P.J.

Jean Arthur may be the perfect comparison. There was something so down to earth about her, and while she was beautiful, not unapproachable.

True enough! LOL...not everyone is Maeve Kinkead with her perfect diction.

Well, I think Matt was left in charge simply because he was a moron, and yet supposed to have enough integrity to outwit Alan. Or at least be street savvy enough not to trust a word coming out of his mouth (which ironically, even morons wouldn't do) after Alan tried blackmailing Vanessa. Yeah, if Reva had the Golden Hoo-ha, the Golden Wee-Wee was Roger's. I think there was so much mismanagement of GL, that it just fed on itself. Yes, they let core vets go, yes they overinvested in young performers, yes there were lousy recasts---but mostly there was chaos brought on multiple regime changes. The Red Sox had the curse of the Bambino, Guiding Light had the curse of Marland. Rarely was who/what was important to one regime important to another. There are things they couldn't control---Charita's death, Chris Bernau's health. And at some point, you have to invest in a new generation and some new blood. And even if they had tried, I'm not sure how much they could've dug into the past and reestablished like ATWT did. It worked because they had a core set of vets (Bob, Kim, Ellen, Lisa, John) viewers had known for years. Even in the 70's with the Dobsons, they were whittling away history and dumping vets. I don't think Lisa flubbed lines as much as she made it a quirk of Nola's to kind of let her mouth run in the moment, then pull it back.

They were still together at his passing.

Yep. I was unaware that writer Roger Newman was married to Fran Myers.

Quint had potential, Long was just too busy establishing Alexandra as the HBIC. Quint had been established as a shrewd investor when he snapped up Diane's shares of Spaulding. After Alan disappears in San Rios, there's a scene where Alex is clearly maneuvering Vanessa and Henry to name Ross as president, and it's clear that Quint is the only one who sees the strings she's pulling. Given how Reva, Blake and Harley slept through entire gene pools, I'm amazed Vanessa and Josh never crossed a line.

I can appreciate Kin....but the thought of him and Deas in a scene together frightens the hell out of me.

I recall some interview where Bev basically said even getting Curlee back wouldn't have kept her there. So she liked her.

It might've been interesting to throw Josh into Roger's orbit via Holly---but Josh was too ethical to ever give Roger a good run for his money.

Well, given that Bev's pissed off in '92 and leaves...it might've been a contributing factor. Although Grant always seemed to be restless after a few years. And Kassie's departure wasn't a big loss.

Based off the Jake and the Fatman episode advertised at 3.35, that episode (I Could Write a Book) aired 11.13.91 Interestingly enough, the episode on youtube (that I found anyway) dated 11.13 also has a Jake and the Fatman eppy advertised, and that episode (I'll Never Be the Same) actually aired 11.6.91. Which jives more with my memory of Lily and Holden's first wedding being the first week of November. What I found interesting is that in spite of these episodes being in November sweeps, I didn't see any sweeps promos for any CBS soap. (which I had assumed would be the easiest way to cross-check dates). Singer Angie Stone has died. ATWT used her song "I Wish I didn't Miss You" in their emmy montage for the 2001 emmys.

Well, McTavish didn't handle anything well that I recall. I do not remember them chem testing him with Jenna. But Robert had a decent amount of chem with just about everyone (save Marcy Walker for whatever reason) they tried him with. I don't know how far ahead Kim let GL know she wasn't re-signing. Or what went into Robert's decision to go. AFAIC, they could've just relocated Josh/Reva to Tulsa (or Venezuela..lol) and had Josh jet back to deal with Billy's problems for six months until his contract was done. The way it played out, I'm not even sure Robert would've come back in '93 if not for Jordan's problems. I almost believe it was a spur of the moment decision. If the plan had been for Josh to return, he might've at least been mentioned at Billy and Vanessa's wedding at the end of June (and I don't think he was.)

As they hadn't written Kim out when Robert left, I don't think they would've needed to just automatically write Robert out when Kim left. Although, admittedly, I never really miss Josh when he exits town either. It might've been nice to see Josh in a romance that wasn't preordained to end in the other woman going nuts.

Do you mean Ben? 'Cause I thought they killed Kyle off sometime before that. Sally came back briefly in '87, and I thought that was because Kyle had been in an accident. They must've at least considered recasting Kyle. No reason to say he'd had reconstructive surgery otherwise.

The money Mindy found was the ransom for Kyle. (David Preston had hidden it in a jukebox). Mindy used it to pay for her wedding (she knew that Billy was broke). The lady (a wedding planner/caterer) was suspicious that Mindy was paying for everything in cash and checked the serial numbers. She reported her, which was why Mindy was arrested at the reception after Billy. The DA then put both Billy and Mindy on trial as conspirators in the plot to kill Kyle. (Preston had left documents framing Billy.)

Long was the one who wrote Tony the only real story he led, and certainly the only romance. She created Annabelle. She wrote Quint and Nola's wedding. She created Jim (bringing on the guy from Texas). I'm not seeing that she "wasn't interested" in the Reardons. I think both Quint/Nola and Tony/Annabelle were victims of their own success. The audience would've revolted at trying to break up Quint/Nola, and she made some kind of attempt at a Tony/Annabelle/Jim triangle after Hillary's death that went nowhere. I'm not saying it wasn't mismanaged, but I also don't know if Lisa or Greg were interested in staying. Recasts of Nola and Tony would've been rejected by the audience. Jim was a dud. Don't even bring up Chelsea, (IMO the fake Reardon) who she didn't create, but certainly pushed enough story on when she returned. And not mentioned to the point that Ben is rarely, if ever, referred to as Kyle's son or even related to Billy while Fletcher raises him. Although he is sorta the "boogeyman" when Reva thinks Marah might be his child. I'm not sure when Pam Long returns in '87, but I think Kyle was gone before then. Wasn't it supposed to be March, when Reva poured herself back into a red dress and gave Alan some sob story about her childhood?

Episode 4 fleshed out Bill a little, and Naomi's scenes really worked. The actress playing Vanessa calmed out a little. The nurse was so exhausted that her boyfriend put on her coat, carried her to the car and into her house without waking up? RME....hmmn....'k. Silly quibble---everyone looks so right out of the store perfect. Couldn't the cop and the firefighter be in clothes that at least look a little bit lived in?

I'm not sure Tony/Annabelle even get a send off. I just saw an episode where they've just decided to go on a world trip for summer vacation. Quint and Nola get a rushed goodbye which is just insulting. And Jim Reardon just kind of disappeared. I have wondered over the years if the story of Billy's parentage hadn't originally been planned for Josh, and just got switched when Robert Newman left. Josh not being a full Lewis (either from HB's philandering or an affair of Martha's) would've explained the initial conflict between HB/Josh.

I've never seen that either, for obvious reasons as it's Jessie. It's been ages since I watched Fresh Prince.

I don't disagree---but it's not like they were the only producer/hw that made that mistake. LOL...but I love golden-haired Ross taking his victory lap!! The court artist's sketch was a bit much. I imagine all the actors are celebrating the silly story is finally over. LOL. And at the very end I love that you can see Billy's got both Vanessa and Mindy in one of his bear hugs.

At the end of the trial? About the 34 minute mark. They might have circled back to Rick/Mindy if either KT or KS been on the show in the 00's. He and KS also had chemistry (if not as much inherent charm) but they derailed that in Rick's neverending slavish devotion for Phillip.

I was just going to watch the first eppy and then decide, but I hit the record series on the DVR and then decided to binge them. the one moment that Karla sold was when she was reflecting on her marriage with Tamara. The more over-the-top stuff felt forced. The dialogue is the other thing that feels very stilted. It's been a lot of exposition, which is probably a PITA to write, and hopefully it will loosen up a bit as the scriptwriters get a feel for the characters. The other actress I liked was Nicole's older assistant (?) but the moment she burst out with that glowing description of Nicole's life, I knew that was probably going to be the second thing blown up. lol It surprised me that they don't have a son TBH. I don't think I've seen him since Amen. 1971? The changes must have shocked him.

And I'm not even sure Monti acts anymore. The character needs a little more presence than this one has.

I understand they probably wanted to stay away from established soap opera actors, but I found myself wishing for someone like Monti Sharp in that role.

Watching the first three episodes....I'm not overwhelmed. The acting isn't Tyler Perry bad, and I could understand the twenty-something crowd being green. Aside from Tamara Tunie, the one acting standout IMO is Nicole, who seems grounded and real. Karla Mosely seems to be trying too hard to play Dani. The one role they really needed to nail the casting on was Bill (? Dani's ex) and they didn't. A lot of the drama is built on the dynamic of that breakup, and there's not a thing about that actor that said he had enough charm or chutzpah to be that big an operator.