alwaysAMC

Y'all are bringing back great memories of AMC 2.0 for me. I haven't thought about it and the new characters in so long, well since it aired, and I plan to go re-watch it now. When AMC ended, I finally came to peace with it and accepted that I will never watch an hour of a TV show daily in my life again... something that I had been doing since I was 6-7 years old. I was starting a new career, relationship, and chapter in life when AMC 2.0 came out. I found a way to watch it, but things felt differently for me at the time and when it was so short-lived and gone, it became such a distant memory, sadly.

Episode 3 came out this week and it was good! I'm really enjoying this show, my only issue is that the episodes are so short and only released weekly! The momentum steams out... Its weird hearing JJ when all I can think about is Smitty from BTG hahaha. I'm still waiting to hear Vincent Irizarry. 3 episodes in and he's still not on. Otherwise, really enjoying this show and can't wait to hear what happens next!

SO good! I agree. Classic soap opera and it was a cliffhanger I've been craving for weeks now. First time in a while that I can't wait for tomorrow's episode!

I’m up to Jan. 8, 1996 and into a new year! This NYE masquerade ball has been outstanding soap opera! The jig is up with Marian. Brent stages a dummy in a wig at his apartment, making Cleary think Marian is alone at home all night, but Brent is really dressed up at the ball and stalking Lucy and AM. Meanwhile, Frank is at the docks and finds a wrapped floating body (Nadine) and calls it in. At the same time, unlucky for Brent, Susan just woke up from her coma and remembers Marian attacking her and tells Nick everything! Nick immediately calls Frank to tell him the news. Back at the party, Brent calls AM, pretending to be Marian, and lures him to her apartment just as Frank and Clearly storm in and they all find the dummy in a wig. Brent, now dressed as Zoro like AM was at the party, grabs Lucy, kisses her, she realizes it isn’t AM, and Brent attacks and drugs her unconscious! I can’t wait to see how this turns out… except for… In this moment, in the middle of the ball, a new actor takes over for Brent. So the episode starts with Brent attacking Lucy, but you have the voiceover man say “Today, the role of Brent Lawrence will be played by…” - taking you out of the scene, wondering what in the world happened. I know what happened, but I’m sure if I were watching live in the 90s without internet, I would be gasping. I had no idea the switchover happened mid-ball where you have the entire cast dressed up, working long hours. I have to imagine the stress of it all made Frank Beaty have his mental break, but I wonder how the rest of the cast/crew dealt with it given it happened right in the middle of this ball that everyone was at for multiple episodes. Did they have to delay the filming schedule to find a new actor? The actor must have had zero time to prep for the role, although I’m assuming we won’t see Marian anymore now that she’s been known to be a fake. I want to know all the juicy BTS details haha. But now, Rick caught wind that the police are trying to find Marian at the party and he starts to put the pieces together, given that he’s the only one that knows Marian is really a man. He walks outside and tells AM, Buzz, Frank and the police that Marian is a man and chaos ensues. Also, Nick finally proposes to Susan in the hospital in a very sweet scene. I didn’t enjoy Susan or this pairing in the beginning, but they’ve really grown on me and I really like how tough Susan is. She was the only one who really caught onto Marian and stood up to her. Meanwhile, Amanda locks Blake in a bathroom and ends up pulling Roger into a kiss after midnight, which Blake sees after she finally escapes. The girls fight, slap each other, throw food and pies… what a fun time haha. Reva the diva is in full force and her sweet milkmaid Goshen personality went out the door for good. She makes Alan go to the ball with her, dressed in a sexy red dress, and makes quite a scene. She kisses Josh, they fight in front of the whole party, she breaks down, they scream at each other, poor Annie runs off crying and Reva leaves the party and tries to seduce Alan to make herself feel better. Reva’s performance in front of everyone was pure Reva and honestly the Reva I prefer. I was so tired of Amish Reva for 7 months, so this is a breath of fresh air. I don’t think it all came together perfectly, and I don’t think Reva nor Josh have made good decisions, but at least the story is now moving forward and I have the old Reva back, for better or worse haha. I’m a little disappointed in Bridget. She’s very quick to crush on Hart again and she’s almost pining after him at this ball. Vanessa of course isn’t that happy with what she’s seeing. Matt tries to reassure her. Speaking of, Matt is looking really good at this ball - the mustache and hat really works for him (sorry, PJ haha). Another point about Bridget that bothers me, which is the writers’ fault, but she’s been totally dropped from the Lucy/Brent storyline. They were basically best friends and she was involved in the beginning, but they completely replaced her friend role with Susan/Nick, which I get because she has HIV/AIDs and Bridget may not have worked as well when the story continued along that path. But still, I wish we could see Bridget checking in on her or be worried for her (same with David). Finally, a little story is brewing with Griffin and Gilly’s mom, Vivian. She just confronted him and asks if he’s planning to do to her daughter what he did to her long ago. Interesting…

LOL now this sells it for me! I can't wait to watch later tonight!

They do look fun! Yep, I knew she was back because I heard of a feud she has with a former friend (don't want to spoil), but I was just surprised she wasn't featured more in the trailer, which leads me to believe there is way more drama to expect than what we see there. Maybe the midseason trailer will have more too.

So excited!! They have some expensive trips this year, to include a cruise - I think that's a Housewives first. The new girl doesn't seem to by shy, so that's good. Looks like Alexia/Marysol may have some tension and if Marysol doesn't like Todd, that'll never bode well for their friendhsip if she continues to stay with him (which it seems like she is still making out with him on beaches as of last week). Weird that we didn't see Adriana at all. She usually stirs a lot of drama.

Thanks on the A-M and Hope background! Oh how funny, her real last name matches her character's last name. That scene you reference was actually a flashback in the '95 Christmas, where Bert and Josh were in wheelchairs, how sweet that was. I need more I Love Lucy fans in my life I'll have to see if SON has a topic already for this show. Yep, PJ just answered too Thanks, and agree, love to see them having the chance to work as long as they can/want!

LOL at this - I've thought the same thing about nuEleni. At least Frank joined the police academy and is now a cop during the Marian storyline, because that finally brought some energy back into his character. Heck, his partner Cleary has more lines and screen time than Eleni. As I watch Frank and Cleary zero in on Marian, I'm starting to pick up a Mulder/Scully (X-Files) vibe, especially with Cleary's red hair. It would have made sense given X-Files' growing popularity in the mid-90s. I'm going to watch out for the Nadine death reactions and let you know. I have a feeling its coming up very soon during my watch.

Ahh - so Ed is AM's great uncle? That makes more sense now, considering a close scene they had during the July 4th Bauer cookout. So what happened to Hope? AM never really mentions her. Did the actress playing Bert pass in real life, hence no longer on the show, or did she have an exit storyline written for her? That iconic catfight scene between Vanessa and Nola was clearly paying homage to this iconic I Love Lucy episode, where Lucy and Ethel realize they're wearing the same dress and start angrily picking pieces off each other. So funny!

Dec 25, 1995 - Christmas episode This was a beautiful episode with several flashbacks and clips of prior Christmases. Ironically, they showed a clip of Billy and Nadine showing up for Christmas together when Bill was a younger boy. Speaking of Nadine, they showed some flashbacks of Nadine/Frank (and Frank/Harley/Mallet), and it reminded me how weird and sad it is that Nadine is frozen at the bottom of the lake while everyone is celebrating Christmas, and they have no idea (and she’s not there visiting nor has she called them!). There was a big emphasis on Bert Bauer, who seemed like a lovely lady. Was she Ed’s mother? There were several other people in the older clips that I wasn’t familiar with, but still heartwarming to see nonetheless. There was a hilarious flashback of Nola and Vanessa showing up in the same dress. They started ripping pieces off each other’s dress in the dressing room, which ended up with both on the floor tussling around. A clear nod to one of the old I Love Lucy episodes where Lucy and Ethel wear the same dress. So funny! It sounded like it was for Nola’s engagement party where they introduced Nola and Quint. Assuming this was around Christmastime given this was the Christmas episode, but they didn’t really say. I have to admit, seeing a younger Reva was pretty entertaining. They showed a clip of Billy (while with Vanessa) throw Reva out of a Lewis family Christmas party. They all seemed to have a stronger southern accent and colloquialisms back then, especially Reva, Billy and HB. I got to see a flashback of a young Lujack for the first time. Seeing VI that young is fun! Ok, Christmas is over and now I’m ready to see how this NYE masquerade ball goes...

Oh good, so you've seen the stuff I'm currently watching at least once. The rewatch strategy makes sense, as I do that with AMC myself. Still curious to see if I'll keep liking Matt or if he'll upset me down the line. I was worried at first with Dinah's return, but he ended up doing the right thing and never let her seduction attempts win over. I'm a little worried with Amanda, as they recently revealed they know each other from their time in California, so I'm curious to see where that goes... Oh, this I've picked up on haha Ahh makes sense. I've already thought about her and whether she requires a long vacation break each year. This past summer, she abruptly took Peter with her to Europe for a month, so Roger couldn't get to him as he was dealing with Dinah and her 'kidnapping' story. It seemed like a pretty clear 'hey she's gotta go on vacation, so we need to figure out how to write her out for a while without Matt going with her' thing.

Hahaha, no its ok, I can't be surprised by spoilers from that long ago... just don't tell me yet how she dies JK - but am curious if that was Maeve's decision and she moved on or if she was forced out.

Very helpful, as always! Remind me, when did you stop watching and what was the reason - because you didn't enjoy it anymore (which I get from your previous comments), or life got too busy, or you watched others that were better at the time? Just curious Wow - Vanessa dies in 1996? I'm surprised by that. I knew she didn't last forever on the show, but didn't realize it was so soon (for me). Was that Maeve's choice or did the writers/EP make that decision?

Oh - AppleTV Plus! That's good to know! I'll check both. Thanks again

Oh wow, I barely remember him! He looks like a handsome Clark Kent there haha. Thanks for sharing Speaking of, are full episodes of the TOLN AMC out there anywhere? It was only on for what, a year, if that? I remember watching it when it aired in real-time just once, but I was in a very much different chapter of life at the time.

Ohhh what else did Jean Carol say? I remember what McTavish allegedly wrote in her 'memoir' about Jean and the Nadine death, but I was always curious what Jean's version was and how she reacted to being let go. The Dylan/Carroll thing and Ed's relapse happened October 1994, and then Dylan left town to go to that school for the blind on NYE '94, so all right before I started watching. I found a good website that lists critical milestones/events that happen every year. I try not to read what happens in the future, so I don't spoil myself too much in the moment for a particular episode I'm watching, but I read back through the key events of 1994, leading up to my 1995 watch, and its been helpful. That's so great to hear about Leonard's friends and co-stars being at his side through all these years.

I love to hear that about Vanessa. I can't wait to see this when I go back and watch pre-95

I don't know the answer to that, but I too am curious, since I didn't realize Roger had one. I was just going to say, you're right about Fletcher! That was a big moment when Holly found out she was pregnant. Fletcher assumed it was Roger's because of his own vasectomy, which caused him to be really mad for a minute. But, if Roger also had a vasectomy, surely Holly/Fletcher knew this and they would have questioned that as well.

Oh interesting, I didn't realize Nadine was involved in any of that! She was given meatier storylines back then I see. I can't recall Nadine ever interacting with Van, Bridget or Peter since I've been watching. I guess once Buzz and Lucy came onto the scene, she hasn't really escaped the 5th Street Diner bubble (at least in 1995). Well this all makes more sense now, thanks for the background So I'm guessing Billy is still in prison right now in 95? I meant to look up how old Budig was she started GL, as I thought about how the age difference between Michelle and Billy is off now. I will say, Budig came in with an animal backpack, and they were still playing up the nice little girl act. I'm assuming that goes away and they give her something more young adult. Yep, just checked and Budig was 22 and Bryan was 15 in 1995. Thanks, as always I do remember a few scenes with Miner's Michelle and Bill around Eve's death and they were hot and cold with each other, dealing with emotions and feelings. I guess this Bill goes by Bill and his dad was Billy? I kept thinking he was Billy too. Yes! Alex broke the news in a pretty dramatic way, which I loved watching Marj do with her dramatic OTT flair haha. I agree, she and Hawk are pretty funny together, because he just really irritates the crap out of her, but she needed him. During that time, she hired him as her chauffeur and they took the trip out to Goshen, which was pretty funny. Sadly, I started after Dylan must have left Springfield. I put the pieces together based on the dialogue, as Bridget was still sort of pining over him. One early episode into my viewing, David took Bridget to the blind facility where Dylan living. They never showed Dylan's face, but it was too hard for Bridget to handle and they left. I guess he got into a car accident, was blinded, and left? Oh that is so sad about the actor almost passing away! I'll have to google that and check out the details. That must have really been hard on the actors at the time, plus finding an emergency recast. I'm looking forward to seeing how Blake/Hart interact in the coming months! Thanks as always, @DRW50

I'm up to Dec 15, 1995. These past two weeks have been fantastic soap opera! Major storylines are weaving together and culminating into fantastic cliffhangers. Annie/Josh are getting married, in the middle of a snowstorm, with many Springfield residents in attendance. Marian, who is getting more and more unhinged, is using the night to her advantage by expecting to find Lucy alone at the boarding house. To Marian's surprise, Lucy already left for dinner with AM/Nick and found Susan in her shower instead. What a fun Psycho-style scene that was in the shower with Marian's big butchers knife! Susan fought hard, but succumbed to a hard hit to the head with an alarm clock. Susan recently learned she has AIDs, but Nick has been so sweet to her and he was planning to propose to her that night at dinner with Lucy/AM there with them. Thankfully they found Susan's body and got police and medics to help her, but I'm curious if she'll remember what happened when she wakes up! Meanwhile, Hawk is in the hospital because he had a heart attack after seeing Reva. He wakes up and tells Alex he saw Reva and is sure that she's Rebecca, so she goes to Buzz and convinces him to let her watch the CCTV footage of he and Rebecca dancing and she realizes it's really Reva. She rushes away, but her car breaks down in the snow and she finally stumbles into the wedding after Josh/Annie are pronounced married (where all the guests are on that damn carousel, I seriously don't understand their obsession with that thing). She starts yelling to everyone that Reva is alive! Josh is stunned and Annie is heartbroken. Meanwhile, Alan and Reva are about to fly away forever on his plane, but they're stuck because of the snowstorm. Buzz, Josh and Alex get to the plane before they take off and BAM, we finally see Josh and an alive Reva together again... 6 months later! Finally. I do feel really bad for Annie, she can never get a break from Reva and Josh's obsession with her. I think she just needs to dump Josh at this point and go back to Rick. Rick, btw, is sporting this new slicked back hair look and it's LOL. I guess he isn't liking that frizzy mop anymore. I do think this Reva storyline has been weird and inconsistent. I'm still not convinced by the Ghost Reva explanation, but it's a soap opera, so I'll go with it haha. They tried hard to explain why she would be ok to leave her kids and family and go away forever with Alan, instead of telling them she's actually alive, but I just don't buy that either. Once she got her memory back, she should try everything she can to be with her kids. I also thought it was weird that she just left her father at the hospital post-heart attack without really wanting to have a reunion with him. Seems like she wasn't really that close to him after all. What has remained consistent is Alan being a selfish pig who cares about no one but himself. He doesn't even really care about Reva, he just cares about fulfilling himself by having her. We did get a pretty epic showdown between Annie and Reva on that plane though. Watros and Zimmer really acted their butts off in those scenes. Probably Watros' best so far at this point. And even after all that drama, Alan is still like "Ok Reva, are you ready to take off, let's go" 😒 He's such a broken record. In other news, Hart, who is a hottie, is back in town and just found out Peter is his son. Bridget and Vanessa really tried hard not to tell him, but Dinah let the cat out of the bag. I'm looking forward to this storyline, because it seems like Bridget will get more screen time. Can someone remind me - why did Vanessa get half custody of Peter? Matt wouldn't have been in the picture yet, so I'm trying to figure out what her relationship to Peter and the story was between Bridget, Hart and Roger. Also, it's clear that Hart hates his dad, but was he also a bad boy? That's the sense I'm getting based on how everyone is talking, but they aren't specific. Were Blake and Hart close as siblings? I haven't seen them interact yet. Holly just found out her baby will have Down's, which is sad. Was Maureen pregnant in real life at this time? Oh! Michelle also came back from Europe, now played by Rebecca Budig. It's so fun seeing her, pre-AMC, in a younger role. She came in with a huge smile on her face the entire episode, which was cute. Little Billy kept eyeing her at Josh/Annie's wedding. I'm sensing a little crush coming on. Looking forward to finishing up 1995!

Love to hear it, thanks for sharing! I'll be ordering

So Martin's dream/flashback - looked like cop cars and someone bending over him... my guess is he killed someone in an auto accident and he was under the influence. Bill was the attorney that helped Vernon/Anita get him off. We'll see!

Was that Martin showing his dad to the couch?? Goodness! I guess the whole truth really does come out finally. That's intense.

Same! Like you all, I'm really liking Angela. I couldn't believe Kelly's outfit out on the town 😲 Haha - she was not being shy that night!