P.J.

There are a lot of problems with the faux Bauers. IMO, the basic flaw is that Johnny himself wasn't interesting. When trying to build (or in this case add on to) a family, you've got to start with one hella interesting dynamic character. And then you've got to tie them into the family. I guess they tried to make Rick and Johnny friends, but they don't seem to click, chemistry wise. Building a new family around Nola (and trying to do the same with Reva) made sense. But it utterly failed with Johnny and Lillian. Annoying things around the 4th of July episode-- --that argument between Ed and Mo seems crass and out of character. As annoyed as I am (again) at Mo's attitude re: Roger (yeah, thanks for the ok to hate the guy who raped two of my ex-wives and caused Rita's miscarriage...not to mention tried to kill me.. RME) the comment from Ed about Mo keeping her skirt down was way out of line. Serial cheater Ed? GMAB. ---yet another Shayne sob story about how the Lewises inflicted childhood trauma it took them years to get over. ---Fletcher and his nicknames. Alex was Blondie, and here Holly was Red. And I'm sure if I bothered to watch, everyone he comes in contact with got one. (well, everyone except Vanessa---no one calls her anything but Vanessa. Thank God. I did hear him once call her Blue Eyes, which I assume just wasn't snappy enough) It still amazes me TIIC didn't trash Vanessa to keep Kurt McKinney. As much as I disliked Matt, Kurt acted rings around Bradley Cole.

There was an explanation. Alan and Vanessa had had a very contentious relationship ever since Chamberlain and Spaulding had merged. (A little blackmail will do that...) He'd fired her in the beginning of '83, and she only got back in after Henry's heart attack because he planned to sabotage her and reinstall Trish after Ross' campaign ended. Vanessa's loyalty to the Lewises (she warns Josh about a bad deal that Alan wanted to used to tank LTA) worried him and he proposed to her the night she married Billy. Both Billy and Vanessa knew there was no way for her to work at Spaulding and not invite more scheming from Alan. And honestly, Spaulding practically gets mothballed after Alan's departure. It is not the hotbed of intrigue it was from '80-'83, when half the cast walked in and out of Alan's office on a daily basis.

WHAT? Shut. the. Front. Door. Personally, while weakening the Bauers was a mistake, I also think failing to create "the next" compelling anti-hero (ala Roger Thorpe) hurt the show. Phillip was a complicated guy, but he wasn't someone the viewers wanted to hiss at. Andy Norris, Gary Swanson, Neil Everest, Daniel St John....someone with staying power. Just a quick question---did Alex and Fletch ever sleep together?

I thought Sparks fit in seamlessly too. And I liked her as Courtney on ATWT.

I guess I remember some of that. I think it would've been hard to recast Harley. I mean, as much as I loved McClain as Rosanna, I'd have had a hard time accepting her as a cop. KWIM?

And it's really too bad how they gutted Harley those last years. Gus was bad enough, but Cyrus was insulting.

I can't even speculate, although I'd assume Wagner, Bauer and Stuart probably were. The one thing I've realized lately is that the soap community is smaller and more connected than I had ever realized.

Yeah, I think it becomes a big thing in 1987.

I guess it was also the start of the Bauer BBQ and the introduction of Alan-Michael.

I will admit, being going from story with Billy/Vanessa to Buzz/Jenna seems like a huge downgrade.

Actually, I think Ross did sleep with Alex. He didn't sleep with Lillian, though few did. I know people liked Nadine. To me, she's just an annoying plot device. If anything, I could see Harley, Bridget and Vanessa all at some point thanking God they had hadn't wound up like Nadine--always desperate and sabotaging themselves. We are like twins...I just watched that last night. I can't believe that's how they celebrated the 50th anniversary...Maeve rushing out some special edition. OY. Yes, the clips from fan favorite moments were nice, but you'd think they could've built up some better story. It would be interesting to see what clips fans would ask for now.

Ditto.

It might have. I just always found Nadine so shallow, I'm not sure anyone could made her seem sympathetic to me.

Yes, I'm sure they would've scraped up people to go to the funeral, but other than Bridget and Frank, was Nadine really close to anyone? I shudder to think of Vanessa having to speak some BS about how "misunderstood" Nadine was in life. Nadine was "that" person---the one who wears out their welcome quickly and people end up avoiding at all costs.

Thanks everyone! I just stumbled on that scene, and got to wondering who in town was even close enough to Nadine to mourn her other than the Coopers.

Did poor Nadine get a proper funeral? I caught part of the episode where Frank tells Buzz she was murdered, and had to stop watching Deas' yelly-ness.

Maura West/Christian LeBlanc Carly/Michael Baldwin ATWT Diane/Michael Y&R Maura/Kin Shriner Carly/Keith Morrison ATWT Ava/Scotty GH Ellen Dolan/Michael Woods Maureen/Jim Reardon GL Margo/Alec Wallace ATWT Lisa Brown/Ben Hendrickson Nola/Silas Crocker GL Iva/Hal ATWT Wally Kurth and Lynn Herring also were on ATWT while Maura was on. I don't recall Maura/Lynn having any scenes on ATWT, or Wally/Maura interacting on GH.

I'm so happy! They posted German episodes that fill in gaps in 1990. Vanessa sinks her claws into Nadine. HEAVEN.

lol.

I loved Suzanne Davidson. I agree the writing for Frost echoed back to Davidson's version of the character. Frost did seem to get the fuzzy end of the lollipop in terms of writing--breaking up with Steve, and romances with Seth and Josh.

Frost played a more mature, and boring Betsy. I never really felt she fit in, even with Kim or Ellen. Collier gave wood a bad name. His ripped abs aside, he was unremarkable in scenes.

Vanessa slaps Nadine. For context, Nadine is accusing Vanessa of using her attempted rape to get Billy back.

Following Meg Ryan was a big ask for anyone. And Frost's introduction didn't do her a lot of favors in the role. Betsy had amnesia after a car crash, and some kind of romance with her doctor, I think. And after Ryan's quirky warm-heartedness, Frost seemed ...cold in the role.

don't forget Dusty. *shiver*

Well, blink and miss was really the only way I wanted to see Collier back. The actress who played his wife was actually a lot better than him. I think they also tried Prescott with Meg for some reason.