P.J.

No, this is Ben McFerren, played by Stephen Yates. He dated Hope, was married to Eve Stapleton and Amanda Wexler Spaulding and Amanda miscarries their baby at Jennifer's trial. He leaves in '81, and Eve leaves in '83 to resume their relationship.

I can't date it, but it has to be the fall of 1980. Lucille died in November, I believe. Jennifer went on trial in January 1981. AHA...A Perfect Match first aired October 5th, 1980. This would've aired the week preceeding that.

I loved his ATWT too. He got what makes a good soap, that's for sure.

**** probably wouldn't piss you off until like '06. By '95-'96, Van had already been co-parenting w/Bridget for almost two years, and interacting with her over Peter since '93. Van had seen her mature and knew how much Mo had believed in her. I don't think Bridget and Peter are. Nola definitely is. I've watched parts of Van's return and the only real part that chokes me up is Bill and Billy. And Billy gets like 5 seconds before the commercial break. And Reva making some asinine comment to Cassie.

I tell ya, you need to start in '89.

Why bother to tell a Van story that wasn't about **** telling her how to live her life? RME. I wish they had kept Peter a presence in Billy and Vanessa's lives. There were ways they could've at least kept him a continuing presence in Springfield. Blake was his aunt. If she hadn't been screwing every guy in town, he could've visited.

Oh, I forgot---there was something about Phillip walking in on Blake while she was talking to a coconut? Yeah, Liz Dennehy certainly wasn't helped by the writing.

No, I don't think we met Claire's brother. I even think he might've died before she came to town. And yes, Meredith had a miscarriage and was told she could never have more children. (Which in Reva-speak meant Meredith undoubtably had at least four more children.)

They were constantly stealing from movies, which when it works and if used sparingly, is fine. They stole from Sabrina---AM sat on glasses at Phillip and Beth's wedding, and Ed end up pulling it out of his tookus as Harley watches. I've watched some more of '87 Vanessa/Ross, and it breaks my heart that the writers couldn't make it work. But at points, they are trying to steal from the Billy/Vanessa romance, with Van throwing fits and Ross trying to "Tame the Shrew" and it just doesn't feel like them. They even throw in a AM/Dinah young romance conflict (ala Phillip/Mindy when B/V first married) to drive the Alan/Van/Ross dynamic. And it hit me again last night---Dinah and AM being the same age (essentially) just wonks up the entire timeline. It makes Vanessa 17-18 when Alan was married to Hope and having A-M. UGH. I will drive myself crazy.

You think they might've at least said--"let's not try hooking up Rick with an older woman doctor again" at some point. Or, let's not go for a Lewis/Shayne connection (Mindy and Rusty) again, which they continued to flirt with through '89. Sure, there are only seven stories to tell...but freshen it up a little. Ugh...Rusty, the only male they tried harder than Frank to make work. And God Bless Nikki Goulet, but trying to make her a cut up on par with Rick ---no.

I don't watch this period much, so I don't know the finer points, but in Van's defense, I think here she was doing what Maureen would've done. Maureen would've helped Bridget raise that boy, but once Maureen was assured that Bridget was responsible and able to care for him, she would've backed off and supported Bridget making a decision that took her out of Springfield. I just chose to believe that Vanessa always kept in touch with Peter. She's not just his mother, but his aunt through her marriage to **** and a step-grandmother through Dylan. I also kind of think that the writers had no interest in reminding us of Van and Billy's connection. If they had honored that history, it would've thrown Van and Billy together more, and left **** as the wet sad sack he always was. I try to, but some of these story points were started under the previous regime, and were bad ideas from the start. Mindy and Frank? OY vey. Maybe some of the Alan/Reva stuff been more palatable with Bernau in the role, but so often even Kimmer looks utterly lost in that mess.

Well, he does lean into being a jerk, even when he's right. But I love him. Battling Alan, Blake and Roger in '88-'90 is prime Phillip. I just watched him have this strange, drunken nightmare in '87 which solidifies him plotting Alan's downfall. In it, Ross, Vanessa and Alan-Michael are bearing these chains and only Alan has the key. Phillip has seen them be manipulated by Alan, and he's the only one who can free them. It's strange.

'88 is officially worse than '85. I personally don't mind Phillip being a dick to Johnny, just on general principle. Johnny is so blah, I can see why Phillip just can't stand him. The more I've seen of '88, the weirder it is. The scabs really did try to hook up Mindy and Frank, and Johnny has some interest in Blake. Ross was trying on Jenny the cop, Rose is the blandest addict I've seen, and they don't have a clue about what to do with Dinah. That's not even getting into Alan/Reva/Josh/Sonni/Will.

Yeah, Jackson disappeared sometime in '88. I don't think they ever really had a purpose for the character. One minute he's an okay guy, the next he's stirring up drama. In '86, for some unknown reason, he sabotages an attempt by Mindy to send Billy and Vanessa off on a romantic getaway to talk. I'm hoping some of the '89 episodes going up with fill in some blanks. Or at least help me rebuild a playlist.

I believe Coco was an old girlfriend of Jackson's. After Warren Andrews confessed to murdering Paul Valere, Jackson took over the Blue Orchid. (or maybe he was already involved in it, I'm not sure.) Anyway, Jackson wanted to make William (Renaud White) his assistant manager, but Coco blew into town saying that Jackson had promised her the job. She wouldn't take the hint and let William have the job, so Jackson made her his entertainment coordinator or some such. OMG...Ross slept with Meredith. Or almost did. It's hard to tell German subtext sometimes. Anyway, Vanessa came over to Ross', Meredith walks in on their talk wrapped in a sheet, and Van runs out, telling Ross she's going to be Alan's wife. Oh, and Frank preceeded Harley. He has a couple of weeks of scenes with George Stewart (Cam's father) talking about running a chop shop.

I'll be happy to tonight after work!

I'm pretty sure Mindy was supposed to have seen Roger at the train station, but that made no sense as he was at the Towers all night. I'm not sure they ever directly addressed it on screen, though, other than saying that Roger had helped her get out of town. Mindy wasn't only in NY, she hid out with old friends around the country. The last friend she stayed with was in NYC, and that's where Dylan found her. I'd have been fine with Nick and Eve---provided they left town.

Thanks! I remember having started watching the 1990 before I learned how to get the translation. And not a lot of that is up in English, unfortunately.

I think Roger's doing it to provoke Alex, Vanessa accepted to provoke Billy (See, Billy/Josh and Alex/Roger were vying for a Saudi Arabian business deal. Van was temp President of Spaulding at the time, and got mad that Billy was trying to ace Spaulding out of the deal. He'd stood her up on NYE to fly to Saudi Arabia. I think Roger wound her up by implying that Billy was walking all over her, and she flew there intending to distract Billy. Josh flew home because Reva was having labor pains, and Billy had a deadline to submit a final offer. Vanessa dressed up like an Arabian dancer and pretended like some sheik had "sent" Billy a woman. She comes on to him, and got Billy all flustered. He finally realized it was her and they had a fight. Either she threw his alarm clock, or it got knocked over in their fight and while they made love, Billy missed the deadline. Billy asked her to marry him. But Vanessa got tripped up by a handkerchief embroidered with her initials, and he realized that Van had gone there to help ace Lewis out of the deal. He either calls her a whore, or implies it pretty heavily. They broke up and it really kicks off his involvement with Nadine. Saudi Arabia (the Al-Radi deal) really haunts Billy and Van for quite a while. This was also when Roger was trying to hook Alex, and I think he was using Van to make Alex jealous. Roger is getting all his ducks in a row to marry Alex and become President of Spaulding. He's also swindling Henry in poker games to get his Spaulding stock. Phillip was pissed that Blake had kept Beth's being alive from him and had him institutionalized to stop him from searching for her. Now, back to 1988....Reva is shocked by a dirty movie. Not exactly the take I'd expect from the Slut of Springfield.

OMG...I have to see that! I caught the next episode where Billy gets PO'd, grabs Vanessa and she tells him to get her paws off her.

Today is Jordan Clarke's birthday! I always thought the East Coast soaps were better at casting for ability rather than "traditional" beauty. (*coughB&Bcough*) But attractiveness was only part of my various crushes or what I connected to---it's Ross' eyes and how he'd take care of people, Billy's sense of humor how he was always unapologetically himself, Alan-Michael's perpetual chip on his his shoulder, okay, Phillip and his tortured soul and his speedos. I mean, thank God some casting director talked GL out of casting some blue-eyed yuppy type as Roger.

Exactly. Unless you're writing a book. then I expect a little fact checking. well, there are shorts in '83 that don't leave a lot to the imagination---but yeah.

After the Andy Norris story, she's basically a day player. Sometimes they address her absence, sometimes not. She's not at Hillary's funeral, for instance.

Denise must be mistaken. Ironically, she's in a 1977 episode where she's talking to a returning Peggy Thorpe. Maybe they went on contract at the same time, but Katie precedes Ross. For some reason I remember some snippet of Elvera saying she and Jerry started the same day. Which I also find hard to believe.

OMG...Denise Pence auditioned for Jackie? aborbs!