P.J.

ugh...I count Miss Sally, Kyle, Kurt, Maeve, even Lujack among the temp characters cluttering up the canvas. I don't know if it was ever explained why Sampson Industries/Kyle were targeted by Infinity, other than he was KYLE SAMPSON, the be all/end all. RME. I really wish we got the tea on how/why Mindy's wedding was this blowout extravaganza. They could've had a sufficiently "big" wedding for November sweeps without a location shoot that involving carriages and horses.

asking out of ignorance---why was Mike mad at Bert? @Reverend Ruthledge

Well, that's arguably the positives of Infinity. What I see is an entire platoon of temporary useless characters running around Springfield while Billy's hypnotized into forgetting he had a brother Josh for umpteen years. It does feature (arguably) the most opulent wedding in GL's history. WAIT---Jackie ALWAYS KNEW the Spaulding had her child? Srsly?

It always amazes me that the Infinity story still kept GL ahead of ATWT. And how bad was Capitol, which I always recall being sandwiched between ATWT and GL, consistently loses viewers?

Pretty much. I think they tried making him a Roger-like character initially, but it just never worked. Every show has that mid-level inept villain who mostly just antagonizes people but gets nowhere.

Yeah, I find it a cop-out too. I think it's only the fact that Carrie was played by Jane that keeps it out of the WTF? annals of soap history.

I would assume Diane and Carrie was meant to be a coincidence. I don't think anything was ever intimated otherwise. I do wonder if Alan/Phillip/Justin would've played out along the same lines as Lucinda/Lily/Iva. (Minus Justin playing the doormat ala Iva.)

LOL...Marland hated coincidence...unless he wrote it. Iva gave Lily (and the retconned Rose) up for adoption in Los Angeles, and wound up living in the same town as Lucinda 15years (or so) later. And Rose ended up in New Joisey, FCOL. (although this was not his fault) I don't think Marland would've just killed off Jackie as some moral karma. I think he knew the recast wasn't working. Jackie's death was a tragedy directly tied to Carrie, and I would speculate, would've been a turning point in Phillip's growing up had Marland still been around to write it. Leslie Ann's death was to make Warren sympathetic? Eh....I don't think so. Leslie Ann was a dead end character. They simply freed Warren up to go back to his smarmy ways.

In the back of my head, I knew Ross was manipulative and cutthroat, but it's different seeing it in action. I remember Adam and Roger always having this fraught relationship, I just would've thought that by that time, Adam would've had a clearer image of Roger's manipulations. And it's always a joy to see more of Cindy Pickett.

Some more popped up today. One after Holly shot Roger! Man--two things. Ross was evil. And I'm surprised Adam supported Roger as much as he did.

I never watched Texas. I do want to stress that I don't blame the actors, who were obviously directed to do that. I did notice that when they weren't all together (and by the '90's), it toned down a lot. God, when Kimmer started, I'm surprised she didn't sprain her tongue. What was odd was that Billy, Trish and Josh weren't nearly as "southern" when they debuted. It ramps up with HB and his yee-haws and Reva and her thick (at times) accent. Stillwater, Oklahoma, according to a blurb from SOD when she debuted.

At times they seemed like a riff on the Clampetts.

True, I didn't mean to imply that it was only storyline featured that week.

Yep. Josh and Reva arrive at Cross Creek 7/10 and they actually marry 7/17. Yes, Pam Long. I understand having to get the most out of a location shoot, but this was the era of week long parties/events.

Other than the visually striking moment of Reva in her dress, I hadn't really remembered any of it either. On rewatch (because it's right around both Billy's and Vanessa's returns), it amazed me how downright corny it is. And yeah, with no Springfield residents we know attending (Dylan, KS's Mindy and Hamp are new) the Shaynes and the Lewises have to carry it on their own. Other than laying the groundwork of Dylan's conception, it's just hokem that drags out for an entire week.

I would guess that was wedding #1, as that looks like a mantel they'd have had at Cross Creek. I know people loved that wedding, but I thought it a bit too "down home".

I am unmoved.

I must be the only one who thoroughly despises that 70th anniversary show.

What a stupid idea. It's one thing to reboot Star Trek, etc, that are years removed from the original series. How would you expect viewers to just "forget" the history. *sigh*

I do believe one of the ITL's was what Jordan submitted the year he won. And I agree, some worked, others not so much. I think it might've been more practical to do one really good one a month, rather than 1 good, 2 mediocre and one stinky one a month. It was only like a line, and a curious shout-out, given how long it had been since Sonni had been on the show. Maeve's only in it briefly, but it's fun for me because she's in a fur coat, and older viewers might've gotten the sly reference to Vanessa's early man-chasing days.

Yes, Wednesdays became "Inside the Light" episodes, which were supposed to be more "in depth" looks at the characters/stories. I think they continued until almost the end of the show. The first of which was Harley-as-a-comic-book hero, one centered on Alan Michael after he returned, etc. I believe one Valentine's day had characters exposed to some kind of aphrodisiac and having sex with people they randomly crossed paths with, and there was one where Reva imagined what her life would've been like had she stayed married to Billy. (LOL, Billy was cheating on her with Vanessa, Josh had remained married to Sonni until her recent death, and Billy and Josh had been estranged for years)

@Mona Kane Croft Tom was their fishing guide. Why anyone would need a fishing guide in the wilds of Illinois, I'm not certain. I've never quite understood if that was Tom's profession or just a side hustle he did to support his large family. While long time viewers might have remembered that the Bauers were in Selby Flats in the 50's, younger viewers wouldn't have. I didn't know about Selby Flats until long after the story aired.

Well, that's not exactly accurate---it had been established that Henry knew Brandon and was a mentor of teenage Alan's since Henry arrived in town. Henry and HB's relationship had also been established, and in fact, HB had attended meetings at Spaulding (off-screen) as far back as 1981. It's part of the reason Josh arrived in town---to act as liason between Lewis and Spaulding.

The only character's history really "tweaked" was Bill Bauer's. (in the 50's I'm not even sure where Guiding Light takes place, is it still in Selby Flats?) Tom and Brandon were never really characters on the show. Henry had only been on the show for three years. HB was just starting. I'm not sure what you're referring to when you say HB's history wasn't true. Yes, there were logic problems. And they really should've popped for younger actors to stand in for the characters. (I'm not sure why the character's sons couldn't have all stood in for their fathers as Henry's voice over told the tale. Only having Greg Beecroft portray the Reardon patriarch was strange. The fuzzy focus thing detracted from the story.) But it wasn't nearly as egregious as rewriting Billy, Josh, Ed and Alan's pasts. Buzz having had a new face could've been used, but was apparently forgotten.

Honestly, having the girls threatened by some common, unknown enemy of the men wasn't a bad idea. I always thought that each of the men, having one piece of the puzzle but not knowing the others were involved (aside from Josh and Billy of course) could've worked. Part of the reason the Eli Simms story worked (although I understand the criticisms of it) was that only one of the men really had an established history on the show.