P.J.

Me too.

I don't recall ever seeing that, but Hubbard was never afraid to say what she thought.

I'm unsure who exactly brings Dinah back (Broderick?). But especially with the age tweaking, it ended up that Vanessa and Reva should've been pregnant about the same time. There's a vague insinuation that Vanessa coming from a more privileged background should've simply sucked it up and raised a child out of wedlock, no matter how immature she was. Nonetheless, they could've written Dinah as emotionally needy without the constant blame game she played with her parents.

I'm not sure they knew what to do with Ed with Roger off the canvas. Hulswit's Ed was messy. When PS came on, I don't recall him doing much other than be an upstanding citizen. Some of Ed's reserve is Simon, but in hindsight, it seems like Ed got lost in the shuffle a bit. Later in life pregnancies seem to be an epidemic around this time. Holly had Meg, Vanessa has Maureen, and that's between Jenna's pregnancies (ok, she's a bit younger, but still.) I'm okay with Vanessa having another child....it just should've been Billy's.

that's so sweet. Merry Christmas! I have rediscovered my passion for classic Guiding Light this year and it's been a treat to be more involved in the boards again.

thinking more on it, I'm pretty sure Hubbard suggested it, but the show said no.

And Vanessa being insecure over Beth. And getting lectured over how to parent from a novice with zero sense of family. RME. "tight butt with a smile...." OMG ROTFLMAO. We definitely agree---that relationship shouldn't have seen the light of day. Vanessa should've dumped him at the nearest childcare center and given Blake a run for her money with Ross. Then Billy could've roared back into town and schemed with Blake to bust them up.

I really should rewatch more of the Peter custody fight. I did watch a scene where Van is just livid that Ross is representing Bridget and goes to Ed's. She winds up saying that Peter is as much hers as MIchelle was Maureen's...and Ed hits her with the fact that she wouldn't be raising Peter if Maureen had lived. It's just devastatingly good. It's not that Van and Ed weren't connected through the years (Rick and Mindy date, Ed treats everyone in town, Ed is Billy's friend..) it's just that it never seems like more than polite small talk. Then again, sometimes I struggle with exactly when everyone becomes friends.

He actually bitches this to Vanessa during the Dinah thing. When he voiced that during their final breakup, I thought the show pulled it out of their ass. I doubt the show researched though. LOL...complaining that your bread-winner wife doesn't let your non-business-person self rule the roost.... SMH.

I never liked Eve or Hilary Edson. Nor Vincent Irizarry as Nick.

Yes. Ross had regrets after the Jennifer Richards trial, and he broke things off with Vanessa, and tried to make a relationship with Eve. Vanessa was determined to get his attention, she mixed booze and pills, intending to call Ross so he'd rescue her and feel guilty. He took the phone off the hook, and she passed out. Henry found her and got her to the hospital. Ed either treated her, or just started talking to her and that's how that developed. Andy Norris told Ed that she faked the suicide, which was the first bump in the relationship (the scene is between Maeve and Mart). It's Peter Simon and Anna Stuart who play out the break up, when he finds out she sent him Rita's address. I actually haven't seen that, but it ushers Anna Stuart out, and Maeve comes back sometime in late January/Feb of '82. And when WM's Dinah comes back and is super self-destructive, the show missed the opportunity to really remind us that Vanessa understood her behavior because she'd lived it. Instead it was all "Vanessa's guilty for giving her baby up" yadda yadda. I guess I might be short changing Simon a little, he does have decent chem with both Mos and Holly.

That's one of those forgotten nuggets. So much so, I was shocked when I came across it. They were lovers, but I don't think they were ever engaged. Vanessa is angling hard for it, so hard that she pays Joe Bradley to get Rita's address so that Ed can get a divorce. She then sends it anonymously to Ed. When Ed finds out she did, he dumps her. He meets Mo a couple of months later. I understand the show never playing that vibe through the years, as they really don't interact for long stretches other than the odd medical emergency. They wouldn't even have a flashback to go to, as Simon took over the role as Maeve went on maternity leave. Not to mention, IMO, Simon isn't a chemistry magnet. Maeve doesn't get enough credit for making Vanessa appealing in spite of her agendas.

What ended up airing was Liz Hubbard playing Gloria. The age difference between Cooper and Hubbard wouldn't have mattered, as they were flashbacks. What I can't recall is if Hubbard also played "young Lucinda" or that she just wanted to in those same flashbacks.

Right? I was giggly that it was chock full of Vanessa.

I should've recognized McTrash writing. I have kinda skipped around the GL holiday lately, and only watched those scenes. I don't think I could stomach Reva's return. Christmas '95 is a bit strange. It's a clip show (basically) with some odd choices. Vanessa (spending her first Christmas with Matt) remembers Christmases '83 and '84 (Christmases with Billy). Nola recalls one with Quint, and Ed and the Bauers remember Mo's last Christmas. While I was always annoyed at how Fletcher insinuated himself into Vanessa's life and then proceeded to throw down ultimatums the moment he got her into bed, at least he had a life apart from her. Matt's got nothing. He's working for her ex-inlaws, has some quasi attraction/tug of war with her daughter, and confides in a woman who he knows antagonizes his wife. How he doesn't know that Vanessa would put her kids ahead of herself (when she just risked her life to give birth to Maureen, or limited Billy's access to Bill or fought practically the town for custody of Peter) and the marriage to do what she felt was right? Moron. I've watched that Ed/Vanessa scene a couple of times, and it always seems a little odd. It seems like the type of scene that should've gone to Ross or Billy. Not that I don't think Ed and Vanessa don't care about each other in some basic way, but they never seem that close.

Well, Vanessa is pregnant with Maureen here. But at some point, wardrobe took a huge downgrade and stopped dressing Van in the jewel tones she looked best in. And I think they made Van's look more "casual" in deference to her younger husband. RME. (recalls some ridiculous comment Matt made at Van's memorial, about him having to remind her to dress for business meetings. AS. IF. Vanessa was a fashionista before "fashionista" was coined.) I know I've complained about Vanessa and Reva being "friends" before, but it always strikes me as ridiculous given their history. I just watched a scene from '95 (after Reva returns) where Reva is trying to guilt Vanessa into going to Josh to get time with her kids, and when Van points out that Josh has been the stability in those children's lives, Reva gets all snarky about Vanessa toeing the "Lewis party line" even though she's no longer a Lewis and how she should understand since she had to fight to get into Dinah's life after giving her up. (Ignoring, of course, that Reva had done the same thing with Dylan...) Vanessa should've torn Reva a new piehole and thrown the fact that (in effect) Van had mothered Shayne more than Reva at that point. Ugh...there are times when Reva expecting everyone to do for her just chaps my hide. I guess they're trying to make Matt look like the "fun" one in counterpoint to Vanessa's seriousness. Basically, Matt has no internal life struggle, so gets to act like the flake he is. Then again, maybe he's just falling into his old "escort" routine.

What might have made sense is Cooper playing Lucinda and Royce's mother in flashbacks.

You're welcome. I found myself a treat---Vanessa slapping Ross for agreeing to represent Matt to force her into a C-section. The writing is preachy, but Maeve and Jerry are gold.

I don't really rewatch a lot of the Moniz era, as I try to avoid Matt at all costs. ,I probably favor Moniz over Tognoni by a hair, but that's probably as much to do with Moniz having better writing and getting more time with Maeve and Jerry.

Was someone here looking for a clip of Dinah telling Reva to shut up? 12/30/97 at about 9.30

Anything that inspires fans will inspire fanatics. While I can't speak for GL, I know back when there were multiple message boards, things could get very heated between fandoms. *raises hand as a "crazy CarJacker"* ABC fans are notorious for fan wars. Actually, minus the noose, representing LW as Big Bird is kinda funny. While I was ok with Cassie for a while, the longer she stuck around Zimmer, the louder and less interesting Cassie got. She's flippin' unbearable now on GH. Side note: I'm probably a moron for forgetting this, but while I was watching Christmas Eve 1982, I was thinking....gee, did Don Stewart ever do Broadway? And with his looks, he'd be a natural in a Robert Goulet type role....only to google that he understudied Goulet in Camelot.

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.