3 minutes ago, DRW50 said:

My issues with Lucy were her being brought in to replace Harley and just them trying too hard at spunkiness, quirkiness, what have you...if the show hadn't been so alienating to me at the time due to so many cast exits and focus on the wrong people, I probably would have been more receptive. I grew to accept her more during the Brent story as the character had more of a purpose, even if as is often the case on soaps that was done via assault.

Julie I didn't mind as much because she was just a generic ingenue and I thought JS did an OK job - she was very good at sincerity, or so I thought at the time. I remember being involved with the Hart/Julie relationship the first time around. By the time she was with Dylan I'd started to lose some interest in the show.

I probably should have been more annoyed as she replaced Sam, someone I liked, but I guess even then I must have known the show had written Sam into a corner.

What’s funny is I liked Julie okay when she was still friends with Bridget and I first watched Lucy when they’d already worked out a lot of the writing/acting kinks and she was friends with Bridget. Seems to be a common denominator haha (I definitely don’t blame Julie for not wanting to be Bridget’s friend anymore.)

Funny thing about Julie is there was one day they had a stand-in and it was Mira Sorvino.

Sam had that quirky nerdy side that I liked and lots of connections between Harley/Dylan/AM/Ross. It’s too bad they didn’t follow through with the law school plot and make her the second lawyer in town.

1 hour ago, MLH said:

I thought there was one that focused on someone's Bridal shower, but it got cut for some reason (something from the news). I only remember Kat, Michelle and Bridget trying to get the decorations up and talking about their fantasy wedding.

hmmm. Maybe Blake's? Although maybe Kat's gone by then. Eleni?

56 minutes ago, CrazySexyQ said:

In my binge-watching, Billy really stands out. He's usually giving one-liners and a backup to Josh, but I really love how he comes across. He's generally nice but has a rugged edge. He doesn't mind breaking some rules. Was Billy a huge character in the 80s or just a romantic foil for Reva and Vanessa? I read that Jordan Clarke always kept his other job as a handyman while working in daytime(not sure how true that is)

Jeffrey is scum. He's no better than Edmund at keeping Hope from Michelle. I don't know how this guy became the show's lead.

I'm going to regret asking...but Jeffrey kept Hope away from Michelle?

Billy is a pot-stirrer in the '80's and early '90's. While he's not the patriarch of the Lewises per se, I think his arrival kind of energizes both Josh and Trish, who were a family unit, but didn't have a lot of conflict between them. He also antagonizes Alan, and later Reva. He's actually the Big Bad in the first go-round of Josh/Reva. (He's either sickened that Reva is sleeping her way through his family, or obsessively jealous, take your pick.) When Kyle comes to town, he takes him on. When Billy comes back in '89, he becomes Roger's foil. (While almost everyone else in town also is, he's really the one who sort of enjoys the thought of taking Roger on.)

And of course, he brings out a more sympathetic, rootable side of Vanessa.

When Jordan returns in '97-ish, he's more of the support character. He's there when family needs him. I caught some silly scene when he's helping Bill break out Olivia from a nut hut or something, which is kind of funny...but a little sad, knowing he used to be a force to be reckoned with. As much as Zaslow or Deas were always lauded for their work, Jordan deserved lead emmy consideration for his work as well. He won a supporting actor emmy around '06-'07, which was long overdue, imo.

2 hours ago, MLH said:

Only weddings I liked was Reva/Josh one in 89 and Billy/Vanessa one where they were all dress up in old time clothing from another era. It was funny and romantic.

LOL...OMG...Billy and Van's first wedding was entertainingly chaotic. I wish I had rewatched it before their final one, as I really didn't get why Billy was waxing poetic about "spontaneous weddings" at the time.

I think comedy really requires a light writing touch, and everything McTavish did usually stank of overkill. Much like Nola's spaghetti western fantasy of shooting "Quint", there's stuff that sounds funny on paper, but just doesn't play that way on the screen. While I'm giving up criticizing **** for Lent, foodborne illnesses and the consequences thereof, are by their very nature, not funny. At least if you're older than five. You can write a "disaster scenario" wedding without toilet jokes.