P.J.

There is some kind of arrangement going on between Justin and Evie, who seems to be caring for Sam. I'm not sure, but she may even be living there with Justin and Phillip. Phillip inviting Evie at least makes a little more sense (if the guest list was limited to women Vanessa liked, it would've only consisted of Trish and Helena. lol) Maybe it was more common to hang on to performers, back in the day? Instead of immediately kicking them to the curb? Evie hadn't had much to do after Chet was revealed to be her stalker. With Rita, Jackie and Ben gone, there weren't many on the canvas she'd really worked with, other than Ross. They could've pivoted her back to Ross, instead of letting him languish love-less for nearly a year other than goo-goo eyeing Amanda. Nowadays, there might've been a moment written Jordan and Janet, an eye-wink to the audience about them having previously worked together.

A--I wish someone would post a better vid of the entire ball, as it must be out there. And B--nope. Evie is only in a small segment of the ball with Phillip, Rick and Mindy. She doesn't dance at all. Ross dances with Helena and Amanda. I'm not even sure why Evie is at the ball---Vanessa heartily disliked her. I did see that Billy actually asked Henry to introduce him to Vanessa, which I hadn't realized.

The last I remember seeing Ben, he was divorcing Amanda. He came to tell Evie that he still loved her, but was leaving town so that Amanda wouldn't blame Evie for his divorcing her. I'm not exactly sure when, but Evie doesn't leave town until sometime after Nola and Quint's engagement ball. I'm not sure if she leaves before or after Justin leaves in Sept(?) of '83. I grew to like Helena when she became friends with Vanessa, once she's edging her way out of Quint's life.

Dr Linden. She treated Vanessa's drug addiction (although Vanessa seemed to forget that by Henry's suicide attempt) , and she's mentioned during Reva's PPD. Although I can't recall if she's actually shown right off the top of my head. She probably was temporarily shelved when Sonni was a therapist (between her crazy times) And I think Billy sees her after he falls off the wagon after Reva's death.

Assuming that Marland had been allowed to write the Carrie story the way he'd envisioned, Millette would've been involved in the story. And she might've played a role in Andy Norris' return (if the speculation on that had ever materialized, and Marland loved bringing back bad boys) But he doesn't seem interested in Sara's personal life. And the women of Springfield could only be analyzed so much.

I thought Adam and Sara got married? Although I do not remember any mention of her when Adam returned for Blake's weddings. But MA certainly got the short end of the stick storywise, as Marland's obsession with therapy reared it's head.

oooh....the '76 plot thickens... thanks @Paul Raven

'92. I was looking for when Vanessa called Billy a sonofabitch. Then I got sucked into '92 and got rewarded by finding Vanessa and Mo getting sloshed. (3/6/92, I believe). Then the Blackout...lol, and just kept falling down the rabbit hole. This is lateOct/earlyNov. I couldn't believe my ears! Reva's marriage to Billy was before they came to town. But yeah... Maybe it was Harley and Gus that CarJack lost to later. thanks! Thanks @Paul Raven this is a fascinating read.

In the "things you miss while FFing" category---that 'ho Lillian Raines wanted Ed to keep the affair up and sneak around? Flippin' WHAT THE HELL? Mo should've cut the bitch.

Guiding Light, please!

I think it was Most Irresistible Couple. I'm pretty sure ATWT's Jack and Carly were up for it to, and I felt gypped that they lost.

Robert Newman gets the short end of the stick, as Josh is usually stuck being an [!@#$%^&*] until the chick he's with goes cray-cray and Reva becomes the better alternative. Reva was also married to Josh's brother Billy. You said it better than I did. While I didn't know Brandon had died on-screen previous to this, it was just odd that they'd made such a huge deal about him already being dead the summer before, yet now he's just hanging around in white linen in the islands, not giving a fig about his family and friends. To me, Brandon was always the spectre hanging over the family that explained their lack of conscience. Long at times used history very well--or at least knew how to mine it for story effectively. The Fishing Trip and Dylan are probably the best examples of that. I don't think she came up with Dinah, but I could be wrong.

I'm sure old Reva/Josh fans saw the writing on the wall--and this was their pattern. They (or usually Josh) was so angry that they'd spend months yelling at each other, and then "boom", they were macking up on each other, regardless of who else they were entangled with. (This is the couple who slept together under HB's roof while Reva was married to him, after all.) "Always". *gag me*

Carrie Nye is just a little too arch for my taste, slinking around like some python on the make. (And some of the dialogue she utters...I'm surprised she could say it with a straight face.) The Cottage story is just a little too convoluted (yes, I know, someone's thinking "this, from the defender of The Fishing Trip, say what again? LOL...). And it's centered on three characters I don't care about (Tony, Annabelle and Jim). Yes, even though Tony and Annabelle are at the center of the Fishing Trip, it's balanced out with Nola and Henry and is an umbrella story that ripples through the town. I don't give a rip about the Spaulding history backstory. Other than some gorgeous scenery and shots (when Alex and Victoria go to spread Brandon and ....(? I can't come up with her name off the tip of my tongue) ashes is beautiful. But this was an action adventure story that should've been grounded.

Raise your hand if you saw GA on Capitol in a speedo. *waves* Thank you. I always get Maureen O' Sullivan (Tarzan, Mia Farrow's mom) and Margaret Sullavan (The Shop Around the Corner) mixed up. And I really can't concentrate during Susan Piper story at all. And FYI, Ed and Lillian slept together 9/22/92. I think someone was wondering the date a while back.

oh, definitely! It's too bad she hit the start of a rough transition period for the show. She shines, but she's stuck with bad story and some (if not exactly bad) not great co-stars. Uh, who did Maureen O'Sullivan play? (Sigh--and only if I'd understood exactly who and how wonderful Teresa Wright was in '86) God, the summer of '84 was literally one event after another. Kim's outfit alone must've been worth a small fortune. And poor Maeve. She looks so uncomfortable. Rebecca Hollen told a story on Locher Room where Maeve dropped the f-bomb during the shooting of it. For some reason, she wasn't being listened to, and had just had enough. As a producer, I would've been holding my breath as my pregnant actress kept walking around strange and undoubtably uneven sets in that long skirt.

It really is ridiculous how happy episodes from 40 years ago make me. God, MKA is so young!

It surprises/disappoints me too that GL's ratings during '89-'93 don't reflect the quality of the show. But when I call it great soap, I'm not defining that by ratings either. I'm probably in the minority, but I think Reilly takes something intangible with him when he goes. There's a sense of humor that just disappears in '93.

I tend to stay out of EP discussions, simply because I rarely know who EPs when. And they all have their good and bad sides. But how are we supposed to judge JFP on anything other than what we see? I didn't know she was a director or a music director. (and unlike say, Chris Goutman, I never saw her credited as anything other than an EP) Specifically in the matter of casting Crampton, she took credit for it (or at Crampton gave her credit for it, whatever) and it was arguably, one of the worst recasts of the '90's (and either as bad or worse than the actress she fired). She lost two important actresses in '92 and still decided to kill Maureen. She had a wildly uneven tenure at GL. It's no wonder she's polarizing. But it kind of proves a point--great soap is always a that rare combination of everything clicking at the same time. And believe me, if I could bring myself to watch her male successors who were responsible for bringing back Reva and allowing her to eat the show again, or hiring Hunt Block, or being too chicken to stand up to stans who and hamstrung the show with boring couples stuck in the same repetitive stories (Vanessa/Matt, Chelle/Danny or Richard/Cassie, take your pick) not to mention San CristoHELL....I'd be more than happy to roast them on open spits. I guess we end up talking about JFP because she's in a period we can nominally agree was one of the last "best" periods of the show.

Right? GOD FORBID Vanessa be allowed to cut her own mother-in-law down to size, when REVA REVA REVA needs a rival to sharpen her claws on. RME I mean, they could have, but Long and Curlee (like most HW) seemed to forget about characters once they left town. If they mentioned Trish five times in the ten years she was gone, I'd be surprised. Yeah, Alex didn't really do friendship, other than Lillian. And most of the time, Henry. And somehow, by the time she leaves, Sonni is some friend of Mo's? Mo is just everyone's default "friend". SMH.

I also never understood Alex's friendship with Sonni or keeping the secret of Marah's paternity. Not exactly heartbroken about Ms. Sally being ushered to the Hereafter.

And in case anyone is confused; Rusty was hired by HB to work undercover and infiltrate some gang sabotaging Lewis.

aww....thanks, and bless your mom for sharing that with you. I mean, I assumed that Tim would have to be different from Billy--but I still can't wrap my head around a pairing of Jordan with Evie.

This is me *pea green with envy* *sigh* The Reva vortex was like an F5 tornado. Widespread mayhem and damage.

What I wouldn't give to have any of Jordan's run as Tim surface. I wish there was more of early '81 online. It would be fascinating to see Alan/Rita play out. I guess I'm too set in my ways...I'd be horrified at a Van/Alan marriage. Not that it wouldn't have been great to see more of Chris Bernau with Maeve.