P.J.

Well, technically, Alex's introduction party was a masquerade. GL loved doing them. This also gives Alex the freedom (or in the first episode, Alex's double) to wander around the party unrecognized, not to mention Bradley and Jim. OMG--Alan and Jackie's wedding sounds like a HOOT. Alan and Hope's, not so much. I think I've seen a picture of that wedding dress and it looks drab. The German episodes start around the summer of '82. I keep hoping more of them will pop up. Odd ones from earlier will occasionally. But seeing more with Jackie would be epic.

Oh, and another thing---how unlikely was it that a) Elizabeth just left her wedding dress somewhere where Phillip could find it at the Spaulding mansion? Like, is there a separate attic space for each of Alan's wives? or that b) Alan would actually remember it, which he claimed to do?

I assume that Martha would've called him Harlan, just as Sally and later Sarah do. Given that, I think Reva does it (in the beginning) to manipulate him and then later because they're closer (having been married) or because that's what Reva heard him called as a child. Reva does occasionally call him HB, but Vanessa never, ever called him Harlan. Billy, Trish and Josh each had their issues with him, so I think they started out calling him HB to create that distance. The same way Phillip would call his fathers Alan and Justin most of the time. And in direct contrast with Vanessa and Mindy, who nearly always use "daddy" when referring to their fathers, emphasizing their closeness. Later, Billy and Josh would occasionally use "daddy", but it would be in personal conversations with him.

Yeah, no one says "Harlan Billy" very often. While we think of Billy as a nickname, it was a more popular name from around the 1880's-early 1900's. For me it's the "Harlan" that just sounds harsh. There's a lot of other names they could've used...Howard, Harrison, Hamilton even Harwood, that arguably might sound better with "Billy". I'll have to pay more attention to the earlier episodes I watch to see if it pops up under Marland. 'Cause honestly, it does sound like a Marland-ism. Beth wore Elizabeth's wedding gown to the party welcoming Alexandra back to Springfield, where they also announced their engagement after returning from New York. (this is also Vanessa and Billy's first wedding.) Ugh---part of what I hated about the clone story was how stupid everyone else had to be to not know something was off with "Reva".

Given the way Long focused on his family issues, I doubt it was accidental. Happy or otherwise.

In those specific instances, it was probably to keep confusion to a minimum. And with Lesley Anne, it's another instance of GL reusing a name fairly quickly after a character's death. On a planet with millions of names, it seems like GL just couldn't help themselves.

I'm pretty sure it was always credited as Harlan. The obvious inspiration is Harland Sanders. Marland did have a propensity for biblical names (Joshua, Caleb, Seth (from ATWT)) or slightly old-fashioned names: Margaret (Meg), Eleanor (Ellie), and Harvey Snyder for example. If it was Long who decided what the "H" stood for, maybe Harlan(d) is more of a Alabama/Georgia name. And there's Harlan County USA, which either could've used as inspiration. I'd never heard the name Reva before (or Reba, for that matter). Roxie I think was short for Roxanne, which seems a little pretentious for Sarah. Rusty's given name was Russell.

Very early on, there were occasional references to the Lewises having a ranch and horses, but that was quickly dropped. And funny, for "down home" people, whenever they visited back home, it was always going to Cross Creek (which is apparently just a vacation cabin.)

Jordan Clarke even starts out with a different accent when he debuted. I'm not sure what he was going for, but it changes noticeably. I believe Carrie Cromlyn comes from the Kentucky/West Virginia area, which accounts for her twang. Not to mention Mindy, who mostly sounds like Valley Girl.

The lady who held the deed to the land under The Towers name was Ruth Price. Her reading Roger for filth was great. "I know the Devil is a gentleman..."...LOL I'm not sure of her name, and I don't recall seeing her elsewhere. Unlike Vera who I think occasionally showed up on ATWT. Per slick jones' character guide, Ruth was played by Beatrice Winde. Greg Burke was on the least of the three. I'm nearly positive he was never on contract. Someone hated YaYa?

Joe Pozeneki (and I know I've murdered the spelling of his last name). I lnpw he was on for a good decade. He was there fir Diane Ballard's murder. The last time I recall him being mentioned was Reva's PPD disappearance. They had this guy during Lujack's time who I liked too--but I forget his name.

Margaret probably delivered Springfield's babies for twenty years! Oddly, one of my favorite ATWT recurring characters was Lynn Michaels, played by Courtney Sherman, aka Mrs. Peter Simon. Leo is delightfully smarmy. And let's not forget Nick, our Christmas Santa.

Okay, random question--- Who's your favorite recurring character? Mine: Wanda Vera Det. Levy HM: Lance, Vanessa's secretary in '83

It'd be a little jarring jumping into the last months of Sonni/Will, but otherwise, I can't see a downside. '89 (while Reva heavy) isn't exactly RevaOverload.

I know I'll sound like a broken record, but I'd still start with '89. If episodes aren't available, at least there are SOD recaps available to augment. I know gaps are frustrating, but I'd watch as much of Alex/Roger as I could. That begins in '89. By '92, you're only going to see about 8 months of her.

As someone who criticized KM in the first weeks of the show and felt she was really struggling being "angry, shoot'em up Dani", I'm happy to say I agree---she's settled into the role. I mostly meant that I've warmed up to Bill. The rest of the males, however are still pretty bland and interchangeable. I'm surprised more focus hasn't been landed on Nicole. Anita may be the matriarch, but Nicole should be the heart of the show as she rebuilds her life.

On paper, a lot of this should work. Nicole feels like a classic heroine, and I've warmed up to Dani and Bill (a little bit). Eva vs. Kat could drive stories for years. BTG feels like it's working too hard and lacking focus.

A) I'm not watching any other soap currently. I get the same feeling from BTG that I did from GH, which I tried sticking with for years for Maura West. Port Charles was a huge sucking black hole revolving around Sonny. B ) The best I can explain it is this---it's a huge problem that after (what?) nine months, these characters are still bouncing from emotion to emotion per the plot. When I don't believe that Nicole loved Ted anymore than Leslie/Dana did---the writers haven't done their job. Characters don't seem to feel conflicted, no matter how much they tell me they do. One second Vanessa is moaning how much she loved Doug, the next she's bitching Joey is dumping her because he needs the thrill of screwing someone else's wife. Chelsea fell for Madison in about two days to give StalkerGirl someone to feel threatened by. The "big mysteries" of what happened to Martin to give him nightmares and The Articulettes breakup were wrapped up in a couple of messy weeks. And BINGO, they're no longer problems. (Leslie getting that trust fund and buying the house across the road to annoy everyone isn't as much a "problem" as a contrivance.) Stories don't feel like they intersect. How has finding out about a new sister impacted Martin and Kat's relationship? Has their parents' breakup affected their other relationships? *shrug* I don't know. The biggest point of Chelsea's kidnapping seems to be that Martin now owes Joey "a favor". While Eva and Kat occasionally hiss at each other, the only one it really seems to affect a wee bit is Ted. Oh, and the block of wood known as Tomas, who doesn't seem conflicted at all about screwing half-sisters. I know these are weak examples, but when nothing really "sticks", it's the best I can do. And btw, maybe I'm just too old, and too unhip, but the constant slang annoys me. By all means, be modern. But if I hear "bougie" one more time, or "Articulette Strong" (if "anything strong" was a thing back in the 70's, I missed it.) or DMV (which I had to google), I might throw something at the tv (which I know is also old-school).

Even before episodes were taken down, I hadn't found all of '89 up anywhere in English.

Maybe it's the lack of history. I don't feel any real emotional complexity to the plots. I guess I had expected more from Michele Val Jean, whose writing I'd heard so much about.

I know there are growing pains, but this show still feels really basic. In some cases, better actors could give some of the stories more weight, but for the most part, it just feels simplistic.

I hear what you're saying, and I suppose that it's not like GL veered away from incorporating current issues into their stories (yes, Bridget gets pregnant and realizes how much responsibility it is: Billy and Ed (well, Billy mostly) were always just a bad day away from taking a drink; even Olivia and Natalia's relationship (whatever one thinks of it).) And it's not like pushing a social issue story ultimately saved any soap. I just found it odd that I couldn't think of one. And even when they do try, like Meg having down's syndrome, a retroactive transplant story with Jesse, Reva pulling the plug on Richard, or even how Springfield accepts Olivia/Natalia, they are so ham-handed they usually fall flat. And it's not that CBS was afraid of okaying them---Y&R, ATWT and B&B all did some kind of AIDS story long before GL did. I mean, as much as I watch '89-'93, (at a point when Marland's ATWT was pretty vocal about safe-sex), the only reference I can think of regarding condoms was between Rick and Mindy, who's upset when she finds condoms and thinks Rick assumes they're having sex on a camping trip. Not doing focused story labeled as "social issue", kind of gave them the option to chicken out and drop it.

So, Johnny Fletcher then adopted little Billy Fletcher, who Roger later adored? Did Johnny Fletcher die?

And it's not like GL didn't reuse names constantly. I just wouldn't be sure how she got from Scott to Fletcher....

Forgive my ignorance, is this the same Peggy Roger was involved with? I'm really not sure how they dealt with Ed's alcoholism in the '70's either.