P.J.

I thought maybe it was Holden's '97 return, which was on a motorcycle, but a quick scan of the 1-16-97 episode only has an "Entering Oakdale" sign. Maybe the first or last Alan-Michael? It sounds like something Carl T Evans might have done, or something Ellen Wheeler would have done in Peapack.

Maybe two or three years? I know he was there in 2001 for Julia I's going crazy---not sure he was there in 2002 when Julia kidnapped and raped Jack.

I guess I understand why it never happened while the shows were positioned better---the shows actually cared about continuity, the scheduling, and PITA-ness of it all....and the "crossover event" wasn't a thing yet. But YEAH, it would've been LIT to have any sort of interaction between the shows.

Well, I meant the years both shows were taping in Manhattan ("later" being after the Mike Bauer GL/AW crossover in the '60's).

And the P&G soaps had a long history of referencing the others---at least obliquely. For instance, road signs or travel destinations might have been "Bay City", "Oakdale" and "Springfield". (With occasional nods to Love of Life with Rosehill, Search for Tomorrow with Henderson or Edge of Night with Monticello...) I was always puzzled why ATWT and GL never in later years did any kind of crossover---especially when they were still taping in the same building. RE: the Y&R/ATWT crossover---wasn't there some kind of "see content online" hook to that story? I seem to recall something about that---I don't think Amber went over well on YR and they were trying to seem edgy with the story about Amber & Ali and how they met doing porn or something.

Yeah---defined relationships weren't their strong suit. Sort of like how Jack started out as Holden's second cousin---then quickly got an upgrade to first. I was surprised that they made Carly and Molly cousins. I'm not sure Molly would've been salvageable if Carly hadn't returned to town. Molly had crossed a line trying to kill Lily, and seemed destined to get the bum's rush.

And Betsy was about the only connection left to the Stewarts at the time. Without Betsy as a direct tie to Emily, Em's reintroduction to Oakdale would've felt flat. Frost could've handled more and better story than she got. If there was a character who truly fell through the cracks under Marland, it was Betsy.

Specifically, in the case of Steve and Betsy, not being "as iconic" as Luke and Laura is because of the short time they were together. Ryan left the role shortly after Steve and Betsy got married (and Jimmy wasn't quite accurate---yes, Betsy got amnesia, but she was also burned, requiring surgery, grew about five inches and emerged as Lindsay Frost) and then Runyeon left in '85, '86. They just weren't together as long. They didn't come back either. Now...if someone wanted to debate Reva & Josh vs Luke & Laura.... and I would totally agree, after with Luke&Laura and Y&R's emergence, there was a west coast bias, at least in the press. I always considered the west coast soaps more the "hair modelish" vs the real actors of the east coast. But I'm a CBS raised person, and my heart lies with the P&G soaps, for better or worse.

No, he said he was dating another actress on the show. I'm guessing it didn't end so well, as he didn't name her. It's nice to see stories like that----I either didn't know or had forgotten that "he and Betsy wrote the song" on the show. I don't quite think he takes enough credit for the song itself---it's a beautiful ballad all on it's own. Yeah, I'm sure the timing of it made it a little bigger or a little more memorable, but it would've been a hit either way. And yes, Steve and Betsy were that popular. I don't think that under similar circumstances, they would have ever been as iconic as Luke and Laura. But they are arguably, ATWT's most iconic couple.

I wouldn't doubt he was burning out---he'd been in the job 7+ years, and was famous for having his hand in it from the first script to the last. Not to mention, he was working a YEAR ahead in terms of outlines. IIRC, while he'd been continously writing since his acting days---ATWT was the longest he'd ever stuck at one show. And I'll throw it out there---could his "darker" tone have been influenced by the AIDS crisis? As a gay man in the entertainment industry, he had to have friends affected by it.

Kathryn Hays Marie Masters Chris Bernau And I kinda doubt Eileen Fulton or Don Hastings were either. I was kind of surprised to find out that this was only Jon LIndstrom's second nomination.

I didn't believe it either. I thought she was fine in the scenes I saw her in. The reason I remember her is because she had a scene with Maura. But she calls it a firing. https://michaelfairmantv.com/dear-johns-amanda-seyfried-talks-about-her-firing-from-atwt/2010/02/03/

Those dates for Seyfried are wrong. She had a handful of episodes around Christmas 2000 before she was fired. List debuted in December, 2001, IIRC, because it was Lucy's appearance that ended any chance of Craig going with Carly to Paris (when MW's maternity leave kicked off the Spa Storyline). Glendening's tenure is technically correct, but only because she made a handful of appearances late in '10. Otherwise, Lucy had left sometime in '09. Not that i guess it matters----but ATWT didn't really have a direction for Lucy, which is sad, given that she was a legacy child. The casting is all over the place. While a lot of ATWT's recasting the last decade were a menagerie of WTF----two long term recasts have always stumped me. KMH as Emily and Scott Holmes as Tom. I don't care that both were by far the longest tenured actors to play the characters, I still don't get it. KMH lacked any genuine warmth that Melanie Smith had in the role. And after back to back good recasts of Tom in the '80's, Holmes was a return to the sort of old-before-his-time fuddy duddy Tom of the '70's. At times he seemed older than his father Bob.

And before someone points out they could've recast if Loring was persona non grata----there's also the possibility that CBS didn't want two characters named "Cricket" on at the same time. By '85 or so, "Cricket Blair" was becoming a major character over on Y&R. From what I can tell, Cricket was gone by '83. Marland comes on in '85 and refocuses the show back to core families like the Hughes and Stewarts...while adding the Snyders, granted....I'm not sure why he's catching heat for not bringing back a minor character he didn't write for and was gone long before he got there. Vixens/troublemakers like Karen and Diana---at least I get why and how they could've furthered story.

I think CBS didn't want to be associated with Loring the more notorious her life got. And honestly, Cricket wasn't a vital piece of ATWT history. Marland also liked using the idea of "out of town relatives" to cover vacations or maternity leaves.

To be fair, I thought the short pixie she rocked every now and then flattered her best.

Julie Poll's book doesn't list anyone other than Drew and Bruder playing Ellen.

Yes. There was a brief period where Em was softened (with Hal), but otherwise she ran the gamut from evil to just abrasive with psychotic tendencies (at least while KMH played her. Meanie Smith's Emily was a troublemaker who repeatedly picked the wrong man. )

Happy Anniversary. I miss ATWT so much....

Today is Don Hastings birthday! Kinda awesome having an April Fool's b-day.

It makes me a lot sad...along with the fact GH passed it in episodes last year, and DOOL will next.

I know we analyze Marland to death, and that's a lot easier to do years after his tenure and when we know how it's played out....but at the time, when you're caught up in the story, yes, his ATWT was addicting.

In Bob's defense, adult Chris was a maroon and written like an idiot who couldn't keep it in his pants. I do think Bob was clearly the tougher parent with Chris, but there were times Chris was irresponsible. And Kim did coddle him.

Generally, I doubt they're speaking about his years as Tom. It's his years as GL's Buzz that wore on me.

I believe Nancy's 80th birthday was in August of 98, when David sank the Valetta during his and Molly's wedding, faking his death.