P.J.

LOL...I think everyone forgot about Mike/Lillian.

I mean, they could've found a way to work Mike back on to the canvas--imagine them throwing Lillian and bone and have her and Mike have some whirlwind romance off-screen and come home married, making Mike Beth's stepfather. But yeah, you'd have thought with two of her child having a mental health crisis, it would've been natural for Barbara to return. God knows Blake could've used her. in '96, Berjer was 76. Not that that excuses any disrespect from JFP.

I'm not sure when he exactly arrived, but he's Vanessa's doctor when she gives birth to Maureen, so he's there in Feb '98.

I'm not sure what point Mike would've served with only Ed's kids in town. Although God knows, Michelle's husband always needed an attorney. Don't get me wrong, I think Mike returning would've made more sense than Meta, but GL obviously wasn't going to bring back Hope and Alan-Michael. Mike could've been the resident lawyer, since Ross was always bouncing around between lawyer/mayor/candlestick maker. When did AW kill off Barbara Berjer's character again? I wish that'd happened, rather than Meta.

Re: Kim leaving or sticking it out to the bitter end...Part of me think Kim didn't want the blowback that Martha Byrne got when she left ATWT in '07. Re Jake---regardless of what her motives were, I'm not even sure P&G wasn't glad. It gave them the out to get an older actor into that role and allowed them to lean into all the publicity generated from Luke's coming out.

If Kim didn't like the "diva" label....maybe she shouldn't have acted like one.

DAM is the better actor, but Edmund certainly outlived his usefulness a number of years previous. I certainly didn't need that last return to explain Shayne's morose return.

They showed Dinah and Mallet meeting up in Europe (she either had car trouble or was trying to pull a con by pretending she was having car trouble) and then crashing a church wedding because Dinah "always" loved the part where they said "I do", which was stupid. (But it made clear that Dinah and Mallet had reunited, which...well, whatever. Not a fan.) Not nearly as stupid as the episode they devoted to Jeffrey chasing Edmund (which no one gave a flyin' fig about) through something. But still. RME. At least we didn't get an unnecessary update on Cassie. I'm probably the last one to know, but in case anyone else doesn't, in the main discussion forum, the topic "Look at 1975" has synopses from all the shows from '75 to '78. It also has some from as early as '72 or '73.

I know it's years after the fact, but adding my thanks to @FrenchFan for posting these recaps. They give me a better glimpse into Jordan Clarke's time as Dr Tim Ryan, which will probably never surface. As well as the intro of Alan and Elizabeth and Justin and Jackie.

It's all I can do to believe Bev messed up her lines. Of course she wasn't perfect, but didn't she have a photographic memory? I'd have an easier time believing she's irritated with Kimmy and trying to prove a point. But truly, they don't have a lot of scenes together. Sort of like Kim with Zas---they just don't. They weren't on the show that long together, so I don't necessarily trust her impressions of him either.

1. At the beginning, now I find Reva totally unsympathetic, not because she was "larger than life", but because she's a lying, user skank. But I guess that's my perspective...lol. 2. I don't know at what point she and Robert were "screen partners for two straight years", but it wouldn't have been until at least 1987. Robert left in November '84, practically a year to the day of Reva's debut. And he was sparingly used that last month or two after Josh regained the ability to walk. You can tell that they shot his goodbye scenes out of order, because Maeve was just returning from maternity leave. Vanessa returns with longer hair (that is perfectly accented with the fur she's wearing, lol), gives birth while HB is in having his heart surgery, but a week or so before, when Billy goes to Switzerland to try and persuade her to come home, she's got shorter hair. 3. There is a story about one of those courtroom scenes. Zas mooned the cast from off-stage during one of the trials. 4. sweet story about Vince. 5. She's got her dates mixed up about Charita. I know memories are fuzzy, or maybe the editing's bad, but Reva was the reason Josh had the accident, so obviously Charita hadn't left the show the year before. She's right they didn't work together much though. 6. the only actress (the one falling in love with her costars) that even remotely sounds like is Beth Ehlers. But I don't think Ehlers was divorced twice. Oh, and of course, she's got the deets wrong about Beverlee's departure. Why even include that story, when it took place two years after she left in '90? And I don't believe Bev messed up her lines because of Kimmy's blue, blue eyes. GMAB.

LOL...true, true. It's just odd to me--even though I watched Simon on and off for nearly 30 years, he's not as comforting a presence to me as Mart is on rewatch (what little there is.)

I remember Mart too from childhood---but not really any storylines. From reading the recaps, he seems to be a bit of a mess, always hung up on the previous woman in his life.

You would, wouldn't you? I mean, even Mo is livid at Alan's actions! So different from Roger's return, where Mo thinks everyone should join hands and sing kumbayah and Ed keeps a healthy distance between him and Roger. It is wonderful to see Chris Bernau back in action, effortlessly sliding into Springfield like no time has passed.

Peter Simon returns with, dare I say, such emotion. It's some asinine plot about Alan going after Rick after Phillip was shot, and wants to make sure Rick doesn't get his medical license. It doesn't quite make sense to me, but Ed throws out Rita and Hope's names, anyway.

I could see where Kyle was intriguing for a hot minute, given that he was a millionaire with a secret grudge against the Lewises. But the entire premise for his grudge is stupid, and Reva's insta attraction to him doesn't fly. I do think Reva needed to be separated from the Lewises, but she always comes off as a little lost without them, imo. I'm surprised they tied Kyle to them so rapidly. They could've drawn that story out for the entire two years Larkin was there.

I can see Kim thinking to herself---why would I be so emotionally invested in a guy who literally looks like he is the slasher in a slasher film? I think they tried expanding Reva's reach and having her anchor this story, and it doesn't work. I don't think anyone could've really, as Cain is never a compelling figure. It is a hoot seeing a younger Victor Garber though. I'd speculate that Reva and Kyle were popular because the viewers didn't expect Josh back, and they wanted to see Reva happy. Otherwise, I don't get it. He's more controlling than generous. I watched a little of the actress that Long supposedly wanted for the role. She doesn't seem very good. In Texas, she seems to be very similar to Vanessa, and I can't imagine her projecting a more down to earth image.

Ewww....I love MKA, but GL wasted her returns. I do think she sleeps with Ross, or gets darn close. So...against my better judgment, I slid into '86 to find Vanessa confessing to Henry about being pregnant...and it's NOT William Roerick, DAMN IT. It's some damn temp Henry. But then it gets weirder because I'm listening in German, and it's the same voice fooling me.

I don't believe she did. She did sleep with Simon, believing he was a Spaulding.

Well, depending on rewrites...Jennifer Richards potentially slept with Brandon and Alan. It does feel like we're forgetting someone, but then again, maybe I'm confusing that with brothers, which would include a lot more.

shoot...he said in that Locher room with Krista. I think he met her before that---she was doing Broadway and they had mutual friends or an agent maybe?

That's an odd coincidence. Yeah, Roger would turn anything he could to his advantage. At the time, he's just taking the pictures to bank leverage over Reva, Billy or the Lewises. I'm kinda squeamish about 1986 episodes myself. I'd love to hear the original version of Ross/Vanessa/Dinah, but the Cain story is bad, and I don't want Billy and Vanessa to break up.

Well, Josh was a horndog. LOL Yep. It was one of the first really weird things Reva did with her PPD. She became obsessed with the idea that Dylan and Sam should get married. Sam was only 17, and needed her parent's permission. Reva helped them leave town so they could go to a neighboring state where Sam was old enough. Ross, Billy and Josh stopped them, then Sam went to India to try and persaude Justin. Reva followed her and didn't tell Josh she was going. While Reva was gone, Josh advertised for nannies, and Harley applied. He ended up hiring someone else. But when Reva returned, she hired Harley because (in her weird mental state) she wanted someone she could trust with the kids (because she feared Josh was trying to get rid of her and that Vanessa wanted the children.). After Reva starts treatment, she asks Harley to stay until she's stronger because she's good with the kids. At the party, Reva starts going off the rails, insulting Justin and Josh hauls her to a private dining room to ask WTF. Reva starts confronting him about the "affair" with Vanessa, and he realizes she is weird. He locks her in the dining room and frees Mindy and Van from the ladies room (where Reva has locked them in). Van starts telling him that Reva attacked her and needs help. Reva escapes out the window of the dining room and goes back to the party, climbs onto a table and starts a striptease. Josh gets her to stop, takes her home and after filling Ed in, decides to go to the doctor the next day. Reva then takes off and spends days running around town, coming on to a guy she thinks is Billy, Billy, Hamp, Frank and Roger. Roger takes her to his apartment and takes nude pictures of her, which he tries to blackmail Billy with. He wants the deed to the land the Towers is on in exchange for them. (Billy had been left the deed by a sweet old lady who lost her home in the 5th street fire. Roger had stolen the deed from her before she died. After Roger took those pics of Reva, she saw him hide them, and took an envelope from the hiding place. She didn't realize she'd taken the deed and not the pictures.) Anyway, Billy and Vanessa trick Roger into burning the pictures, claim the deed and at the Towers opening reveal that Billy owns the land and therefore the Towers. That's what led to Roger and Alex's breakup and Roger and Mindy's affair. Mark Lewis was on ATWT? 1986 is not a good year, storywise. No bueno. Muy no bueno.

I'm not sure if the boy Carrie 2 seduced (I think his name was Ron) was still in high school or in college, but I remember he was very shy. I don't recall her making a pass at Alan, but she did make one at Justin, and she ended up banging Josh. I think there was an out of town business man too. Reva thought Josh and Vanessa were having an affair. Vanessa had just been fired by Roger, and when Reva took off to India, Van started helping Josh with the children. He then hired Van to work at Lewis. She would hear him on a business call with Van and think they were arranging a tryst. Or they sat too close together on the couch, so of course they were hiding an affair from her. It was very weird and blew up really quick. It culminated at the party Reva was throwing at the club to introduce Dylan to Justin. Reva imagined everyone whispering about her and then she dumped a tray of drinks on Vanessa. When Vanessa hauled her into the ladies room to ask WTF, Reva accuses them of having an affair, asks if Van's pregnant, and then knocks her to the floor. I do think Claire had a tumor. I know around Valentine's day, Claire is making passes at a young businessman (or maybe even someone college age), and Ross (Van kinda pushed her at him because she's not keen on Calla). There's also a young intern played by Burke Moses that I think she sleeps with.

Don't forget Carrie, who as Carrie2 was screwing everything in pants, and PPD Reva, who to either get back at Josh for his supposed affair with Vanessa (or just to prove she's more desirable than Van) tries to screw half the male population.