P.J.

It does have frustrating gaps. Between recaps, German episodes and what's up in English, I've cobbled together a lot of what went on, at least concerning Vanessa. Someone brought up The Fishing Trip again, and I began to wonder why the Spauldings and Bauers are even connected to it. Other than Bill's death, the Bauers are barely impacted by it. Hillary isn't even invited to the big explanation party. And other than blaming some of the loose morality of the men on Brandon, he doesn't seem to matter. And Eli doesn't bother going after any of Bill's or Brandon's progeny until the very end, when they just happen to be at a meeting where he can blow everyone up at once.

No. Vanessa was more resentful of Jennifer, as shortly after Mark dumped her, he ended up married to her. Vanessa quickly moved on to Tony and obsessing over him. By the time Mark and Amanda are having an affair, Vanessa is looking for her half brother. I think Vanessa knew there was something going on between them, but didn't care. When Billy first comes to town, Vanessa is irritated whenever he spends time with Amanda. He's making moves on Vanessa, and his flirting with Amanda is mostly related to business, but Vanessa doesn't know that.

Yes, there was some ancient bad blood between Van and Amanda. Back in the day, Van had beefs with almost everyone to some degree. It started with Van making moves on Amanda's husband du jour, Ben, and exposing the fact Amanda had paid an art gallery owner to give Ben a contract. They also skirmished constantly at Spaulding, as Amanda was in charge and Vanessa chafed at being told what to do. Vanessa also engineers a scathing interview of Hope's to be printed that's highly critical of Amanda when she first takes the reins at Spaulding (while Alan is briefly jailed). It's not exactly all out warfare, but they disliked each other.

I'm not sure it's a real bomb. There's something about a box that Nadine knows about.

Well, true. It just feels like I'm forgetting something. He's spent the past few years involved in an art theft ring, aiding and abetting Sonni, and faking paternity tests (although I can't think of anyone who was ever prosecuted for that off the top of my head). There's also how he was trying to manipulate the situation and warn people Blake was working with Roger, who he suspected was alive. OH....he's the one who shot Phillip at his wedding to Blake. Although I think that was accidental.

Alan went to jail in '90 for shooting Roger. Right? He'd also been complicit in keeping the truth of Marah's paternity from Reva and Josh, and assisted Sonni(Solita) in keeping them apart. He's in a wheelchair after being accidently shot by Sonni, but had recovered and pretended to still be paralyzed. Adult AM (actually he's a teen) came back to town in '87. Carl T Evans interacted with both Chris Bernau and Daniel Pilon. But by the time Rick Hearst takes over in '90, Alan is in jail and off-screen.

Or Judge Judy.

I kind of debate throwing John McCook's name out in any of the fantasy casting talk. He's too young to be Mike, and I'm not sure he can project the kind of inner struggle that defined Ed. And he's arguably prettier than half the female cast. lol.

As a Billy/Vanessa fan, I wouldn't skip it, but that's me.

I still don't like Ted, but it was a nice little laugh having him scoff at "someone who spells Kyle K-i-a-l." I agree, I think whoever at BTG thought Kyle needed an extra unique spelling is focused on the wrong things.

I bust on Simon for Ed's turning into a dour wet blanket, but he didn't start out that way. Even in his second stint, it's not until after he and Mo renew their vows that Ed seems to start sliding into a moroseness. About half of Ed and Vanessa is with Mart Hulswit. They start interacting more after Vanessa's suicide attempt (it's not a serious attempt, she was trying to get Ross' attention and then couldn't get a hold of him) in March '81. Mart is replaced in September. It's a really weird set of circumstances: Ed and Maeve start the relationship, Maeve goes on maternity leave late August/early September and Anna Stuart replaces her, there's a few episodes with Mart and Anna, and then Peter takes over for Mart. Peter and Anna play out the final breakup sometime in December. Maeve returns in January '82.

When she first came to town, Reva flirted with all the men. Billy tried to hustle her out of town because he didn't want her to meet Vanessa. HB takes Reva to the club where she dances with practically everyone there, including Henry and Ross. Mike is Reva's and Vanessa's lawyer at the time. Reva wanted to buy Vanessa's apartment, and introduced herself to Van as Anita Ruiz. I think Vanessa signs the papers and then snoops through a file on Mike's desk and finds out she's actually Reva. Boy, was she pissed. She charges out just as Billy is calling Mike to verify that Reva's going to give him a divorce. Mike verifies that she is, and he tries warning Billy that Van's coming his way, but he misunderstands. Van finds Billy and Reva drinking champagne to their divorce and dancing. Van pours champagne in Reva's shoe and slams out on them. It's hilarious.

Not to mention, every town needs a sleazy PI/lawyer. I wonder if the actor wanted out.

They do. With three writing regimes going in/out from '80-'83, you lose lots of major characters.

In 1980, TJ and Morgan are finishing high school. Kelly is a first year resident (i believe). Nola is out of school, but just kind of drifting. Katie and Hillary have been in town a few years, and aren't far into their nursing careers.

About a month. Two at the most. Diane and Joe were killed within weeks of each other. When Vanessa comes to town, he is simultaneously using Van and Evie to break up Amanda and Ben, while trying to date Evie, being somewhat attracted to Amanda and sleeping with Vanessa. Carrie gets the credit for turning Ross around, but it was Evie who tugged at his conscience first.

After breaking up with Morgan, yeah, Kelly just kind of hangs around. He dates Claire, but from what I've seen of it, it's a little cringey by today's optics. Kelly is so forgotten, he's not even invited to Nola and Quint's engagement party....and Eve's there. JWS, imo, would've been a little too old to play TJ. TJ was still in high school when Kelly came to town, IIRC.

True dat. As Marland left the door open for Andy, I don't think he would've planned to kill him. I assume Marland's point was that Vanessa was twisted up by her obsession over Ross, and to show us Katie would be in over her head with Andy. I wonder if the difficulty in casting Trish also played into it. She and Andy sleep together shortly after Vanessa relates Trish's backstory in the fall of '80. (It's mentioned in the recaps after Lucille's death. It also mentions moments where Van and Holly could've met.) I don't doubt Marland intended Andy to be the next Roger-like presence in town. Why he pushed it so hard is a little curious, given how meticulously he set up story.

From what I gather, she did it because she was mad at Ross. She tells Sara in a session, and describes it as "sadistic". I think it's one if the reasons Andy hated her so much and then turns around and blackmails her. Van really had some dark tendencies when she blew into town. And between Andy, Mark and Carrie, was pissing off dangerous people.

It's a peculiar inconsistency. Billy and HB are mentioned a little under Marland, but when Long brought them to town she ignored the fact they'd been in town (and off camera) for business meetings. Vanessa clearly knew of Billy, as he was Trish and Josh's brother and they occasionally discussed him, but I've never seen anything from prior to '83 that suggests they met face to face. I'm not sure if Vanessa had met Andy prior to her arrival in Springfield. She knew about the circumstances of Trish's marriage and abuse. I always wonder if anyone other than Sara knew Vanessa slept with him.

Oh, lordy...Vanessa would've spit nails!

Well, before the internet, it was harder to fill in those gaps. I've only heard Mindy's mother's name referenced once. Ironically, it's "Deena/Dina". He mentions it to Amanda when he first comes to town. Vanessa's mother's name was Louise. I don't recall ever hearing it referenced before they retconned Vanessa's past with Ross and gave her a child. IIRC, Vanessa never talked about her mother. (That's why it's so weird to me that when I caught Maeve on Another World, she's calling Emma Snyder "mom".) Re: a Hope recast, the age difference between an actress and Carl or Rick would've been immaterial. I watched Anne Sward parent actors who weren't even a decade younger than her for years. Viewers suspended their belief (I know it's got some name, but I can't think of it.) and accepted "mature" actresses having babies all the time. What matters more is their acting. And I vote for Kim Johnston Ulrich. Loved her as Diana on ATWT.

Well, that's Buzz for you. Horrifying "charming". And then he sends Jenna's kids off to her relatives to raise.

There were times it was implied that Mike and Hope were very close. The last time I remember Hope being mentioned was when Maureen died. Ed called them ( they were on a trip together) and he told them not to rush back for the funeral.

I actually thought Lucy's mother had died. But maybe she just walked out on her and Buzz, which, knowing him, would've been the only real reason he "raised" Lucy.