P.J.

I can imagine! Part of it's because some of them are on canvas for so long. Ross cuts a wide swath in spite of only being married twice. LOL.

I'm surprised that wasn't one of the episodes SoapClassics would've been interested in. Gosh, Rita Lloyd scared me when I was a kid.

Or who had been lovers, which was mostly (usually) accurate.

Henry never interacted with Roger onscreen before 1989. Roger died in April, and that (I believe) was when Henry first comes to town. Vanessa debuted in June. We actually see both of them introduced to Roger in '89, although they later retcon that Henry had known Roger when he first started at Spaulding. Vanessa does know who Roger was by reputation, as that's one of the first tidbits of info that she gets when she returns in July '89. I'm not sure there's an explanation of why Henry forgives Alan so readily, other than their friendship and Henry's longstanding relationship with the Spauldings. Henry forgives both Alan and Alex for their boneheaded moves that hurt him more than once. I mean, Alex didn't step in when Roger swindled Henry out of his Spaulding stock in '90.

Wasn't that Ian somebody, played by Peter Simon? Or did Ian die on her in bed later?

And it was odd that they chose to name Hunt Block's character Ben, when Ben Reade was such a recent character. It happens to all of us. 😮

maybe it's just not working. I'd hate to think they took it down. It's accuracy was sometimes bad, but it was still useful

They had broached the subject of marital rape with John/Kim around 1976. That was how Andy was conceived, but I'm not sure how much they really discussed it as rape.

I would love to see more of the Dobson era, but I think it would take a minor miracle. Don't forget ATWT's devious John Dixon. He seems closely modeled on Roger. I guess I'm very impressed that Long/Curlee captured Roger's essence seemingly so easily. He'd been gone for nearly a decade. There were only a tiny handful of characters still on canvas that he'd interacted with (and if you take out the recently returned Holly and Chrissie/Blake, that number is TWO.) Yet Roger rolls into town and Spaulding starts humming with purpose and plot again. Not that Spaulding had been neglected as an entity and source of story, but it had kind of been isolated to the Spauldings backstabbing each other. Back in the early '80's, it'd been a hub of interaction, ala Cedars.

Even though it has plot holes big enough to drive a semi through, the reveal that Dylan is her and Billy's son is good too. Even though I hate the way they act as if Billy had never "gotten over" Reva. They really did a good job of integrating Roger back on the canvas. He really did step into OGAlan's shoes circa 1980. Back when Alan was truly a force to be reckoned with.

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.