P.J.

I'm sure some must have...I just can't think of one on a show I watched. Some would probably say Liz Keifer taking over the role of Blake and Blake/Ross but I'm not sure I ever could've bought SS's Blake and Ross as a couple. Hot in bed, sure. I just loved Grant. He almost managed to make Crystal Chappel rootable for me.

I was okay with Cassie (and Laura Wright was certainly better than Nicole Forester), but simply being Reva's bastard sister isn't exactly a great tie to Guiding Light's history. Although I know this fictional child is part Thorpe, Hart didn't claim that name, and I have no clue what last name RJ was given. Maybe it was something other than Watros' win....but I think it's possible to cheer for someone getting recognition for your show and realizing at some point down the road that you're not getting the same type of praise you did before they came along. Kim had been the big dog on the block (while not the only award winner on the show, but it's biggest) for so long, she never really had to deal with not having that spotlight.

Reva hadn't worked since 1985. And even then, I doubt she did anything. All she ever knew was how to cash checks. There's a point where I think Kim was just sick of everything. I don't know if Watros winning that emmy got under skin, or the writing, or just realizing she was back where she started and not going anywhere. I never thought Kim looked good in short hair. And it really didn't fit Reva's character.

My eyes, my eyes! I just can't stand Hunt Block. And I had to cringe through plenty of Hunt Block's making out technique on ATWT. I'm not sure I've ever witnessed a recast where the new person had a good chemistry with their love interest. Whatever Tom/Margo on ATWT had withered through the multiple recasts. It's probably why I was more of a Phillip/Harley fan than a Phillip/Beth fan with Beth Chamberlain in the role. That some weasely writer ignored a boatload of history and foisted a brat on some insignificant notShayne instead of giving us a grandchild of Chamberlain/Marler and Thorpe lineage is a crime. Who names a child after their brother in law? An ex-stripper who doesn't know her own daddy.

Yeah, I wouldn't have been interested in any story with Holly and Olivia. I just didn't like Olivia, period. And given how trite Olivia/Natalia was written years later, I don't have confidence that the story would've given the weight it deserved. I think there were so many cops on the show because it was an easy shortcut to create conflict. Gus was a thorn in the Spauldings side, Mallet had been a cop (and came back as some prison warden but who had been working as a hitman or whatever), and Marina just kind of fell into the family business. Yeah, if Mae was Stacey, the only connection she would've had is the name Reardon (or Chamberlain). Both Bill and Michelle were her cousins, but there wasn't really any history there, which is part of the reason "J" was such a flop.

I don't even think it's a contest---it's San Cristobel. It may not be realistic to have multi-millionaires and multi-national corporations on every block, but at least it's rooted in the relatable. Princes descending on a midwestern town it beyond ridiculous. Even when we got rid of the island, we were stuck with the inhabitants. And of course, then along came Jonathan. RME. We were stuck with them all, thanks to Reva. Thanks for the info and Dinah/Moniz. While I don't think Sydney Penny would've worked in the role as written for Moniz, maybe Dinah wouldn't have been so over-the-top bitch either.

The what ifs are endless. I think the custody trial would've been pretty much the same, with some kind of shared custody between Billy/Van and Bridget. But, would Dinah have come back to Springfield? (Oh, imagine round 4 of Billy vs Roger over his involvement with Dinah.) Would Josh have come home, and if there's no Josh, does Reva return? If there's no Reva, there's no San Cristohell....sigh.

Oh, definitely they were a rebound relationship. It's just painful watching such a forced pairing. There's literally no one else on the canvas for either of them, and they really don't have anything in common other than having children the same age. The natural pivot would've been to Ross, but as you say, they were building to Ross/Blake. I think it would've been harder for Billy to see Ross as a threat, because he knew they'd tried, more than once and they just couldn't make it work. In that way, Fletcher works, because Billy's confused by it and can't as easily dismiss the relationship. I shouldn't complain as much, as it throws Billy and Van into some of my favorite tropes, (exes who can't stay away from each other, and who fight like there's no one else in the room). I think Jordan's sudden exit in '93 just makes me melancholy for the time lost in dealing with also rans like Nadine and Fletch.

Double post

It's such a brief involvement (even though i cringed through most of it on rewatch and it seems like FOREVER) and it doesn't really impact any further story. So it's easily forgotten. If only the same were true of *****.

As I had completely forgotten about his involvement with Vanessa, I guess he didn't always annoy me. :)

Or the fact he had an affair with his brother's wife.

guy who wasn't in love with her, LOL). Well, two, as Frank never fell for her either. Geez....remembering how needy and clingy he was with Vanessa still gives me the heebie-jeebies. True re: just throwing Frank/Chelsea/Fletch in a story to use up their guarantees. They even had Fletch switch careers and go into business with Hamp and run the Blue Moon.

Wow...I can't believe Ross ever took her back.

With very good reason. Interestingly enough, I just caught part of an episode where Fletch is clearly jealous of Chelsea dating Frank. I'd seen other eppys where it looked like something was brewing between Chels and Fletch...but actually seeing him be jealous of Frank is a little sad. And gosh, they really did throw nearly everyone at Frank.

Yep, Sam is the nerdy, introverted girl. She's living at the mansion, and seems fixated on "helping" with Alan Michael and Harley's wedding. I'm not sure if she's there to sort of "befriend" Harley who is still very rough around the edges, or if she was sent to live with Phillip rather than Ross for some reason, and afterwards went to live with Ross. As Alan is trying to manipulate Alan-Michael at this point, he's probably smiling at anyone who supports AM/Harley getting married. But as Sam is so unfiltered in a Jane Austen-ish sort of way, she can't offend anyone.

I never understood why when Sam came to Springfield, she's living in the Spaulding mansion. But it was nice that she had this pseudo-brother/sister relationship with Alan-Michael. I do think she left to go to college out of town, but I'm not sure if it was to study law.

It's so hard to think about the Santos without mentally cringing, and the Michelle era ended so poorly for me with St Alban in the role, that I'd completely forgotten you could consider them rivals. In spite of how Alex represented herself, there are times (even while Bev McKinsey was in the role) where her ethics are no better than Alan's ever were.

What really struck me watching some of the '79 episodes was how young MG looked. And I agree, she only became more striking as the years passed. It's Krista Tesearu's birthday... I happened to catch Beverlee McKinsey on an old Hawaii 5-O rerun. Yowza.

Just to fangurl for a moment---there were two women who didn't seem to age at all from the '80's to '00, and it was Maeve and Colleen Zenk. I'm so glad neither woman ruined their faces---and now actresses are doing it younger and younger. A-M was cutting his Spaulding teeth, as it were, when he battled Vanessa for the Presidency of Spaulding. No, blackmailing Nadine wasn't the worst thing done in the name of trying to get that power, but it was a weasel-y thing to do, as Nadine had been his mother-in-law. It was even more weasel-y that he was blatantly stringing Blake along to help him, and that he was stabbing Vanessa in the back while she was at trial. (Nadine had earned that comeuppance, as she'd skated on betraying Billy more than once, but I digress. And it's still nearly a year before she gets nailed to the wall.)

I must not watch enough of '84, because I never see much of Mike and Alex, and I'm not sure how they're even showing interest in each other when she slept with Ross and has Warren's balls in a jar on her nightstand. I'm sure Marland would've developed them differently, but other than early Nola's machinations, the Reardons don't seem all that interesting. Tony sole purpose seems to be bedding anything that moves.

On paper, I can see why GL might think Alex/Mike/Lillian would work. There's the Mike/Alan history, the Mike/Phillip history and all that playing out over Lujack and Beth's romance. But I can't think of a less interesting story---unless it was Jim/Hillary/Fletch. I credit Beverlee with a lot, but I can't see Alex being fascinated with a straight arrow type (even Fletch originally had a bit of operator in him), or putting up with Mike's self-righteous streak. As for Jim Reardon, I think he was brought on to shake up the Reardon family dynamic, especially after the truth about Tom's "desertion" was revealed. Tony needed someone to measure himself against, and a brother is kind of that natural fit. I just don't think it worked. Jim wasn't a dynamic enough character to spark story, imo. To be honest, I don't watch a lot of the Reardons, so I don't even know if they really interact much after his arrival. Jim is briefly an issue for Ed/Mo, but mostly he romances Hillary. Of course, he's only there a year, whether or not that was Michael Woods' intent or not---the role was hardly unrecastable at that point. I think the Reardons just fell apart. It would've been hard to recast either Nola or Tony, but to do both would've been nearly impossible. And they're pretty much the heart of the clan. (With apologies to Ellen Dolan, who I love as ATWT's Margo, her Mo is just kind of "there" for most of her run.)

Jenna's father wasn't cheated. Brandon had paid for the patent. Alan Michael even found the agreement. AM lost it because he was chasing after Eleni who was chasing after Frank who was looking for Alex in Bangladesh or somewhere. That's what caused Spaulding to lose the case. Jenna got Spaulding, lock stock and barrel, and kicked the Chamberlains and Spauldings out. (Jenna met Roger during the infamous blackout, and they eventually became lovers. Roger financed the lawsuit, and knew there was an agreement, but paid off Brandon's old secretary to disappear so he could get his hands on Spaulding.) Vanessa goes back to Lewis, and helps Billy poach clients left and right. A-M gets Jenna to exchange the Springfield Journal for the Spaulding mansion, Nick goes back to print journalism in the hopes of exposing Roger. Vanessa authorizes a line of credit for them from Lewis funds, on the condition that Fletch is the Editor in Chief.

@alwaysAMC Jenna came to town and stole some of Alex's jewelry. Then Roger used Jenna to get a hold of Spaulding. (way too long a story) while Alex was out of town. And part of the reason I loathe **** is his self-righteous [!@#$%^&*] nature. ANYONE who knew Vanessa knew her work was important, and that she had a tendency to "bury herself in work" when she was upset. Aside from whether or not Jenna was "Vanessa's best friend", the fact that &&&& wants to ream her for how she reacts to someone's death, when we know how hard she took Maureen's death and Henry's, he can go STFU. From the way you described it, Vanessa wasn't expecting Vicky. Yet **** assumes the worst. UGH.

Please, BTG, just fire Tomas. Dude went on and on and on about how Kat had been his "person" to go to with his problems (what, his broken dick? 'cause I don't recall him ever having a problem...) and whine about how she wouldn't let him be there for her. Ten minutes later, he's complaining to Jacob (who I can't recall him ever meeting...but whatev) about how "too independent" Kat is and hard to get to know. I think all Kat's problem has ever been is that she senses his potential dumb assed-ness and knows she's gonna regret ever getting his number. And whoever wrote the dialogue between Dana and Marcel---needs to go back to Skinemax. Or Hallmark. Because it was painfully painfully awkward and the opposite of banter-ish.