4 hours ago, alwaysAMC said:

Very nice! I bet, I love watching prequels to see what happens to get the characters to where they are today, or later in life, and who they end up being through their experiences and relationships.

Curious - what were your favorite stories and characters throughout the 90s/00s when you watched?

And welcome to the board :)

Thank you! I remember liking original recipe Crazy Annie, Phillip/Harley (I had zero history of either but liked their dynamic), Abby’s journey, Danny/Michelle despite really wanting to hate the mob story, Aubrey Dollar’s Marina, and I actually liked the two fathers of the twins twist. I watched B&B first and that show has all the paternity testing-I liked the wrinkle. I feel like there’s other stuff I’m forgetting but there was a lot of dreadful plots with the occasional gem for years.

The casting of the younger set late 90s/early 2000s was a highlight. Hayden Panatierre/Brittany Snow/Matthew Bomer (even though his plot was insane)/Tom Pelphrey etc.

I'm wondering.....was there ever a time on GL when Henry was put in a position of having to decide in favor of Vanessa OR Alexandra, to the serious detriment of the other?

I cannot think of a time when Henry was put in that position. Would have loved to have seen that.

Another question - what's the backstory of Helena Manzini? She came to Springfield via Justin, correct?

2 minutes ago, Speed Racer said:

Another question - what's the backstory of Helena Manzini? She came to Springfield via Justin, correct?

No, it was via Quint. He, Helena and Silas Crocker were all archeology students of a Professor Renfield (Renfield and his wife had befriended Quint and his mother in Mexico, and after Quint's mother's death, he lived with them). I think there was some triangle going on between Quint/Helena/Silas, and Silas decided to blow Quint up, but ended up killing Renfield instead. Quint blamed himself. Silas at some point decided to torture Quint, and kidnapped Nola. Helena was basically the ex-girlfriend who knew a lot of Quint's secrets and cattily annoyed Nola.

After Helena accepted that Quint loved Nola, she moved on to Justin after Jackie's death. They moved to Arizona together when baby Samantha's asthma grew bad and the drier climate was recommended.

She doesn't really do a lot outside the Quint plot. She ends up befriending Vanessa towards the end, and at one point Vanessa wants to discourage Henry and Bea's growing friendship by getting Helena to "date" him.

22 minutes ago, Speed Racer said:

I'm wondering.....was there ever a time on GL when Henry was put in a position of having to decide in favor of Vanessa OR Alexandra, to the serious detriment of the other?

I cannot think of a time when Henry was put in that position. Would have loved to have seen that.

Uhm, no. Vanessa and Alexandra did not compete against each other. After the very early days of their introduction, the Chamberlains did not rock the power structure at Spaulding. There was a very brief period (prior to Alex's arrival) where Henry, Van and Quint controlled a majority of stock (Quint had independently bought stocks Diane Ballard controlled after her death) , and one of Alex's first moves was to get the Spauldings back into the lead. She and Warren Andrews found out that Vanessa's name was on papers admitting to getting a kickback if they got Alan to buy a company, Jocelyn Electronics. Both Henry and Vanessa were in on the scheme and they ended up blackmailing Alan into it with the knowledge of his affair with Rita. But when Vanessa realized that Quint was her half brother, she tried to ruin Quint and Henry's growing friendship (Quint had not told Henry he was his son) by altering the papers (removing Henry's name) and leaving it on Alan's desk, to make it look like Quint was trying to ruin her. Quint immediately caught on to her scheme and threatened to tell Henry what she'd done, trying to blackmail him out of Henry's life. Van knew that was a line she could not cross, and she quickly backed off, telling Henry she'd altered the documents in an effort to keep Henry's name in the clear. Alan fired her from Spaulding, and she was made to pay Spaulding back the $2million she and Henry had gained. It (along with being blackmailed by her own PI) effectively wiped her out financially, which led to her to look to marriage with Billy (Henry had promised her a half-million when she got married, the same amount he'd given Quint on his marriage to Nola).

At the time, Vanessa was pregnant with Bill (and due to marital problems was out of the country). Alex implied that the SEC would start up an investigation and Van could wind up in jail. Henry and Quint signed over theirs and Vanessa's stocks and Henry was temporarily out of the company.

There was a point when Phillip was looking to oust Alan from the company in '87 when Van and Alan were engaged where it could've come down to Henry choosing between Van and Spaulding, but that fizzled when Vanessa dumped Alan and went to Venezuela to look after Billy.

When Roger was making moves on Spaulding, he engineered Vanessa's firing (he tape recorded her giving Billy a tip that Roger was sending over inspectors to the warehouse that Billy was making into a homeless shelter without the necessary permits.) Alex refused to back Vanessa, and Henry almost went to the papers to spill Spaulding secrets in a fit. Van talked him out of it.

Van and Alex were always civil to each other, and Alex eventually brings Van back to Spaulding, and when Bev leaves, Alex turns over the running of Spaulding to Vanessa. Some of Bev's last scenes are with Maeve.

I agree, it would've been an interesting situation, but Henry never would've gone against Vanessa. They are one of the best father/daughter duos in soaps.