alwaysAMC

I'm curious to see how the other Michelle's are after Budig, but I'm surprised more people didn't enjoy Budig. Maybe it's because she was the first SORAS'ed version, but I think she's so good. She's been a much bigger part of GL than I ever realized Budig was back then. I know her most iconic role is AMC's Greenlee, but I have to say, she is killing it as Michelle Bauer too.

Oh right right, half! Yeah very odd that never went anywhere after Kyle/Sally left.

Oh so that's Billy's mother?? Interesting. That's odd they wouldn't bring her back for anything Billy/HB related. I get why she wouldn't if Kyle left the canvas. So wait, that means Reva got with HB, Billy, Josh and Kyle, who was also sort of a stepbrother (at one point) to Billy? She really got everyone in that family huh haha.

♥️ Thanks @DRW50 ! At first I thought the lady in the hat was Ruth Warrick! Who is this character?

LOL - that's funny. I know I had some moments like that with my mom over on AMC. For better or worse (for the show), it makes for funny memories. Thanks I always forget about Dylan being Billy's.

Haha yeah, definitely not his fault. He returned to AMC in their final year, but he was on the show years before that (before he went to GL). Ok wait, I'm having a brain fart... who else is Bill's sibling besides Dinah? Oh I guess we're talking about Mindy right, on Billy's side? Did Billy only have Mindy and Bill?

Well let's not forget the disgusting Gilly/Griffin/Vivian storyline. That was so gross, but I guess thankfully they didn't know they were father/daughter throughout. Had they known and made the decision to continue a relationship, that would have been beyond gross.

I love Cosgrove too. I know he's got a reputation of being a soap destroyer (it's just bad luck haha), but I think he's a handsome guy and good actor. He was on AMC for a bit and I really loved him over there. Oh wow - that sounds wild! LOL. It sounds so bad that I feel like I need to watch the train wreck haha. Oh no... they did this?? That's pretty gross considering A-M was a grown adult, married and former business executive all while Marina was like a 5-year old girl.

Oh amazing, thank you!

I ran across this scene from 1994. These are the days from OLTL that I remember well, as a kid who watched AMC every single day, but was always so curious about OLTL the next hour. Luna was a character I remember being intrigued by. Watching this scene, it's so very southern and I can't imagine it's really from Pennsylvania. I love the southern tones from this era between Luna and Blair. OLTL really should have been set in the midwest, like OK/AR/KS, or mid-south like TN/KY. I also love how homo-erotic the Max and Cord scenes are LOL. \

Gosh, I had a few drinks and randomly stumbled across a full episode from Sept 25, 2002, only 5 years later from where I'm watching now. Everything seems so different! All the kids have grown up and are drinking - Marah, who looks nothing like I expected, Marina who we never see as a little girl in 95-97, Ben Reade (Matt Bomer), Bill who is played by Daniel Cosgrove (!) - shocking to me! I love seeing all these kids growing up, but it's shocking how they ALL aged over just 5 short years. I've seen GL for almost 3 years now from early 95 to end of 97 and no kids aged that quickly in that period except Michelle. Cassie, Harley and Blake have opened a hotel together LOL. Cassie and Blake's hair is awful. This might also be the first episode with Joan Collins as Alex because the first few scenes seem like a re-introduction for the character. Oh and Beth had an affair with Bill?!? Little Bill?? I cannot believe this LOL. Little Bryan Buffington and Beth?? I'm shocked.

Congrats to Michelle! I didn't realize she was in the soap world. I know her from Star Trek: Picard and have loved her ever since.

♥️ All good and happy to hear it It was so shocking to me, too. I'm very curious to see how she can get off on this murder charge though. Amy Ecklund has really been one of my favorites over the last couple years. I was skeptical at first, but I think the show did a great job with the character of Abby and she's so endearing. Oh @DRW50 - I feel like Dinah was horrible throughout 1996 with Lonnitrat (sp? you know I've tried to search online how it's officially spelled and can't seem to find a good source). Dinah is that character for me that I love to hate. She was awful in early 1995 when she arrived, then I really liked her, then I hated her again in '96, then really liked her again... but I'm really siding against her in late '97 when she's back to her angry, spoiled attitude during the early days of Hart/Cassie. I've always enjoyed Muniz though, I think she's a great actress regardless of whether I'm enjoying Donah in the moment or not.

Out of curiosity, why isn't ATWT included in this amazing Vault? I've been getting an itch to watch some ATWT and haven't figured out yet where to find full episodes

HBD Jacob! I wonder what he's doing these days. I remember he started/tried a singing career just after Covid. He's such a good actor, I hope he's doing something out there.

Good question - I think so haha. I'm actually curious because I heard a different actress played Annie after Cynthia left, so I'm curious to see what happens there and how well that actress plays the role. I also really like Budig as Michelle and her relationship with Jesse (which probably isn't popular haha). I'm also very curious to see Holly steal all the children, which I think happens in 1998. It's funny because Annie has been so obsessed with being a mother, and she wanted Tammy so bad, and now Lizzie... you'd like Annie was the kidnapper, but knowing Holly does it blows my mind. I still haven't read what her motive is, which I'm very curious to see. So... maybe I'll keep going haha. I will eventually go back to 1993-1994 where I can still watch almost every episode on the Vault. I just don't like the idea of not seeing every single episode, which is another reason I keep going in these later 90s now because all the episodes are available.

Love to hear it! If you have a chance, I would find the Friday cliffhanger where Abby shoots and kills Roy in court. That was a pretty good scene, well-directed, etc.

I’m up to November 26, 1997. This was a fantastic month of soap opera - so much happened! Nola tells J the truth about being Buzz’s stalker, which concerns him but he says he’ll always love his mother. Later, Nola overhears Jenna say that Jeffrey his her baby’s father and not Buzz. As Jenna takes Buzz to the diner again, Nola comes by and Jenna/Nola get into it. Jenna tells Nola she knows she’s the stalker and Nola tells Jenna she knows about Buzz not being the father of the baby she’s carrying. They throw some barbs back and forth, but Nola says she’s won’t tell Buzz the truth about Jenna’s baby, but the truth will always come out and she’ll be there for Buzz when the pieces all fall apart. Kevin and Jason’s first birthday party happens and Roger gives Holly a special ring, which she accepts but Fletcher gets a bit jealous and Holly promises not to wear it later. Roger keeps bringing up the past with Holly and she tells him it’s useless, he never allowed them to just be a happy couple, he always had to muck it up somehow. They agree to get along as grandparents, but Holly says that’s all. Alan and Annie have now taken Tammy and are holding her in the Spaulding Mansion, while Alan continues to force Cassie to sleep with Josh and drive a wedge between Josh and Billy. Annie starts to become obsessive over Tammy and likes pretending to be her mother. She now wants to ‘keep’ Tammy going forward, but Alan is adamant she’s going back to Cassie after she meets her agreement and seduces Josh. I will say, I’m so tired of Reva mentioning how much Cassie reminds her of herself and how quickly they say “she’s like family”. It’s really corny and I’m just ready for the secret to come out. A new guy has arrived and looks at a newspaper with a picture of Ross and he vows to bring him down - hmm, what could this be about? The actor is Hunt Block who I’ve known from All My Children. Oh! He is later revealed to be Ben Warren, the attorney for Roy (Abby’s attacker), going against Ross as Abby’s attorney. Ross is shocked to see Ben. It sounds like Ross got Ben into law school and was his mentor and idol, but Ross doesn’t seem to want him to talk about it. Later, privately, Ben tells Ross he came back to town to settle the score between them, and then calls him ‘big brother’. Wow! Blake hears the big brother part and asks what they mean and they cover it up by saying ‘brother in law practice’. Ben later talks about being his half-brother, with the same mother, but wants to find out who she slept with to produce him. Ben seems very jealous that Ross knows his father and he doesn’t know his own. Later they talk about their past and long story short, sounds like their mother was poor and couldn’t take care of another child. Ross was never told who Ben’s father is, and their other two siblings don’t know about Ben. Ben ultimately threatens Ross that he will privately make his life a living hell, but won’t out them as brothers. Later, Ross tells Blake the truth about being Ben’s brother. The morning of the trial, Ben propositions Blake and says he will drop the case if she has sex with him LOL - what a creep. The trial goes on, Rick is angry and almost loses it for them, but Jesse steps up and volunteers to take the stand even though his goons have threatened Michelle’s life. Jesse’s testimony includes telling everyone that he has Maureen’s heart and the Bauer’s are nice people and he saves the day. Unfortunately, Jesse’s father isn’t happy and vows to destroy them all. That night, after celebrating a successful first day of trial at the Towers, Michelle’s car is rigged with what might seem like a bomb, but it was a tape recorder with a threat from Jesse’s dad. Hart finds Dinah’s birth control pills and realizes she’s been taking them recently and thus lying to him, which upsets him and he walks out on her. Dinah then vows to get even with Cassie if it’s the last thing she does. Dinah then goes to Lewis Oil and tells Reva to watch out for Cassie because she isn’t what she seems. She spills all the information about Hart/Cassie pretending to be together to get custody of Tammy back, etc. Reva is shocked to hear it all because she assumed Cassie was interested in Billy. Meanwhile, an upset Hart goes back to the dive bar where Cassie happens to be after a nasty call with Annie where she realizes Annie and Alan have Tammy. Hart/Cassie get into it a bit, but eventually break their fighting with a passionate kiss. Hart tells Cassie he’s attracted to her and she tells him the truth about being blackmailed to sleep with Josh which will start a feud with Billy and create tabloids. Annie has sent Cassie a sleeping drug to use to get Josh in bed at their oil conference. The morning of the conference, Hart tries to pressure Cassie into telling the Lewis’s the truth, but she gets scared and drugs his coffee with some of the sleeping powder. Dinah finds him later, wakes him briefly and he calls out for Cassie which infuriates her. Meanwhile, as Cassie/Annie/Alan are at the conference, Tammy’s nanny falls asleep and Tammy leaves the mansion. Marah ends up finding her at the park and takes her home. Reva comes home and finds the cameo, realizes Tammy is Cassie’s daughter, who then tells Reva that Cassie’s friend Annie gave her the cameo. Reva rushes to the conference, runs into Hart who tries to convince her that Cassie is being blackmailed and they need to stop her from sleeping with Josh, and Reva then tells Hart that Alan is involved. Cassie drugs Josh, gets him naked in bed, Annie/Alan come by to ensure everything looks good before the photographers come and then leave. As Cassie gets into bed, Josh calls out ‘Reva’ in his sleep and Cassie decides she can’t do it and tries to wake Josh up just as Reva walks in (great Friday cliffhanger!). There is an epic verbal smackdown by Reva and Cassie starts to realize they’re sisters, which Reva doesn’t believe at first until she says her original name. Reva breaks down and believes it. While this whole reveal has been very compelling and must-see tv, the fact it’s all coming out as Josh still lays drugged up in bed is LOL. Annie/Alan then come in with the photographer and congratulate Cassie for a job well done, but then pops out an almost naked Reva in bed instead LOL. They are stunned. Hart and Billy then walk in as Reva brings out Cassie and reveals that she knows they’re sisters. Annie becomes unhinged, they all scream and Alan finally takes Annie out of the room. Cassie apologizes to Billy, who is bummed out that she didn’t really like him romantically, but he forgives her. Reva/Cassie/Tammy have a reunion and Reva tells them about their siblings and family, so Reva is happy and it seems all is well. Dinah breaks it off with Hart, runs into Ben who wants to take her out for drinks. Hart runs into them and Dinah throws her date in his face. Blake later sees Hart, who tells her that Dinah is going off to sleep with Ben and she realizes she can’t sleep with her uncle! So what does she do? She calls Ben to take him up on his offer to sleep with her for stopping the trial. I can’t believe Blake doesn’t just tell Ben they’re related so he’ll stop with Dinah, that makes no sense. Come to find out, Ben used her and recorded her call to him and plans to use it to discredit Ross in court. Blake goes to Roger and tells him about what Ben did and he vows to stop him. *Note, none of this seems to matter as he never used this information in court against Ross/Blake. Abby takes the stand on the second day and Ben really grills into her which is so sad to see. I really can’t stand Ben after this trial. Dinah comes with her WSPR camera crew and does live updates (which reminds me of Gilly, I miss her!). Unfortunately Dinah is acting out like a little bitch since she lost Hart and doesn’t feel like Vanessa or Ross are supporting her, so she’s now interested in Ben and grilling Ross on TV. I have a love-hate relationship with Dinah and she’s currently in my ‘hate’ era. Vanessa sees it on TV, gets furious, heads to the courthouse and interrupts her broadcast and tells her how awful she’s being (go Vanessa!). The trial wraps up and the judge rules in favor of releasing Roy which is absolutely ridiculous and the entire courtroom goes crazy - Roy, his friends/family and Jesse’s dad celebrate while Abby/Rick and their family all react in shock - Rick yells - Roy looks at Abby and mouths ‘you’re dead’ - she screams, turns around, grabs a gun and OMG shoots Roy dead!!! I was totally shocked by this and what another great Friday cliffhanger! Chaos ensues, freaking Dinah and her camera crew start announcing what happened and Reva yells at her, shoves the camera guy HARD, his camera crashes to the ground and the tape falls out, which Jesse picks up. Then Vanessa screams in pain and fears something is wrong with the baby. She’s rushed to the hospital and Michael examines her and she ultimately seems to be ok after he administers medication that he’s not legally allowed to do since he doesn’t have his license. Charles Grant (who we haven’t seen in forever) gets upset and fires Michael on the spot. Meanwhile, Rick has to tend to Roy’s gunshot wound given he’s a doctor, which puts him in a wild situation. Rick tries to save him, but Roy ends up dying. Abby is taken by the police and she’s flashing back to all her memories of meeting Rick, falling in love, etc and she cries. Ross then announces that the state has no choice but to charge Abby with the murder of Roy Michum! Earlier during the trial, Phillip confides in Lillian that he’s dating Harley, but that she’ll always be a second mom to him even if he’s not with Beth anymore. She understands and accepts, and Harley overhears the conversation. Later, Harley asks Phillip to do Thanksgiving with her instead of the Bauer’s, especially considering Buzz has no memory right now and she needs the support. Lillian then calls Beth and we see Beth in person (my first time!). She tells Beth that Phillip is with Harley now and wants to prepare Lizzie for that news during Thanksgiving. As Phillip and Harley are getting ready to pick up Lizzie from the airport, they accidentally spill coffee on Harley, she has to put one of his shirts on, and in walks Lizzie and Beth! Beth plays it cool and tells Phillip he looks good. The morning of Thanksgiving, Alan and Josh are meeting with a lawyer to plead their cases over who should have custody over Tammy which makes zero sense to me because Alan should have no right over her and Cassie should at least be there with maybe Josh as a character witness. Oh well. Josh ultimately wins and Tammy is given over to Cassie and the Lewis’s + Tammy enjoy Thanksgiving together until Annie shows up. Annie gives Tammy presents and Reva seethes. They finally kick her out and then do a nice tribute to HB and Sarah over dinner. Annie watches through the window outside and cries, which is actually pretty emotional and I feel sorry for her. Alan then finds her and proposes to her! Poor Abbie spends Thanksgiving alone in jail, while the Bauer’s host family/friends for Thanksgiving. Dinah apologies to Vanessa, Ross and Hart but then Cassie shows up and she gets angry again, shocker. Later, Meta and family decide to take Thanksgiving dinner to the jail so Abby could spend it with all of them, which was very sweet. The diner hosts the Coopers for Thanksgiving and Beth/Phillip/Lizzie all come together, which makes Harley jealous. Beth then announces that she and Lizzie are now staying in town through Christmas. Buzz has a memory chasing Jenna from the airplane when she returned last year and they’re happy he’s starting to get some memories back. What a great month this turned out to be!

I've really enjoyed Bill these last few weeks. He's stepping up as father and I love to see it. Slow Friday, but excited for next week after those previews! Although my guess is the Leslie/Ted in bed scene is a dream.

I agree at this point haha. Kat is especially spicy today.

It's cute seeing Samantha with this schoolmate - she's blushing and so into him. I guess Ashley/Andre is over?

Great song - I really like his voice!

Y'all - November 1997 was a great month of soap opera! I'll post my notes/recap later this weekend, but I'm very happy with what I got to watch. Remind me - what were sweeps months back in the day - February, May and November?

I'm still waiting for Hayley to make her mark on this show. I still don't get the random fake pregnancy stuff and otherwise, they haven't really used her much. I'm hoping they finally use her so we can get to know her. I hear y'all on the Pamela thing. Where was she? I get she's out of town, but a friend who pops in often enough should have definitely been there during the Chelsea thing. Makes me wonder how much of this is dictated by behind the scenes stuff. Like is Pamela only available when Cady is available to travel to Atlanta? I don't think Jon Lindstrom lives in Atlanta, but he seems to be on way more often, so does he have like an apartment there? Pamela is reminding me of Hawk on GL, where he sometimes is noticeably absent during times when it would make sense for him to be there for Reva... at least let Dani make a fleeting comment about Pamela being out of town if we're supposed to care about her (like Reva often used to do), vs. just never acknowledging it.

I think I'm in the same boat as @MLH with Phillip, so your comment about having to know him from the beginning makes sense to me. OMG I forgot that Cady was on ATWT. Sadly I never saw her work there, but clearly it was good since she won an Emmy. But, I'm glad you're familiar with her. Her role as AMC's Dixie will always be one of my all-time favorites.