P.J.

The only thing more absurd than Josh becoming a minister would've been Reva becoming a nun. I think the thing about "new" families vs original is that the new families come in formed (ie, Emma has six adult children) vs living through the original family grow through the years (Bob has his chilldren on the show, and Frannie isn't even born until the 70s). Could more of an effort been made?? Sure. But you also need other gene pools. KWIM?

And for me, its precisely the opposite. GL died with the clone story, and limped around like a zombie for a decade. And its an understatement to say Howarth was a different character. He was nearly a different species. I can appreciate Howarth more now than at the time, but that character was not Paul. Paul's tormented, unknown, and recently escaped from a mental ward twin....maybe.

Yeah, honestly, I've forgotten how it ended. I just think Marland was rolling in his grave, after essentially all his work pissed on. As much as I hated seeing Andy go, what they food to Greg Watkins was cold. (Watkins was fired shortly after being in a serious boating accident that nearly cost him his life, and took months of recovery, for those of you who don't know. I don't recall the specifics, other than somehow he was sliced by a propeller on a boating trip, and nearly cost him his life and the ability to walk) I've always been surprised Scott D wasn't a part of the end. My guess is, he just didn't want to be. I'm not even sure he has another acting appearance after ATWT, anywhere.

Aside from the fact I don't think Shannon would have been resurrected under Marland, I think Duncan and Jess would have reunited. IIRC, they ditched the story and fired Swan when they fired the writers.

Yeah, the Shannon that returned was not the Shannon who run around Oakdale for years, chasing ghosts and bitching at Barbara. That return was a bungled attempt to insert some tragic realism, and it wasn't suited to the character at all. I don't think it would have ended the way it did, if ATWT hadn't been switching writers and in a constant state of transition at the time. That was Stern and Black, wasn't it?

They were both horrid for different reasons. Katie was essentially a Stepford version of Carly, and it was disturbing to see Carly virtually replaced with her kids. And frankly, Jack looked like a hypocrite whitewashing Katie's sins to justify [!@#$%^&*] her. And there was just something so pathetic about Carly hooking up with a guy who clearly didn't give a [!@#$%^&*] about her feelings. I've blocked most of it from my memory, but I remember he was pingponging between her and Lily, Carly knew it, and accepted whatever crumbs Holden dished out. And then she ended up taking the brunt of it from everyone, while Holden just shrugged his shoulders and slunk back to his marriage like he'd proved a point after Lily/Dusty.

Best musical moment? That wasn't a professional? Maybe the moment when Lily's found belting out "I can't make you love me".... the very first time. But Craig's surprising Lyla dressed as a lounge lizard has a special place in my heart. What I wish I could have seen is Kim's singing the night she bedded Bob. Or any of KH singing. I don't really ever recall Kim singing anything throughout the years.

At least the man can carry a tune. Although the CarJacker in me always resented the fact he crooned at JuliaI.

Thank you. This old brain just couldn't come up with the year, and I was too lazy to google.

just for arguments' sake...does anyone know how much of other soaps' episode libraries are intact? I know P&G gets a bad rap for not keeping theirs intact...but tv as a whole was viewed differently back in the 60's. Someone's going to have to remind me when ATWT quit doing their show live too.

I remember reading that in the ATWT book too. It seems shocking now, that either Bob or Nancy wouldn't have supported Jennifer working and/or furthering her education. Especially since Nancy's background was teaching. The early-mid 80's was not a kind period in ATWT's history. I'm not saying that maybe the '70's women weren't more vibrant, somehow...but to be honest, I only have some vague impressions of that period.

I don't think ATWT was more "conservative" in the '70's, I think they were less reactive to the changes around them. And why shouldn't they have been? They'd been on top for 12 years by 1970, and they stayed on top until '78, IIRC. IMO, the Dobsons didn't fit at ATWT because they were trying to emulate GH's adventure-ish aspect, not because they couldn't write the same family-centered drama that ATWT was known for. GL under the Dobsons from 75-79 wasn't vastly different from ATWT.

^^^^^IKR? It's ridiculous how happy that pic makes me. I adore the fact that they're really friends. I don't think they sacrificed Kim and Betsy's relationship for Kim and Frannie's. It's not like Kim forgot Betsy existed. I'm sure it was played less, as Kim had Frannie, Andy and baby Chris to mother hen (not to mention Barbara, who periodically needed a "kiddo" speech). Betsy got a lot of Kim's attention for a lot of years.

Betsy/Rod was ridiculous, and another way of "normalizing" a rapist, and forcing Iva to accept him as he strolled around town.

There was a regime change in late '96, and tons of turnover. It probably didn't help that Maura left, but Shawn Christian also left in early '97. I mean, right off the top of my head, SC left, they dumped his sister Sarah, Paul Ryan, & her friend Zoe. They fired ART, killed off Diego Santana (and his sister shortly disappeared played by Roslyn Sanchez) and were preparing to fire Tom Wiggin and pin Diego's murder on Kirk. Rosanna and Scott Eldredge left. I'm not exactly sure, but this might have also been when Jason Biggs was fired, and Caleb and Julie left town too. It was a bloodbath.

I'm willing to concede that maybe Hastings, Hays and Fulton (who are all 83) may not have wanted to schlepp across country for a photo shoot. But it would have been nice. It's an odd assortment of P&G stars, to put it politely. Is it just me---or does everyone have the same fake smile? It may be unreasonable, but I don't GAFF if CBS honors their trainwreck daytime line up now. The complete pic has Braeden, KKL and their bastardized hosts of crap front and center.

My memory's a little fuzzy, but I think there was also Oakdale High. IIRC, Oakdale Latin was created in the mid-90's, with the Dani/Pete/Nikki years. Latin was for the rich kids, but by the end, all the kids went there.

Milltown is a suburb of Oakdale. When Ben and the Kasnoffs first appeared, it was described as "the other side of the tracks" from Oakdale. By the time the show ended, it had gone upscale. Luther's Corners is a small farming community outside of Oakdale. I heard the "hate mail got Brown fired" excuse. (or that the Carjackers did....) She wasn't interested in a long term contract. She got a job in NY while her baby daddy was doing something on Broadway.

Yes, that's Sara Ramirez. What I loved about Jack's amnesia was how Carly was completely and totally a heroine in it. In any other story, Carly's the one who plots or screws up and has to work her way back to Jack. And yet in some ways, she still gets the shaft---no one's supporting her after Jack rises from the dead. People suggest "there's a reason" Jack doesn't remember Carly---and even Emma and Holden don't seem to care if Jack regains his memory. Which is really, really odd considering Holden's own amnesia story. Don't get me wrong, Michael Park is his usual excellent self, but as a Carly fan it was such a relief to be able to not be waiting for that "other shoe to drop" for her. What I hated---SarahF'inBrown. But to each his own.

That Carly/Barb/Craig scene is from 2001, sometime between the BabsCraig marriage in May, and when she was caught in the bomb blast in June. My guess puts it closer to June and right before the explosion. Broderick's work was up and down. She introduced Julia Lindsey, which is enough to put her name at the top of list to burn in hell. But she also wrote some of the most romantic Carjack stuff, which probably makes her schizophrenic.

I think I heard something more at one time, but whatever that might have been, I can't recall. I was just relating the situation to real life.

Yeah, I sometimes wonder if the breakup of Brown's marriage and relationship with Bryggman didn't somehow play into Marland's writing. I know I've read several blurbs from the actors about how he seemed to channel their personal lives in the writing somehow. And given what I've heard---that Marland fine-tuned every script before it went on air, I wouldn't doubt he was consumed by his career and might have ignored some warning signs. I know after my father's heart attack, we could see signs we'd missed.

I sometimes get annoyed with bad quality vids. I shouldn't, but I do. But to be honest, I also get distracted by some of the big hair and loud clothing of the '80's too. LOL. If you wander in to some of the "Silas kidnaps Nola" stuff---spoiler alert, Ben Hendrickson's the bad guy. *mind blown*

Yeah, I FLOVED Kirk and Iva. It did have that old-Hollywood-ish movie feel to their relationship. I don't know why Marland broke them up. It was a damn shame. I remember replaying their first kiss endlessly on my VCR.

The Morgan/Kelly/Nola triangle was really the first triangle I really got into as a teen. (and I still have a crush on John Wesley Shipp!) I'd recommend starting with Nola getting caught in her lies with Kelly: (there's also a part 2 and 3) then some early Nola/Quint stuff https://youtu.be/cQG84bLvzvI There is plenty of Nola/Quint stuff on youtube. Amazing since it was '81 and VCRs were just coming on. But the quality sketchy.