he's fun at least in that capacity. He could've been much more because Hearst is great, but Guza's world was not built for that. I liked him with NLG early on but the Ric and Alexis pairing became so sexist and toxic too. I am glad they didn't kill him off in 2015 as was planned by Ron Carlivati - that got rewritten on the fly right as he was fired and they killed off Michael Easton's Silas instead. I wouldn't mind seeing him again.

It's all untrue! And I actually like Skye and Robin Christopher in correct doses. But she was so forced into GH when she was on contract. I detested her presence being insinuated into the Qs and it was clear some of the post-JFP/McTavish writers did too. Yet as soon as I began to enjoy her going in and out for short runs to mix things up they haven't brought her back in over ten years. Rafe is unbearable.

Very important: A thread:

Seems like a pretty decent deal. Some of these protections for junior writers especially cannot be downplayed.

As they should!

Time for a handful of posters to hide in the figurative bushes outside this poor kid's social media.

Didn't Brynn Thayer just do a very brief voice cameo? Or am I missing something?

Good news, it seems: Meanwhile, I didn't see this so:

Trailer time. @DRW50 The BBC has confirmed Neil Patrick Harris is indeed playing

Yes. IIRC the legend of the Phoenix and the trappings of Egypt came up a lot in the original story, and in the tale Laura told David.

I knew Bette was a big fan of Lisa Brown on GL but I didn't know she also wrote to ATWT and Smith. Seems she ended up following Marland around, or kept her dial to CBS.

Did Melanie have some sort of mental health issue? That seemed to be what was being implied.

I think that was Agnes too! Or Broderick. I felt for their fans but tbh I was not shocked, because I remembered the Jane Cox story very well and had always felt Janet was still fuckin' crazy lol. I never really bought into Trevor and Janet as a result. Robin Mattson was a great performer but Janet always spooked me because of that early story. Looking at their romantic material today a lot of it is really great and the show did do the character work on Janet, but I felt what I felt.

I knew some of that, not all. I'm always happy to be educated and I appreciate it! I don't care that Byron is a recast, but I definitely do find him to be a bit of a Ken dolll.

I just watched Tuesday and Wednesday's shows. A few errant thoughts from a clueless newbie. Mackenzie is cute and winning - I didn't realize she was trans. I'm still getting the hang of the other youths but I have a vague understanding of who each one is. The acting skill among them varies (especially Sadie, I think her name is) but there's nothing horribly offensive. Mackenzie and her new beau are really fun together to just watch hang out, there doesn't feel like there's that much artifice in those scenes. It's nice to open a miracle revival of a show like this, which has always read wholesome at a glance, with a big party for the cast all enjoying everyone's company. And Toadie and Terese are sweet even if it's supposed to be an odd couple. The lack of much visibility on Melanie, Toadie's ex, makes me wonder how much they'll show going forward. The exposition given thus far re: the couple swap is interesting. I wonder how longtime fans feel about the details we've been given as to the break-ups. I hadn't realized at first that Paul has been the on-off heavy for years. I also didn't realize Harold had been gone so long until coming back for the TV finale. The dementia/whatever storyline with him is a bit heavy-handed so far but I've seen plenty worse. I really like Wendy Rodwell's spunk. Apparently Byron the bellboy is a recast. He's handsome but very plastic to me, which is making solo scenes with just him and the tentative Mischa Barton strange. She has been through a lot IRL and it shows, not that she's unattractive, but this is a woman who was primed for big things at a young age and flamed out quickly after a lot of backstage dramas and is now doing a niche soap on the other side of the world. She's doing a decent job despite that shadow hanging over it, but Byron feels very bland to me, he's giving Bolt from Soapdish. I have little patience for his bratty younger co-worker - apparently Karl's kid by another woman, and only recently returned? Holly is a lot. I still find the all-new Varga(?) family especially intriguing, and not just because of its progressive makeup or that they like me are new. J.J. being the 'good boy' of the family who still clearly has an agenda of his own in the neighborhood is a solid mystery and a unique way to play it, he's not scowling his way around but he's in some ways using what is expected of him as a nice kid to follow his own plan. Is the gold confetti all over the street supposed to be from the party in the TV finale? And has there been a clear tip-off yet as to who J.J. is looking for? He seemed to be looking at the dartboard at that pub/restaurant. I do like that they are apparently picking up on a plotline involving Susan and Karl's money woes from the past show, just as AMC 2.0 tapped into Angie and Jesse's baby swap issues, etc. from the ABC run. Susan is now forcibly retired it seems. Jane and Guy Pearce were in the preview for episode 3 but didn't appear - maybe it was a more general teaser. Didn't realize the visiting Daniel was supposed to be Kylie's kid. What a world. Wasn't Jason Herbison a massive soap fan or soap magazine guy before he became showrunner? Or am I wrong?

I am brand new. I enjoyed it, and I caught up as I went.

That is a great Sue Ellen scene especially post-Season 8. It should not have been cut.

OLTL: Dena Higley.

Thanks!