Texas!

[robbwolff]

I have no recollection of that. Reena and Justin had a bet at some point where Reena would have to sleep with Justin. I can't see Reena and Grant having a bet like that. Grant didn't learn that Judith could walk until the end of penultimate episode and that continued over to the last episode. Reena had already decided to leave for New York, visited Judith in the penultimate episode, and then Judith revealed to Grant she could walk. After a heart to heart with Grant where Judith told Grant that Reena loved him, Grant rushed to the airport and reunited with Reena on the plane.

[AbcNbc247]

Yep

Once the Corrington's left and the new writers came in, Justin went through a J.R Ewing phase lol 

[j swift]

Thanks I conflated Justin and Grant

[amybrickwallace]

Wasn't there something happening with Reena and Justin between the time Max Dekker was killed off and Justin meeting Ashley? I remember from the episodes on YouTube that Ashley was worried that Justin would go back to Reena.

[Joseph]

The worst part is that I think Ashley's inheritance helped Justin win if I'm not mistaken!

[rlj]

The bet was definitely between Justin and Reena, and the revelation of it is what caused most of the drama in it last year

[robbwolff]

I don't recall all the details, but I know Reena and Justin had a connection from the very beginning. I remember a long scene early in the series where they go to KVIK and the camera followed them from the parking lot into the building. I think Reena and Justin made their bet after Justin and Ashley had already gotten married. I know that the character of TJ was supposed to be a love interest for the newly widowed Reena, but the show went in a different direction.

[AbcNbc247]

I think they had dated when they were younger. 

[amybrickwallace]

Thanks, everyone.

[dc11786]

Reena and Justin were childhood sweethearts. They had split because Justin went off to Europe on the racing circuit after Reena had desperately tried to convince Justin to go to college, study law, and work in her Daddy's law office. When the show opened, they were united when Justin returned for his father's funeral. Reena and Justin were able to bond over their hatred of Alex Wheeler (Justin blaming Alex for Mike Marshall's suicide and Reena angry because Alex had made a cuckold of her father). Reena knew that Alex and her mother Victoria had been carrying on for years and had the pictures to prove it. It was Reena who landed Justin the job at KVIK by threatening to use the photos against her own mother. Victoria kept mum because she knew, and Reena didn't, that Striker had a serious heart condition. Victoria feared the ramifications of Striker learning of the affair, which he did. I believe Clipper Curtis ended up spilling the beans. 

When Reena learned Justin's sister Courtney was sleeping with Reena's husband Dr. Kevin Cook, Reena and Justin hit the sheets again around the time an attraction was growing between Kevin and her mother's right hand woman at KVIK, Reena's cousin Samantha. To complete the mess, Courtney Marshall was the object of desire of Samantha's brother, Dr. Bart Walker. 

I definitely think the Corringtons were planning some sort of combination of Reena triangle with Justin and Max. I also felt they were chem testing a potential rivalry between Ginny and Reena with Reena potentially pursuing Ryan Connor at some point. So they could have also done a Max / Ginny / Ryan / Reena story. There was just so much potential and so many directions that the Corringtons could have gone with the first year of "Texas."

I've reached mid-November 1980 and have a few more weeks of material on DVD to work my way through. I'm disappointed they didn't do more with the Sam / Justin / Reena combination, but Ann McCarthy lacks the presence that was needed to be Reena's rival though I think she and Borelli look like they could be family. I also wouldn't have hated them pursuing Kevin / Victoria in a more intimate friendship that frustrated Reena. 

[amybrickwallace]

Thanks for the details! Yes, Reena and Justin make a lot more sense now.

[TVFAN1144]

I wonder if this show would have had a better start if they aired it at 2 and AW at 3.   Of course AW would have had to be strong enough to compete against GH

In hindsight, if they hadn’t done the AW 90 minute experiment, there would be no need for Texas, AW would have had one less spike in its coffin and The Doctors would remain at 2:30 instead of the deadly 12:30 slot and then 12

[amybrickwallace]

interesting ideas. I wonder how SB would have fit in there.

[Nicholas Blair]

I watched a little of the beginning of this show, did not like it, and gave up. Apparently it got better later on.

Harding Lemay sometimes had problems recognizing which men had sex appeal and which didn't. If Iris had a long-lost love she had never gotten over, of three actors who were on the show, for her long-lost love would you cast Lee Patterson, heartthrob from Surfside 6 and OLTL; Donald May, alpha male star of EON; or Bert Kramer, average middle-aged guy you might meet on the street? Lemay unerringly chose Door #3.

[robbwolff]

I'm not sure Lemay had anything to do with Bert Kramer's casting. Lemay was long gone from Another World by the time Texas debuted in August 1980. And I've never heard of Lemay's name associated with anything involving Texas. Do you mean Paul Rauch?

That said, Donald May would have been a great idea to play Alex. However, Donald didn't join Texas until June 18, 1981 (I remember the date as I graduated from high school that day.) I believe Gail Kobe was the Executive Producer when Donald joined the show.