P.J.

Because they're not really together in '07-'08. '07, she was on maternity leave for a couple of months, and Jack and Katie get together (I PUKE just typing that.) Carly comes home (long story), tries to get Jack back, and he gets sick of her games. She then gets sick and is told she's going to die. (She's been misdiagnosed.) She and Jack briefly reunite, but then she's told she's not going to die, but doesn't tell Jack. (long story) '08 has Wally Kurth in a short term role of a guy who's obsessed with Carly and nearly rapes her. She and Jack work to clear Parker, but Jack then starts screwing Janet (played by Julie Pinson), his brother Brad's babymomma (AGAIN...PUKE) Jon Lindstrom shows up at the end of '08 as Craig. (MORE PUKING.) Anyway, even though Jack and Carly aren't togethertogether they are constantly intertwined in each other's lives. The good news, you can see Carly/Jack from beginning to end. Most ATWT episodes are up from '97 (when Maura returns) to the end. Carly and Jack start working their way back to each other in late '09 when Maura returns from another maternity leave. Only Maura is on for a year-ish, from '95-'96. She left to give birth to her first bambino. Well, the Lewises are suckers for love, and Mindy had lied to Nick about his parentage. Billy isn't all that thrilled about Nick/Mindy by this time, although he'd initially really liked the guy. (It led to a hilarious fight between Billy and Van right before their second wedding) But with Mindy's taste in men, that's somewhat understandable. Yeah, the entire Eve plot sucks. Sorry Hilary Edson fans. I tried for ten years to "get" GH. I just gave up, and didn't even bother to watch many of Rick's return scenes. Yeah, I don't watch a lot of Moniz, so I don't remember if she really interacts much with Bryan Buffinton's Bill. I would guess not, as they really cut back his airtime after they recast Michelle with Budig. I think Bryan's last scenes were around Maureen's birth, and Ryan Brown shows up that fall. I'm not sure on the timing of Danny Cosgrove, but he's gone for a while while Tognoni's in the role. He returns around '07, and suddenly Dinah and Bill start scheming together like old pals. It's like Mindy never existed and he forgets he has other sisters/siblings. Maura was really good at showing Carly's vulnerability, even when she's being greedy and selfish.

Not a criticism. A wish---🌟 NGL--love ATWT. '95-early'97, not the best. But you'd love my girl Maura West.

Well, she might've tried. But pretty sure Billy would've had that number, and not liked the way Dinah treated Van--at all.

I don't think Dinah would've ever sucked up to Billy. She loved Ross, and always blamed Vanessa for growing up without him. It's hard to judge what the Billy/Dinah dynamic would've been like, since they don't really interact much until Tognoni's in the role. (they're rarely in town at the same time after Van finds her.) And even that isn't until near the end of the show, when she's suddenly all about being Bill's sister.

I still wonder how the Peter story would've played out with Jordan Clarke still there as Billy. I think the goal would've always been to have Bridget reclaim him. But I don't know if it would've broken Billy and Van up. ***the thought of never needing **** on canvas is too delicious to ignore. And yeah, Nick McHenry---world's worst reporter.

The rumor was that Eplin signed a pay or play contract, knowing that AW was in danger. That's why he wound up at ATWT. Sigh---GL could've had him. I did not like him. There was a lot of shared actors between the P&G shows through the years. Yes, Marland used a lot of people from GL (Shipp, Brown, Beecroft, Hendrickson to name a few) but Maeve and Kathleen Widdoes were both on AW; Bev of course, Anna Stuart did GL/AW/ATWT, and Rebecca Hollen did ATWT/GL/AW then back to ATWT.

And other than Ellen Dolan and M'OL, hardly anyone still with the show had worked with her. Still, they could've come up with a better concept for the tribute. The anniversary week in '87(?) handled it better.

It was also after she'd nearly died from cancer. There's nothing like nearly dying to up the odds you'll get knocked up. (See Vanessa, circa '98.) Reva was hardly the first "older" mother. Kim Hughes did it two decades before. But there was no one less suited to being a mother, yet knockin' out kids she barely(or never) raised.

I only wish we had episode counts from that era. I bet there was never a year Kim wasn't on top, even with maternity leaves.

Right? Aside from Reva's supposed risk at even carrying a baby after Marah (gee, she only had three children after that...) why would Josh want to risk Reva going through another post partum depression? Not that Josh didn't want kids, but he never seemed overly concerned with having them.

True, and maybe she didn't want to do long stints on soaps. But she was delightful, and really stood out in some rough patches of the show.

I don't think any soap knew what to do with MKA, which is a shame.

Ironic that by the time the Marland/Browne interview hit the stands, Marland's out.

LOL...I found myself way overexplaining the plot. And I knew I was forgetting another notorious plot! I've always felt squeamish about the fact Billy's bio mom was a whore. But it explains his fascination with party girls like Reva and Nadine.

Infinity was a group that wanted to take over Sampson Industries. Long story short, because of Kyle taking over Lewis, and Kyle claiming to be HB's son (HB even lies and tells him he is, even though the truth is that HB and Sally are Billy's parents, not HB's wife Martha. It makes Billy and Kyle maternal half-brothers. Kyle's father is another former lover of Sally's.) he and Billy are enemies. Billy's lost his job, starts gambling and drinking too much and is in danger of losing his and Van's home. Kyle's friend David, who's his second in command, is part of Infinity and decides to use Billy's natural hostility to program him to kill Kyle. It nearly works. The music video, featuring Mindy and the Infinity symbol is played at Mindy's reception. Billy shoots at Kyle, but hits David. In the confusion, David is about to shoot Kyle himself, but hits Maeve, Kyle's former lover and Reva's rival. David's shot and killed by his lover Suzanne (played by Frances Fischer). Billy goes on trial, but is saved when Beth and Jackson play the music video (that has the Infinity symbol in it) and a trance-like Billy raises his finger (like one would a gun) and starts mumbling "must kill Kyle" and "I don't want to shoot my brother" or some such. It's a lot more complicated, of course, and it's kind of infamous among GL fans as a bad story (before Clone Reva, it was probably the most egregious example of GL trying to jump into GH/DOOL territory). It's a lot plot-heavy, and involves a lot of disposable characters, but it is grounded in a family conflict. And those aspects are more relatable. Re: "golden era" of GL. As you've figured out, there are probably several. I think the Long/Curlee era (mid-89 to mid'93) was the best mix in terms of story and acting. Most of the stories flow organically and build on each other. There's a mix of characters both generationally and from different eras for the viewers. The stories are grounded, not shock for shock's sake, and for the most part avoids trying to copy trends. The Marland and first Long era have lots of upside, (the Marland era with Morgan/Kelly/Nola is what hooked me on soaps in general, and Long with the Lewises). I haven't seen much of the Dobson era (or don't remember it) but I'm intrigued by what I have seen, and it has characters I recall, like Rita, Evie, Jackie, Justin and of course Alan. '86-'87 are rocky, '88 is a quagmire due to the writers strike, '94 is a mess, the mob/SanCristohell era grates. And '05 to the end is a sad decline.

Well...I don't think anyone can. lol. But I could see Lujack and Beth's wedding being at the crux of the Infinity reveal. It wouldn't really change the dynamics of Billy shooting Kyle, except maybe casting a little doubt on Billy's motives for being there or how happy he was before "snapping" and shooting. That dress probably weighed as much as Krista. Thanks! Yeah...I don't recall that at all. But it does renew my dislike of ol' Jeff. Billy, bless him, was never as stodgy as Josh. The only real difference between '80's Billy and '00's Billy is he's less angry. Rewatching the '80's, I'd forgotten how violent he could be. Well, it doesn't help that there are some gaps in episodes. But you've got a point. I believe Quint proposed to Nola just after nearly getting killed by Rebecca. Not exactly fun, happy times. I like Billy and Van's second proposal. They've had a bet about who will win a client, but at the end, each tries to convince the client to give it to the other. They meet up in the dining room where they'd first met, expecting to lose. the bet was, if Vanessa won, Billy would run an ad proclaiming her the better business person. If Billy won, Van had to propose to him, and he had the option to decline. The client, Agatha, knows what's going on between them, and chooses neither of them. But Billy reveals that he's run the ad, proclaimed his love and asked her to marry him. Van comes prepared to get down on bended knee (she's brought a rug as to not ruin her dress). They both end up on their knees and sort of accept each other's proposals. But I wouldn't have organically remembered it, and don't really recall any others. But other than Carly and Jack's from ATWT, I don't think I remember any.

You do just want someone to interview whoever was in charge (or whoever's left) and ask "WHY is this so over the top?" They could've cut this back by 2/3 and still had a wedding that would've rivaled Quint/Nola or (later of course) Josh and Reva's. It can't be only because of the Infinity story. I almost wonder if GL hadn't wanted to marry Beth and Lujack, but VI's leaving put a crimp in that plan. And left them with no option but Mindy and Kurt. (Kurt could've spent 20 years on this show and not been worth all this hoopla.)

And honestly, this is one of those times I should've been less up in my feels while posting. To it's credit, GL did bring him back, and while it may not have been the way I wanted, Billy was still a vital part of Springfield. These are by no means just token appearances. It would've been infinitely worse for me if all of the sudden both of Bill's parents just suddenly ghosted him, and only shown up for the occasional wedding or funeral (ala Hope or even Ed). And while he might not be everyone's favorite, I rarely hear anyone say they ever got sick of Billy, the way being forced into nonsensical stories has a tendency to disenchant viewers. (coughRevacough). Billy and Van work for a lot of reasons (gee, you'd never know that, because I so rarely post about them...lol). I think they ground each other in good ways. They aren't Josh and Reva, which may have been equal at one time, but just became and endless string of Josh forgiving Reva for (insert lie/stupid move here). Billy and Van loved each other for who they were, not who they could've (or had) been. I'm not sure the show would've invested in getting Ross a viable love interest, had they busted Blake/Ross up. As adored as JvD was, I think the show would've just used him as the town's lawyer, Dinah's dad, Phillip's uncle and possibly aged the twins to give him story.

I think it's mostly about anointing Mindy as a pretty pretty Princess. She and Kurt hadn't even been dating that long. Aside from Trey and Sloane's wedding on Capitol, it has to be the most opulent wedding CBS ever aired and that P&G ever produced.

LOL...OMG...Billy and Van's first wedding was entertainingly chaotic. I wish I had rewatched it before their final one, as I really didn't get why Billy was waxing poetic about "spontaneous weddings" at the time. I think comedy really requires a light writing touch, and everything McTavish did usually stank of overkill. Much like Nola's spaghetti western fantasy of shooting "Quint", there's stuff that sounds funny on paper, but just doesn't play that way on the screen. While I'm giving up criticizing **** for Lent, foodborne illnesses and the consequences thereof, are by their very nature, not funny. At least if you're older than five. You can write a "disaster scenario" wedding without toilet jokes.

hmmm. Maybe Blake's? Although maybe Kat's gone by then. Eleni? I'm going to regret asking...but Jeffrey kept Hope away from Michelle? Billy is a pot-stirrer in the '80's and early '90's. While he's not the patriarch of the Lewises per se, I think his arrival kind of energizes both Josh and Trish, who were a family unit, but didn't have a lot of conflict between them. He also antagonizes Alan, and later Reva. He's actually the Big Bad in the first go-round of Josh/Reva. (He's either sickened that Reva is sleeping her way through his family, or obsessively jealous, take your pick.) When Kyle comes to town, he takes him on. When Billy comes back in '89, he becomes Roger's foil. (While almost everyone else in town also is, he's really the one who sort of enjoys the thought of taking Roger on.) And of course, he brings out a more sympathetic, rootable side of Vanessa. When Jordan returns in '97-ish, he's more of the support character. He's there when family needs him. I caught some silly scene when he's helping Bill break out Olivia from a nut hut or something, which is kind of funny...but a little sad, knowing he used to be a force to be reckoned with. As much as Zaslow or Deas were always lauded for their work, Jordan deserved lead emmy consideration for his work as well. He won a supporting actor emmy around '06-'07, which was long overdue, imo.

I know people think '93 starts to slide, (and full disclosure, I'm too heartbroken to watch after Jordan Clarke's exit) but I think the first half is classic soap. I'd put those scenes with Ehlers/Deas/Carol in my top ten. BE is fantastic confronting her parents. And Maeve gets some great lines---"what are you going to do, Nadine? Put it in the oven and broil it?" and (when asked where she came from) "my mother's womb--I think. Where did your baby come from?"

Well, that's always been Frank's story. Being Greek is not really integral to the introduction of the Coopers, that I recall. I guess GL had already done Irish roots with the Reardons.

LOL...imagine Nola and Vanessa doing a riff of Old Acquaintance. OMG...

Well, the Quint/Nola playlist only has five separated out: Dracula, Wuthering Heights, Casablanca, Jane Eyre and Now, Voyager. The one during Billy and Van's (near) engagement is probably The Maltese Falcon as it references Sam Spade. I've also caught a couple of references to a Dark Victory one. Oh, and I'm surprised they wouldn't have done 42nd Street, as Lisa was starring in it while on the show. Soaphub has a snippet of a Marland interview crediting the first fantasy scene as A Place in the Sun, when Nola is going for an abortion. And Shipmates Forever. Meanwhile, I've been fantasy casting The Women in my head all afternoon. @DRW50 thanks, that makes sense!