P.J.

didn't remember either of those. I do remember Janney as one of Alex's maids on GL. One was Ginger, and I forget the other one's name. But they were funny as hell.

I really don't remember anything much of Batten other than that horrendous accent and the controversy over the recast. I wasn't AR-T's biggest fan either, and I kind of understand that FMB didn't find Connor "warm". That was kind of the point----Connor wouldn't be warm, being raised by Edwina, living with this resentment that Lucinda had "stolen" the company from her father and caused his suicide (or early death, I'm fuzzy on deets). It was the fact that this IIC didn't get how Connor fit as a character in the fabric of Oakdale, and replaced her with a hammy, corn-pone actress that pissed me off. It's ridiculous to think that the entire direction of an established character could or should be changed on a whim, because IIC 'X' needs all women to be "warm" and motherly and that somehow that mean she also had to lose every functioning brain cell.

No one. ATWT didn't need any more characters, and certainly not one played by such a marginal actress.

HELL NO, that walking atrocity wouldn't have worked as Ellie or Meg. Susan Batten didn't do five SECONDS worth of research to figure out who her character was. She played a reserved, intelligent business woman like a bad hillbilly knock off of Elly Mae Clampett. (And seriously, I'm not knocking Donna Douglas, TBH, or actors with southern accents) But to be that CLUELESS, regardless of your friendship with management, tells me she didn't GAS about anything other than a paycheck. I'll admit ATWT wasn't perfect, but at least they tried to cast roles appropriately. This was the equivalent of recasting Lucinda with some trashy, washed up hair model. AR-T wasn't Meryl Streep. But she deserved better than what she got, and the recast ruined the character of Connor.

I thought there was a place with a list of addresses used on the show, but I can't find it now. If you really want it---on Wikipedia, along with the biography of the character, it usually lists an address. Kim, Bob and Nancy's address was 10 Yardley Place, Oakdale (60324) and Carly and Jack's place was 123 Elm Street, Milltown (60325). Fairwinds (Paul and Emily's residence) is 100 Stone Ridge Road. Tom/Margo 724 Pinewood Lane. Emma's farm is RR#2, Box 600, Luther's Corners(61324) while Holden & Lily's is One Mile High Road (61324). I remember something being at 1 River Road, but whether that was Holden and Lily's little cabin or Lily and Derek's cottage that blew up, I'm not sure. I'm not sure how accurate they are (I know the Carjack one is correct) or how far they go back. I tried looking up Hal's address (as he was still living in the house he'd lived in with Babs during their marriage) and they didn't have one listed. Katie's bio only gives a generic "Oakdale IL" address.

GAWD. Sheffer giving lip service to history was almost as bad as him ignoring it all together. Carly, Mike and Ro---with Carly and Ro either fighting over the past with Mike while also being driven by some kind of jealous snit about Craig and Carly pushing her ex-lover on her cousin Molly *nails scraping on chalkboard* All pretty much so Sheffer could write his wet dream of Carly screwing someone other than Jack.....UGH.

Yeah---Brad's return was light on his previous antics, no doubt because they wanted everyone to forget that he was supposed to have been Jack's older brother, and not just the irresponsible freeloader Peck portrayed. There were a couple of snarky remarks when he first appeared (along the lines of that he wasn't surprised that Carly and Jack had imploded), and some veiled reminders when Carly told Brad she was sick. But certainly nothing that suggested Brad's role in the paternity reveal or how he'd blackmailed Carly into the damned marriage in the first place or gleefully spent Carly's money like it was water. Nope---he was simply Carly's victim. That neither Carly or Jack ever got to call him on his [!@#$%^&*] pissed me off no end. *eyeroll* Nope---he and Jack fought over Katie. *puke* As much as I normally would have liked Ro and Brad to acknowledge their "history" (as brief as it was), the thought of McClain and Peck trying to act as former lovers would have made me want to poke my eyes out. Between McClain's fluttery, stammering coyness and Peck's surfer-dude smugness, God knows how bad it could have been. The Ro/Mike scenes when she first came back with Collier were bad enough.

*sigh* the reviled Kasnoff/TeAmoJones year-plus. SMH. I honestly can't remember a thing Ryder did, or who he was involved with. I know KS worked after ATWT, but he obviously didn't make an impression on m The sad thing is---that had WILL and Gwen's stories been more balanced, I probably would have been okay with them (minus, of course the rabid Willen fan base, but that's another thing entirely.) I LOVED snarky, angry Will. Gwen should have stayed as completely messed up as she started out as, instead of going from rebel to saint in about three days. I forget who wrote her, Sheffer or Pissy, but they obviously had quite a hard on for her. If only Maddie and Casey had gotten half the attention Gwen did. I was even excited that Carly was getting a sister. Then they ruined it with the most asinine backstory in the history of soaps, and kept them in nearly completely separate story bubbles. *eyeroll* *hisses*CLEO*hisses*

I would have gladly traded off Tom for either of his sisters or a really well recast Chris, but I don't really give a fig that neither Penny or Don's kids made an appearance in later years. Penny hadn't really been a presence since the early '70's, and Don since about 1980. (And his son Ryder did make an appearance in the mid-90's, which I really could have done without anyway.) I mean, I consider myself a life-long viewer, and have zero memory of either of them outside of their brief drive-by appearances. I mean, until I just read his bio, I had no idea that Don was older than Bob. Bob always projected as the oldest, responsible child to me. I don't even think it's entirely fair to blame "the decline" of the Hughes family on the HW's from Marland on down. Irna kind of "divorced" Penny after Prinz left, and it seems that Don was recast multiple times and gone for stretches of time under her tenure. I think at some point, John really replaced Don as Bob's foil, (and the flashes of memory I do have from the '70's are about Bob and John's Chief of Staff battles) and Don's presence was kind of redundant. Will and Gwen's daughter was Hallie. Eliza was Meg and Paul's daughter. I don't know about everyone else, but I got tired of Gwen's story---which was always about Gwen being wise and perfect, while Will was stuck playing second banana. I think Jen Landon was a good actress, but at that point, all of the teen story revolved around her, and eventually it was off-putting. The focus was rarely on Gwen's relationships outside of Will or the teen scene. I mean, in spite of the fact she was Carly's sister, they barely interacted after the whole baby Billy/Rory/Johnny debacle.

I also especially loved Nobody Loves Me Like You Do. It kind of sucked that by the time Carjack came around, couples really didn't have songs anymore.

I don't remember ever reading that before, so thanks for bring it over. I don't remember what DM's last episode was, but my best guess is it would have aired in June or possibly later. IIRC, soaps then used to be about three months ahead, tape-wise. Yeah, the first couple of times MB did the song were fine. It was the next fifty that wore out the welcome. *sigh* Couple theme songs. Those were the days. **suudddd----eeennnlllyyyyyy, life has new meannn-innng to mmmeeeeee***

wow...that is sad. I had no idea one of the Toms had won a Tony and been in Mame with Angela Lansbury! Gosh, ex-ATWTers have been dropping like flies the last few months....

Yeah, Kavovit left in the early '90's, and they didn't recast until like '96, with that horrid model/actor dude. I wonder if it would have been that long if Marland hadn't died. I truly believe Hoylrod would have made Paul's fall a lot more nuanced and interesting. There's a scene like in his first week where he totally goes off on Jack and Carly in Babs' hospital room (he came back after she'd been burned in the boathouse explosion), that really made me sit up and say "whoa". Howarth, for all his rage-induced screaming, always comes off as a little boy throwing a tantrum to me. The one thing I get is that Howarth fit better with the leading ladies they ultimately chose for Paul. Hoylrod made Byrne look like a cradle robber, and god knows what he would have looked like with either Hensley or Marie Wilson. Ironically, Hoylrod might have fit better with anyone playing Lucy, which they kind of toyed with a little bit before Peyton List left. Now, talk about Craig's head exploding---Paul screwing Lucy might have done it. Smith was pretty much blah in the role, but part of that is the horrid Carolyn Crawford "mystery", which IIRC, got screwed over by the writer's strike. It did make Frannie look stupid, because wasn't she marrying Darryl a few short months after Carolyn died? Smith was never going to set the acting world on fire, and you really have to wonder WTF they were thinking casting him.

Some time after Hoylrod's firing, Goutman or Sheffer gave an interview implying SH couldn't play the "dark Paul" they wanted to write. What a joke. Inability to convincingly play emotion never stopped them from writing it for Hunt Block for five friggin' years. LONG, LONG years. Hoylrod fit in so well with all his tv family---ugh, it still pisses me off TIIC chose to chase the ABC fanbase and hire Howarth. If Rose had stayed the six-month character she was originally written as---I could have dealt with MB's little vanity project. (I mean, one of ATWT's top ten funniest moments is Holden incredulously asking "that's your REAL voice?" when he finally figured out he wasn't sleeping with his wife of umpteen years) But three years of bad red wig and horrid accent? *rolleyes* Who went from smarmy little showgirl grifter to Oakdale's newly anointed Saint? NO thanks. And, IMO, it permanently damaged the character of Lily. I mean, I get that you can only be kidnapped so many times. But it's like the writers forgot who Lily was. Because Rose was so over-the-top loud and colorful, Lily became this meek little, dirt-brown wearing frump. Lily didn't wear colors again (I swear) until Noelle Beck took over the role.

I will forever resent the time and energy wasted on Martha Byrne's alternate personality, the fact they fired Scott Hoylrod to bring in Howarth, and how TIIC trashed yet another character we knew in Dusty, simply to throw out their chests and scream about how they were "honoring history" with their revamped, retooled strangers with familiar names.

Jake was like 16 at the time---I can understand KZ being leery of her son being thrust into such a controversial storyline. It wasn't what he'd signed up for. But yeah, I think a truly teenage Luke struggling to deal with what being gay means, and not as focused on rushing into a romance with the only other gay guy in town would have played out better. I'm pretty sure Scott's return lined up with Maura's maternity leave. At the beginning of 2007, Carly left with Simon in January, returned in April, and then had to deal with Parker's hostility on her return. That fall was about Kit and Sam, and Parker shoots Sam in Feb of 2008. So, I see where there wasn't a lot of opportunity for Craig and Carly scenes. But it kind of sucks. I don't think Goutman had directed at ATWT. It's hard to judge by his imdb profile, but it looks like he directed GL sometime in the early '90's before going to AW.

Yeah, I just read a piece Silberman wrote in 2013 for the Huffington Post. According to him, he knew Noah was going to have feelings for Luke. I know part of it was that daytime is (and has always been) a crank-it-out factory, and some actors just can't do it. But by that time, there also wasn't the rehearsal time or dedicated guidance for new actors either. Goutman, for all his faults, at least cared about his directing. One only has to watch the [!@#$%^&*]-astic direction on GH to realize Goutman has a gift for that at least.

*waves hand ecstatically in the air* Ooooh---ooooh---Mr Kotter!!! PREACH. The SECOND Scotty B walked back in, I was on Craig's side. Paul and Meg were lying skanks, and short of that child dying, they earned their pain Craig and Ro put them through. And ironically, I was practically begging Carly to have scenes with him---and of course, they barely had any. How long was Scotty back? A year? Maura was probably on maternity leave at some point. Hansis had no right to throw shade at anyone. I guess I understand "checking out" in stories you dislike (and you can see most actors do it at some point), but so much of early Nuke made Luke look like this jealous, controlling little bitch. Specifically what I remember is that Luke basically told people Noah was gay, instead of y'know, letting the guy accept it in his own time, 'cause Luke had a raging hard on for the guy. UGH---if they had portrayed a hetero couple that way, people would have been outraged. Honestly, if all Luke was ever going to get to do is jump on beds and get ice cream afterward, they shouldn't have bothered recasting the role. I thought Jake Weary was a better Luke by far anyway.

Well, they weren't her used panties (that would have been something!) but I think it was like panties with her show's name printed on them. I'm split on Silbermann. I think he was a better actor than he was given credit for. And better than Hansis. But I don't think he was comfortable portraying a gay man, at all. I thought he had better chemistry with Alex Chando's Maddie. I disliked the entire Nuke experience, from the fans who proclaimed them a supercouple from the minute Silberman was introduced to the media, to Hansis' moments of self-indulgent scenery chewing, and all the hubbub over whether or not they got enough airtime.

Luke? Yeah, Luke was kidnapped at least twice in his lifetime, once by Damien, in some convoluted tale. Luke and Holden were both presumed dead, and it culminated in some ridiculous standoff with some half-brother in Malta where he backflipped over a wall and down a cliff and I think survived for one last surprise gasp at killing Damian. The other time I remember is by the horrid little Z twins, who planned to rape him to impregnate the girl with the Grimaldi heir or some such crap. The Luke story could have been so much better if they had focused more on how it affected the family dynamic. To me, it made perfect sense that he told Holden first, because for most of Luke's life, Holden was the stability in his life. Lily, flighty narcissist that she ultimately was, he couldn't really trust to hang around or not make it all about herself. But because they couldn't dare show Lily in an unflattering light (outside her questionable ability to remain faithful), they couldn't play her having a hard time accepting it outside of plot points anytime Seganti needed another paycheck. Hansis was one of the worst casting decisions ever, but the rare times he managed to shine was in dealing with older, grounded actors. So, instead of using that, TIIC threw Luke into stupid teen stories with actors even greener than him, and the stories collapsed into farce. They ain't called IIC for nothing. I'm not sure his stories made less sense than any other ones, but Marland was probably turning over in his grave at the ineptitude on full display. As for Chappell/Olivia/NOlivia---ugh. Sure, maybe Olivia (one of the bigger whores in all of Springfield) would have gotten it on with anything with two or four legs (and the occasional python if it was big enough) but Natalia, prim Amish Catholic that she was? *eyeroll* OOOoookay. And then the way Chappell pumped her fandom like ATMs, selling them panties and crappily made dramas just seemed crass to me.

I don't necessarily object to having some BigAsshat on the show, and in theory Craig could have filled that role. BUT, they hamstrung the character with inconsequential writing and a ham-fisted, tic-filled actor with ZERO charm or ability to convey even the slightest bit of vulnerability. Goutman and Sheffer tried to BS excuse after excuse, claiming Craig was simply returning to "his roots", not comprehending that motivation is needed for the audience to buy such a huge revision for a legacy character's personality. Damn, I'm getting pissed off all over again. And I spent five years gnashing my teeth at how my show was suffering under that sociopath. I damn near had an orgasm when they fired Block. SERIOUSLY. I was like Snoopy happy-dancing all over the house. Honestly, those jerkoffs probably would have turned Bob Hughes into a Hugh Heffner type if they thought they could have gotten away with it. Ugh. LUKE. The gay version of Katie. I may have hated Katie more, but that's only because Luke never had the audacity to chase after one of Carly's men. Luke was a boring character played by a underachieving actor, thrust front and center in the desperate attempt to make ATWT seem "current" with a gay boy story. What's worse---it spawned the Olivia/Natalia story on GL, which, believe it or not was arguably lamer and a bigger publicity grab (and Crystal Chappell rode it 'til it was hard and wet, that's for sure).

Don't get me started on TIIC's obsession with Hunt Block, how they destroyed the character of Craig tailoring it to his limited schtick, and just in general shat upon the entire show with their version of Y&R's Eric Braeden. Given the situation---I was okay with Babs ending up with Henry. She got a happy ending. I'm not really sure who they could have brought back from her past as an alternative, and let's face it---it was a surprise TIIC even bothered writing anything for her. These are the idiots that spent the last nine months obsessed with giving Luke an adult love interest instead of focusing on their core vets. At least IMO.

it was Mike, Henry, Jennifer and Nikki (the recast that looked like Molly and was only on a couple of months) who played strip poker if I recall correctly. Henry didn't start off giving off a gay vibe. He only gay-ed up to become Katie's sidekick.

I seem to remember Nicole was dark-haired at least. Poor Henry---I think at some time or another, all of Oakdale's women got to threaten him with bodily harm. Not with a knife, gun, just all the force their tiny little bodies could generate, being probably a foot shorter than him.

it was a nice episode, but the fact that they just had to complicate the timeline and make Kara's Earth Earth3 really annoyed me. I like crossovers better when they truly impact the story somehow, and other than giving Kara a confidence booster, this didn't. It seems like any new guy paying attention to Kara would have done.