P.J.

I was completely lost. But it is wonderful that it exists. I didn't really know Robert Mandan had done soaps...well, besides SOAP.

OMG...Robert Mandan! And Donna Mills is a child. I keep hoping for more of early Ross/Vanessa.

I'm not sure it's as unpopular as you think. I just think the show knew they were in a bind, and needed a proven couple for the viewers to invest in. Trying to reunite Vanessa and Ross had just failed in 87. I don't think Ed and Holly's affair was well received, as Simon and Garrett had a brother/sister chemistry. Enter Billy and Vanessa, who give you history and an out not to try and do a Josh/Reva/Billy triangle, which would've really wrecked the relationship between Josh and Billy. I'd have been ok with trying Vanessa/Ross again, and doing a Vanessa/Ross/Holly/Billy quad for a while. I hated Nadine. HATED. She had to be the most insufferable also-ran before ATWT's Julia Lindsay. This is where I wish I knew Roger's history better.

Wasn't there a break in Zaslow's first run? I thought Roger was off-screen for a while, and when Zas came back, Roger was hiding at the boarding house and Nola figured out there was something hinkey about him. I'm pretty sure Simon chose to leave the first time and was replaced by RVV. I don't want to assume Jordan's issues played a role in his first departure, but Maeve said in an interview that at some point, it became very hard for her to work with him and she asked to work with him less. That seems to fit 1986, where suddenly Vanessa is essentially Ross' law clerk and not at every Lewis family moment.

I don't know how you want to count Maeve. She "retired" in '00, but would come back for appearances. I don't know however if she made an appearance in '01 or '03. In '02 I believe she came back for Josh and Reva's wedding. I assume she came back when Gina Tognoni took over the role of Dinah. And I know she was back for Ross' memorial service. Maureen Garrett was around until at least '00. I don't think Holly was in town when Ben returned though. I just got pissed off about Jerry all over again.

There was the one appearance in '96, but otherwise, that's correct as far as I know.

Jordan was gone from '87 to mid-'89. He left just weeks after Robert's late '86 return.

Well, they usually weren't on the show at the time for long until the late 90's. But yeah, they really deserved a story centered on them, and not through the lens of Reva.

I would be fascinated to see the GL episode counts from that time, if they existed. Six years seems like a long time, but Reva was front burner 24/7. I don't see how she could've done episodic tv. The only breaks she really got were her maternity leaves. And it's not like even the late '90's when there were shows shooting in NY (well, mostly L&O). Jordan and Robert have the best brother chemistry.

I could understand her being frustrated by the fact that she'd been in the business 10+ years at that point, and probably couldn't even get in the door. But then again, she'd already gone out for pilot season once (that we know of) and she and her agent knew a 35-ish woman had a very difficult time in Hollywood. I know she did a few guest spots, but other than Designing Women, nothing I saw--not even a Murder She Wrote, and that show had tons of ex-soapers on it. I mean, God bless Marilu Henner, but even having been on Taxi, she couldn't get arrested for years either.

I didn't rewatch that period, so I'm not really sure how much Bill is on. I recall something about him living at the boardinghouse. I think Van made Matt his guardian, and why she didn't name Josh would be a mystery to me, other than the HW decided they needed to keep Bill in Matt's sphere. Nola is also his aunt, although they don't know each other well, and Van wouldn't have trusted her anyway. There's Dinah---but she's unreliable. Billy gets out of jail around NYE.

Maeve makes a few sporadic appearances, but returns full-time the next spring/summer. She's back in time to see Bill and Michelle graduate, although she skulks around town and wasn't going to tell anyone she was alive. She comes back wearing this HUGE hat---which was a throwback to the old Vanesaa. lol.

I can see Kim being that way. Well, Kyle didn't have to say yes. LOL. The suicide attempt feels plot-driven. I don't know if even Long could've made it work. She'd spent so much time trying to make Reva and Kyle into a couple, it feels odd to just have them give up. Not to mention how odd it is to have Maeve agree to marry him. Re Charita---surely they could've at least tried finding clips with who was still there. Maybe they wouldn't have been "big" moments, but surely she'd interacted with Ross, Vanessa, and Henry. Vanessa had dated Ed, FCOL. But Mo and Rick were there---surely they could've bothered to find some clips of her with them (and they did interact a fair amount) and used them. And with Ed they could've found some shot of her talking to him and just not cut to whoever was playing Ed in the clip. That to me is what feels lazy---they had more than a year to figure it out, and they went with a bunch of photos. If you were sort of centering it on Rick anyway---then find clips with them and use 'em.

I rewatched these episodes---they broke my heart. Somehow, Nola had seen Vanessa leave the hospital, and follows her home, and Maeve just lets out this primal scream---chills went down my spine. And knowing the history between them---never quite liking the other and always getting on each other's nerves (to put it mildly)---makes it a much richer to have them put it all aside in the moment and be family to each other. I've never seen/heard what Maeve thought of the story itself, but she did want a break, so it's not like she was fired and then brought back. Yes, Vanessa could be this stubborn and unwilling to ask for help. She'd pretty much always been an "I can do this on my own" type of woman, although when she first came to town, she would still run to Henry. But after she met Billy, she stopped relying on her father. It's part of the reason she (briefly) got addicted to pills after Bill's birth---she was determined to take care of him all by herself and became obsessed with the idea she was the only one who could. Of course, nothing before to this extreme. I should say, there's no way (IMO) they could've told this story---Vanessa letting her loved ones thinking she'd died---if her father Henry had still been alive. She never would've been able to do that to him. And it does chafe that she's letting Bill believe it, when her mantra had been all about protecting him since the day he was born. I honestly don't recall what I thought about it at the time. But now I'm thrilled she's free of Matt at least. LOL.

Having skipped through it, I hadn't realized that was Tony and Annabelle's baby either. I'm not fond of this Reva story either. Sorry, it's tough for me to believe Reva would jump into the river because Kyle left her. (Although, it was kind of ironic having her find out Hawk had been paid to come to town, much like she'd been paid to come to town and break up Billy and Vanessa.) 1986 is suddenly revolving about strangers. Calla and Jessie, Simon, Maeve, Jackson. Yikes. Whatever Kim's ego, I have to believe she respected vets. And they arrived at around the same time. Neither was taking the other's airtime.

Wow...I did not realize Ellen Parker took over the role of Mo so soon after Bert's passing.

LOL...I was going to say there were a couple of times Vanessa just wailed on him. it was some time after he left her at the altar, and she says something like "that felt good...I'd like to do it again!" Jordan must've embraced the physicality, because he's always doing something.

It's hard to remember, as Holly and Blake always seemed to be on the outs over something.

Women slapping guys is a little more common. I grew up with CBS, so it doesn't seem strange to me. If you got a slap, you usually really deserved it.

I thought it was Sherry Stringfield, but maybe it was before Blake slept with Ross.

Billy slapping Mindy is a turning point in '90. And I feel there was a slap between Holly and Blake during the Ross thing.

Probably less than a NBC or ABC soap. There were occasionally slaps. Women slapped men. And parents occasionally slapped their children. There was a period when Mindy and Roxie would fight. But slaps between women were few and far between. The only one between women I can really recall is Vanessa slapping Nadine. There was once where Bea Reardon almost slapped Vanessa, but she didn't. There are probably more, but in general, I always thought CBS soaps (aside from B&B, which used to love Stephanie slapping Brooke) shied away slapping, sort of the way they limited "hell"s and "damn"s to so many per week.

I also assumed Tanquir was in Africa. Montega was in the Caribbean, more like Cuba.

The first show I found had Maeve dressed horribly, and I just shook my head and thought she must've been thrilled to be portraying someone much more sophisticated and rich. Vanessa's hats and gloves probably cost more than her AW character's entire wardrobe.

Well, I think she's trying to be funny, and it's technically accurate, if misleading. If you leave out the Sonni part it's "Josh left Reva to (go to) Venezuela shortly before Reva had her miscarriage because of Vanessa." I guess "Josh left Reva after finding out the child she was carrying was his father's, and miscarried because of her drugged out step-daughter-in-law, where he met a woman with split personality..." isn't as "snappy". As for Robert, I thought he clicked with Harley and Annie, not so much Olivia. I'm on the fence about Sonni. Before Reva came to town, he crapped out with Morgan and Hillary, but a) I don't think anyone really had chemistry with Jennifer Cooke, who was not good, and b) I don't think the romance with Hillary was ever much more than filler. (oooh, Josh and Katie might've been cute...) But, after Reva, Josh was never really chem tested with actresses. I know there was some kind of flirtation with Jenna, which still seems odd to me (especially since Jenna was hiding a pregnancy). But other than Cassie, Josh got involved with other women (from what I recall) when either he was out of town, or Reva was presumed dead. He didn't bust up with Reva and start dating around town.