P.J.

Well, I think they started out not getting along too well. I think they'd both mellowed by 2003(?) when Ben won the emmy. The only thing I've really ever read about Jennifer that suggests to me she wasn't some woe-is-me character is that she wanted to return to nursing after giving birth to Frannie, while Bob wanted her to stay home. I wonder if the youth movement watered down female characters. You can't write an interesting 30-ish character mooning over the first stable boy she meets, kwim?

I'd never thought about it that way...but when you realize Lisa was the face of ATWT in the '60's, (along with Penny), it doesn't seem to fit the mold, does it? Kim, Susan and Joyce were all fan favorites, and they certainly weren't the girl next door mold. I would love to be able to see Jennifer as a comparison to Kim.

Well, if you think about it, they were the only stable couple left at the time---Bob and Kim were off marrying newbies, Nancy and Chris went on hiatus in '81 or so...wow, it's kind of weird to think about it---a time before Bob and Kim were Oakdale's bastion couple.

I think it's the white hair. Henderson was about 63 then so, he's pretty age appropriate for four grown children. But nowadays, we don't see that gray hair anymore.

*thumps head* The sister of my sister is not necessarily my sister. Now that I can't believe I typed that, of course I remember Babs was having issues with "the living proof" her mother was cheated on. It is so hard keeping track of such twisted family trees. What strikes me about the costumes is there's no sense of anyone having a personal style. Poor Betsy was wearing the same clothes her aunts were. I kind of spaced that Kim was raising Betsy and Andy at the same time. And even though I know Kim was married to Dan---I never remember thinking of her as Ellen's daughter in law even when Ellen was still on the show.

Young Peter Simon with his Bee-Gee hair cracks me up. The Stewart women as sluts seems to have started WAY before Emily---both Dee and Annie are/were involved with married men. Tom, Annie and Dee seem so old. Right now, Tom looks 45, FCOL. I watched the next episode, with a Babs/Melinda scene. It's weird seeing Babs have a sister to talk to. It's only a few years later that she hates Sabrina who's popped up as her half-sister, and then there's the whole Frannie/Darryl/Babs thing that soured their relationship.

But soap operas are about relationships. I don't think Annie or Dee was any more or less focused on their romances than say Kim or Barbara were. We just see Kim and Barbara in a more rounded way because they grew and evolved over time whereas Annie and Dee (in the scheme of things) were short term characters. I think the writers tried to make Annie and Dee ATWT's version of Y&R's Laurie and Leslie Brooks---and it failed miserably, imo.

Of course Betsy needed to be a romantic lead, she's a legacy child with a troubled, tangled childhood RIPE with issues. And I don't think you could have recast Davidson earlier, since a major part of the '70's dealt with her paternity secret.

No, I haven't seen Frannie in these episodes (or even heard her mentioned). I don't really think she had any stories until she was SOARSed in 83/84.

I know at some point some of Betsy's inheritance was used to establish a shelter for teens/some kind of youth center (on what later became McKechnie Island if I'm not mistaken). And I do think Betsy did get some kind of "experiments with drugs" kind of story, briefly. I remember something about a party where something bad happened, but it may have also been Frannie.

I've never seen that; but I can't recall reading much about their early relationship. It sounds like she got along with Gregg Marx.

The only thing useful about Rosanna was MW's Carly. What fascination Marland had with poor little rich girls I will never understand. I guess she kind of filled the ingénue void left when Byrne left/was recast with Heather Rattray. But OY vey...if only she'd had as much talent to fill her bra with as she did flesh.... I don't remember much of Babs/Gunnar, but I remember loving them. But I do have a special place in my heart for Hal&Babs. I thought BH and CZ had great chemistry. I was kind of shocked to find out they didn't really get along all that well.

I think it's less about Deas as an actor and more about Deas as Tom Hughes. I honestly don't even really remember him on ATWT (damn the education system in this country anyway...LOL) but I loved the first couple of years of him on GL.

Well, it's hard to keep track of thirty years' worth of co-stars. She completely lucked out getting to nearly sleep with Gregg Marx's Tom..

I do wish Marland had explored/addressed the way Emma isolated herself after Harvey's death. It's like she never really moved on after his death. Odd that Bea Reardon was kind of the same way---but at least they addressed that, having thought she was abandoned by Tom (?) when he was really dead. Oh, and about the refrigerator---Cal and Jarod (Iva's bio dad) literally had a little war trying to win Emma's affections with new appliances. It was a thing.

By that time Tom had been an adult for like thirty years, LOL. *shivers thinking about a Tom/Molly hookup* Thank God they never went there.

Well, it's not like other siblings didn't share lovers. Even the stalwart Bob did sisters. It's just that their were six of them, which has to be the biggest family ATWT ever had. Tom Hughes had plenty of half-siblings, but Chuckie died young; he barely knew Scott and Chris was about three generations younger than him. Hard to share a ho that way. LOL.

One, I loved the Snyder kitchen too. The only thing really tacky about it was the water heater in plain sight, which probably no one's done since the '30's in the first place. I wouldn't consider the Snyders tacky at all. Down to earth, definitely. I think some of the gee-golly-Mayberryness of them was overdone at times---I caught one clip (it must have been the first Christmas they'd been on the show) where Emma gave people home made bread, of all things...and sometimes it seemed like they had a tradition for every day of the week. But for the most part, they were the decent people you kinda/sorta knew from down the street/road/hall who would lend you a helping hand without you having to ask. I loved Jack, and for the most part his relationship with Holden. I wouldn't have wanted him as a recast Caleb---one, Caleb by that time had too much history to simply ignore it. Sure, you could have had him divorce Julie. But you couldn't rewrite his history with his family, and frankly, by then I was tired of him and Holden fighting over women, their childhood, and everything else under the sun. They got away with it with Brad (Peck's version) because in the scheme of things he'd been a minor character, on for what, a year and a half? And two, because the show needed fresh blood. I thought he really fit in with Emma, Holden and Lily. It's not his fault they were the only Snyders left. And ATWT was always reluctant to cast anyone as simply someone new in town unrelated to anyone.

Meg emerged once they got her away from any man who would have fallen at Lily's feet---ie, Tonio---and into a more adult story. Any other "teen" actress never got an "A" story. Lily always WAS the "A" story. Dee with James? SAY WHAT?? Part of the reason no one talks about Brad Hollister is that he had no family on that show for the last 25 years. No one would remember Jennifer Ryan had not Kim and Babs still been around. And the Dobson era is not fondly remembered in general.

I FLOVED Pam Wagner!! It totally sucked that EVERY younger actress chilled in MB's shade in the late 80's. Brad Hollister? I don't even remember him. But one of my earliest soap memories is Melinda's death. Thunking her head on a boat---what a cruel way to go.

Well, Lucinda did lose her company. But yeah, she was never in danger of losing the Walsh estate---even if it did shrink horribly over the years. I don't recall if she got any of Whit's money---but I don't doubt that even Bob had to pay some kind of alimony after their divorce. No matter what kind of wife you were back then, you got alimony.

That was when someone gave a damn about ATWT being a multi-generational show. I don't even really know where Lisa got her money. I just assume it was mostly from marrying and divorcing (or being widowed) well.

oh, come on. She was mostly the money behind these endeavors. Not that she wasn't portrayed as a competent business woman, but we all know her true talent was marrying up.

I don't think Barbara was mad at either of them; even though Margo's affair with James meant they would never be friends. Barbara was tired of being shat on by life. She survived James, but Gunnar died shortly thereafter, then she lost Brian over Paul issues to Shannon. She decided she wasn't going to be hurt by men anymore. Tom and Margo were having problems. Tom agreed to help Barbara start up her first clothing line, Simply Barbara. Tom and Babs did kiss---but he pulled away and wanted to keep it strictly business. So there was some desire on her part---but I think it was more about power than love.

Well, some of it was no doubt a reaction to Luke propelling GH to number one. But with Nick especially I think it was just writing a stereotypical Greek male. He seemed to be modeled a bit on Ari Onassis. And I think Nick was intentionally written "stronger" to differentiate him from the somewhat wussy Dan.