I liked crazy Julia at first, but then it all became so unpleasant shock value stuff (look, she's killing a horse!) and I felt like it was a sad departure for what ATWT should be, because once upon a time her mental illness would have been explored. While I can't say I wanted to see Annie Parisse attempting to play a serious mental illness storyline, bringing her back over and over as this overacting headcase was just so one-note. Then you had Jack raped and Craig yukking it up over Jack's assault and Jack almost being killed, and Hogan's issues trampled over everything. I should watch some of that again I guess. I had such a visceral reaction to Craig, I just wanted Carly away from him...in my head I know Hunt and Maura had chemistry, but the writing was not for me.

I did like the scene when she shot David's coffin...and then the throwaway scene where she punched Jack during an argument, which of course was supposed to tell us that she was nuts, as Julia was too sweet to do that.

I guess they couldn't because of story plans but I think they should have just written out Brad quickly after Nick K left. He had such charisma and so much chemistry with everyone. The only way the character ever sort of worked after this was with a long break and a personality rewrite.

We also saw Dinah shoot Hart, but Hart didn't instantly die instead he lingered for weeks with that nurse who turned out to be an angel. The returns of Alex, Fletcher, and India went no where and all three were quickly written out.

I can't remember but I think Rauch tried to act like they would have given Alex story if Marj had stayed. I have a hard time believing that -- I know that she had the little scene with Jenna after Jenna died, which could have led to Alex/Buzz, but I think they probably already had plans for Buzz/Selena. I never saw Marj as someone Rauch would write for. Fletch's return was so brief and depressing and just seemed to be something they had no real plans for. India, big waste. She ended up holding Alan's hand.

I liked Hart's death at the time, as I thought Laura Wright did a good job, and it gave Maeve Kinkead a bit of material beyond being told by Beth that she needed plastic surgery, but I can see where some were annoyed.

Here's the writeup on GL:

Let's start out by saying there was a lot that was good on GL this year. The San Cristobel story was beautifully produced, written, and acted, with gorgeous location footage and a Prince that you'd swim a moat for. Danny and Michelle, and Richard and Cassie are very promising new couples. The introduction of Danny's mother, Carmen, and his sister, Pilar, brought conflict for Michelle, Ben and a newly aged Bill. Faced with the loss of Wendy Moniz and Frank Grillo (Hart and Dinah), GL crafted a moving tale that actually killed a core character and gave the beloved Vanessa something to do.

But therein lies the rub. What we are citing as good had nothing to do with the reason most fans watch GL in the first place - its beloved characters. Stories featuring India's money woes, Holly's romance with Sam, and Eleni and Frank's marital troubles were aborted midstream. When GL finally got viewers to care about Ben (thanks to Drew and Selena), they killed him. The character of Holly - a murderous stalker and alcoholic childnapper in 1999 - was seriously damaged, while Ed, Meta, and the rest of the Bauer family were phased out. The Spauldings faded one by one until Phillip became the lone representative of a once-powerful dynasty. Lewis Oil is kaput, and with it the family legacy. (RIP, H.B.). The strongest family right now is the Santoses, who have no stake in Springfield's rich history, and lately has consisted of crying, screaming mobsters.

Mainstay couples like Rick and Abby, Frank and Eleni, and Matt and Vanessa are little more than weekly window dressing (although we're thrilled to see Harley and Phillip front-burner again.) Perhaps this is why we grabbed on to the San Cristobel story like we were drowning and it was a life raft. GL did the same thing - instead of using this strong story to enhance an already strong show, it became the show, at the expense of GL's heart and history.

Last year, most of GL played second fiddle to the Annie story. When that ended, rather than let it go to rebuild with a wealth of supporting players, GL chose to resurrect it. When that didn't work, they created so many new characters that sometimes it felt like we were watching a new soap.

Balance is needed, and fast. We want our old soap back!

The set up was a confusing mess. Granted. But the reveal was masterful. Carly had been blackmailed into marrying Brad (who needed her money to save Camille from a baddie--played by Michael Sabatino) from his man-whore past. Brad (being a schmutz) started falling for Carly, natch, while Jack was off chasing pre-psychoJuliaI who was being manipulated by Ravid (David Stenbeck/Reid Hamiliton).

Ravid got Julia hooked on pills, and she started catching on to the fact he'd kidnapped Faith and substituted "Melinda" (Andy's baby with Duh-nice). Jack tried to get her back, Julia dumped him after finding out Carly had flown him out to her family home in Marin County. They got back home, and while Carly tried to back off and be Jack's friend, the spark reunited when they got locked in the Lakeview wine cellar. (They were famously interrupted, naked as jaybirds, by Hal and Babs, who were planning their nuptials, but I digress.) Carly and Jack had a fight; Carly ended up consumating her marriage to Brad. Jack of course, apologized the next morning. Carly decided she wanted Jack, and Jack figured something was "off" in the Carly/Brad marriage. Carly couldn't tell Jack Brad knew Parker's true paternity, lest she risk losing Parker (to Hal) and the money. (Carly didn't change the paternity results herself, nor did she know about it right away...Molly did it and told Brad when the tech she sweet talked wanted to be paid more money)

Carly was set to leave town with Parker, without Jack. However, she stopped at "their place" and Jack convinced her to stay, and they made love. She then promised Jack she'd get an annulment, and she ran to try and buy Brad off. Brad pretended to agree---Carly didn't know she and Jack had been spotted by Camille, who'd told Brad--and then started to plot his revenge.

Brad teamed up with Rosanna, and the night of Hal and Babs' engagement party, presented Hal with his son. Carly lost everything---Hal took custody of Parker, Rosanna declared the trust null and void and Jack left, overwhelmed by her lies.

With the exception of Katie's exposure at the Endicott Awards, it was one of the last true soapy comeuppances ATWT had. I hated it---and still admired the denouement. Lorraine Broderick doesn't get a lot of credit for her time at ATWT, but IMO she was the last ATWT HW who truly understood how audiences relish the fallout of stories.

Wow, I remember most of that. I'm not a Broderick fan but the story you mention was real traditional soap. That ATWT was nothing like the last 4 years of ATWT--same characters but totally different shows. If Goutman and JP had tried to tell such a story it would have been done within a 3 day story block and Camile would have ened up in the hospital on life support. Almost dying was Goutman's idea of fall out. Wow...ATWT used to be a soap a long time ago!

Princess Gina was not confusing.

Best Triangle - AJ/Carly/Jason, GH

Eh, this wasn't so much a triangle as it was Carly and Jason wanting eachother and AJ trying to keep them apart - You know, because he was married to the girl. I do have to say, Carly (SB version) and Jason will probably always be my favorite "What if?" couple. I had invested so much into them just for it all to go down the toilet in one day.

Most Shocking Plot Twist - Sonny Sleeps With Carly, GH

Ugh! This literally made me sick to my stomach when this all went down. Although, I did come to really enjoy them as a couple. (again SB version)

Eh, this wasn't so much a triangle as it was Carly and Jason wanting eachother and AJ trying to keep them apart - You know, because he was married to the girl. I do have to say, Carly (SB version) and Jason will probably always be my favorite "What if?" couple. I had invested so much into them just for it all to go down the toilet in one day.

I don't even know if Jason wanted Carly that much. I was a fan of theirs at the time but it was so clear that Steve Burton was playing against the material and the show seemed to want to try to eventually pair AJ and Carly. The problem was, well one of many problems in the story, was that Sarah Brown and Billy Warlock had no chemistry.

I did like Sonny/Carly at first but SJB's best chemistry was with Steve Burton. And that was the last time I was interested in ANYTHING with Jason.

Princess Gina was not confusing.

Was to me

I don't even know if Jason wanted Carly that much. I was a fan of theirs at the time but it was so clear that Steve Burton was playing against the material and the show seemed to want to try to eventually pair AJ and Carly. The problem was, well one of many problems in the story, was that Sarah Brown and Billy Warlock had no chemistry.

I did like Sonny/Carly at first but SJB's best chemistry was with Steve Burton. And that was the last time I was interested in ANYTHING with Jason.

It was indeed very obvious that Steve Burton did not want Carly and Jason. He played it out like that in the material and in interviews. But you couldn't deny the chemistry Sarah and Steve shared. Hell, it was the reason they hired Sarah Brown in the first place! Also, just look at their first sex scene together, it blows any sex scene Jason has had since out of the water! (You know, like all three ) And I agree, after Jason left and then returned, he's just never been the same. Again, I think it's because they let Steve Burton have way too much say in his storylines. Jason used to be a character I loved watching, so unbelievably hot with the right amount of danger and charm. Now, he's just a bloated robot who's over stayed his welcome for about 9 years too long - Sonny included!

I had forgotten that Annie was also in love with Tom Wiggin's character, or that she left town with him. Can you imagine a new viewer stumbling onto clips of Annie during Watros's big reign of hysteria and then learning about what went on with Signy? I actually liked her attempt in the role but it was way too soon and just not well written. Remember when she showed up and Reva and Josh's wedding and there was a pop or a bang <gasp> and it turned out to be her opening a champagne bottle as a gift or something.

Wow, I *so* don't remember that! I forgot how they wrote her off, but didn't think it'd be with that guy!

Annie always had the best fantasies.

I didn't remember either. At most, in a stretch, I remembered her saving the kids from Holly, but not anything after that really.

I think Psychic Espionage was when I tuned out. Somewhere around the time that DV took advantage of Lucy when she had amnesia, which disgustingly enough the show sort of presented as a romance.

How nice that Hamner found another home for his misogyny.

Oh, wasn't Hamner also the one that wrote the story about Frank planting Karen's panties in Joe's house or something to make him look like a stalker and perv? Yeah, lovely.

All we can say is...it must have looked good on paper. Victor's spy past returns to haunt him and throws the Collins clan into mortal combat with thugs who use mind manipulation to create mass chaos. But this X-FILES-ish plot seemed X-traordinarily out of place in what was one of the more reality-based soaps on daytime. In fact, Digest named mind control as Worst Trend last year. PC must have missed that issue.

In brief, what (we think) happened here was that devious DV perfected the Cobra Project, which was a collection of computer computations that could alter one's mind and conjure up images that were not really there. In a clever utilization of history, we learned that Victor had come up with a formula to block the computer codes during his time in hiding at a convent in France (which occurred in 1997 on big sister soap GENERAL HOSPITAL). Then, the gang played cat-and-mouse trying to find the encoded letters and bring down DV and his diminutive henchman, Mr. Zorin.

The missing piece of this puzzle, however is one that even Mulder and Scully would be hard-pressed to find. Why? DV made his living as a fashion designer - did he need the technology to make wringle-free clothing? More to the point, what on earth could PC have been thinking to tell a history-altering tale that introduces core character Scott Baldwin to his biological father - only to write the guy off?

It amazes me that this wretched hack still got hired to write another soap opera after this befuddled sh*t he wrote on Port Chuck.

The last great year on this show would come after this nonsense, when Karen Harris took over as Head Writer. Felicia Behr and Angie Shapiro should burn in hell for deciding PC should be some trashy telenovela.

Oh, wasn't Hamner also the one that wrote the story about Frank planting Karen's panties in Joe's house or something to make him look like a stalker and perv? Yeah, lovely.

That story was beyond vile. And then spying on Karen through a telescope.

When I first started watching PC I thought it was a breath of fresh air but LML and then Hamner just gutted it with their agendas and their sicko writing. I still can't believe ABC Daytime let them tell some of that story. Stories like having Lucy take the gas out of Eve's car and Serena is blinded -- why?

The show was run into the ground in 98-99.

wow i agree with them on everything except for days firing Louise Sorel, that needed to happen.

wow i agree with them on everything except for days firing Louise Sorel, that needed to happen.

I hate to say it, but it almost would've been best to have her and Ivan stay in jail in 1997... every storyline she was involved in post-Kristen was humiliating.

I didn't remember either. At most, in a stretch, I remembered her saving the kids from Holly, but not anything after that really.

I really liked the Nursery Rhyme Stalker (well parts of it, it was a good idea, but typical of Rauch E & B, it all became a cartoon) and Holly being the stalker made sense in a soap way (as a matter of fact I think Days later tried to kind of copy the shock by revealing Marlena as the SSK) She didn't "kill," anyone and in their inept way, explained that she was good old soap nuts (the kind that conveniently disappears when the storyline is over, would have been much better to show that Holly was drinking again and all this happened during her blackouts, hell, they could have given Holly a split personality while she was "passed out," who did all these things, that later she could have incorporated into her own personality as a finally a strong no hold bars woman...would have liked to see her take on Alan and kick Carmen's ass.) It also gave Holly another layer of sadness and regret, unfortunatley, instead of having her eventually get over that, she was obscured and that was all she was, a lonely woman whose past had left her.

However, after the storyline and her two days of "INTENSIVE," therapy, they paired her up with Wiggens (who I HATED as annoying Kurt on ATWT) and they had suprisingly good chemistry (and Wiggens actaully was kind of sexy in the role) and it was nice to see MG get a chance to make Holly happy and light.( I remember a scene of her sitting on a bale of hay, looking very sexy despite the fact that she had to wear one of Rauch's pastel suites that all the woman wore under him.) In retrospect it would have been better if they developed a story arc romance of Holly, the sophisticate falling in love with a rodeo rider, the first guy who loved her for being a smart intelligent, kinda bitchy, woman, and then written them both off, having Holly return for guest appearances, etc. (I never understood P & G's reluctance to just write characters off happy, instead of shoving them in a closet and further ruining their character) But I dont remember the Wiggens character having a romance with Annie or leaving town with her. His whole point was of course to give LW and Casshole a storyline, as he stole her money, leading her to try to go back to stripping to be saved by the gayest prince that ever, uh princed. He just left town after he embezzled Cassie's money and Annie just left town after they closed in on her for kidnapping Lizzie.