P.J.

While I criticize their hiring, I fully recognize that they didn't hire themselves. TPTB hired the actors and wrote for them. And no, no one would've been able to step into Bernau's shoes. Pilon at least conveys a certain Machiavellian menace . RR is just wrong for the role, but the subsequent writers all seem obsessed with pitting Alan and Phillip against each other over women. The Lewises, no matter what you think about them, only passed one woman 'round. Alan and Phillip passed around three---Blake, Beth and Olivia. There is a moment when Van tells Alan--if we marry, don't screw me over or you'll regret it. So I wouldn't doubt that Van would've been the trigger in Phillip's takeover had Maeve stayed. Instead, Henry ends up tipping the scales, while Josh kind of gums up the works (I guess, I haven't watched all of it, I don't think most of it is up.) If they wanted a triangle, they had one--Alan/Van/Ross. With Alan and Ross' history, it practically would've written itself. Maybe our thinking is wrong...maybe Long would've put Van and Ross back together, and broke them up to set up the triangle. I do think they were flirting with the idea of Rick/Chelsea after Johnny left. There's a point when Mindy comes back to town where Chels thinks Mindy doesn't appreciate Rick enough. I just think that it would've been too weird, having Rick fall for another one of Phillip's ex's, and Mo being her sister and his stepmother. Y'know I am all about any story that gets Van away from ****. Developing amnesia, becoming a bad lounge singer named Panessa who performs poetry in the park. ANYTHING. Did Roger and Billy ever have a conversation after Billy got out of jail? I know Roger told Vanessa he'd been paroled, but I'm not sure they truly crossed paths again. Part of that's timing, but I also think TPTB really just didn't want to bring up that past directly.

In that way, at least we were fortunate. The Daniel Pilon/Ron Raines decisions...not so much.

Well, I can't help but think it would've been written different with CB still there

Ugh...right? At least if Chris Bernau had been able to continue in the role, it would've been intriguing to watch Alan manipulate Reva.

Yes, it was. Dinah had started to soften after Henry's heart attack in March. After Paige Turco took over the role, the attitude is turned way, way down. The thing about Vanessa was, she could be very territorial. If Dinah had gone to Lillian (who had befriended Dinah before she knew Vanessa was her mother), that would've stung a bit, but Van probably would've understood. But Dinah getting advice from Ross' new girlfriend would not have sat well with her, the same way Van later bristles anytime Nadine tries to stake some kind of role in Bill's life. @DeeVee I know it's been brought up before, but I hadn't really connected Long breaking up Ross/Van to the fact that she'd neither created that backstory or been responsible for giving them a love child. I wonder what she would've done had she been there when Jordan left, and had to break Billy/Van up.

Then 87 is the year you're looking for. Vanessa leaves town in Jan 88. When I saw Jenny counseling Dinah about George making the pass at her, all I could think was that Van would be pissed Ross' latest fling was advising her daughter. Cop or not.

Yes. Why? I don't really care. Vanessa is also acting dumb, trying to run between tables, on a date with Ross in one room and a business meeting with Alan in another. One of the few times Van is written as less than the smart woman she was. Although I'm nearly positive the Slut of Springfield dress is white. I don't know when "Reva Red" really became a thing.

Oohh...now I'm not sure. Long did come back in '87, didn't she. She broke up Ross and Vanessa almost from her first minute back. Van and Ross are at the Country Club when Josh dumps Reva. And Reva dramatically drapes herself on the CC stairs.

Some of those 1988-ish episodes are up. I'm not really sure she did much else. I think I recall something along the lines of she and Rusty had been suspended over the investigation of Nicky, George's supplier. I'm not sure she even gets some kind of goodbye. I think she just disappeared when Pam Long returned.

The last Cooper that i really liked was Aubrey Dollar's Marina. After that, they just became obnoxiously insufferable. The guy who played Coop wasn't bad, just bland. It's amazing that with Buzz/Jenna and Nadine's DNA, their children/grandchildren could be so sanctimonious. For Peter---I would've put up with more ****. Peter (who's an honorary Lewis in my book) comes to live with uncle@@@@ and Auntie/Mom Vanessa. Peter raises a little hell, ***** gets all strict, while Van enables him a little, and Billy sticks his nose in it, aggravating **** and drawing Van and Billy closer, while they reminisce about back in the day when they were raising him. Would've worked for me.

Not bringing Peter back was such a travesty. So much history they could've tapped vs inflicting some of the teens we had in the later years. I'm sorry---I'd have much rather seen Peter than Coop, who was born years after Peter.

That's so cool that your entire family watched AMC. There were times when I was younger and we only had one tv that me and the sibs watched, but that didn't last that long. lol

You are so brave to keep on watching. So anyway, random question. I noticed in your signature, that GL is your number two soap. Was it always, or has it moved up since you've been rewatching?

The man pretending to be Earl was Glenn Harrington, played by Richard Burgi. IIRC, he had killed Earl but wanted people to believe he was still alive (the reasons why I can't recall).

Morgan Englund's first tape day might've been the wedding, but Dylan showed up in town shortly before that. Billy shows up in town, surprising Reva, and they have a night out on the town. They meet Dylan at a dive bar, and somehow, Dylan takes offense to Billy. Reva steps between them and ends up getting a black eye from Billy. Josh shows up the next morning at Reva Bend, to find Billy (platonically) in bed with a hungover Reva. Billy then ends up babysitting Marah. If you've never seen that, it's hilarious.

It would have to be August 89. it's after Jeva's July wedding, (as Dylan's met Rusty) and what Reva and Billy must've been talking about on the phone call is The Heartbreaker, the bar he bought with Hamp shortly afterward. Billy slugs Josh when they announce her pregnancy in early September.

Well, Reva's transformation into a straight up heroine had been swift. I don't think Long wanted to remind viewers of the selfish, conniving hustler she'd been either. And as a Billy/Van fan, there is something very sweet about how Vanessa's really the only one looking out for Billy and his feelings. And Billy's preoccupation with Reva when he can't have Van sounds about right. Anyway, that's my story, and I'll stick to it.

The Dylan story is really good. Of course the backstory doesn't really hold up to intense scrutiny, and I refuse to believe that Billy was still in love with Reva vs. idealizing her and envying the family life Josh was getting. He was on the make for Vanessa from the moment she knocked on his door. Dylan learns Reva and Billy are his parents 6-8 months before Reva goes off the bridge. @DRW50 technically, Reva would've been pregnant with Shayne when she met Dylan. Shayne was born in February, meaning a May conception. She met Dylan in late June. But yeah, Reva was warned against having children after Marah. When Reva and Josh announce it, Billy slugs him, in part because it's supposed to put Reva's life at stake. And the entire reason no one can get mad at Reva over Dylan/her lies is because the stress could impact the baby. Vanessa manages to get about three good lines before Reva starts hyperventilating and has to sit down and take a pill. RME.

And that plays into Van's longstanding loyalties to Spaulding and her friends. I'd have been so flippin' happy if Van had ended up dumping ****, telling him to STFU about how she chose to fulfil herself, and leaving him to Beth's wounded bird antics. She and Ross should've gotten a shot at being Springfield's power couple.

Well, given Vanessa's long his.tory with Reva, she might've thought Reva was mentally ill, or playing some game with Alan. Even as doormat-y as Vanessa was during these years with Moniz' Dinah, at least she's never written as stupid. The same can't be said for other characters.

Harley and Alan-Michael got married because there was a provision in his trust that said if he stayed married for six months, he got control of it. They were hot for each other, and realized later they were in love, but gaining access to the money was the main reason for the marriage. Alan actually pushed them towards it, because at the time he was broke and wanted to manipulate AM into giving him funds. There were ample reasons why Harley wouldn't have been comfortable in the "Spaulding world", but her having been poor was the least of it. There was always a power struggle on the horizon with that family.

It really is offensive, and ignores so much pivotal history. Is this still McTrash?

I didn't say that right. Yes, Blake's self-destructive, but under most writers, it got reduced to her being a dumb slut. Also--a soap truism, the "tell me the truth" get out of trouble free card is either used too late, or at the wrong time. I have rewatched part of this lately, but wasn't quite sure if Vanessa knew about the clone, or if she just thought Alan sounded crazy and told him to shut up about his wild theories. You're getting a glimpse of the OG Vanessa, who wasn't to be trifled with.

I understood it was time to settle Ross down and give him a family. I'm not sure it did Blake a lot of good, story wise, to give her kids. As Roger and Holly's kid she should've had a self-destructive streak a mile wide. But her sudden attraction to Ben was just weird.

I just always thought Ben was a sleeze. There's a scene where Blake is literally crawling away from him, and this was supposed to be who she was attracted to? BS. Ben didn't have one redeeming quality. They tried making him more human by giving him a kid, but it was way too little, too late. I know there are people who like Block, believe me, I know. But it's a hill I would die on, HE STUNK. Sheffer's obsession with Block was a nail in ATWT's coffin.