P.J.

No, you are not dreaming Josh becoming a preacher for like five seconds before he's tired of listening to people's problems. Oh, and there was something about Cassie's actions that played into him moving on. Gee....wife number *5 (I think, I'm blanking on whether or not he and Annie were legally married), the ex-stripper and ex-Princess, and wife #2's sister, pissed people off somehow. Who'd a thunk it? BILLY WAS AWESOME. :) At times, the way he'd talk people into things, he came off like a tent revival preacher himself.

I'm amazed it was Billy who picked the name. I guess I assumed it was something Bridget suggested to Nadine. And, really....how did that work out? I know there would've been several workarounds for anyone (hey...did you know X really knew Y back in the day and X is (insert Child Z) godfather/godmother? But is there ever a writing regime that impressed you with their creativity after Curlee? Not if Susan/Daisy's introduction is any example.

Well....Van was back, but not full time. I sure didn't need ****, sorry. But he's kind of inoffensive enough, considering. And the Billy/Lizzie friendship worked on so many levels. It made Lizzie likeable as far as I'm concerned. It gives Billy an outlet for all his protectiveness. And you can tell he's trying to fix his own past in a way.

Well, Billy may have picked that name, but it was Hart's true first name. It was one of those "noncoincidence coincidences". And Hart had been named after his grandfather, Peter. I don't know why it's so prevalent on GL. I understand Billy wanting his son named after him and his father. Sometimes (like with Stacey), it's a manipulation. Sometimes it's a nod to the audience, like Vanessa naming her kid Maureen, or Jenna with Henry (Coop). But sometimes it just feels like the writing regime du jour didn't want to offend anyone. (like OH, we know history---we're trying to name the kid after Bert.) Oh, yeah. And when Ross and Vanessa tried warning Cassie that Dinah wasn't stable enough to be a responsible surrogate, she got on her high horse about it. (I guess Princesses really can stomp their feet and get their way...RME) I do love me some Danny Cosgrove. Thank goodness he rescued the role. I think part of the reason they kept Bill around was the less than stellar Shaynes that were cast. but how many of those kids would the audience connect to? And who (assuming they'd be around 16 at the time) has some kind of relative in town to supervise them? Do you really want to stick Ross in a third "some one's got to raise this kid" story? (or fourth, if you count how he was essentially Phillip's father figure for a number of years) Was Holly ever truly stable enough to raise a child? Giving Lujack a child would've been interesting, but a teen Spaulding? I do love the idea of bringing Stacey. She should've come back with Nola. If there was one legacy kid who should've been a slamdunk to impact Springfield, it's Stacey.

Well, the backstory on Bill was that he always wanted Billy and Van back together. He resented Fletch when he accidentally found out Van was dating him, and when Billy went to jail shortly after remarrying Van, he didn't deal with that well either. **** signed up for complications when he got with a woman with three children (she's also coparenting Peter). That said, Ryan Brown couldn't find an emotion if he googled it. He was awful in the role of Bill. Plus, I think the writers wanted us to know Bill "wasn't a momma's boy", and he and Van start having conflicts (I swear I caught a scene where he snarks something about why Dinah's troubled, and then she disapproves of him getting involved with that Santos girl.) The writers did kind of excise Vanessa from the Lewis circle after '95. Mindy and Dylan leave, Josh has his Annie/Reva problem, and Vanessa's off dying/almost dying and dealing with Dinah's issues. We just always know Josh and Van are close. It comes into play at the end, when it's Josh she confides in that she wants to marry Billy and he plays Cupid for them. You can just feel that Jerry and Maeve adored each other. :)

RICK HEARST SINGS? I didn't know this.

I'd personally have found that a bit hard to swallow, since Marina was born just after Peter. But it would've been less egregious than the way she ended up being a decade older than Susan. I was trying to think of another (unrelated) legacy child they could've brought back. Stacey should've been a bit older, plus she's related to both Bill and Michelle (by adoption). They could've given Ross another niece (by his sister Lanie). Or just brought in someone completely new to the scene. CHALLENGE ACCEPTED!! But I will be fair. I don't think Bill needed to be polite to the stepfather who was sticking his tongue down another woman's throat. Or who expected his mother to turn her daughter into the cops with zero discussion. Lewises, while not perfect, didn't stab each other in the back like that. I just love Van and Ross supporting each other. And in a nontoxic way (say the way Roger and Holly did, or Billy/Reva). There's not a lot of Van/Cassie stuff, and it's mostly with Laura Wright in the role, I'm sure. Nicole Forrester replaced her in '07ish or so, and by that time, I don't think Cassie and Van cross, even when Cassie's married to Van's good pal Josh.

LORD lead me not into temptation. But YEAH...love that Vanessa/Ross scene. And spoiler alert---Vanessa and Cassie have issues going forward (at least every once in a while). I wish Van would've given her an icy stare and said "yes, I'm sure you regret Hart's death. Princess." *drop mike*

I understand the realities, but there was just so much history walking out the door with Bryan and Rachel. I don't understand why they didn't let them hang out in high school and have high school problems and recreate the original Four Musketeers by adding another strong female teen character. Barely a blink later, the perpetually youthful Susan/Daisy showed up. (And no, the fourth can't be Susan/Daisy, she's biologically related to both Bill and Ben. She's Bill's niece and Ben's...2nd cousin?)

All so they can shove Michelle into a bad teen scene with characters no one GAFF about. Apologies, @alwaysAMC at least Bethany Joy Lenz was sympathetic in the role, even if she was stuck with the mob.

Oh, '06 to '09 is a pretty bad stretch for Carly/Jack fans. And Michael and Maura play the subtle angsty moments like freakin' PROs. With Dinah/Bill---you got the sense that Dinah resents Vanessa and Bill's bond, while Moniz was in the role, and resents Maureen at first too. Bill has changed by the time he really has scenes with Tognoni, and she loves him but at times really thinks he's ungrateful for all her hard work in their various schemes.

It has something to do with the government and impersonating Princess Cassie with Jeff O'Neill. It's CRAY CRAY.

Because they're not really together in '07-'08. '07, she was on maternity leave for a couple of months, and Jack and Katie get together (I PUKE just typing that.) Carly comes home (long story), tries to get Jack back, and he gets sick of her games. She then gets sick and is told she's going to die. (She's been misdiagnosed.) She and Jack briefly reunite, but then she's told she's not going to die, but doesn't tell Jack. (long story) '08 has Wally Kurth in a short term role of a guy who's obsessed with Carly and nearly rapes her. She and Jack work to clear Parker, but Jack then starts screwing Janet (played by Julie Pinson), his brother Brad's babymomma (AGAIN...PUKE) Jon Lindstrom shows up at the end of '08 as Craig. (MORE PUKING.) Anyway, even though Jack and Carly aren't togethertogether they are constantly intertwined in each other's lives. The good news, you can see Carly/Jack from beginning to end. Most ATWT episodes are up from '97 (when Maura returns) to the end. Carly and Jack start working their way back to each other in late '09 when Maura returns from another maternity leave. Only Maura is on for a year-ish, from '95-'96. She left to give birth to her first bambino. Well, the Lewises are suckers for love, and Mindy had lied to Nick about his parentage. Billy isn't all that thrilled about Nick/Mindy by this time, although he'd initially really liked the guy. (It led to a hilarious fight between Billy and Van right before their second wedding) But with Mindy's taste in men, that's somewhat understandable. Yeah, the entire Eve plot sucks. Sorry Hilary Edson fans. I tried for ten years to "get" GH. I just gave up, and didn't even bother to watch many of Rick's return scenes. Yeah, I don't watch a lot of Moniz, so I don't remember if she really interacts much with Bryan Buffinton's Bill. I would guess not, as they really cut back his airtime after they recast Michelle with Budig. I think Bryan's last scenes were around Maureen's birth, and Ryan Brown shows up that fall. I'm not sure on the timing of Danny Cosgrove, but he's gone for a while while Tognoni's in the role. He returns around '07, and suddenly Dinah and Bill start scheming together like old pals. It's like Mindy never existed and he forgets he has other sisters/siblings. Maura was really good at showing Carly's vulnerability, even when she's being greedy and selfish.

Not a criticism. A wish---🌟 NGL--love ATWT. '95-early'97, not the best. But you'd love my girl Maura West.

Well, she might've tried. But pretty sure Billy would've had that number, and not liked the way Dinah treated Van--at all.

I don't think Dinah would've ever sucked up to Billy. She loved Ross, and always blamed Vanessa for growing up without him. It's hard to judge what the Billy/Dinah dynamic would've been like, since they don't really interact much until Tognoni's in the role. (they're rarely in town at the same time after Van finds her.) And even that isn't until near the end of the show, when she's suddenly all about being Bill's sister.

I still wonder how the Peter story would've played out with Jordan Clarke still there as Billy. I think the goal would've always been to have Bridget reclaim him. But I don't know if it would've broken Billy and Van up. ***the thought of never needing **** on canvas is too delicious to ignore. And yeah, Nick McHenry---world's worst reporter.

The rumor was that Eplin signed a pay or play contract, knowing that AW was in danger. That's why he wound up at ATWT. Sigh---GL could've had him. I did not like him. There was a lot of shared actors between the P&G shows through the years. Yes, Marland used a lot of people from GL (Shipp, Brown, Beecroft, Hendrickson to name a few) but Maeve and Kathleen Widdoes were both on AW; Bev of course, Anna Stuart did GL/AW/ATWT, and Rebecca Hollen did ATWT/GL/AW then back to ATWT.

And other than Ellen Dolan and M'OL, hardly anyone still with the show had worked with her. Still, they could've come up with a better concept for the tribute. The anniversary week in '87(?) handled it better.

It was also after she'd nearly died from cancer. There's nothing like nearly dying to up the odds you'll get knocked up. (See Vanessa, circa '98.) Reva was hardly the first "older" mother. Kim Hughes did it two decades before. But there was no one less suited to being a mother, yet knockin' out kids she barely(or never) raised.

I only wish we had episode counts from that era. I bet there was never a year Kim wasn't on top, even with maternity leaves.

Right? Aside from Reva's supposed risk at even carrying a baby after Marah (gee, she only had three children after that...) why would Josh want to risk Reva going through another post partum depression? Not that Josh didn't want kids, but he never seemed overly concerned with having them.

True, and maybe she didn't want to do long stints on soaps. But she was delightful, and really stood out in some rough patches of the show.

I don't think any soap knew what to do with MKA, which is a shame.

Ironic that by the time the Marland/Browne interview hit the stands, Marland's out.