5 hours ago, MLH said:

The part about Blake...  This is when I can't stand this character.  The show treats her like a teenager and not a married woman with twin boys.  Everyone slobbering over her and her butt can't find a hospital, diner, library, police station, fire department to go to to ask for help? Then everyone is all hysterical and slobbers over her? Even Amanda?  No thanks.

Having every character pretend to be helping to get that house ready for Vanessa is beyond stupid to me.  Why would Roger or Amanda (don't get me started on Amanda's outfit) even care? It just tells me that the actors need so much screen time and they shoehorn them in to meet a quota. 

YES!  The Blake storyline was so weird to me only because it came out of the blue, only lasted like 8-10 days max, and we never saw Blake's POV. But you're right, how does she not think to find somewhere to use a phone to call someone? 

And then yeah, having Amanda and Roger at Matt's house-building party was especially odd. They were all randomly kumbaya'ing together with beer and hammers like they belonged. It was weird.

12 hours ago, MLH said:

 

I looked too and was surprised she didn't have one cover! Maybe, she declined though?

That seems possible. Beverlee McKinsey interviews are rare it seems.

10 hours ago, Spoon said:

I only recall them doing Founders Day once.  The following August, General Hospital would do something similar with period costumes and such with the Wedding Train plot.

Wasn't the show celebration in '87 built around Founder's Day?

19 minutes ago, P.J. said:

Wasn't the show celebration in '87 built around Founder's Day?

I think '87 was built around the anniversary of the Springfield Journal. I recall them showing "headlines" that reflected things that happened during the history of the show.

3 hours ago, alwaysAMC said:

YES!  The Blake storyline was so weird to me only because it came out of the blue, only lasted like 8-10 days max, and we never saw Blake's POV. But you're right, how does she not think to find somewhere to use a phone to call someone? 

And then yeah, having Amanda and Roger at Matt's house-building party was especially odd. They were all randomly kumbaya'ing together with beer and hammers like they belonged. It was weird.

IMO, it's called lazy writing and treating the audience like we are stupid. I just don't get why people would want Ross to be with someone like her. 

I wish I could post the 7/17/92 episode from the Vault here.  The writing then vs in 97 was night and day to me. In the 7/17/92 episode, Roger and Nick hear that a woman fitting Mindy's description was found dead.  Roger goes with Nick to identify the body.  After confirming it's not Mindy, Roger still tells the authorities that he wants to pay for Jane Doe's funeral costs. That he knows that is 'someone's Melinda' and he hoped when it came for when he died someone gave a damn (sigh...this show burns me up).  Not only that, but that scene tells me that it was Roger that Mindy saw at the train station.  Because, Roger tells Nick he doesn't think it's Mindy and if Mindy is gone, it's because she doesn't want to be found for a little while.  Just when Nick is questioning that, that is when the authorities bring in the body. 

All to say, this is when you would have this scenario as an option.  Not that stupid one with Blake. 

I just wish that the show didn't have Roger be so stupid to use Gilly when she was the best worker he had later on. They had a great work groove going on in 92.

Edited August 15Aug 15 by MLH

I'm watching the aftermath of Reva falling in the freezing water winter/spring '88, and it's aggravating me so much I want to SCREAM. I really, really hope the parts that I'm finding so ridiculous were written by the scabs during the strike. 

The one part that I had seen before was the scene between Alan and Alex where she threatens to tell Josh she knows Marah is his child, but Alan persuades her not to by reminding her how they had always protected each other when they were children. They had a flashback that showed how they lived in utter terror of Brandon when they were children. That was a really good scene, even though I still found it absurd that Alex would agree to keep it a secret.

For some reason, Alan is intent on getting custody of Marah. Because Josh is her father "on paper," he has to get Josh to sign a paper relinqueshing his parental rights. All this while, A. Alan is not remotely related to Marah, B. He and Reva aren't even an official couple at this point, they went on like two dates.

Yeah, yeah, he's super-rich and can bribe a judge, yadda, yadda, yadda. He barely pays attention to his own children but yeah, yeah, this is a totally a power thing.

Why, why, WHY would Sarah, Hawke, and Rusty be FOR this? (Yeah, yeah, Alan promises they will have plenty of access to Marah--WHY do any of these people TRUST HIM?) Everyone is pressuring Josh. He keeps insisting he'll never do it, but this is JOSH, the world's biggest cluck. So after a lot of yelling and threats over MANY episodes, the dope signs the papers. (Threatening to shove the paper down Alan's throat if he harms Marah in any way--like that would do any good at that point).

Somehow Alan also gets a judge to perform a wedding service with the barely conscious Reva. 

So what was the point of all this? Alan and Reva's wedding is quickly annulled, and as far as I can tell, Josh signing those papers has ZERO impact on the future story. The only part of it that sort of impacts the story is Alan is so distracted he signs away his entire fortune to buy some phony mine, and that's how Phillip gets him kicked out of Spaulding.

Sure, this was a way to make Reva the center of the universe even while she was in a coma, but couldn't it have made at least a lick of sense?

55 minutes ago, DeeVee said:

I think '87 was built around the anniversary of the Springfield Journal. I recall them showing "headlines" that reflected things that happened during the history of the show.

Correct...Founders Day was one and done never to be heard about again. During the Journal episode I still remember Lt. Wyatt saying "Not too many of remember Ol' Roger Thorpe" and then two years later he's back!

One more thing about Trish Lewis coming back for big events. When she came for Josh and Reva's (2nd) wedding. I remember getting a chuckle that she was what I called the "Loser's Table" with Rusty and I think Hawk. I called it that because none of the characters at least not Trish or Rusty seemed to have any life....like they were stuck in amber. No spouses, no fiances, no children nothing. No dates to the wedding and they all got lumped together at the table.  It was as if their lives had zero progression since leaving the show. At least Mindy came over and had a nice little scene with Trish but that's the only real interaction I can recall.

14 hours ago, MLH said:

 

@Spoon Those costumes are gorgeous!  Vanessa's looked huge on her though. Did they do Founders Day every year?  Doesn't seem like it.

And Maeve is pregnant in real life. I can't imagine how uncomfortable she was. 

6 minutes ago, DeeVee said:

 

The one part that I had seen before was the scene between Alan and Alex where she threatens to tell Josh she knows Marah is his child, but Alan persuades her not to by reminding her how they had always protected each other when they were children. They had a flashback that showed how they lived in utter terror of Brandon when they were children. That was a really good scene, even though I still found it absurd that Alex would agree to keep it a secret.

 

Was this where they first attempted to ret-con that Alan was the older sibling protecting his younger sister even though we saw a child Alexandra during the Barbados flashback when Alan was being born?

13 minutes ago, Lujack4Ever said:

One more thing about Trish Lewis coming back for big events. When she came for Josh and Reva's (2nd) wedding. I remember getting a chuckle that she was what I called the "Loser's Table" with Rusty and I think Hawk. I called it that because none of the characters at least not Trish or Rusty seemed to have any life....like they were stuck in amber. No spouses, no fiances, no children nothing. No dates to the wedding and they all got lumped together at the table.  It was as if their lives had zero progression since leaving the show. At least Mindy came over and had a nice little scene with Trish but that's the only real interaction I can recall.

I'm glad I'm not the only person who has noticed this! 

It's pretty much EVERY character who leaves the show. It's like they leave SF and their lives completely stop. MAYBE you'll hear something new, but it's usually negative--like Hope falling off the wagon, or Roxy being in a sanitorium in a foreign country, or a couple that left together broke up or got divorced (I think that's the case with Alan Michael and Lucy). 

The same happens to Mindy, too, IIRC. When she comes back for the Four Musketeers reunion during the finale--it's like nothing happaned to her while she was off the canvas. It was like she was waiting in the wings for that exact purpose. Nola and Bridget come back--no word of boyfriends/spouses, or Bridget having more kids (she mentions Peter, though). 

The only exceptions are when they bring back a character to be in main stories--like Holly having married again to Mr. Lindsey (but she never had more children--until Meg, that is).

It's always bugged me. Especially when there were opportunities to bring in new characters connected to core families.

 

Edited August 15Aug 15 by DeeVee

15 minutes ago, Lujack4Ever said:

Was this where they first attempted to ret-con that Alan was the older sibling protecting his younger sister even though we saw a child Alexandra during the Barbados flashback when Alan was being born?

I'm not good at telling the ages of children, so I'm not sure if he was meant to be older.

The one thing that makes me howl about that scene is baby Alan is dressed in a crisp white formal suit with long pants. Who dresses a child like that? No wonder he was so messed up. 😂

50 minutes ago, DeeVee said:

I'm not good at telling the ages of children, so I'm not sure if he was meant to be older.

The one thing that makes me howl about that scene is baby Alan is dressed in a crisp white formal suit with long pants. Who dresses a child like that? No wonder he was so messed up. 😂

I have to see this!  Was this on YouTube? 

Edited August 15Aug 15 by MLH

7 minutes ago, MLH said:

I got to see this!  Was this on YouTube? 

Here you go. The flashback starts around 13:48.

Now I look at it again, Alex is definitely younger than Alan in the flashback scene.

Edited August 15Aug 15 by DeeVee

1 hour ago, Lujack4Ever said:

Correct...Founders Day was one and done never to be heard about again. During the Journal episode I still remember Lt. Wyatt saying "Not too many of remember Ol' Roger Thorpe" and then two years later he's back!

One more thing about Trish Lewis coming back for big events. When she came for Josh and Reva's (2nd) wedding. I remember getting a chuckle that she was what I called the "Loser's Table" with Rusty and I think Hawk. I called it that because none of the characters at least not Trish or Rusty seemed to have any life....like they were stuck in amber. No spouses, no fiances, no children nothing. No dates to the wedding and they all got lumped together at the table.  It was as if their lives had zero progression since leaving the show. At least Mindy came over and had a nice little scene with Trish but that's the only real interaction I can recall.

Although it is nice to see past characters come back for family events like this, it just tells me that they aren't willing to fork over the money or worse, too lazy to know what the characters are like to care. 

Wow! The show mentions Roger in 87, but acted like he never existed after 1998 until 2004? 

@DeeVee Thank you!  That flashback was weird.  Never got to see his face and that story isn't enough to lie to Josh about Marah! Ridiculous. The hairdos that year...yikes!  

 

Edited August 15Aug 15 by MLH

8 hours ago, MLH said:

Thank you!  That flashback was weird.  Never got to see his face and that story isn't enough to lie to Josh about Marah! Ridiculous. The hairdos that year...yikes!  

You're welcome!

I think the reason they don't show Brandon's face is to make the scene in the point of view of the children. He's this faceless monster to them.

LOL, I was thinking last night while watching these episodes that I can't believe I dressed and had hair like that back then. Michelle Forbes is like 23 in these episodes and she looks 35 because of the hair and makeup. Josh's verging-into-a-mullet hair was also triggering. 😆