Spoon

@alwaysAMC you mentioned that you dig Michelle and Jesse, which couples do you like and which ones are you not feeling? Also which characters do you like most and dislike most? Personally, I was a Bloss fan. I thought Jenna was Buzz's best pairing- sorry Nadine. At the time I was rooting for Beth and Phillip to reunite. 1998 Neth is so different from 80s Beth- she's a b-word vixen. While Phillip and Harley are a cute couple, Harley's next long term coupling is better. I was never into Mattessa. Cassie and Hart are pretty good together, but I feel bad for Dinah being the town pariah. Of course, she caused it by aways being selfish and entitled. She's long forgotten her circus roots. Side note related to off-scrern characters beinb in stasis, when India returns in 2000s she mentions that Dorie was getting ready to get married. Also, Amanda is briefly mentioned in 2004 as she left Roger at some point, but AFAIK he was still at Spaulding West until the near end. Its a shame that Alan-Michael and Lucy didn't have children off-screen. When you circle back to the 90s, I want to recommend some jumping on points.. the Summer of 1990. I'd say start after reva leaves, but you'd miss the Roger/Holly Acapulco plot that runs concurrent to Reva's exit- and since you like that pairing, I think you'll enjoy it. Also around Feb 1991 after a bunch of established characters leave (Chelsea, Beth, Phillip, Rick and Josh), a soft reset in ways.

https://youtu.be/wpZ2wucCrC4?si=HnFkUo6ZMNCMG615 On this day in 1992, the special Ross Election Day Nightmare episode aired.

I saw this quote from The Boston Globe on the We Love Soaps this day in history column... In a last-ditch effort to save the soap, Brian Frons, CBS manager of daytime programs, is hoping that forthcoming episodes of SEARCH, featuring expensive location footage of Hong Kong, will provide much-needed excitement, along with some adrenalin for the ratings. However, if the numbers fail to improve, there are two scenarios under way: CBS will either move the soap to the 4 p.m. graveyard time slot or simply cancel it altogether. So, if Search didn’t move to NBC it seemed likely that Capitol would still debut but SFT would get the Love of Life treatment with certain cancellation soon afterward. Could you imagine Edge vs Search at 4pm?

@DeeVee what Josh did to the clone was what they call "grooming" these days. She was young and impressionable with this older, creepy guy telling her that they are soulmates.

@alwaysAMCyes you should try to make it til the Summer of '99. After that its a very different show. The transition is certainly interesting.

@Speed Racer yes, 1998 is basically the end of classic GL, with all the gangsters and island people flooding the show in '99.

No, she wasn't disabled, that was a transplant storyline. But having a tragedy involving a child for EMMY bait. That would be what pushes Holly over the edge in '98. Its a shame Peter never returns as s teen or adult, considering how much plot was around him for a few years. Same with Meg and the other kids born in the 90s kids that weren't Coopers.

@DeeVeethe mags reported that the original plans was to ape GH and have Meg die in a car accident, then have Fletcher leave town. @alwaysAMC very light spoilers.... there's follow-up with Holly but you have to wait until early 1999.

@P.J. McKinnon cousin Jake on AW, who outlasted the main family.

Also IIRC, cousin Jack basically filled the slot of Caleb Snyder who was also a cop. Kinda how cop nephew Adam Cory replaced cop nephew Neal Cory on AW.

@DeeVee That reminds me how Clarissa was named after Holly, because that character in Blake's novel was based on Holly. Also, Leah Bauer was a combination of Rick's mom Leslie and Mel's mom Felicia. IIRC, Cassie gave birth to RJ in a car during a blizzard, right around the holidays.

@alwaysAMC yes, Josh is a total groomer. Totally problematic in hindsight but he has some powerful scenes dealing with loss and reliving his life in a sense seeing clone Reva grow up.

I didn't care for BC's first run as Bet, she paled in comparison to Judi. BC excelled in her second run? BC was just better suited in playing a shady vixen- way removed from Judi's Beth.

I remember Harley and Cassie having a pretty consistent friendship from 1998 and on.

@alwaysAMC CBS reran both the 1997 Christmas episode and where Abby killed Roy during the holidays either in '98 or '99.

@alwaysAMC the Alan-Annie Wedding is in the second half of January 98. It was the first episode of GL i flipped on after returning from The Phillipines, didn't know what all was going on but it was an exciting episode.

@alwaysAMC The way I remember it, Budig's contract wasn't renewed. TPTB were looking for a place for Bethany Joy Lenz on canvas, after her strong performance as the teenage clone Reva. At one point they considered bringing her on as a niece for Reva via Johnny and Roxie. Budig's final scene was a Friday cliffhanger and was quite memorable.

NSA was weak as Michelle. My favorite was Bethany Joie Lenz. I thought Daniel Cosgrove really gelled ás both Bill Lewis on GL and Chris Hughes on ATWT. Bill/Michelle not being endgame was for the best, Bill's best pairing by far was with Lizzie. That pair was a bright spot during the end times. Miss Sally was revealed to be the mother of both Billy Lewis and Kyle Sampson. She really served it to Reva a few times IIRC.

Guiding Light on 60 Minutes pt 1.  9-13-09

@alwaysAMC overall, I felt 2002/early 2003 was the best thd show's been since 1999. We got Ed back, the mob and the island were being phased out, we got a new show intro, and Bill and Michelle were finally FINALLY paired up.

@alwaysAMC I always enjoy your reviews. I was out of the country on a family trip from Oct-mid Jan, so its neat reading the details of this period.

Beth and Alan's daughter was named Peyton. Beth was with Rick at the same time, but the child ended up being Alan's.

Thanks for the replies, solid business reasons. I wasn't born yet back then.

It was so dumb of NBC not to expand The Doctors to one hour. I wonder why they lacked the confidence to do so. I know they did a test episode, but it would've made more sense than bloating AW to 90 minutes. AW never recovered and GH became a ratings monster.

@P.J. FH said once (SOD?) that she was offered the role of Eve Guthrie which was contract, but took the 'short-term' role of Jenna instead because it was more interesting. @alwaysAMC Re: Nola. Nola's movie fantasies were charming delight in the 80s under Marland, but just came off as sad as an older woman in the 1990s. In regards to Trish, she was the first Lewis introduced, followed by Josh (1981?). Created by Doug Marland, Pam Long added the rest in 1983 and made them explicitly southern. In addition to Ross, she was involved with Alan. The Mindy at the funeral is Kimberly Simms, the second Mindy- the one who played out the affair with Roger. Future Mindy cameos would be by Krista Tesreau, Mindy #1.